Dear Constant Reader,
Happy Valentine’s Day! The Boston Babydolls will be celebrating by presenting two performances of Love Actually (not actually) at The Davis Square Theatre tonight. I know, a full-production show less than one week after The Expo, what were we thinking? We were thinking it would be fun!
Your tip today comes from the wisdom of fictional tough guy Joe Pike, written by Robert Crais:
Love is not so plentiful that any of us can afford to reject it when it’s offered.
Dear Constant Reader,
Today is the first day of The Great Burlesque Exposition of 2014! I can’t wait to see all your shiny faces and sparkly other body parts!
But, first, your Friday Tip!
When in doubt, point your toe.
Dear Constant Reader,
Saturday night at the Vermont Burlesque Festival, Ray Gunn dropped by my room to borrow a needle and thread for a costume repair and managed to sweet-talk me into doing it for him. It took me no time at all. It’s not for nothing that I’m known as The Fastest Needle in the East (also The Martha Stewart of Burlesque), but part of the reason I was able to reattach the snap so quickly was that I use this trick:
1. Cut a long length of thread and double it.
2. Now thread the needle with the doubled thread.
You now have 4 strands of thread in your needle.
3. Knot all the ends together.
Thus you can make 4 stitches with one pass. And the thread won’t slip out of the needle. I’ve got to give credit to Schwartz, who worked on our costumes for The Rhinestone Revue last year for teaching me this tip. It’s ever so helpful when sewing on snaps, buttons and other fasteners.
Dear Constant Reader,
I’m off to the Vermont Burlesque Festival today. It’s so cold in Boston and we’re heading even further north. I’m doing everything I can to keep from freezing important bits off. Today’s tip is:
Wool is your friend.
Not only does it keep you warm, but it breathes so your sweat doesn’t get trapped and chill you. Leg warmers and a cropped cardigan may be a dancer cliche, but they’re an excellent way of keeping your muscles loose and toasty when it’s frigid out.
Dear Constant Reader,
I’ve had fitness on my mind lately as we had been preparing to launch BABEfit (which by the way one of our students called “the most fun fitness class I’ve ever taken!”) and thus your Friday Tip:
When working your abs, don’t forget to work your lower back. It’s part of your core too.
A lower back exercise I like is Superman: lie face down, arms over your head like you’re flying like Superman. Then lift your chest off the ground, hold for a few breaths, then lower. Lift your hips off the ground, hold for a few breaths, then lower. If this is too easy, lift your chest and hips at the same time. You shouldn’t ever feel a strain in your back, just the muscles working.
Dear Constant Reader,
Today’s Friday Tip follows up last week’s. Besides moisturizing like crazy, you need to…
Exfoliate!
(If you are that sort of person, please imagine it said in a Dalek monotone).
For beautiful smooth skin, especially in the winter, you need to gently remove the layer of dead, dry, dull skin. And if you exfoliate before shaving, you get a closer, smoother shave. So why wouldn’t you?
Twice a week I use Dr. Jen’s Five Fruit Face Wash*. For other body parts I use a homemade sugar or salt scrub. It’s so easy to make yourself, as my students at The Great Burlesque Exposition of 2013 discovered.
I use sugar scrub on more delicate skin, like hands and legs. Salt scrub is for rougher spots, like feet, especially heels. Don’t use these scrubs on your face!
Here’s my sugar scrub recipe:
1/2 cup white cane sugar
1/4 cup oil (jojoba, avocado, or olive are all good)
4 drops peppermint essential oil
Mix them all together in a jar. To use, wet your skin and then smooth on the sugar scrub. Let it sit a couple of minutes if you want (it might start to tighten up & tingle a little), gently rub into skin, then rinse off. Be careful if you’re using this in the shower as the oil makes things a bit slippery.
Perhaps anon I’ll share my special salt foot scrub.
*I have no affiliation with Atomic Cosmetics. I just like their products. A lot.
Dear Constant Reader,
First Friday Tip of 2014! I don’t know about where you are, but it’s freezing here in Boston, about 10 degrees last I checked and over a foot of snow. Winter air is terribly dry and just sucks all the juiciness out of your skin, which leads me to today’s tip:
Moisturize, moisturize, moisturize!
Keep your skin nice, smooth, and soft in the winter. All over. Don’t neglect your breasts! Pulling pastie adhesive off dry skin can be terribly painful, especially when you’re changing pasties multiple times a night and performing for several nights in a row. I have the blood-stained pasties to prove it! Don’t be like me…
I use my home-made lotion bars and lip balm daily. For really deep moisturizing, I like Dr. Jen’s body butter. Grapefruit is my current favorite.
Whatever kind of lotion, cream, butter, &c. you choose, it’s more fun if a friend helps you rub it in all over. *wink*
Dear Constant Reader,
I hope you had a merry Christmas or enjoyed your Chinese food and movie.
Here’s your tip: short, simple, and sweet:
Be naughty *and* nice.
Dear Constant Reader,
If you follow me on Facebook, you’ve probably seen me going on and on about B.A.B.E.fit. What is it?
The Boston Babydolls begin each rehearsal with a warm up. Usually that means putting on a few songs and following Betty through drills of dances moves. Sometimes we do calisthenics (we love squats). It’s fun and challenging.
Someone had the bright idea of sharing this with students and so B.A.B.E.fit was born. Each class starts with a warm up and then progresses into a number of dance routines.
Don’t worry — this isn’t a full-on Boston Babydolls choreography; you’ll need to take one of Betty’s Beyond Basic Burlesque classes for that. We’ve taken some of our favorite songs and created little combinations to get your heart pumping. You don’t have to have any dance experience, just follow the instructor and have a good time. As you come again and again, you’ll get more familiar with the combinations and can start adding on — until we change them up. : )
Then we’ll go into floorwork to tone and strengthen, especially your core, butt, and legs. We finish it off with a cool down and relaxing stretch.
It’s fitness with a burlesque flair!
Classes in January are on Mondays at 6:30pm and Thursdays at 6pm. each class is $12 in advance and $15 at the door. You can register right here. To encourage you to register early, we’re going to pick one person who registers for a B.A.B.E.fit class before December 31st and give them a free 8-class punch card!
I hope you will join us in 2014 and get B.A.B.E. fit!
Dear Constant Reader,
Today’s tip is for the burlesque fan:
Buy your tickets in advance.
I know everyone is busy and it seems so easy to just buy them at the box office when you arrive for the show, but there are a couple of good reasons to think ahead.
1. Avoid disappointment. If you have your tickets before you arrive at the theatre/club, there’s a seat for you. Too many times people have shown up for one of our shows, eager for a evening of fabulous burlesque, only to be told that the show is sold out. We hate turning people away.
2. Maybe save a little. We often run early-bird discounts. For example, tickets to The Teaseday Club are only $10 until about a week before the show and then they go up to $15.
3. It’s faster. As an experienced box office gal, I can tell you for sure that showing up with your ticket (or confirmation print-out) in hand is going to speed you to your seat (or the bar) much faster than waiting for your credit card to be processed while everyone on line behind you grumbles.
4. It makes the producer happy. Nothing makes them more nervous than slow ticket sales. No one can count on a last minute rush of sales at the door. Many burlesque shows are produced close to the bone and it may be less of a financial risk for the producer to cancel the show altogether when there are insufficient advance sales. Your purchase might be the one that saves the show!
So what are you waiting for? Go buy your tickets!
Oh, The Glamourous Life! 