Oh, The Glamourous Life!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday!

Here’s your tip:

Help others when you can.

My gentle readers, Whisper de Corvo, who won Most Beautiful at the 2014 Expo, and her family have suffered devastating losses recently. Dr. Jen of Atomic Cosmetics wants to help them out. In her own words (with real names redacted):

Sometimes bad things happen to really good people. Sparkle tribe, something bad has happened to one of our own. Our beloved Whisper de Corvo and her partner need our help-they have experienced a loss in the family, followed by losing their housing (A giant F**K YOU to Capitol Hill Housing Authority). Their situation breaks my heart, and I simply can’t sit by and do nothing. That said, I am asking all of you to please come to Atomic on Saturday, April 4. We will be donating every single dollar we make that day to Whisper and family. If you can’t get to the store, please shop online at colorsthatgoboom.com. We will be donating every dollar made online as well. You guys, PLEASE help however you can. I know no one has a lot of money, but this is our sparkle family, and they need us. When I was down and out, the community came out in force to help me. Now it’s time to help them.

and

Glitter folk, I want to put this out there: if you saw my earlier post about Whisper, you know we’re donating every dime we make on Saturday to them. Well, I don’t want to stop there. If we can hit $3,000 in sales that day, I will personally donate another $1000 to them. Please share Saturday’s event with everyone you can. Let’s make this happen!

You’ll not only be helping out some lovely people who have had a heart-breaking tragedy, you’ll be treating yourself to some great cosmetics and skin care products too. As Scratch said “It’s good for your skin and good for your soul.”

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! Here’s your tip!

Test your hairstyle in rehearsal.

Repeatedly pushing your hair out of your eyes is not a good thing. It makes you look nervous, sloppy, and unprepared. Deliberately moving your hair away from your face, like after a head roll or hair tease, is sexy. Either way, make sure you hair stays or goes where you want it to by rehearsing your act with your hair done the way you plan to have it on stage. And wigs count as hairstyles.

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday everyone! Today’s tip comes from Samuel Beckett (the playwright, not the time traveler).

Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try again. Fail again. Fail better.

Dear Constant Reader,

Last week I groused about audience members taking authorized photos during shows. Now I’m going to turn it around with a tip for performers.

Always credit your photographer.

It’s just the right thing to do. Just a small line on a poster, a link on your website, a tag on your Facebook, where ever you’re using the photo. Just something so your admiring fans know who took your great photo. And do make sure you have the rights to use it before you do.

Dear Constant Reader,

The Great Burlesque Exposition of 2015 is here! I hope I see you this weekend.

Here’s your tip:

Volunteering is sexy.

Events like The Expo run on volunteer labor and you can be part of what makes the event great. Just donate a few hours of your time and you can make a big difference. As they say, many hands make light work. You can put your skills to use, learn new ones, see behind the scenes, meet new people, and generally get that sense of satisfaction from having done a good thing. Sometimes you get a reward, like a t-shirt or a free ticket, but the real reward is a successful event, thanks to you!

Dear Constant Reader,

Happy Friday! We’re currently bracing for *more* snow this weekend. I’ve got my fingers crossed as we’ve got two shows on Saturday: Bumps Upon a Grind immediately followed by our annual appearance at The Mardi Gras Ball. I’m particularly concerned about Sunday. Our Burlesque Your Way students missed their last two classes, plus a make-up class because of the snow. We’re trying to hold yet another class on Sunday, but I fear for it.

Anyway, enough fretting, on with your Friday Tip!

A plastic cup makes a tiny trash can for your make-up station.

During a show, there are lots of showgirl droppings — the backing from pastie tape, cosmetic pencil shavings, spilt glitter, snack wrappers, broken hair pins, &c. I like to keep my space clean & tidy. Rather than make a trip to the trash can (if there even is one in the dressing room) with every little bit, I just sweep the detritus into a cup as I go and toss everything before I leave for the night.