COSMETICS AND BEAUTY PRODUCTS PERFECT FOR SPRING

  

Oh, you know  me and my mania for makeup and beauty products- I’m certifiably insane! But this obsession is something most women- and all dancers- have in common.  I’ve  been test driving  a ton of  cool  cosmetic products  lately, and all of them  absolutely perfect for Springtime,  and  most quite affordable.  Many are available at   chain drug stores, target or Walmart.

 I’m sharing my current  favorites with you here :

 SKIN

E.l.f Skincare Daily Hydration Moisturizer

This is a light and super-hydrating  moisturizer, great for every day use, and rich enough to apply at night. Best part is that costs less than ten bucks, and that’s a lot of bang for your  Beauty Buck.  Also, E.l.f. makes insanely great Makeup Remover Wipes that are so saturated  with product, you don’t have to scub  them on your face to get clean, even if you’re rockin’ serious stage makeup. These are  a  mere $3.00 , so stock up and use them throughout the summer!

Rimmel Stay Matte Primer

 Another genius drugstore find, this silky crème  can be used alone, or as a primer under foundation. It glides on soft and smooth, and  gives a matte finish for hours, even in the often-oily T-zone area.

EYES

L’Oreal  Colour Riche La Pallette in  Nude

  An eyeshadow palette with ten gorgeous neutral shades, this  is splendid for every day use or the stage! The highly pigmented colors go on smooth and don’t flake, and  will create  velvety dimensional smokey eyes. The shades  range  from beiges and pinkish/lavender neutrals to rich chocolate browns and taupes, so this palette would be marvelous for  women of any age or  skin tone! With a retail price is $19.99, this is a great beauty investment.

Sugarpill Heartbreaker Pallette

If the Natural Look isn’t what you’re after, this quad-color set will knock your socks off, featuring brilliant  neon shades of lime green and  royal blue, violet and  a wintergreen, minty-fresh turquoise.  Stunning on stage, and with a lighter hand and a  a little blending, fresh pretty for every day. A bonus is  that all  Sugarpill products are  cruelty free, meaning no Easter Bunnies were harmed by testing.

Ben Nye Lumiere Grand Color Pressed Eyeshadow in Cosmic

This otherworldly pinkish blue metallic shadow has been a favorite of mine for years. It is pearlescent and can be used wet or dry. Using it dry, it creates a pretty shade of pink  that, due to the blue undertones,  won’t make your eyes look tired or like you have conjunctivitis.  Applied  with a damp brush, you’ll get a rich, electric violet tone that would make the 1970’s-era David Bowie faint with envy.  For stage, I also use this stuff on my cheeks, and to highlight my lips…it looks fantastic daubed over the first  lipstick I’ve listed  below!

Eco Tools Essential Eye Brush Set

  I adore these brushes to pieces. Whenever I’ve found a random brush in my cosmetic kit that seems to really get the job done right, when I examine it to see the manufacturer, it’s Eco Tools.  Their brushes are lush and full-bristled without being stiff, and can really take a beating- daily use and frequent washings, and the brushes still retain their shape and don’t shed bristles.  this  five brush  set is no exception. This set is  also  a bargain- less than nine  bucks!

LIPS

NYC Color Expert Lipstick in Air Kiss

 This gorgeous orchid color reads  bright pink, but  it’s luscious, creamy formula prevents it from looking chalky or garish  for daily wear.  With a slightly blue undertone, it’ll make your teeth appear whiter, too. And like I said, if you want  to accent your lips and give them a dimensional, pouty look  for  the stage,  use   the Ben Nye “Cosmic” eyeshadow dotted on directly over this lipstick, without blotting it. The powder will set the lip color, and your  mouth will look bright and kissable.

 MAC Viva Glam Lipstick in Rihanna

 This frosty red is just about the same shade as Dorothy’s Ruby Slippers. MAC lipstick always glides on smooth and silky, and this one is no exception.  One coat is sheer and pretty for “off duty” dancers, two coats will see you through a night out or a show. A little pricey, but def worth it! And in case you didn’t know, all of MAC’s Viva Glam  products  fund  HIV/AIDS research, so you can pout pretty while doing  a good deed.

BODY

Pretty Feet And Hands

 This nifty sloughing product, which I’ve used for eons, is the number one eradicator of Dancers Feet !   You can start off looking like  like Sasquatch  or The Walking Dead, and  five minutes later look like a rich lady whose just spent a a hundred dollars on a spa pedicure.  Just slather it on, and watch your icky  callouses roll off, with no burning, peeling  or stench.  It’s kind of a miracle, and also works great on knees, elbows, and your hands. Not only that. It’s a drug store product, which means it’s ridiculously inexpensive…and for dancers, it’s priceless!

Tit Tape by Shape Tape

  No matter what kind of dance  you do,  toupee tape or fashion tape is a godsend for  keeping costume pieces, bindis,  wigs, and other accessories in place during performance. This  burlesque- oriented product was sent to me by the manufacturer to test drive., and it works quite well! The thing that sets it apart from other fashion tape- and the reason it’s called Tit Tape- is because the adhesive is  round ( as opposed to  being a rectangular strip) making it perfect  to use with burlesque  pasties. It works to keep  heavy, tasseled pasties in place, and the backing peels off easily, just like regular fashion tape. Great idea!

Flash Tattoos Temporary Body  Art Metallic Temporary  Tattoos in  Isabella

 My sister gifted me with a set of Flash Tattoos during the Holidays and I was skeptical. They were really shiny and pretty, but I thought there’s be no way in hell they’d stay on through sweaty classes and shows. I was wrong!  Not only do these decals stay on looking metallic and  super-blingy for four or five days, they ;asted me through showers and a hot-tub session without losing their color or peeling. They also  come off quite easily with baby oil or coconut oil. They  come in designs and shapes of bracelets, necklaces, floral  medallions and  mystic-looking, filigree mandalas, and can also be cut up  for mix’n’match. They’re  so darn  pretty  that from the stage they look like actual real jewelry-  and the beauty is, they won’t snag on any costume pieces or in your hair, cause they’re temporary tattoos!

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 For more info on my worldwide workshops & events, or to get a signed copy of  The Belly Dance Handbook or my memoir Showgirl Confidential, please visit  http://www.princessfarhana.com/index.html

 If you’d like to see what I do on the rare occasions when I’m not dancing, please visit http://www.pleasantgehman.com/index.html

DANCERS AND BODY IMAGE, AGING AND SELF-ESTEEM

 One hour away from turning fifty six! Photo by Lauran Hoffman

 Spring has sprung and most women are now fully consumed with prepping for Bathing Suit Season...and that often includes going on unhealthy crash diets and beating themselves up emotionally because they don't look "perfect".

We dancers  have Costume Season all year round, so for us, this is a constant in our lives. We also work in a niche of the arts where there's a much  higher degree of our culture's worship of Youth And Beauty; and sometimes, we turn against ourselves because we feel we don't live up to the physical perfection we're supposed to embody.  The truth is, we all  ought to be able to see that health and talent should be our main priorities!

 I'm writing  this now because yesterday, on March 17, I turned fifty six. Yeah, that's right, i can now legitimately say I'm pushing sixty!  And proud of it, too.

Below is a re-post of a blog I wrote in March 2013, before I turned fifty four... maybe you can relate enjoy!

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Attention... You Are Hot!

This is your self esteem call-to-arms: step away from your computer, and take a look in the mirror: you are smokin’ hot.

 In the act of performing onstage, dancers leave themselves vulnerable and  open to critique of their performances, their music, costume choices, and of course, their physical beings.  While audiences and other performers usually praise, there are those who can be harsh, but it’s your own inner critic that is most brutal.

 For decades, through advertising and in the media, women in general have been held to an ever-changing, ridiculously  unattainable standard of beauty that is just about impossible to achieve.

 It’s pretty twisted- the genetic wonders on display as the penultimate of feminine beauty are also primped, preened and fixed up by a legion of experts, lit and shot by pro photographers at the top of their  field, and photo-shopped within an inch of their life.

 Because of this, we all have been made to feel that we are lacking somehow… and dancers have these feelings perhaps more than any civilian woman ever could!

 We’re too fat, too thin, too old, not old enough, too dark-skinned or so white we practically glow in the dark!

  1991: I thought I was fat and that my face was "too round'! 

Our faces are too haggy, too jowly, and too wrinkled. There’s way too much baby fat on our cheeks or not enough. Our eyes are the wrong color and shape, our noses are hooked or too short and stubby, our lips aren’t plump enough.

We have  no chin,  our necks are too short or too long,  there’s cellulite on thighs- plus our legs are too short, too thick, too hairy or knobby-kneed.  Our bellies are much  too round, too protruding and, along with our hips (which, of course are too wide) are covered in stretch marks.  Our butts are   too flat, too round , non-existent or too shelf-like. Our boobs are too big, too small, and too saggy.  Or our boob jobs didn’t turn out right!  Our thighs and upper arms are flabby, our knees are scarred, the knuckles on our fingers are too big, and our hair is the wrong color or texture.

Crazy?  You bet!

Shall I go on? I thought not.

 I don’t need to tell you that condemning yourself is neurotic, unproductive and harmful.  You already know it.  I already know it, but I do it sometimes too!  We all do. Don’t drink the Kool Aid.

 Stop it!!!

  Dancing is what makes you happy, it makes you whole, and helps you feel lovely. It’s a passion and a blessing- it’s not to be taken lightly. Some women don’t have the luxury of dance because they live in oppressive societies, or because they are infirm: gravely ill, crippled or maimed in some way, physically or emotionally damaged beyond repair.

In the many classes I teach all over the world, along with experiencing the sisterhood of dancing, I often see and hear women slighting  their abilities and disparaging their bodies.  This hurts my feelings, seeing so many people truly feel that they are lacking or not worthy.  You  are clumsy, you have two left feet, it takes you too long to learn choreographies or you can't improvise. You feel stupid and ugly.

2013: before I turned 54... I finally like how I look!

It's rare to  hear  dancers  talking about how talented they are,what a great performance they had, or  to simply mention that dancing is a  gorgeous gift that has been bestowed upon them.  

We need to change our internal conversations! 

Time marches on relentlessly,  and  though you will probably become a better dancer in the future, you’re probably never going be any hotter than you are now, right at this moment. If you don’t believe me, look at some old photos of yourself- from fifteen years ago- or from last week- any time you thought you were fat and ugly.

What the hell were you thinking…you probably could’ve ruled the world!

Give yourself some credit, cut yourself some slack, and help other women to see themselves as wonderful too. Respect your vessel- the whole, healthy body you have which makes such lovely shapes and patterns to music. You are living art!

 You are beautiful. You are.

 And yeah…you better believe it…

You are hot!   

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ATTITUDE AND GRATITUDE

Baby kitty Carmen,  my little "street tiger"

I'm home from my 2014 travels, and mistakenly made the assumption that things would quiet down a  bit... WRONG!  Aside from finally unpacking my on-the-road suitcases,  my house was a wreck cause I'd been away   about four weekends a month  for the past three months.  And, unexpectedly,  after  my two beloved senior citizen kitties Smudgie ( age 21) and Ni-Ni, (age 14) passed away within a month of each other, I was blessed with two tiny baby kittens!  They are  little  feral "street tigers", a brother and a sister, who have been rescued,  tamed and are now living in the lap of luxury in the Royal Palace. Beeper and Carmen are a handful, but they are amazing!   I am so blseed to have them,  The Universe brought them to me at the most perfect time ever. And  now that I'm home for a while,  we can bond even more and  I can watch them grow. 

On one of their crazy "let's chase each other around the house" moments, they knock a diary of mine from off a shelf. I had to page through it, and was kinda amazed at what I found. The diary covered a trip to Egypt from 1991.  In addition to Arabic translation of commonly used words and glue-in tickets from Luxor Temple and The Sphinx, there was a gratitude list.  I didn't even know I was thinking that way back then, but apparently I was!

  Just some of the things included on the list were  ( obviously) colored by my trip to Egypt, like  "I am thankful I can travel", "I am grateful that I can read" "I have a  a healthy, strong body" and, funnily enough, "I am grateful for modern conveniences"... yeah, I'll say!

 But there were many, many more. And there was also a list  on how to out-flow energy  and love to  people, things like " Keep a good attitude, try to be optimistic and positive, look on the bright side" ,  "Be helpful and supportive to other people", and " Communicate  as much as possible;  if I love someone or something, I will say it. If I am not happy with someone or something,  or find anything unsatisfactory, I will say that too but in a kind  and positive way".

  Seriously, I do not remember being so enlightened... but I guess I was, even back then.  For the past   fifteen years or so,  I've made lists like this  at the year's end, or whenever I thought I needed to count my blessings.

Since Thanksgiving is approaching, I made a Dance List of everything I am thankful for.

Dancing literally changed my life. On top of the “usual” benefits, like giving me a strong, toned, flexible body, the emotional and spiritual impact dancing has had upon me is so significant, I can hardly put it into words. In my writing, I am usually a confirmed abuser of the exclamation point, but the amount of punctuation I would need to apply in this case is boundless, so I will spare you.

From the age of three, I wanted to dance, but for many reasons (the foremost being a ballet teacher who rejected me at an early age because my feet were flat ) dancing wasn’t in the cards for me until  well after I had already reached adulthood.

Maybe I had a karmic debt to pay, maybe my life just unfolded the way it was supposed to, but I came to belly dancing fairly late in life, after the age of thirty. Though I still sometimes wish I had been able to study dance since childhood, I no longer feel robbed, or the regret I used to experience about not having been a life-long dancer; now I am just thrilled with the way things turned out!

Mere months after I began belly dancing-almost as a lark- my life did a full 360 degree turn-around. Instead of picking my body (and all the individual parts) to pieces by visually and physically comparing myself to unrealistic and “ideal” images in the media, I began to love my body for the way it looked while I was dancing. Soon, that sentiment morphed into simply loving my body. As I developed more skill, I began to be grateful for what my body could do.

Dancing also helped me quit some very self-destructive behaviors I had for decades: substance abuse and an eating disorder. A hardcore bulimic for years, my love of dancing helped me cultivate a healthy relationship with food…and need I tell you that it’s impossible to dance for hours with a hangover or while high? Suddenly, I had a choice to make and I picked dancing over controlled substances and being unhealthy.

Dancing helped me get through-and over- a painful divorce. The feminine energy and sisterhood I felt with other dancers was healing and gave me hope. I see this theme repeated with many other dancers, and I hope I can pass this feeling on to others.

Belly dancing also lead me to other forms of dance, and  for that, I am eternally grateful. It’s what directly lead to my career in burlesque, not to mention studying and performing other types of dance as well, like jazz, ballet, Bollywood, samba, contemporary, hip-hop and many other genres. Whenever my schedule ( or my creaky ole body) allows, I take dance classes.

Dancing has also allowed me to meet thousands of incredible, beautiful, intelligent and talented women the world over… that I may never have met normally during the course of my everyday life. Through dancing, I have made life-long friends with many strong women of all ages, shapes and sizes who are veritable super-heroines; they are giving, driven,  talented, and usually very witty to boot.

I’ve met dancers who are emergency room nurses, teachers, criminal attorneys, children’s advocates, speech therapists, accountants, trauma counselors, ranchers, authors, film festival curators, architects, coal miners, political activists, rock stars, explosives technicians, police women, sitcom actors, college professors with PhD’s… not to mention mothers, grandmothers and even great-grandmothers…and all of them are serious dancers!

I am thankful that I live in a country where women are free to dress as they please, to dance for joy-or professionally if they choose- and where dancing is considered an art-form.

Every day I give thanks that dancing, something I have always done only for love is also what I do for work, and how I make a living. I never take this for granted, sometimes I have to pinch myself to make sure my life is real. When I walked into my first belly dancing class, if anyone would have told me that within a fairly short time I was going to turn professional-not to mention have a career  over twenty years later- I would’ve laughed so uproariously, the walls of the studio would’ve blown apart!

My dance career – my performing and teaching- has taken me all over the globe and I have loved every moment of it. It was a far-fetched wish, and that wish came true. The only thing I might add here (and believe me, my tongue is firmly planted in my cheek!) is the old adage about “being careful what you wish for”. Had I known that my wish was actually going to come true, I probably would’ve added in a clause allowing me to have a luggage valet and a personal massage therapist travel with me!

I am so thankful for all the wonderful women who have sponsored me to teach and perform. Sponsors are super-human, and in addition to paying for my travel, feeding me, housing me, fulfilling my backstage requests, and staying up til the wee hours talking shop, many of them have also gone wa-a-a-ay above and beyond the call of duty. They have taken me sight-seeing, brought me to amazing shows, given me gorgeous gifts, taken me hot-tubbing, booked me massages- even brought me to the emergency room, or dealt with my tearful grief when I was thousands of miles away from home and my beloved kitten disappeared. You ladies know who you are, thank you so very much! In general, my sponsors have gone so far out of their out of their way to make me feel comfortable when I am on the road, I cannot thank them enough; most of them have become life-long friends.

I am very grateful for my teachers and dance-mentors, women  ( and men!) who were dancing professionally long before I even  thought of starting to dance…all of whom were very generous with sharing their knowledge of not only technique, but also practical application, not to mention costuming ideas, crowd-control skills and career- building know-how.

My students, whether on-going pupils or one-time workshop attendees, make me feel such gratitude, I can’t even verbalize it. I learn something new from them every day!  The  drummers  and musicians I’ve worked with  are amazing and  love what they do… and  aside from learning a lot from them,   I love them for  caring, cause our shows have always been fabulous!

I would like to thank The Audience too- where would any dancer be without you? There is almost nothing more fulfilling than hearing an appreciative audience and seeing smiling faces in a darkened theater, just ask any performer! And of course,  all the behind-the-scenes people, those who never get enough thanks, like the artful  lighting and sound technicians,  all the harried- but unbelievably competent stage managers ( many of whom  are volunteers)  the  talented photographers and graphic artists I’ve worked with….and of course,  my long-suffering  friends and my boyfriend; all patiently waiting  for me to:

  a) get off stage  b) get my bag  packed up  c) stop talking about dancing!

Last but not least, I also gotta say that I am so very grateful for having a job that has the best, most amazing “uniform” EVER- what could be better than a blinged-out costume?

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you and yours!

Baby kitty Beeper helping  to organize my Belly Dance Handbook orders!

 In honor of the Holidays,  and to say  thanks to you,  I’m having a Thanksgiving-through-Monday, Dec 1  sale…  my  books "The Belly Dance Handbook" and  "Showgirl Confidential", and the new BaLAdi Tour CD by Issam Houshan will be on sale for big  discounts here:

http://www.princessfarhana.com/shop.html