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Patricia Dates O'Brien
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Ballroom

Tight Hairdo Worries; Minimizing the Crinkle Effect

by Patricia Dates O'Brien
November 1, 2001

Ask Trish - November 2001



Tight Hairdo Worries



Dear Ms. Trish—


Hi, I am a junior dancesport competitor. I compete in International Latin with my brother. When I was younger, I was in ballet school. I'm 15 now. Anyway, what I'm getting at is this: ever since I had hair long enough, I have been pulling it back in a bun or some other tight hairdo, both for practice and performances. I even wear my hair up in a clip when I sleep, because its long and it gets wrapped around my neck otherwise. Now my school friends are telling me that I could start losing my hair prematurely from all the tight hairdos! Is this true? Will I be bald by 20???

—Worried in Wilmington


Dear WW—


Rest easy, babe! You will not be bald by 20. That's the short answer. For the long answer, I consulted Kristi Fuhrmann, head of hair and makeup at MTV networks in New York City. "It is pretty hard to lose your hair from just putting it up everyday, but if you do wear it tight all the time, you will get breakage," says Kristi. (Breakage is responsible for those little flyaway hairs near your face.) "It's really best if you can give your hair a little down time, however—try a loose, thick braid in the back, or a soft scrunchie instead of an elastic band for your ponytail."


Kristi also suggests using a texturizing product in your hair before you put it up, like Traction, by Redken (1-800-REDKEN-8), or Get A Grip by Sebastian (www.sebastian-intl.com.). This will thicken and protect the hair shaft. And never put your hair back tightly when its wet. "When the hair is wet, its more elastic, so it stretches out, and can break easily." Happy hairdos!



Minimizing the crinkle effect



Hi Trish—


I am an older amateur competitor in the Ladies division—I am 67 years young! I love ballroom dancing! But my face doesn't—specifically, the area around my eyes. The heavy pancake makeup I use for competing gets stuck in my crow's feet and makes my wrinkles look like fault lines on a map!! What can I do minimize the crinkle effect?

—Sparkly Lady


Dear Sparkly:


All "wrinkles" (wow, it was hard to type that word…must calm myself by applying something glittery….) look worse if you put anything cosmetic on top of them—whatever is there is bound to sink into the lines and make them more noticeable, not less. This goes for anything from concealer to products that promise to erase dark circles and puffiness. If you have dark circles, apply concealer only to the part closest to the nose—that's where its darkest anyway.


If you apply makeup to the crow's feet area, you call attention to that part of your face. Instead, I like to use a shimmery highlighter on the cheekbone, directly below the outer eye area. Then use the same highlighter for the brow bone, right underneath your eyebrows. This calls attention to your eyes, not your lines!


You can finish your makeup job with my favorite product (this week)—Benefit's "Kitten" sparkly powder in a puff. Its a big powder puff with lots of glimmering powder—just lightly pouf it over your face, and it will give you an all over glow—no one will notice those crow's feet, they'll be razzle-dazzled by your wattage!


Incidentally, my whole family swears by a nightly swipe of Vaseline for those cr…crow's…crow's fee…..(need more glitter…..quickly….)




Now you can Ask Trish to do your makeup at Dancesport competitions! Beginning with this month's Ohio Star Ball in Columbus, Ohio, Trish will be on hand to apply makeup and give consultations. Email Trish at TrishDatesOBrien@aol.com for rates and scheduling. Looking great just got easier!



Patricia Dates O'Brien is a professional Dancesport competitor, and is the United States 2000 Rising Star American Smooth Champion. She also writes beauty columns for Dancesport Magazine and Dance Beat.

…Her husband gave up his shelf in the medicine cabinet long ago…

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