Controlling the Arms

A very familiar comments for most dancer are "isolate your arms" or "shoulders down" (Especially for me admittedly >.<). The shoulder joints are some of the most complicated areas to control while you're dancing, since they are made up of so many many different muscles. Here's a few tips and tricks to controlling your arms while doing complicated movements with the rest of your body during routines.

1.) "Balance the strength between your elbow flexors and extensors." (Greene Section 4) This is especially important for those with hyper extended elbows, because it creates a better line. Hyper extending makes your muscles more prone to injuries. 

2.) "Do arm exercises that build both the flexibility and strength equally" (Greene Section 4). This will make for nice fluidity in arm movement, and allow you to add more artistry and expression to your routines (plus toned arms are super pretty soooo.... score)

3.) Focus on lines of energy through your arms. The line of your arms should not simply stop at your fingertips. You should feel energy coursing out beyond yourself. This is built by holding tension in your arms, and extending your arms as far as possible. 

4.) Engage your shoulders, but not so much  that you look tense.

Why  do think arms are so important to the artistry of dancing?

HAPPY DANCING.

-Kristin

Haas, Jacqui Greene. Dance Anatomy. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics, 2010. Print.

Back Flexibility Stretch

Back, Shoulders, and Upper Thighs: Camarkarasana (Wild Thing)

I did gymnastics for about 2 years then switched to cheerleading last year and both have skills that require to have a flexible back and shoulders. Over the years, I have achieved a flexible back but never thought of using it to releasing some stress. If you have back problems or a stiff back, I would not recommend this stretch. "Heart openers, or back bends, are pretty self explanatory: they open the heart. Physically and emotionally. When you open up the back of the heart and across the chest, you create the space for the heart, which is both valuable and liberating!" (Brathen 92).

Step 1) Come into a tabletop position with your hands placed shoulder distance apart. Tuck your toes under and send your hips up and back, coming into the Downward-Facing Dog. Adjust the space between your hands and feet if needed. Bring your heels as far as you can to the ground. Relax the neck and engage the inner thighs.

Step 2) Inhale and extend the right leg and back behind you.

Step 3) Bend the knee and open up through the hip. Let the right foot become heavy and gently flip your dog over, landing with the ball of the foot behind the left knee on the mat. Feel the feet grounded to the earth, lift up through the hips, open the heart, and let your head hang back.

Step 4) Breathe deeply and enjoy this beautiful heart opener! Engage your core to come back to Three-Legged Downward-Facing Dog, lower your right foot and then do the other side.

This stretch has helped me feel like I've lifted weights off my chest. I feel more focused and productive after doing this stretch. Before, I felt like I was stressed about finals and all the homework I have to do. Now, I can study more productively while releasing all the built up stress that I have.

Brathen, Rachel. Yoga Girl. New York: Touchstone, 2014. Print.

What some other things you can think of that opens up your heart physically AND mentally (sports, hobbies, etc.)?

How to Create More Bang for your Brows

How to Create More Bang for your Brows

You may have heard of a saying that brows are the frame of the face. Brows really are that and more. They can truly make or break your entire make-up look. In this blog, I will be walking you through a few basic steps to achieve perfect brows along with important tips given from Lauren Conrad, an iconic beauty guru and blogger.

Wise Words from Lauren Conrad:

“Brows may seem like background and are often overlooked but they are a critical feature. They provide much of the essential of the architecture of your face and should be strong, defined and clean.” (Conrad 108)

Brow Tips:

Tip #1:  Unless you are going for a dramatic effect, don’t go darker than your own brow color. Since the goal here is not to change the shade but just to simply correct any imperfections. (Conrad 101)

Tip #2: Use an eyebrow-specific brush (which has short, stiff angled bristles) or a pencil and work out to the tip with small strokes. Always follow the direction of hair growth. Stand about a foot away from the mirror so you can get some perspective on the whole operation. (Conrad 101)

Tip #3: You never want to turn your brows into something they are not; your best look will probably mean working with the brown shape you were born with. Sometimes subtle tweaks like simply cleaning up below the brow can make a big difference. (Conrad 108)

6 Simple Steps to Achieving Your Best Brows:

1. With a brow spooly, comb through your brows to smooth them out and to clearly see their natural shape.
   
2. Take a pencil and hold it vertically beside your nose where the pencil hits your eyebrow is where the brow should begin. Mark that spot of your brow with your eyebrow pencil as a line that should not be crossed.

 

1. Starting from the same position as in step one, tilt the pencil directly across from the center of your eye on the diagonal, the spot where it hits your brow is your arch. Mark it with your brow pencil.
   
2. Now tilt the pencil so the tip aligns with the outer edge of your eye. Where it hits is the end of your brow. Mark it with a pencil.
   
3. With your brow pencil, using a light hand and short, natural strokes, gently brush through your brows. Focus on filling in any imperfections.
   
4. Take the brow spooly and brush through your brows to make the pencil strokes blend in with your natural brow hairs. This will create a more natural and soft look.
   

 

Conrad, Lauren, and Elise Loehnen. Lauren Conrad Beauty. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.

 

 

 

 

Garlic Bread

Garlic Bread is a great side for a dish such as spaghetti, or lasagna. But it is also great as a snack on its own!

Ingredients
- 2-3 cloves of Garlic
- 2 oz of softened butter
- 1 loaf of French Bread

Recipe
1) Preheat the oven to 350 Fahrenheit
2) "Crush the garlic cloves and mix them into the butter" (MacDonald, 78)
3) Slice the bread in half, lengthwise, and spread the garlic butter generously

4) "Put it in the oven for 10-12 minutes" (78)
5) Enjoy!

Would you prefer to eat this with a main dish or by itself as a snack?
Macdonald, Janet W. The Basic Basics How to Cook from A-Z. London: Grub Street, 1998. Print.

Fifth Post: Camera Ready Contour

How-to Create Enviable Cheekbones

Contouring is all the rage right now in the beauty industry. Lauren Conrad says about contouring: "If you've ever taken an introductory painting class, the same principles apply here. Adding shadows makes things look farther away" (Conrad 142). The concept of contouring is to slim down parts of your face to make it look more defined and structured. Common areas to contour are the cheekbones, forehead, nose, sometimes the chin and jawline. Conrad says, "for subtle contouring, use bronzer; for more staying power, use a foundation that's three shades darker than your usual foundation" (Conrad 142). In these photos I used concealer from a concealer palette as the cream contour instead of foundation for a more dramatic outcome.


1.) Have the right tools.
Using the proper brushes for this technique will make or break your finished look. I recommend using a smaller slightly fluffy brush to initially apply the contour color and then any time of bigger synthetic brush or sponge to blend it in.

These are the brushes that I used. This concealer palette has four shades that I would use to contour various skin tones. I used the darkest one in the far right hand bottom corner on my mother. This palette is available at Sephora and is by the brand Viseart. Any deeper concealer or foundation shade will work.

My mother with no contour on.


2. Apply the color.
Next is the application. Use the smaller of the two brushes and create a line from the middle of the ear starting at the hairline. Have the person suck their cheekbones in and make pursed lips if you can't find the right spot to contour. The correct placement is different on everyone, but is very important to find. My favorite rule of thumb is once you get under the pupil, drag the brush down vertically to create that sucked in cheekbone look. When using a cream contour you want to keep in mind how it's going to blend, so I always create about a two inch section (vertically) of the color. If the product was applied in one skinny line it would be harder to blend out and look "natural."

This is what the product looks like after applying it with the smaller of the two brushes. I applied it on her cheekbones, a little on the nose to balance out the face, and only a small amount on the temples because my mother's forehead is fairly small. For a normal or larger sized forehead, I recommend using more product than I did for her. As you can see in the photo, I used a pretty minimal amount.

It looks harsh when initially applied, but it will blend in seamlessly.


3. Blend!!!
Blending well is the biggest key in making contour look flawless. Although it's a more dramatic makeup technique, you never want to be able to see where the lines stop and start.

Here I am about to start blending the product out with the bigger of the two brushes. No additional product is added to the clean brush. I like to blend side-to-side instead of up and down so the placement of the color doesn't change but it still gets blended. If the contour goes too high or low on the cheekbones, it won't have the best outcome. For the nose, blend up and down again so the areas that have product doesn't change. For the forehead, just make sure the color doesn't migrate too far into the forehead.

This is what the contour looks like blended out. I added a little bit of additional cool-toned bronzer to further carve out the cheekbones and ensure that the contour showed up in the photo. Adding blush to the apples of the cheeks and on top of the contour (which I didn't do in these photos) will make the contour look less harsh on the face.


This is clearly a very dramatic makeup technique that I would only do on special occasions, not on a daily basis. It's fun to do and when done correctly the results are beautiful.




Happy contouring!




What are your thoughts on the whole contouring trend? Comment and let me know!

Conrad, Lauren, and Elise Loehnen. Lauren Conrad Beauty. New York: HarperCollins, 2012. Print.