Sophia Ravenna – Sophia Ravenna

I’m Happy!

August 9, 2016August 7, 2016Sophia Ravenna

It’s a strange feeling, this happiness. I mean, it’s not like I was never happy in AZ, and it’s not like I’m never unhappy here. But right now I’m experience that special sort of happiness that you feel when you start to make your dreams a reality. Here’s what’s making me happy right now:

That picture up there? That’s me dancing to live music by The Nathaniel Johnstone Band at Skinny Dip. That night really exceeded my expectations, and my expectations were already pretty high. The band was in fine form, the other dancers were a varied and talented lot who each brought a unique interpretation to the songs they chose, and the crowd… Have you ever had that experience where it’s almost time for a show to start and there’s like two people in the audience? And everyone’s like oh well, we’ll have fun dancing for each other, and then you finish getting ready and you go out to dance and… WHOA where did all these people come from? Yeah, we had a packed house, and they were really enthusiastic with their applause and their tips.

Not only that, but backstage was just magical. Dancers and musicians mingling, hugging, and sharing glitter (thanks to Martina Crowe-Hewett, the wonderful creator of Glitter Goo). Everyone was so supportive of each other, even the people they didn’t already know. It was a really welcoming and fun experience. Anyway, click here to see the performance video. I’m dancing to “Zola” because yaaaaay violin! And a big THANK YOU to Carolyn and Sarah for making it all happen.

Next, and this is a big one which I would have lead with but I’m going chronologically here, I FINALLY PASSED CULTIVATION! I’ve been a little quiet lately about my retest experience because I wanted to keep my head down and just get the work done. I’m really thankful to Malik Turley, one of the first 8 Elements certified teachers, for working with me via Skype and giving me some really good advice on how to approach my practice for the test differently. I am so excited to finally have beaten this test after a good 9-10 months of struggling with it. I’m hopeful that I’ll be able to continue my 8 Elements training sometime in 2017!

But wait, there’s more! This weekend I am going to JAMBALLAH! I’ve wanted to attend this festival for years, and now suddenly it’s just a couple of hours away for me. Not only do I get to attend, but I was incredibly fortunate and was able to purchase a spot in a sold-out Rachel Brice workshop from a dancer who had a change of plans. Since I am only going for one day (due to the next point on my list), and since I am celebrating my Cultivate status, I treated myself to a VIP ticket to the evening showcase too. I am really, really excited to study with one of my favorite teachers, shop from some of my favorite vendors (including some I’ve never seen in person but have stalked on Etsy!), and then watch some amazing dancers. I have heard really good things about Jamballah so I’m happy I could squeeze it into my schedule.

And why is it a squeeze? Because on Monday, my lease on my cute little summer sublet expires! Now, I am sad to be leaving the Stadium District of Tacoma, and my classes with Kat and my easy access to Portland (just 2.25 hours from my front door to downtown!) and all the sweet vintage touches in my apartment and the two walk-in closets (seriously you guys this place is a dream), but on the other hand I am moving in with MY BEST FRIEND! Who is also a belly dancer, so we are going to have a DANCE ROOM! I am looking forward to a life full of solo practice to work on my own stuff, and then drills with my bestie to keep my fundamentals in check and work up a sweat. Plus I will have someone to watch dance videos with, and to geek out about non-dance stuff too (like Doctor Who and Star Trek and games and books and the cute steampunk shop in downtown Edmonds). And while Portland will be further away, Seattle will be closer (we’ll be in Mountlake Terrace, which is just north of Seattle Proper and has OMG so many trees).

I have to admit, as I was getting close to moving out here and stressing about money and which stuff I would take and leave behind, and the knowledge that I would miss my husband, our corgis, and my dear friends (plus good Mexican food and my favorite brunch place…), I wondered if this was really a good, responsible decision. Was I building Seattle up as better than it actually was, because I was so tired of certain things about Tucson? But now that I’m here, and I have the opportunity to study with dancers who I admire and dance with bands I love and perform several times a month and attend awesome events, I have to say that I’m happy that I took the risk and stepped out of my comfort zone. I’m so excited to see what happens next!

If I could only have one…

August 5, 2016Sophia Ravenna

I came up with the idea of this post soon after I moved up to WA, when I realized that despite the fact that I had brought a whole bunch of lipsticks with me, I was mostly using the same one for my gig makeup. It was a clear favorite and had been since I bought it. In discussing that fact with my friend Sabien, we came up with the idea of a blog post about what one product I would keep if I could only have one of everything!

Some of the items on this list aren’t my favoritey favorite, but the most versatile item that I own. If I only had to have one of something, I’d want it to be a real multi-tasker!

Eye Shadow Palette. Yeah, I’m not going to limit myself to just one single eye shadow, because that would be ridiculous. If I could only have one palette it would of course be the Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca palette, because as I’ve mentioned many times before, it has a great mix of colors and neutrals, matte and shimmers, and the colors are high-quality. I know I could do basically any sort of look I wanted with it. The one drawback is that it’s not compact and easy to travel with.
Lipstick. Kat Von D’s Foiled Love lipstick in F.T.W. I’ve been wearing this metallic berry shade so much, because it goes really well with my complexion, and the costumes I’ve been wearing, and the eye shadow looks I’ve been doing. I’m still sad that the Foiled Love line got discontinued. Metallic lips seem to be coming back in fashion, so maybe KVD will release a new similar line?
Eyeliner. This is the worst one for me. How can I live with only one eyeliner? I LOVE to buy colorful liners and use them as an accent. But if I had to have only one, I’d go with a good basic black gel. I currently use one from MAC, but I’m not a big fan of them as a brand, so I’m open to suggestions on what I should check out when I’m ready for a replacement.
Blush. Hourglass’s Ambient Lighting Blush in Mood Exposure. I like this plummy shade because it’s beautiful and in some ways it sort of acts as a lazy girl’s contour. It might be a bit deep for daily wear, but I think I could make it work if I used a fan brush and a light touch. Alternatively, I really like the warm coral of Tarina Tarantina’s Parasol blush, which was the first blush I had and really liked, and is more of a daytime wearable color.
Highlight. Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector in Pearl. I like this so much that I haven’t felt much desire to buy any of the other gorgeous highlighters our there on the market. I also really appreciate that it’s a single compact instead of a kit, and a sturdy compact at that, so it’s easy to take on the road with me.
Contour. To be honest, I actually haven’t found a contour that I’m excited about. But if anyone wants to give me the Lunatick Labs contour kit, I’m sure I can find my Holy Grail in there!
False Lashes. Definitely the NYX Be Wicked lashes in Fatale. I love how they look on me and I tend to get a lot of compliments on them. They go well with my person style. I wish Ulta still carried them in the store, or that there was a NYX store here so I wouldn’t have to order them online. Or maybe I should have bought more than two packages when I visited the NYX shop in CA!

You may have noticed that this list doesn’t cover all of the cosmetics products ever… That’s because I generally do only have one primer, foundation, concealer and mascara. I also find that those products tend to be very much up to the individual, due to skin concerns, whether a brand makes your color, and with mascara it seems like a formula that works great on me will flake off on a friend, and the other way around.

Now it’s your turn! If you could only have one of each of these products, what would you have? Do you disagree with any of my choices? Do you know of a good dupe for the Foiled Love lipsticks? Let’s chat in the comments!

I get to dance to LIVE MUSIC tomorrow!

August 2, 2016Sophia Ravenna

Dancing to live music isn’t something I got to do very often in AZ. Although I had a couple of casual live music experiences, and some workshops, my only performance opportunity with a live band was when I danced with Spiritchaser at Fully Fusion a few years ago. It was an awesome experience that I really enjoyed, but nothing else like it came my way for a long time.

Dancing with real live musicians seems like the ultimate improv experience. You may know the song, you may know how they usually play it, but there’s no guarantee that they won’t change things up.

But more important than that, you and the musicians are experiencing the same moment together. You’re all up there on stage (or they’re on stage and you’re on the floor), you’re hearing the audience, you’re each experiencing what the other is doing. It’s so much more interactive than dancing to recorded music. I feel like it’s a better experience for the audience and for the dancer.

ANYWAY did I mention that tomorrow I am dancing to LIVE MUSIC? YES! I’m part of a super amazing lineup for Skinny Dip Presents: Nathaniel Johnstone Band. This is going to be a really cool evening, with dancers of various styles. Looking at the set list, there’s some serious songs and some silly songs, some steampunk songs and mythpunk songs and beautiful instrumental pieces. All for only $10!

I’m especially happy about this because Nathaniel and his band have always been so nice to me. They’ve been part of the large group of people who have made me feel welcome in my new WA home. Many of the dancers in the lineup have also been a part of that. There really is a wonderful community of musicians and dancers up here and I’m glad to be working with them.

Serpentina Palette Video and Review

July 29, 2016Sophia Ravenna

I recorded a nice little YouTube video with my thoughts about the Kat Von D Serpentina palette. This post has some more thoughts, swatches, and comparison pictures.

Look at this amazing colors! Mi Vida Loca remains my favorite palette in terms of versatility, but the individual colors in this one are better. I especially love Scarab and Medusa, and they look really nice together!

Arm Swatches (with Q-Tips over bare skin)

Swatchy swatchy! Look at those gorgeous swatches. This picture also somewhat shows how much kick-up you get on the soft metallic shadows, which as mentioned in my video, can result in some cross-contamination between colors and is my main complaint about this palette.

Some people were concerned about possible duplication between this palette and the Metal Crush singles, so I swatched the 3 MC shadows I have and their closest relatives in the palette (I also have Thunderstruck, but that’s nothing like anything in Serpentina). These swatches were applied on my bare arm with Q-Tips, and the Serpentina colors are below their MC cousins. As you can see, Scarab is significantly darker than Iggy, Nile is darker than Paranoid, and Synergy is more coppery than Medusa and darker/more opaque/less orange than Heiroglyph. I think the MC shadows are a little more pigmented and nicer than the Serpentina shadows but the quality is pretty close and they play nice together… I placed Paranoid and Nile next to each other in my metallic blue eye look for the Every Day is Gig Day challenge and they looked great!

My Favorite Datura Online Videos

July 26, 2016Sophia Ravenna

Some videos I've enjoyed in the past. — Some videos I’ve enjoyed in the past.

I use Datura Online almost every day for my home practice. I love having classes of various lengths on almost every belly dance style available in my living room. One thing that I really appreciate about DO is that they regularly add new content, whether it’s something from the core Datura teachers or an awesome guest instructor. Classes range from technique, conditioning, and choreography.

I thought I’d share some of my favorite DO videos with you today. Of course, my favorites change up a lot, depending on what I’m in the mood to work on, or what new release catches my fancy. In general I gravitate towards shorter videos that I can mix and match depending on how much time I have and what I feel the need to work on.

My Favorite Yoga Video

“Waves” Yoga Practice by Rachel Brice is the one constant on my favorites list. I love to do this as a warm-up, a cool down, or just my only bit of practice on a busy day. You only need a yoga mat, no extra props necessary. Note: You do spend some time on your belly and some time doing undulations, so don’t do this one on a full stomach.

3/4 Shimmy Spotlights Make Me Happy

Ever since Lady Fred’s shimmy workshop at Tribal Massive, I’ve been working hard to finally conquer the 3/4 shimmy. A little practice every day goes a long way, so I’ve been enjoying these 3 spotlights from Rachel Brice: Hagallah, Gahwazee and Overshimmy. Each is around 5 minutes, which makes them super easy to tack on to whatever else I’m practicing in a given day.

Zil Spotlights are Great, Too

Colette Todorov has three great zil drill spotlight videos. I like these because they’re each under ten minutes and cover 3 basic zil patterns (always triplets/Longa and two others), and it’s just zils. Look, I know a lot of us have been told that you should never just sit or stand and play your zils, but think about it… Do marching bands get an instrument thrown in their hands and get told “Ok, go march and learn to play the clarinet at the same time”? It makes sense to learn an instrument before you also try to move around with it. Anyway, these videos are great because you can just focus on your zils, and you can do it at your desk or in a tiny space. Zil Drill Spotlight #2 is my current fave but all three are good!

The One I Love to Hate

Sideline Pilates suck and anyone who tells you differently probably has friendlier hip anatomy than I do. Pilates Conditioning and Warm-up by Ashley Lopez makes me groan and curse every time, and I usually can’t get all the way through it, but I do it because I know it’s good for me.

Mini Belly Dance Classes

Ashley’s not all bad, though, I love Raq It: Routine #1 and Routine #2 because each is a nice little self-contained half hour belly dance class. There’s a warm-up, a cool down, and in between you do some drills and some combos. The great thing about these is that once you start you don’t stop. You drill things slow and fast, but there’s no pauses for breakdowns. It’s a good way to get a lot of movement in a little time. Note: the warm up and cool down from these are also available as their own spotlight videos and they’re some of my favorites, too!

I could go on and on, but I don’t want this to turn into a novel! If you’re not already a Datura Online member and you’d like to sign up after reading this post, please use my Hi-Five referral link so I can get a discount on next month’s subscription fee. If you’re already a member, let me know about your favorite videos in the comments!

Every Day is Gig Day Recap

July 22, 2016Sophia Ravenna

I had so much fun doing this challenge, I just had to sit down and write a blog post about each of my 10 looks and what I learned along the way!

Day 1: Indie Goddess. I resisted my urge to go straight for greens with this one. This look was created using ColourPop, Makeup Geek and Aromaleigh products. Although, as was the case for the entire challenge, I used my usual mix of products for my face: MUFE primer and mascara, Sephora concealer, Urban Decay foundation and eye primer, and then whatever prestige-brand blush I preferred that day. I do own a ColourPop blush, but it’s back in AZ, doing me no good. Anyway, I had fun with a black, silver and purple scheme for this day. Random trivia: This was my favorite color combination before I fell in love with green.

Day 2: Metallics. Again, I resisted my first urge, which was to do a mixed metals look based heavily on the KvD Monarch palette (which I heard has finally been discontinued). But I’ve done that many times before, and I felt like this challenge was a good time to experiment. So instead I did this metallic blue look using KvD, NARS and Viseart eye shadows, with some Urban Decay metallic lipstick (which was, TBH, disappointing). I also used NARS Albatross highlighter, though it doesn’t show well in the photos. This look was such a hit that I’m going to try to do a video tutorial for my eyes. Lesson learned: I look good in blue eyeshadow.

Day 3: Vintage Vixen. I don’t do the 1950s pin-up look very well and I have too much hair for 1920s. Instead I decided to work with what I’ve got and do a vintage era that’s often over-looked in makeup… the 1970s! Ok yeah, the 70s had some weird makeup trends, with all the pastel eye shadows. But they also loved a heavy liner and lashes for daaaaaays. They favored a fresh-faced, clean look for the complexion. And they rocked the long hair. Plus that’s when a lot of those classic vintage how-to belly dance books were published! I decided to go for a bit of a Bal Anat Ren Faire look. Long flowing hair, fresh face, peachy coral lip, a satiny neutral eye shadow and LOTS of liner. I wish I’d had some false lashes that had a 70s look to them, that would have completed the look. I had a lot of fun researching this one on Pinterest! Lesson learned: Swatch the eye shadow on your arm first. I picked a color impulsively and it was a little more metallic than satiny.

Things got out of hand... — Things got out of hand…

Day 4: Femme Fatale. I was going to do a dark, smoky look for a dangerous dame. But then I decided to use a little Bloodmilk from the Serpentina palette, and it went on so well I decided to add a little more… Then I had the crazy idea to use liquid liner, which I never do, because hey, experimentation, right? It got out of hand. I went from Film Noir to Hammer Horror! I honestly didn’t like this one but a lot of people on FB did. Maybe because they can’t see how poorly my eyes match. Lesson learned: No liquid liner.

Day 5: GLITTER BOMB! Becka Bomb arranged things so the glitter-themed day was on her birthday so I went extra glittery. I accented my metallic eye shadows with some Makeup Geek Sparklers, yep, I finally opened one. But then that wasn’t glittery enough so I layered some iridescent green glitter on top, which made it look really cool and dimensional up close. I used a sparkly highlighter and wore Big Bang lipstick. I would have worn Glitter Goo too, but I didn’t want to have to take a second shower before bed 😉 I did carry the glitter theme through into my whole outfit, with a sparkly headband from The Bold Oracle and my favorite Becka Bomb Buds, my crystallized tanfouk pendant from Tempest, my one of a kind green “Belly Dance, Because Glitter is a Lifestyle” tanktop, and a sparkle scarf on my hips when I practiced. Lesson learned: Smith’s Rosebud Salve makes a great base for glitter! It would probably be too goopy on the lid itself, but it was perfect for under the eye. Feels good on the skin, doesn’t irritate the eye with fumes, and it’s tacky enough to hold a lot of glitter. I’m definitely going to use it for applying lip glitter in the future.

Day 6: Tribal Drag Glam. The idea here was to go full out with your best “tribal” look. Now, I don’t really call my dance style tribal anymore, and I don’t do a lot of the tribal aesthetic, but it was a LOT of fun to revisit the sort of styles I did a few years ago with today’s makeup skills. I decided this was a great chance to finally try out that rich orange from the Viseart matte palette, and this ended up being my favorite eye look of the challenge. I used the rich orange, the earthier orange, and then some Ankh and Hieroglyph from Serpentina. Black gel liner gave me the perfect wing, and then I decided to give liquid liner another chance, just to do the dots. I can’t remember what lipstick I’m wearing, but I used the gold Prophet pigment from Serpentina on the center of my lower lip, Becka Bomb style. Oh, and this is the one day where I applied lashes and of course my lash is coming off in the picture. Lesson learned: More lash glue, and do this orange eye again.

Day 7: My Favorite Palette. I FORGOT MY PRIMER! So I was trying to do my makeup in a hurry before heading up to Seattle for MedFest. Also since I was going to be outside for a big chunk of the day, I started out with sunscreen instead of face primer. Well, usually my routine is face primer, eye primer, lip primer… So skipping the face primer threw me off and somehow I just started doing my eyes without any primer, and by the time I realized why my makeup looked terrible, it was too late to start over. Kat Von D Mi Vida Loca is still my favorite palette, but that matte teal sure needs a primer. On a pleasant note, layering my sheer coral SPF 30 lip balm over a matte marsala lip pencil looked really good. Lesson learned: Don’t rush, and be careful of throwing off your routine.

Day 8: My Favorite Color is… GREEN! Aw yeah, another excuse to wear Kale lipstick! My only regret is that I didn’t have a green-tinged highlighter or green mascara to add even more green to this look. Also, I tried applying Kale with a lip brush this time and I wasn’t super happy with it and ended up applying more from the tube. Maybe I just need a better lip brush, though.

Day 9: Drugstore Diva. I don’t have a whole lot of drugstore makeup with me right now, but I did have my NYX Avant Pop Palette, and a zillion NYX lipsticks. I ended up with a Soft Matte Lip Creme… I think this one is Abu Dhabi? I also used a few ColourPop products, because they’re an Indie brand, sure, but they have a similar price point to drug store brands. Lesson learned from this one: I really just don’t particularly like the ColourPop gel liner products. Too stiff and dry.

Day 10: Impromptu Gig — Work to Gig Makeup. Ok, so I work from home. It’s just me, my laptop, and my cat. I don’t wear makeup to work! But I did need to provide a headshot for work, so I came up with this simple, work-friendly look. I’d do something similar if I was going to have a video conference or meet a potential client IRL. It’s just brows, lashes, a bit of concealer under my eyes, and a tinted lip balm.

For switching to Gig Makeup, I decided to go for quick solutions, since it’s an “impromptu gig” and I probably don’t have a lot of time. After applying primer and foundation (careful not to disturb my brows and lashes), I swept on my favorite dark blush that gives a hint of contouring. Then I grabbed a Makeup Geek duochrome shadow, because it’s an easy way to get a dimensional eye look in a hurry. I, uh, went a little overboard and grabbed too much shadow on my brush when I wanted to blend out the edges, and ended up taking the color all over my eye area. I balanced it out by keeping the liner a little simpler. I did smudge some metallic teal liner under my lower lash line. I added a little extra mascara and a NARS lip crayon to complete the look. A few spritzes of setting spray and I was ready to take the imaginary stage… Well, actually, I went to belly dance class.

I really enjoyed this challenge. The combination of having themes every day and just working with the products I brought with me to WA led me to try colors and products I haven’t used much. It let me thoroughly test out my Serpentina Palette, which will be reviewed next week (Patreon backers, you’ll get a video review later today!). It let me try out some different techniques. And doing my makeup every day for 10 days really let me see how some of my products and brushes compare to each other. After playing with all different liners, I’ve decided once and for all that I really don’t like liquid liner, and I really do like gel liner.

Also, if I was really doing a gig, I would have added false lashes to every one of these looks, but I only have like 3 sets of lashes up here with me, two of which are my favorite NYX Fatale lashes that I have to order online, so I didn’t want to wear them out by applying and removing them every day.

If you have any questions about the products I used on any given day, just ask!

MedFest!

July 19, 2016July 19, 2016Sophia Ravenna

This past Sunday I spent the day at the Mediterranean Fantasy Festival, or as it’s commonly known, MedFest. This is a popular, long-running belly dance festival held in West Seattle. Although there were a couple of workshops, the event is primarily popular for its all-day performances on two stages (indoors and outdoors) and the numerous vendors to meet your belly dance shopping needs. The event runs Saturday and Sunday, but since it’s almost an hour drive from my place, I decided to only go one day.

Celeste on stage with the Nathaniel Johnstone Band.

I opted for Sunday because the Nathaniel Johnstone Band was playing and my classmates from Tempest’s studio were performing to live music for the first time, so I figured I should be there to cheer them on. It was a nice day for an outdoor show, sunny and warm with a gentle breeze. I slathered on the sunscreen and spent a lot of time in the shade and managed to get some fresh air without getting a sunburn.

The band put on a good show, joined by dancers for every song — although the last two songs were people who joined in from the audience, including yours truly who found herself wishing she was dressed more appropriately for a raised stage! My classmates did a good job, especially considering the surprise pole at the front center of the stage. Oh, outdoor stages, you always have some quirks.

After the band’s set was over, it was time for SHOPPING! There were a fair amount of vendors set up outside, and a few inside. The offerings leaned a little bit more towards the sparkly side of the aisle. There was a bit of stuff for the tribal and fusion crowd, including Silk Road Tribal, but nothing of the scope of Magical Fashions’ booth full of 25 yard skirts or a Snake Church or Medina with mermaid skirts and fabulous bras, belts and headpieces. There were also a couple of henna booths, a music booth, a photographer, and Mishu Boutique, whose clearance rack I raided for a few cute shirts.

I also got some good socializing in during the event. The relaxed nature of things and the fact that I wasn’t performing or taking any workshops meant that I had a couple of hours to just hang out and talk with the people I knew and meet new people while I was shopping.

Lunaria Dance Theater, as seen from the sound booth.

After shopping, it was time to report in for my volunteer shift! The hosts of MedFest had put out a call for volunteers earlier in the week, so I emailed Saqra and she was kind enough to put me in charge of playing the music for the indoor stage, which meant I was sitting, out of the sun, and I got to watch the dancers! As far as volunteer jobs go it was pretty cushy!

I’d like to take this moment to apologize to any dancer who performed between 2-4pm and had music problems. I know I made a couple screw-ups because I am not usually a sound tech. Those whose music I did goof on were pros about it, so thank you!

Over all I had a really fun day and I can see why people enjoy the event so much. It felt very community-minded, with dancers complimenting each other on their performances, and hanging out with the vendors.

Sadly, next year will be the 30th and final MedFest! I’m definitely planning to spend the whole weekend there, as I’m sure it will be a great send-off for a beloved event.

PS: If you’re viewing this on a computer screen, you should see a neat new widget on the right hand side! Now my Patreon, newsletter, and social media are all in one convenient spot so you can support or connect with me however you like. Now is a great time to sign up for my monthly newsletter because a new one is coming this week!

Urban Decay Vice Lipstick

July 15, 2016Sophia Ravenna

So a couple of months ago Urban Decay announced they were launching their Vice lipstick in 100 shades, plus 20 Sephora-exclusive shades. Of course, each retailer would only carry 100, so that meant Sephora would be missing 20 colors… Look, if your lipstick launch is so big that a retailer can just drop 20 shades, maybe it’s TOO big?

There are some nice, unique shades in the launch, but there’s also a lot of colors that are almost identical to each other! I really think that if you’re like “Ok, I want this one weird color” you’ll be fine, but if you’re like “I want a red lipstick” and you go to the Vice display, you’re going to get overwhelmed by choice and get decision paralysis. Do you want a creamy red? a metallic red? a matte red? Ok, ultra matte or comfort matte? It’s too much. I guess they’re counting on people to go overboard and buy too many lipsticks, but I already have too many lipsticks, so I’m not getting sucked in!

Old Revolution lipstick on the left, new Vice lipstick on the right, — Old Revolution lipstick on the left, new Vice lipstick on the right.

I did decide to buy just one, because the color Big Bang was SO SPARKLY. I’m pretty bored of the matte lip trend so when I see something glittery for the lips I get excited. I was a little worried that Big Bang would end up being a little too Malibu Barbie though…

The Vice lipsticks come in a bullet that looks like, well, a bullet. Golden bottom and gunmetal casing. Not gonna lie, I kind of like it. Apparently it’s a throwback to the old school Urban Decay packaging back when the company was all cool and grungy. The outer shell and inner casing both say Urban Decay, and the lipstick itself is a nice classic shape, as opposed to the cut at a flat angle shape of the Revolution lipsticks.

Big Bang applied pretty easily. I could feel the grit of the glitter as I was applying it, but once it was on it settled down comfortably. I would like the color to be a little more opaque and intense — I suspect it might look better if I put down a hot pink liner all over the lip first. But it sure delivers on the glitter! This is the sparkliest of the Metallicized finish from the Vice launch. If they were all this sparkly, I would buy them all.

I ordered Big Bang when I did because Sephora was running a special where you could get this sample card of 24 Vice colors. It’s a cute concept, each color is in its own little blister like a pill, which makes it really easy to try them. I tried out Conspiracy for the Metallic day for the 10 Day “Every Day is Gig Day” makeup challenge and it was easy to apply with a lip brush. I do wish they had put in a few more of the unusual colors, but I appreciate that there are a few choices from each finish.

Anyway, I’ve been wearing Big Bang for about 5 hours now, I danced a lot and I ate and drank. Most recently I just had a milkshake, so a lot of the color came off on the straw… But it’s still going strong around the edges. It hasn’t left my lips feeling dry, so I think this is a pretty good one for all-night gigs. You might have to touch it up but it won’t torture your lips.

If you want to know more about the Vice range, and see reviews for every color, Temptalia was sent the vault of all 120 colors and she reviewed every. single. one. I like her because she actually tries them all on her lips, instead of just doing arm swatches, and she tends to be pretty honest in her reviews.

Oh, and speaking of trying on lips, Urban Decay has a Vice app that you can use to try on every color, virtually. It’s a cute app, and it does a good job of knowing where your lips are and applying the color, but for both Conspiracy and Big Bang it showed the colors more intensely than they applied in real life, so I don’t think it’s completely accurate. Still, it’s a fun way to see how you would look in purple or blue lipstick, and you can save the pics and send to your friends or share on social media.

Professional Ambitions: Social Media Presence

July 12, 2016Sophia Ravenna

Instagram is just one part of your social media presence.

Welcome to the latest installment in my ongoing monthly series Professional Ambitions. Learn alongside me as I pursue a career as a professional fusion belly dancer.

Chances are, if you’re reading this blog, it’s because we’re connected on social media. Facebook, Twitter and other platforms serve as a meeting place for belly dancers from all over the world. If you want to be a professional, it’s important to have a good social media presence to connect you with potential clients, students, and your fellow professionals.

Note that I said a GOOD social media presence. It’s not just about having accounts on every relevant network. It’s about actually being active and posting content that people actually want to see, read, and interact with.

Think about what you want to get out of the time that you put into your social media. Are you primarily looking to advertise your classes or workshops? Then your content should revolve around the educational aspects of belly dance — share articles about the benefits of dance and exercise, and about developing good practice habits. Are you more interested in getting performance opportunities (paid or otherwise)? Then you should share videos of yourself dancing, and talk about all the skills you’re working on to make yourself an even better performer. Are you mainly interested in networking with other dancers? Then be fun and friendly, and share a variety of cool dance-related content.

Try to avoid being too negative on social media. We all have bad days where we just want to vent, and sometimes we do have to share some bad news as well, but if your feed is overwhelmingly full of complaints and criticism, you may find that people are less willing to engage with you. This is especially important if you’re advertising yourself as a teacher or performer. Students want a teacher who is going to have a welcoming attitude, and hosts want a performer who is going to be the life of the party. Even if you are able to turn on the charm in professional settings, people are not going to expect that if your social media feeds are overwhelmingly unpleasant.

It’s up to you how you want to handle your personal profile, how political, religious, and divisive you want to get, and how you handle the balance between non-dance stuff and dance stuff. But any professional profile, such as a Facebook fan page or an Instagram account for your dance studio, should be mostly dance stuff. The occasional cute story about your kids or pets or something that happened in your daily life is a good humanizing touch, but your main focus should be dance-related content.

A big part of having a good social media presence is to interact with other people. Don’t just post content and then wait for people to respond. Read what other people post. Respond. Share it on your own wall or fan page to get other people talking about it. Participate in group discussions. ReTweet things. Join an Instagram photo challenge. Leave nice comments on YouTube videos. Be a part of the community!

A good social media presence is such an important thing. It will help you connect with other dancers in your local sphere, but also with workshops hosts, event promoters, musicians, photographers, students, and more. Some of these connections will even turn into deep, lasting friendships. Social media can not only really boost your career, it can also enhance your life.

Julep Nail Wipes + A Makeup Challenge!

July 8, 2016July 8, 2016Sophia Ravenna

After the fail that was the e.l.f. nail polish remover pads, I decided I’d try Julep’s offering. I figured since it’s a higher-quality company, they’d be better, and since they were individually wrapped, they wouldn’t dry out, and maybe I would finally have the perfect travel nail polish remover solution.

You can get a 10-pack of these Clean Slate Polish Remover Pads for $14, or $11.20 if you’re a Julep Maven. That’s a bit expensive per each, but it would be worthwhile to bring on long trips to change my polish on the go. Each pad is a decent-sized rectangle of decently thick material infused with nail polish remover. You’re supposed to apply to the nail, let it soak for a couple seconds and then wipe it off. How did it go?

Yeah, I’m not very impressed. The pad seemed to dissolve the top coat, because it left my nails looking dull, but it barely removed any color, let alone the fine glitter in my polish — which, by the way, is a Julep color, so they should play nice! It started out feeling moist but quickly dried out. I figured, maybe it’s just a dud so I broke out another one…

The second one started off strong but only got through two and a half nails before drying out. I thought about seeing how many pads it would take to clean off all 10 nails, but honestly, I’ve got better things to do today!

Speaking of better things to do…

Inspired by monthly makeup photo challenges but not quite up to 31 days of makeup every day, my friends Becka Bomb, Mandy and I worked together to come up with a fun 10 day belly dance makeup challenge! Each day we’ll each do our own interpretation of the day’s challenge — and you’re welcome to play along, too! We’ll officially start on Monday, July 11th. If you can’t start on Monday, you can either hop on in the middle and play along for the duration, or choose your own start date and complete all 10 days. Just make sure you tag it #everydayisgigday so we can all see it! Let me know if you have any questions about the themes!

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