How to Incorporate Winter 2016/17 Trends Into Your Concert Look

Hair

• Leave a face-framing piece of hair out of your ponytail and curl it. 
• Do a deep side part.
• Wear your hair up in a knot or a dancer bun. (Make sure you have a lot of time to prepare--and a lot of bobby pins and hair spray.)
• Just quickly brush your hair--a natural look is in!
• Wear one bold (but not too bold) hair accessory with two small, complimentary hair accessories.
• Tie your ponytail with a sparkly elastic. 

Makeup

• Reach for the highlight. 
• Put a red or berry water tint, balm stain, or lipstick on your lips. Alternatively, add clear gloss or nothing.
• Go for a classic winged liner look with black, navy, or purple liner.
• Copper eyeshadow makes a statement, but can be worn in the concert setting. Alternatively, go for a bit of green or purple if you're especially daring.
• Smoke out that lower lash line. 
• Alternatively, wear no eye makeup.
• Fill in your eyebrows sparingly or don't.
• Apply mascara.

Clothing

• Wear a shirt with a sparkly collar or wear a simple necklace. 
• Classic simplicity is in. You're in luck.
• Wear a dress with a velvet top. 
• Go for dress shoes with laces or cute bootlets.
• Good news: ALL BLACK IS IN!!!!! 

Overall

• Find your individual style while staying within the guidelines.
• Err on the side of conservative, especially with such dramatic trends.

How to Dress For Your Instrument Type

In General

• Do not wear ill-fitting clothing. Not only does it look sloppy, it impedes playing. In general, concert attire should not impede your breathing, cut off your circulation, or bunch in awkward places. Conversely, it should not fall off your body, look like you're wearing a sack, or feel like you're wearing a stage curtain.
• Excessively voluminous sleeves are to be avoided. They will annoy you, block the audience's and ensemble's views, and just be a nuisance in general.
• Measure yourself for your concert attire when you have eaten a full meal and have been siting for a while. 
• If you are able to fit two different sizes equally well, pick the size you think looks better on you. 
• Avoid clothes that have itchy seams or tags.
• Wear undershirts under white shirts if necessary. There are certain things best left to the audience's imagination.

Winds

• Do not wear corsets, binders, or other restrictive clothing.
• Avoid clothes that are tight on the neck. Tie wearers, do not tie your tie too tight. Keep the area around the larynx clear if you can.
• You can do fitted clothes as long as they are not tight. 
• Trumpets and flutes, avoid clothes that are restrictive in the shoulder area. Test your range of motion in a fitting room or study the seams in the picture if you are ordering online.
• Reed players, get pants with pockets that can hold your reed case. 
• Double reeds, make sure to get a nice bag to put your reeds and reed supplies in. 

Strings

• Make sure you can bow properly in the sleeves.
• Violins and violas, make sure you can move your neck and get your instrument into position.
• Dress-wearing cellos, make sure your dress is long enough so you do not show anything while sitting down. The audience does not want to see your undergarments.
• Cellos and basses, make sure you won't snag your kickstand on your clothing. 
• Harps, avoid clothes that drag unless you want death by harp. I can imagine, as a flutist, that death by harp is unpleasant.

Percussion

• Wear clothes that allow you to move heavy objects.
• Don't wear things that make noise when you move unless you were told to do so.
• Make sure you can move your wrists freely. 
• Look into moisture-wicking clothes if you are going to move around a lot.  
• Floor-length dresses are a bad idea because of the amount of rolling equipment.

PSA To Ensemble Directors

I have not used this product yet, so I do not know if it works. I just thought it was worth knowing about it.

I don't know if any of you have a "no-jewelry" policy, but you should know about these and why you should make an exception for what looks like an unusual ring.

Image Description: A cellist or bassist's hands playing their instrument. On the right, it shows the lateral support splint.

These "ring splints" should be treated like assistive devices and not jewelry because they are such. They provide an alternative to surgery and injections for management of hypermobility, misalignments, instability, trigger fingers, and other afflictions related to the fingers. You may even wish considering referring an ensemble member to a therapist for measurement and fitting. 

Ring splints may be attractive, but they do serve a practical purpose in improving a finger's usability and decreasing pain. If you do not permit ensemble members to use ring splints, it is the equivalent of prohibiting the use of a leg brace or a cast. While there are more therapeutic-looking products available on the market, these ring braces are less conspicuous onstage and are custom made for the wearer's fingers. 

Since these are rather expensive, let those who have them wear them during performances as playing a musical instrument usually involves much work of the hands. Cheaper, less aesthetically pleasing alternatives may not provide the proper support or fit awkwardly. It may have adverse effects on the performer's self-esteem if they have to settle for less due to a policy they fear breaching with an assistive device. (Hypermobility and anxiety do have some connection.) 

Tips for Marching Band

• Wear something under your marching uniform. It makes getting out of them much more convenient and you never know when you're going to need to unzip.
• Bring water. Every other person says it and I will too. Dehydration impedes concentration and judgment skills.
• Eat beforehand if your director does not allow you to eat in the stands. 
• Make sure your marching shoes are available for quick grabbing.
• If you fall, get up and find your steps as quickly as possible. It looks better than running off the field in indignation. Expect to be trampled in the process. 
• Entirely forgo the makeup unless your director explicitly told you to wear it. It is likely to fall apart during marching band and feel tacky as well as distract from the uniformity of the band.
• Breakouts? The RapidClear Stubborn Acne Daily Leave-On Mask works wonders. Apply it in the morning and go about your day as normal. The product is quite powerful, so I strongly advise doing a patch test.
• Wear an antiperspirant/deodorant. If you get a rash, switch products. Tom's of Maine makes these aluminum-free and with natural ingredients. 
• Have fun with it. 

Please Listen To Your Body

I went to a rehearsal at Wildwood. My stomach hurt a little, which was normal as I had gorged myself in anticipation of the day to come. As the rehearsal progressed, the pain got worse. I just thought I had a hard time digesting until the lower portion of my chest felt like it was on fire. This made it difficult to breathe and sit correctly. Multiple people corrected my posture during this time. I complied, not wanting anyone to mistake me for a malingerer.

Every accent felt like fanning the flames. The rest of the rehearsal left me in some awful pain. I didn't care about musical quality at that point, just making it though the rehearsal without vomiting or making a scene. When the rehearsal ended, I had to lie down, drink water, and wait for it to go away since there were no antacids available. I ended up learning my lesson about listening to my body the hard way--and I learned to limit my intake of orange slices.

Musicians, please listen to your bodies. I regret not leaving rehearsal earlier. If you feel too sick to continue with a rehearsal, please ask for a break. You are not lazy or less of a musician for asking for a break if you feel ill. If it occurs during a performance, give yourself a moment during intermission or in between songs. Use your trusted remedies if possible. Drink water at your desired pace and make sure you are truly okay to get back. If you will actually vomit, get off the stage as discreetly as possible and and find the trashcan backstage. (There usually is one.)

Yes, this is a beauty blog, but beauty is more than skin-deep. Health is the foundation for beauty. If you do not take care of yourself, it will show eventually. Especially since music is a heavily body-related activity, you should take care of your health as much as, if not more than, a non musician. The same goes for your mental health as well, which some people often forget is a subset of your physical health. The brain is a physical member of the body that undergoes physical processes that control the rest of your body's physical processes.

It is easy to forget your health as a musician due to the nature of such a field. However, please realize that health is the key to many things. Without it, you will suffer many losses.

Peripera Lip Water and Benetint Comparison

Peripera (Strawberry Juice):
Bright pink (Cherry Juice is close in color to Benetint.)
Flexible doe foot applicator
Very pigmented and buildable
Not super drying
Very few (if any) allergic reaction horror stories
Bright, sweet floral/candy scent
Does not transfer onto my flute
Ingredients are:
Water, Butylene Glycol, Alcohol, Glycerin, Carica Papaya Fruit Extract, Butylene Glycol, Portulaca Oleracea Extract, Arnica Montana Flower Extract, Artemisia Absinthium Extract, Achillea Millefolium Extract, Gentiana Lutea Root Extract, Glycolic Acid, Peg-60 Hydrogenated Castor Oil, Lactic Acid, Sodium Lactate, Salicylic Acid, Disodium Edta, Methylparaben2, Propylparaben, Fragrance 
$6-9 depending on the shade, but Candy Juice is around $25. (Prices vary from place to place.)

Benetint:
Sheer red
Nail polish applicator
Not as pigmented, but buildable
Very drying
Lots of allergic reaction horror stories
Smells like roses
Ingredients are:
Water, Polysorbate 20, Phenoxyethanol,Sodium Hydroxide, Carmine (Ci 75470), Methylparaben, Fragrance, Tetrasodium Edta,Geraniol, Linalool, Hexyl Cinnamal, Citronellol, Maltodextrin, Benzyl Salicylate, BHT, N° 00n12802.
Does not transfer onto my flute
$30

I hope this helps you to invest in a water tint that suits your needs. Let me know which one you prefer.

How to Rock Horrible Concert Attire

I'm sure we've all had to wear something unflattering in a concert setting at one time or another. For example, I had to wear plain black separates (9782AA and 509AA on Formal Fashions) with an awkward slit in the back of the skirt. They were drab and many of my friends said they looked like nuns whilst in them. Not only that, they were tight in the shoulder area. I hated these clothes as did many of the other female ensemble members. However, I had a few tricks up my sleeve for dealing with it.

1. Commiserate with other ensemble members. Chances are it's not only you who hates the overall drabness, tightness in the wrong places, unflattering cut, or whatever you hate about the chosen attire. Venting your frustrations to your peers will most likely prevent you from taking them out on the director.
2. Accessorize--within reason. A pretty headband or an elegant necklace can make all the difference. Just make sure you check with your director on rules regarding accessories and don't go overboard.
3. Consider different sizes. If you can fit different sizes equally comfortably, pick the size that you feel looks best on you. You may like getting the skirt a size larger for the swishy feel it has with the extra fabric or getting the top smaller to define your figure a little more if you can get separates.
4. Remember your role as an ensemble member. You are not the director. Do well with what you have and, if you don't like it, deal with it. You do not have to like it, but you must comply with the director's rules. If you don't like them, leave the ensemble and find another one.
5. If there is a real problem, address it. There are issues that override the director's authority such as the health and safety of the ensemble and yourself. For instance, if multiple musicians are getting heat sick at an outdoor summer concert from performing in long-sleeved dresses and/or full tuxedos, voice your concerns to the director. Work out a compromise and, if your director is unwilling to do so, leave the ensemble and warn others about the director. 
6. Display confidence. Good posture, eye contact, and a smile are your go-to accessories for every outfit. They can elevate every look--and I mean every look.