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.

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.

Idea: Accurate Mental Illness Lipsticks

I was appalled at seeing shades named "Manic" (dark red) and "Psycho" (true red) in a Vice palette. However, it inspired me to think of some new shades. Who wants Urban Decay to make these a reality?

Anhedonia-A pale pinky nude that will make your lips look as dull as a lack of pleasure

Confused-Is it a plum? Or a fuchsia? Is it matte? Cream? Demi-matte? This lip color will baffle you and is universally unflattering.

High-Functioning-A true red that projects the confidence you wish you (still) truly had

Mindfire-An orange as fiery as what your head feels like with a million things swarming through it each and every day

Rolling Girl-A rather innocent-looking pearly pink to disguise all the inner turmoil

Heartbroken-The blue undertones of this red make it resemble blood...and the tinge of sadness now present in your life.

Irrational-A galaxy vamp shade (purple, gold metallic streaks in a dark brown matte base) that makes absolutely no sense, just like your current state

Fear of Failure-Vivid coral as fun, refreshing, and invigorating as everything you want to be, but can't

Not Just-This demi-matte brick red shade is not just a cream or not just a matte, just like how your illness is not just a bad mood.

Sheer Exhaustion-A sheer peachy shade which is more of a tint than a stick that will hide the fact that you're exhausted

Useless-Metallic brown/white swirl that looks pretty in the palette, but is utterly useless in reality

Internal Screaming-A very dark and matte metallic red to color your lips before releasing your tornado of problems

Alienated-A very out of place lavender demi-matte for this collection, the odd one out in the bunch

I Hate Myself-A deep satiny plum for the days when you want to look as unrecognizable to yourself as you feel

Diversion-A sheer, shimmery fuchsia for distracting you from your inner demons

Recovery-A fun, shimmery warmer-toned pink for good days

How to Prevent Lipstick Transfer Onto Your Instrument

1. Use non-transferring products. Lipstain markers and water tints are always safe bets for this. From what I've heard on Bustle, the Topshop Beauty Velvet Lips lipstick is non-transferring. (Remove it with an oil-based makeup remover or coconut oil. You can use olive oil too.)
2. Set your lipstick with a powder. Just take some powder onto a brush and sweep it across your lips.
1. Baby powder is an inexpensive, easy solution for this. Your lipstick will look more pale, and the finish is a bit chalky.
2. Eyeshadows are a good option. You might wind up altering the color of your lipstick if you do not use an eyeshadow of the same color.
3. Translucent powder is the "best" option for a good finish that is true to color. If you apply too much, it will feel gritty on the lips. 
3.  Use a matte-ifier.  Smashbox Insta-Matte works for this. (I tested it at Sephora.)  However, it is rather expensive ($24.00 for 0.34 fl oz) and I understand that most musicians do not have huge budgets. The Maybelline Baby Skin Pore Eraser is a well-known dupe for this as are other matte-ifying primers (basically, anything with dimethicone in it).
4.  Do a "kiss test" to make sure you have eradicated all transfer. To do this, kiss your palm and press it into your face as hard as you can. Add more powder/matte-ifier until NOTHING comes off during the kiss test. 

Now you have a perfect pout as well as a perfect part for your concert! Here is a picture of me wearing Benetint for an audition. (I used two coats to achieve the look below.)

Inspiration from Beauty Vloggers #1: Rclbeauty101

Rclbeauty101 made DIY peel off lipstain using food coloring and school glue. Having fallen in love with the idea, I finally got around to doing it myself.

I created this with the intention of it being coral, but it turned out to be redder than I thought it would be. I call this shade Sinnamon Roll.

The stain does not transfer at all nor does it leave any sticky residue. This makes this DIY an excellent option for wind musicians that love lip colors. You can put lip balm over it, but you may not need to because it is not very drying unlike other lip products. (Generally, if it's not sticky, it's drying.) It comes off if you eat, but, otherwise, it creates a non-transferring, long-lasting stain.

What Your Concert Makeup Says About You

Base Makeup

• A matte finish with little to no contouring suggests a desire to balance and blend with the ensemble without standing out. You know what you're doing and more confident than you make yourself out to be.
• Intense contouring suggests a competitive, fierce spirit and initiative. You are a strong musician and know it very well. You pride yourself in your strength and competence and likely need to feel like you need to have control over something in all facets of life.
• Moderate contouring indicates a desire to stand out and lead, but not come across as too domineering. You may not necessarily want to beat out every single person in your section, but it certainly would be nice.
• A dewy finish with little to no contouring suggests that you are a bit shy and want others to lead you. You are likely loyal to your section leader and prefer deferring to others for important musical decisions.
• A total lack of makeup suggests that you do not care how you come off to other people. You are individualistic and less likely to care about the ensemble as a whole more than what music means to you.

 Blush

• A neutral blush suggests that you are nonconfrontational and generally pleasant to be around. You are somewhat of a perfectionist as most musicians are.
• A red blush conveys warmth, vigor, and alacrity. Likely, you are temperamental and somewhat irascible, especially musically.  
• A pink blush suggests that you are cute and bashful. You are shy, somewhat perfectionistic, and secretly want to be noticed.

• A plum or mauve blush is a mark of individuality. For better or worse, you don't care what others think and enjoy.
• No blush on an otherwise made-up face indicates excessive seriousness and an analytical mind. Either that or you did not have time to put blush on.

Lipstick

• Deep red lipstick, as a classic color, indicates respect for tradition and at the same time initiative and expertise. You are classy and have naturally refined tastes, but you also like to have a little fun.
• Bright red lipstick indicates that you are fierce, confident, and love the spotlight. You want all eyes on you and you're not ashamed of it. An assertive, fun-loving person like you probably gravitates towards faster, louder music. 
• Fuchsia lipstick says "fun" and that is exactly what you are. You are demonstrative, trusting, and are not afraid to express yourself. You do not necessarily want to control or be controlled, but you're fine with either as long as you can smile and go with the flow.
• A pale pink is a cute, understated color and you are exactly that. You are conflict-averse, yet you are passionate about what you love. Even if it does not show on the surface, you are deeply principled and doggedly persistent.
• Nudes convey normality or a desire to be normal. You may not be the most confident or outgoing, but you have a strong work ethic.
• If you wear no lipstick, you are either a wind musician who has not yet found a trustworthy lip product or do not want to draw attention to yourself. You let other things about you speak for themselves.

Note:

I am not trying to copy JennaMarbles with this post. To be honest, I'm not much of a fan of her videos. Makeup personalities are fascinating to me and this is just my interpretation of things.

American or Asian-Style Makeup for Concerts?

Which do you prefer for concert settings?

Western Makeup

• In General
• Fierce, sexy aesthetic
• Emphasis on shaping the face
• Uses more brushes   
• Matte finish with sharp lines
• In a Concert Setting 
• Regarded as professional
• May be too conspicuous if overdone
• Conveys expertise and initiative
• Lip colors and wind instruments can be a problem.

Asian Makeup

• In General
• Cute, innocent aesthetic
• Emphasis on softness
• Uses more fingers and powders 
• Dewy finish with soft lines
• In a Concert Setting
• Doesn't stand out too much
• Might be too "cute" for some
• Conveys humility and approachability
• Lip glosses stick to wind instruments.

I hope this is a helpful guide so that you can decide what kind of makeup makes you feel the most fluteiful during concerts.