Pageant Beauty Secrets

In honor of Miss Idaho week I have been stalking up on all the pageant girl beauty secrets. I reached out to my former Miss Idaho sisters and we pooled out tips and tricks from our time competing in the Miss America Organization. And here are some of our best!

Removing makeup. Instead of eye makeup remover, use Vaseline The makeup comes off great and it makes your eyelashes feel soft and thick and grows more quickly.

Dirty hair styles better. Dry shampoo is your friend! But for blondes - you can use baby powder. It soaks up the oil and you can go for longer without washing your hair. It makes it easier to style, and if you run out of baby powder some girls will even use baking powder!

Get that glow. If you don't have a highlighter, use a soft pink shimmery or pearly white eyeshadow on cheeks for a shimmery glow.

Pinch for pink. Want a little natural flush? Pinch your cheeks a few times to replace any worn off blush. Or use lipstick as a blush replacement.

Clean up shadows. Eyeshadow can be messy. Lots of dust drops off the brush when moving it from pallet to face. Make sure you don't leave the eyeshadow dust sitting there, pick it up with a piece of scotch tape.

Prime. ALWAYS use a primer. Under foundation and eyeshadow. It helps keep make up in place longer. 

Define your face. Use a couple different colors of foundations to create shading on your face. Use a darker foundation on your nose and forehead, and right under the cheek bones and then also the sides of your jaw underneath a little bit. And use your regular foundation everywhere else.

Fake your skinny. Need to smooth out some lines or fit into that smaller dress? Don't crash diet or go without eating. Grab a shaper or pair of spanx.

Make your muscles pop. Need a little umph in your legs and arms before heading to a party? Do a few quick reps and your muscles will make a nice showing. 20 lunges on each side, 18 curls, 20 pushups (wall pushups count), and 10 squats. You are good to go!

Get rid of those flyaways in photos. Use clear mascara for flyaway hair. If your hair is dry get some clear mascara and brush it right on my hair to make the flyaways go down.

Volumize your hair without product. Blow dry your hair upside down and it'll give it more natural volume so that you don't have to use as much product. Using a round brush will also help with that and it's cheaper!

Stop smudges. for a quick, clean way to avoid mascara smudges, hold a plastic spoon under the upper and lower lashes to shield the rest of your eye makeup. It fits right under your eye.

Get more hair. Clip in extensions are a great to add volume and length. They also hold curl a lot better!

Always exfoliate. For a DIY exfoliation/moisturizing mask: homemade mixture includes 1/2 cup of oatmeal, tsp of olive oil and a tsp of honey! Rub in circular motions on face and wash with warm water!

Even exfoliate your lips. Put on lip balm and use an old toothbrush or mascara wand to gently scrub away dry skin. Then grab some scotch tape to pick up any pieces of dry skin remaining.

Keep eyebrows in check. Spritz an old toothbrush or a clean mascara wand with hairspray, then brush brows and style them as desired. Even the most hard to tame brows will fall in line with this trick.

Make your hair color last longer. Use cold water when rinsing your hair if it's colored, because the color will last longer.

Eat right, make your teeth white! Eating strawberries naturally whitens your teeth. 

Fake your tone. Need to make those muscles show up? You can contour your muscles too. Add a little bronzer to emphasize your muscle. Abs, legs, arms, clavicle.. you name it, you can contour it.

Don't over-lip. After applying lipstick always add some gloss. But don't over-gloss. Only place lipgloss on the middle third of your lips. It keeps lipstick from smearing and smudging throughout the night.

Pluck your eyebrows with light. Pluck eyebrows in your car - parked obviously - because you can receive more natural sunlight.

Get the red out. Dab of toothpaste to make the redness go down. Also adding lemon to water decreases acne.

Curl those eyelashes. If you have a metal eyelash curler use a blow dryer to heat it up. Then curl your eyelashes like you normally would but hold the curler in place until it cools down. It's just like using a curling iron on your hair.

Go bra-less. This one is too much info... but use duct tape. Hold in place, tape them up.

Become a bronzed beauty. Spray tans and tanning lotions work wonders. I prefer Sunlabs and use maskCara's tanning application process. Sally Hansen spray is great for a natural tan glow on legs - used with lotion helps it set better and not rub off.

But on top of all those trick and tips... genuine confidence and kindness are the real key to beauty! Now tell me... what are your beauty secrets? Pageant girl or not.. the world needs to know.