Having just completed my first rodeo queen pageant I thought I would let you know my top 10 tips for competing in a pageant yourself… or at least things that you should keep in mind! Things will all be beneficial things to remember for your pageant, whether it is next week or a few years down the road!
- Wean yourself off coffee and energy drinks. Don’t expect ANYTHING in the form of coffee or energy drinks; you just aren’t going to have the time for any of it. Not just that but you don’t want to look needy by always wanting some caffeine. If you are anything like me I was drinking more than my fair share of Dutch Brothers a week so, under the advice of my mom, I stopped drinking them altogether in January. The following migraines and headaches as I had no caffeine proved the theory that that was not how I would want to be feeling during a stressful pageant. …. On that note though, the soda I had with dinner was very welcoming for the energy!
- No make-up! Now I’m not saying during pageant and this probably doesn’t work with everyone’s skin type but for me it worked best that I didn’t wear any makeup in the weeks leading up to pageant. I took great care in using face wash, moisturizer, refining masks, and pore strips in order to make my skin the healthiest it could be. This also included a healthy diet leading up to pageant for not only my skin but my physical and emotional state. It also made my makeup look loads better when I wore it… or at least I think so!
- Curlers and back up curlers. Let me tell you about my life saver backup curlers. Yes, my originally planned on curlers worked but NO, my hat did not work. For some reason, my white hat didn’t get stretched enough to fit my heads strange shape like my black hat did. Joke was on me though, I was only wearing my white hat all weekend. Instead of panicking… I got creative. In my hunt for curlers of my own I found these steamer curlers. They work quite well but weren’t giving me the dramatic volume I figured I would need so I went back to my original resort of my sisters travel curlers. My mom, last minute, threw the back up curlers in anyway and oh my goodness did they save me butt. I spent that whole first night of pageant with that steamer fired up hand stretching my hat to get it to fit! Take the steamer unit. Always. On the note of curlers, my sister had told me about this nifty trick of using timers that you use for Christmas lights to set your curlers on a timer so that they would be hot and ready to go when you wake up. Since I curl my hair at night it wasn’t necessary for me but for those who are going to curl in the morning this is definitely something to consider investing in!
- Purse. I had a purse for the pageant that I took with me everywhere and kept some lifesaving devices in it. My study notebook (more later), bobby pins, hat cleaning brush, sharpies (multiple), makeup remover, baby wipes, hair pick, small can of hairspray, business cards, safety pins, and double sided tape. In the side pocket of my purse I would stick the lipstick and face powder container in the side for quick access. My face powder had a mirror in it so that doubled for my lipstick as well.
- Study book. I had written all of my notes into this small pocket sized book. I of course made it super cute complete with a jeweled “K” on the front and then dividers labeling every section. I was really relying on my knowledge for the weekend and so it was a comfort for me to continue to remind myself of fun facts and exciting events.Sections included different PRCA tours, rodeo terminology, current events, tips for each event including pertinent bible verses, horse information, current events, and whatever else I was terrified I would forget.
- Pantyhose. This is a huge lifesaver for your hair. I put my hair in two small rubber banded ponytails (well the rubber band is small, the ponytails not so much because I have a lot of hair), curl accordingly with hot curlers the night before, and then I would use scissors to (carefully!) cut the rubber band allowing my hair to fall down. At night I would wrap pantyhose, yup legitimate pantyhose, using the “legs” to secure the curlers down perfectly for sleeping. It’s also quite nice because I get thicker ones meaning they provide some cushioning allowing me to actually get some sleep.
- Advil. I almost never take any sort of medicine. I did, however, break that rule for pageant. I would take one Advil at night after my hair was put in curlers before going to bed allowing for a more restful sleep. I would also take one in the morning for the last day or two of pageant but mainly because my white hat was still so tight I was afraid of getting a crippling migraine (I am prone to those!).
- Hotel Requests. Request a wake up phone call every morning while also setting the in-room alarm clock. We had the tragedy of finding out that our in-room clock was switched on the PM and AM side of things which resulted in our alarm not going off the first morning. Thank heavens we had our phone call though, it absolutely saved us! Turns out we weren’t the only ones that had that issue. Our chaperones were also running a little behind because if it wasn’t for their cell phone alarm they never would have woke up! The second request at the hotel was to have the delivery of a newspaper (they were complimentary) every morning for us to skim through. Now the hotel never actually did this but I still stand behind it potentially being a great idea. With that being said we spent some of our downtime with the news on understanding that our judges, which were from out of state, may only be pulling questions about local news based off of the paper and news that they were getting while there for the weekend. I will admit that we did take a break one day and watched a Disney Channel Original Movie that was playing … total stress reliever and it felt good to be “human” again for an hour!
- Makeup Primer & Setting Spray. These were two must have’s for the pageant week. You are going to be wearing make up practically all day and it’s very important that you don’t NEED to touch it up. Of course it’s always important to check it out and see if you need to make any changes but you shouldn’t HAVE to fix it. To make that work I used the primer by Younique before starting my make up regiment. This was actually something I had to write myself notes to remember because I had never used primers before because I haven’t really been big on wearing make up all day, just putting it on for events. I had a travel setting spray, couldn’t even tell you what brand it is off the top of my head. It was nice though because I had got one to help hold your make up with perspiration which, being at a rodeo in the hot August sun, was a must! I actually put it on about two times a day just because I was worried about sweating off my make up (which was going to happen no matter what at the fashion show, yikes!).
- Platforms. I actually wrote these down, the very first thing in my little study book: My Platforms. The most important part of a pageant is remembering who you are and wanting to stay true to yourself but, in the midst of all the hubbub and mayhem, you can begin to copy or emulate the people around you. When the going gets tough and you’re getting exhausted and tired, don’t forget why you are there and what you want out of it. You can’t win a pageant being someone else, you can only by being YOU.
Do you have additions that you want to add to the list? Comment them below to submit them and, if I get enough more to add, I will move this up to 15 or 20 Tips for Competing in a Pageant.
Pacific North West Country Girl 