The Ritual Of Getting Ready
For those who don’t know, getting ready can be quite a ritual. Be it for stage, a night out, or just getting ready to face the day, it’s so much more than just painting your face on and going. There’s a whole process that comes before opening the front door and getting ready to face the world. I’m going to take you through some of my most important tips I use while getting ready to make sure I’m not just looking fabulous, but feeling it too! It’s not enough to just look good on the outside – follow these tips if you want to feel every bit as great on the inside as you look on the outside…
1: Waking well rested
This might sound obvious and might also sound not always possible, but the whole process to being fabulous starts the night before, wether it’s the morning you’re getting ready for or the following evening. A good night’s sleep is super important as we all know it’s impossible to just keep running on empty indefinitely. If you’ve got something important on the next day, make the time to have all your pre-bed tasks completed in advance. If it’s a special night out, wrap gifts or do your prep work in advance if you can, as time has a way of evaporating when you’re rushing to get ready. Make sure you get as much sleep as you can and, if it’s an evening you’re getting ready for, sometimes a good power nap can help.
The night before, drink plenty of water, have a pre-bed shower (or at least a face wash) – when you’re feeling pampered and relaxed, you’ll sleep much better. Remember to cleanse, tone and moisturise as part of your pampering, as your skin will thank you the next day. Besides, the better your skin is, the easier it is to apply your makeup!
2: Lists can be super helpful
If I’m gigging, I’ll try and have my outfits selected in advance, packed neatly (ish) into the suitcase, wigs chosen and neatened up, makeup checked and accounted for, everything ready to just grab and go. There’s nothing worse than getting to the venue and realising you’ve forgotten something, so even though I’ve practically got it all on autopilot now, I still write a checklist just to make sure I have everything. I hate to admit it, but I’m really forgetful and often terribly organised, so this is why I have lists to keep me on track. A contrasting parent of my personality is that I’m a perfectionist and if I’ve forgotten something and things can’t be exactly the way I planned them, it’ll knock my confidence all night.
It’s also worth doing a list of either what you’re wearing (or in my case, all of the outfits you intend to wear. If your time is short, have the outfit planned early. Try it on a day or two before – with the same undergarments you intend to wear. Make it effectively a ‘dry run’ and you can see what needs changing while you’ve still got time to do something about it rather than hastily trying to adjust or replan the entire outfit with mere minutes to go. There’s nothing worse than not looking well put together and you’ll be fixated on it the whole time. The goal of having it all prepped in advance is to take as many of the little doubts out of your mind before you even start, so you can focus on enjoying yourself.
3: Put the tights on in your bedroom
Slightly odd tip, but when I’m gigging, I turn up in my boy clothes and change at the venue. I know cross dressers who try to do this too as travelling fully dressed can be a little daunting if you’ve got to get public transport. What I do advise though is, at the very least, put your tights on before you leave the house. They’ll fit under your street clothes, even if the rest of your undergarments might not. Trust me, when you’ve got your bed to lean on to put these on, its far easier – have you ever tried to put tights on standing up and balancing? I have. It’s not fun. And, you also somehow end up with random floor dirt and gravel in them if you’re getting ready on a hard floor (or cellar, as I’ve had to do more times than I can count) – Just trust me on this, put the tights on in the comfort of your own home!
4: Take your time
Even if time is short, you’re going to want to make the time to do your makeup. If you’re anything like me, you’re always in a hurry. But at the same time, a rushed job on your makeup never feels as good. You spend half of your time that night wondering if you could’ve done it better or if you’d feel better if you had. Eliminate this buy taking your time. In fact, be fashionably late if you have to! If you ‘be had to go and change after work or something, people will usually understand, as we’re all under increased time pressures these days! Taking your time with your makeup and with getting ready in general will always make you feel better. This is your chance to make your self look fantastic, so don’t waste it by rushing it. Put some music on that gets you in the right mindset (I also find this helps me keep track of time, as I’m too busy actually doing my makeup to look at a clock). The key is, while taking your time and doing your very best work, you should also be building your excitement and getting into the zone of being the very best you that you can be! If you’re not smiling and brimming with excitement by the end of this process, then what are you doing?
5: Don’t forget to look in the mirror
Obviously, this goes without saying (well, for most of us – I’m still not sure about some of the girls I see on a Saturday night!). It’s super important to have that last minute check before we call the cab. Yes, before. If something’s wrong, you want time to fix it, don’t you? So check once before you call the cab and once on your way out of the door. Look at each bit seperately – hair, makeup, clothes, accessories, then overall. Make sure you look sharp!
Also, when looking in the mirror, remember to really look at yourself. Make eye contact with yourself and remind yourself that you’re sickening and, if you need to, say it out loud. In fact, look yourself square in the eye and tell your reflection “Bitch, you’ve got this!”
Put those shoulders back, stand up straight and turn on the charm. This is the time to start being what you want to see. Think of the body language you’d want to see from someone and do it.
Finally, open the door and give it all you’ve got! The curtain’s just come up on your best night ever!
