Since it’s winter time, lets talk about skin care. This can be really tricky especially if you are a teenager. The problem that I see often, is that there are sooo many options when it comes to skincare, that sometimes people overdo it. When you are a teen and your body is going through all of these changes, it really takes itself out on your skin. So if you start to break out, you try to use acne fighting ingrediants which can overdry your face.  Sometimes, by using these products your face will get worse. If you overdry your face, then the dead skin clogs your pores.  Then you really have a problem because you have dry skin ontop of oily skin.

This is my advice: If you try Proactive, then start out by using the face wash once a day instead of twice.  Gradually work your way up to using it full strength.  If your skin starts to get dry, wash your face with a washcloth to buff that dry skin off. I just bought a clarisonic pro which I love! It is a handheld facial brush that spins to get all of the dry skin off. It  is expensive, but amazing.

I like to use an antibacterial soap like purpose or neutrogena, with a washcloth. Then IF you need a toner, the proactive toner is fabulous. Then an oil free  moisturizer. Try and take skin care step by step….without causing dry flaky skin.

Now adays, you can purchase makeup brushes at a very resonable price.  If you spend the extra money on some good brushes, you can keep them for a long time.  I usually use MAC brushes, just because they are very easy for me to pick up at the mall,(and because I get a huge discount for working on a television show:)). Even though they a re expensive, I still find that they shed on my face sometimes which is a little annoying. When I travel, I use a travel set. I sell these on my website for $15! www.rachelrossmakeup.com They come ina roll up bag, and they are great. They have 6 brushes inside, and that includes my favorite eyeliner brush.

Whatever brushes you buy, make sure that you keep them clean. If you reuse the same brush, you can spread dirt and oil all over your face, which will cause breakouts.

Every couple of weeks you should wash your brushes in warm water and shampoo. You will be so amazed at the dirt and old makeup that comes out. When they are clean, roll them up in a towel to soak up the water, and then lay them on your bathroom counter with the brush end hanging off.  Or put them in a glass standing upright until they are dry.

If you are using your brushes on other people, you can buy some brush cleaner at Sally’s beauty supply, or Clinique and dip your brush into it and wipe them clean on a peper towel. It dries in a couple of minutes. That’s what the professionals do.

Bobby Pins!!!!!!

I would like to talk about Bobby Pins today.

I bet 90% of people are using bobby pins the wrong way. 

On a bobby pin, there is a smooth side, and a ridged side. Usually people will put the smooth side against the head……WRONG!

The smooth side will slip right off, as soon as you start dancing around on stage.  The ridged side is what goes against the head. When I am pinning a bun, I take the bobby pin, and with the smooth side down….I pick up some of the hair and push it away from the bun. Then I flip it over and with the ridged side down, secure it against the head. This will cut the number of pins that you use in half:)

This is how you use a HAIR PIN as well. You use the pin to pick up some hair going away from the bun or french twist….and then flip it around and secure it.

Actually that’s a lie. I won’t actually be home for Christmas, but I WILL be home after the New Year from January 4-14th!!! I’m so excited to see everyone and to teach some classes again! I still have 2 days of school left, a rehearsal on Wednesday, and a music final on Thursday, but I leave on Friday, Dec. 18th! Just incase some of you are interested here is what I’ll be doing during my winter travels.

First, I fly into LAX where I’ll be greeted by my mother and then we will drive to the Huntington Beach Hyatt where we’ll check out the location for my wedding!!! I have the date set to August 6th, 2011. My mom has already seen the hotel and loves it, but once I give it the official “ok” then Chester and I can send out save the dates! I’m so very excited!!!

Next, I will drive to south county to have dinner with my South County Dance girls! I’ll only be visiting for just that one night, but I will get to spend lots more time with them when I’m back in January.

Saturday, Dec. 19th I get to attend the wedding of Andrea Hosfod and Kevin Oberlander. Andrea is part of BARE Dance Company of which I was a part of for the past 3 years so I will be celebrating their marriage with them. Yay!

Sunday, Dec. 20th I fly out to West Palm Beach, Florida! My Aunt has a timeshare so I will be spending just a couple of days with my mom, aunt, grandma, and sister.

THEN on Wednesday, Dec. 23rd I fly into Juneau, Alaska where I’ll FINALLY get to see my fiancé, his parents and my dogs!!! I’ve missed them so very much and I can’t wait!!! I’ll get to spend Christmas and New Years with them. I will also be freezing my butt off, but it’ll all be worth it.

Saturday, Jan. 2nd I then fly to CA!!! I get to spend a good two weeks there and I will be teaching all over the place! I’m so very excited to share all the things I’ve been learning over here at Tisch. Can’t wait!!! For those of you who are interested here’s a sneak peek to my schedule in my CA visit:

Monday, Jan. 4th
Subbing for Clarisse at South County Dance
2:30-10pm

Tuesday, Jan. 5th
Taking and observing classes/dances at South County Dance

Wednesday, Jan. 6th
Taking class somewhere most likely Jazz 4 with Mike Esperanza at Jimmy Defore!
Work on Jerome’s solo costumes!!!

Thursday, Jan. 7th
Taking class somewhere…
Work on Jerome’s solo costumes!!!

Friday, Jan. 8th
Privates at South County
***Teaching at Lovett Dance Center 6:00-8:30pm*** Come take!!!

Saturday, Jan. 9th
Observing at South County Dance/helping Jerome with his privates

Sunday, Jan. 10th
Privates ALL DAY at South County

Monday, Jan. 11th
Teaching at OCHSA – ALL of Brenda’s Jazz 3 classes Blocks 4,5, and 6!!!

Sub for Alexa at South County Dance??? 8-9pm

Tuesday, Jan. 12th
***Teaching at Elevation Studios 8:30-10:00pm*** COME TAKE!!!

Wednesday, Jan. 13th
Possibly teaching Boogiezone class???

Thursday, Jan. 14th
Subbing for Clarisse at South County Dance 3:00-9:30pm

Well, I’m counting down the days. It will be so nice to be around familiar surroundings and people again. Can’t wait!!!

Hello everyone…I am alive! I officially made it through my Christmas showcase and it was wonderful!!!! It was a small first showcase, but filled with friends and family and long-time students. Everyone enjoyed themselves and I think it was a great success.

So for me I am now onward to my next mission…I never take a break! I am going to be competing with my professional partner in the American Smooth division of ballroom competitions hopefully in February or March of 2010.  I have a lot of work ahead of me as far as choreography, cleaning up technique, finding a dress (saving $3500 for a dress aaaaahhhhh) etc.  But I really feel likes it’s my time to think of me and try something new. I have a wonderful partner who is looking out for my best interests so I feel like I am in good hands. I will keep you all posted on my progress and post some pictures as soon as I get them from my Christmas show.

Happy Holidays

Today I’m talking about foundation.

There are sooooo many options when it comes to chosing a foundation for your skintype.

For everyday makeup, I like to use a tinted moisturizer first, and then add concealer to trouble spots.  Especially if you have young nice skin.

If you are a little older and require more coverage, then you might want to move on to a cream or liquid foundation. Some favorites of mine are Armani (expensive but fabulous), Lancome, Revlon,  and Loreal.

I also really LOVE mineral makeup.  Bare essenctuals is the best, but there are many drugstore brands.

For stage, I always recommend Sally Hansen Spray on Foundation. This will stay on FOREVER! It even covers tattoos. If you go over this with a mineral powder you can be sure that your face will stay put under any sweat, or heat.

hey hope everyone is doing well.  I jus finshedchecking out some of DDS new stuff on their website it looks super fun!  i don’t know if im supposed to write that i did the last photoshoot with them but i think its ok? ha anyway it was amazing i had a blast and the staff there is amazing they really work hard to being you guys the best stuff and quick!  But other than that i’ve just been keeping as busy as i can.  Sonya Tayeh’s Endurance to Move show was absolutely amazing and a wonderful thing to be apart of.   i recently performed at the DizzyFeet foundation charity at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles which was absolutely amazing. It felt great to do charity event especially at this time of year also i did the power of youth charity event at Paramount Studios which was amazing as well.  It always feel amazing to give back especially to a community that has been soo amazing to all of us.

other than that i am also thankful to be apart of a new nickelodeon tv show coming out in february titled victorious its about a performing arts school and it was soo fun to shoot the intro sequence especially to see so many familiar faces. That was also one of a few direct booking which was absolutely amazing to hear from my agent. DDO.  They are really doing awesome right now.

so just wanted to share some of my updates with you.  but this is my favorite time of year so lets all be thankful for all our wonderful blessing we have! happy holidays to you all!

Hello everyone!

I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving break! Only about 3 more weeks until Christmas!!!

I just had a great two weeks with my mom visiting here. It’s been so nice having someone around when I come home, especially if that someone is a mother who cooks you great home-cooked meals! I love you, mom!

So one of the performances we saw over the Thanksgiving break was Complexions Contemporary Ballet. I remember first seeing this company perform at the Laguna Beach Dance Festival, and seeing Desmond Richardson dance was absolutely breath-taking. Unfortunately, the night we went did not have any of his dancing in the program, which left me quite sad. However, the dancers are very amazing and it was nice getting to see such strong modern and pointe dancers with such elegance and control. Here is a different review than the one I provided before:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/arts/dance/23complexions.html?ref=dance

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed with the program that I saw. I wasn’t expecting to see ground-breaking choreography, but I was expecting pieces with a little more richness to it. The pieces that were shown were excerpts of longer works, but even still, I felt there could have been more depth to the choreography than simply showing off beautiful legs and tilts. Even though I am a HUGE fan of beautiful legs, if it isn’t shown off in an interesting way one can get very bored with it and not think anything of it’s greatness. So I guess the lesson learned here is that next time I see Complexions I should probably check to make sure that Desmond Richardson is dancing. Here are some videos on youtube that I found of him dancing, however, nothing is quite as strong unless you see him dance live.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q6qihxWsylE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0ab0Qbh1Lk

Hope you enjoy the videos and thanks for reading!!!

False Eyelashes

Today I’m going to talk about the application of false eyelashes.

Using strip eyelashes is an absolute must for stage in  my book.  Even if you already have long lashes, the strip lash will make your eyes look HUGE and absolutely gorgeous!

Here are the steps you will need to take when applying:

1. CUT THE LASH (you can measure the strip against your real lash, or just cut the srip in half)

2. Squirt a dot of lash glue on a napkin and spread it on the strip with a bobby pin.  You only need to use enough glue to cover the srtip. If you use too much glue it can get on your regular lashes.

3. Let the glue gert tacky. Wait about 20 nseconds so that the glue isn’t slippery.

4. Line up the lashes with your outer lashes. If you are puting these on someone else, it is easier to have that person sit while you stand next to them. This way you can see better, and you can literally lay the false lashes on top of the real ones. 

5. Finally…you can top this off with a coat of mascara. If you cut the lashes in half this will blend them together.

You can re-use lashes too.  Just peel them off when you are done, remove the glue and put them back on the tray. If you accidentally used too much glue and it hurts to pull them off, just get them wet, and they’ll slide right off.

If you are allergic to lash glue, then you might have an allergy to latex.