Burlesque actress Anya Pavlova about favorite work and cosmetics
FOR THE FACE "HEAD" we study the contents of beauty cases, dressing tables and cosmetic bags of interesting characters to us - and we show all this to you.
About care
I laugh all the time that I have chosen for myself a job with which every trip to a beauty salon and every new lipstick is an investment, not a waste of money. On the other hand, I cannot say that I devote a lot of time to caring for myself. I try to make nourishing face masks every 3-4 days, a mask for hair from coconut oil - once a week, a scrub of coffee and olive oil for the whole body - every 7-10 days. In the conditions of constant traveling and running around, the best solution for the hands turned out to be to make gel nails, which with many defects can look neat for 8-15 days at least until they start to grow strongly.
Honestly, in all care for myself, the most difficult thing was not a smooth face and not silk hair (all the same, to save time and confidence, as a result, I almost always act in a wig), but smooth skin everywhere, especially on my legs and back. In winter, this means constant struggle with dryness (coconut oil helps), in the summer - with traces of uneven tanning (tanning helps) and bruises (Ballet tonal cream on the whole body, but not on the face in any way). And yes, everyone has cellulite and stretch marks, and burlesque actresses do not hesitate to admit it - we just cover them with sparkles.
I fly a lot, and often I have to go to the show right after the plane. In this case, I always try to immediately wash off the makeup with coconut oil, make a face massage for myself, wash my face, put on a nourishing mask and sleep for at least 20-25 minutes, then wash off the mask and drink a couple of glasses of water. In flight, I always use a denser tone than in everyday life, and I always paint my lips with moisturizing lipstick.
About day makeup and stage image
I really like makeup, but I don’t really like to experiment in everyday life, so my daily look is always about the same: even tone (I add a moisturizer and a few drops of liquid highlighter for even shine), dark wide eyebrows, which I paint with black shadows , thick mascara eyelashes (upper and lower), necessarily powder highlighter, peach blush and transparent powder. In the evening - dark lipstick: burgundy, purple, black or blue. I used to spin retro-scoops daily on my head, but at some point I was tired of them and now I often wear loose hair, let it mean that I now spend three times more money on care.
How do I paint on the show and do we have a makeup standard? The first artists of modern burlesque spent a lot of time with drag-quin, and almost all of us are now learning how to make-up from them. And, frankly, we love to read on the Internet discussions about the fact that someone has once again been mistaken for a man in makeup - this is the best compliment! Stage makeup should be very, very bright, catchy and well complement the rest of the image. All in one way or another use glitter (on the eyes or lips), insane false eyelashes and, of course, contouring.
As I usually do shows in the style of the 20s, my usual makeup is a flapper girl: a hard contour of cheekbones and nose, a blush with a soft oval on the whole cheek, very thin eyebrows lowered from the outside to the corner of the eye, shiny silver or gold shades on mainly century and black matte - on the perimeter. Two pairs of false eyelashes, lower and upper (sometimes more, if the room is very large, I glue a few pairs of eyelashes to at least somehow see the eyes). The mouth is rounded - I do not paint over the corners, and it turns out "Cupid's bow" in the style of the 20s. But in general, of course, it’s just terribly interesting to experiment, sometimes to the detriment of beauty - to draw eyelashes on your cheeks, make lips ombre of crazy colors or gloss over your eyebrows. And it's great that from us, burlesque artists, this is usually expected!
Cosmetics for performances should be strongly pigmented, persistent and always hypoallergenic - you often spend more than one hour in it and just for some time selflessly sweating under the lights. Everybody loves MAC resistant matte lipstick for being able to withstand two entrances to the stage, and five, and a couple of martinis after the show.
About body requirements
Good physical shape is an important, but not indispensable part of my work. The fact is that if you are more or less suited to modern standards of beauty, you get more performances at corporate and private events that are very well paid. Understanding that my face and body are business assets helps a lot not to be lazy and not to relax, and to think three times before ordering a piece of cake or skipping a workout. I almost do not eat sweets and flour, as if I never fatty (although whom I cheat, kebab at four in the morning after the show is generally the main thing for which it is worth living). I do not drink carbonated drinks.
I try to go for a massage, if possible. When I find myself in one place longer than a week - I sign up for the pool, this is probably the only thing at this stage that I can call my hobby. And, of course, I dance a lot, at every opportunity I take dance lessons or just go to a party with social dances: swing or tango is not only an opportunity to communicate and make new acquaintances, but also an imperceptible and harmonious load on the whole body. And good music helps to relax and distract and at least for a while forget about the fact that you need to run home to repair costumes and that in the mail 30 unanswered letters with an asterisk. If there is no opportunity to go out and work out, just arrange for yourself an hour of stretching for a good movie, with a cup of tea or a glass of wine (do not tell anyone about wine).
About aromas and character
I rarely use perfume, I always try to make a special event out of it, so as not to get used to the smell and always feel it in full. But if I use it, then in winter I love the smells of leather and wood, such as Serge Lutens Daim Blond or Fueguia 1833 Équation. For the summer I always love the delicate and playful feminine scents like Marc Jacobs Lola (although, probably, I first of all love their bottles). Now I really want to find for myself some very strict and maybe a little courageous perfume, but there are so many opportunities that the search has been going on for more than one month.
My colleagues and I often discuss that burlesque and cabaret are not really for the faint of heart: endless moving from place to place with 30 kilograms of luggage on fragile shoulders, long waiting hours, often the inability to be alone or the road, incomprehensible food and sleepless nights and days. But ultimately, this all becomes completely irrelevant - at the moment when you put on make-up, put on a costume and are ready to go on stage, you really become the very picture on the cover of the old magazine.
