Taking It to the Streets is our ongoing series profiling the women whose beauty routines we admire — pageant queens, photographers, dancers, mothers, the occasional barista with a flawless winged liner. Today we’re spotlighting Tatyana Velazquez, a former beauty pageant winner who knows more about getting camera-ready under hot lights than most of us will ever need to.
What we love about pageant beauty is the discipline behind it: long-wear formulas, color choices that read on camera and in person, and skin prep that holds up through hours of judging. Below, the kinds of products that turn up in every pageant girl’s kit.
Skin prep is everything
Before any foundation goes on, the skin gets a quiet 10-minute ritual: gentle cleanse, hydrating mask, lightweight serum. Dermalogica‘s skincare line is a stage favorite — see also our MultiVitamin Power Serum review — because it leaves the skin glowing without leaving a slick that breaks down foundation.
Foundation that survives a stage
Long-wear is the whole game. Giorgio Armani‘s long-standing Designer Lift Foundation has been a pageant fixture for years — see our older post on it — for the way it manages to look like skin while behaving like a much heavier formula.
Eyes that read from the back row
For pageants and stage work, false lashes are non-negotiable. Shu Uemura false eyelashes are the gold standard — we covered them in a dedicated post. A nars cream eyeshadow base helps the color survive the night.
Why pageant beauty translates
You don’t need a sash to want makeup that lasts past lunch. Borrow the discipline — a slow skin prep, a long-wear base, defined eyes — and the rest of your routine gets easier.