Beauty Tips from Miss America 2010 Contestants

Confession: beauty pageants give me the creeps a little bit — the choreographed dance sequence, the “talent” competition, the vague and politically correct answers to questions like, “Why should the U.S. help Haiti?” Creepy. Somehow, there seems to be a disconnect between being intelligent and modeling a swimsuit (”it’s for the ratings”, my boyfriend insists). Nonetheless, the Miss America pageant is a longstanding American tradition, and last night a 22-year-old woman named Caressa Cameron (Miss Virginia) was crowned as Miss America 2010.

I decided to do a little bit of research on Miss America as far as beauty is concerned, and I was interested to find out that the contestants are required to do their own hair and makeup for the competition. According to an article from 1993 that I found in archives from the Bowling Green, KY Daily News, the rules were changed in order to stop contestants from looking like “Stepford Wives”. Interestingly, the rules were also changed that year to allow the ladies to wear pants during the evening gown competition if they wanted to. I can’t ever remember seeing a pants-suit on the Miss America stage, but it’s cool that it is an option!

I watched the Behind-the-Scenes special, hosted by Clinton Kelly from What Not To Wear, and the girls shared their top beauty secrets. Among their tips were:

– Hairspray is not just for hair! Spray your face with hairspray to set your makeup, and spray your body before the swimsuit competition to keep things from jiggling! (Editor’s Note: Please don’t actually do these things. I beg you.)
– “Chicken cutlets” aka gel bra inserts, work wonders in any outfit
– Butt glue will save your… butt in many occasions.

What are your thoughts on pageants? Do you think they are still interesting, or have they lost their relevance?