Making up doesn't have to be hard to do

You know you're a drill team member if you own shades of lipstick that can be seen from 50 meters away. Or if you have ever willingly applied blue eye shadow and hot pink a blush. Makeup is an important part of the dance/drill team performance because without it, one important parts of the routine, your expression, isn't fully visible.

On her Web site, Vanessa Ryder of Dance 101 offers tips for natural-looking, but visible, performance and field makeup.

I found another personal Web site with some tips for choosing and applying makeup. While the pages are not affiliated with a dance site, the advice for selecting and putting on base and blush, lipstick and flattering makeup in general are clearly written and easy to navigate. A forewarning, though: if you're hoping to learn how to apply eye makeup, you'll have to visit some other site, because the eye makeup link on this page doesn't work. This page also contains links to pages about various makeup brands.

Other places to look include actual makeup companies' home pages. Covergirl's site features a How-to's Index of makeup tips for face, eyes, nails and lips. Also, you can take a test to determine if you're a warm or a cool person. (Not that you can tell your director, "I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't wear blue eye shadow! It's not in my color scheme!" But you can definitely use the information for choosing flattering solo and ensemble makeups.

Revlon has a fun page where you can play with different color combinations on a virtual face to see how the colors look together. Click here for the page.

If you're looking to clear up your skin for your next performance (or for no other reason in particular), visit the Redbook Makeover. Here, you type in information about your facial features and colorings, and Redbook displays a personalized report of cleansing and makeup tips.

You can find reviews of beauty products, brands and services at the iVillage Beauty Directory page and answers to other skin care and makeup questions at the Ask the Makeup Diva site.

Have a great week!

Announcement If you didn't make the deadline for the Chicken Soup for the Spirited Soul submission, don't worry! The deadline has been extended to December 15. For more information, click here.