What is a Beauty Contest?

So you hear the words beauty contest and you might say to yourself, I'm not beautiful so I can never compete in a contest like that. Well, to be honest, beauty is one aspect of the contest, but it's not the entire contest! When it comes to beauty pageants also known as a beauty contest, the focus is on the outside appearance, personality, persona, confidence, personal style and much more not just a pretty face.

As a judge, I see many, many forms of beauty. I believe everyone is beautiful in their own way, we just need an encourager, a coach, or someone that supports us to allow our beauty to shine through! That's what I would love to help you with! You don't have to feel intimidated about not having the longest hair, or the prettiest smile, or the bubbliest personality or be skinniest person, because I guarantee you that you have something different, something special and intriguing about you that can and will win you that pageant crown you are seeking!

Have you heard the saying "beauty is skin deep"? Well that's true in my opinion. You can be the most beautiful person on the planet, but if you have no flavor, no style, bad personality,and a mean spirit, then that will overtake your outer beauty.

How do you compete
in a
beauty contest?

Start out by going to a preliminary (prelim) contest, which is usually held in a mall or hotel conference room in your area. Don't forget to take your gown or dress with you! They'll have you register by filling out a form with your name and address information, height, age, eye color, favorite color (usually for the little one's), something about you like a favorite sport or hobby, favorite food, and a few other pieces of information.

A prelim could cost anywhere between $30 and $100 depending on the pageant organization and what state or country you live in. This is your registration fee. Sometimes it may be even more than $100. The highest I paid to enter a prelim was about $150 and I think the lowest I paid was about $30.

Don't forget you can buy a cheap pageant gown for the beauty contest!

What are Side Awards?

Beauty contests also have what's called Side Awards. These are categories where contestants pay additional money to compete in. These can include Prettiest Smile, Prettiest Eyes, Prettiest Hair,Best Personality, Best Attire/Dressed, Model Look (potential to be a model - this can be a bonus for you if you plan to use this as your vehicle to your modeling career!)

Prelims have age categories for both girls, boys, teens and women. So depending on how old you are will determine who you'll be grouped with or who your competition is.

Which age category
would you fall into?

In most pageants, the age groups are broken down as such:

• Under 1 Girls - 0 months - 11 months
  Under 1 Boys - 0 months - 11 months
• 1 Year Girls Division
  1 Year Boys Division
• 2-3 Year Girls Division
  2-3 Year Boys Division
• 4-6 Year Girls Division
  4-6 Year Boys Division
• 7-9 Year Girls Division (participation of boys is generally low at this age level, so there's no age category for boys after 6 years old)
• 10-12 Year Girls Division
• 16 and up Division

Keep in mind that this breakdown could be different depending on the pageant organization. Also, when you get to the state and national levels within the same pageant system, some age divisions could be combined if participation is low in one group versus the other.

The X's!!!

Many prelims and even some state pageants put X's on the floor or stage, so the contestants will know where to stop and do turns or model their gowns or whatever attire they have on. You should see no more than 3, one at the left side of the stage, one on the right side and one in the center, usually in front of the judges. These are your targets so it'll help you significantly if you use them. I'll share with you more secret's about the X's soon. So remember, X's aren't a bad thing (well not in this case)! Smile!

I'll see you on the runway!

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