The Hoot Blog

Makeup and athletics: two topics that rarely mix, right? Except in the case of synchronized ice-skating, where beauty does in fact play an integral role in an athlete’s everyday routine. According to Marlena Holter, a Barnard sophomore and ice-skater, tucking your hair into the perfect ballerina bun is just as important as executing a perfect lift at practice. She shares with Hoot a behind-the-scenes look into her beauty preparations for an internationally recognized skating team and how her experience as a Skyliner has shaped her relationship with makeup off the ice.

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“I’m a member of Skyliners Synchronized Skating Team. Last year I was the captain of the senior line. This will be my seventh year with the Skyliners, but I’ve been skating for 14 years. We’re one of five teams in the senior division that represents the United States at international competitions. Last year, we flew to Milan where we competed at the Spring Cup and won fourth place. We came in fourth at Nationals in Michigan, too. Our practice schedule consists of skating all day Saturday and Sunday and Friday nights. We have eight hours of individual practice during the week, three workouts, Zumba or ballet classes, and an acting class.

We all wear makeup to practice – just a basic brown eye, black eyeliner, thick mascara with ballerina buns. It makes everyone look cleaner and neater. My coach is very into the idea that everyone on the team has to look exactly the same at the same time. To make sure everything looks uniform, one person does everybody’s eye shadow, another person does everybody’s eyeliner and so on. Hair and makeup at competitions takes three hours. For practice, it takes thirty minutes. It’s not mandatory to have face makeup on, but you don’t want to look tired or exhausted. There’s this one coach, Nina, who says it makes it look like you care about your sport when you come presentable.

We have one brown palette – Sephora’s Taupe Model Number 6 – that we use for everyday practice, and also during competitions when we’re not on the ice but in the arena. The captain chooses the makeup for the team that she thinks will be flattering for everyone. When we’re skating at competitions, we have four different sets of makeup palettes that are all MAC. When we’re practicing at competitions, we have an official practice makeup that is dark eyes – thick black eyeliner, no eye shadow, lots of mascara, a lot of blush, and bright red lipstick. Each of the palettes is for each dress. For Milan, we wore a light blue eye, red lips – MAC’s Ruby Woo – and we wore red dresses. 

Hair and makeup is the best part of competition. We play music, get in line, and just wait to get it done. For the first few competitions, we have a makeup artist come in and do it for us until someone on the team learns how to do it herself and does it on everyone else.

I learned from being on a team with older girls all my life how to put on makeup. I used to show up to hair and makeup and get my eyes and lips done and put nothing on my face…I eventually learned about foundation and bronzer. Now everyday I do my face – I wear Maybelline foundation and Clinique powder and bronzer. I definitely think skating taught me how to do makeup and it also taught me the difference between what’s too much makeup and what’s just the right amount.”

Browse Marlena’s favorite product picks to add to your shelf by shopping her svpply!

By Adriana DiFazio
Photos by Sarah Miller