Diving into the Pro world!

[HamptonsMermaid]

Hi Merfolk! So excited to discover this community and I hope we can swim together soon!

My name is Lauren, as HamptonsMermaid I come from the East End of Long Island, NY. I'm a professional singer and play African Drums in a soul/funk/reggae band called Dan Bailey Tribe. Here's a music video if you'd like to hear, filmed in Costa Rica with plenty of underwater shots! (Wish I had a tail when we filmed this!)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alolqULcTYk

For Christmas (in the Bahamas) my mom got me and my siblings tails from The 2 Tails. After my first time swimming with it in in the crystal clear waters of the Bahamas, I knew I was home! I decided I would go Pro this Summer, and will be scouring this site for tips (feel free to share!).

Mermaiding is the perfect fit for the Hamptons, as people love to throw the most elaborate events and all out children's parties. Since I help run an entertainment LLC for the band, we already have an established client and venue base. I'm experienced in entertainment, underwater modeling, freediving, facepainting, photography and filmmaking, and I hope to combine all these skills to build my mermaid career! In the Bahamas I already had my first photoshoot clients, 2 lovely mer-sister in the pic attached. I also make costumes and headdresses, and I just opened my Etsy store where you can order a custom made Mermaid Crown or Seashell Top!

My Etsy Store:
https://www.etsy.com/shop/ChakraCrowns
I specialize in making performance quality costumes and accessories that are easy to wear and stand up even to Burning Man conditions. (Any other Burning Mermaids out there?!) My Mermaid Crowns are even waterproof! Oh and they also light up! Everything's more fun with lights!
***For MerNetwork orders placed in the next 2 weeks (before I leave for Costa Rica) I'll offer a 20% off coupon code! PM me for the code!***

I only have my simple 2Tails tail for now (and I'm holding onto my sister's) but of course to go Pro I need something more fabulous. As an experienced costume designer and lover of all things crafty, making a tail will be an awesome challenge for me. My first question is whether to go sequin or silicone? I'm curious which is more performance oriented, as I really want to push myself with freediving. Also which can be warmer? New York water's aren't the warmest (though they're warmer than Cali thanks to the Gulf Stream, August is quite nice for swimming). As a surfer, I get cold quickly even in a full 3/4 wetsuit, so I want my tail to provide maximum insulation (or maybe wetsuit leggings underneath). How do you stay warm?

Anyway, thanks for reading my introduction. I'll be devouring this site but if you have any specific advice you'd like to share please do!
xoxo
Lauren
IG: @laurenchuchu, @hamptonsmermaid

P.S. Our band will be performing at Envision Festival (http://www.envisionfestival.com) in Costa Rica this month, and I will be bringing my tails and some headdresses for sale. Any other Mers attending? It's an amazing conscious community festival right where the ocean meets the rainforest! You can mermaid in the tropical waters right there at the festival! Come play with me!

P.S.S. I forgot to mention that I'm originally from NC. I'll be visiting my fam there this spring and that's probably where I'll be making my tail. I'd love to meet up with some Carolina Mermaids and get a proper look at some tails before I start mine!

[Spindrift]

Hello and welcome! You sound like a blast to hang out with :)
Costa Rica is on my list! But unlikely that I'll make it there this month :P

[AniaR]

Welcome to mernetwork :)

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

[Luna Dreamtide]

Sounds like you had an amazing time! Welcome :)

[New York Mermaid]

Welcome Lauren,

nice to meet you :) hey you're not too far from me, im way over here in Manhattan NY. *waves tail* you should come to one of our meet ups this summer. So you can meet the pod

[Mermaid Livou]

Hey, sounds already very professional ^^

[Raquel Skellington]

OH MY GOSH!!! I'm on the Island too! I'm in huntington! You're a little bit of a drive but if you're ever looking to meet up please let me know! Oh wow I'm so excited to hear there's another Mermaid on the island!!!! I'm very interested in maybe getting a sweet head piece from you~

[PearlieMae]

Welcome to the Network! I'm in North Jersey!

If you are around June 18th, you should be in the Coney Island Mermaid Parade! I'll be there as well as a few other Mernetwork Mermaids!

[Vela]

Hi welcome to Mernetwork! :)

[Echidna]

Hey and welcome!

I'd like to address your questions as to how stay warm.
That is a problem for me too, all waters here are cold year-round (I nearly lost 2 toes last summer diving).

I use several tricks to stay warm.
They include good preparation (eating before, using a sauna if there is one available), minimizing time in the water,
and only wearing "mermaid outfit" for actual performance/shoot, then quickly getting out and warming up again.

It is not ideal, in fact I'm quite dissatisfied with the situation, but I'm not sure what to do apart from making a full body mermaid wetsuit, or relocating to warmer regions.

For tail material, I've found nothing more insulating than neoprene.
If you take it in a decent thickness and cover it with sequins or simply paint, you should get a nice tail that will keep you warm, but for deeper diving or longer swimming, I'd recommend making a mermaidy looking neoprene vest as well.

[HamptonsMermaid]

Hi Raquel! Great to know another Long Island Mermaid! Would love to meet you and make you something special. I see you have a water fairy persona, would be fun to design something that captures both fairy and mermaid elements! I'm going to get some done before Envision and then I'll be gone in Costa for about a month and then I might be in NC for a few months visiting fam and making my tail (I grew up in NC). I'm a very migratory mermaid haha.

If you want to place an order in the next 2 weeks I can offer you a 20% off coupon code and possibly drop it off for you before I leave for warmer waters! LMK ;)

[HamptonsMermaid]

Hi PearlieMae! I really want to go to the parade! Our band is usually pretty busy on Saturdays in June but if we don't have a show that date I'll def be there. Ooooor...Is there any live music at the parade? Are there floats with sound systems? Not sure how it's set up, but if possible it would be awesome to have our band perform! We have a very islandy, mermaid appropriate style. It would be so cool to sing a show in my tail!

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thanks for the tips Echidna. The water's aren't really clear enough here in NY, so probably won't be doing extended underwater shoots here. But when I surf in NY in the summers I wear a full 3/4mm wetsuit that keeps me so nice and toasty, would be awesome for a tail to keep me at least half warm. But even in the Bahamas in Jan the water/wind gets me chilled after 30-45 mins. Even in Hawaii I usually wear a shortie wetsuit when surfing. Costa Rica's the only ocean where I'm totally warm in just a bikini (even sweating!), but that's 9 degrees north of the equator!!

[PearlieMae]

Here's a link to the info:
http://www.coneyisland.com/programs/mermaid-parade

I'll try and find more. :-D

[HamptonsMermaid]

Thanks PearlieMae, looks like we could register a float or truck that we could put the band on... Would be quite a lot of work and money to pull it together though. I'll run it by some sponsors, you never know! My uncle has a company that builds dunes in Long Island and they used to do a St. Patricks Day float with a "Good Dune Bad Dune" theme, with the Good Dune float set up with beautiful dune fencing and a gorgeous mermaid, and the Bad Dune float that's all eroded with empty beer cans and my big hairy gay uncle in Mermaid drag!

Also I've just been stalking your Instagram and I am head over tail in love with your scales!! You cast them and sew them on? What do you sew them onto? I'd really love to make an individual scale tail like yours!

[Kait]

Welcome lovely! Beautiful photos :)

[Sabrina the Selkie]

Welcome to the Network! Sounds like you're well on your way!

[Raquel Skellington]

Yes Yes! Please I would love to work with you on a headdress! Feel free to add me on FB.:yay:

I model as well and will be getting my silicone tail by May of this year, let me know if you want to collaborate some time :) :cheerleader:

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