19 Miss USA Contestants Share Their Backstage Beauty Hacks and Rituals

"When practicing for the pageant, because muscle memory is so important once you're out there, I put Vaseline on my teeth to make sure that I'm smiling on stage," said Miss Minnesota, Meridith Gould. "It sort of tastes like ChapStick so it's not gross, but it's definitely uncomfortable to have your mouth closed with that in there, so you just keep smiling."

And no, she doesn't put the Vaseline on her teeth for the actual competition, just during practice to build good habits!