Good grooming is a total effect and the smallest details count. Looking your best for party night means that you have not overlooked the details. Believe me, chipped nail varnish or untidy hair can mar the total effect. A few “pick me up” tips can help to make you look good.
Give yourself a manicure and pedicure the day before the big night. In fact, after soaking the hands and feet in warm water, massage with a rich cream, so that the skin is smooth and soft. Pay attention to details like waxing and threading too, at least a day in advance.
A “pick-me-up” face mask can leave your skin clean and glowing. Cleanse the skin. Mix half a teaspoon honey, one teaspoon rose water and two teaspoons dried milk powder. For oily skin, add multani mitti, instead of milk powder. Mix into a paste and apply on the face. Remove after 20 minutes with water. After washing off the pack, give the skin a cold compress with cotton wool soaked in chilled rose water.
If your hair is looking dull give it a quick conditioning treatment before your shampoo. Mix one teaspoon each of vinegar and honey with one egg. Beat them together well. Massage the mixture into the scalp. Then wrap the hair in a hot towel for twenty minutes, before washing the hair. Your hair will have more body and look shiny and manageable.
To soften rough, bushy or frizzy hair, mix some water with creamy hair conditioner and put it in a spray bottle. Spray the mixture on the hair. Then comb the hair, so that it spreads through the hair.
Colour Magic – add glamour to party make-up
Today’s trends favour the “natural” look in foundation – sheer and translucent. Apply powder for the foundation to set. Compact powder can also be used. Pay more attention to the oily areas of the face, like nose, forehead and chin. Press the powder all over the face and neck, with a slightly damp sponge. To add glamour, go for gold foundation, to add a golden glow to the skin. Then apply a golden tinted powder.
Use a blusher, but be subtle. The aim should be to give the complexion a healthy glow. Apply on the cheekbones and slightly below it. You can use your finger tips to dot the area with blusher. Then, blend with the brush, outwards and slightly upwards, making sure there are no harsh lines or a blotchy effect.
Go for the smoky eyes look. After applying eye shadow, apply eye liner close to the lashes on upper eyelid. Then smudge it with a cotton bud. Then apply a dark shadow over it and blend it outwards and slightly upwards. Apply liner just below lower lashes, smudge it and then apply eye shadow. Dark brown or dark grey eye shadow can be applied over black eyeliner for a muted effect. To add glamour, use mauve or pink eye shadow, instead of brown or grey, with silver or gold highlights.
For darker skin, go for plum, wine or burgundy as lipstick colours. For fair skins, use beige, pink or orange undertones. A dark complexion looks good in vibrant colours. Avoid very pale colours. For normal Indian complexion, go for warm earthy colours, like coral, wine, plum, strawberry, orange, tangerine, red and shades of red. A dark pink or rose-red would look good too. Even brick-red may suit. Blusher colours need not match lip colour exactly, but it should be in the same colour tone.
As for hairstyles, long hair is very much the trend with cascading waves. Go for the softer look, with big curls or natural waves, in the lower half of the hair. The classic ponytail is trendy and suits most face shapes. One can wear a pony tail high or low, with wisps or curls falling down… the carefully-careless look! Putting the hair up is also in vogue. Curls and ringlets can be styled and then they can be put up with the help of hair accessories. Long hair may be put up too, in a casual knot or braided styles. Putting the hair up can make you look sophisticated, elegant or glamorous for a gala occasion.
