Picture Perfect

First of all, to combat the stress of rushing home from the office for a serious wardrobe change before parties, invest in a beautiful, festive blazer and a killer pair of heels. Throw on these two items, and any outfit, even jeans and a t-shirt, will be ready to party. Keep some pinkish underye concealer (I use Shisiedo Optimal Cover in Soft Pink), dark blue mascara, Visine and dark blue eyeliner in your purse, too. This little bag of tricks is all you need to make puffy, tired eyes appear as fresh as if you had woken up from a twelve-hour nap. The blue makes your eyes and eye area appear whiter, and the pink concealer will make undereye circles disappear.

To reduce face puffiness and that little stomach pooch that everyone gets for a few weeks in December, try to avoid bread, salt and alcohol as much as possible. Giving up salty foods the day before a party will ensure that your face looks lean and beautiful. And for an extra face-slimming trick, try using bronzer below your cheekbones and at your temples and adding a sweep of peachy blush with a slight sheen on the very tops of your cheekbones. This will create the illusion of a perfectly sculpted face in all of your photos. To further enhance your printed image, brush bronzer above and below your collarbones and dab some shimmering moisturizer or powder on your bare shoulders and collarbones. This will do for your neck and chest what the aforementioned trick did for your face.

And, of course, what would stressed-out skin look like without a few pesky zits that refuse to stay covered, no matter how much concealer you pile on them? Luckily, even these are preventable and treatable. Splash some ice cold water on your face before you get ready. This will tighten your pores and make your skin brighter immediately. To reduce excess oil, apply an oil-absorbing moisturizer before putting on makeup, which will help control shine and also give you a clean, matte base for all of your holiday decorations. And never go to sleep with your makeup on. NEVER. Aveeno makes handy “instant facial” pads that are an all-in-one, so even the most partied-out girl can splash her face with water, scrub it with the pad, and rinse before bed. Clean & Clear also makes an exfoliating facial scrub for their “Morning Burst” line that has all sorts of face-calming ingredients, such as ginseng, ginger, aloe and cucumber, and it makes skin feel cool and clean.

Even if you take perfect care of your skin during the holidays, there is still a chance that your mother’s nagging will coax out a pink dot or two, right in the middle of your forehead. So, to combat them, invest in one or two truly amazing spot treatments, just in case. The newest spot treatment on the market is Clean & Clear Advantage, it is proven to show clearer skin as soon as you apply it, 100% of the time. This is supposedly a new breakthrough in skincare, although I don’t really believe that it makes pimples go away faster, it does reduce their appearance immediately, by reducing redness and making the bump shrink a little. This should at least make them much easier to cover up and less noticeable to the camera lens. If you really want to bring out the heavy artillery, La Prairie makes a little tube called Blemish Control that has twice the Salicylic Acid of any other pimple product on the market, and won’t irritate even the most sensitive skin.

Even if your holidays are stressful, you don’t have to look as stressed as you feel. These little tricks will help even the most stressed-out party girl look like a million bucks in every photo, and maybe looking gorgeous will make her feel so beautiful and relaxed that she will have eliminated the stress all together, at least for a little while.

– Sabrina C. Mashburn