Transform Your Look for a Night Out, Fast!
By Alanna Nuñez, associate digital editor, SHAPE magazine
Between planning the perfect family get-togethers, finding gifts for everyone on your list, and trying to live a healthy, stress-free lifestyle, the last thing you need to worry about this holiday season is how you're going to go from the office to that office holiday party.
Luckily, we managed to snag Jeannie Mai, host of the Style Network's How Do I Look? and new spokesperson for Yoplait Light's "Do the Swap" campaign, for a few minutes. She stopped by the SHAPE office to work her makeover magic, and I got to be the test subject (eek!). I admit, I was kind of nervous, because if there's one thing I am not, it's glamorous. But I shouldn't have worried- Jeannie showed me how a few simple swaps (you don't even have to change your outfit if you don't want) can take you from 9 to 5 to after-hours. Here are her top tips:
1. Mix glitz with glimmer. "Anything that's shiny, you can mix together," Mai says. "I love rhinestones with sequins, or baubles with fun gold metallics." It's all about mixing and matching different accessories this season to get the perfect (but not too perfect) holiday effect.
2. Think berries. Winter is the time to put away your bright colors and get out your richer, darker tones. Any kind of berries you'd eat (strawberries, raspberries, even grapes) makes a perfect winter lip color and is an easy way to glam up your holiday look. "Most women don't think to wear bold lip colors, which is just all the more reason to dig out those lipliners and lip colors and put them on," Mai says.
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3. "Season" yourself with different fragrances. "A little spice makes every fragrance nice," Mai says. "Nutmeg and cinnamon are my favorite fragrance enhancers." Take a little bit of your favorite spice and dab a little on your wrist or behind your ear right after you apply your perfume, and it'll smell fantastic, according to Mai.
4. Go crazy with glitter. "If you don't have anything 'sequinny' to wear at the office, and you don't have time to grab anything in a rush, if you can find some holiday glitter, try dabbing some onto your lashes," Mai suggests. Although it may sound hard, applying the glitter is easy: Just apply a fresh coat of mascara and dab a bit of glitter onto the very ends of your lashes before it dries. The trick is to make sure you have a business card or small flat piece of cardboard handy to hold under your eyes to catch the falling glitter as you apply it, otherwise you'll end up with glitter all over your face. If you do get glitter on your face, you can use a bit of tape to remove it without taking off the rest of your makeup .
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5. Don't forget your hair! Hair accessories are huge this winter, but you don't have to feel pressured to go out and buy all new ones. The typical holiday decorations that you see this time of year such as holly, poinsettias, and even mistletoe make great hairpieces. A sprig of holly and a couple of bobby pines, and voila! You've got a makeshift hairpiece that will go great with your new glammed-up look for that holiday party.
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