‘Tis the time for office parties, family gatherings, Secret Santas and bottomless mimosa festive brunches with your peers. I get it: The Holiday Season can be stressful, and it can be difficult to strike the balance between achieving a glamorous look and not wasting too much time in front of a mirror. Now that the end of the year is coming, I wanted to share with you my five very personal, top secret beauty hacks for a stress-free New Year’s Eve celebration:
1. Deck Your Curls With Purrrty Spirals
Oh yeah. I rock a curly mane that has a life of its own. My curls love going in opposite directions when the weather changes, there is humidity, or when I’m wearing a hat. I get it—curls can be both a blessing and a curse. And they look spectacular when I can finally tame them. For the Holiday season, I’ve decided to ditch the gazillion products that ended up killing their curly nature and switch them for The Curl Up In Silk firm hold mousse by White Sands Haircare ($19.50).
This wonderful product redefines curls by using cationic or positively charged ingredients. The positive charge helps the mousse adhere to the curls as they are usually negatively charged (that is why curly hair has so much static electricity!) The science between this product allows Curl Up in Silk Mousse to shape and redefine curls by creating a sort of ropey grid, which in turn translates into perfectly defined spirals. This product literally guarantees beautiful curls, no matter how humid the weather is outside!
In my experience, the Curl Up In Silk Mousse works wonderfully well to create perfect curls even when my hair doesn’t have a good day. This means I can wash and style my waist-length hair in about 40 minutes with perfect results every single time. That alone is priceless. Plus, if your hair stays clean for a few days (mine does), just by spraying a bit of water the mousse seems to revive, and you can be ready in five minutes flat. Just find a pretty crystal hair barrette, like this fun piece by Henri Bendel, and you’ll look perfect for every social event.
{Quick Beauty Tip}: I find the Curl Up in Silk Mousse works even better and faster when I remove the excess humidity with an Aquis towel before styling.
2. ‘Tis The Season To Keep It Simple
You read right. Try to keep it simple! To avoid wasting too much time during the holidays and being always ready for any last-minute social event, I love carrying around my assortment of beauty towelettes by Savvy Travelers. They have literally everything you need to keep your essentials on the go, and they are the perfect beauty hack for the busy Manhattanite. Plus, they are so small that they will reduce your toiletry bag in half. You can thank me later for the tip!
I like to stuff my purse with a few of their essentials: Take Offz are the perfect wipes to retouch my make-up between going from the office to getting on a holiday party face. They cleanse, tone, and moisturize without rinsing so I can apply a fresh layer of foundation without overdoing it. In the same tune, Lift Offz are excellent companions for those times when your nail polish chips badly. Instead of hiding my hands, I use one of these babes to remove the polish of all my 10 nails so I look perfectly poised when I arrive at my destination. Speak Eazy are a terrific beauty hack: Instead of carrying around a toothbrush and paste, slip one of these on your teeny weeny party purse and use it to remove any stains on your teeth. This water-free mouth wash experience has saved me on many occasions! Finally, No Sweat are discreet personal wipes that deodorize your armpits without leaving white traces behind. Perfect to bring anywhere your little black dress takes you, they fit in the smallest spaces and provide a great and lasting service! Disposable and eco-friendly, there is no turning back: You’ll wonder how you’ve juggled your Holiday social events without these towelettes for years…
{Quick Beauty Tip}: If you’re still looking for a last-minute Secret Santa gift, you may want to consider enrolling your friend into the Savvy Travelers subscription service, called “Wipeaholics.” This will keep a monthly supply of 30 must-have wipes being delivered each month to their mailbox for $20 a pop plus free shipping.
3. Dance In Your Cutest Shoes
Do you own a pair of exquisitely beautiful and painful shoes that would look terrific with your New Year’s Eve number? Fear not: At New York For Beginners, we have your back. We’ve thoroughly tested for you PreHeels, an anti-blister miracle spray that works!
PreHeels ($14.99) is the love child of my slippers and my Louboutin shoes. It creates an invisible and sturdy shield on your skin that avoids the constant rubbing that leads to blisters and open sores. Invisible, durable, and way less messy than a balm, you can spritz it on even if you’ll be wearing panties. It just works well with any type of wardrobe situation.
PreHeels provides up to 6 hours of lasting protection against chafing, burns, and blisters. Designed to be used with any type of shoe for any type of friction (yes, even on your soles), you won’t have an excuse not to dance the night away on your favorite shoes!
{Quick Beauty Tip}: The smallest size fits perfectly in your purse. Bring it on with you for emergency blister prevention. You’ll make friends!
4. Fake It ‘Til You Make It
I get it: Achieving the perfect cat eye look seems very easy on Instagram and yet it takes hours of practice. I’m not surprising anyone here when I say it’s very likely you won’t master it after watching a couple of videos as you need to be very familiar with your eye shape.
That’s the reason why I like the Even Eye Stencils by Woosh Beauty ($24.95 at HSN.) These lifesavers act as a guide to help you achieve a perfect symmetrical eye look in less than five minutes. It includes easy-to-follow instructions for a totally fool-proof experience.
{Quick Beauty Tip}: If you’re heading to a New Year’s Eve party, try combining the Simple Smokey and the Quick Cat Eye for a memorable look that will take you into 2017 in style.
5. Brush Your Hair Straight
Mastering a beauty trick needs constant practice. If achieving a perfect smokey eye by watching a couple of videos is unrealistic, by the same token it is very complicated to rock a last-minute straight hairdo if you are a curly-haired gal who is afraid of the straightening iron.
Fortunately, some very clever minds decided to take into account my beauty woes and create a foolproof hair straightening ceramic brush called Luma ($79). Luma is extremely easy to use and safe for all hair types, including delicate like yours truly. Extremely fast, Luma is designed to straighten your hair with every stroke so you don’t have to contort to reach your back.
I personally have used Luma to straighten my top part for a quick hairdo and was very surprised when I achieved it in five minutes flat. Granted, I didn’t want to rock a full dry-blown straight mane in this instance, but as it usually takes me at least 15 minutes to achieve the same result with my irons, I think this is the fastest method I’ve ever tested to straighten my hair. A full review will follow once the Holiday madness is over!
{Quick Beauty Tip}: A visit to a blow-dry bar in Manhattan with taxes and tips pays for a Luma device, especially now that it’s on sale for $69 in time for the holidays. If you plan on rocking a straight hairstyle more than once a year, it is a great beauty investment!
