What are your top tips for getting glammed up for Xmas parties when you have no time?

[JoshandJamie]

Imagine you're going to a Christmas party. Imagine too that you have two small children and just about zero time to get ready. What are your top tips for getting glammed up quickly? Also, for the fashion gurus, quick ways to jazz up an outfit and best looks for hiding baby flab?

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Do your hair in the morning if you wont have time in the evening.

Have everything ready including the right underwear.

I always wear perfume for a night out it does complete the package

get everything ready the night before

decide what you are going to wear AND STICK TO IT

even down to what make up

for make up - do time consuming things like shaving/fake tan/plucking/nailpolish/etc the night before EVEN IF YOU ARE REALLY TIRED AND CANT BE ARSED

have 2 pairs of tights in case 1 rips when putting on hastily

have a good foundation that doesnt need powder

a good concealer that you can stick in bag and apply at party in peace without children, when you will notice more

cream (ie not powder) blusher can be useful ofr cheeks and eyes

basic make up like foundation/eye shadow/blush/mascara/gloss takes less time

get your bag for the party ready the night before too

and have a dress rehearsal if you are very keen!

make up that can be used for more than one thing is useful

like the blush

and black smudgy pencil

and touche eclat

i oftenput my faithful heated rollers in for half hr while getting ready then when im ready to go i take them out and hey presto

thats all the attention my hair gets/needs

glittery eyeshadow - for that quick party girl transformation! A friend had a free eye makeover courtesy of Urban Decay just before she went out last week and she looked FAB.

Put on outfit last. Lots of make-up & perfume. Wonderful shoes.

if you want to conceal post baby flab - go to spanx.com and buy one of their secret slimmers...they are brilliant ....then you can wear anything youlike!

have your eyebrows waxed and dyed a few days before.

magic pants for instantly losing 5lbs and having the appearance of functioning stomach muscles

don't go and buy new outfits, wear an old faithful you feel good in

oh I am rubbish at parties and getting dressed up but all these tips are great - esp. doing as much as you can the evening before (nails, shaving, plucking, bleaching, etc.) and getting bag ready. If possible get the basics of you make up foundation on early and then just touch up before you go.

What I tend to do is have a stiff drink and wear gold shoes.

LOL at 'have a stiff drink and wear gold shoes' - top advice

My instant-glam-in-a-bottle is a good liquid highlighter e.g. Benefit's Moonbeam. Dot on cheekbones, browbones and nose to make you look like a million dollars (well, a good few quid, anyhow). I would really recommend it - it works wonders, and it's quick.

why do yo have no time?

take make up off way before you put make up back on imo

good advice all round (esp stiff drink and gold shoes)
but avoid MoonBeam and similar highlighters if your skin is at all greasy - instant oil slick.

I put on right undies and do hair in morning (if not planning to go out during the day I stick it in rollers when I get out the shower and leave to dry naturally - very 50s but works a treat) but not makeup - have got it down to 2min30s to put party face on. Admittedly it's not innovative or unusual but I know it looks good and I can do it fast.

Actually I drive DH wild with jealousy when it comes to black tie parties as he has to fumble with shirt studs, cufflinks etc and once I have undone rollers, made up and slung dress over head he is always still trying to get the bow tie tied.

a no-maintenance hairstyle does it for me.

half the battle is the hair.

a chin-length, layered bob, however, is easy to style.

IME if you think you want to wash your hair, you do... and if you haven't washed it it will ruin the rest of your evening.
If you're running really short of time a quick slap of foundation/tinted moisturiser and (unless you're driving) you can do eyeshadow, blush, mascara and lips in the car at red lights.

where are all these parties then?

Bababoo - I also didn't have any Christmas parties to go to and felt very sad. My husband turned down his office Xmas party because it would have meant getting a babysitter and it would have cost a fortune etc.

But his company got wind of it and have booked us a suite at the very fancy hotel where the party is being held and are paying for a nanny to look after the kids

So now I have to find something to wear and get myself looking beautiful - and I think it's going to take a lot of work. Am thinking maybe I should just say to hell with the DIY attempts and bunk some time off work to go get hair done and make up done by professional. It's not often I get to get all tarted up - hooray

Top tips - especially like the 'gold shoes' idea.

I never have much time before going out as dh usually working away, or arriving home from work with 5 minutes to spare. So, have to get kids ready for bed, deal with arrival of baby sitter (who we may or may not have had before) and then get dressed/make up etc. Its all tinged with a slight element of panic.

I do try and jump in the bath with my younger two at about half past 6 so at least i've been near some water. And put make-up on while they prat about in bath towels. Then get dressed before or after bed time stories. I might panic and flap - but I'm usually no more than 10 mins late and you forget about the domestic chaos as soon as your bum hits the taxi seat!

joshandjamie

that is fantastic! how brilliant of dh's compnay

have a great time

What kind of rollers MrsBadger? Have never used them but am soooo bored with (bobbed) hair. Don't go out that often, but would be nice to have a barnet change and like the idea of putting something in hair and leaving it while I get on with the faff and panic bit.

Is there an art to using them - does it require much (amusing for children) practice?

oh oh

i use heated rollers dead easy

hairspray is the key

spray hair with volumiser and hairspray (after you have dried it with hairdryer, has to be bone dry) and put in rollers, leave it til they go cold

can brush to get vuloume or tease with fingers to keep in curls

Hmm, thanks Nailpolish, I think I'll have to experiment. Next time you see a woman with curly-bouncy-hairspray-ad-hair and gold-going-out-oh-yes-I-am-shoes, it just might be me...

what lovely thing for your dh's company to do, Josh&jamie!

I never wear makeup except when I go out. It means that when I do go out, even if I wear just a tiny touch of makeup,. because people aren't used to it, they think I look "glam"!

(It also helps that I have short hair, but maybe that's cheating!)

But to get ready quickly, I agree with nailpolish, sometimes a "dress rehearsal" can be really useful too. Do all the last minute changes and stressing over where your gold shoes are then, rather than on the big night! And of course yes get everything ready the night before.

I have to say joshandjamie, your DH's employers sound amazing! I bet you're excited!

Oh I am so jealous of anyone who doesn't wear makeup cos I'm of the full slap brigade everyday (understated not Bet Lynch I hasten to add) Luckily I have a bubba that loves emptying out the make up box while I do the 5 min works. Nights out - just glam up the eyes a bit and a blow dry from the hairdressers is always a failsafe,

Will DH be around?

When we go out the person who takes the least time to get ready (that would be DH) does the bath bit while I get make up on & hair done. Will have showered already. The I read stories & out DS to bed while DH gets ready, then all that is left is to put on clothes which takes 5 mins.

May be more complicated with 2 children though I imagine.

I'm sure you'll have a fab time anyway, enjoy it!