sugarbabymindset:

Date Beauty checklist

Manicure

• Remove previous nail polish if it’s chipped
• File your nails
• Soak your hands in a bowl of hot water to clean and exfoliate them
• Reapply nail polish (base, color, and top coat), like so
• Remove excess. If you went over, soak your hands in a bowl of hot water once again (you can even pour essential oils in it, if ya fancy), it will make it easy to gently rub the polish off your skin
• Moisturize: put hand cream a few hours later

Body 

• Shave anywhere you need

Here’s my secret if you want to be extra soft: 

1. Shave (if you don’t have shaving cream, use hair conditionner, it’s helpful to avoid razor burns)

2. Exfoliate (you can make your own exfoliant with oil and salt, it works wonders)

3. Shave again!

• Moisturize your full body (yes, everywhere, sis)
• Put on shimmery oil, if ya nasty

Hair

• Wash and condition your hair in the shower
• Put dry oil on your damp hair to keep it nice and shiny 
• Blow dry your hair (don’t forget to put a little hair product to protect your ends from the heat)
• Straighten or curl. After you’ve curled a section, pin the curl in place, like so (it doesn’t have to look extra fancy: sticking the curl in place with a bobby pin works perfectly well): it’ll look ridiculous in the moment, but it’ll allow your curl to cool down and keep its shape longer. Once you’ve curled all your hair, let it sit for 10 minutes, then take the bobby pins out: you’ll look like a Old Hollywood baddie in no time.
• WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU: I always have a hairbrush and use it when I excuse myself to the ladies’ room to make sure my hair looks soft and shiny during the whole date.

Mouth

• Floss
• Brush your teeth with whitening toothpaste
• Use mouthwash: Colgate Max White’s blue formula will make your teeth look instantly whiter
• Apply lipstick: Here’s a magical technique I use:

1. Moisturize your lips with a lil’ lipbalm

2. Line your lips with a lip pencil

3. Apply a bit of pencil all over your lips - that way, if it wears off slightly, you won’t be left with harsh lines on your top and bottom lips

4. Apply your lipstick

5. Put powder on your lips (I use highlighter or loose powder; even eyeshadow works), to set it in place

6. Add a thin coat of lipstick

This will make your lipstick last all night and keep it from transferring onto anything!

• WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU: Some girls say to bring gum with you, I say always have a toothbrush, toothpaste and lipstick in your bag. Whatever you do, do not chew gum in front of your date (it’s impolite and makes you look cheap)!

Makeup

• Color correction: if you have red spots or pimples, start off with green concealer, like so.
• Foundation: use tinted cream by skin care brands, they look natural, don’t clog your pores and definitely don’t look caky (Bioderma Sébium Global Cover is my favorite), like so. I’m from Paris and us French girls swear by tinted / BB creams: that’s how the Parisian women look so effortless and natural, gurl.
• Concealer: apply concealer that is a shade lighter than your foundation on your under-eyes (don’t draw a semi-circle under your eye! form a triangle from the inner corner of your eye to your temple to the side of your nose, like so), forehead (form an upside-down triangle in the middle of your forehead), nose (draw a small line right at the center of your nose, it’ll make it appear thinner), cupid’s bow and chin.
• Contour: apply a powder that’s a shade darker than your foundation right under your cheekbone, and on any part of your face you want to appear smaller (the top of your forehead, the sides of your nose, your jawline, etc.). My skin is very fair, so I steer clear from warm / orange toned bronzer (if you haven’t already, you need to get your hands on Benefit’s Hoola bronzer), like so.
• Powder and bake: put loose powder on your whole face, insisting on potentially oily parts (for most people, it’s the “T zone”: forehead, nose, chin) and putting a lil’ extra under your eyes. You’ll brush the excess off later, but right now, let it sit there, like so.
• Do your eyes: my favorite cat-eye technique is to use three shades of similar colors): the lighter tone in the inner corner of your eye, the medium tone in the center of your lid, and darker one in the outer corner of your eye. I have brown eyes and use three shades from the Naked Urban Decay palette: Half Baked, a light gold, Smog, a slightly darker bronze, and Dark Horse, a deep green. Then apply eyeliner (I do mine with a slanted brush and dark eye shadow: it’s what gives me the thinest line, because I can just gently press the black powder into my lash line). If any of your eyeshadow falls under your eyes, don’t worry about it: you’ll brush it off with the excess powder: this technique is a life changer, I know! I’ve learned all of this from a Miss America make up tutorial.
• Blush: to see where to apply my blush, I smile with my lips together and pucker up, kinda like a good old “duckface”, that makes my cheeks stick out more. I work from the inside in, and focus on the outer parts of my cheekbones rather than the center. I also keep the amount of product light on the brush: it’s easier to add on color than taking some off.
• Brush off the loose powder you used to bake your face: I go over my whole face with a fluffy brush. This will also take away any excess blush or bronzer, and bring the whole makeup look together.
• Highlight: apply shimmery powder on parts of your face you want to stick out. I put mine on the top of my cheekbones, under my brow bone, on the bottom of the bridge of my nose, in the inner corner of my eye and on my cupid’s bow. 
• WHAT TO BRING WITH YOU: Lipstick and concealer for retouches, powder if you tend to get a lil’ shiny.

And voilà, girl! Good luck, and don’t forget to tell me how your date went.