1. Loofah Your Skin towards Your Heart

I cannot remember where I read this one, but ever since I did it has become one of my favorite beauty tips for big events. When you are in the shower, grab your loofah and begin massaging it in circles towards your heart. This, apparently, stimulates the microcirculation directly under your skin. You then get to glow like a pregnant lady, without the growing fetus! Immediate benefits aside, you will slough away a little dead skin in the process, which is good for long-term anti-aging health.

2. Wash Your Hair the Day before

As someone with thick hair, I consider myself to be quite lucky when it comes to styling. However, even I cannot beat the versatility that comes with washing your hair the day before an event! When it is a little greasy (ick), it holds better. Style on the day you wash it and it is likely to be more fly away. If you are reading this on the day of an event, do not fret! You may just have to get a little more heavy handed with your hair spray.

3. Put Ice-cold Cucumber underneath Your Eyes

First of all, when you do this do not let the cucumber freeze - just cool it a lot! Doing otherwise may leave you with tiny freeze burns. Anyway, there are benefits to applying cool cucumbers under your eyes even if you aren’t overly tired! Any fluid that has gathered there will soon dissipate, because the coolness causes the blood vessels beneath the skin to shrink. If you don’t have cucumbers to hand, get inventive! Usually a spoon will do, but if you want to diversify you can. Doing this makes you all wide eyed - not quite like Bambi, but it’ll do.

4. Reduce Bloating

One thing that always puts a dampener on my confidence is feeling bloated. Two days before an event, I try a few things to reduce the feeling and look of bloating. First, I cut down on sodium as much as I can. Second, I make a conscious effort to drink a lot of water. Sure, we all need to be doing this every day, but in reality many of us might fail to do so, which causes a puffy appearance. Then, depending on the event in question and what I am wearing, I cut back on my carbs. Restricting them to the morning with a low glycemic index stops me from going nuts in the process, while in turn beating back my bloat.

5. Choose between Your Eyes and Your Lips

This is a little like Sophie’s Choice, but you have to make it to avoid looking OTT. Very, very few women can go all out on their eyes and then vamp up their lips. When it comes to your big event, choose which one you want to accentuate the most. You can either go all out on the eyes and have nude lips, or have brightly colored lips and nude eyes. That doesn’t mean abandoning one for the other entirely, it just means being a little more subtle. By doing this, you create a statement alluring area of your face rather than going into cosmetic overload.

6. Make Your Hair Shine

If there is one thing that stands out when celebrities are hitting the red carpet, it is how shiny their hair is! In the absence of an amazing hairdresser, we mere mortals may struggle to achieve this. We can, however, employ a few nifty tricks instead. When you do wash your hair, use cold water to rinse and retain your natural shine. If you need to use a flat iron, aim for one with a silicone coating that won’t cause frizz. On the day of the event, also use a high shine spray. Pantene’s are quite affordable, without sacrificing quality.

7. Use a Primer

As an olive-skinned person, getting my skin to stay matte is THE biggest nightmare. Over the years, I have learned to prevent this by not being too liberal with my moisturizer. And, like everyone else, I use an amazing primer. MAC’s is pretty good, but there are more budget versions out there that can work wonders too. If you anticipate extra heat, take along some blotting paper and slip into the ladies’ room to touch yourself up every so often.

When employing the aforementioned tips, do remember the cardinal rule of looking fantastic at a party: you need to have fun! Ultimately, this is what everyone else is there to do. Beautifying is a great way to prepare and it DOES make you more confident, but nothing can beat a smile and a laugh. With that said, what are your favorite ways to prepare for a big event?