Easiest-Ever Hair and Makeup for Parties

Sometimes the most glamorous look is the simplest. “Holiday parties are breeding grounds for bad angles and unflattering group selfies,” says New York style guru Jenna Lyons, who founded LoveSeen lashes. “So I keep it easy with a red lip and clean eye.” New York makeup artist and Westman Atelier founder Gucci Westman is feeling similar vibes: “The contrast between beautiful, luminous skin and a bold lip is just so chic,” she says. Similarly, top LA hairstylist Mark Townsend says it’s the little details (like a great pin or an extra boost of shine) that make a look feel festive. No matter the look, healthy hair and glowing, hydrated skin make all the difference, so a mask—whether for your skin or your hair—is definitely worth taking the time for.

STEP 1

Get Your Skin in Shape

Exfoliating regularly makes an enormous difference, too. “I love Microderm,” says Westman. “I do it first to get rid of dead skin cells and leave behind a polished, healthy glow.”

Another brilliant premakeup secret: a micro- and nanocurrent facial treatment. Legendary electrical aesthetician Melanie Simon developed the next-generation ZIIP HALO device so clients could give themselves the firming, brightening, smoothing benefits that they came to her for before important events; it delivers electrical therapies that target different skin concerns, from sagging and dullness to breakouts. Smooth on the conductive gel it comes with and glide the device up your face and neck. You can also connect it to the ZIIP Beauty app for even more targeted treatments.

Makeup artist Jillian Dempsey’s secret for waking up her clients’ skin has become a goop-staffer obsession: Smooth your skin with the goop face oil, slap one of Dempsey’s gel masks under each eye, and lift and firm your skin with her vibrating gold roller. The effect is stunning—and lasts all night.

STEP 2

Moisturize

This isn’t just for the health of your skin: Moisturizer and eye cream help plump up skin and smooth wrinkles temporarily, plus they help foundation and concealer blend much more seamlessly.

STEP 3

Touch Up Your Skin

The boost your skin gets from moisturizer is enough for some people; others like a faintly gleamy primer (the one from RMS is beautiful). Then, depending on your skin and your taste, you can smooth on foundation or simply touch up dark or red spots. “I like to use a concealer brush with my Vital Skin Foundation Stick to cover redness or blemishes,” says Westman. “If you need more, it’s easy to add.”

STEP 4

Wake Up Your Eyes

With natural skin and a bold lip, subtly defined eyes look best. The trick: First, smooth liquid eyeliner between the roots of your lashes along the outer half of your upper lids. Clean up the line with a Q-tip, then apply a coat of mascara.

Fill in and brush up brows using brow pencil or gel. “Brows frame your face, so don’t forget them,” says Westman.

STEP 5

Bring the Party

Glide sheeny, pearlescent highlighter along the tops of your cheekbones, the inner corners of your eyes, your Cupid’s bow, and the bridge of your nose. You can also dab a bit on eyelids for a glassy effect. “The right highlight gives you the prettiest glow,” says Westman.

The final touch is, of course, a lip. New York City makeup artist Fara Homidi, founder of a new much-obsessed-over makeup line, loves a bold one. “A great lip color is like another accessory,” she says. Her Essential Lip Compact includes a deeply pigmented shade and a nourishing priming balm. “Apply a thin layer of the balm, going slightly over the lip line so your color doesn’t feather out,” Homidi says. “Using a lip brush, start at the center of the lips, building color outward.” For lip color that lasts all night, build up the pigment in layers using the brush. “Next, blot your lip with a tissue, then smooth on one last layer of lip color,” she says.

If serious lipstick isn’t your jam, tinted gloss is so pretty; we’re obsessed with Tower 28’s Pistachio, a semisheer milky nude pink. Or a tinted lip balm—the Tomato shade in the also-beautifully-priced goop lip trio is fantastic—is both sheer and sexy.

After shampooing, apply a rich mask for extra moisture and fantastic shine. Made with cuticle-repairing avocado and crambe seed oils, deeply conditioning coconut oil, and shine-boosting beetroot extract, the goop hair mask goes on in place of your conditioner once a week for results you won’t believe: less frizz and amazing shine and texture, plus it moisturizes and helps detangle, no matter your hair type or texture.

STYLE 1

Long and Shiny

To give your hair beautiful texture and shape, style your hair in a loose wave or bouncy curl (we love the Harry Josh styling set). Section your hair into one-inch sections, curling one section at a time. Hold the wand facing down, wrap a section of hair around it for about five seconds, and release; wrap hair in the opposite direction for the next section, and continue to alternate directions section by section as you go. When you’ve done your entire head, shake your hair out and comb your fingers through it. Townsend loves to use the goop hair serum as a beautiful finishing touch for ends. “It gives hair a boost of shine and softens frizz,” he says.

STYLE 2

Texturized Topknot

“For a messy topknot, mist salt spray throughout your hair and then scrunch it with your hands to give it texture,” says Townsend. Then gather it up into a high ponytail, wrap your hair around the base of the ponytail, and stick a (glamorous) hairpin in to secure it, letting several pieces fall. “A few flyaways are romantic and chic,” says Townsend. If you need a bit more control, try braiding your ponytail first before you wrap it around the base. “It looks so intricate and detailed,” he says.

STYLE 3

Half-Up Twist

For a half-up, half-down look, spritz a little dry shampoo into your roots. “Dry shampoo is amazing for more fullness or just a little zhuzh,” says Townsend. Section your hair from just above your ears and pull the whole piece back, twisting it into a bun. Secure the bun with a large pin or clip. If you’re worried about the pin slipping, Townsend likes to coat the pin in a bit of dry shampoo for more grip.

Add instant glamour with a headband or pins, says Townsend: “I love a headband with hair that’s down—especially with a pretty detail like crystal embellishments or velvet. You don’t need to use it to slick your hair back, so leave hair as is and just place it on the top of your head right behind your ears.” Townsend also loves using gold or silver bobby pins and letting them show. “You don’t have to spend time hiding bobby pins anymore,” he says. “I love that it adds a little unsuspected bit of sparkle.”