Prom Night Beauty Secrets – Revealed

Now that your teen has a gorgeous dress, ultra cool heels, and matching handbag – it’s time for hair and make-up! If you’re like most families, you don’t have a make-up artist or style guru on call 24-7 like Jessica Simpson, so give her these beauty tips for a celebrity look without the cost…or drama!

10 Ways to Work It:

  1. Minimize Stress. Yes, this is easier said than done, but it’s a must! Minimizing stress before the big event will keep acne away and make your skin sparkle.
  2. Continue to Care for Your Skin. Your daughter should keep up her daily regiment of washing 2x a day with a mild soap. Be sure to wash all make up off daily too. Also, encourage her to drink lots of water – it’s great for her skin (and yours too).
  3. Use Oil-Free Make-up. Use make up and skin care products that are oil free. This will keep her pores from getting clogged.
  4. No Squeezing or Popping. Don’t be tempted to pick at pimples. This will only make matters worse and may leave scarring.
  5. Treat existing Acne. Use topical over-the-counter creams or prescriptions by your doctor to treat your existing acne. Also, minimize the use of make-up.
  6. Lay on the Lushes Lips. Lip gloss is great for Prom night, but keep it within your lip line (a light color lip liner can also be applied to help gloss stay within lip area). Any extra gloss on your skin may clog pores.
  7. Forgo the fake lashes. These are a teen favorite, but they can be high maintenance. Unless you have a professional make-up artist put them on, it’s best to skip these. Remember your daughter will be dancing and perspiring and who wants to stress about lashes falling off?
  8. Get a manicure and pedicure. If you can afford to treat her to a mani or pedi, that’s ideal. But if not, offer to paint your daughter’s nails and toes for her. It’s a great way to giggle and bond with her!
  9. Take a salty bath. Have your daughter put a dash of Epson salt in her bath. The salt serves to soften her skin and clean pores. It’s also quite relaxing!
  10. Glam-up her best feature. Your daughter should choose the feature she loves most about her face and highlight it (i.e. cheeks, eyes, lips). For example, if she loves her blue eyes, she can glam them up with eye shadow, liner, and mascara. Then for her lips and cheeks, she should use minimal make up (very light shades). This will help her look glamorous without caking on mounds of make-up all over her face.
  11. Grab a stash to-go. Stuff some benzoyl peroxide pads or cloth skin wipes into her evening bag. These are great for wiping perspiration off your face from all that dancing and will help her face feel fresh all night long.
  12. Relax and enjoy. Even if she’s not blemish free when prom night rolls around, your daughter can still look and feel glamorous. Try a very light oil-free foundation to cover up the blemishes. Be sure not to glop it on, too much foundation over pimples can make them even more noticeable. Then lightly fluff on some pressed powder. Combined, this usually does a good job of hiding small blemishes.

How Not to Work It:

  1. Change Hairstyles.  It’s easy to make this mistake. After all, you daughter wants her hair to stand out. But, prom night is probably not the right time to try out a new do. If she gets a haircut and dislikes it, she’s are in BIG trouble – and so are you (you’ll have to hear about it FOREVER).
  2. Glop on the Hairspray. Overly processed or sprayed hair can look ‘fake.’ After all, it’s not the 80’s anymore! Glopping on the hairspray may seem like a good idea at first, but as she dances the night away, her body heat (and perspiration) will begin to melt with the spray – creating a goopy mess on top of her lovely head. Instead, use a minimal amount of spray and one that is ‘light’ as opposed to ‘extra hold’. Ask her hairstylist for a recommendation.
  3. Use New Make Up. Expensive make up is not always the best choice. Try the make-up you intend to use before prom night to make sure it’s the right shade and color for your skin.
  4. Avoid Tanning Salons. This is a BIG NO-NO! We know every teen wants the perfect tan for prom. But not only are tanning salons dangerous to her skin, they can leave your daughter with a fake ‘over-cooked’ look that will make her orange skin stand out against that beautiful dress (and expensive) dress she’s chosen. Instead, experiment with self-tanners before prom to find the shade that is right for her. They will give her that healthy glow without the dangerous side-effects of tanning beds or direct sunlight.
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