My husband is like a lot of guys. He says he hates makeup and wishes I didn't wear it (let alone make a living writing about it ), but honestly I can count the times in our almost 20 years together that he's told me I look beautiful when I wasn't wearing it. So, like with a lot of things in our successful marriage, I ignore him and listen to myself and wear it anyway. Not for him, btw, but for me, because like I say in my book How to Look Expensive, beauty is power, and when you feel great, you look great -- and I feel great wearing makeup! So here are some of my favorite man-friendly tips for tonight's big date night to make you look and feel like a million bucks!
* Let your skin show, even if it's not perfect. Just spot apply concealer where you need it or use a BB cream (I just fell in love with Physician's Formula BB, it gives a gorgeous glow!) which has more pigment than a tinted moisturizer, but less than a foundation. There's just something so much sexier about the look and feel of skin as opposed to a face full of foundation. Btw, a trick to make your foundation look sexier, if you can't live without it, is to mix in a little shimmery moisturizer into it when you apply it. One drop per every three drops foundation.
* Give your eyes a subtle shimmer, like they were bathed in the perfect candlelight. You can switch up your smokey-eye routine using bronze instead of black for a more subtle, sensuous take on sexy. Here's a great recipe from celeb makeup artist Jeffrey Paul to try from my story in March Glamour.
* Highlight the very tips of your cheekbones for a gorgeous catch-the-light glow. I use NARS' the Multiple Stick in Orgasm to do this, it's my signature. I also like e.l.f Essential All Over Color Stick, and it's only a buck!
* Modernize a Valentine's Day red lip by using a tinted red lip balm instead of lipstick -- it'll give you the perfect, moisturized kissable mouth that not even a makeup-phobe like my husband could complain about! A few to try that you can pick up from the drugstore:
• CoverGirl LipPerfection Jumbo Gloss Balm in Ruby Twist or Scarlet Twist
• Revlon Just Bitten Kissable Balm Stain in Romantic
• Maybelline Color Whisper in Who Wore it Red-Er or Berry Ready
*Forget the blow-dry -- messy is sexier than perfect. I like to use a dry texturizing spray to give my hair a sexy tousle. Flip your hair upside down and spray the underside while massaging your hair with your hand, then flip it back up into place, and do the same thing on the sides and front. A few of my faves:
• Oscar Blandi Pronto Texture and Volume Spray
• Oribe Dry Texturizing Spray (and it smells so good, you may be able to skip the perfume!)
* Scent yourself subtly. Less is always more, and a little goes along way. On Valentine's Day when you're trying to look sexy, many women tend to overdo it. Spraying fragrance on your brush and then through your hair instead of straight on your skin is a great way to get just the right amount. Remember that you want to attract, not detract!