I so love the majesty of the black tie event.
Be it a party, a movie premiere, an awards show
this is where you get to go all out on a
fabulous, well put together look.

I love lots of lashes for black tie.

ooh look! Kate Hudson in Nine.
You are held hostage by those eyes!

For the most part either go big with the eyes and do a soft mouth, or vice versa.
I’m a sucker for the huge eyes for a big event.
Especially if you’ll have a drink in your hand.
Red lipstick on the rim of your glass?
Not so sexy.

Penelope’s eyes. So loved her in Vicky Christina Barcelona

I love how put together and polished this look is.
It’s dynamic.

The red carpet is a great place to look if you need inspiration.
Some of the best make up you’ll ever see.

After watching Blind Side
I want to be friends with Sandra B

Black tie perfect!
Kris is owning this look.
(We just shot it the other day)

Monica Belluci perfection.
If you can take your eyes off her boobs, the make up is black tie awesome.

Fox Fierce.
Clean, tight, put together.
And she knows how to wear it.

And of course, the Goddess herself.
Always immaculate
Always appropriate
Perfect black tie make up.

Oh NOW we’re talking!!!
I so love a good cocktail party!
Fun, gorgeous, short dresses.
Sexy heels.
Turning on a fabulous hairdo.
Oh yeah!

In the world of parties, I think cocktail parties are primo.
They don’t go on all night.
The drinks are fun and stylish.
Canapes as opposed to a full meal.
Fun, upbeat music.
Fun!

The energy is light and effervescent.
And so your look must be too.
Light, fun and effervescent.

No heavy eyes, no heavy liner.
And keep it bright.
December 2009 has its own cocktail party look.

This is from Armani. The lip color is Rouge d’Armani.
See how it is a bright, fun, alive red?
It lights up the face.
It is the central focus of the face.
Keep everything else to a minimum.
Clean, bare, fresh.
Of course she’s fully made up, but the look is simple and lovely.
And fun.

With Penelope’s dark hair and olive complexion, she can take more around the eye.
The darker your hair, the bolder the red you can take.
Red says party.
Red says fun.

A cocktail party calls for a more kicked up, fun hairstyle too.
If you have length, put it up.

A pretty dress, an updo and red lips.
A girl can have herself all kinds of fun!
Fun!

xo

C

So now in our quest for perfect holiday party looks we come to another interesting evening out – the soiree with the girls.

Now this situation requires a very careful read. The girls night out can be one of two things: a heartwarming trip to the soul-food cafe (all warmth, love and camaraderie) or it can be a tightrope walk over a viper pit.

Firstly you need to look at where it going to be held and who will be there.

And just for fun, I’m going to use celebs to decorate the blog today.

For a fab evening with the besties, where there is no competition involved, and no overt man-hunting (another level of competition when running with the pack) I would recommend not going for a huge make up look. When everyone else is casual you don’t want to walk in looking too made up. Their softer look will make your heavier look seem like drag queen make up.

So we’re going to take our cue from Team Aniston.
Invariably Jennifer sports a soft, pretty makeup. Still flawless, but no big eyeliner, beautifully soft cheeks, soft lips.
Warm. Cozy. Friendly.
Approachable.
Trustworthy.

Now if its still a night out with the love squad, but there’s an option for flirting with the man-tribe, you want to separate yourself a little with your look.
There will always be someone prettier/thinner/taller/shorter/better dressed/etc etc
but you can OWN the evening by rocking a little something along the lines of the gorgeous
Miss Moss. The Kate is my favorite supermodel and has been ever since we did a Calvin Klein show together at the Hollywood bowl a lifetime ago.

Check her out in the YSL fragrance ad.
Hair kinda tousled and bedroomy, smouldering eyes, soft mouth.
Man-bait.
In most settings this look is suitable and appropriate. Not overpowering the other girls, not intimidating, just sexy gorgeous.

Now we head into the territory of the competitive female on the prowl. If there is going to be competition afoot, if there are going to be evil females in the bunch, then you must dress, present and carry yourself like the ultimate alpha.

And for this look we turn to the consummate winner. Anything less than a full win is not acceptable to the divine Santa Angelina.
Quite apart from the fact that she is ridiculously, exquisitely beautiful, can you see how her attitude and demeanor have her winning the gold medal before the race is even started?
Angelina is never owned by her makeup. Her look is always about beautiful skin and small makeup touches, but it radiates power.
Look at those eyes!

She can intimidate any problematic female with less than a glance.
Problem is, she probably scares the shiz out of the average male too.
But she’s not after the average male.
If you can pull this one off you too can no doubt pull yourself a Pitt-like male.
If thats what you want.

Then our final look, if you want to out class, out sexy, out everything every other female on the block, take a cue from the always perfect Dita Von Teese.
Always immaculate, always in charge of her own destiny.
Doesn’t look all warm and fuzzy, but I don’t think that particularly concerns her.

And remember, you are banned from brown eyeshadow, bronzer, brown toned blusher, and emphatically banned from brown lips.
And hideous Christmas sweaters.

Have a gorgeous and festive weekend!

xo

C