In the pressured society we live in, it can be hard to find the time for everything. You have to be a fantastic mother, while holding up the empowered, businesswoman vibe, work out three to five times a week, maintain a healthy diet, and look fantastic and put together all of the time. This also needs to be shown on all of your social media. Of course, so everyone is aware you’re acing the societal norms. It’s all just a little bit unrealistic. And yet there is this constant pressure from all angles to achieve effortless all-day looks and more.
However, there are a few tricks and secrets of the trade when it comes to appearing put together at all times. So you don’t feel like every moment of your time is taken up with materialistic things, and you can actually enjoy life. The last thing you want to do after you finish work is head home to spend a few hours standing in front of the mirror before you can go out for a drink. Here are a few tips on turning your daytime look into evening or night time glam in a short amount of time. If you wanted to, you could feel night-ready straight from the office.
How to Achieve Effortless All-Day Looks
Add some extra height with heels
You may wear heels to work. And if you can go all day on your feet in six-inch heels, many women will commend you! However, it can be very uncomfortable if you’re feet aren’t used to it. Many ladies will opt for a ballet flat or low kitten heel, as these are usually less taxing on the feet. If you do wear heels all day and are going out straight from work, you may want to add some gel feet pads to your shoes to soothe the ball of each foot. If you usually opt for a low heel or flat shoe, here is the time to dust off the big heels that are usually shoved to the back of the wardrobe and show them off.
This will help you feel more glam instantly and give you a change from your everyday work uniform. No matter how fabulous you feel in it, it is still your work uniform and it may not necessarily make you feel ready for a night out with the girls. Heels help to elongate the legs, and give you a certain sass to your walk, helping you to feel ready to let your hair down a little and have some fun. After all, you’ve been working all week, and you deserve it.
Add smokiness and bold colours
Many women love makeup. It helps us to feel confident and expresses our creativity. However, if your day starts before 6am and is non-stop until you walk out of the office at 5pm (if you’re lucky enough to finish on time), you are hardly going to spend your morning trying to achieve the perfect cat eye winged eyeliner. You may, of course, have the skill of winged eyeliner down and be able to do it in five minutes.
But here is a tip if you are less skilled in the makeup area: You potentially already have a base on that you wear to work most days—a light coverage foundation, concealer, a little bit of bronzer and some mascara.
If you don’t wear makeup, a simple base will take under ten minutes if you feel you want a little more coverage or glow.
You may want to touch up, or just spritz your face with a little of Mac’s Fix+ just to brighten and smooth everything out again. Simply adding a darker colour to your crease and blending it out, and adding a colourful lip will help to make you feel a lot more glam after a long day at work. You can even add a little highlight to feel glowy and radiant, helping you to ooze confidence wherever your night takes you.
If you are looking for more of a smoky look, apply some black eyeliner to your lower lash line and smudging it out will help you to achieve more of an edgy look quickly. Of course, there is absolutely no obligation to wear makeup on a night out—but if you do like to treat yourself and feel glam every once in a while, this a great way of achieving the desired look in a matter of minutes.
Add a few curls to your hair
Of course for all those readers sporting a fashionable pixie cut, this one will probably be a little difficult to achieve. However, if you have mid-to-long hair, this trick may be a lifesaver for you. To achieve a more volumized look for the evening, you don’t have to lug your curling tongs with you to work, and risk a potential fire in your work bathroom should you forget about them. While at work braid your hair, or twist it up it in a bun and apply a little bit of hairspray. Through the day your hair will mould into a slight curl or beachy wave. Then, you just have to shake your hair out before you leave the office.
If you’re looking for more volume at the root, apply some dry shampoo for an instant boost. Though this will not achieve perfect curls that look like you’ve spent the afternoon at the salon, it will still give your hair that little something extra for an evening out, avoiding the dull, lifeless look that eight hours at work can give your hair.
There you have it, a few simple tips to help you achieve effortless all-day looks.
Even if you’re just coming out of the office, and jumping straight into a cab to head to the nearest restaurant that serves cocktails, you’ll look fantastic. At the end of the day, it’s whatever makes you comfortable and confident in order to have the best possible time. Everyone has been there where they have come out of work feeling a little too scruffy and out of place, and it can distract from the evening.
Life is too short to not enjoy the here and now, and if glamming up a little helps you to be in the moment, then what are you waiting for? Just remember to pack everything you need for you glam look the night before, as you don’t want to add even more to your to-do list and stress in your morning routine.
This “Effortless All-Day Looks” post was contributed to The Lady-like Leopard.