Half of the fun of preparing for a night out is getting ready, but there’s nothing worse than having your beauty efforts disappear mid-evening. While you can’t tote along your entire makeup bag and all your favourite beauty products for touchups, you can pack some portable
holiday beauty products that will have you leaving the party looking as good as when you walked through the door.

Holiday beauty essential: Mini perfume

Have a signature scent you want to wear all night long? Almost every designer fragrance from Marc Jacobs to Dior, offers a mini version of their perfume that will fit perfectly in your evening clutch—whether that’s in a petite-sized bottle, a roll-on or even a solid. If you can’t find your scent, consider a refillable atomizer spray, like the pocket-sized version from Travalo (us.travalo.com), ($15.99) which is easy to fill and comes in a variety of styles and colours.

Holiday beauty essential: Oil blotting tissues

After a little champagne and a few circuits around the room, it doesn’t take long for your skin to start looking a little shiny. Oil blotting tissues are more compact than a pressed powder, making them easy to fit into your evening bag and won’t take off your makeup either. Made with abaca leaf and soft wood pulp, Mineral Fusion Cosmetics Blotting Papers (ebeauty.ca), ($9) are a bonus for sensitive skin since they’re all natural.

Holiday beauty essential: Lip gloss

It’s inevitable you’ll need to reapply your gloss throughout the evening, making this an absolute beauty essential you’ll want to have at your fingertips all night. Most lip glosses are pretty compact to begin with so fitting in a favourite in won’t be an issue. For a little iridescent shine try M.A.C.’s Glitter and Ice Dazzleglass (maccosmetics.com), ($23) or if high shine and staying power is a must, Cargo’s Long Wear Lip Gloss (cargocosmetics.com), ($14) is a great option.

Get ready in 15 minutes with these gorgeous holiday party looks!

More holiday beauty products to tuck into your clutch on the next page …

Holiday beauty essential: Portable flats

Heel lover or not, after a few hours in a pair of three-inch stilettos (dancing included), your feet may not be loving your choice of footwear. Thankfully you don’t have to hobble out the door. Instead you can leave gracefully by exchanging your heels for a pair of portable flats you’ve tucked into your clutch. Damn Heels (damnheels.com), ($45) and Dr. Scholl’s Fast Flats (drscholls.ca), ($14.99) are two convenient and stylish options that will seriously save your feet.

Holiday beauty essential: Hair helper

Whether you’ve spent the time to DIY or had your hair professionally done, sometimes the best-laid plans fall flat. Rather than trying to re-pin a fallen ‘do, or fix frizzy or flat hair, with a handful of bobby pins, all you need to create a messy updo or chic chignon are two Goody Spin Pins (goody.com), ($7 for a pack of three) and
voilà—emergency averted. Besides being easy to use, they’ll hardly take any space in your purse.

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