Purse-Friendly Party Preparation

In a few weeks most of us will start the yearly tradition of excess; eating too much, drinking too much, going out too much and not getting enough sleep.  All these things combined will inevitably impact with our looks negatively, therefore a certain amount of preparation is in order!

Voucher Codes recently e-mailed regarding research they’d conducted that showed 18-24 year olds spend an average of £110 getting ready for the party season and asked if I’d be able to put together some product recommendations that would cut this cost down.  The budget was £60, so here are some things I’d recommend stocking up on to get you ready for the party season.

I originally started researching this post by thinking about what facial treatments you’d need for adequate party preparation and I figured you’d need things to sort your feet out, plump your skin up and smooth the skin on your body.  I put together a little list before finding this fabulous kit that contains everything you need; bath soak, body lotion, facial scrub, moisturising mask, foot polish and foot cream and you get the whole lot for £20.

A brilliant bright nail shade will work on both toes and fingers and see you through the holiday season if well applied.  I do think that if you put the time aside to give yourself a good manicure (by making use of the products in the Sanctuary Kit – just because the foot polish has the word “foot” in it, doesn’t mean it can only be used on the feet!) and apply a couple of coats and follow with a decent top coat, then a home manicure is easy to achieve.  This particular polish is a bargain at £1.99.

This is my favourite top coat as it masks marks and poor application and makes even cheaper nail varnish look glossy and last for ages.  If I want a manicure to really last, I apply this every couple of days after my original manicure to keep it neat and glossy.  It takes literally minutes to dry and is such a great investment at £12.

You don’t need to visit a salon to achieve that airbrushed, glowy tan any more as there are some seriously effective products available to create the look at home.  If you’re inexperienced at applying your own fake tan then try using a spray version that will deposit a light mist of colour and is incredibly easy to use.  I’ve always got on well with the L’Oreal range of spray tanners, and this one is currently available from Cheap Smells for £3.95.

Hair takes a bit of a battering over the party season as it tends to get washed and styled more than usual, so a deep conditioner is absolutely essential.  Thankfully, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a decent conditioning treatment and Dove make some amazing ones.  This one is currently on offer from Superdrug priced at £1.65.

Lash extensions are fabulous, not only because they can look amazing, but they’re also great time-savers as you don’t need to faff about with mascara.  However, to get them applied professionally can cost a fair bit, so Eylure created Lash Extend which are individual lashes that you apply at home.  They come with a hard-wearing glue to ensure longevity and a remover when you’ve had enough.  These cost £6.15.

So there you have it; some great products that’ll save you lots of cash when preparing for the party season.  If you were to purchase all of the above, the total would come in at £45.74 which is well under budget, allowing you a few pounds to spend on some new make-up! I would suggest a good multi-tasker for lips and cheeks, a hardy eyeliner and some glitter, since it’s Christmas which is just about the only time that you can get away with overdoing it on the glitter and nobody holds it against you…