Party favors

It’s that time of year when we take celebrating, backstabbing and, of course, looking fight more seriously than ever. As invites roll out faster than Big Brother residents, we need ammo to be the best our sparkling selves can be.

Everyone complains that they get fat during the holidays, but if you’re smart enough you will know that there are party canapés you can feast on without gaining weight, like carrot sticks (have fun). You may have enough resolve on the chow, but let’s face it, even the most immaculate of souls find it hard to keep themselves completely champagne-free during the holidays. Fun memories, bad skin – that’s what champagne chagrin is all about. Aside from that, the long hours and marathon parties can take their toll even on the most dewy of Betties.

I have found the ultimate miracle potion. I always wished something like this would exist, but not until now did I discover the wicked Guerlain potions that allow me to play and not necessarily have to pay. Tried and tested by my derelict lifestyle, it’s incredible. On a night out, imagine all the alcohol, smoke and bad pick-up lines seeping into your pores. Exfoliating the day after is great to unclog your skin from this gunk, but with the Issima Midnight line from Guerlain, you are invincible. These "late-night treatments," as they are called by Guerlain, protect and heal skin from the ravages of being a bon vivant.

Apply one magical, monodose capsule of Midnight Star before your makeup and you’re ready for a night out! An extraordinary radiance treatment that not only holds makeup all night long but also lifts and tones your skin and protects it from cigarette smoke and other external aggressors.

Midnight Secret is sleep in a bottle, the essential skin-saving step for short or disrupted nights. Apply three oxygenating drops when you go to bed, enjoy a few hours of sleep, and traces of fatigue seem to miraculously disappear. Wake up with pleasure to a clearer complexion and invigorated skin! Both are now my new best friends.

Adding to my ever-growing boudoir pals is the hip and happening line DuWop. It made waves for its innovative and highly coveted Lip Venom lip plumper, a spicy gloss that puffs up your lips to Angelina Jolie proportions.

Two new favorites are DuWop Blush Therapy, which colors cheeks with a natural tone that imparts a cooling sensation and emits a soothing aroma from the essential oils built into the cap of the blush tube. Perfect for dull and hung-over skin.

The DuWop eye kit is amazing. If you find yourself going from office to party – standard procedure for me – this all-in-one kit will be your new best friend. DuWop Eyes is a set of eye color palettes that defy the creasing of creams and the dullness of powders with an amazing light, soft-blending formula that’s sheer yet poppy, and glides on instantly. It contains three shades of the same color to be used as an eye base, a light shade to highlight, a darker shade to contour and a silver shade to metalicize, plus a cream eyeliner to perfect the look. It comes in a myriad of shades. My personal favorite is the gray eyes because I am obsessed with eternally looking like a flapper.

Double-duty stuff has become as coveted as gay best friends. DuWop introduces Hands2Hair, which is a brilliant dual product that combines a hand cream with a hairstyling product. It gives hair shine and separation for that sexy, piecey look while keeping your hands soft and supple. Great for traveling. Part body makeup, part body moisturizer with SPF 15, DuWop’s Revolution means an end to pale, ashy or uneven skin as it evens out skin tone, moisturizes and polishes skin to perfection. It applies easily without streaking and once dry, resists rubbing off.

It absolutely makes the skin glow like a billionaire’s. This holiday season there’s no reason why your complexion shouldn’t shine like a Christmas light.

* * *

DuWop is available at Beauty Bar stores and is exclusively distributed by Stores Specialists, Inc. Check out the new Guerlain counter at Rustan’s Shangri-La Tower.