A Comprehensive Resource for the Prom: Advice in Seven Areas From Face to Shoes

Every spring we advise teens on how to prepare for the prom while keeping the skin healthy and looking youthful long after the party is over. What steps should you take to avoid suffering long–term ramifications from beauty mistakes made for these once–in–a–lifetime events? No one wants damaged hair and scarred faces! This may be one of the first times that young ladies really go all–out in makeup and hair in order to look glamorous and grown up for the big night!

Also, everyone wants to avoid the mistakes that make your look appear so awkward and unfinished that you’ll never want to look at the prom pictures again.

Finally: you want a comfortable, worry–free, (relatively) painless night yet still be poised and polished? There are some tips to consider.

FIRST PHASE: Let’s Dress Ahead

Dress selection is made months early, especially if the dress will be made–to–order or purchased from overseas dressmakers — it’s not unusual that US mail carriers see a slew of packages shipped from Asia in the spring before prom time!

Allow enough time to examine the dress for flaws, and make sure it matches the picture and description in the catalog. Try it on to confirm that it will fit and compliment the your prom girl body shape. You can’t break in a dress. You don’t want to spend the entire night pulling up or tugging down an ill–fitting dress with a mind of its own! Also, you want to be able to dance, not spend the evening imitating a statue from your art history textbook. It’s no fun worrying that any wrong move will cause the dress to fall off, tear, or split at a seam — revealing more than intended. And that strapless piece looked good in the catalog, but if you feel the need to wear a shawl all night for modesty, look for another design. A shawl is only charming for the first hour; after that, it’s another thing to adjust and tug at all night (unless the prom venue is cold; then you’d welcome the shawl!).

Or avoid the mystery, fuss and aggravation: don’t take the risk; make your own dress or simply buy locally off–the–rack. Support your local businesses! If you’re worried that everyone will have the same dress, add an accent: a sash around the waist, sew on some trim accent around the neckline or along the hem or arm/sleeve opening. There’s no better route for busy and no-nonsense students who still have AP’s and finals to worry about.

Now, once you know your dress color scheme, silhouette and style, it’s time to create the complete look.

Don’t end at the dress. The dress is just the start.

SECOND PHASE: Figure Out Entire Look

Put the dress on and look in a full–length mirror. Now imagine you can only see your blank silhouette. Check on the shape of the dress:

• Neckline – (high neck? V-neck? boat neck? plunge? sweetheart cut? strapless?);
  length of sleeves if there are sleeves;
• Shape – what it does at the hips (like, does it go out at the middle like a princess/ballerina? fall straight down past the waist? hug the hips tightly?);
• Bottom – how does it end at the bottom of the dress (flared hem? straight tube? is there a slit front/back/side?)

THIRD PHASE: Hair and Makeup theme.

Hair:  Now that you know your silhouette, style your hair so that your look is balanced and in proportion. Too much hair on top of the wrong silhouette and you look like an umbrella! Hair pulled back flat against the face can make you look like a pyramid or shrunken head! Look at celebrity pictures to find out which hair style and dress shape combinations rock.
Up? Down? Less? More? Color(s)?

Hair: Dangers
Be careful not to over–perm. Tinting and blow–drying put lot of stress even on healthiest hair. Don’t let one night strip the protective coating of your strands and cause broken split ends. Give yourself enough time to recover from bad dye jobs; not only could the wrong color ruin your night, skin breakouts from the coloring process could ruin your skin. Want to use natural color? Note that red henna is the natural hair dye; henna of any other color contains dangerous unnatural ingredients that cause severe allergic reactions. Always test new, untried hair dye brands on the inside of the forearm the day before you plan to use it on your hair. What you put on your scalp can affect your face!

Skin: Let your skin breathe and keep it healthy and hydrated. Drink eight glasses of water and eat plenty water–rich fruit and vegetables such as cucumber, lettuce, celery. Don’t forget your hands! Always apply hand cream in the morning, and throughout the day.

Skin: Dangers
Stay away dehydrating food and additives that dry out your skin: caffeine, sugar and especially alcohol! Avoid harsh soap on hands. No one wants a pretty manicure on hands with cracked skin!

Makeup: want to try out different looks? Time to go to the department store for a makeover! Take some selfies as you experiment. Think about the lighting in the venue so as to not choose too chalky or too obvious a foundation. Remember the tip about finding the right hairstyle for your silhouette? Tell the makeup artist your vision. What goes–with? Nude lip and strong eyes? Lips the focal point? Glitter freckles and peacock eyelashes — whoa, let’s not throw everything on your face at once! Because that’s what everyone will say: incapable of a decision, so you threw everything on your face at once… look at your selfies so that you know when to say “when”.

Makeup: Dangers
Skin reactions, of course! From foundation to eyelash glue, test the products far enough in advance for the swelling to go down. Use that extra time to practice If you’re handling your makeup yourself.

Beware heavy makeup. Those makeup contouring videos take practice to replicate; otherwise, instead of perky eyes, slender nose and hollow cheeks, bad contouring results in looking like an extra in a zombie movie.

Also, for the sweaters —those who perspire a lot, not the knitted clothing— must test their makeup plan to see if, at the end of the day, their mascara will make them appear as if they’ve been crying up a storm or the makeup job makes them look like the bad guy soldiers in the cave at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Makeup must not end at the chin. What? What does that mean? Stopping makeup at the chin causes the color of the face to not match the rest of the exposed skin on the upper body. Who wants to look like your doll collection after your mean cousin switched the heads on the doll bodies? Avoid this by blending a thin layer of foundation or bronzer down the neck to the exposed shoulders.

FOURTH PHASE: Finishing Touches. Dotting the “eyes”; crossing the “teeth”.

Eyes and Teeth: Teeth? Yes! You can’t complete your entire look without bright eyes and a glowing smile! Make your pearlies white. Use teeth whiteners like Crest White Strips. Use a product like Visine to “get the red out”. Don’t look like you pulled all–nighters in order to get those term papers done (even if you did). Follow the directions on the products so that your eyes and teeth are shining bright in time for the prom!

Feet: Again, remember your dress silhouette to help with style, color, heel height. You may want to wear the latest trend, but your dress screams classic lines. Listen to your dress. Also, your pedicure should never be an afterthought. Lastly, no ashy feet: moisturize–moisturize–moisturize!

Feet: Dangers
You only get two in your lifetime! When picking shoes for the big night, try to consider comfort and style equally, of course. But if you have to sacrifice to get the right look, bring flats to relieve painful dancing feet for later in the evening. Flip-flops — to be frank — are tacky with a gown. Try ballet flats instead. All the stores like Target, Walmart etc. sell pairs that roll up to fit in a purse.

Accessories: Back to the silhouette! Remember what your favorite celebrity wore with the dress like yours. Find a purse that compliments your dress and/or matches your shoes that can fit your prom ticket, phone, emergency money, keys and ID. Leave overnight bags in the limo or drop off at your friend’s house in advance. Remind yourself that you’re not planning to be a mannequin or statue. Less is more, especially for energetic dancers. Think twice about wearing the ring inherited from your great–aunt that’s a size too big, because it will fall off your finger and get kicked off the dark dance floor. Same with your grandmother’s bracelets. Don’t wear the big trendy necklace of questionable metal that will leave a rash in the shape of the necklace. Don’t let your backpack rip and stretch your dress. And do you really need that tiara?

Finally: you’re ready; you’re put–together. Think and stay positive and you’ll feel even more complete and beautiful than you look! Secure those straps, make good choices all night and have fun!