Glancing at the clock, I realized time had slipped away. I knew my husband’s office dinner party started in a few hours, but I needed to confirm the time.
“Jen? People are heading over there in thirty minutes,” he confirmed.
“What? It starts that early? Well, I’m in trouble.”
Considering we live thirty minutes away from the restaurant, I knew that my daytime look needed a no fuss, instant transformation, so keeping in mind some basic frugal beauty tips, I quickly focused on  accessories, make up, and hair. That can be done in five minutes, right?
Accessories: If you’ve been reading my blog for any amount of time, you know how I feel about accessorizing. You can take the most boring of tops and dresses, and make it perfect for a night out on the town if you just accessorize it well.
For the holidays, be daring. Accessories that you typically might feel self conscious about, you can certainly get away with during the Christmas party season. Remember how it took me 6 months to finally get the nerve up to wear these “Red Carpet” earrings?
shop the look earrings No Spend Red Carpet Style   Frugal Fashionista NYC
If earrings aren’t your preference, try a statement piece necklace. Bauble type jewelry is really in right now, and even though I took a chance with this necklace, when I saw it marked down to $4 at Josie’s boutique jewelry yard sale, I couldn’t resist. It’s perfect for Christmas.

For those of you still feeling a bit more conservative, begin with your bracelet. I scoured my jewelry box for my silver bracelets and layered them. Three different yard sale bracelets all paired together to take my daytime look to nighttime glamour.

Make Up:
With only a few minutes to spare, the dilemma of whether I should reapply all my make up or not was solved for me.
By using a cotton swab with some Vaseline Petroleum Jelly®, I removed any smudged make up. Especially if it has run around the eyes, it makes me look instantly tired (and I don’t need more help in that department).
A warm smile encourages and puts people at ease, so the first tip I’ve been living by for years is “never leave the house without lipstick and earrings.” 🙂 Now, of course, that’s just me, but even if you are not a lipstick wearer, there’s no better product than Vaseline Petroleum Jelly for adding some moisture and shine to your lips (or, pick up one of the new pocket-sized Vaseline Lip Therapy Original tubs – so cute and so effective, and great on the go!). When I was approached about sharing uses for Vaseline through their Beauty Insiders program, I was thrilled because I have declared my praises of it since I was a little girl.
Every household has a huge jar in their cabinet, so pull it out and get creative with all its uses. I love figuring out ways to stretch our dollar, and since I don’t invest in purchasing fancy lipsticks just to use for the holidays, I turned to my Dollar Store metallic eyeshadow. Yes, I did.
To create this look, I combined eye shadow with a little Vaseline Petroleum Jelly. The look was gorgeous, and I was so pleased that I had a high glam look without spending any extra money.

Focusing on your eyes is one of the quickest ways to take your daytime look to night time glamour, but I know that is one area with which people feel inadequate. I receive a lot of requests for help with applying eye shadow, and for me, deepening the eye shadow tones for evening adds glamour. For those that want to start simple, just re-apply an extra layer of mascara, and add a slightly smudged or thicker line of pencil or shadow around the lash line.
Since I was already using my $1 metallic colors for my lips, I wanted to go with a same color palette on my eyes as well. Since I have been 13, I’ve used Vaseline Petroleum Jelly for an extra glossy look on my eyes. It initially started because I wasn’t allowed to wear eyeshadow, but my parents were fine with the natural look of the jelly, but now I add it just for fun. When used with shadow, the look doesn’t last all day, but you will have some evening hours out of it and then make up removal at night is a breeze.

Here I am trying to take a picture in my dark bathroom  to show you the “high gloss look” of just a very fine layer of Vaseline, and then gold shadow.  (Yes, it’s harder than it looks to actually achieve that poor quality picture. ;)) Resist the urge to blend the shadow and the Vaseline, or it will rub off the color.

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If you use eye pencil (which I do not show in this photo), run a Q-tip with Vaseline Petroleum Jelly over it for another option. It’s a great way to get that smokey eye look. I do it with eyeshadow. Recently, my eye shadow cracked in my purse and instead of just throwing it away, I created some wonderful cream shadow by mixing a tad of jelly with it. There are just so many options.
Hair:
As much as we would all love a standing appointment with a stylist, we can avoid that route, by again, just doing something different.
Whether you have a long or short style, try an accessory in your hair. Raid your daughter’s hair drawer and slip a skinny headband in or possibly a jeweled hair pin.
You know I am a “get ready quick” kind of gal and with my hair it’s no different. One of the easiest ways to create a dramatic night time look is by taking that daytime, “bad hair day” pony tail and achieving instant, sophisticated glamour with a low or side pony tail.

Make a deep side part, and pull the hair as far down as it will go into a low ponytail. This works well for those with shorter hair too. Just use a few hidden bobby pins to secure the loose hairs. A sleek, straight pony tail creates a sophisticated look, but adding additional curls is another gorgeous option. For my dinner party, I pulled two strands from the front and gathered them in the back winding them into a quick bun. It took me literally 60 seconds, and it changed up my basic day time look. Another great night time look it to pull all my hair to one side for another twist to the low, pony tail. I didn’t do it in the above picture, but I could easily have put a hair accessory right where the hair gathers together.
If your hair tends to be on the frizzy side and you don’t have any mouse or gel, take a very tiny dab of Vaseline Petroleum Jelly and rub it in your hands. Then apply it to the frizzy areas. I can’t believe how well it worked.
There are so many more frugal beauty tips that will help you turn your day time look into night time glamour, but I hope this gives you a starting point. Just remember, have fun, and try at least one new and different tip for your next night out.