I want to feel pretty, dammit!

[ArcticChicken]

So, bit o' background: My parents were pretty big on gender equality, but, while they did make me realize I could do "boy" stuff if I wanted, they somehow didn't get across that I could do both "boy" stuff and "girl" stuff. Somehow, I thought I had to choose. So, I picked boy stuff. The result was that I actively rebelled against girl stuff, seriously, you could not have paid me to wear a dress.

My subconscious rebellion lasted all throughout my teen years.

In the past few years I've realized I can wear dresses and makeup and pretty shoes, and not compromise who I am, but I spent my prime years for learning how to do that stuff, actively not learning how to do it. I can manage to wear a dress without ripping it, or tripping over things, and I can manage to put on day makeup, but I can't wear heels to save my life.

I'll get to the point, I'm going to Dracball on Saturday, and I need advice. Specifically, tips on how to put my hair up and have it stay there, and how make sure my makeup will last. Also, any other common sense things most women know about getting dressed up. I've never really had time to experiment in these things.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

Heh, I know what you mean. I've just never been into that stuff until recently.

Actually, one of my friends wants to write a book on this very subject (the Non-Girly-girl's Guide to Being a Girly-Girl or something).

The most help I can offer is as follows: for heels, I always go with something that won't slip off. Strappies with a loop around the ankle or pumps with a strap around the ankle. And if you're new on heels, stay low. 1-1/2 to 2 inch heels, and go for Block heels instead of the stilettos. I find they offer more support and balance.

I wish I could help you on the hair, but mine is hopeless. I still wear it in a ponytail everyday, even at work.

[ArcticChicken]

Oh, man, I would buy that book in a heartbeat.

[XCashier]

Walking in heels: shift more of your weight to the ball of your foot, to avoid the loud clacking sound of too much weight on the heels. And I agree with the low heels; they're better for your feet anyway.

[HorrorFrogPrincess]

Walking in heels: shift more of your weight to the ball of your foot, to avoid the loud clacking sound of too much weight on the heels. And I agree with the low heels; they're better for your feet anyway.

Is that how it works?

Oh, man, I would buy that book in a heartbeat.

I'll let her know. ^^ I've been hoping she's still working on it.

[monolayth]

if you have a tendacy to sweat a lot with your feet deoderant on the bottoms will help.

have back up hose.

if wearing stockings alway remember the panties go on after the belt is attached to the stockings. much easier to go use the facilities.

pratice walking in your heels before hand, break them in.

when praticing walking inheels try to walk with one foor in front of the other, it creates a beautiful hip sway.

[alogram]

I can't tell you how to walk in heels, I am 5'11, so I haven't had much practice, although I do wear them sometimes.

The best advice I can give as far as makeup goes, at least for eyeshadow, etc, is use a primer. If you have a Sephora near you, Urban Decay and Too Faced both have one. If not, try L'Oreal Decrease. The stuff at Sephora is about $17, but worth it because it lasts a long time, and my makeup stays on pretty much all day until i take it off. Without it, I am lucky if it lasts a few hours.

Youtube is really useful too.

Hair I am not much help with. Not so good at the updos.

[Melicious Motormouth]

If you don't like high heels, try kitten heels!

[Shpepper]

For the makeup, go to a department store with a makeup counter and ask them. They usually do a good job. you don't have to buy things but there might be one thing that you like. I personally don't wear makeup. I sweat it off too fast and it tends to run all over my tshirts anyhow. the other things is if you ahve a p[lace that sells just makeup, you can go there and ask as well. As for the shoes, I used to wear heels many many moons ago. The best thing you can do is to wear them at home ALOT so you get used to them. Have a grand time at the ball.

[Thuringwethyl]

Another tip for heels: practice walking around at home for an hour or so for a couple days to get used to the feeling. When I had to learn to wear high heels my mom made me do this; you also get the chance to find rough or uncomfortable spots on the shoes and actually do something about it.

[One-Fang]

Can you get over there those gel pads that you can put in the shoes to help with the soreness on the balls of your feet? They are lovely.

I would also buy that book in a heartbeat. I need some girlie girl friends to teach me this stuff. I have little to no interest in it, but maybe once a year, if that, I would like to do the Cinderella thing.

[KiaKat]

1. My favourite heels are a pair of Mary Janes from Dansko (check out the Shoes thread, you'll see a pic there). They're comfortable, not too high, and have great stability.

2. AVOID KITTEN HEELS. They will make you trip if you're not used to heels at all. The balance is wrong, the heels themselves are miniscule, and you will catch them in every crack and grate along the way.

3. If you have a Sephora near you, go there about a week before the event and talk to them. Arrange for a consultation where you tell them what the event is, and that you want something simple. Stress the concept of simple, because otherwise you'll come out looking like you have three pounds of makeup on.

If you don't have the time (or the inclination) to get a consultation, here are a few tips:

Avoid foundation. Unless your skin is incredibly uneven in tone or texture, it won't do anything. I use a simple coverup and bronzing powder. The powder makes sure that my skin stays somewhat dry, and the coverup evens things out a bit.

Use a pencil eyeliner a few shades darker than your normal day one. Unless you're going for a dramatic look, pencil is always better than liquid, because you can smudge away any mistakes. Better yet is a shade of eyeshadow in the colour you want, with an eyeliner brush (usually very thin, and angled). Then you can almost just tap it into place without worrying that you're going to poke your eye out.

The colour of eyeshadow depends on what eye colour you have. The only one I remember right now is that if you have blue eyes, go for a bronze eyeshadow. I'm sure there's a resource online for that, though. Alternately, you can match your shadow to your dress - go a couple shades lighter, though.

My fallback is always either a shimmery black with colour highlights (it's a special blend that was given me by a friend) or a pearlescent grey/silver. But my eyes are so light as to be almost white, and I'm incredibly pale, so those work well for me.

If you really want your eyes to stand out, dab a small dot of very light blue or silver eyeshadow right in the middle of your eyelid, not so much that it screams *HI*, but just enough that it draws attention to your irises. You'd be amazed how this works, especially if you're using a darker, shimmery shadow.

Which brings me to my last point - Don't worry about getting dramatic with fancy eyeliner or multiple shadow colours. Go simple, hell, you could almost just darken your daytime eyeliner and choose a darker, redder lipstick and pull it off. The key is to enhance the features you already have.

[ArcticChicken]

Have a grand time at the ball.

Yeah, it's gonna be fantastic, Unheilig is making their first american stop, and it's the only stop on this tour.

Thanks, guys, this has been really helpful.

[blas]

Oooo oooo girly stuff! Right up my alley!

First of all, I wouldn't feel too pressured to cake the makeup on and do the whole Miss Congeniality makeover. Wear what you are comfortable wearing, after all, most people prefer makeup to look natural and sophisticated

I would go to a makeup counter at a department store and have an associate help you pick shades that compliment and match your skin. It's up to you if you want to spend the big bucks or just take that information and go to Wal-Mart and get the Cover Girl stuff instead.

Wash your face very thoroughly before applying your makeup. Makeup sticks to clean skin best.

The biggest thing about makeup is that you only want to pick one feature to stand out. Eyes, lips, or cheeks. But don't make them all stand out at the same time, or it will be too overpowering. You can do smokey eyes and a neutral/nude lip shade, or earth toned eyeshadows and bright bold lips. Pick your best feature on your face out of those three and have fun with it!

When applying mascara, this is going to sound crazy, but if you feel you can't control the wand or keep your eyes open, just open your mouth and stick your tongue out a bit and hold it that way. Somehow, this will help control your eyes from wanting to blink and screw up your mascara.

It never hurts to dust loose powder on your eyelids and lips to help set your color better and make it last longer.

As far as the shoes go, it's all in what you are comfortable with. If you do choose heels.....practice practice practice before the big night. I wouldn't go from never wearing heels to wearing big stillettos....but there are plenty of heels in all differen sizes and thickness. It's all about balance.

[RetailWorkhorse]

Walking in heels: shift more of your weight to the ball of your foot

A Tranny's take on heels (You knew it would come at some point):

I HATE them. But I learned to walk in them. Here's what ya do.

Take a quick look at how you walk in sneakers/flipflops/combat boots. Your foot lands heel-toe. As in the heel hits the floor before the rest of your foot. You can't do that in heels and not fall flat on your ass.

When you walk in heels, do it toe-heel. The toe of your heels needs to hit the floor first, like you're walking tip-toed through the mess of toys on your bedroom floor.

Practice. A LOT. And pick up some Dr. Scholl's ball o' foot inserts, it will save your footsies.

I don't do make-up past lip gloss and a touch of eye shadow, so I'm no help there.