18 Red Carpet Beauty Tricks You Can Actually Use in Everyday Life
Walking a red carpet anytime soon? No? Well, you could, because these celebrity go-to pros are kindly offering up their beauty tricks for the taking. (And you thought Hollywood types were selfish.)
Now that we're (mostly) able to get all dressed up to go somewhere again (especially as you prepare for the onslaught of holiday parties) keep these tips — for easy smoky eyes, simple ombré nail art, ultra-voluminous hair, and more — in your back pocket. Who knows, you just might encounter a red carpet stretching from where your Uber drops you off to your host's front door. Prepare accordingly!
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Dominik Bindl/Getty Images1/18Add Last-Minute Texturizing Spray
"In the moments before you walk into an event, flip your hair upside down, then spray with a texturizer and give it a good shake. If your hair is curly, try separating the curls with your hands and then give it a good flip." — DJ Quintero, hairstylist
Use Gel to Style Your Brows
2/18Göt2B
Göt2b Ultra Glued Invincible Styling Gel
"Göt2b Ultra Glued Invincible Styling Gel on a spoolie tidies up brows. It gives stubborn hairs that grow downward a lift that lasts." — Cynthia Alvarez, hairstylist
Mike Coppola/Getty Images3/18Swap Hair Elastics for Hair Bungees
"Instead of hair elastics, I prefer hair bungees, which have hooks on each end. They're more versatile — you can wrap them around a pony as many times as you need to create tension — and not hard to use, even though they look a little intimidating. I always leave one small section of hair out to wrap around the bungee to hide it." — Andrew Fitzsimons, hairstylist
(We love these Kitsch Black Bungees that come in a pack of six!)
Use DHC Olive Virgin Oil Swabs for Makeup Touchups
4/18DHC
DHC Olive Virgin Oil Swabs
"I'll give people four or five DHC Olive Virgin Oil Swabs," says makeup artist Nick Barose. "They come pre-wrapped with just enough olive oil. If lip color is starting to bleed or smudge, or if eyeliner or mascara runs, then they can fix it themselves."
Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/Getty5/18Turn Anything Into a Hair Accessory
"Charlize Theron had her roots showing and I was like, 'Oh, my God, what can we do to highlight this?'" Place a diamond bracelet vertically along her center part, that's what. "It was a Tiffany bracelet that she owned, and it went viral," hairstylist Adir Abergel recalls. (He has attached all kinds of jewelry — antique brooches, heirloom pieces — to hair with fishing wire.)
Create Custom Liquid Liner
6/18Mehron
Mehron Makeup Mixing Liquid
"Sometimes the exact shade of liquid liner I want doesn't exist, so I create a custom one by turning eye shadow into a paint using Mehron Mixing Liquid. I apply the mix with an angled liner brush." — Kelsey Deenihan, makeup artist
Emma McIntyre/Getty Images7/18When in Doubt, Add Metallic Eyeshadow
"Metallic shadows can give you a twinkle in your eye. Add a light metallic shade to the inner corner and center of the lid — by itself, or over any other shade — for a little surprise every time you blink." — Allan Avendaño, makeup artist
Touch Up Eyeshadow With a Serum Stick
8/18Tatcha
Tatcha The Serum Stick
"I shave off pieces of Tatcha the Serum Stick and put it into little pots to use as lip balm or to reconstitute creased eye shadow. It brings makeup back to life," says makeup artist Daniel Martin (a spokesperson for Tatcha).
Jon Kopaloff/Getty9/18Create a Quick Smoky Eye
"For quick smoky eyes, use a flat eye shadow brush to apply a wash of shadow all over lids and just under lower lashes; satin and shimmer shadows are easiest to blend. Trace your lash lines with gel or pencil liner and, using the flat brush, blend upwards for dimension and depth without having to mix multiple shadows." — Tasha Reiko Brown, makeup artist
Rich Fury/Getty Images10/18Get Good With Velcro Rollers
"Learn to love Velcro rollers to set a voluminous blowout. After blow-drying, pop them in — down the center like a mohawk, and along the sides — and secure each with a duck clip. Let them cool, then remove. Run your fingers through your hair, shake, and go!" — Bridget Brager, hairstylist
mikroman6/Getty11/18Ombré Is the Easiest Nail Art
"All you need to create ombré nail art is a colorful polish and a foam eye shadow applicator from the drugstore. Paint a little bit of polish on the applicator, but don’t saturate it. Then, starting at the tip of the nail, dab the color 60 percent of the way down. The texture of the foam creates a cool, faded effect." — Miss Pop, nail artist
Don't Forget Your Extensions
12/18Shae Hair
Shae Hair Extensions Dark Brown18-inch
Hair extensions add length, volume, and drama — so much drama — to your average ponytail, says hairstylist Jen Atkin: "Ponytail extensions from Shae Hair make it very easy, or you can wrap hair wefts around the base of the pony."
Frazer Harrison/Getty Images13/18Fake Fuller Lips
"To create an illusion of fuller lips, I like the edges to look velvety and slightly blurred. After applying lipstick, use a dense eye shadow brush to gently buff the color along your lip line." — Emily Cheng, makeup artist
Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images14/18Perfect Your French Manicure
"The French manicure trend is on fire, and you can easily do it yourself using thin striping tape from a beauty supply store. Apply your base coat and allow it to dry, then place the tape a few millimeters from the tip of the nail and paint the area above using the color of your choosing. Slowly remove the tape after it dries." — Gina Edwards, nail artist
Carry Two Types of Blotters
15/18MAC
MAC Blot Pressed Powder
"I always tell my clients to alternate between blotting powder and papers, because for the red carpet it’s going to be a long night," says Barose. Two pro favorites: MAC Blot Powder and Shiseido Oil-Control Blotting Paper.
Tibrina Hobson/Getty Images16/18Take Time With Your Red Lip
"A red lip cannot just be a one-red-lipstick-shoved-on-the-lips kind of thing — it's an ordeal," says makeup artist Jo Baker. "Because we had fun, the [makeup] got global press and attention. It was a milky, gel-like, pink eye with a hot, red-pink lip." Baker painted and blended powdered red blushes around the lip line, "so that you get this punch when it’s photographed," she says. "I wanted to make it look dimensional."
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty17/18Catch Flyaways on the Go
A toothbrush misted with hairspray can get flyaways and frizz to lie flat without disturbing your style, says hairstylist Lacy Redway — and it's small enough to slip into a clutch.
Pack Some CBD
18/18Lord Jones
Lord Jones CBD Body Lotions
"Before an event, I'll do their legs with this CBD lotion," says Martin. "Then they put heels on and it really helps the pain." So much so that Martin gives every client two packets of Lord Jones CBD Body Lotion to soothe feet through the night.
