Party Like It's 1999 (&how to survive being ill at your own party)

So, those of you who know me know how rare it is to find me throwing a party... Aside from the fact that I'm decidedly asocial and feel like going to bed after two glasses of wine, I simply can't be bothered with all the fuss that throwing a party comes with: Buying industrial quantities of alcohol and snacks, writing lists and making sure you haven't forgotten to invite anyone (drama!), and then of course dealing with the inevitable demolition of your appartment* on top of a pounding headache the day after... You could say I have my reasons for sticking to going to other people's parties -or you could just call me lazy :)

wearing (my mom's old) hermès top, weekday skirt (remember I told you I would wear it lots?), h&m knee socks, adidas sneakers, weekday fluffy cardigan for the cold  shivers

In any case, the fact that I threw a party with my roommates last weekend, to celebrate a (belated) housewarming, is remarkable on its own, but here's where the story gets interesting: The night before, I dramatically declared myself struck with a cold. You know, one of those annoying head colds bad enough that you can't get up from bed without your head throbbing and little stars of darkness invading your vision, yet not serious enough to be hospitalized absolved from having to put on makeup, stay up all night, make people drinks, and be pleasant while feeling like crap. I may be a party slacker, but I take hosting very seriously: I wasn't gonna lock myself into my room and abandon my guests. 

So I did what any girl would do (or should, because this worked great, so consider it informal advice from a non-expert non-doctor): 

Raid the Pharmacy for any kind of vitamin promising to make you better plus paracetamol just in case,

Stay in Bed all day watching TV (which I read somewhere uses up less mental energy than sleeping, crazy right?)

Nap 

Drink Herbal Tea with Honey

By the time the evening rolled around, I was determined not to let a stupid cold make me miserable. Here come the two most important parts of the plan: 

Put on the Fierce -making yourelf look good as opposed to a sick mess is a really good placebo- and, for god's sake,

Stick to Soda 

Guess what? I had a great time! I was rested from all the lying in bed that morning and not drinking alcohol made a huge difference. I went to bed last and even survived the next day's cleaning up :) 

We took zero pictures during the party (which I consider a sign of a truly great party, by the way!), so a mirror selfie is all the evidence for posteriority I have... But anyways, here is my fashion/beauty advice: This is how I solved the equation of feeling sexy-but-not-trying-too-hard when you're feeling a bit under the weather.

my happy skin friends: etos gentle self tan moisturizer to (hopefully) preserve my that summer glow, estée lauder maximum coverage foundation that I use as concealer (cause whatever  works right?) and my favourite avène tinted sunblock that I use every day because it protects my skin and makes it glow!

-Luminous skin: You'll eat your vegetables later, for now fake it and use some concealer under your eyes and any problem zones, but use light coverage everywhere else -you want dewy, not matte and cakey skin. A little natural-looking colour on your cheeks helps a lot, too. I actually used tinted moisturizer, not foundation, and a little shimmery bronzer (not the super dark kind, the natural-looking one), using actual coverage only on some spots. That way I gave some glow to my skin without burying it under layers of slap.

avène tinted sunscreen, &other stories cream bronzer, essie nail polish and super old  red lipstick to put the colour back in the Cristina

-Add colour: I'm usually a smokey eye girl, but when you're sick you want to avoid looking like Dracula so I decided to go for something more colourful. A bright lipstick (I went for classic red) will really bring the light back on your face -just avoid really dark tones and make sure you apply carefully so it looks clean ;) 

For the eyes, I would go for something less severe than dark shades and liner. To compliment my red lip,  I very lightly traced my eye socket and lower lashes with brown eyeshadow to give depth and warmth without darkening my eyes, and added a coat of mascara. I would also suggest adding a light beige eyeshadow with a little shimmer to your eyelids and the inner corners of your eyes to brighten up your eyes.

obvi this isn't me ;P but here's some inspiration on the red-lip-bright-eyes combo... 

-My take on effortlessly sexy/cool: Show off something you like about yourself but don't try too hard. It's all about balance for me: Sexy knee high socks with a short skirt, but paired with trainers (which make me the look a bit 90's in a nice way :P) instead of heels. A sleeveless top that shows off my arms but is not too tight/revealing -plus the colour really helps lighten up the face, as opposed to black., And, very important: a limited colour palette that makes the outfit look effortlessly cool. I read somewhere that the ideal colour palette has no more than 3 colours. Black, white, dash of red, bam. Lastly (and this rule always applies but in this case it's even more important), be comforable! It was definitely a flats and elasticated waistline night for me and I think I looked the better, and enjoyed myself more, for it.  

What do you wear to look your best when you're not feeling it?

*No matter how nice your guests are (and ours were lovely), messes are inevitable when you cram lots of people in a small space and give them drinks...