I had the pleasure of going to my employer’s annual holiday party which is a different theme every year and a ton of fun to get ready for. This year’s theme was a masquerade party, so here are my masquerade essentials:

The Mask: You can’t go to a masquerade party without the perfect mask; it’s really meant to be the center of attention and the piece your whole look is going to evolve around, so I recommend getting it first. I fell in love with this purple and gold, Mardi Gras-inspired mask. I love the color scheme and the music notes, I bought mine for around $20 on amazon.com.

The Dress: After you’ve picked out the perfect mask, you can start shopping for the perfect dress. I originally wanted to get a long dress that was a bit more formal but because it was so close to New Year’s Eve when I went shopping, all I really had to choose from were tiny party dresses. My friend Krystyn originally tried on this sparkly little number but wasn’t in love with it. Luckily she passed it on to me to try on and it was the one, as an extra bonus it was on sale at Dillards for $40. I wasn’t sure the gold in the mask would go with the dress but I think it turned out just fine. I only wish I could have gotten a size larger but this was the only one left so I did what any women would. I put on a pair of Spanx and squeezed my ass into it!

The Eyes: I looked at a few tutorials to get ideas for how to do my eye makeup which is key for a masquerade party. I got this look by blending a sparkly black shadow with a deep plum shade. I then went over it with sparkly pink shade so it wasn’t so goth. I rimmed my eyes in my favorite sparkly black Glimmersticks  eyeliner from Avon. Then I loaded on the mascara which is Maybelline the Falsies. If you haven’t used it go out and buy a tube right now, it’s that good!!!!

The Face Makeup and Hair: Since my eye makeup was so heavy I wanted to keep the rest of my face simple. My foundation is by Makeup Forever. I brightened up my cheeks by blending together Shimmer Strips Healthy Glow Bronzer palette by Physicians Formula. I lined my lips with nude liner and went over it with L’oreal Infallible Gloss in Dulce de Leche. My hair was not as successful, I tried doing a ponytail with the bump at the crown, but it was surprisingly hard to do. I tried teasing my hair and tightening my ponytail over and over but I still only got a small bumpette. You could kind of see it from the side but as you can see it fell flat from the font.

Great Friends and Location: Finally once you have your look perfected, my final piece of advice is to party hard (but keep it classy) with wonderful friends.  This is my bud Krystyn, you can check out her blog Ever Midsummer at KrystynFrye.com and our location was Haze Nightclub at Aria Hotel and Casino.