Ready to Walk: The Ultimate Red Carpet Beauty Survival Guide

Here's everything you need

By Diana Nguyen Feb 08, 2015 10:05 PMTags
Style Collective, Beauty Survival GuideKailey Strachan for E! Online

The stars, the photographers, the custom gowns—the glamour of the red carpet is undeniable. But behind the glitz and mega-watt smiles, there are harsh conditions a Best Dressed nominee dare not speak of.

We're talking about the blinding lights, blisters, pore-clogging makeup…you know, the stuff of celebrity red carpet nightmares. Unfortunately, we can experience these major inconveniences in our own lives too, during the special moments that should be remembered as perfect, not problematic.

Feeling our pain, E! News correspondent and E! Style Collective member Alicia Quarles shared her beauty survival guide—the body-saving, skin-rejuvenating habits that get her from the red carpet to the after-party in one piece.

Before a red carpet, drink a lot of water and moisturize, the red carpet veteran suggested. Hydrated skin helps to create a smoother service for makeup application.

Are you also suffering from under-eye circles? You're not alone.

"For me I perpetually have bags," Alicia admitted. "I don't know if it's hereditary or because I'm tired, so I use Shiseido depuffing pads, but you don't have to pay a lot for them. Any store has depuffers."

When it's time to get your face on, there are two makeup essentials Alicia absolutely swears by: contouring and fake eyelashes.

"It's something that anybody can do—and some people get intimidated—but I swear by it," Alicia said. "Just do the [eyelash] strips, put ‘em on, and it instantly glams you up."

For more practical reasons, Alicia does not go anywhere without her breath mints.

"You don't want to be interviewing George Clooney with some hot breath," she added.

With such high-profile events, we're so focused on the dress and makeup that we can forget our footing—until they start to hurt, that is. Stilettos do not a comfortable shoe make. Luckily, Alicia has a solution for this, too. Yes, we're talking about flats—shoes almost unheard of at big events.

"You're standing there for a long time, so I might walk the red carpet and look fabulous, but at a certain point, your feet hurt and you might have to flip it up," Alicia admitted.

All great suggestions, but it begs the question: Where do we put all this? Nowadays, clutches are small and structural. So how are we supposed to fit a pair of shoes, lip gloss and breath mints in our bag on top of our keys and phone?

It really is this easy: You bring a backup bag.

"You've got your cute clutch and then you have your real bag," Alicia said. "The cute clutch may have your phone in it, but it doesn't fit a ton. But then I have my real bag, with my shoes, phone charger and anything else."

Hey, beauty may be pain, but survival is for the prepared.