Last updated at 14:44, Friday, 04 September 2009

After a tough year, it’s time to cast off the gloom and get festive with a spot of party planning.

Create real drama with false eyelashes this festive season

With prime dates for Christmas parties already being booked up at the county’s top venues, folk are already turning their minds to revelry.

Whilst we roll our eyes as baubles and festive jingles seem to hit the shops earlier and earlier, there’s no time like now to get your bash off the ground.

Whether it’s getting the girls together for a long-overdue gossip around mince pies and Rioja, or the crescendo event of the business season, some forward thinking can help make it extra special.

Enquiries are already coming thick and fast to seasoned party planner, Julie Prior of Juniper Events. And if anything, this year the bar is set even higher for 2009 with creative thinking top of the list to make your party one to remember. According to Julie, revellers are ditching the holly, the gold, red and green and opting for luxe style.

“Yes many of the budgets are smaller this year. But there’s ways of tailoring it. We’ve seen a lot of people looking for the winter wonderland theme – very subtle, with icicles, white colour-themes with a splash of turquoise. People are looking for something stylish.

“Fire and ice and black and white themes are also strong, perhaps with a James Bond theme too. It shows you have a bit more imagination and gives your guests something to talk about.”

Crystal ball illusionists are proving popular entertainers this year according to Julie, and ice sculptures and bubble machines are all the rage.

Even for smaller, more intimate events, impressions count as hosts want to go the extra mile.

“You can also use the budget imaginatively too. You can drape fairy lights onto sprayed branches, either about the room or on tables to give a twinkling effect.

“You might find some table slips, then sprinkle them with petals or confetti. Or when people arrive at your house, have fairy lights leading up to the front door.

“It’s about coming up with ideas that are inexpensive to create, but deliver maximum impact.”

Party food however is returning to the traditional, but not a sit-down heap of turkey, roasties and veg. Party food must be fit for mingling. Julie, the brains behind the annual Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ ball, said: “We’ve moved on from nouvelle cuisine. It’s about picking your favourite food and making it work in a party setting.”

Me has spotted comfort food miniatures doing the rounds – think tiny burgers, or miniscule paper cones stuffed with baby portions of fish and chips.

“People are asking for fun pudding this year too. Things like ice cream in cones or candy floss,” added Julie.

In a time of recession, perhaps pulling out the stops to celebrate has become even more important in raising morale and celebrating relationships.

And nothing boosts morale more than planning show-stopping party outfits and a beautifying regime. But if you’ve blown the budget on party favours, step away from the santa earrings and pep up a classic cocktail frock with the latest affordable craze sweeping the country – false eyelashes. A mixture of glamour and theatrical excess, some of the lashes on offer are huge, feathered, diamante affairs.

For DIY, try ranges at Boots or visit www.eyebeauty.co.uk or www.falseeyelashes.org.uk. The sky’s the limit, with gold leaf lashes from makeup artist Shu Uemara going for £55 a pop. Girls Aloud have joined up with Eylure to create their own range and beauty salons across the county are offering semi-permanent lash extensions.

Charista Highmore, owner of Emerald Beauty on Lowther Street, offers Salon System individual lashes for £12 a set, lasting around a week. She said there’s a real psychological boost from longer, lusher lashes. “I was booked up doing lashes when I first opened a few weeks ago. They are really popular and really open up the eye area.”

Kimberley Hind of Urban Beauty, Carlisle, has seen a surge in clients taking up Lash Perfect extensions at £60, which last until your own lashes drop naturally. “I think we always want something bigger and better than we have,” she said.

So think big, and get busy with planning your own extraordinary festive extravaganza to banish winter blues.

First published at 22:02, Tuesday, 01 September 2009
Published by http://www.cumberlandnews.co.uk