
Wear a bold lip
The verdict is still out on what men look for when they first meet a woman, but seeing as how you have no background on each other and you have only good ole conversation to fall back on to get anywhere, pay attention to your pout. While many girls would like to play it cool, we suggest ditching your gloss for a bold lip. It’s perfect for this dull monsoon, and will instantly light up your face and make quite a statement. Anyway, who likes their girls coy anymore?

Keep your cheeks coral
All it takes to add some colour and health to your face is a stroke of the right blush. We’ve been treating blushes as a beauty staple since we first discovered them and we strongly recommend that you do too. While earlier on, we’d have advised you to stick to the roses and pinks, nowadays we much prefer corals. Plus, if done right, it’ll accentuate your cheekbones and add some natural colour to your face.

Opt for some mascara magic
Eye contact makes for the bulk of non-verbal communication, it is said. In which case, you’ve clearly got to invest some time playing up those eyes. It’s okay even if you’ve forgotten your eyeliner or your eye pencil but load up on mascara. It’ll add just the required amount of drama to your eyes without looking like you put in too much effort into getting all dolled up. Also, it takes an experienced eye to notice well-done mascara, or any mascara at all, so while your eyes will be looking pretty, your date will never know how much effort the look actually took to pull off.

Pop a mint
You don’t want to be known as the girl who smelled like onions or something worse. So no matter what you’ve eaten, even if it’s a chocolate, keep a pouch of (mild) mints handy in your purse. It’s better to have your breath smelling like you bothered to put a mint in there than your previous meal. The last thing you want is to be laughing heartily at a joke while your date attempts to cover his nose.

In addition…
If you’re the kind who absolutely detests surprises, inform a close friend that you’re heading out on a blind date and ask them to be at your service. This means that you can text them a secret SOS if you’re date is a total disaster to make that emergency call and get you out of your misery. Else, make sure you do the groundwork and have a plausible story ready so you can be out of there in a couple of minutes if the date gets boring.
Written by Girija Naiksatam on 15th Jul 2014