On the afternoon of a first date, a woman tries a new vitamin C serum that a friend recommended, and by early evening the skin along her jaw has turned pink and warm. She covers it with an extra layer of foundation, which collects in the irritated patches, and spends dinner checking her face in the back of a spoon while her date talks about his week.
New Products on the Day
The easiest mistake to avoid is testing something new in the last 24 hours. Serums with vitamin C or retinol, exfoliating acids and unfamiliar sheet masks can all cause redness in skin that has never been exposed to them, and the reaction does not always appear right away. A new foundation shade bought under shop lighting should be tested on the jawline in daylight a week before, because it often looks different outdoors.
Dermatologists recommend patch testing a new product before it goes anywhere near the face. The American Academy of Dermatology suggests a spot about the size of a quarter on the inner forearm or the bend of the elbow, with the product applied twice a day for 7 to 10 days. If redness or itching appears during the test, the product is washed off and dropped, and a cool compress calms most mild reactions. A product that passes that test can join the routine, and one that has not been tested waits until after the date.
A dramatic cut or new bangs booked on the morning of the date leave no time to learn how to style them, and most cuts look more natural after a few days and a couple of washes.
Treatment Timing
Salon and clinic treatments need lead times measured in weeks. Light peels and facials can leave the skin red or flaking for several days, so clinics commonly suggest scheduling them at least 1 to 3 weeks before an important evening. Injectable fillers can bruise and swell, and many injectors advise leaving about 2 weeks before an event for that to settle. Botox takes roughly 2 weeks to reach its full effect, which means a treatment booked the week of the date may not have finished working.
Brow and lip waxing are faster to recover from but still leave redness for a few hours in sensitive skin. Booking them a day or two ahead avoids arriving with a pink upper lip. Brow tinting can stain the skin around the brows for a day, so the same lead time applies.
Lash extensions and lash lifts bring a different risk, since the adhesive and the setting solution can irritate the eyelids, and a first appointment is the worst moment to find out. Teeth whitening strips can leave teeth sensitive to cold drinks for a day or so after use, so finishing the course several days ahead of the dinner spares the wince at a glass of ice water.
Visible Reactions at the Table
Irritated skin is hard to hide across a small table, and heavy makeup layered over it usually draws more attention to the patch it was meant to cover.
A rash from a new cream or a bruise from a fresh filler tends to become part of the first date discussion, often as an apology in the first few minutes. Skin that was left alone the day before keeps the conversation on work and travel.
How Much Makeup to Wear
Women often wear more makeup than the people looking at them would choose. In a 2014 study in the Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, Alex Jones and Robin Kramer photographed 44 women in their usual makeup and asked observers to adjust the amount on screen. The observers picked a version with about 60% of the makeup the women had applied themselves, and men and women preferred roughly the same level.
The same study found that participants overestimated how much makeup men would prefer. A separate 2011 study by Nancy Etcoff and colleagues on cosmetics and perception, published in PLOS ONE, found that a natural or professional look raised ratings of attractiveness, competence, likability and trust compared with a bare face. A high-contrast glamorous look still scored well on attractiveness, but viewers who had time to study the faces rated it as less trustworthy. The study was funded by a cosmetics company, and its main finding points in the same direction as the Jones and Kramer work.
Restaurant lighting is usually warmer and dimmer than a bathroom, so makeup that looks balanced at home can look heavier at the table. Checking the finished face near a window and again under a warm lamp before leaving gives a closer preview of what a date will see. A long-wear lip colour that stays off the rim of a wine glass also saves several trips to the washroom during dinner.
Sleep and Alcohol the Night Before
Alcohol the evening before adds puffiness around the eyes and can leave skin looking dull the next day, and a salty takeout dinner adds to the morning puffiness. Going to bed at a normal hour and skipping the second glass of wine do more for the face than a new concealer.
Researchers at the Karolinska Institute measured the cost of a short night in a 2010 study in the BMJ. They photographed 23 volunteers once after a normal night’s sleep and once after sleep deprivation, then asked 65 observers to rate the pictures. The sleep-deprived faces were judged less healthy, less attractive and more tired.
Tanning, Hair Colour and Other Experiments
Self-tanner applied on the day of the date leaves no room to fix streaks or an orange tinge around the wrists and ankles. Applying it 1 or 2 days ahead gives time for the colour to develop and for any patchy areas to be corrected with a second, lighter layer. Exfoliating and shaving at least a day before the tanner goes on also helps it develop evenly.
Box hair dye is riskier still. A shade that comes out brassy or uneven is difficult to correct in an evening, and a stylist will usually need a separate appointment to adjust it. The safest approach is to keep any colour change at least a week away from the date, or to wear the hair as it already is.
Nails get noticed every time a glass is lifted, and chipped polish is the usual problem. A manicure the day before, or bare and clean nails, avoids it. Improper removal is one of the risks of gel manicures, and peeling the polish off at home in a hurry can damage the nail surface underneath, which looks worse than the chipped colour did.
A Clinic Booking in Toronto
At a skin clinic in Toronto, a receptionist asks a caller when her evening out is. The answer is Friday, so the light peel the caller wanted goes into the diary for the following week, with a note to phone back if anything flares up afterwards. By the time of her next date the skin has healed, and the conversation never turns to her face.
