Hints and Tips

Hire a dress?

Why spend hundreds of pounds on an outfit you will only wear once?

Whether you are going to a formal ball, student prom or other glamorous event, hiring a dress is excellent value for money as you can wear a £300, £400 or £500 dress, but hire for a 'fraction' of the cost and feel like a million dollars.

Hire periods are normally for three - four days from the working day after dispatch (most agencies always use guaranteed next working day delivery). For example, if you have a function on a Saturday evening, the hire agency will send the hire item to you on Thursday, which you will receive on Friday (Day 1). Function is on Day 2, and you then have a further two days to return the item to the hire agency – i.e. you would need to ship the item back to the hire agency (next day delivery normally at your cost) no later than the following Monday (Day 4).

It is common that a dress hire agency will request a returnable deposit* equal to the hire value along with full payment for the hire period. It is normally required before the hire agency will send the item. *All deposits are normally returned subject to the item being returned to the dress hire agency on-time and in the same condition as it was sent out to you.

Most dress hire agencies will deliver the dress by special delivery via Royal Mail Special Delivery or other (next working day, normally before 12 noon), and most dress hire agencies offer free delivery on all hire orders over £40. For hire orders under £40, there is normally a charge.

All hire items should be washed/professionally ironed, or dry-cleaned as appropriate in between each hire period, remember to check the cost of this is INCLUDED in the hire fee as some agencies will try to charge you extra!
Most dress hire agencies reserve the right to charge cancellation fees on any hire items in accordance with the following:


MAKE-UP IDEAS

Eye makeup help for small eyes

Eyeliner application to make eyes look bigger: using a freshly sharpened eyeliner pencil, trace the contour of your eye, starting above your iris, extending your liner just beyond the end of your eye, blend upwards and outward, keeping your line as close to lashes as possible; smudge to soften line.

Ways to bring out your deep-set eyes:

Eye shadow: Apply a light eye shadow colour over your entire lid, starting at your lashes, and blending up to your brow. To accent, you can add a slightly darker shade just above your crease. For maximum definition, or a more dramatic look, brush a deeper shadow just ABOVE your eye's natural crease - not in the crease. To do this apply the shadow when your eyes are open, looking straight ahead, that way you won't apply the shadow in your natural contour (which you lose when you open your eye). Blend softly along the edges to soften the line, and this works to visually bring your lid 'forward'.

Eyeliner: application of liner needs to be as close to your lashes as possible, so start with a sharp pencil! Use a very fine line when using eyeliner (liquid or pencil), especially with your small eyes, and keep the liner even on both top and bottom. Smudge to soften and avoid a harsh line. As you want to make your eyes look bigger, start your eyeliner above your iris and extend just past the outer corner of your eye, making sure the line is straight across or slightly upward - blend upward and outward.

Brows & Lashes: Raise the line of your brow subtly by brushing the brow colour along the top edge of brows. If your brows are pale your brow bone may look more prominent, and this tends to make deep set eyes look even more recessed (be aware of making your brows too dark), apply a brow colour that is a shade or two darker than your natural brow colour. Finish with generous coats of mascara top and bottom - focus mascara from above your iris to the outer corner of your lashes (this is for your small eyes more than the deep set - if your eyes were not small you could apply mascara on all your lashes), comb through to remove any clumps.

.