“Where are we going for dinner?” “Will the commute take forever?” “Will I have enough time to do my hair?” “Are my clothes ironed?”

With all of these worries crowding your head and butterflies infiltrating your stomach, how are you supposed to have enough time to get ready for your big Valentine’s Day date?

One of the best ways to avoid stressing out over your evening is to prep beforehand.  The easiest thing to do is curl your hair in rollers or one of the many “no heat” methods using wet hair found online in sites like Pinterest.

It’s perfect – you wake up with voluminous curls that hold throughout the day and all you have to do is heat up an iron and touch them up for a minute before you leave for dinner.

If you’re using plastic rollers and a wet set, make like the ladies of the 50’s and wait for your hair to dry as you go on with you morning routine. There are plenty of tutorials online on how to do a wet set in order to achieve the romantic curls of Hollywood starlets.

Or if you’re going the straight hair route, wash your hair the night before and let it dry while you sleep.  Then just flat iron it in the morning with a good thermal protectant and you’re ready to go.

In addition to prepping your hair, prepping your nails the night before or even two days before will ensure that your date won’t be staring at your bitten stubs while you eat.

Another way to ease stress is to wear a less dramatic version of the makeup you want to wear throughout the day.  Before the date, just amp up the eyeliner and mascara or maybe throw on a set of strip lashes for flirty doll eyes that will stand out in the dim lighting of that romantic restaurant.

My last and most important tip is to wear kiss-proof lip color. No one wants to worry about feathering and smudging after a forkful of pasta or a goodnight smooch.  Do yourself a favor and try a sheer gloss that won’t be noticeable as it wears off, or a matte crème color like the ones made by LimeCrime (Velvetines) and NYX (Soft Matte Lip Creams).

Matte colors don’t budge because they have less oil and other ingredients that cause the color to look shiny and therefore migrate from the place you originally applied them.

Follow these tips and you’re sure to have a stress-free romantic evening with your valentine. Happy Valentine’s Day!