Date Night Beauty: Editors Tell What Turns A Man’s Switch to ON!

A typical woman getting ready for date night or a night or romance,  will spend hours agonizing over the perfect outfit and accessories, applying her makeup just so, and wondering what fragrance is going to drive her  man wild.   But is all of this effort lost on her man?  Ask him afterwards what she was wearing, and he’s NOT likely to remember the details.  More likely, he’ll look bewildered and then come up with something like:  “um…I don’t really remember, but she looked nice”  or;  “she smelled good — a bit like peaches.” He won’t care that your nail polish  perfectly matched your shoes, or that your lipstick was the color Rhianna wore in her last video, or that you spent a lot of time de-frizzing your hair and applying eye liner. What he will remember is that you made an effort. That you looked good. 

If you’re going to try and turn him on with beauty products, what really does work to run a man’s switch from “off” to “on”?”  What is an epic fail?  To find out, I checked with some of my beauty editor colleagues. After all, these ladies get to try tons of beauty products. Perhaps they know the magic formula and they were willing to share their beauty tips with Leather and Lace Advice readers. It can’t hurt to try their winning products to turn your man’s switch to the “ON” position and make sure it doesn’t flip to “OFF!”

Alison Blackman, Editor in Chief, Leather and Lace Advice and Advicesisters.net

DATE NIGHT BEAUTY TURN ONS:

My boyfriend always prefers I go natural when it’s just us. He hates kissing lipstick rather than my lips, he says! I think it has something to do with being confident in how you look and representing yourself truthfully- confidence is sexy! I always spritz on some perfume though because it gives him a reason to go in for the neck kisses! Miranda Moss, Slashed Beauty

When I have a date night with my husband, my favorite fragrance to wear is Chance by Chanel or Florabotanica by Balenciaga.  Kim Raina, Makeup by Kim

My hubby loves smokey brown eyes so that’s my signature look for our date night, and his favorite scent from my stash is Michael Kors perfume (rose gold limited edition).  Kath from the Fabzilla

. Honey Kahoohanohano, Honey Girls World

Men like it when a woman goes all out but there’s nothing like a lightly made up face and a confident smile. The Body Shop makes a vanilla perfume oil that is simple but always a man pleaser. Sheila Arkee, Painted Ladies

Wear something he likes rather than something you like. Think cookies, cream, vanilla frosting, cinnamon… My husband loves when I wear Zents Pear.  As for makeup, when guys say they like it when we don’t wear makeup, what they really mean is they like when they don’t notice that we wear makeup.  Anastasia Smith,  Glamorable

Maybe it’s Freudian, but 8/10 times the first thing out of a guy’s mouth when they come to pick me up is “You smell great.” I use any kind of dessert-scented body wash, because it reminds men of their mothers and the smell of cupcakes baking in the oven. Philosophy has a lot of different body washes.  My personal favorite is Coconut Frosting. Since I don’t want to just be walking around smelling solely of sweets, I spritz a bit of Burberry Classic Eau De Parfum in the air and twirl around in it.    Christina Pham, My Cosmetic Bag 

I think men like a hint of perfume, but not if it’s overwhelming. My favorite perfume is Hugo Boss Deep Red.  (Courtney) Phyrra,  Beauty for the Bold

I think clean skin is the best perfume of all (emphasis on clean), but I’ve been wearing Marilyn Miglin’s Pheromone for decades. It’s still my favorite, with some vanilla and some florals, but the spice notes last on my skin without being overwhelming.  Men always ask what I’m wearing.  As to makeup, I’ve finally embraced the bold, red lip, but I use a non-transferring lipstick, because a smeared red lip makes you look like Bette Davis in Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, and no man really wants red lipstick all over his own lips and face.    Alison Blackman, Editor in Chief, Leather and Lace Advice and Advicesisters.net

I really don’t think men notice our fragrance unless it’s rancid. Go with your tried and true favorite that you know works with your body chemistry.  I like to focus on and play up my eyes. That’s what they should be looking at, right?  Brooke Pakulski,  Blushing Noir

My can’t-fail fragrances are Narciso Rodriguez’s For Her and Tom Ford’s Black Orchid. Both have this come-hither quality and an overall sensual feel without being overpowering. As for makeup, I’m a sucker for a bold red lip. I sometimes favor a smokey eye, but a strong lip practically screams, “Kiss me!”  Celia San Miguel, Sicka Than Average,  *Editor’s note: if anyone knows how to rock a red lip, it’s Celia!

DATE NIGHT BEAUTY TURN OFFS:

My husband loves seeing me in all my glamness but he doesn’t like kissing me when I have sticky lipgloss.   Kim Raina, Makeup by Kim

I had a little poll going, and 10 out of 10 told me they would prefer bold eyes over bold lips, so put away those lipsticks and lip glosses if you want to impress a guy. If you absolutely have to wear a lip product, make it a tinted lip balm instead for a perfectly soft and kissable pout. Anastasia Smith,  Glamorable

When it comes to makeup, I keep it minimal and understated because I think too much can make guys think you’re trying to trick them with some sort of makeup-sorcery.   Christina Pham, My Cosmetic Bag 

I’ve been told by guy friends that they hate when a girl has a bold lipstick or a goopy gloss on — it makes them not want to kiss — even if they are dying to. Brooke Pakulski,  Blushing Noir 

I like fragrance on most women, but I don’t like it when a woman wears an overpowering scent. That’s like being in a men’s locker room where the urinal cake is too strong. As to makeup, I really don’t t think most men notice it, unless a woman isn’t wearing any. If a woman’s skin is all zitty and blotchy and she hasn’t covered it up, we’ll notice. Otherwise, we don’t care.  We just assume most women will wear some makeup and if it is well applied we should just think she looks nice and not notice anything in particular. John R. Dunham,  Husband of Alison Blackman (your Editor of Advicesisters.com  and Leather and Lace Advice).

Coming Soon: Leather and Lace Spice: advice with a little bit of “heat.”   Tony and Alison believe that there are valid issues that are of importance to adults and that they need to be represented online in a thoughtful, intelligent and responsible manner.  The content on Leather and Lace SPICE will be for more mature audiences, and some of what we feature there might be offensive to people who are not open minded.  We are respectful of our readers but we don’t legislate people’s morals or values.  If you want to know when Leather and Lace SPICE is live, follow us on Twitter @leatherlacspice and we’ll let you know!