Next Sunday I'm going to the Coiffure Awards: the annual gala for hair stylists. The best of (Dutch) hairdressing are present, awards will be given out, and the new hair trends will be showcased. The dress code for the evening is Black Tie. Ideally, I would arrive in the enormous yellow royal gown of Queen Rihanna during the Met Gala. But I'm not world-famous and I don't have a legion of stylists. So that calls for a dose of creativity. Carrie always styled herself, right? Well, not really, that was of course done by the famous Patricia Field.

It’s all about the hair. The Coiffure Awards call for an artistic hairdo. Lucky me belongs to hair wonder Rachel from salon The Building to my friends' clan. She literally fixed this hairstyle in ten minutes.

Rachel explains how:

• Make a parting from the middle of your forehead to the back of your neck.
• From here, divide these two sections into four.
• You make two braids from the inner two sections on your head and secure them with small elastics. Then you slightly fluff them out.
• The other two sides you brush tightly and smoothly back. For this, you use gel or hairspray.
• Make all the hair into one ponytail at the bottom.
• As a finishing touch, make the ponytail messy with a texture spray. I use the one from Redken.

Gala calls for a tanned face (not too natural) so I intoxicate myself under the self-tanning face spray from L’Oréal. Then I apply a nice layer of the Glam Bronze GG Cream on top. Very covering and it enhances my tan even more. I then don't need foundation anymore. For an extra shimmer on my cheeks, I use the Cinderella powder from M.A.C. I accentuate my eyes with a generous volume mascara from Rimmel with a sleek eyeliner from L’Oréal. Then the eyes are ready, because I focus on my lips. For this, I choose the Collistar Fragola pink color that I top off with the Onde Rose gloss from Yves Saint Laurent.

Okay, fine. These gel nails just came from the nail studio. You can't get more glamorous than gold-silver nails, right? I really couldn't have done that myself so well…

The title is not for nothing Funky Black Tie. If you're going to an award show full of hair stylists (who usually look incredibly creative), your outfit can definitely have a bit of quirkiness. Therefore, I deviate from the standard gala dress and go for a très cool 70’s black jumpsuit from H&M for €49.99. See, it doesn't have to be expensive. It's important that the accessories match. That's why I pull out my bright pink (hence those lips) Vlieger & Vandam bag and borrow a striking green Moschino belt from my friend. That’s what friends are for. Furthermore, I wear ancient platform heels from Zara, which resemble a this specimen.

To add a little sparkle, I apply the glitter Sexy Look body oil from Collistar. By the way, also very suitable for a little festival.