Let’s be honest for a moment: house parties and bar hopping are all great weekend (or weeknight…or weekday…) activities, but they can get pretty exhausting for us ladies. We have to primp for hours, wear excruciatingly high heels and tight clothes, and still manage to look good after gettin’ low on the dance floor to whatever Black Eyed Peas song the DJ decides to play.

By the end of the night, our jacket is missing, the backs of our heels are bleeding, and our perfectly straightened coif is now plastered to our foreheads.

Not anymore! We at CollegeCandy have been perfecting the art of going out for a few years now and we’ve finally mastered it. Behold: the party girl’s 5 best friends that will get her through anything, from A (apartment party) to Z (ZBT boy in your bed the next morning).

1. The Wristlet

I’ve accumulated almost a dozen of these over the years, and for good reason. They don’t leave my wrist the whole night and they don’t get between me and double fisting. While my friends scope out a hiding spot for their giant purses that contain important things like money, IDs and house keys, only to lose track of them by the end of the night, everything I need is securely attached to me at all times. Not to mention they’re cute, affordable, and the perfect size! I can easily fit my ID, a wad of cash, my phone, camera, and lip gloss. Which is pretty much all you ever need.

2. Roll-up flats

We know why we love heels: they improve our posture, make our butt and legs look better, blah blah blah. And, let’s be honest, they are just fierce with that mini dress. And that’s all well and good when we’re inside, leaning as far over the bar as possible (to ease the pain in our baby toes/use our cleavage to get the bartender’s attention), but what about the long trek to and from? Sometimes, you’re lucky to make it there alive. Welcome to the best invention since the vodka tonic. Tuck these babies into your purse (or coat pocket) and unroll them when those heels become too much to bear. They even come with their very own bag so you can carry those pumps home in discreet style.

3. Listerine Pocket Paks

These little suckers take up less room than a pack of gum (so they can easily fit into #1) but give you amazingly fresh breath. Perfect for after a few beers so you’re ready for a dark-corner-makeout-sesh, or the occasional morning when you wake up next to your hot T.A. Roll over, give yourself a mental high five, and slip one of these onto your tongue before your morning breath can ruin the moment. Round two, anyone?

4. Boyfriend blazers

So, it’s too chilly to wear that tank to the bar, but you don’t want to lug a jacket around/spend last call searching through 120 identical black North Faces for the one you think belongs to you. Our savior: the boyfriend blazer. It’s cute, it’s trendy, and it’s light enough to wear inside but will still keep you warm on the walk home. And this one is cheap enough that you won’t be too torn up when that girl dumps her vodka cranberry down your sleeve.

5. Oil-absorbing sheets

We all like to think that “girls don’t sweat, they glisten,” but anyone who’s been gettin’ her groove on in a hot, sticky bar knows that girls sweat. A lot. And it ruins both their perfectly cat-eyed liner and their perfectly tousled hair. There’s not much help for the hair (beyond pulling it into some sort of chic, messy bun beforehand), but there is definitely a little something to help with what not-so-affectionately call “greasy face.” You’ve heard about them and now it’s time to embrace the Clean and Clear Oil Absorbing Sheets. Life. Savers. They save your makeup, save your skin, and save you from looking like the hot mess in the bar. And even with all that, they still fit into #1.

When making my decision between drinking a glass of red or white wine, I usually pick vodka. But sometimes that is simply not an option. So my thought process usually goes something like this:

Who doesn’t drink a glass of ice-cold vodka at dinner time? Strange. Wine it is then. But the only people who drink white wine are those trashy housewives in Atlanta and Kirsten from the O.C. We all remember those infamous words before she sent herself off to rehab, “I may like my Chardonnay, but I won’t end up alone! And that’s more than I can say for you!” Wow, that was a train wreck. Better opt for a glass of red. But I’m trying to meet some boys tonight and I don’t think purple teeth are going to work to my advantage. Plus, I’m trying to maintain a glowing smile so I can one day become rich and famous for my million-dollar smile. So I better stick to white wine.

That entire inner monologue could have been avoided had I know this fun fact: White wine is actually worse for your teeth than red.  White wine is high in acid, and that can wear away tooth enamel and intensify the stains left by the double espresso you slammed at the library the night before.

Ub40 was so, so right: Red red wine, you make me (and my teeth) feel so fine. You keep me rocking all of the time….

So for all of you winos who drink soda through a straw and religiously brush your teeth before and after every meal, your best bet is to skip the 2-Buck-Chuck Sauvignon Blanc and order a bottle of red. Or just chug some Listerine. That should do the trick.

Even if you are trolling through a college town filled with kids who fully support and expect it, walking home with last night’s hair, makeup and footwear is never your proudest moment (though mastering the Wheelbarrow drunk the night before came pretty close).

Unfortunately, for many college coeds, the Walk of Shame is inevitable, especially when you combine Dollar Pitcher night at the local bar and a whole lot of good looking boys. But just because you are walking home from some dude’s house early in the morning doesn’t mean you have to look that way.

I am a strong believer in preparing for everything, and the Walk of Shame is no exception. Pack a few things before you go and no one will have any idea where you were last night.

First things first, avoid that “going out bag” and opt for something bigger. You probably already have one, but in case you want an excuse to buy something new, I love this new Tycoon Dome Satchel from Juicy. Cute enough for a night on the town, but big enough to pack all of the essentials.

Makeup Remover: The biggest giveaway on a Walk-of-Shamer besides traipsing through campus at 8am is the black eyeliner smudged under her bloodshot eyes. Get rid of that shiz. Toss a travel size bottle of makeup remover (or those handy little pads) into your bag before you go.

Pressed Powder: The morning after a heavy night of drinking leaves your face feeling and looking…less than fresh. And let’s be honest: you don’t want anyone (including that boy) seeing those stress related zits that popped up all over your chin.

Mascara: Bring it along to finish off the “I’m up early to go to the library!” look. This combined with the powder and removal of last night’s makeup will leave you lookin’ so fresh and so clean, clean.

Headband: Even if you didn’t get much sleep last night (you dawg), your hair is gonna be lookin’ a little ruffled in the AM. If you have a pony tail holder with you, use that. If your hair is short, though, throwing on a headband will pull it off your face and give off more of a “I am far too busy/lazy to wash it” look than the obvious “I totally just had morning sex and he didn’t drive me home” style.

Breath Strips: Easier to transport than a toothbrush (and don’t require you to get out of bed to freshen that morning breath!) these little guys are a must-have. You never know who you are going to run into on the street and cigarette/stale beer breath is a huge Walk of Shame red flag.

A Fresh Pair of Undies: You may have just spent the evening doin’ the dirty, dirty, but that doesn’t mean you have to be dirty. Bring along a fresh pair. Also good if things get a little wild and your underwear ends up on the top of a dresser, in the woods or…where the hell did those things go!?

If the weather is warm, tossing in a pair of flip flops and a casual t-shirt is a good idea. Seeing a girl walk arond in a tube top and heels is obviously a clear giveaway of what she was doin’ the night before. (If it is cold out, a simple jacket can cover up the evidence.) You can also take advantage of the more casual looks that are big right now and just opt for a deep-V t-shirt (the American Apparel ones are the bomb diggity) and a pair of skinny jeans for your going-out ensemble.

[Walk of Shame photo courtesy of Owen Yeo on Flickr.]

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