He’s coming to pick you up in seventeen minutes. Your hair’s fried, your eyebrows are uneven and you have enough baggage under your eyes for a month-long vacation in Singapore. And the worst part: It’s the first date.

Sure, you’d love to impress him with your flawlessly arched brows and silky mane. But the fact is you spent your last paycheck on that contraption that braids your hair for you. Hence the frizzies.

You could coerce your friends into submitting your picture to a talk show for a long overdue makeover. Or better yet, you could just save yourself the humiliation and use these five quick and easy beauty secrets designed especially for the single lady on a budget.

1. Toss one back. Don’t pour that beer in a glass, pour it on your head. Just wash your hair with your regular shampoo, but condition with a cold one. Beer, especially flat beer, adds body to lifeless hair. And using brew instead of drinking it may help you on your quest for Janet Jackson abs.

2. Let it shine. Sprinkling body glitter in just the right places — the neck, the shoulders, the cleavage — adds just the perfect amount of sparkle for a first date. Just don’t go overboard or you may look like Barbie and the Rockers.

3. Unpack your bags. All the body glitter in Brazil can’t hide those bags under your eyes. The old cucumber method is always worth a try, but so are tea bags. Grab some generic herbal tea and let the coolness reduce your swelling. Sleeping can help too, especially if you prop up your head up with two pillows. If you can’t afford another pillow, just fold yours in half.

4. Fire your manicurist. She overcharges and causes you pain anyway, and there’s nothing she does that you can’t do yourself with a home manicure kit. Plus, your nails aren’t for the guy. He could care less. They’re to make you feel stunning and thereby exude confidence. If you stick with $50 manicures, you’ll just exude poverty.

5. Pluck. Shave. Wax. Repeat. Unwanted hair makes for an unwanted dinner companion. And there’s no need to suffer through electrolysis; you’ve got tweezers and a razor. Go to town. Spend some quality time removing anything that’s not growing on your head. The do-it-yourself method may take a little longer, but it’s better than sporting a uni-brow.

If this first date is a blind date, these tips will come in very handy. If this is a date with a guy you met at a bar, these tips will be imperative to making sure your next date is not another first. It’s true, if you met the guy at a bar, he probably had on his beer goggles and is expecting Heidi Klum to show up. If you are Heidi Klum, no problem. If you’re not the German supermodel and you don’t have her salary, try the economical path to glam. And if he’s not impressed by your manicured nails and sparkling shoulders, what guy can resist a girl who’s hair smells like beer?

Try a quick search to find quality single guys near you! Make a date and get glammed up today!

Elsa Weidman, Match.com