Good Afternoon and Happy Friday!
I am so happy to be writing the Friday blog. I received this blog topic idea as a bit of a request from a LOVELY reader. She asked the following question:
"Do you have advice on how to make yourself more put together easily? Or effortlessly? Like take meh to wow?"
To me, this question is really summed up by the following words: "How do I make myself look more polished?" Honestly, I have spent a lot of time looking into this topic myself on Youtube, Pinterest, and on Internet blogs. My research has revealed the following:
Your overall look is the result of two things: your foundation, and your adornments.
The "foundation" of your look is all about the health and vitality of your body, skin, nails and hair. Your foundation will be obvious regardless of how much makeup you wear, fashionable purses you carry, or how nice your shoes are.
The second part is "adornment." These are the finishing pieces that you can use to pull an outfit together, and to really express your personal style.
We need both a good foundation, and good adornments in order to really look polished and express our style.
1. Upgrade Your "Foundation."
Your beauty foundation is the first part of your overall look. It's encompassed within your EYEBROWS, BODY, NAILS, HAIR, and SKIN. Makeup or no makeup, fashionable clothing or sweats, your foundation will showcase your beauty.
For example, a woman could be wearing a Givenchy ball gown, but if her skin and nails looks dry and unloved, her whole look is going to look less polished.
Scientifically, our hair, body, nails, brows, and skin DO show our health and beauty: they communicate youth and vitality! Full hair and brows showcase full and healthy DNA, and supple clear skin shows off healthy genes. Looking attractive is actually about looking healthy and full of youth. We can do that with our foundation.
Start from the inside out: include more water, nutrients, vitamins, and healthy foods in your diet. Moisturize externally as well, on your hair, skin, and cuticles. Try to get acne under control and figure out a diet of healthy and fresh foods to make you glow.
Try to bring your hair to a state where it looks much healthier through more moisture, less split ends, and the right color. Don't forget to protect your skin from the sun and start exfoliating. Finally, learn to shape your brows in a flattering way and fill them in if necessary.
I know these sound like a lot of new things to add to your list, but if you can get your foundation looking good, you can honestly leave the house with a gym shirt on, and you will ALREADY look much more polished.
Also, if you are going to invest any money in your look, I would recommend you invest it in your foundation. Buy good quality skin moisturizers and invest in a good set of vitamins and minerals. I don't spend a lot of money on clothing and shoes, but I AM willing to shill out some money for my skin.
2. Upgrade Your "Adornments"
The second part of your overall look is your "adornments." Adornments can be classified as clothing pieces, hair styles, makeup choices, accessory choices, etc. These really finish off a look and get you ready to go out the door.
Looking polished doesn't mean spending hours in front of the mirror, but it DOES mean putting in a little bit of extra care into your clothing maintenance, hair style, and outfit combination.
You can pick and choose from the following list, but I find that these elements can really upgrade your look.
Iron your clothes
Remove pills from sweaters
Make sure your hair roots do not look greasy
Use a small mirror to look at the back of your hair with a mirror before you leave the house to make sure it looks nice
Wear fitted, not tight pieces
Purge your wardrobe down to a grouping of pieces that you KNOW look good on you
Put on a belt or a bracelet: begin to accessorize more
Concealer concealer concealer: if you don't have great skin, foundation isn't necessary, but consider putting on a little bit of concealer
Put on lip moisture or a lip color: it defines your lips and brings out your face
Don't wear ratty shoes/carry a ratty purse
Likewise, don't put together a whole outfit and forget that the purse and shoes need to be taken into account
Get rid of or try to fix stained clothing
Tailor clothing that doesn't fit
Wear earrings
Give your hair some volume to look full
Figure out what clothing styles look best on you
Floss
Wear some makeup if that will make you happy
Find colors that bring warmth and a glow to your skin: eg. I look washed out in light ice blue, so I avoid it like the plague.
Experiment with different clothing textures, such as satins, linens, cottons, and cashmere
As you can see, adornments are pretty subjective, but they mostly have to do with looking maintained, put together, and finding the clothes and accessories that make you SHINE!
In total, I would recommend spending the bulk of your energy and money on your foundation. It will set the state for the rest of your beauty look. Try to experiment and have fun with your adornments, but never forget that stained ,wrinkled, or pilled clothing will never look completely polished.
All the best readers, I hope you can have fun with this! DM me if you need advice, or if you have any questions.
xoxo,
Cait