Personal Grooming For Ladies

Personal Grooming is not vanity.

If you think about it, good grooming takes the 'spotlight' away from yourself. You will not cause someone to think in her head, "Gosh, she looks so pale.", or "Her shoes need a wash."

Personal grooming is about presenting yourself in the best possible way, appropriate to occasion. It communicates a tonne of character to the outside world. I presume that is how phrase "Taking pride in your appearance" came about.

Someone once said, "The cornerstone of elegance must be represented by a bar of soap."

Obviously from her time, it only consist of a bar of soap. Today we have help from many places, friends, beauty counters, magazines. It is simply impossible to not know at least a little about grooming.

Bad personal grooming can be spotted a mile away. Such as unconcealed red patches on the face, clothes that are not ironed, dirty fingernails or chipped nail polish, run in the stockings, a dirty, scuffed shoe, untidy make up, a weak collar, very obvious knockoffs of designer goods, very faded clothes etc.

So Where To We Start?

There is so many aspects and opinions of good personal grooming, we sometimes get lost in the whole sea of messages.

Right now, hang on to your purse before you buy into a whole lot of products with marketing messages to help you. Personal grooming should not be more expensive than what you can afford. It does cost a little but should be categorized under the budget we set to buy soap to wash ourselves and detergent to keep our clothes clean.

Here are the breakdown of the ABCs of Personal Grooming:

Personal Grooming for Your Face

Good Skin

A person with good personal grooming always seem to have clear skin with no spots to distract others with. Its best to start at the root to have good skin instead of piling on make up.

A good skincare regime is a must. If you don't really have one, start by identifying the type of skin you have. Then try to get samples and recommendations for friends of some beauty products. Because we are all different, we have to eventually find a product that suits us best.

Wear sunscreen, get some exercise, sleep early and well, drink lots of water to get the best glowing skin.

Make up

Aim for a fresh, healthy appearance. A lady is one who is groomed all the time. She has always a perfect face, free of smudges and blemishes (or at least concealed), wearing appropriate make up according to occasion and place.

Depending on your age, and your skin, there should be at least lip gloss after the age of eighteen. Wear make up to add a little colour on your cheeks, lips and brighten your eyes. Go for a natural look in the day and experiment a little more in the evening.

Apply them well, evenly, correctly, without smudges. Learn what is the best make up to use that is long lasting or gives you the effect you want. Avoid clumpy mascara, smudges, uneven foundation, cake-y foundation, cheap eye shadow that does not last. Learn from make up tutorials, get recommendations from friends, read magazines and beauty forums but ultimately this is a journey all of us girls have to take on our own!

Personal Grooming of facial hair

It must be removed.

If you are mono-browed, which means your eyebrows connect to each other, head to a beauty salon and get them separated immediately.

The rest of us should get our eyebrows shaped once a month or maintained by ourselves every other week. Maintenance requires you to get a tweezer and tweeze stray hairs that grow during the week.

Also hair growing around the face should also be waxed off or tweezed off, such as hair growing on the upper lip.

Grooming for Hair

Hair should be washed every other day or at least three times a week. Scratching your head or tying your hair in public is a no no, in fact, refrain from touching your hair when outside so make an effort to make it perfect before you step out the door.

Study the shape of your face and try a few hairstyles that best suit you. If you get bored easily, try alternating between a few styles for your face shape.

You should also choose a hairstyle that suits your lifestyle. If you are a busy mother, choose low maintenance hairstyle. If you have to attend many social events, leave your hair fairly long to able to wear it in many ways.

An excellent grooming principle is to keep your hair away from your face as much as possible. Hairstyles that are elegant are ones that allow your eyes to sparkle and everyone to have a clear view of you when in your company.

If you highlight or dye your hairGet your roots done every three to six weeks depending on how fast your hair grows out and the contrast of your natural hair colour and your chosen colour. If you find it difficult or expensive to keep going to the salon, do not dye your hair or stick to colours that blend well with your natural colour.

Visit the salon every three to four months to upkeep your look.

Body

An woman's body subject to good grooming is evident that one who tries care of it.

Eat well, sleep well, get plenty of exercise. People who exercise regularly have stronger stomach muscles and realize they have good posture naturally. It is hard to maintain good posture with weak stomach muscles. It is also hard to be bright and fresh without eating well and sleeping well.

Try to be at optimum health at all times, aim for good pressure, cholesterol levels, ideal wealth and low body fat. Health is the real wealth. We want to be active for our family, to go through life together and create wonderful memories, to make an impact in the community.

I'm not saying that people who are overweight cannot be elegant but it is more challenging to be graceful, have good posture, move around in general. It is harder to find clothes that can fit and try to maintain composure when a bit of extra activity than normal causes you to break out and sweat panting.

Hair Removal

Another important aspect of grooming means to remove of unwanted and unsightly hair.

Apart from upper lip hair which must be removed and eyebrows to be shaped, there should never be any hair or hint of it in the underarms, lower legs and bikini line. Never buy into the "all natural" look if you are going for a decent gentleman!

Whether to remove hair on your arms and upper thighs depends on how much hair you have, how thick it is, and the colour. If it is less than obvious, it may be perfectly acceptable.

There are many ways to remove hair. Visit your your local beautician or check out beauty forums.

Nails

Nails should always be clean and shaped in order to be well-groomed. If you do not know how to shape your nails, or simply do not have the time to, keep them short.

Ideally, your nails should be polished or buffed, or coated with a clear protective coat. If you have an active life using your hands often, keep them short and clean is the minimum.

Long nails that are not groomed are just as unsightly as dirty fingernails. They show neglect. Not to mention the health dangers that come along with it.

The same goes for pedicures except that you have to get one every three to four weeks instead of every other week.

The height of good grooming and maybe perhaps luxury is to get your nails done every week! Make a date with your sister, bestfriend, mother and get your nails done together. It will be less of a chore.

Clothes

Clothes should always be clean, smell good, ideally freshly laundered and ironed.

Repair all defects. Stains, tears, missing buttons, zips. If you can't repair them anymore, discard them. Discard those faded and weak clothes that do not have a smart appearance anymore.

Pay attention to the tell tale signs that will discredit your efforts to be groomed: weak collars, little balls of fabric from too much wear and tear, bits of thread that hang out from the sewing, a torn hem, fraying.

Shoes should be clean and polished (if it is the type that can be polished).

If they are scuffed, try to reduce their scuffed appearance. Do not tolerate too much scuffing at the heel. They should also be discarded.

You can make your shoes last longer if you regularly re-sole or get the heels repaired.

More can be found on Edit Your Wardrobe
and
Embracing Timeless Dressing

Smells

You should neither be smelt a metre away whether good or bad. Use a light scent for the day and a heavier scent for the evening.

If you are going out for a full day or from day to evening, bring a little small pouch of cosmetics or products to help freshen up!

Quotes About Grooming

Chronic and habitual bad grooming in a woman, to the extent of "letting herself go" is either a matter of character or of physical or moral fatigue.

While a clean, neat and tidy person may not translate to an elegant person, nevertheless, one cannot imagine any one to be elegant unless she is perfectly groomed.

A Personal Grooming Checklist

Ensure and check that
# hands and nails are clean and present an impeccable appearance.

# hair does not cover your eyes, falls neatly and framing your face, either tied up in a pony tail or chignon depending on occasion.

# make up that is neat and natural looking in the day, or with the eyes or lips enhanced for night

# shoes are clean with appropriate heels.

# clothes are ironed with no stains, holes or fraying threads. Discard all faded clothing.

# lingerie should be invisible especially shoulder straps.

# you have used some form of deodorant, perfume or mints if you need too (without emitting too strong a smell). Go back to the top Homepage