It happens to all of us. We wake up one morning and nothing seems right. We are sick of our hair, our wardrobe, and our all around appearance. It is time for a change, but we aren’t sure where to begin or how to start changing and reinventing ourselves without taking drastic measures.
Some of us might want to attract a different kind of man. We are sick of dead end dating the same kind of man over and over again. How could we attract a better mate? Would changing our appearance and raising our self esteem make a difference? Studies show that people with a high level of self esteem won’t settle for less than they believe they deserve, this includes potential boyfriends. Changing our looks and reinventing ourselves can help boost our self esteem and help us begin choosing men who better fit the new us.
But it’s not all about the men. Reinventing our looks should ultimately be something special we want to do for ourselves. It can be the change we need to pursue a new career, start a new business, or head back to school. It can be the “after the divorce” change that many women feel is a positive and life changing experience. Whatever the reasons for our desire for change, there are many we can begin doing right now to shake things up a bit.
15 Imitate a Famous Person’s Style
Your first step to changing your looks is to decide on whose style you like and choose to imitate it. Audrey Hepburn’s style is a popular choice among women who want to look classy and feminine. The Marilyn Monroe look is smoking hot and great for dates, but not for going to an office job. The office job look could lean more towards Marlene Dietrich who loved to wear pantsuits and fedoras, but still looked feminine. A more androgynous look would be tailored after Greta Garbo who wore classy, but comfortable clothing. You can choose up to two different styles to imitate. Pick one that is sensible for your work environment and a style for outside of work.
14 Evaluate Your Skincare Ritual
Your skin is one of the first things people notice when they see you, so why not take the extra effort to make it glow? Look at what you are currently doing for your skin. Does your skin appear healthy or is it dull, oily, or acne prone? Visit your local beauty store to find skin products that fit your skin care needs and try making some of your own safe and healthy skin masks. Set aside time every day to pamper your skin and begin using SPF products to protect your skin from the sun’s harmful rays.
13 Get Rid of Old Makeup
With your new look and style comes new makeup. Take a timeout from your busy schedule to go through your makeup and throw out anything that is expired. Reevaluate the makeup you wear everyday and decide if it is time for an update. Shop for new makeup at a store that allows you to test shades and colors on your skin, and choose the makeup that not only looks great on you, but can be used for your new actress inspired style.
12 Change Your Eye Color
Sometimes all you need is a little change to inspire a much larger change in how you perceive yourself and, in reaction, how you project yourself. Changing your eye color by going to the optometrist is easy to do and not that expensive. You can give yourself those bright green eyes you’ve always wanted or you can finally become a blue eyed babe. Sultry brown eyes? You can do that, too. You don’t even have to stick with one color and can buy different colored sets to suit all your moods.
11 New Accessories
Keeping in mind the fashion icons you’ve chosen to imitate, it’s time to look over your accessories. Decide what fits your new image and donate the outdated items to charity. You can change your look by buying and wearing different types of shoes, putting on a different pair of shades, carrying a different style of purse, and changing up your jewelry. Switching from a gold necklace to a pearl necklace can bring about an entirely new look.
10 Temporary Tats
Tattoos can change your look and mood in an instant. If you are afraid of committing to something permanent, check out the latest trends in temporary tattoos. Henna tattoos are loads of fun, but you usually need help applying them using a tattoo kit and the henna does not stain all skin types. Flash tattoos are quickly gaining popularity because of the metallic color choices and because they only last for about four days. You can give yourself temp tat necklaces, bracelets, and tattoo different symbols and artwork onto your skin without the guilt of being stuck with it for life. These are great for parties and beach outings.
9 Change Your Eyebrows
Changing the shape of your eyebrows will change the entire appearance of your face. Thin, arched eyebrows might make you appear severe or even sinister while fuller eyebrows can make you appear youthful. If you’ve never had your eyebrows professionally done (I didn’t until I was 36), it’s never too late to start. Visit a reputable salon and discuss you eyebrow shaping options. Many of these places will help you find the right eyebrow shape for the look you want.
8 Hair Parting
You might not have to do anything more extreme to your looks than changing your hair part. As women, we become comfortable doing the same hair routine morning after morning. Break free of the routine and style your hair with the part on the opposite side of where it usually is. This is one of those little changes you can make that is noticeable, yet your co-workers will have a hard time guessing why you look so different.
7 Contouring Makeup
It’s the latest trend online: changing your entire appearance by contouring your face with makeup. With hundreds of online tutorials available online, anyone with the time to learn the techniques can learn how to contour their face to give themselves an entirely new look without the plastic surgery.
6 Get Enough Sleep
Lack of sleep can easily change your appearance. It can cause dark circles under your eyes and even wrinkles. If you are sleep deprived, one of the healthiest ways you can change your looks is to give yourself a healthy sleep cycle. It is estimated that about three quarters of Americans don’t get a full eight hours of sleep each night. This not only affect people’s looks, but it also decreases their productivity, increases their chance of stroke, and affects people’s emotional health. Make a healthier change for yourself and get that beauty rest.
5 Color Palette
The colors you wear say a lot about who you are. Vibrant colors, such as red, give off strong power and sexual energies while white is a distant, cool color commonly associated with either virginity or frigidity. To completely reinvent your look you should choose a color palette that not only goes great with your skin, hair, and eye colors, but also the personality you want to portray. Hiring a color analysis professional will help you choose the right colors for you, your makeup, wardrobe, and home.
4 Exercise Routine
Exercise not only helps people lose weight and gain body tone, it is also great for the skin. By increasing blood flow, your skin will glow and appear more radiant, giving you a more youthful and vibrant appearance. You don’t need to go overboard, though. Just 20 minutes a day will give you the health and appearance benefits you want.
3 Get a Haircut
Your hairstyle says a lot about who you are and a new do can open up new opportunities. Before going to a hairstylist, gather photos of hairstyles you like. If you also want to change your hair color, find the colors in pictures. Take your samples to your hairstylist and discuss the possibilities with her. She will be able to fit the right hairstyle to compliment your face and the right hair color to match your skin tone. Hairstylists can also help you grow out healthy, long hair and will teach you how to care for growing hair, as well as schedule hair trim appointments to keep your new locks split-end free.
2 Learn to Work With Your Body Style
If you are like most women, you probably don’t know your body type or have wrongly assumed that you are bigger than you actually are. While looking at picture diagrams may help a little towards determining your body type, it is best if you seek a professional image consultant. Image consultants will identify your body type and help you reinvent the look you want for your professional and personal life. Just a new understanding of yourself and your body will change you completely.
1 Build Your Self Esteem
Having a healthy level of self esteem is more than a mental benefit. It can affect how you see yourself and how other people see you. To succeed at reinventing your looks, you need the confidence to pull it off. Study the posture of beautiful women. Do you see how they hold their shoulders straight and open, not hunched and inwards? How you hold your shoulders and how you posture the rest of your body says a lot about who you are. Learn how to posture yourself in a way that is open and confident. Change your personal beliefs about yourself, as well, from negative and critical to positive and accepting. Having a positive self esteem is crucial to pulling off new looks.
Sources: huffingtonpost.com, fashion.allwomenstalk.com, huffingtonpost.com, huffingtonpost.com/2013, huffingtonpost.com/2014, huffingtonpost.com/carol-brailey, fitnessmagazine.com, www.huffingtonpost.com, nymag.com
