To ask how some people always look so polished

[LMW1990]

I'm lucky if my socks match. I always have good intentions to get up early and do my hair but in reality it gets scraped back 2 seconds before I leave for work. I always look blotchy and cannot achieve the porcelain smooth look unless I have 20 million hours to do it. My nails are bitten. My eyebrows have their own personality.

How do people do it?!

I’m always scruffy (I prefer to call it natural), I have never had my eyebrows done, rarely wear make up, I do moisturise but that’s about it. My hair seems to have stopped growing and is quite dry, I have tried many different things to sort the hair. I try and keep in shape by going to the gym, my health is more important than my looks, I think I rock the hippie look 🤣, luckily I don’t work in a office or in the public sector so I don’t have to look presentable.

Time effort and money are required!

Being thin helps. Blessed with good skin or taking time for make up. Having nice clothes. Having your hair cut (and coloured if required) regularly. Eyebrows. Etc

I have fine hair that I could style perfectly before leaving home but after 10 minutes it looks like I've barely brushed it! I have a droopy eye that as I've aged has become more pronounced. I'm peri menopausal so often end up sweaty and flushed. I'm now also about 2 stone overweight, and its all around my middle. I've never been able to look polished but now I've given up even trying!

It takes a bit of effort and organisation but not necessarily loads of time once you get a routine going.

Make sure your socks match. Plan in your head the night before what you’re going to wear the next day. Get up earlier to allow some time to do your hair. Get your eyebrows threaded every 6 weeks or so. Keep your nails short with a quick file and polish. Clear polish if you want to keep it low maintenance.

It takes more time and effort than you’re currently investing but doesn’t need to take hours.

I do a lot of what @JaceLancs does so pasting her list and adding a couple of my own tips

Haircut every 6 weeks. I also have fine hair so I use oil and straighteners to tame the frizz. Usually looks OK.

Neat eyebrows
Always do nails and redo if chipped. Could you try acrylics for a bit?
Good quality clothes especially footwear and coats
Everything clean and ironed I hang things up straight from the dryer instead
Good skin care routine - toner, good moisturiser (doesn't need to be expensive) and facial every few months. I also have redness sometimes and the facials really help.
Light make-up - foundation, anti-shine powder, mascara and sometimes lip gloss.
Simple jewellery, earrings and maybe a ring. Occasional necklace depending on my top.

Light perfume.

I don't look spectacular but I feel fairly "put together" if I do the above.

Contrary to some - showering daily, good hair cut, shaving, make up and ironing go a long way to looking 'polished'; factor in clean, unscuffed footwear, clothes that actually fit, no sports wear, matching bag, classic clothes.

I think people who always look polished don’t sweat a lot so their make up lasts longer, hair stays neater and their clothes don’t look wilted

That’s a good point! They also don’t walk to work in the wind/rain.

Also suspect they suffer for their looks a little bit... like not going to put a woolly hat on for the commute even tho it’s cold as it will mess hair up.

It’s part effort part luck/genes IMO!

My sister is naturally beautiful: clear sallow skin, thick shiny hair, tall and thin. She basically has to do nothing to appear polished. I on the other hand, did not win the genetic lottery (whyyyy cruel world?!!) so it doesn’t matter if I put an hour into it, I will never look as polished as she does.

Some people like me will always look a bit disheveled I think 🤷‍♀️

I always look relatively polished. I don't spend a huge amount of time or money but because I've been doing it for years, it's more "maintenance". I wear make up every day, it takes me 10 mins in the morning as I have it down to a fine art. I do my nails whilst sitting down of an evening. I keep my clothes and shoes in nice order and replace when they look tatty. I think the accessories you choose can help eg nice scarf or necklace. Always wear perfume. I'm very lucky that I have very nice hair that takes minimal maintenance. I spend a sizable chunk of money every 6/8 months at the hairdresser and nothing in between so it averages out as not much per month. I'm not thin, more buxom I suppose but I dress to flatter which helps.

Organisation. And sleep.

Everybody I know who looks like that goes to bed early, their houses are clean and well organised, their clothes are ironed, put away and easily accessible and they wake up relatively easily.

If they've got a full requirement of sleep, so get up with plenty of time, go for a shower in a clean and tidy bathroom, come back to a clean and tidy bedroom, find their clothes easily, have time to sit down and do their hair and makeup, put the wet towels up to dry/into the washing machine, etc, it's easier for them to look calm and polished.

In the evenings, their kitchens are easy to work in, it's simple to whisk around after cooking dinner, they can have a bath/use products to deal with skin or hair issues, they're calm and then waft off to a neat and tidy bedroom (and a great mattress) to sleep the slumber of a relatively carefree existence, ready for the next day of looking marvellous.

Compare and contrast to barely scraping four hours of sleep, waking up three times due to pain or a lump on the mattress/a pillow that just isn't quite right, whatever you do, hauling your half dead carcass out twenty minutes after you should have got up, rummaging in a heap for clothes that don't look quite as shit/haven't got stains or holes, tripping over crap in the landing on the way to a shower where it's hit and miss as to whether it's got warm water or is colder than the stuff in the fridge, you can't find a clean towel, you're cold, running late and all you really want to do is get back under the covers and sleep for a month...well, it's bloody hard to look like a porcelain swan, then.

I dont think 'caring about how you look' needs to come at the expense of other, more elaborate aims as suggested by a pp just because i like to look tidy doesnt mean i struggled to achueve acedemically, didnt get my books written etc etc. I actually think you get on and ppl take you more seriously if you look polished - you look capable, i guess.

Well not biting your nails, taking an extra 5 mins for your hair and keeping your eyebrows under control really wouldn’t take much time or effort and would make all the difference.

You don’t need to be painted with a face of makeup though, that usually doesn’t look as well as it’s intended to and takes a LOT of time and effort.

It’s true about the sweat Palmtree. I look amazing when I leave the house but am prone to redness when I get hot. My morning commute on the tube makes my staightened hair fuzzy, my mascara run, my foundation just melts off even with a MAC setting spray. My eyebrows are threaded, my nails are done, all the above advice has been followed but I still look like a melted candle when I arrive at work 😂

I redo at work but the redness has set in and my eczema is up. I always look polished September to April. After that it’s downhill!

To quote Jilly Cooper in Octavia 'beauty is largely a matter of time and money'.

I saw someone today waiting in a line and thought how put together she looked.
So I observed:
She wore a dark plain dress, black tights and black shoes. Her hair was just in a normal pony tail, not straightened to the n th degree, just normal. She wore hardly any make up, was probably
In her late 40 s with a normal complexion.
But she did wear small small studs, lovely trio of thin brackets and a nice watch and carried a beige-ish bag the same colour as her scarf.
Based on this, I think the little things add up to give a more put together look.

Its genetic. I know someone who spends the same time as me on looking polished (none) and she still looks well put together...while I look a total mess even if I spontaneously decide to 'try' (once in a blue moon).

I think a more pertinent question is WHY do people look polished.

Not sure I look 'polished' all the time but I always look like I've made an effort and hate leaving the house looking scruffy. I don't spend a lot on make up at all (Wilkos/Poundland) or have my hair cut and coloured every six weeks, however I do:

Always have everything ironed
Pick my clothes the night before
Get up early (6.15) when I leave for work at 8am
Put make up on and do my hair

On here, it's a badge of honour to not even own an iron. Fine if that's what you want but don't then moan that you look scruffy most of the time.

I have eyelash extensions and I find they really help me look polished. I also do my own gel nails (although I alternate having them and letting my nails have a break).

I can do full make up in 10 mins.Years of practice!

Nails seem to be a clincher. Even bare buffed and shiny nails.

I think I look fine when I leave the house. Arrive at work and look like I’ve done a marathon

I have - nails done
Good bag
Expensive hair cut
Expensive coat
Good shoes

I still look crap.

I think a lot of it is down to genetics. Some people don't need a lot to look good. Unfortunately I'm not one of them.

Shower twice a day, clean hair everyday, fresh clothes everyday and make-up, but still look crap. I have a bit of a clumsy demeanour, hence I don't look 'polished'. Don't have the greatest skin either - pale, oily and blotchy, not tanned and flawless. Think good natural skin helps a lot. My nails are always in a state, but as soon as I paint them they try to disintegrate, so not much I can do about that! I just trim them really short. You have to remember that half the pictures you see of people have been modified and they have probably spent ages grooming. I do work with some people who have full on jobs and kids and they look great though, but they do earn more than me, so maybe it's that.

I don't look like a bag lady, but I'm definitely not glamorous enough to turn heads. I work full time, have a son and am almost nine months pregnant, so I'm not gonna look much better any time soon.

Be thin
Loads of sleep
Eat veg and oily fish
Wear clothes that suit you
Don't smoke
Don't eat sugar

hmm I get ready for work in 15 mins....as in roll out of bed to out the door.

Can't imagine spending 1 hour 45 getting up and ready.

Being thin helps.

Sigh.

I am not thin and I certainly wouldn't claim that being bigger is something to aspire to, but I can tell you I am without doubt the best turned out pony in this office.