Top tips for looking polished

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I want to join the preened, beautifully dressed, glossy looking club.. How?! Top tips please ladies.. I'm feeling all dishevelled and dull

Hair, eyebrows, and nails all done.

Agree... Nails, hair & eyebrows. I also feel more polished when I have nice perfume on.

Clothes that fit well. And most importantly, wear clothes that suit you. All the lastest fashion looks great on the mannequins in the shop, but if they don't look good on you, then don't buy them, just because its what everyone else is wearing.

Drink water. It really makes a difference to your skin.

Posture. Stand tall and confidently. Even if you dont feel confident, slouching and hunched shoulders are not going to show off your best assets.

Hair, nails and eyebrows as well as ironed clothes and polished shoes.

Wear clothes that fit

good quality bag. perfect make up.

Bbh.
Good skincare routine including acid toner.
Groomed eyebrows.
Groomed nails.
Well maintained clothes.

Thanks for replies. I'm going to do my nails ths evening. I need to book in for a hair cut/colour too, I've been growing out my highlights but think I look a bit drab. I've not heard of acid toner, which one do you recommend and what are the benefits? I'm prone to reoccurring spots on my jawline.. Will it rid me of these?

When you say good quality bag, I take it ones from Next don't count?!

i don't know Next. Maybe post a pic?

Nope, I suppose a Next bag won't quite be polished. My everyday work bag (which I love but mostly own because my job requires 'polished' was about £300 from some German brand ... I'm sure there are cheaper options.

Apart from that I can't recommend getting a good dressmaker (or sewing machine) anywhere near enough. I alter pretty much all of my tailored office wear to fit me - or have it altered, depending on time and complexity. You won't believe the difference well fitted tailoring makes!

Also: a Babyliss rotating brush or heated rollers are a foolproof way of achieving great hair. Trust me I'm an engineer crap at hair!

I am often told I look "immaculate" at work, when in reality I frequently wear jeans, and absolutely never wear what most people would class as "smart" clothes. So, things that work for me are:

Always painted nails. No chips, ever.
Hair washed and blow dried every day (mine is quite short so looks desperate after sleeping on it!) and cut every six weeks at a decent salon.
Eyebrows threaded every six weeks, plucked for strays in between until the growing out stage.
Wearing clothes that suit my shape and style. For me that's never heels or typical tailored things, but I am very strict about ironing and caring for them.
Red lipstick, every day - I know this isn't everyone's thing, but it's mine, although I don't wear much other makeup.

I would say buy clothes in mostly the following colours: black, brown, beige, grey, navy blue, bottle green, maroon. Accessorise with brighter colours/patterns that don't clash. If in doubt, buy the larger size rather than the smaller, as too tight clothing looks awful.

Chipped nail varnish looks awful, better to wear none at all. Ditto too much make up, perfume etc. Spots - have you been to the GP? Maybe changing your pill (if on one) would help. Otherwise people on here have had good results with hot cloth cleansing, Sam Bunting routine, Caroline Hirons routine... may take a bit of time to find what works.

Handbag - doesn't need to be very expensive, but real leather would be a bonus, and a classic style, not a handbag pretending to be a designer brand. Jones Bootmaker does some good ones, and is good for leather shoes too.

Discreet jewellery, maybe a ring on each hand, stud earrings, a simple pendant on a chain.

Also avoid neckline clutter, collars, scarves, dangly earrings and hair, even if all perfect individually can combine to look messy and cluttered, keep it simple.

Accept that being well groomed is time consuming.

It also costs.

You need to make a habit of grooming in day to day life. Diarise it, prioritise it as you would any other part of life

My routine incorporates grooming as it does cooking or walking the dog.

Bag, shoes, hair, makeup.

Do not wear stripey gloves either.

I agree on handbags - my current one is just from M&S autograph and cost about £90, but it's lovely leather which has actually grown nicer as it's grown older. I hate fake leather bags and shoes - and most of my shoes are Clarks, loafers, brogues, Chelsea and biker boots, so decent leather but not very expensive - and would rather carry a canvas tote than a plastic-y bag.

Polished manicured nails, a good haircut and colour, carefully and subtly applied makeup

Good shoes and bag. (for me that means heels most of the time)

Clothes that flatter your figure

Good posture. sit up straight, and stand up straight.

I make a huge effort to look polished, and people always tell me I look good, but unfortunately I never feel very polished, and spend my life wishing I looked more groomed, but as I do nearly all of the things mentioned in this thread, I'm not sure what else I can do? Maybe I'm a bit over-critical, and only ever see the things that aren't 100% right. I think a lot of women are like this.

I go in cycles with it, Petal what you describe happens to me and I then tend to rebel a bit from it for a few months, wear minimal make-up, no nail polish, etc which helps me keep it in perspective and realise that it makes absolutely no difference to my day to day life but I start fancying doing my nails again etc and the pendulum goes back. It definitely seems more enjoyable and less of a chore that way and I know I can switch it all back on again if the need arises.

Neat hair and lipstick is all you need (Haven't mastered either myself)

I need this. I want to look polished.

I think the trick is, if you don't have lots of time or money, to do one or two things really well. You can easily get defeated if you don't feel you look polished.

I go for- lovely nails, I do Shellac Blue Sky ones myself with a £40 kit I got from Groupon, I get more comments on this aspect of grooming than everything else ever.

Hair- decent cut every now and again, always clean and swishy (use Poundland products so not expensive to maintain)

Nice make-up, I use the cheapest brands but have figured out what I like over the years, it only takes 5 min every morning.

The rest varies, always good leather shoes, never plastic, so I also wear Clarks, other brands.

I don't iron things, I do my eyebrows when I remember, my cleansing routine is non-existent (wash face in shower if remember, shove Sudocream on if getting a tiny bit spotty) and don't wear 'smart' stuff either, but the overall trend is somewhat polished.