If you are polished and fairly glamorous...

[Fullofthejoysofspring]

...what are your daily routines?

I would like to make more of an effort to be a bit more polished and glamorous, but I've no idea how to get into the routine of it. Can anyone share their own routines for inspiration please?

Bumping for you OP. Love these threads!

File and shape your nails
Hand cream at night
Wash your face and implement a simple routine
Chuck out clothes that don't fit you well
Dress for your shape and size
Wear clean clothes
Iron
Clean shoes
Clean bag / accessories

I’m not sure I can say I’m glamorous but I try to be polished. This is what I do (mainly on a budget):
Eye brows threaded and tinted monthly
Paint toes weekly/fortnightly and remove hard skin and moisturise heels
Gel nails on fingers
No grey roots visible
Teeth whitening
Good leather bag and shoes
Light make up with tinted gloss or lipstick
Jewellery - statement or dainty (doesn’t have to be expensive)
Perfume
Lots of moisturiser- hands, face and legs
SPF50 on sunny days
selection of jackets to wear as they look smarter
Decent thick back / white tops

Never leave the house without make up (natural)
Nails ;short with neutral polish
Clean and styled hair
Ironed clothes
Simple jewellery,nice watch ,nice handbags (the best I can afford even if I have to save a while for it)
Cashmere sweaters, hats and scarves (I am 50 years old and I feel I deserve cashmere LOL)

Agree with you there @sleepyshiftworker.

Also, you don't have to spend £££, you,just need to be brutally,honest with yourself, and very choosy about what you do,spend it on.

Eg, I've found these gorgeous linen dresses on Etsy that look deceptively simple but are tailor made and not cheap. I have come to understand my colours and cuts, so I buy myself one every year. I get many second glances when I wear them.

Also keep it simple. There's groomed - those who have highlights, extensions, nails, tan, Botox, drawn on brows, lash extensions, and then there's groomed - lash serums for naturally full lashes, good skincare so very little make up required, just some highlight and concealer ,tidy brows and nails, glossy hair with a subtle balyage or sun kissed baby lights, a bloody good cosmetic doctor, clothes are cashmere, leather, linen and cotton (can get very good dupes but they're hard to find).

So mine is eyebrows threaded 2 weekly
Botox once a year (baby Botox)

Skincare is a biggie for me:

Wash face, 2 min vit c while brushing teeth, toner, face cream, spf 50 AM

Wash face, acid peel or toner and hyalorunic, eye serum, lash serum, bed

Teeth whitening trays as required

File and buff nails

Italy towel thing in shower for my body

Olaplex 3 once a week, hair is washed and conditioned twice a week (I exfoliate my face while the conditioner is on), with hair oil, left to dry naturally and then blow dried or curled if I'm going out.

Make up - not every day but primer, concealer, highlighter/light contour, lipgloss, sweep of neutral over eyelid, tough lined and a smidge of mascara.

Hair gets a subtle balyage once a year, cut twice a year.

Always forget to moisturise body

All the hair that needs to be has been lasered off, apart from pesky eyebrows.

Only clothes that look more that 7/10 on me. Be ruthless with this part.

Oooh love these threads !

6 weekly keg, Hollywood, chin wax, eyebrows shape
Shellac fingernails monthly
Toenails do myself usually (I have a machine do my roots if need to inbetween balayage app
Tint eyebrows every week or so
Botox between eyes every six months
Sometimes have lip filler (o.5 ml)
Eat keto
Don’t drink alcohol
Walk a lot , gym classes 3x a week
Cold water swim a few rinea a week

I love getting clothes from preloved insta shops so get some really unusual stuff

I do wear gym kit a lot though but always groomed with it !

Oh yes forgot teeth whitening regularly with dentist trays and sun cream every day

Also massive Velcro rollers on while doing make up

Oh and some light HRT )

I am known as "Glam" (Name) as a few friends share the same name . Have never had a facial/pedicure in my life and, due to allergies, can no longer visit a hair salon BUT I wash and blow dry my (long) hair every morning and would not open my front door without a full face of make-up, trademark red lippy and all - do this every day. Cleanse/wash/moisturise face morning and night. Shave and moisturise body daily, including hand and foot cream. Haircut every 8 weeks and henna every 3 to keep roots at bay. Kerastase hair treatment daily. Weekly foot file and file/buff/polish nails weekly. Daily body brushing and gradual tan twice weekly. Find your own style rather than slavishly following fashion and, as PP, said, dress for your shape/size/age. Amazing shoes can make the difference to the plainest outfit. Clothes and accessories don't have to be expensive but always clean, ironed and polished. This may sound like a lot but is what I've always done, the way some people prioritise exercise, etc.

How much…time does all of this take?

@CommanderBurnham would you mind linking or dming me the link to your linen dresses? I've not found any I like yet this year, but etsy is overwhelming.

@Rainallnight gosh, yes, I too thought,
"I would love to see a spreadsheet - or even Gantt chart! - of the time and money it takes to get this done!"
It sounds like a lot of hard work goes into looking glam, and organisation too.
I'd kind of like to try it for... well, what would be a reasonable time, two months perhaps ?(because of haircut cycles) just to see what it's like, as an experiment!
Hence the interest in having it all laid out in project plan form!

etsy.me/2iojO1y

I have this one. Loads of similar will come up.

I am often described as “polished”, although my style/clothes are not typically “glamorous”. For me this is:

Hair cut every five weeks, washed/dried daily
Nails short but always painted (do it myself, not salon)
Weekly DIY pedicure
Always red lipstick
Dentist every three months for scale and polish
Eyebrows threaded every three weeks
Tint brows/lashes at home
Iron everything
Spend more on bottoms than tops, because I am hippy and cheap jeans/trousers tend not to fit well
Get things dry-cleaned regularly, sew buttons/hems immediately if needed
I am not a “bag person” but tend to buy a “good” one each year and use it pretty much every day - my current bag is a Fossil one, and I also like Jigsaw for bags
Likewise “good” shoes/boots. Mainly trainers, DMs, Chelsea boots here, so far from glamorous, but always leather and always well cared for
Perfume is my favourite, so always nice fragrance even if just working at the kitchen table!

@Rainallnight

How much…time does all of this take?

Not much, honestly. I’ve never broken it down properly , but a few minutes a day. I work FT with 3 kids and try to swim 3 times a week, so I don’t have much spare time, and like I said, all done on a budget.

@Rainallnight

Not much time. The hardest bit is finding the right skincare or the style that suits you. Once you've nailed that it's a doddle. I'd say spend your money right there - if you like a hairstyle, pay the hairdresser for a styling lesson. Don't just buy the make up, ask how to use it, or book a lesson. Skincare is pure trial and error unfortunately. This can take years.

Morning:

• exercise (6 days a week)
• wash, blow dry and straighten hair daily
• use body exfoliating mitts in the shower, shave legs etc
• cleanse, moisturise face etc
• body lotion after showering
• sunscreen every single day
• makeup, fragrance

Evening

• check nails, file if needed. Reapply with pale pink polish every couple of days
• cleanse, moisturise, etc. Use retinol and exfoliants most nights
• lash growth serum
• iron clothes for the next day

Weekly

• face masks
• pluck any stray brow hairs
• give myself a pedicure

Haircut and colour every 7 weeks
Proper brow shape every 4 weeks

Oh and also, twice a year I do a "wardrobe audit".

I got through ALL my clothes, shoes and bags.
Throw away anything the needs throwing, or set aside things that can go to charity.
Put away all my clothes for the winter/autumn season and get out the spring /summer ones (or vice versa). Then go through and figure out what kinds of things I am missing, e.g. I have no nude sandals to go with summer dresses. I don't have any suitable trousers for work, etc.

This works well because it means I don't have stuff in my wardrobe I don't wear, and it's easier to pick out clothes when I just have the right ones in my wardrobe for the weather. Also means I don't end up buying loads of clothes I don't need, as I stick to my list of "wardrobe gaps".

I have really thick hair and only wash it twice a week at the most. But I recently bought some of the Dyson hair straighteners and now I run them over my hair most days. It takes 5 mins and helps keep my hair looking sleeker. It’s not poker straight as I don’t like that look on me, but it makes me look instantly better groomed.

For me I can do all of the above but my hair just needs a hair dresser blow dry otherwise I never look polished.
I absolutely do not have time to wash blow dry and style every day.
I can however be in an out of my local salon in less than 40 mins so I do that once or twice a month. Obviously i do wash it in between!

@CommanderBurnham

sweep of neutral over eyelid

I want to do this but am sort of scared I'll look foolish. Can you tell me what make/palette you use, please?

Decent, well-fitting underwear. No point spending thirty minutes on your make-up if you've got the double-boob thing going on, or visibly too-tight knickers.

My glamorous friends always, always wear make-up. Doesn't matter if that means waking up at 5:30am, they'll do it.
Also, jewellery, even if it's just a simple pair of studs.

Trinny London make up has been a game changer for me. Watch her 1 min look on Instagram. Apart from the fact that I find her hilarious, it really does work.

Friends, colleagues, shop owners (😁) always comment on how good my mum looks. Honestly, all the time. Late 60s but looks a lot younger. She always has prioritised her hair as it’s incredibly fine and needs attention so she washes and blow dries every day. Regular cut and colour and very picky about who cuts it.

Good quality, well fitting clothes which are coordinated and are very well looked after. She doesn’t rush around on public transport like I do and never accidentally dyes anything or wears things that are bobbly like I do. If she was out walking, for example, she’d wear appropriate clothes so her other clothes wouldn’t get wrecked.

Doesn’t wear designer clothes usually but well made and natural materials. Knows which colours suit her and which don’t.

Good quality make up and skincare but not a complicated or scientific regimen. So doesn’t use masks or acids (ever) or serums that often. Wears make up every day, including lipstick but sometimes quite neutral depending on occasion. Little details like coordinating jewellery to the piping on a shirt but very subtle. Wears well chosen not overpowering perfume every day. Well fitting and mid price shoes. Dental hygienist every six months.

I thought I’d add her as she isn’t spending thousands on skincare or going to a dermatologist but spends some time and effort and sticks to what works and her routines and it works. She looks great but like all of us, she doesn’t look like that when she wakes up!

I’m not glamorous, but wash up well enough for work and more formal social events.
I think it’s about the quality of clothes, the cut, the colours, the accessories.
Then basics like decent enough classic hair cut that isn’t too ‘modern’ or too obviously coloured.
Good teeth care, not over-whitened Hollywood style, but straight, unstained and revealed in a smile a lot.
Then posture. An upright, shoulders down, unhunched, confident stance and smooth movements rather than slouching, lack of leg control (only crossed at ankles), feet tucked under when seated etc.
Then voice - smooth, confident, mid volume, good diction. Not strident, or hidden behind hands.
Decent jewellery in small quantities rather than lots of cheap bling. Not covered in bangles, dangling hoop earrings, piercings.
Good personal hygiene.

Mainly it’s behavioural. I’ve seen people command a room in old corduroy trousers and straw covered jumpers and also very expensively dressed people shrinking in corners.

@Snakeplisskensmum

Trinny London make up has been a game changer for me. Watch her 1 min look on Instagram. Apart from the fact that I find her hilarious, it really does work.

I’ve been tempted by this but seen a lot of negative comments. What do you recommend ?