April 27, 2012

Friday 5: How to Resist Impulse Buying

As a woman who loves clothes, I have had many experiences of going for “a look” in the shops only to return with my entire wage packet gone on clothes I don’t actually need. This used to be quite a frequent occurrence for me, even after I became an Image Consultant, I still couldn’t resist buying clothes I had no use for the only difference was that I always got some wear out of them.

The average woman wears 20% of her wardrobe 80% of the time, in order to start wearing 80% of your wardrobe 80% of the time you need to tackle impulse shopping.

Here is some tips on how to resist impulse buying:

1. If you have to go for a look around the shops take only the amount of cash you have allotted to clothes shopping with you and leave your card at home
2. Don’t buy the item unless it will go with at least 50% of you wardrobe, in the case of dresses only buy those that you already have accessories and coats/cardigan/shawl to match.
3. Bring a man with you while you shop,its proven we spend less time looking in stores while in male company and are less likely to buy unnecessary purchase than if we are with females or children
4. When you see something you like, make yourself wait before purchasing it. The longer you can wait before going back to the store the less likely you are to purchase it. So, set yourself a time goal of 3 days or 1 week and try to get to that point before you reconsider. If you still really want the item go back for another look and then decide. Often the excitement of the purchase will have worn off and you wont want it anymore.
5. Be cautious while paying. All retailers place items near or at the cash register to make you buy things you don’t need at the last minute.

Some other tips are - Avoid shopping with friends who encourage you to spend, spend, spend and avoid shopping with wealthy friends. Finally, never shop when your upset or need a boost as this is when you are most vulnerable and most likely to impulse buy.

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April 26, 2012

How to Shorten a Tall Body

At 5ft 3″ I think I would be considered short. When I choose things to wear I am always think about drawing the eye up and down on my body in order to create an illusion of length. The same principle works for taller people who are trying to make their body silhouette appear shorter.

However, where I try to draw the eye up and down with vertical focal points the taller person must draw the eye over and back with horizontal focal points. Try to keep the idea of an horizontal focus in your mind when dressing or shopping and you will find dressing your tall silhouette is easy.

Tips for how to shorten a tall body:

Layered Clothing will shorten your torso by creating horizontal lines.
Bold or chunky jewellery will be in balance with your frame but will also make the body appear smaller.
Contrasting colours on shoes and ankle straps all shorten the leg.
Wide brimmed hats, you have the height to pull them off and they will make you appear shorter
Horizontal designs or lines on clothing again draw the eye across the body and so shorten your torso.
Wide Belts create another horizontal illusion and shortening affect.
Patterned tops and full blouses make the area smaller.
Patterned or coloured tights and trousers will make your leg appear shorter.
Capri pants shorten the leg and create another horizontal line.

Tall people should avoid:
Anything with vertical lines as they will lengthen your silhouette
Deep vertical necklines will again lengthen you instead choose necklines that are closer to the neck itself and more rounded.
Avoid monochromatic or one colour dressing as this lengthens the frame

As a tall person, patterns should be on the same scale. Small prints will make you look larger so chooses the right size
Similar to prints is jewellery, avoid anything on a small scale as it will make you look larger.

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April 25, 2012

How to Dress: What’s your Face Shape?

Facial features and bone structure have a huge impact on the choices we make when it comes to how we choose our clothing and accessories and most importantly our hairstyles. The perfect face shape is the oval and for those of us who do not have this we strive to create it through an illusion with flattering haircuts that work by lengthening or shortening the face until the illusion appears.

We all want to know what our face shape is but it is a difficult thing to define as some of us do not fit clearly into a specific shape category. In order to discover your face shape you should push your hair back from your face and while sitting in front of a mirror get someone to draw an outline of your face on the mirror with a washable marker. You should then be able to see which face shape you are most like.
The most common face shapes are:

Round Face Shapes

The round face is usually two thirds as wide as it is long and the cheeks are the widest point. A round face usually has soft facial features, such as a round chin. The round shaped face is the rarest face shape.

Tips for Round Face Shapes
Avoid curly styles or fullness at the sides
Avoid heavy bangs or blunt cuts near the face as these will shorten you face
Any style that lengthens you will look good, such as layers that frame the face
Height on the top near roots will also add length
Avoid short cuts or chin length cuts that will draw attention to your cheeks and the roundness of your face.

Square Face Shape

Like the round face the square face is two thirds or more of the length but the jaw, forehead and cheeks are almost equal width. A square face usually has a square shaped neckline and jawline and you must choose a haircut that will soften these features.

Tips for Square Face Shapes

Avoid any style that ends at the jawline as this will only emphasize this area.
Avoid styles that add bulk to the sides as this will make your face appear wider.
If you choose a short style, add layers or height that will help to elongate your face
Avoid any blunt cuts or heavy bangs which will shorten your face
Choose cuts that will lengthen you face and that will soften angles, such as layers or waves/curls

Oblong Face Shape

The Oblong face is longer than it is wide The cheeks, forehead and jaw are about equal in width. You should choose a hairstyle that will shorten your face and make it appear fuller.

Tips for Oblong Face Shapes

Avoid any styles that add height to the hair
Long hair will just lengthen your face more so they should be avoided.
Styles that have volume or add width at the sides are best
Bangs will shorten the face as will chin length and shoulder length styles as they will shorten and widen the face.
Middle parts add length so should be avoided

Diamond Face shape

Diamond faces are widest at the cheeks. Dimensions are similar to the round face but taper straight rather than rounded from cheek to jaw and cheek to chin. Choose a hairstyle that will balance a narrow chin and minimize wider cheek bones.

Tips for Diamond Face Shapes

Choose hairstyles that add width at the chin area such as a chin length bob.
Styles that allow you to tuck the hair behind the hear can accentuate your cheekbones in a good way.
A short pixie cut with bangs looks terrific on you because it emphasizes your cheekbones in a good way.
Bangs to one side will help camouflage the narrowness of your forehead as well as highlighting your great cheekbones
Try and avoid very short hairstyles with height on top, particularly ones without bangs.
Middle parts add length so should be avoided
Steer away from hairstyles that add fullness at your cheeks will make your mid face wider and will look out of balance.

Inverted Traingle Face Shape/ Heart face shape

The width and length of this shape is similar to a triangle but with the widest part of the face being the forehead and the narrowest being the chin. This face shape is the most common. You want a haircut that makes your forehead appear less wide and your chin to appear fuller and wider.

Tips for Heart Face Shapes

Avoid any styles that will add fullness at the forehead, such as blunt bangs or styles with too much height as these make you look top heavy.
Side partings or wispy bangs can work as they break up the forehead instead of widening it.
Styles that add fullness at the sides work well by making your forehead appear narrower and your chin fuller.
Avoid any cuts shorter than chin length as they will make your face look out of balance.

Triangle Face Shape

The width of a triangle face is two thirds or more of the length. The forehead is usually narrow and the chin and jawline the widest. You should choose hairstyles that add width at the forehead but make your chin appear more narrow.

Tips for Triangle Face Shapes

Choose cuts that draw attention to the forehead or create volume here. Layered styles can balance and soften your prominent jaw line.
Styles with layers that taper at the jaw line can also be flattering.
Shorter hairstyles are generally better than longer. Longer styles will attract attention to the chin area.
Avoid any chin length cuts as they will widen this area and draw all attention there.

Oval Face Shape

An oval face shape is said to be the ideal face shape because it is perfectly proportioned and therefore aesthetically pleasing. The width of an oval face is around two thirds of the length. If you have an oval shaped face you are lucky to not only have the most pleasing shape but you can wear any hairstyle.

Oval Face Shape Tips
Find your best facial feature and highlight it with your hair cut. For example, with layers. If your hair is curly, try to keep it at least at shoulder length. Short layers will add height to the top of your head, which could make your face appear longer than it actually is. If you want short layers, make sure your hair is full at the sides. Pixie haircuts, bobs, wavy, straight, and long hairstyles should all look great on oval face shapes

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April 19, 2012

1 Work Dress 4 Ways

Spending the majority of our time each week in the workplace means that our work clothes have to bring us from our breakfast meeting all the way through to meeting friends for dinner. For your wardrobe to work you need to be able to combine your foundation pieces, like a dress, with everything else in your wardrobe. To demonstrate I give you 1 work dress 4 ways.

How To Fix a Broken Umbrella

I’ve never been one to buy umbrellas. I always seem to lose them or they break within the first couple of uses and I especially hate carrying the things around in my handbag and the space they take up. The problem with not owning an umbrella is not an easy one to overcome considering I live in Ireland and its always raining. If its light showers, I take it like any self respecting Irish person would and I pretend its not happening or I wear a hat to cover my unruly curls. This Winter though, I saw the nicest umbrella ever, fickle much eh! and I bought it. I didn’t even mind carrying the blasted thing about because I liked the print so much and surprise, surprise I didn’t lose it, but yesterday when I went to use it in the heavy downpours that is April in Ireland the thing was broken. I was determined that I was not going to throw it away and instead I set out to learnt how to fix a broken umbrella.

Source

1. The most common problem with umbrellas is problems with the rivet holes, or the little holes that keep the poles together, usually with tiny screws. It commonly happens that the screws fall out and then the umbrella loses its shape. If this happens to your umbrella it is really easy to fix. You should buy some enameled wire from your local hardware store. The enamel on the wire will protect it from rust in the rain. You should thread the wire through the rivet hole repeatedly until you have wrapped it enough that it looks sturdy then you should tie it off by forming a solid knot. This will keep the rivet holes in their place and the umbrella will continue to hold shape.

2. If your umbrella has broken along the pole, this is the metal or wood parts that basically hold the umbrella in place and give it shape. Then you can mend it with the use of glue, choose the correct type and glue the two pieces together, when dry add another layer of glue around the mended part to give it further reinforcement.

Most umbrellas will have one of these problems eventually so when you purchase an umbrella, also buy enameled wire and the correct glue type for the poles so that you have them on hand.