It’s Time to Take Stock of Your Image

January is almost here; it’s time again to take stock of your image. Here at The Corporate, we’ve spruced up a list of dos and don’ts you can practice this year. While reading this list, look in the mirror and resolve to do away with the don’ts.

• Don’t chomp your gum like a cow with a cud. Do break the chewing gum habit, or if you must chew, stick to one at a time.
• Don’t bite or pick at your fingernails. Do carry nail nippers and a file. Make time for a weekly manicure.
• Don’t slump or slouch. Do stand tall and walk with an air of good health and confidence.
• Don’t “graze” or binge and diet. Do learn to eat sensibly, cutting back on snacks and fast foods that are high in fat, salt, and sugar.
• Ladies, don’t go to bed with makeup on. Do use an oily or non-oily makeup remover, and then wash your face to remove any cosmetic residue.
• Don’t wear too much makeup that you look made-up. Do apply soft and subtle makeup colors to enhance your appearance with natural looking results.
• Male or female, don’t scrub your face with a damp, soapy washcloth. Do lather the palms of your hands with mild soap or rinsable soap lotion. Use your lathered palms to wash your face, and then rinse several times with lots of water.
• Don’t let your skin get dry and flaky due to winter wind or summer sun. Do apply a light coating or moisturizer to replace natural surface oils that were removed during cleansing and retain natural body moisture.
• Don’t over-tweeze your eyebrows. Do pluck brows across the bridge of your nose and stray hairs under the brow. Do thin overly bushy brows, but leave them neatly full and natural.
• Don’t let your hair go haywire. Do find a workable hairstyle to frame your face attractively.
• Don’t let your hair get overly oily and greasy looking. Do wash your hair as often as needed to keep it clean and shiny.
• Don’t let your hair get dry and brittle with split or frizzy ends. Do use a conditioner, get regular cuts or trims, and keep chemical treatments to a minimum.
• Don’t stuff your handbag or your pockets. Do clean out the non-essentials and organize the essentials.
• Don’t stuff yourself into clothes one or more sizes too small. Do wear clothes that fit well, knowing that you’ll look slimmer and smarter in clothes that fit with a little extra ease around the body.
• Don’t let your underwear show (e.g., straps, panty lines, slipping slips, etc.). Do take a look in a full-length mirror.
• Don’t wear date dress during the day — at home or at the office. Do save the glitter and glitz after dark.
• Don’t limit yourself to a narrow range of clothing styles, colors, or fabrics for life. Do remain open and become more aware of creative combinations in line, shape, color, and texture as shown in magazine pictures and store displays.
• Don’t overdo the accessories and decorative detail in your outfit. Do create one major point of emphasis with decoration or accessories, usually near your face. All other areas and accessories should be less important in the amount of attention they claim.
• Don’t wear clothes in need of repair. Do make time to mend seams or hems and replace missing buttons.
• Don’t wear too much perfume, cologne, or after-shave — so much that it assaults everyone within fifty feet. Do select a subtle scent that imparts just a hint of fragrance to the air around you.
• Don’t neglect your body, but don’t overdo it. Do set aside time for three to five exercise periods a week. You can walk, run, swim, dance, bicycle, play tennis or jump on a mini-trampoline – whatever works for you.
• Don’t try to get by with less than you need and lose your looks because of lack of sleep. Do relax before bedtime to take your mind off sleep-robbing matters, and then allow seven or eight hours for much needed “beauty sleep.”
• Don’t be afraid to try out a new look for fear of making a mistake. Do experiment with looks you like. If you make an occasional mistake, it’s a good indication that you’re learning. And when you resolve to not making the same mistake again, you come closer to your goal of creating the look you like.

Resolutions give purpose, structure, and control to our lives – goals to work toward to as we begin a new year. Often, our goals are not reached because they are too general, big, unrealistic, and long-range. This 2018 set yourself with small, realistic goals with immediate results.