Upgrade you

It seems like everyday there is another program, website, vehicle, home appliance, phone, music player, you-name-it that gets a makeover. This makeover or ‘update’ can be anywhere from a shiny spanking new exterior to a total overhaul of internal components and/ or programming.

The updates that are now available for smartphones are unbelieveable. From applications to operating systems, there is a daily fix for the gadgetnistas and nistos among us. Sometimes these updates make our lives easier; they may facilitate smoother operation or link similar applications so that each has access to a common database, not requiring the user to input the same damn info ten thousand hundred times. Sometimes, *cough* especially if the upgrade wasn’t sourced at a reputable location, all lights go out, triggering the “break out in a cold sweat now” user function because well, to quote myself ‘THAT PHONE IS MY LIFE!’.

Maybe we ought to do the same with ourselves. With aging comes a lot of things,  yes things shift, slow down, disappear, appear and don’t work as they used to, but it also brings the opportunity for growth, experience and maturity. We understand a lot more about who we are and how the world we live in works. We are in a better position to make educated choices, if not only because of what the school of life has taught us. So why don’t we?

Nature understands that only those things that are able to adapt to constant change survive. Technology understands that only that which can deliver what the masses require will be chosen. Let us as humans not fall behind. Let us strive to keep ourselves current.

The world is there for our taking, so let us take advantage of it by making better choices with respect our health, our  relationships, our nutrition, our families, and our lives. However, much like dealing with smartphones, let us pay special attention to how we go about this ‘updating’ process. Let us be careful where we seek council. Let us be careful with what we ingest, emotionally and physically. Like that bootleg DVD, crash and fad diets only crash and burn our systems. 

Our grand-parents were unto something. Short cuts end up being long cuts. All that glitters is not gold.

Lets upgrade ourselves the healthy way – one determined step at a time.

 

Be the best you.

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Casual Fridays

‘Casual Fridays’, a term that is so very misleading. There is about as much ‘casual’ in ‘Casual Fridays’ as there is ‘common’ in ‘common sense’. Do you feel me? This concept must have been invented by a guy who didn’t want to wear a tie to work, or a woman who didn’t want to wear pantyhose.

 If you are working in an establishment where the word ‘casual’ has to be attached to a specific day, and one day only, then do be careful with your fashion choices. There are more rules to ‘Casual Friday’ wear than there is to everyday professional wear. If you are still unsure whether your workplace falls into this category then this may help – If your workplace has banned, considered banning or has removed a ban from social networking and IM sites, then yes it does. If you are eyeing that promotion or thinking about asking for that raise then keep it like Business Mondays.

Think about it, as the owner of a corporate company, are you likely to give people more responsibility if they can’t seem to manage the responsibility of dressing themselves? However will they manage the responsibility of representing you and your organization?

Exactly. Well, HR staff are humans too and they would definitely think twice about promoting someone who’s style speaks louder than the company’s mission statement.

A few general suggestions:

Do:

~ Wear clear clean clothing. Casual doesn’t mean sloppy, so yes they also need to be ironed.

~ Appropriate shoes. No sneakers, sandals, flip flops

~ Anything you would otherwise wear to the club. Not only is it inappropriate, but it may give the impression that you don’t get out often.

~ Wear trousers or khakis rather than jeans. You can dress up or down depending on what you pair with them.

Avoid:

~ Jeans in general. Because the rules list for this is way too long. If you must, opt for plain, dark, straight legged denim. 

No extra pockets/ flaps, no writing along the side or the bum, no holes, no bum fading, no thigh fading, no slashes, no fancy colour-of-the-season, no skinny jeans, no tights-that-look-like-jeans, no overly tight jeans, no low riders, no hipsters, no fancy stitching, no 3/4 lengths (men), no capris, no overly faded jeans, no dirty jeans… I told you it was long, and it can still go on.

~ Over accessorizing. Keep it simple. Anything that clangs and bangs keep at home, or in your draw, car or bag if you are heading out later because they annoy your co-workers.

~ Anything you would otherwise wear to a club -Tight, flashy, noisy, trashy, short, revealing, transparent.

A few specific pointers for men:

~ Keep accessories simple.

~ Wear dress shoes. Avoid sneakers, sandals, and flip flops

~ Wear shirts or the company issued button up. You may also wear short sleeved shirts or plain/ unprinted/ minimally monogrammed  button ups but be sure to wear with with a blazer to work or keep a blazer in your office. Be prepared. In the event that you have an unscheduled meeting to attend, you don’t want to look like the only one who isn’t taking his job seriously. 

- No slogan tees. No muscle tees. No obscene belt buckles.

For more tips on men’s dressing see Men’s Style File: update your look.

A few specific pointers for women:

~ Keep makeup simple

~ Keep boob and leg cleavage under wraps

~ Wear a blazer over that strappy or shiny top that you intend to show up at the after work lime wearing later.

~ Wear appropriate shoes. Leave gym trainers, evening shoes, flip flops and sandals either in your car or your bag if you decide to change clothing after work.

~ No short shorts, no peek-a-boo clothing.

~ Feel free to wear khakis. However, I would go out on a limb to say that I have never met a woman who looks ‘great’ in khakis yet. Utilitarian yes, ‘great’ no. I just don’t find it flattering at all to the rear but your choice.

Realize that although your company wants to give the impression that they are with the times, it is still a corporate environment and there are rules, lots of them. They can’t make an exemption for everyone. One person in a pair of jeans may look totally different from other, so much so that one is deemed accetable and one doesn’t, a contributing factor to why some companies have banned wearing jeans on ‘Casual Fridays’ altogether.

Package yourself in a way that your collegues take your contribution to the organization seriously. The last thing you want to do is have your appearance speak louder than your accomplishments. Let your work and work ethic be your signature.

 

Supernova

Minimalista Makeup: From day to night

This is the advanced class for my makeup minimalistas and/or makeup virgins,  moving a day look into a night look.

If you missed the instructions for a minimal put together day look you can see it in the post Maybe she’s born with it.

To move this simple day look into a simple but effective night one, you can do one or any combination of the following:

1. Apply eyeliner
In dark brown or black to both your lower and upper lash lines, a achieve a classic look that will make your eyes pop.
Do experiment with deep shades such as navy, plum, or dark green for example, if you are feeling to colour outside the box.

2. Apply eyeshadow
Just one shade of eye shadow can do the trick. Choose one in your skin colour or a shade or two lighter or darker than your natural eyelid color, an apply from your lashline to your eyebrow.

Avoid dated glittery formulations with large glittery specs and opt for the updated frosted ones with very fine, multi-dimentional shimmer that seem to just disappear in your skin for a fresh faced look. Here, your eyes are enhanced without being able to pinpoint exactly what it is that causing this effect.

Matte (1.e. non-shimmery) eyeshadows work well at upping the eye-drama ante. Experiment with different eye-shadow finishes in the same colour family and see which effect you prefer on you.

Word of advice for choosing a go-to eyeshadow color  -

For warmer skin tones like medium to darker skin tones, yellow based hues like goldy, bronzy and rusty pigmented shades work excellently. Red and red-orange based eyeshadows tend to make eyes on these skin tones look tired.
Cool pastelle colours like white and taupe generally do not compliment these skin tones, especially if worn as a single colour. 

Cooler skin undertones that can come with a fairer to medium skin tone are better suited to use the cooler shades mentioned above. 

The further away from your natural skin tone your eyeshadow is, the more important it is to blend, blend, blend. The sponges that come with they eyeshadow compacts typically deposit a lot of colour and make blending more difficult. Do consider investing in a larger eyeshadow brush as it makes application easier; A couple passes of the brush on the eyeshadow palette and then it’s just a matter of filling in the space on your eyelid.

(I have often used the brush that comes with the cheek colour as an eyeshadow brush and then bought a proper cheek brush)

If you are going for a colour that is unlike your skin tone, like plum for example, apply only on your eye lid – from your lashline  to the crease that is created when you blink, and not all the way to your eyebrow, unless of course it is halloween.

3. Apply a darker shade of lipgloss.

Then dust some loose, or compact powder on your face to tie it all together and you are ready to boogie.

 

Lets get glammy!

Related GC posts
Maybe she’s born with it
Product spotlight: Blush
Drama Glamour: Liquid Liner
Frump to Fab in 10 steps

Random music of the day: Irene Cara

” I can catch the moon in my hands, don’t you know who I am? Remember my name.
Fame! I’m gonna live forever.”

- Fame, Irene Cara

Go hard at life; It’s there to be lived.

Have a tasty Tuesday y’all!

Supernova