Check.

Holiday cocktails?

Check.

(water schmater…)

Cold temps?

Check.  Crank up the central heating.

Sofa surfing?

Oh yeah.

And then we wonder why our skin has lost its radiance.  Sound familiar?  5 Experts help you get your glow back, just in time for the new year…

Eve Lom, Facialist and Skin Care Pioneer says: boost your immune system for great skin.  Stay:

1.  Oxygenated: breathe through the nose in very cold weather – it warms up the cold air and filters airborne particles.

‘Vitaminated’: maintain a balanced diet, with a dash of comfort food in between.

Hydrated: with a lot of water at room temperature.

Lubricated: with an extra intake of Omega 3-6-9 in your diet.

2.  Have a Routine: Cleanse and exfoliate on a daily basis and only apply lubricants to the areas with no open pores (under the eyes, the orbit of the eyes, under the chin and the throat).  Also when skiing at high altitude, use a high SPF all over the face, but remove it before bed.

Eve Lom, 2 Spanish Place, London, W1U 3HU.  Tel:  020 7935 9988; E-mail: eltreatments@btconnect.com

Dr. Sharon Pitt, Nutritionist, Dr. Marilyn Glenville Clinic, says:

give your liver a holiday detox.  If your body is cleansed from within, it shows on the outside as radiant skin.

1.  Eat differently: Saturate your body with antioxidants by eating plenty of lightly steamed and raw vegetables in a spectrum of colours, and a moderate daily helping of fruit.

Add Omega 3 fatty acids to your diet – found in oily fish (like salmon), nuts, seeds and avocados.  Omega 3s help to calm inflammation within the body and skin.  Eating the right fats benefit your skin by keeping it soft and supple.

2.  Drink differently: Try to avoid alcohol, caffeine and sugary drinks.

Drink plenty of water and consume enough fibre to ensure regular bowel movements to help flush toxins out of the body.

Start each day by drinking a cup of hot lemon water each morning – it’s a great cleanser for the liver, aids digestion and helps promote healthy skin.

Contact Dr. Pitt via www.marilynglenville.com

Maya Fiennes (International Yoga Expert) says: as tempting as it may be to abandon your exercise routine, keep moving!  These yoga poses are perfect to get the skin glowing.

1.  Ego Eradicator: Stretch the arms overhead at a 30 degree angle for balance, thumbs pointing up and fingers in a fist.  Keep your elbows straight as you apply the Breath of Fire (inhaling and exhaling equal amount of air through the nose, just like sniffing).  This is the most effective detoxifying breath.

This position stimulates the pituitary gland, opens the heart and strengthens the magnetic field, making you glow.  It also aligns the ego with the soul. Thumbs touching each other, release the fingers and exhale.

2.  Child Pose:  kneel down on the floor with arms along your body behind you, forehead on floor, and chant “ONG SO HUNG” for 3 minutes.  This pose fills the cavities with oxygen and clears wrinkles.

www.mayaspace.com

Dr. Nicholas Perricone, Celebrity Dermatologist, says:

1. Be food-aware: If we understand that the foods that promote weight gain also damage the skin, causing sagging, wrinkles, discoloration, loss of radiance, enlarged pores and acne, that extra Christmas cookie and calorie-ridden egg nog might not seem so appealing.  If we eat a little can of salmon and an apple instead, our skin will take on a new suppleness, clarity and radiance.

2.  Cultivate good habits: As with exercising, we need to establish regular, healthy habits and regimens.  We should strive to get as close to 8 hours of sleep per night and learn to not skip meals, including breakfast.

Implementing these simple rules will eliminate the pro-inflammatory habits we fall into and help us to achieve and maintain optimum weight, even during this busy time of year.

http://www.dailyperricone.com/2011/12/breaking-bad-habits/

Pablo Rodriguez, Senior Makeup Artist, MAC Cosmetics, says:

here’s how to keep looking radiant – especially after a hangover – this party season.  The best morning-after beauty routine starts with your skin.

1.  Drink water and hydrate your skin:  Spray ‘MAC Fix +’, which contains camomile, green tea and cucumber to condition it.  Apply caffeine-based ‘MAC Fast Response Eye Cream’, to de-puff the eyes and fight dark circles.  And finally, moisturize your face and neck with ‘Strobe Cream’, packed with minerals and antioxidants, which reflects light for an instant glow.

2.  Brighten up with a touch of colour:  Try ‘Pink Swoon’ Blusher, to the apples of your cheeks, a bright lip colour – Lipglass in ‘Pink Poodle’ – and curl the lashes to open up your eyes.

www.maccosmetics.co.uk

What are your top tips for staying radiant?

Designer fashion lovers rejoice!  Prada really does light up our lives – or at least part of our brains.

In a BBC special on Superbrands, neuroscientist Professor Gemma Calvert, says: “It’s clear that brands do really work on our brain and change our perceptions of reality.”

Professor Calvert used an MRI scanner to analyze the brain responses of a designer fashion-lover while the subject viewed images of handbags.  The £15 handbags from Tesco and Primark did not register any out of the ordinary brain response.

But the luxury handbags – including Prada, Gucci and Dior – lit up the pleasure center of the woman’s brain, the area linked with craving, addiction and reward.

Why are we so excited by high-value objects anyway?

Ted Polhemus, style anthropologist and author, suggests items (like expensive handbags) are identifiers that help to define our ‘style tribes’:

‘these are precisely the kinds of things which people use everyday to differentiate themselves from the mass and at the same time to signal their affiliations with ‘Our Kind Of People’.

By expressing ourselves stylistically with the ‘right’ clothes and accessories, we symbolically express ‘who we are, and where we’re at,’ Polhemus adds.

So Prada, (or any other designer brand), signifies where I fit in, or aspire to fit in?

Essentially, yes.  We want to wear the right things to ‘fit in’, but we also want to look slightly better (or different) than others in our group.  That’s why some of us opt for high-value labels.

Dr. Jennifer Baumgartner, psychologist, blogger and author of You Are What You Wear: What Your Clothes Reveal About You, says:

‘In the modern world, we no longer establish ourselves in the hierarchy of our outgroup and ingroup through hunting, symbolic tribal wear, ability to foster many offspring, etc.

We find a higher place in the hierarchy by accessing the associations we have created through classical conditioning to define success.  Although money has no inherent meaning, we have learned to associate it with success.

Wearing high-value designer items makes us feel successful, thus heightening our place in the hierarchy within our group and in society at large.

When observers viewing designer bags experience increased brain activity, it is not the bag they crave, but the associations with the bag…a place at the top of the hierarchy.’

Fascinating. But can’t I save a bundle, and just buy fake Prada?

It’s not that straightforward.  The value of the Prada handbag (or the Rolex, or whatever the designer item) has nothing to do with its function.

Jonah Lehrer, contributing editor of Wired magazine says ‘Instead, it depends on the intact authenticity of the brand.’

Wearing fake designer products don’t give you the expected ego boost, says Roger Dooley, blogger and author of Brainfluence: 100 Ways to Persuade and Convince Consumers with Neuromarketing.

In fact, Dooley refers to research which shows that wearing designer look-a-likes actually reduced self-esteem.

Dodgy & Gabbana?

On holiday this summer, I checked out a stall selling handbags and leather goods, most of which were designer knock-offs.

Amongst the shelves of Dior and D&G, a salesman saw me inspecting a fake Bottega Veneta intrecciato handbag.  The genuine article retails for £1,440 on Net-a-Porter.  The kiosk knockoff was £350.

In fairness, the fake was beautifully crafted from genuine, butter-soft leather (hence the still-hefty price).  The bag was, in fact, a dead ringer for the real Bottega.

The salesman’s pitch?  ‘Genuine Bottega Veneta never displays a logo on the outside anyway.  No one would know.’

Hmm.

I would know.  And every time I got a compliment from an observer, would I feel fabulous or phony?

The authenticity of products from brands we admire clearly do impact our self-image.

For label-lovers amongst us, wearing real designer fashion might signify that “you’ve arrived”.  It might even light up your life (and indeed parts of your brain).

But the real takeaway is this:

By wearing authentic fashion brands we respect, we align our sartorial choices with how we want to be perceived (stylish, affluent, individual, and so forth) within our ingroup or style tribe.

Wanting to distinguish ourselves within those groups – be they friends, colleagues, family, associates – isn’t necessarily about coming across as better, richer or more fashionable.

It’s also about being yourself; about expressing authenticity.

And if we feel authentic within ourselves – enhanced by the fashion choices we make – ‘we’ll convey that feeling to those around us’, Roger Dooley adds.

That’s how you truly light up a room, in Prada, Primark, or anything in between.

What about you?  Is this YOUR brain on labels?

Forget the neuroscience for a minute – how do designer brands make you feel?

In a very different context, your clients want more too.

You might ‘wow’ a meeting in a sharp suit and Italian loafers.

But bigger picture, you’ll need more than looks to make your mark.

Then again, you’ll probably need more than being good at what you do.

(Shania wasn’t satisfied with ‘just’ a rocket scientist either!).

Appearance matters, especially during an economic downturn.  It’s a way of communicating your professionalism, and an understanding of your industry.

There’s a practical element to professional image – the how-to components, like the right wardrobe for work, or mastering the perfect handshake.

These aspects of your personal brand, or professional image, signal that you understand the codes of your industry; that you behave and dress the part.

Appearance helps to get you through the door, and continues to demonstrate membership in your industry.

But alone, it’s a shaky life raft for your career.

‘So you’ve got the looks, but have you got the touch’…at work, that is.

The ‘touch’ – to take serious liberties with Shania’s meaning – happens when the inside (your substance/skills) and the outside (your packaging) work together to communicate who you really are.

You’ve got to be good at what you do.

You might have the basics of dressing and grooming down pat.

But how do you take your personal brand to the next level?

My previous post built on Sally Hogshead’s concept of Personal Brand vs. Personality Brand.

The magic ‘touch’ is adding your authenticity.

It’s about identifying and harnessing your unique facets – your skills, experience, personality and yes, your packaging – and using them to best effect.

Meet Markus.

He used to work for a big corporation, and spent a bomb on slick suits to look the part.  He has a first class degree from a top university, meaning he had the brains to match the Brad Pitt looks.

But then Markus ceased being ‘a suit’ when he became self-employed.

Suddenly there was no corporate brand enveloping him, no logo, no shiny glass building propping up his reputation.

His arsenal of Armani suits didn’t cut it anymore.  They didn’t say enough about who he was without a big company name behind him.

Markus had to infuse more individuality in his personal brand, while still preserving his professionalism.

He needed to demonstrate his creativity alongside his credibility to potential clients – the brains plus the looks.

He went a step further by bringing some fun and a little of the unexpected into his presentations and his packaging, which aligned perfectly with his personality.

He found the touch.

The Takeaway?

Looking good at work matters.  If you’ve got the looks, but haven’t got ‘the touch’, you can’t impress me (or anyone else) too much – at least in the long run.

But sorry Shania, I disagree on the Brad thing.

Mr. Pitt’s good looks are backed by world-class acting skills, AND a rock solid personality brand.

That, I’d say, is pretty impressive indeed.

Now it’s your turn…

What’s your view on bringing personality into your personal brand?

Photo by Chermiah via Flickr

‘You’re not going to Gok me, are you?’

A client asked me this question as we kicked off an image advisory session.  I was intrigued.

She was a senior executive at a pivotal point in her career.

Frankly, I wondered why she was here.

She was successful, and didn’t need advice on makeup or which shapes of clothing suited her.

She didn’t need help on making a good impression.  She’d nailed that too.

Still, she hired me, interested in my deeper approach to executive image.

It turns out she was after something more complex: connecting with and inspiring her expanding team.

As I listened, I realized that as her career progressed, she needed to optimize the alignment of her appearance with her personality and her skillset.

She’d ‘outgrown’ her existing personal brand.

Metaphorically speaking, she said:

“Mandy, I need a foundation deeper than Clarins.”

I couldn’t do a process on her, like I could, say, with a graduate trainee who needed help with grooming or colour analysis.

She needed something more sophisticated.

Yes, we tweaked her corporate appearance (a process I did).

But I also coached her (a process where she did the discovering).  Together, we aligned our work with her new role.  Exciting stuff!

Having been a “ball-buster” (her words) to get ahead in her career, she needed a new approach.

My client realized that:

She knows who she is.

She looks fine.

She gets how she adds value at work.

But she needed to allow her more human, funny and vulnerable side to come forward.

She wanted to look more approachable, less hard-edged.

So we ditched the angular Annie Lennox suits.

I softened her hair and make up.

I coached her on connecting skills – smiling and listening genuinely, offering support and mentoring.  My client also had a cracking sense of humour, which she started sharing more often with her colleagues and during presentations.

The A-HA moment was our discovery of the key difference between:

‘Personal Brand’ (a set of useful skills – writing a great CV, and dressing for success, for example)

and what speaker and writer, Sally Hogshead, calls:

‘Personality Brand’ (an authentic expression of who you are, when you’ve mastered the other stuff).

People like my executive client need ‘a more sophisticated instrument’ to use Hogshead’s apt phrase, to express their evolving personal brand.

Looking good is part of the ‘personality brand’.  Being an ace at what you do plays a role.

But most importantly, it’s about imbuing both with your personality.

That’s where the magic happens, both for you and those around you.

The Takeaway?

Gok rocks.

For those of you who aren’t familiar with his show, Gok Wan is a television stylist in the UK.  He often does a full makeover on a woman – clothes, make up, hair – which is ‘unveiled’ to her at the end of the show.  It’s a surprise, a fait-accompli.

The woman has not participated or guided Gok.

He is the expert.

She is the recipient.

There are tears and hugging.  It’s jolly good entertainment.  We all love a ‘before’ and ‘after.’

The thing is, my executive client didn’t want a “ta-da moment.”  She needed to be there, a hands-on participant and guide in the process.

I assured her, I don’t Gok.

A few months later, one of my client’s colleagues came for an image advisory session.  She offered some feedback on her boss.  “She’s so inspiring.  We’ve really gotten to know her!”

How about you?

What’s your view on personality vs. personal brand? (Have a read of Sally Hogshead’s blog on this)

Would you rather an expert just told you what to wear?

It was graduate recruitment day at a prestigious London corporation.

One young man (we’ll call him David) got up, got dressed, and prepared to do his best.

But David made a little faux pas.

He wore an anorak.

All day.

He wore it during the group activities.

He wore it during lunch.

He would even have worn it to the one-to-one interview if one of the recruiters hadn’t tactfully suggested that David remove it, ‘for his own comfort.’

David was put through his paces, and left feeling reasonably confident.

Flash forward to the discussion around the boardroom table.

Over cups of tea and piles of CVs, the recruiters discussed the candidates one by one.

‘What about David?’

‘Who?’

‘The Anorak.’

‘Oh yes, him.  What was up with that?’

David didn’t get the job.

Of course we can’t be sure that his attire was the deciding factor.  But in those critical first-impression moments, David was “the anorak”.

What he failed to recognize was that, to others, he didn’t look part of the tribe, to use Seth Godin’s term.

David hadn’t keyed in on the appropriate attire for his industry and his entry level, especially at an interview.

Maybe, with so many other qualified candidates, his simple faux pas felt risky for the recruiters.  If David wasn’t switched on at an interview, would he be switched on with clients?

Maybe appearances don’t matter at work.

Then again, maybe they do.

Meet Tom.

He’s a Mathematician at a top university.

Tom has spent the better part of his adult life working on a complex mathematical problem.

By corporate standards, Tom’s grooming is sub-standard.  His haircut?  Total Einstein.

He wears tweed jackets and tired jumpers.  Oh, and Tom wears anoraks.

The thing is, this look works for him.

He is an established authority in his field.

What’s more, he operates within the sartorial bandwidth of what’s acceptable in his industry.

Then there’s the accountant we’ll call John.

John is an ace at his job.

His hair is long-ish for the ‘norm’ in his industry, a bit Fabio, some might say.  He slicks it back with pomade.

On weekdays he’s suited and booted.

But there is something visibly different about John’s corporate look, compared to that of his peers.

Together with the hair, his statement accessories – a bold ring and a chunky chain bracelet – create a mystique about him.  You even catch a glimpse of a tatt from under his impeccable French cuff.

It turns out that John, a very senior accountant, dabbles in leather and chains at the weekend.  He hangs out with bikers on his Harley road hog.

Cool, even if getting leathered up isn’t your schtick.

After meeting John, an acquaintance says: ‘Imagine how good he has to be to look like that in a place like this.’

For John, who had ‘arrived’ in his career, looking unique might work to his advantage.

It sets him apart, not only because he’s made it in his job, but also because his looks are aligned with his big personality.

Other industries have their own ways of demonstrating that someone has ‘arrived’ career-wise.  Business Insider claims that senior executives at Goldman Sachs wear Salvatore Ferragamo loafers to send this signal.

An unnamed Goldman employee says: “You don’t buy them until you’ve made it.  All the partners, the MDs – they wear them.  But analysts and associates – no.  You’d get cut down if you bought a pair too early.”

Loafers aside, there may be different expectations of how you look as you advance in your career.

But again, it depends.

Your personality, the economic climate, your industry, the occasion, your age and where you are in your career, all influence how you interpret your version of substance vs. packaging.

Then there’s the unknowable variable: the eye of the beholder.  We can’t be sure what others notice or prioritize about us.

Some industries and personalities give more attention to appearances (think Lady Gaga or Barack Obama).

Other industries and personalities perhaps don’t sweat it too much (think Mark Zuckerberg, or Tom, our mathematician).

We can’t dismiss appearances completely.  Even if you don’t care about how you look, others certainly notice.

So what’s the takeaway?

Clothes and grooming are a form of communication.  They give others clues about your habits.

When we are forming a first impression of someone, quickly and based on very little information, our ‘visuals’ matter.

We often form such decisions or judgments without even thinking – a behavior that Malcolm Gladwell calls “unconscious prejudice.”

Your substance alone (at least in a first impression) will not necessarily communicate your story fully or accurately.  Your ‘packaging’ provides you with an opportunity to influence that impression.

As an add-on to your substance, consider if your clothing is a door opener, or a door-closer, especially in these troubled times.

• How narrow or wide are the norms for your industry? What work attire is appropriate (while still allowing you to be true to yourself)?

• Where are you are in your career? Veering outside the expected standards can be risky, especially at the start of your career – even if you’re a star.

• Has the current economic climate affected how your industry is perceived? Does this impact how you dress at work?  (More on this in my previous post).

What do you think?

Have you changed how you dress as you advanced in your career, or as the economy worsened?

Have you seen people’s wardrobes holding them back?

Noticed something on your commute to work lately?

More ties?

More lipstick?

Longer skirts?

Menswear guru, Alan Flusser, says that men opt for ties during periods of economic uncertainty – it’s the cheapest and quickest way of smartening up.

The press reported increased tie sales – especially red ties – when the financial markets hit the skids in 2008.

Fashion’s response to a freaking-out-economy was simple and smart: camel-coloured coats (I bet your mum had one) and a return to basic, conservative tailoring.

UK department store, Debenhams, reported a 50 per cent increase in the sales of formal white shirts.

Debenhams spokesman, Bryan Morel, said: “These days, people don’t want to look too flamboyant.  The white classic shirt has flown off the shelves.  Serious times call for serious clothing.’

And it’s not just the gents.

Pout Power?

Department store, John Lewis, reported increased sales in top end lipsticks and eye shadows as the economy soured in 2008.

Lipstick sales remain buoyant in the US too, up 13 per cent as of August 2011, says Reuters.

TIME magazine writer, Roya Wolverson, discovered that nail varnish is the ‘new lipstick’ of previous recessions, with nail-enhancing products, like polish, up 65% since the first half of 2008.  Women are generally spending more on grooming products, including hair care, lotions and moisturizers.

Lippy and nail varnish might just be the female version of the tie – cheap and cheerful ways to remake an outfit.  Plus, nothing says ‘groomed’ like sleek lips and a manicure.

Clubbing or Cubicle?

Skirts tend to lengthen during economic downturns.

A flick through any current fashion mag reveals the midi-skirt is so now.

(‘Midi’, you ask?  For our purposes, the midi-length is somewhere between just below the knee and above the ankle).

The Swiss have been über-prescriptive about skirt length at work. In a recent 44-page dress code, the investment bank, UBS, said work skirts should now be mid-knee to 5cm below the knee.

In my own corporate image work in London, HR departments frequently ask me to advise their female staff to wear longer skirts.

Interesting.

HR departments have their fingers on the pulse of the job market.  If they are asking me to advise their staff on longer skirts, better grooming and a generally smarter appearance, there’s usually something to it.

A recent Daily Telegraph article reported that female trainee solicitors at Allen & Overy, were wearing too-short skirts and inappropriately high heels at work.

Clothing that looks more like clubbing-wear is not conveying a suitable message to clients.  Go figure.

Employers are sending a crystal clear signal: they care what you wear.  A lot.

To use Vidal Sassoon’s famous phrase, ‘If you don’t look good, we don’t look good.’

Why Image Matters Now

The economy is in meltdown.

People are unemployed or uncertain about their jobs.

Don’t we have more important things to worry about than how we look?

‘There is nothing trivial about what business people wear,’ says FT Columnist, Lucy Kellaway.  ‘Unessentials are even more important at a time like this.’

Lets chew on that thought.

Employers have more hiring options than ever, and redundancies – or the continuing threat of them – mean most of us could sharpen up our image at work.

In a Newsweek special report, The Beauty Advantage, Jessica Bennett says that in today’s economy, looking good is no longer something we can dismiss as frivolous or vain.

It’s not vanity.

It’s economic survival.

It’s not only hiring, Bennett continues.  Looking good spills over into your success (or non-success) with promotions, your presence, and your pay rises too.

So what’s the takeaway?

First, lets acknowledge the elephant the room.

Appearance shouldn’t matter.  Outer image is the poor relation of intelligence, isn’t it?

But like it or not, studies show that we form impressions of trustworthiness and attractiveness in less than 30 seconds (a Princeton University study says 1/10^th of a second).

If you’ve read Malcolm Gladwell’s book, Blink, you’ll recall the concept of thin-slicing – forming lightning-fast impressions on the basis of very little information.

It’s what we humans are hard-wired to do.

So how we look could be a game-changer in troubled times.

Since financial markets nose-dived, we’ve smartened up sartorially.

We have learned to embrace dressing and grooming well, or at least better.

Clothing trends this autumn winter – dictated, in part, by the damp squib economy  – are consciously conservative.

Work wear in the business world consists of simple, demure looks reflecting a return to basics, moving away from anything outlandish and outré.

Less dandy.  More Don Draper.

The timing couldn’t be better for last month’s release of the Mad Men range of clothing at Banana Republic.

It’s demure.

It’s conservative.

Proper dressing is back, love it or loathe it.

Have a look around.  Your fellow commuters might just be looking that little bit sharper.

What about you?

Have you felt the need to up the ante while dressing for work?

Update your makeup bag with these office-friendly looks:

1. Strong brows – Runway shows at Kenzo, Jil Sander and Chloe featured models with elegant, mannish brows.  But think modern Brooke Shields – not Marlon Brando.

City tip: If in doubt, get a professional to create the perfect shape (slightly squared off at the ends for some ‘toughness’).  Fill in sparse areas with a defining pencil or brow wax.  Try Benefit Brow Zings, £22.50

2. High-impact lips – Well, if they’re good enough for Hermes…. Rich deep reds and berry purples always herald autumn’s arrival.  If reds are too bold, opt for the safer nude alternatives.

City tip: Trying red?  Before applying lipstick, create a precise outline, then fill in the entire lip with a pencil (try Mac lip pencil in Redd, £10.50).  Apply lippy.  Blot slightly.

3. Fresh skin – The key to pulling off bolder lips and brows is flawless skin.  The Paris runway shows paraded gorgeous, fresh complexions.

City tip: Mix foundation with 1-2 drops of serum to give skin a fresh, radiant finish.  (Try Estee Lauder Advanced Night Repair, £41). Use the back of your hand as a mixing palate – add a little foundation, the serum, mix with a cosmetic sponge and apply.  Voila!

4.  Sculpted cheekbones – Blusher is fresh and outdoorsy this autumn, and applied lower than you might expect.

City tip: Find the contour of your cheekbone – brush a wash of blusher underneath the cheekbone.  The look is a modern understated flush.  Try Nars Orgasm blusher in ‘Sex Appeal‘ (£20.50) or Colour Me Beautiful in ‘Marsala‘ (£6.95).

5. Soft grey manicure – I’m loving – LOVING – the a/w 2011 dove-hued nails.  The catwalks were full of soft grey, which looks trendy and neat, without looking goth.

City tip: Find the shade of grey to suit your skin tone (blue greys for cooler skin tones; warmer pewter greys for yellow based skin).  Wear nails shorter (though the catwalk trend is for longer talons) to keep it City-friendly.

For lustered metallic greys, try Chanel in ‘Graphite’ (for cooler/blue-based skin) and ‘Quartz’ (for warmer/yellow-based skin), both £17.50.

Give these trends a miss at work:

• Spider lashes – overloaded, clumpy lashes.
• Blood red souped-on lip gloss.
• Black dominatrix manicure on longer nails.

Look around.  Your office is probably a sea of black and grey.  Granted, it’s the City, but surely we can dress a little more colourfully and still look corporate.

Here’s how:

Assess your eye colour, skin tone and hair (if its highlighted, don’t worry – it’s whatever is on your head right now).

Your dominant colouring

If you’re fair and delicate (think Cate Blanchett & Claudia Schiffer), your dominant palate is LIGHT.  You have light blonde hair with pale skin and eyes.

For core pieces, like suits, light navy and grey are more flattering than black.  You’ll be reaching for the Touche Eclat less often, trust me!  Accent with lighter colours near your face.  This season’s coral and blush pink lips are made for you.

If you have DEEP colouring, (mid-dark skin and dark eyes) like Michelle Obama or Catherine Zeta Jones, you’ll need more strength in your colours.

You look great wearing deep colours, like black, emerald or dark purple, next to your face.  Avoid head-to-toe pastels.  Opt for stronger colours on the lips – plums and rich reds are stunning.

Silver or ash-haired à la Judi Dench?  COOL, blue-based colours like icy lavender, orchid pink and raspberry show off your natural assets.  Avoid yellowy or golden tones.  Mulberry pinks and rich mauves are gorgeous on lips.

With red or auburn hair (Christina Hendricks & Julianne Moore), your WARM colouring suits golden, yellow-based colours.  Swap black for pewter, olive or chocolate.  Try ivory, warm reds and rich teals as accent colours for tops and accessories.  Coral, peach and copper tones work well on lips.

Do you have CLEAR jewel-tone eyes, pale skin and dark hair (like the Duchess of Cambridge & Elizabeth Hurley)?  Wear vivid colours to accentuate your natural brightness.  Think of Kate Middleton in that now-iconic blue Reiss dress!

Avoid muted tone-on-tone looks that sap you.  Play with this season’s brighter lips – try gloss if a lipstick feels too full-on.

If your look is SOFT and muted, (Jennifer Anniston & Rosie Huntington-Whitely), go for tones and textures.  A sample outfit might be: charcoal trousers, gunmetal snakeskin shoes, a dusty blue jacket and a textured grey suede handbag.  Nude easy-to-wear shades work a treat on lips.

Texture ‘de-blahs’ your tonal palate.  Avoid bright colours, both in clothes and makeup, which overwhelm your soft colouring.  Think luxe tonal colour palates, like Burberry, Armani and Max Mara.

Still shaky?

If colour at the office still scares you, my advice is to ease in gently.  Team a colourful accessory – a statement necklace or belt – with a basic corporate colour, like charcoal.  Shoes are an easy way to brave some new shades.

With a little practice and courage, colours that once made you shaky might just bring some spring into your step.

By Mandy Lehto

Disguising a thinning thatch?  Or feigning holiday skin with mega-doses of self-tan?  Think you look groomed and professional? Think again.

In my corporate work, I advise companies and individuals on keeping their image up to scratch.  Part of that dialogue concerns grooming.

In feedback I’ve collected anonymously throughout my corporate image work, here’s a list of real examples – women commenting on male colleagues, and vice versa – about the 5 main ways in which our grooming lets us down at work.

What Women Notice About Men’s Grooming:

1. B.O. – the acronym nobody loves.

I begin with a quote from an unknown UPS man.  Picture this:  packed lift; hot day.  Someone had clearly recycled yesterday’s shirt and hit the snooze button once too often, forfeiting his shower time.  Everyone looked at their shoes, breathing as shallowly as possible.

At his stop, the UPS man, laden with envelopes and packages, said ‘Dudes, one of you is seriously ripe,’ before stepping off the lift to the freedom of fresh air.

A study from the Metro newspaper in 2007 found that one in four men did not shower daily.  Don’t be that guy.

2.   Don’t be a heel.

Ever stand on escalators?  If you do, you know it’s a welcome lag time in our busy lives. You spend a moment assessing the person in front of you.  We notice when the heels of your shoes are worn down to the wood, gents.  Take a moment now – go on – and check that your shoes don’t need a spa-day at Timpsons.

3. B.B.

Even if you don’t have B.O., the other bodily odour to avoid is Bad Breath.  Brush your teeth at least twice a day and floss nightly.  Invest in a tongue scraper from Boots.  While you’re there, pick up a handy Retardex breath spray to keep you fresh after spicy lunches, or before important meetings.  But spray discreetly, and preferably in private – not as you’re entering a meeting room.

4.  Follicular faux-pas

Most of us are switched on about the no-no called the comb-over.  But they’re still around, as are the ‘comb-forwards’, another unfortunate variation.

If you’ve got a thinning thatch, do two things: admit it; and get the right haircut.  A good hairdresser knows the drill.

One other thing: look out for the tufts of hair growing on the back of your neck.  And ensure that you check your ears, nose and eyebrows regularly for straggly hairs.  People notice.

5.  Sartorial Savvy

French cuffs get noticed on shirts.  If yours are frayed, yellowed or shabby, prepare to part ways with that shirt.  Same goes for collars.  I’ve had several women comment that cheap shirts make a poor impression.

Both men and women say that they notice stains on the suits, shirts and ties of their male colleagues.  Ensure yours are pristine.

Other common grooming blunders to avoid, gents:

-flaky facial skin

-shaving foam in ear (or flaky skin in ears)

-dry skin on knuckles, cuticles and hands, in general

-bitten, dirty or ungroomed nails

What Men Notice About Women’s Grooming:

1.  Too much slap

Wearing make up sends a clear and positive message that you’re serious and professional.  But men in my corporate image workshops often note that wearing too much – or poorly-applied – make up is a grooming disaster for women.

So is wearing too much (or again, poorly-applied) self-tan.  Pale beats orange any day.

2.  Barely there office-wear

Save your camisoles, crop-tops and flip flops for the beach.  Bare midriffs and the office don’t mix.  Full stop.

3.  Too-small clothes

Gents have also pointed out that sometimes women in their offices squeeze into clothes that seem too small.  They’d look better, and probably slimmer, in a bigger size.  Interesting…and true.

4. Nail it

It’s official: people notice hands.  Both genders always comment on hands in corporate workshops.  Bitten fingernails, or indeed chipped nail varnish make the top 5 grooming blunder list.  So too do garish nail polish colours and too-long fake nails.

5. ‘Stripy’ hair

If you colour your hair, it’s a commitment, isn’t it?  Grown-out highlights, especially very obvious ones, do you no favours in the grooming department, ladies.  Pre-book your next appointment if that helps.

Other common grooming bloopers, ladies:

-too much jingly jewellery

-excessive perfume – you may love it….

-fallen hems on skirts (repair with cello-tape to get you through the day)

-scuffed, worn or dirty shoes and heels

-ladders in tights

What other grooming blunders do you notice in the corporate workplace?

Words: Christine Livingston

Photography: Antonina Mamzenko

There’s a question I’ve been kicking around since I launched A Different Kind of Work, and began reinventing my own career a year ago.

Can you live a values-driven life and still care about what clothes you wear?

Until then, I’d run my own executive coaching and consultancy business. Working with big players in some of the world’s most prestigious companies merited my looking the part. Not difficult as I loved clothes. And, if I say so myself, had cracked the style code for my City Chic look.

But, as much as I loved working for myself, something about how I was doing it began to feel inauthentic.

Last summer I discovered the world of social media and set up a blog. At first, it was just an experiment, a game. Nothing at all prepared me for the kick I’d get from writing and creating and daring to say out loud what I really believe about work and the meaning it gives to people’s lives.

A path began to open up that I had to follow. To cut a long story short, I gradually withdrew from my former way of working and developed a more personally oriented coaching business, helping people to realise their own worklife balance dreams. In tandem, my partner Steve and I decided to move from London to the Buckinghamshire countryside. Close enough to town if work demanded it, but far enough away to give me more impetus to make my new, more phone and Skype-based business, really come alive.

The whole self-reinvention process is thrilling – but what to wear?

That’s when the style questions began.

Could I really be a coach who inspired others to set themselves free, and wear stylish clothes? Weren’t clothes just a uniform; part of the lifestyle I had left behind? Wasn’t image an outer value, when I was now giving more overt credence to my own and other people’s deep, personal, inner values?

It was so confusing that for the first few months of living in the country I lived in either sweat pants and hoodies, or a pair of Jimmy Choo for H&M skinnies and a Uniqlo tunic top.

I could hardly wear MaxMara to sit and blog all day. And anyway the wardrobe that had once served me so well began to feel as distant as my former work.

But neither could I logic out what I should wear now, and go shop for it.

Who was I becoming?

I had long Skype and email discussions about all of this with Mandy. Reassuringly, having been through a not dissimilar process when she quit banking, she knew the place well. She offered me some amazing words that I’ve carried around with me for months:

“If you, as a blogger extraordinaire are pushing boundaries, encouraging people to stretch themselves and to reflect, how is the message about your creativity and ability to be part of that dynamic, cutting-edge, wow-what-a-fabulous-rush-of-an-experience being reflected in how you look?  Your image, along with your voice, is the first thing that hits people between the eyes.  In real life.  Okay, it’s different on a blog, but there is also a synergy there in the way you feel about what you write.  And if you feel like someone evolving, someone creative, someone pushing boundaries, that manifests itself in what you write.”

And how might that actually translate into how to begin figuring out what to wear?

“Clear out your old wardrobe. Chuck stuff away you already know you’ll never wear again. Keep key pieces and use them as part of your marinading process. Which of them can you reinvent by dressing them with completely different accessories?

“What hot words would you use to describe yourself? How do you bring them alive through clothes?

“Creative? Mix up colours and combinations differently from the past.

“Boundary-pusher? Find things that suit you but are style-breaking in terms of what you might normally have seen yourself wearing in the past.”

“Edgy? Put fabrics together you wouldn’t normally mix. Leather, lace, sequins – really, it’s all up for grabs.”

Exhilarating stuff.

Still, for months I walked round shops just looking, not buying. It didn’t help that I’d left behind the fabulous range of shops I could once walk to in Wimbledon. My local towns of Princes Risborough and Aylesbury are hardly fashion hubs. I struggled to recognise myself in any of what I saw.

The congruence of what you look like and who you are

A key breakthrough came when I mused that other bloggers probably spent most of their time in denims. I’ve never been a fan, but that gave me the idea of turning my dislike on its head, and, with quality being a key value of mine, buying a couple of pairs of well-cut, upmarket designer jeans.

A whole string of outfits then began to be possible as I played with working them into some of my existing wardrobe and additionally buying a few key new season pieces too.

If there’s a look emerging, I guess Mandy would call it Rock Chic. I’ve discovered funky little Chanelesque jackets, and vintage look cardigans with lots of pearls.

Another take on all of this is more arty, with asymmetrical tee shirts and bohemian coloured scarves.

Another more elegant biker with sequined tee shirt, soft neutral leather jacket and fringed scarf.

This is currently my workday wardrobe. Putting these things on in the morning ahead of driving to Costa for a coffee and a review of my to do list sets me up to work well. I can equally wear these clothes for coaching sessions I’m running in London, for hosting my workshops, and indeed for having that important social glass of wine with friends.

These are clothes in which I feel alive, integrated and, well, me. There’s no doubt that the work that comes from me in that place is more powerful than ever before.

The bigger lesson?

The whole process of reinvention is one with which lots of people are currently grappling. Style needs not just to be some end point consideration, but a vital component piece of the journey. I certainly found it to be a really valuable litmus test of where I was in my whole metamorphosis, sign-posting how far I’d come on the one hand, and to what I was aspiring on the other.

Even when clothes didn’t resonate, I could allow it to be okay, that that was just where I was and live with the discordance.

Rather than a uniform, or a shallow frivolity, what I’ve learned is that what we wear enables us to be fully congruent both inside and out.

It outwardly reflects and inwardly endorses our uniqueness; our brand; what it is about us that’s truly different.

The power of this is immense.

Photography: Antonina Mamzenko