Why Mom Taught Us to Wash Our Face....

When cleaning the skin, using a washcloth can be irritating but still has its place in the cleansing routine, particularly if you are using ultra-matte foundations, heavy or thick foundations, or layers of makeup. You may find that most gentle, water-soluble cleansers, no matter how effective the cleansing agents are, will have a difficult time cutting through. To be sure you are cleaning thoroughly, especially to help prevent breakouts, use a washcloth in conjunction with a water-soluble cleanser. The goal is to always remove your makeup thoroughly every night (leaving any amount of makeup on all night long can cause irritation, breakouts or dryness). The trade-off for today's long-wearing makeup is that careful, conscientious removal is mandatory.

Sunless Tanning Tips

The key to achieving a perfect bronze glow with self-tanner is careful application, which can be tricky. It takes repeat experimentation to figure out how much product to use, what areas to go over lightly, like knees and elbows, what areas to avoid completely, like palms of hands and armpits, and where to start and stop the application, do you stop at your ankles or continue down to your toes?

Self-tanning takes time.
Allow AT LEAST a half hour, although an hour would be best. But don't be discouraged; it would still take longer to get the same amount of color from the sun and with self-tanners there is absolutely no risk of wrinkles, skin cancer or sunburn!

Take a quick shower or bath (don't soak) and exfoliate
your skin, either with a washcloth or body scrub. Don't overscrub, but do pay extra attention to your knees, ankles, feet, elbows, and neck. This will help achieve a uniform appearance since self-tanners grab on to dry surface skin cells, and you may have more dead, thickened skin cells in certain areas.

After showering and completely drying off
Apply a thin layer of lightweight moisturizer over the areas where you will be applying self-tanner. This will help the self-tanner glide on without clinging to dry patches. A little extra moisturizer over ankles, knees, and elbows can prevent those areas from looking patchy.

Perspiration will make self-tanners streak
Take a cool shower or bath to keep from sweating. Your skin must be completely dry to get the best results. Do not apply self-tanner in a steamy, hot bathroom or on a humid, hot day.

Apply the self-tanner while naked
You can also wear an old bathing suit to help determine where you want your tan line to end. Have a game plan of where you want to stop and start the color. Do you want tan armpits? What about places like your heels, hands, and ears? Remember that self-tanners will stain clothing until they completely absorb into the skin and take effect on the skin cell.

Applying self-tanner on your back
Requires a friend with a helping hand.

Apply self-tanner to one section of your body at a time.
Be more concerned about even application than rubbing it all the way in.

To prevent tan palms
Try using surgical or plastic gloves to apply the self-tanner. This can work well, but can also make application trickier. Another option is to wash your hands every few minutes or after you apply the self-tanner to a section of your body. If you wait too long you will have strange-looking palms. It helps to have a nail brush handy to be sure you get the self tanner off your cuticles and the area between your fingers.

Be aware
Different parts of your body "pick up" self-tanner more easily than others. For example, some people find that their legs turn brown more easily than their arms or torso, while others find that their faces and necks change color fastest. Experience will help you determine which is true for you. Be careful around your nose, eyes, ears, hairline, and lips. A cotton swab, makeup sponge, or synthetic makeup brush can help blend a thin, even amount smoothly over those areas.

Wait 15 minutes
Before getting dressed. Do not exercise or swim for at least three hours.

If you make a mistake
and end up with streaky or dark areas of skin, consider using an exfoliant over those spots. Then, in the morning, manually exfoliate those areas with a wet washcloth. This should rub off any uneven stripes.

Take special care
Problem areas... As an option for your hands apply self-tanner as you would a moisturizer, but then quickly wipe your palms off on a slightly soapy washcloth. Then take a Q-tip dipped in cleanser, eye-makeup remover, or nail polish remover and carefully use it to wipe around the nails and cuticle area and between your fingers. You can also use a makeup sponge to apply self-tanner to the back of your hands, tops of your feet, temples, and hairline. By holding the sponge deftly between two fingers, you only need to worry about preventing this small area from changing color.

Reapply self-tanner
As you feel the need... generally it will start fading in about three to four days as the surface layers of skin shed.

Man You Look Good! How'd You Do that?

Never Grocery Shop on an Empty Stomach
Some things simply don’t go well together.... The supermarket and an empty stomach are a huge mismatch. Shopping when you’re hungry makes you more likely to fill your basket with junk.
Go online.
Dieters who shop online for groceries buy fewer high-fat foods. Online shoppers find it easier to stick to their list or when shopping in person stay in the store’s perimeter (aka..the produce and dairy areas) to avoid impulse buying.

You work late
Overtime may help fatten your paycheck but it may foil your efforts to downsize your figure. Women who worked 40-plus hours per week are more likely to gain weight during the year than those who clocked out earlier. Stress and fatigue can make you more likely to eat out and less likely to get to the gym.Take a Break. Get up from behind your desk, take a walk, or converse lightly with your office friends for a few minutes periodically throughout your day. Move it sweetie!

Skip the Post Workout Goodies
After a tough hour at the gym, do you (A) grab fresh fruit, (B) feel too great to eat or (C) reward yourself with a huge dinner? Answer C?..you are not the only one. Women eat more following an intense workout than after a lighter workout that burned the same calories. Most feel justified because the workout was so difficult. Moderation in your workout and eating is key.
Keep a stash of healthy snacks in your gym bag.
Mix ¼ cup of dried cranberries with 2 tablespoons of nuts in a plastic bag. The mix packs protein and carbs to satisfy your hunger plus cranberries contain antioxidants that help diminish post workout inflammation.

Do you count calories?
Mindless bites can equal hundreds of calories.
Women are less likely to overeat if they keep a food diary. Try it!

E-mail Addicts
The number of calories you burn e-mailing a coworker? Five. The number it takes to walk over to her? Eleven. Multiply that by how often this scenario plays out in a week and you see how being techie decreases your activity levels.
Get up to Gab!
Move your day. Stand up when you take phone calls, walk to deliver five messages a day in person. You will burn 100 calories a day which equals burning almost a pound a month!

Mix It Up! Your Workouts, that is.
When your body is used to performing the same exercise over and over it starts to get better at it which results in the move requiring less effort and less calories burned.
Try Something New. Notch up your cardio with intervals (short bursts of high-speed effort...intervals are four minutes at high intensity followed by two minutes of rest... burns 36 percent more fat than steady, moderate intensity workouts. Vary the type of exercise you do for even better results.. new activities burn more calories by activating different muscle groups.

Jump into your comfy clothes! Wait just a minute before you do!
Forgiving styles, like flowy tops and unstructured dresses, make it easy to miss cues that extra pounds are creeping on.
Keep tabs on your tush
Put on your favorite pair of denims every Friday or wear your jeans on the weekend....we tend to eat more on those two days.

Taste-Testers Beware
You can slice and dice and you can whip up nutritious, light meals but a spoonful here and there with that glass of wine can quickly add up until you’ve consumed a meal’s worth of calories before dinner has even hit the table.
Fix a bowl of chopped veggies to munch on
Chew a piece of gum. Dial up a friend and talk while you prep the meal.

Too Much Food in the Pantry?
You’ll be constantly tempted to snack... Limit yourself to purchasing only one of your absolute favs! Repeat eaters get tired of the same flavor and crave it less. The more choices you have, the bigger your appetite will seem.
Don’t buy another treat until you’ve finished it and don’t eat it all in one sitting. When you’re eating out avoid buffets, split a meal with a friend or order from the specials. You have fewer options and smaller portions by you sharing a meal with a friend.

The Loner Ranger
It’s tempting to keep your 10-pound goal a secret but sharing your diet goals with gal-pals increases your odds of success. People with social support lost more weight than those who dropped pounds on their own.
Shout it from a mountaintop! Tell roommates, family and coworkers that you’re eating healthfully. This gives you encouragement and accountability. What more (or less?) could a girl ask for?

Gotta Love This!

The Dirty Dozen!Organic How To- at the Supermarket!

Many people like buying organic produce because they believe it’s more nutritious and safer to eat than fruits and veggies that may have been grown with synthetic fertilizers or sprayed with pesticides.
However, organic foods — which can cost up to 50 percent more than conventional produce — can be out of reach for many Americans.

Fruits and veggies with the highest levels of pesticides fall within ranges deemed safe by government agencies, according to the United Fresh Produce Association. But some say there isn’t enough research on the long-term effects of low-levels of pesticide exposure, especially on kids.

Try to make the healthy choices for your family? How do you know which organic fruits and veggies are worth the price? The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit consumer research group in Washington, D.C., has developed a list ranking pesticide exposure for some of the most popular fruits and vegetables. Click here for a selection of fruits and veggies to help decide when you should pick organic and when it’s fine to stick with conventional.

View One of My Favorite Garden E-letters

Garden Calendar for April
Contributor: David C. Zlesak
Click Here for complete newsletter

Sweet peas are cool season crops that can be directly sown in the garden in April. David Zlesak After the soil thaws and temperatures begin to warm in mid to late April, one can begin to plant cool season crops. Sweet peas, peas, turnips, lettuce, and spinach can be directly sown in the garden and other plants such as pansies, kohlrabi, cabbage, snapdragons, and stocks can be planted as transplants. If the temperatures fall below the high 20's°F, consider covering to insulate young plants.

Assess pruning needs of deciduous shrubs in the spring and prune accordingly. Pruning is typically best done early in the month just as shrubs start to grow to minimize stress to shrubs and so you know what tissue is alive and dead. Remove dead branches, thin out overcrowded, rubbing branches to open the center of the plant for better air circulation, and head back overly long branches to produce a more symmetrical, balanced plant. Rejuvenation pruning is a common pruning technique used on shrubs to keep them growing strongly. It involves every or every other spring removing some of the oldest canes all the way down to the base or near the base of the shrub to promote vigorous new replacement canes. Rejuvenation pruning is especially useful for lilacs and hardy roses to keep their size manageable and to help keep plants blooming strongly. Early flowering shrubs like forsythia, flowering quince, and lilacs are often pruned after flowering so as to not miss out on some of the much anticipated blooms.

Stems from last season of herbaceous perennials Rudbeckia fulgida are often more brittle and easy to remove in spring. David Zlesak Gradually remove winter mulch from covered perennials. Old stems of herbaceous perennials from last year that may still be in place should be removed. Such stems are often more brittle in the spring than the previous fall and are easier to break off and remove. When removing old stems of herbaceous perennials in the spring, do so before new, emerging stems progress too far so they are not damaged in the process.

Many municipal compost sites reopen in April. Check with your local site for hours and the services provided. Some sites accept only non-woody plant debris, while others also accept woody brush. Many sites also provide free compost and wood chips while supplies last.

There is still time to start seeds indoors of fast-growing, warm-season annuals like tomatoes, zinnias, and marigolds for planting outside the end of May or early June.

Look Who's Watching

We all use beauty products to feel better about ourselves and to be more attractive. And one benefit of looking and feeling attractive is that we’re more likely to catch the eye of a passing guy.

But apparently, guys are doing a lot of eyeballing! A recent study reported by Softpedia shows that if you add up all the time that a guy spends looking at women, it averages out to be about a year of their life. By comparison, a woman spends only about 2.5 months looking at guys.

Other interesting facts:

-Men look at 11 different women daily, each for about two minutes.
-Women look at two men daily for about 90 seconds each.
-50% of the women were first attracted by a man’s eyes, then his backside.
-Over 50% of men thought it was ok to look at other women even if they were with their partners.
-50% of men have been caught in the act of looking by their partners while only 33% of women admitted to getting caught.

Smelly Front Loading Clothes Washer???

The other day I had a great conversation with the Maytag Repairman. He was called into our home for some maintenance on our Maytag dryer. I could not leave the poor guy alone to do his job in peace. You see, this was my opportunity to hit him with my best shot, shot of burning questions. Thankfully, he seemed happy to help. Here's a couple cool things I learned about keeping your front loader (washing machine) in great, not-so-smelly, shape.

1. After the final load of the day, take a few paper towels and genlty wipe down the rim or gasket around the opening of the door and the inside of the door itself. Make sure to leave the door slightly ajar to allow for further air drying of the washer. I removed the light on the door of my Maytag washer so the light would not stay on.

2. Perform a monthly wash/cleaning cycle. This rids the washer of a buildup of soap and scum. How?
-Add 1 Cup of automatic DISH washing detergent (powder form) and place inside the drum of the washer with no clothes. Yes inside the drum or tub of washer!
-Add 1 Cup bleach into the soap dispenser for your washing machine.
-Run empty machine (no clothes just bleach and dish detergent) with HOT water / Normal cycle.

3. Clean the dispenser routinely. This is where a bit of dirt, scum and basic yuk will congregate. The fabric softener dispenser is a real culprit of smelly stuff, so hit it hard and stay on top of it.


4. Less is best when it comes to laundry soap. He shared with me that you do not have to use HE detergents, you know, the low sudsing formula. It is true that front loaders need less suds, they use less water right? Regular formula works great though, simply cut down dramatically on the amount. He instructed me to use only 2 tablespoons of laundry detergent (non-HE) in my high efficiency front loading washer. Great news! We save $$ on less water and detergent while helping save the enviroment to boot.
Man I love those Maytag Repair People!

What's Up with This Dandruff?

Dandruff
From MayoClinic.com

If dandruff is the only thing standing between you and a closet full of basic black, you're not alone. At any one time, millions of Americans have this chronic scalp disorder, which is marked by itching and excessive flaking of the scalp. Although dandruff isn't contagious and is rarely serious, it can be embarrassing and surprisingly persistent.

The good news is that dandruff can usually be controlled. Mild cases may need nothing more than daily shampooing with a gentle cleanser. And stubborn flakes often respond to medicated shampoos. What's more, researchers have identified a yeast-like fungus that may cause or aggravate dandruff, a discovery that may lead to better treatments and even to a whole new wardrobe.

For most people, the symptoms of dandruff are unmistakable: white, oily-looking flakes of dead skin that dot your hair and shoulders and an itchy, scaling scalp. But it's not quite that simple — many conditions cause excessive skin scaling, including:

Dry skin. Simple dry skin — the kind you get in winter when the air is cold and rooms are overheated — is by far the most common cause of itchy, flaking skin. But flakes from dry skin are generally smaller and less oily than those caused by dandruff.
Seborrheic dermatitis. This condition, a frequent cause of dandruff, is marked by red, greasy skin covered with flaky white or yellow scales. Seborrheic dermatitis affects not only your scalp but also other areas rich in oil glands, such as your eyebrows, the sides of your nose and the backs of your ears, your breastbone, your groin area, and sometimes your armpits.
Psoriasis. This skin disorder causes an accumulation of dead skin cells that form thick silvery scales. In severe cases, your skin cracks, bleeds and may be quite painful. Psoriasis commonly occurs on your knees, elbows and trunk, but it can also extend from your scalp onto your forehead and neck.
Cradle cap (seborrheic dermatitis of the scalp). This disorder, which causes a scaling, crusty scalp, is most common in newborns, but it can occur anytime during infancy. Although it can be alarming for parents, cradle cap isn't dangerous and usually clears up on its own by the time a baby is a year old.
Scalp ringworm (tinea capitis). This highly contagious fungal infection occurs primarily in children younger than age 10. Ringworm starts as a red sore around a hair shaft — usually on the scalp but sometimes in the eyebrows or eyelashes. Within a few days, the sore turns scaly and spreads outward in the ring pattern that gives the infection its name. The hair in the affected area usually breaks off just above the surface. Unlike dandruff, ringworm usually causes a red, inflamed scalp as well as hair loss.
Contact dermatitis. Sometimes sensitivities to certain hair-care products or hair dyes can cause a red, itchy, scaling scalp.

At one time or another, dandruff has been blamed on dry skin, oily skin, shampooing too often or not often enough, a poor diet, stress, and the use of too many fancy styling products. Although some of these factors may exacerbate or contribute to scalp flaking, the real culprit may be a fat-eating, yeast-like fungus called malassezia, formerly known as pityrosporum.

Malassezia lives on the scalps of most healthy adults without causing problems. But sometimes it grows out of control, feeding on the oils secreted by your hair follicles and causing irritation that leads to increased cell turnover.

All skin cells die and are replaced by new cells. Normally, it takes about a month for new cells to move from the lowest layer of your skin, where they form, to the outermost layer, where they die and scale off in flakes. Because cells renew themselves slowly, this process usually isn't noticeable.

But on scalps where malassezia thrives, the whole process can take as little as 11 days. The result is a large number of dead skin cells. As the cells fall off, they tend to clump together with oil from your hair and scalp, making them appear white, flaky and all too visible.

Exactly what causes an overgrowth of these organisms isn't known, although increased oil production, hormonal fluctuations, stress, illness, neurologic disorders such as Parkinson's disease, a suppressed immune system, infrequent shampooing, extra sensitivity to the malassezia fungus and even heredity may contribute to the development of dandruff.

Almost any adult is a candidate for dandruff, but certain factors can make you more susceptible:

Age. Dandruff usually begins at puberty — about the same time as acne. It's common throughout adolescence and young adulthood and peaks around age 40. But older adults aren't immune, and for some people, the problem can be lifelong.
Sex. Because far more men than women have dandruff, some researchers think male hormones may play a role in dandruff. Men also have larger sebaceous glands that produce an oil called sebum.
Oily hair and scalp. Malassezia feeds on oils in your scalp. For that reason, having excessively oily skin and hair makes you more prone to dandruff.
Certain illnesses. For reasons that aren't clear, adults with neurological diseases such as Parkinson's disease are more likely to develop seborrheic dermatitis and dandruff. So are people recovering from stressful conditions, particularly heart attack and stroke, and those with immune systems compromised by HIV infection or AIDS.

Most cases of dandruff don't require a doctor's care. But if you're still scratching your head after several weeks of experimenting with over-the-counter (OTC) dandruff shampoos or if your scalp becomes red or inflamed, see your doctor or dermatologist. You may have seborrheic dermatitis or another condition that resembles dandruff. Most often, your doctor can diagnose the problem simply by looking at your hair and scalp.

Dandruff is a chronic condition that can almost always be controlled, but it may take a little patience and persistence. In general, mild scaling can often be helped by daily cleansing with a gentle shampoo to reduce oiliness and cell buildup.

When regular shampoos fail, other shampoos may succeed. But dandruff shampoos aren't all alike, and you may need to experiment until you find one that works best for you.

There are plenty of home remedies for dandruff: rubbing a cut onion on your head, massaging your scalp with three-day-old cheese, rinsing with vinegar. Some may actually help, but they leave a lot to be desired, aesthetically speaking. That's why most complementary approaches focus on treating the problem from the inside out — with diet and nutritional supplements. Here are some of the most common suggestions:

Limit sugar and yeast. Sweets and yeast-containing foods such as bread, beer and wine may encourage the growth of the fungus that causes dandruff.
Emphasize B vitamins. These are essential for healthy skin and hair. Good food sources include whole grains, egg yolks, soybeans, bananas, avocados, nuts and seeds, and dark leafy greens, such as spinach. B-vitamin supplements are available in natural foods stores and many drugstores.
Include zinc in your diet. The mineral zinc, found in some dandruff shampoos, helps regulate the activity of your oil glands, keeps your immune system healthy and promotes healing. It's best to get zinc from food sources such as egg yolks, fish — especially sardines — meat, soybeans, sunflower seeds and whole grains.
Get plenty of omega-3 fatty acids. Sometimes known as essential fatty acids, these oils are necessary for good health. Among other things, they aid in the transmission of nerve impulses, help produce new cells and lower cholesterol levels. They also help keep your skin and hair healthy. Omega-3 fatty acids are found primarily in fresh, deep-water fish — especially salmon, swordfish, mackerel and herring — and in canola, soybean, fish and flaxseed oils. In addition, many natural foods stores and drugstores carry a variety of fish and vegetable oil supplements.
Try a tea tree oil shampoo. Tea tree oil, which is extracted from the leaves of the Australian tea tree has been used for centuries as an antiseptic, antibiotic and antifungal agent. It's now included in a number of shampoos found in natural foods stores. The oil can cause allergic reactions in some people, so be sure to stop using it if you have any problems.

Dandruff shampoos are classified according to their active ingredient:
Zinc pyrithione shampoos (Suave Dandruff Control Shampoo, Head & Shoulders). These contain the antibacterial and antifungal agent zinc pyrithione, which has been shown to reduce the fungus that causes dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis.
Tar-based shampoos (Neutrogena T/Gel, Tegrin). Coal tar, a byproduct of the coal manufacturing process, helps conditions such as dandruff, seborrheic dermatitis and psoriasis by slowing cell turnover. But coal tar has an "earthy" smell, can give light-colored hair an orange tint and may make treated skin more sensitive to sunlight.
Shampoos containing salicylic acid (Ionil T). These "scalp scrubs" help eliminate scale, but they may leave your scalp dry, leading to more flaking. Using a conditioner after shampooing can help counter dryness.
Selenium sulfide shampoos (Selsun, Exsel). These shampoos help prevent cell turnover and may also reduce the number of malassezia. Because they can discolor blonde, gray or chemically colored hair, be sure to use them only as directed and to rinse well after shampooing.
Ketoconazole shampoos (Nizoral). The newest addition to the dandruff armamentarium, ketoconazole is a broad-spectrum antifungal agent that may work when other shampoos fail. It's available over-the-counter as well as by prescription.
Try using one of these shampoos daily until your dandruff is controlled, then cut back to two or three times a week. If one type of shampoo works for a time and then seems to lose its effectiveness, try alternating between two types of dandruff shampoos. Be sure to leave the shampoo on for at least 5 minutes — this allows the ingredients time to work. Some experts suggest lathering twice for best results.

If you've shampooed faithfully for several weeks and there's still a dusting of dandruff on your shoulders, talk to your doctor or dermatologist. You may need a prescription-strength shampoo or more aggressive treatment with a steroid lotion.

You can't prevent dandruff, but you can take steps to reduce your risk:

Learn to manage stress. Stress affects your overall health, making you susceptible to a number of conditions and diseases. It can even help trigger dandruff or exacerbate existing symptoms.
Shampoo often. If you tend to have an oily scalp, daily shampooing to remove the excess oil may help prevent dandruff.
Cut back on styling products. Hair sprays, styling gels, mousses and hair waxes can all build up on your hair and scalp, making them oilier. Some people may even develop allergies to various hair-care products.
Eat a healthy diet. For overall good health, include plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and small amounts of lean protein in your diet.
Get a little sun. Sunlight may be good for dandruff. But because exposure to ultraviolet light damages your skin and increases your risk of skin cancer, don't sunbathe. Instead, just spend a little time outdoors. And be sure to wear sunscreen on your face and body.

December 14, 2004


© 1998-2006 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research (MFMER). All rights reserved. A single copy of these materials may be reprinted for noncommercial personal use only. "Mayo," "Mayo Clinic," "MayoClinic.com," "Mayo Clinic Health Information," "Reliable information for a healthier life" and the triple-shield Mayo logo are trademarks of Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research

Hair Color Fading?

Cause Of Fading Hair Color

Ammonium laureth sulfate is a detergent common to both salon and store brand shampoos. You will even find it in some body washes.

It removes color from your hair about the same amount as other shampoo detergents such as Ammonium lauryl sulfate, Sodium lauryl sulfate and Sodium laureth sulfate. Even baby shampoo detergents like PEG 80 Sorbitan Laurate or Cocamidopropyl Betaine will strip color from hair.

But worse than these detergents is water. If you just soaked your head in pure spring water, much of your color will be drawn right out of your hair (artificial color that is).

If you want to protect your hair color from fading, reduce the number of times that you wash it and reduce the length of time you rinse it by using less shampoo when you wash.

How Not To Look Old

How Not to Look Old in the January 2008 issue of O, The Oprah Magazine.
from the book titled the same by Charla Krupp (Go out and get your copy today girls!)

Get casual: Loosen up your look—but only so far.

In today's workplace, every day has become Casual Friday. To me, it's not such a good thing. Some looks are not office appropriate for women of any age. They include super-low-riding jeans, ripped jeans, shoulder-baring halter dresses, midriff-baring tops, breast-baring camisoles, tight message T-shirts, microminis, hot pants, and flip-flops (the office is not the beach). But now that this clothing has become the new norm for people who work in "creative fields," you can see how a skirt and matching jacket, stockings, and pumps immediately look dated. "Dress less finished, and you'll look younger," says Sharyn Soleimani, personal shopper extraordinaire at Barneys New York. "When you're very young, you can be very finished and you still look young. But when you're more mature, imperfection looks so much better." If you're going to a casual dinner party at a friend's home on a Saturday night in the summer, a suit is too much. Ditch the skirt and wear the jacket (or better, a cardigan) with white jeans and strappy sandals. The goal is appropriately casual. Once you unleash yourself from the suit-as-uniform way of dressing, you will feel liberated and look 10 years (or more) younger.

Dress young, but not teenage young.

It's fine to shop for fun accessories and costume jewelry at stores like Forever 21 and Claire's, but buying clothing from retailers that cater to juniors will only make you look like you're trying too hard to look young. There's a reason the prices are cheaper in the teen department: The fabrics are cheap. And cheap fabrics are never flattering, especially on women over 17. Many of the mistakes that grown women make fall into the category of revealing too much, as in baring your midriff (unless you're at the beach). It doesn't matter if you have six-pack abs or paid six figures for a tummy tuck, keep it hidden—it's not cute.


Dress fashionably, but don't be a fashion victim.

There's a big difference between being a slave to the latest trends and being aware of them. You want the latter. Every season, the fashion industry presents hundreds of trends. Some are exciting, some are fun, some are silly, and some are downright idiotic. Your mission is to be a smart shopper and buy only the trends that work for you—your body, your personality, your lifestyle.

Fashion coach Susan Sommers, whose business, Dresszing, helps women shop in their closets, advises her clients to ask themselves, "What one or two pieces will make my wardrobe pop right now?" The pieces don't have to be superexpensive, but they should be of the moment and the color and style should mix well with at least two items you already own. If the of-the-moment item is pricey, before you splurge ask yourself, "Is this something I can wear after this season is over?" Treat your wardrobe as an art collection, and curate it with looks that are worth the investment because they go the distance. If you have doubts, skip it. Know that you can always add a hit of style with more disposable items, like costume jewelry and other fun, instant-gratification accessories.

Learn to love classics—with a twist.

Dressing effortlessly chic makes great use of classic shapes—the tried-and-true basics that have been around forever. And to keep them from being, well, classically boring, make sure they have some kind of a twist. Maybe it's a cashmere cardigan without buttons. Maybe it's a V-neck in a fresh color. A trenchcoat in black patent leather, rather than the expected khaki. Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, who was the picture of ageless chic throughout her life, seldom strayed from the classics: a basic cashmere turtleneck sweater, a pretty twinset, a black sheath dress, fitted tweed trousers, and designer pumps. The principle of simple, casual shapes in quality fabrics holds true for every occasion—even cocktail parties: The idea there is to find those items in dressier fabrics such as eyelet, silk, chiffon, brocade, or velvet.

Forgive me if I repeat myself, but I can't say this enough: No matter how classic the look, or how hot it may be, don't be tempted to wear anything that doesn't flatter you. The tunic, for example, is a classic shape that's in style right now, but if you're very petite, a long tunic can overwhelm you and make you look like a sack of potatoes. Which brings me to my most important shopping to-do…

Don't buy it if you don't love it. And love it only if it flatters you.

It doesn't matter what big name is on the label. It doesn't matter how low the price. Does the piece make you look good? Thinner, younger, hipper? Does it make you feel powerful? That's what's important. The lesson here: Buy less, buy better, be picky. If you can walk away without getting a pang, do yourself a favor and walk away. You don't need another piece of clothing in your closet taking up valuable real estate.