Let’s be honest: when we look good, we feel good (and vice versa). The desire to want to look good every day is by no means shallow. If we don’t feel good about how we look, we may not be able to act as our best selves. Today I’m sharing my top tips for how to always look good – without going over budget.
10 Tips for how to always look good
So, are you wondering how to look good everyday without spending hours in front of the mirror or dropping hundreds of dollars on a makeup or beauty haul? Looking good everyday doesn’t mean you have to spend hours of extra time on your appearance.
It also doesn’t mean you have to purchase new products or pay for services that only make you look good temporarily. These tips will teach you how to always look good with minimal time and effort by following some simple ideas!
1. Maintain good hygiene
It may sound silly, but maintaining good hygiene is especially relevant in our post-pandemic world. While many of us transitioned to working from home (at least temporarily), we may have realized that no one would notice if we didn’t shower every single day.
But you just can’t overestimate the power of a daily shower. Even if you spent the day working from your couch, a quick 5-minute shower will help you look and feel fresh and clean with minimal effort. And if you don’t wash your hair every day, a quick spritz of dry shampoo can leave you feeling refreshed and non-greasy.
Plus, your dry shampoo may even provide you with some extra volume and shine! Maintaining good hygiene is how I look good everyday personally without spending much money.
2. Iron your outfits
The difference between wrinkled clothes and ironed clothes is astounding. A wrinkled outfit can make it seem like you just rolled out of bed. A freshly ironed style uniform, however, can make you look polished and put together. If you find yourself rushing out the door every morning, take five minutes the night before to iron tomorrow’s outfit. You’ll be so glad you did!
Likewise, it’s time to switch out the sweatpants, even if you’re working from home. Wearing pajamas or sweatpants during the workday may have felt fun – even daring – for those first few weeks of social distancing. But wearing sweatpants day in and day out can take the pep out of your step.
If you absolutely cannot stomach the idea of jeans, try pairing a cute set of leggings with a comfy sweater or t-shirt! Or try relaxed trousers with button-downs or a blouse for an easy look. A casual yet chic outfit is how I look good everyday while working from home.
3. Follow a skincare routine
Glowing skin is a great way to look beautiful everyday! And you don’t need the latest-and-greatest line of skincare products from your favorite department store to achieve glowing skin. Instead, create a minimalist skincare regimen using basic, dermatologist-recommended products.
You may only need a cleanser, a moisturizer, and some sunscreen for a good skincare routine. If you’re fighting blemishes or your skin is extra dry or oily, you may also want to use a toner, serum, or medication to achieve the glowing skin you want! The most important thing is to stay consistent and give your skin the regular treatment it deserves.
4. Use makeup strategically
Having a signature makeup look is another tip for how to look good everyday! So, if you’re a girl who loves makeup, create a makeup routine that highlights your best features.
If you’re focused on looking great everyday, you do not need to overdo it with makeup. Just as with your skincare routine, focus on finding a minimal makeup routine that highlights your best features naturally.
Less is more when you’re balancing your makeup routine while trying to save time and money. Find basic products that don’t take you more than 10 minutes to apply each morning.
For example, you may only need a good foundation, concealer, bronzer, blush, one shade of eye shadow, mascara, and one lipstick or lipgloss for a final pop of color! You’ll be out the door in no time.
5. Smile often, smile wide!
Let your pearly whites shine through. Smiling makes you appear more attractive to others. Even more powerfully, smiling can actually make you feel better as well!
If you’re feeling down, try smiling at another person or just on your own if you’re by yourself. Although it may feel silly, a genuine smile can lift your mood and enhance your good looks.
6. Shop smarter, not harder
Wearing well-made clothes that fit your body type is an easy way to look good. But clothing can also be one of the most expensive items in your budget! The key is to shop smarter, not harder. It’s perfectly possible to look good while maintaining a minimalist wardrobe from minimalist fashion brands.
Focus on finding nice clothing that’s made to last and purchasing classic basics you can mix and match with other pieces in your wardrobe. It’s also smart to know which fast fashion brands to avoid.
Clothing purchased from fast fashion manufacturers can quickly go out of style and doesn’t last very long anyway. Instead, try out minimal or capsule wardrobe basics and add fun jewelry and other accessories to create lots of great outfits. Being fashionable on a budget is how to look good everyday without breaking the bank!
7. Get a haircut that’s easy to style
If you have a haircut that requires 30 minutes or more to style every day, you may struggle to look and feel good on a consistent basis! For those mornings you just need to get out the door, a classic, easy-to-maintain haircut is your best friend. Many haircuts only require a quick straightening or freshening with the curling iron – and they look great!
So if you’re agonizing over your hair every morning, the problem may not be your hair. It might be your haircut! Discuss other options with your hairstylist the next time you see her – or find a new hairstylist if you’re consistently getting bad cuts. Having a classy hairstyle is how to always look good!
8. Take control of your body language
Body language says a lot about how we feel, and it can also improve how we look. You can easily improve how you look by paying attention to your posture and your body language. Sitting up straight makes you look more confident, whereas hunching over can make you look inadvertently insecure.
Additionally, keeping your arms uncrossed and in an open position can make you look more welcoming and receptive to others, as can a smile and an appropriate amount of eye contact. Paying attention to your body language is an easy way to make yourself instantly look good.
9. Stay hydrated
Drinking enough water is an essential part of how to look beautiful everyday! I cannot overstate this. When you’re hydrated, your skin is healthier. Drinking the correct amount of water can help keep your skin hydrated.
You’ll also see improvements in your complexion and pore size when your beautiful skin is hydrated. Staying hydrated is a healthy part of how to always look good.
10. Use sunscreen
Finally, protect your gorgeous skin from harmful UV rays by wearing sunscreen every day. Sunscreen keeps your skin healthy and free from premature aging, and it also protects you from skin cancer. It can act as an extra moisture boost as well! Finding a moisturizer or foundation with sunscreen is an easy way to protect your pretty face without adding an extra step to your routine.
You might also be able to swap out your regular body lotion with a lotion that contains sunscreen. Make sure to use SPF 30 or above. In sunnier months, you may want to increase your SPF for even more protection.
Expert tip
There are plenty of ways to be stylish without spending much or anything at all! Maintaining proper hygiene and simplifying your beauty routine can go a long way. When you want to look your best, keep things simple and choose high-quality style products when possible.
Is looking good everyday really that important?
The answer to this question depends on you. When I’m honest with myself, I know I perform better at work on days that I feel good about my looks, even if I’m working from home! I’m also more confident in my relationships when I feel beautiful.
Looking good every day opens us up to opportunities and possibilities. Research shows that people who look good are likely to be more successful. Perhaps it’s the extra confidence boost you get from looking good. Or maybe people are just more receptive to others who have put time and effort into their appearance.
While it may seem trivial, we can face real consequences when we don’t put effort into our appearance. We may act less confidently around others because we feel self-conscious.
In addition, studies show that how we feel about our looks can affect self-esteem.
Worst of all, we might miss out on opportunities we otherwise would have jumped on if we had felt good about ourselves and our looks. So with that in mind, consider speaking the truth to yourself about how important looking good all the time is to you.
How the pressure to always look good can be stressful
Of course, the pressure of figuring out how to always look good can cause stress in its own right. As women, we’re constantly bombarded with advertisements for different makeup products, expensive skincare routines, and luxury spa treatments. For many women, the pressure of looking good constantly can just be too much to handle.
The beauty industry works hard to tell us we’re not good enough. Our natural hair color isn’t good enough, we must have just the right amount of body hair (in exactly the right places), and our nails shouldn’t be seen unless they have a fresh manicure. These messages are harmful, and they’re not true.
We don’t have to spend a fortune, lose hours of our days and weeks, or undergo painful treatments to look good, and we certainly don’t need beauty marketers to tell us how to look beautiful every day!
We can look beautiful perfectly naturally by doing simple, inexpensive actions. These actions will help us look good, and they’ll help us feel good, too.
Why you don’t need to spend a fortune to look good everyday
You look your best when you’re happy, healthy, and put together, and you certainly don’t need to follow a specific beauty standard or look a certain way to look good. You will naturally look good when you feel good.
If you’re struggling with your mental wellness, it can be difficult to cover up your unhappiness with makeup. And attempting to do so can be harmful. Instead, taking action to make yourself feel better and addressing the true reasons for your unhappiness is the best way to move forward and naturally look good.
Likewise, you don’t have to change your body shape or completely redo your wardrobe to look good. When you emphasize your uniqueness and show off parts of yourself that make you feel beautiful, you’ll naturally look good.
How can you be stylish every day?
Knowing how to look beautiful every day usually just requires a bit of planning and good habits. In addition to paying attention to skincare each day, also remember to pick out an outfit the night before and plan your makeup and hair routine.
What is the easiest way to look more attractive?
Smile! When you’re happy, you’ll feel better about yourself, and smiling is an attractive quality.
Do you need to spend money to look good?
You can have great style without spending money. By simply using makeup, hair, and clothing products you already have and being sure to do extra things like drinking water, you will look fantastic without spending a dime.
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You can always look good despite your budget!
Now you know how to look good everyday regardless of your budget, and I’ve also shared how I look good on a daily basis by following some easy tips. Looking good everyday is easy when you feel good.
Doing things that make you feel good and that are good for your body will naturally result in you looking good. So focus on becoming 1% better with your habits and taking little steps like the ones described above to make you look good everyday instantly.
It is not necessary to spend a lot of time or money to look good everyday. In fact, having to spend more time or money on your appearance can actually cause you stress you don’t need, which might detract from your efforts to look beautiful!
Remember, you can look good everyday by taking small, simple actions like ironing your clothes, putting on sunscreen, improving your posture, and showing off your beautiful smile.
Learn how to create a budget for your beauty routines with our completely free budgeting course! And regardless of how much you spend, you can always create more fashion goals and find more ways to look great!