Author: Lynne Scott

The challenge we have in today’s fast information packed world, is to make an impact as quickly as possible, to deliver on our looks, yet at the same time, our image must stand up to our inner values and excellence. Image holds an incredible power and it delivers for you and it delivers for any organisation.

A company can control the look of a billboard, think of airlines, petrol stations, health clubs, cosmetic companies, controllable and expensive resources. A company can design a great and versatile uniform, create great media coverage, but is that uniform being upgraded and positively utilised by the person’s personal image and their visual presentation?, is the image projected, powerful enough and correct enough to keep within world class standards, drive a culture and brand to enforce an organisation as one of excellence?

Image is about an individuals body language, good or bad body posture, correct make-up application for women in the workplace, telephone etiquette to drive better customer service, correct etiquette on meeting and greeting guests, respect at work to create better work environments, it is the impression you make upon clients, family and with all whom you come into contact with. It is about being an individual, understanding one’s needs, making the correct choices and learning to be one’s self and confident in all situations, it is about being creative to unlock a more positive mental attitude, to drive better work environments.

Corporate culture provides a sense of direction and gives clear and precise guidelines on what is expected of an employee and what is not. Appropriate behaviour needs to be defined, should this wane, the negative effects are enormous, the corporate culture will struggle.

Due to so many different cultures in the corporate sector, rules and set ideas, policies and guidelines must be addressed. Needs of employee’s and colleague respect needs to be put into place, personal presentation and hygiene – delicate topics must be covered, all with the drive toward helping to retain happy, healthy staff, which is the core of many organisations.

Executive health and wellness is addressed to help alleviate stress, aches and pains. Many companies today are realising the importance of staff stretching and moving during business hours, employing qualified fitness trainers to come in to their work premises ‘block bookings’ and consultations put into place to help staff with exercises and how to execute movement correctly to gain positive results of increased productivity.

Employees and individuals are formed by conditions and appropriate training and information given, to drive the brand and culture that makes companies unique.

Colours, Themes and Dress style

Winter comes around every year, start to think about your choices and how you going to upgrade your wardrobe or accessories. Men with jerseys and scarves, or a jacket with a different style and colour, ladies in their shirts and style of skirts.

In Winter, people automatically think of the bronzes, golds, russet, reds and oranges, these are called the earth colours, we all associate our colours with nature and the changing colours around us. But, we shouldn’t forget the muted hues of blush pink, lilac, taupe, ice blue, plush purple, velvet and maroon’s and the basic black, they are also great colours that mix and match well together, be it work wear, ceremonies, table décor, flowers or a make-up look.

One can spice up your look or your theme with a dash of the fuchsia, turquoise and the different shades of purples, which is lovely for evening, creating great splendour and glamour. Take the time to think about your theme and colour choices, be it the lighter side of the lilacs or the deeper lush sides of the deep greens; all are fantastic options.

For men and women with Winter, there is always a return to elegance, dressing with less of the body showing, wearing a looser or tighter fitting jersey, shirt or for women a great dress, sexy but not showing the shoulders; always keep an open mind.

For both men and women textures can be lush velvets, liquid satins and for women the soft furs, which can also be used for more boyish looking hats, still holding that touch of femininity; should that be your preferred look.

In Autumn or Winter, the form of the body can be revealed in the more body hugging clothing, men in their tighter jerseys, for women too, but not necessarily revealing; designers actually cover up their models with conservative necklines without diminishing their sex appeal. This too can be adapted in any form of dress or suit.

When we think about the choice of colour in Autumn or Winter for our personal style and work wardrobe or for an event, our dress accessory, or any other, either way, any colour accessory and choice could be followed through, for example to table cards or invitations, themes, as well as our co-ordinated wardrobe. The same colours, along with the same colour in your clothing, could be used as a hint, dash and spice of life, for example placing a simple orange serviette on the side of the plate, the great Winter colour adding a touch of splendour and drawing people in to feel warm and homely, or happy to venture out to an evening work event.

For your choice in clothing for Winter, men and women, this can be a great option, as zipped cardigans can be enjoyed, bringing in the colours of plum or cream in the form of a scarf or a green shirt which stands out beautifully against the browns and different shades of charcoal and black.All these options are powerful in dress style for both men and women.

For women low slung trousers can be enjoyed, hugging every curve or loosely used around our body shape. For men and women smart jackets, nipped in at the waist can be used, and for women hip hugging skirts add a lot of sex appeal. Ladies can still wear over sized men’s style jackets, or tweed jackets with a thick polar neck or v-neck jersey. Shawls are in ivory or taupe and tarnished gold, then there is also the vintage inspired country collections and style with a trend to women borrowing from men’s closets. Trousers are anything in variation from stirrup pants to wide legged trousers, to the normal straight leg pants, black still being the colour most enjoyed and used.

Your choices in style for Winter creates powerful communication, shows self pride, shows you have thought about your presentation and image, use the changing seasons to your advantage.,
Men or women can be dynamic and masculine with the stronger boots or women with the romantic boot, the long lace up boot, with a lovely large brimmed, lace and ribbon hat.

Be daring and enjoy the colours that surround us, you could have a lot of fun in your choices.

Women and men are presented with glamour at every turn, on billboards, in magazines, television, movies, fashion events, simply walking into a clothing store, whereby for both men and women products, numerous skin and make-up counters are passed by. Dress for men and women, make-up applications for women that are correctly applied, that suit the style of a person, or work with the persons environment are a very important factor not to be missed or taken for granted.

Whichever environment, you are entering, either going into the office daily, doing fashion and modelling work, applying banking office wear, all personal applications count in the power of visual presentation and counts for a lot in terms of ‘the first impression counts’, whereby core values are driven and the brand of an organisation is upheld through the most important asset, ‘the people’ themselves.

We live in a media driven society and it is to our advantage to create a look that is styled, acceptable to our personalities and any environment that we may enter into, an image that portrays strength and self confidence at all times, one that depicts knowledge that we are aware of ourselves, our visual presentation and how we conduct ourselves and how we are accepted by others due to our outer appearance, right through to our body language and body posture.

Image, for both men and women, it is a highly complex issue, but it is an imperative one and should be seen as a positive advantage. Information on how one looks and wears the right corporate clothing can be learnt and must be simple and easy to follow to achieve guaranteed results, that are a practically driven good experience.

The right tools and knowledge given are important because these applications do need a form of creativity, image needs effort and conscious thinking for optimum results, and with not everyone in the know how or creative field, like to be taught to achieve the same results as the creative person, especially when it comes to dressing well and applying their personal image to ‘be the best that they can be’.

Whilst cosmetic houses promote products to enhance our skin or colour products to apply to an eyelid for women, they don’t educate on the ‘know how’ tools on how to achieve this. In most instances, people are left to their own devices and not taught the correct way to use certain products, which can result in lack of confidence and the person giving up trying all together. Dressing correctly for both men and women, and applying make-up correctly for women are sensitive topics and delicate issues and through correct guidance, many embarrassing issues could be avoided in the first place, which can make or can break building self confidence as one climbs the corporate ladder.

Take for example colours, colours give us a sense of well-being. Those colours you choose to surround yourself with will have a direct affect on your health, moods and emotions and therefore directly affect you success in all spheres of life. Try not to select a colour simply on your emotional response to it; think objectively about the appropriateness of the situation you are going into. Over use of colour can seem flamboyant or pushy or a loud, bright colour may draw attention to you, when you should be quiet and observing for a certain business event.

Colours and their meanings – a few for your interest:

Beige – Accepting, open strong
Light green – Light (mood), loving, kind, knowing
Brown – Balanced, safe, secure
Orange – Humorous, makes a statement, emotional, dramatic
Blue – loyal, calm, tranquil

Managers need to address these soft skill topics through qualified consultants, to drive motivation in presentation and image, as well as correct etiquette and business conduct, which affects the outcomes – better customer service and positive client experiences, as well as building self confidence of employees, to prevent a decrease in productivity.

Are You Having a Bad Hair Day?

Every women knows that there is nothing quite like a “ bad hair or bad make-up day” to chip away at that sunny exterior.
Conversely, knowing that you look good, or look your best is a tremendous boost, especially when you’re up against a tough presentation or simply attending an event or special occasion. Everyone of us likes to “look our best”.

At Image Creations, we recognise that grooming, fitness, make-up and style are an imperative aspect to looking good, boosting self confidence and feeling great, bearing in mind that behaviour and attitude is a choice too. We all know that skilfully applied make-up and a co-ordinated wardrobe are still no substitute for a healthy life-style and positive attitude. Being able to look good on the outside, will boost our self-confidence, make us feel better and people will respond to us in a more positive manner.

Make-up is a huge component to image and style, it is our eye – opener!. Most people are either scared of using make-up, some couldn’t be bothered, or some ladies just don’t know what to use or how to apply the right colours.

Some of us apply the same quantities and techniques we have been using for years, applying the make-up as we did when we first started out, regardless of the changes in our faces over time or how our lives are at the present time. We could have taken up playing sport, running events, working 8-5, or being a full time mum.

For over 20 years, I’ve been showing individuals personally and in organisations how to achieve a well groomed look, more dynamic and powerful, through correctly applied make-up for their particular eye and face shape. I show women how to achieve the same or different looks – everyday without the fuss. I provide the tools to achieve this, providing extremely well placed, trusted guidance to anyone looking to update their look or learn a few tips on make-up, or simply improve their image.

The three “P’s” of Make-up Application:
1. Patience
2. Practice
3. Product

Your most valuable and essential tools for creating a better look are:
• Eye and lip pencil sharpener
• Oblique eyebrow brush
• Two medium-sized eye shadow shading brushes
• Medium-sized flattened soft blush brush
• Triangular soft sponge applicator’s
• Large soft powder brush
• Sharp flattened tweezers
• Cotton Buds
• Lipstick Brush

Skilfully applied make-up will give you a healthy glow, as well as complement and complete your overall appearance.