Shine (7 page)

Choose the answer that best describes you:

1. This is how I mostly feel about shopping:

1. I’m out of my element in a clothing store, and choosing the right accessories seriously frightens me. I was okay when everything had to match, but they changed the rules!
   
2. I choose clothes that are baggy, gappy, flowing, BIG, because that hides my fat. The last time I wore a shirt tucked in, I was eleven.
   
3. Love it. I spend more money than I can afford.
   
4. Love it. I know how to play the game.
   

2. I’m happiest in

1. Supercute track pants and a T-shirt
   
2. Oversize jeans—comfort is all
   
3. Designer anythings
   
4. Dress-up, chicly styled clothing
   
5. Pj’s
   

3. Love these accessories:

1. Large hoop earrings
   
2. Real gold or platinum jewelry
   
3. Funky stuff
   
4. Whatever’s hot
   
5. I rarely wear accessories
   

4. If I could raid a celebrity’s closet, I choose

1. Beyoncé
   
2. Paris Hilton
   
3. Anna Kournikova
   
4. Diane Keaton
   
5. Nicole Kidman
   
6. None of the above—I choose my own closet
   

5. What words do you often hear?

1. You have such a pretty face, but…
   
2. I only tell you because I love you, but you really ought to go for a makeover/lose some weight/do something with that hair.
   
3. Where did you get that incredible shirt/hat/dress/purse?
   
4. You have some schmutz on your shirt,
   there…
   

6. You shop

1. At the end of the season when the sales come
   
2. Hardly ever
   
3. At outlets
   
4. At the start of the new season when you know what’s “in” and you can get a lot of wear from the clothes you buy
   

7. When was the last time you bought into a popular trend?

1. When grunge was popular.
   
2. I don’t buy trends—I buy what looks good on me, and I try to find it on sale.
   
3. The last trend—what was it? I love to be trendy.
   

8. If you haven’t changed your look in five years, why?

1. I look good just the way I am.
   
2. I have better things to do than worry about my look.
   
3. I don’t know where to start.
   
4. No time, no money.
   
5. I do change my look occasionally.
   

9. When you dress up, you generally feel

1. Klutzy and unpretty
   
2. Very appealing, maybe even adorable, maybe stunning
   
3. I almost never dress up
   
4. Just all right, passable
   

10. When you see friends who haven’t seen you lately, they often say something like

1. “You look exactly like you looked in high school/college.”
   
2. Nothing. They usually don’t comment on my looks.
   
3. “You’ve changed—you look fabulous!”
   
4. “Who does your hair?” or “What color lipstick is that?”
   

11. You catch your reflection in a passing mirror. Your first thought:

1. Arrrrrrgh
   
2. Boring
   
3. Ooooh—lookin’ good
   

FACT OR FANCY?

You may have heard some of these are true from your best friend, you’ve always
thought
some were true—but were you correct? Check your fashion savvy. Are the following statements fact or fancy?

12. Circle the right answer for each

13. Where do you most often get your inspiration for your look?

1. Sex and the City
   and the fashion catwalks
   
2. Your mom
   
3. Old movies
   
4. Magazines
   
5. Stuff you see at the mall
   
6. Women on the street who have a very individual look
   

14. How long does it take you to get ready for a big date or an important occasion?

1. Somewhat under an hour
   
2. Ten to twenty minutes
   
3. Between an hour and a half and two hours
   

15. If you could pick your body type it would be

1. The bod I own—I like it
   
2. Curvy and full—like a Rubenesque beauty
   
3. Toned, muscular, and athletic
   
4. Thin, thin, ultrathin, Nicole Richie thin
   

ON MAKEUP

16. My approach is

1. Minimal: I rarely wear any makeup products.
   
2. Maximum: I try everything new—I love experimenting!
   
3. Scattered: I wear whatever’s in my medicine cabinet.
   
4. Selective: I buy good but primarily inexpensive brands.
   
5. Pricey: You get what you pay for—I buy only superior name brands.
   

17. About my face: I feel

1. Confident when I bop along the avenue
   
2. Very plain
   
3. God—I should have looked in a magnifying mirror before I left the house
   
4. Cheated
   

18. Killer makeup is

1. Usually subtle—sometimes you can’t even see it
   
2. Individual—usually different for you than for anyone else
   
3. Expensive—get what you pay for
   
4. Cheap—smart money rules
   
5. All of the above
   
6. None of the above
   

19. You’ve used up a tube of lipstick

1. Never. In fact, many of your lipsticks have not even been opened.
   
2. A million times. You’re loyal to your favorite shade.
   
3. Rarely.
   

20. About how many lipsticks do you own?

1. About 2
   
2. About 25
   
3. About 8–10
   

21. Tomorrow looks like a beautiful day! You’ll be

1. Watching
   Who Wants To Be A Millionaire.
   
2. Lying down in an avocado-oatmeal mask, tweezers in one hand, moisturizer in another.
   
3. Pulling on your navy blue jeans. You’re out of here—eyebrows and skin can wait.
   
4. Taking this beauty quiz.
   

22. The guy you’ve been digging on asked you out to a last-minute movie which starts in ten minutes. You’re not dressed yet. Will you be ready in time?

1. No sweat. All you plan to do is spray a little deodorant on the important parts, anyway.
   
2. You need twenty minutes, max. At least you’ll make it before the trailers finish.
   
3. Arghhhhhh. You’ll miss this flick because you need over an hour to get your “beat” on.
   

23. Beauty product you can’t live without?

1. None. I don’t really wear makeup.
   
2. Lip gloss and blusher—I need that shimmery glow.
   
3. Anything glittery—I like to sparkle like a star.
   
4. I can live without any particular product: can always find an alternative.
   

24. It’s the day before your best friend’s party, and a big zit has emerged on your nose. You:

1. Squeeze it
   
2. Ignore it and have a good time
   
3. Buy some miracle lotion and treat that puppy!
   

ON HAIR

25. Your hairstylist

1. Suggests little variations every time you visit—a little highlighting here, a little layering there, a few wisps, a sleek look.
   
2. Can read your mind, which isn’t too hard because you’ve worn the same hairstyle for years.
   
3. Is the source of all gossip and the best doctors and knows every personal detail of your life.
   
4. Seems to regularly disappoint you—but you understand that he can’t make a silk purse out of a sow’s ear.
   

26. My hair is

1. An accessory—I change it as often as I do my earrings
   
2. Too dull, too curly, too mousy, too thin, too straight, too something
   
3. Fabulous
   
4. Miserable to manage—I hate spending time on it
   

27. If you were half an hour late waking up for work or school, how would you cut corners to get there on time?

1. Wear my hair rollers under a scarf on the way—then brush out as I arrive.
   
2. Refuse to rush, and get that hair
   right.
   I’m not compulsive about arriving exactly on time, so I’d take my usual hour to prepare: appearance is key.
   
3. Leap up, pull my hair back, brush my teeth, and leave (after a quick glance in the mirror).
   

28. How would you describe your daily hair routine?

1. Wash and wear—brushing optional. No fuss, no muss.
   
2. Wash, condition, set, blow dry, style.
   
3. Killing, aggravating, time-consuming. Hate it.
   
4. I experiment: sometimes a shampoo and blow dry; sometimes simply a hair weave or wig. Whatever—I rarely go for the same look. I’m a mix-and-match momma.
   

29. My favorite hair secret

1. Hair accessories: faux fur ponytail holder, great barrettes, big tie-back clips, pretty scarves.
   
2. One hundred brush strokes daily
   
3. Hair spray—couldn’t live without it
   
4. I adore experimenting with color
   

30. You’ve just been swimming when—oh no—no hairbrush. What to do?

1. Nothing. No one will notice because your hair is always messy, anyway.
   
2. Luckily, you keep a funky hat in your bag for emergencies.
   
3. Borrow a hat (or brush) from friends. Messy hair is not you.
   

SCORING AND ANALYSIS

Score as directed, then add the result.

1. A=0, B=0, C=3, D=10 (It
is
a game!)

2. A=10, B=2, C=4, D=10, E=0 (An A or D answer indicates that you know what you like; the other choices indicate insecurity.)

3. A=8, B=10 (can never go wrong), C=5, D=8, E=0

4. A=3, B=3, C=3, D=3, E=3, F=10 (Their closets may hold insanity—only your choices count as fashion that makes you feel good.)

5. A=2, B=0, C=10, D=0

6. A=8, B=0, C=10 (my way!), D=6 (And you’ll pay top dollar.)

7. A=0 (You opted for absolute ugly), B=10, C=2

8. A=6 (maybe your self-esteem is fine, but are you sure you’re not avoiding change?), B=0, C=0, D=0, E=10

9. A=0, B=10, C=4, D=2

10. A=4 (unless you looked smashing then, in which case take 10), B=0, C or D=10

11. A=0, B=0, C=10

12. A, B, C, E, G, H=FANCY. D and F=FACT. Take 2 for each correct answer you marked.

13. A=6, B=4 (unless your mom dresses like Halle Berry), C=2, D=8, E=0, F=10

14. A=10, B=3 (You’re not paying attention, Kendra), C=0

15. A=10, B=6, C=6, D=2 (Anything other than A indicates you’re not satisfied with your body today and must work on your physical presentation.)

16. A=1, B=1 (you’re a makeup junkie!), C=0, D=10, E=4

17. A=10, B=0, C=0, D=0

18. A=5, B=5, C=5, D=5, E=10 (This is the only one that rings true because makeup always depends on your mood and the occasion), F=0

19. A=2 (that’s just crazy!), B=5 (lipsticks dry out and develop bacteria and an unpleasant fragrance if they’re too old), C=10

20. A=2, B=0, C=10

21. A=10, B=2, C=10, D=0

22. A=0, B=10, C=0

23. A=4, B=6, C=-6, D=10

24. A=0, B=0, C=10

25. A=10, B=2, C=2, D=0

26. A=10, B=0, C=10, D=0

27. A=0, B=2, C=10

28. A=3, B=2 (
Every
day?), C=0, D=10

29. A=10, B=0 (You’ll damage it!), C=4, D=6

30. A=0, B=8, C=10

ANALYSIS

Did you score from 280 to 306?

Congratulations! If you answered the questions in this self-assessment candidly, you have only moderate work to do on yourself—physically that is.

Your self-presentation is confident, and although I don’t know you, I’d bet my bottom dollar you make a terrific impression on others. Although none of these answers is written in stone, it’s your attitude about looking good that shows through here. You understand that you don’t have to be born with perfect features in order to put your best face forward. You don’t have to own a perfect body to walk in the world with beauty and confidence. You shop with smarts, you exercise regularly, and instead of eating everything that fits in your mouth, you eat only what you really want and need, rather than what they pile on your plate in restaurants. Most of all, you know that health comes first.

You’re an individual; you’re confident in your appearance; you attract the kind of people you want to hang with. Right?

See what tips you can pick up in the following chapter that will even further enhance the way you look and feel.

Did you score from 250 to 278?

You surely know how you’d like to look, but somehow you’re not quite getting it all together.

This score indicates a woman who’d like to have a sense of style that’s individual,
but somehow she seems to follow fashion trends instead of developing her own best look. She’s either too heavy or too thin—not at the weight that makes her feel most herself, most comfortable and pretty. She doesn’t really know how to shop, doesn’t know how to judge what’s chic and what’s tacky, even though she admires a “good” look on other women. She spends far too much money on her clothes and her makeup, and she knows it.

What’s more, she’d like to occasionally offer some surprises in her look rather than being the same-old, same-old pretty-but-predictable self, but she doesn’t know where to start. Most of the time her appearance makes her feel reasonably good, but she doesn’t feel she has a true beauty “identity.”

Is this you? Read on, sister.

Did you score from 200 to 248?

You are definitely not your most gorgeous.

You may not have changed your look since you were eighteen—not because you were so satisfied with the eighteen-year-old you, but because you simply don’t know where to start. You love to see the models and the stars shining in the magazines, but how in the world can you adapt their look to yours if you’re heavier, shorter, poorer? Read on!

Your old beauty goals are simply not appropriate anymore now that you’re all grown up and out in the real world. Although they work reasonably well, your clothes no longer feel “friendly” to you—that is, you somehow don’t feel as comfortable, attractive, and happy in them as you did some years ago.

Perhaps you need to reconstitute your look—your face, body, hair, and makeup—to fit the interesting woman you’ve become, but the woman nobody can see when they first meet you.

Before you can love yourself, before anyone can find the real you to love, you need to look more like the women you admire—and that is definitely within your power. I hope my own story that follows, and my own solutions, will guide you to self-love, then to the love of your life.

Did you score under 200?

Honey, I want to help you. This isn’t a terrific score—and you know it.

This is why you’re not physically prepared to meet the man of your dreams: you don’t feel as well, as pretty, and as stylish as you should.

First of all, you often confuse cash with class, but all the expensive products in the world won’t bring you an appearance that’s filled with panache, dazzle, and imagination.

Second of all, for all intents and purposes, you’ve stopped paying attention to your weight, your clothes, your makeup, and your hair because it just seems too daunting a task, right?

Finally—and this is the most serious—you probably can’t walk as fast as you should, climb hills with as much energy, or even stay up as late as you used to. The fact is, your physical body is not at its prime—it slows you down, Kendra—I know it!

Don’t settle for mediocre and ordinary: be the best you can be! Let today, the day you picked up this book, be the first day of the rest of your life, the best of your life.

I did it—and I was even too tired to shop before I decided to reconstitute my physical self. That was pretty serious. If I can help you, I’ll be the happiest sister in the world.