Team Polished or Rough Around the Edges? - YouLookFab Forum

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Team Polished or Rough Around the Edges?

catgirl

Veteran

Teri's absolutely amazing hair and make-up got me thinking about why I do so little with makeup, and also why I make an effort to rough up my naturally sleek hair (in its normal state, it would like a Brazilian blowout).

So one issue is sheer laziness, of course, at least with makeup. But I think it's because although I admire the "finished" look on others, it doesn't seem to suit me in personality or lifestyle (from the rock gym to court to after-school activities), and it gives me that same feeling of being not quite myself. And when I do want to step it up a level, it's not all that hard.

On the other hand, since being on YLF, I've added a leeeeetle bit of "polished" style that has suited me better than I expected. My rough edges are more deliberate now.

So y'all know I'm Team Rough Edges. How about you, and WHY?

Dressing

115 replies

Latest reply was from Kari

Lynne

Veteran

I'm the opposite of team polished, but I wouldn't have called it 'rough around the edges' :D. If my hair looks too done, I deliberately muss it up a bit, too. So intentional messy rather than just haven't bothered messy. Team tousled :D?

catgirl

Veteran

Lynne, I'm glad you knew what I was getting at - "Team Wild and Free" vs. "Team Urbanite"? I couldn't quite figure it out, but if someone comes up with a better term, I'll change the title!

Queen Mum

Veteran

I am team polished, but I always try to incorporate just a tad of unpolish to keep from feeling too stuffy... I would say I try to strike a balance of 85% polish to 15% "rough around the edges"

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I'd like to be polished but don't want to spend the time and effort to do so! In HS I had perfectly feathered hair and actually carried a collapsible curling iron with me to gym class. Now I'm lucky to see hairspray once a week. I think I want the put together polished hair and makeup but not enough to go about the upkeep it requires. Oh, and when I'm at work (either in a fast paced bar or out in the elments at a golf course) touch ups are completely out of the question, so that may have something to do with why I basically put myself together before I leave the house and then that's all she wrote for the rest of the day.

Lynne

Veteran

Laughing at the thought of Malina with her portable curling iron :D.

Diana

Veteran

I am team Rough to be sure. I'm lazy and disorganized! I don't do hair or makeup, and I only iron rarely (although to be fair a lot of my clothes do not need to be ironed).

Although... I think that others perceive me to be far more polished than I actually am. This has in part to do with my environment, I'm sure, since in the academic lab world, if you care about your appearance, you're automatically more polished than a lot of others there. But I also wonder how much of the "rough around the edges" perception is in my head... probably nobody but me notices that my shirt is a little wrinkled or my hair is sticking out funny in the back.

MNsara

Veteran

Team Rough-Around-The-Edges for me! (Actually this is probably one of the few where I KNOW which team I'm on!)

I stand in awe of Team Polished!

Don't ever look closely at my fingernails (never polished, sometimes gnawed on), or my toenails (summer polish, but always better from a distance). I almost always have *some* makeup on, but sometimes don't get to parts of it.

My hair always leaves something to be desired and I'm okay with that. . .

I'm okay wearing a few wrinkles (clothes AND face).

Lynne

Veteran

What IS the alternative to polished? Team not-as-polished? Team unpolished? Team ruffled :D? Team Mussed Up? Team Natural? Darn, I won't able to sleep thinking about this......Team Casual? Team rock chic?

Patty

Veteran

Team Rough Are the Edges---otherwise I'm in disguise.
Just don't know how to pull it off and feel right in polish I guess. And I only hang around the house so no big deal LOL.

crwilson

Veteran

I would like to be on team polished, but I just can't manage it most of the time. I'm not a detail oriented person, so little things always escape my notice. I do wear makeup and flat iron my hair daily, but my nails are definitely better from a distance (love that phrase MNsara). I don't ever, ever iron.

RoseandJoan

Veteran

I know some ladies on the forum have an adverse reaction to the term but I like my style to appear effortless which means (for me) clean hair, plucked brows, passable non polished nails, moisturised skin and wearing clothes I'm 100% comfortable wearing regardless of their level of dressiness. On a scale of 1 to 10 where one is dragged through a hedge and ten is uber groomed I would probably be a 6.5 -7.

Queen Mum

Veteran

No judgement meant here.... but I'm willing to hazard a guess that it is the team polished gals who are accused most often of 'being dressed up" I think it is hard to give off a casual vibe when polished. Just an observation

April

Veteran

Team polished, but my hair is naturally messy -- which may be why the other forms of polished are more important to me.

Maya

Veteran

I once again have to step in and assure everyone that April just has a little hair dysmorphia. She has lovely, perfect glossy curls. Sorry, April.

I'm a firm believer that polish takes a lot more effort for some people than for others. I will never be polished. My pores are too large, my skin is too oily, my hair is too scraggly, my nails grow too unevenly, and I'm too furry.

For skin, I have given up. I have never found anything that makes oily skin less oily, or that genuinely makes pores appear less visible. I look gross in summer and just do my best with oil blotting sheets and pressed powder.

I have made peace with my scraggly locks, and even with my fur. Most women would die if they had to contend with dark, thick body hair...or at least go through a lot of time, expense, and pain to rid themselves of it. I'm just not willing to do that. It doesn't affect my health (nor is it caused by any health issues), and it isn't even a hygiene problem...so why should I care? I was self conscious about it all through my teenage years and took a good deal of taunting for it, but I'm over it and I demand everyone else gets over it too. It does mean, however, that I will never be "polished," and I'm ok with that.

Uneven nails are the reason I never get a manicure (that, and i just have no interest). It just draws attention to the fact that they are uneven.

In the end it would take a lot of maintenance to get me looking polished, and I don't even find perfect polish to be that appealing anyway. I am glad I started wearing some makeup. It has definitely helped and the reactions to it have been unbelievable. It also had the effect of making my scraggly hair look good, in a weird way. Now it looks intentionally natural instead of just "I don't care" natural.

Desmo April

(website)

Veteran

totally team rough.

I'm maintained--I always have make-up and my hair is done--I'm just not polished. To me polished=ladylike which I actively dislike for myself.

kellygirl

Veteran

I'd love to be on Team Polish if it wasn't so much work. I'm definitely batting on team "RATE" and that's mostly out of sheer laziness. I like makeup but am loathe to do any more than necessary. Same goes with hair--it has to be wash and go. I don't have the patience to style it. My current style takes about five minutes which is about four minutes longer than what I'd like : ) I appreciate polish on others--wish I had the patience and motivation to be on that team.

Cilleena

Veteran

I think my clothes look RATE because I am still working on my style and I have a very casual lifestyle. However, my hair, makeup and nails are definitely Team polished. I always, always make sure I have my hair and makeup done. If it's not done, I'm pretty sick. In the hospital giving birth to all 4 of my babies, yep, hair and makeup done....for heavens sake, people are taking pictures of me and I don't want to look back at the pictures thinking I look awful. But, I truly look like I need to go back to bed if I don't do my makeup.

Louise

Veteran

I'm totally team rough around the edges. I never iron though the way I wash things I don't feel they need ironing. I never blow dry my hair, I rarely wear make up or do my nails. My only polished consessions are getting my legs waxed once a month, my hair cut and coloured every 2 months and my feet tended to by a chiropodist every 3 months x

Jonesy

Veteran

Interesting...I'm not sure about myself. On one hand, I am detail-oriented when it comes to my clothes (e.g., I iron almost everything I wear, I can't stand it if a sweater has buttons on it that I don't like, so I'll replace them, etc.) but on the other hand, I don't spend much time on my hair or make-up, and I don't go for things like manicures, pedicures, etc. So I may be benched on this one.

catgirl

Veteran

Wow, I guess I thought Team Polished would be way ahead! Or are you all too shy to chime in?

If we are going as far as nails and ironing, then I am Team Disaster. My nails are hopeless due to climbing, and ironing is not in my repetoire. But I almost ALWAYS wear lipstick. I don't feel finished without it.

Aziraphale

Veteran

Great thread! It's Team Rough for me, but it that doesn't mean I get to put in zero effort. Sadly, I can't just roll out of bed and look fantastic. For me it's always been about looking pretty without looking as if you have made an effort to look pretty. To get there, I need to put on a little cream blush and cover up the broken blood vessels around the nose, then add some mascara for my pale eyelashes, and darken my lips. Every day. I feel naked without it. Except some days I skip the mascara. My day to day clothes are very casual -- mostly jeans and denim skirts and form-fitting jersey knit tops -- but everything has to fit really well, and it takes time to find those things.

Having said that, when I do dress up, I REALLY dress up -- super high heels, cocktail dress, dramatic earrings and fire-engine red lipstick.

Kate

Veteran

I want to be on team polished, but I'm not sure I am everyday. I used to be better about my nails before living with cats, but I am pretty good about applying a bit of makeup everyday, and I have straight hair that makes my life easy. I'm also drawn towards a more polished look in general, so my outfits tend to be more polished than rough around the edges (I think).

taylor

Veteran

I am for team polished, but honestly AG not everyone needs makeup to the same extent.

bella

(website)

Veteran

I will hold the fort down for team polished with Taylor. I wear make up almost daily, it bothers me when my nails are not done and my clothes are usually more fussy and formal than what other forum members wear on a daily basis. But, I don't have any kids yet and I can see that all this could easily change once kids come into the picture.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

Hmmm, I wear some kind of light makeup 95% of the time and always have even, kept nails - though never painted. But I'm not polished, this is just looking presentable IMO.

MsMary

Veteran

I'll cop to wanting to be on Team Polished. Whether or not I achieve it or not is an open questions, mostly because my hair is so wild and my hands/nails are so farmer-woman-peasant-like. But I wear full makeup every day and I try to look as put together as humanly possible.

Becky

Veteran

Can I start Team Low Maintenance? I would *love* to be Team Polished, just as I would love to have a sophisticated personal style, but I just don't think it's possible for me. My lifestyle is active and casual, I live in a windy climate where perfectly styled hair doesn't last one minute, I can't stand for my nails to be longer than the tips of my fingers, though I apply makeup every day it just doesn't last . . . I could go on and on. So I guess I'm RATE, though in my ideal world I'd be Polished.

Mamapicklejuice

Veteran

My Sunday style is 150% Team Polished...

No comment on my daily style!

Lena

Hmm, it's kind of hard to define. On a scale from 1 to 10, I'm about 7-8. (ha, 8 is too generous, I think)

I find that doing daily or weekly maintenance like taking care of my skin and nails, tweezing eyebrows, washing and styling hair, keeping clothes neat, shaving, etc is much easier than drastic "OMG! spurts".

However, I can't achieve 100% polish even if I tried. I can't do full makeup, even for special occasions. I could never flat iron my hair well, when it was long enough for that. I can do a half decent job with ironing clothes. I'm sure I'd look less tired with more eye makeup, concealer, foundation and blush, but on a daily basis I wear only mascara, lipstick and concealer (at times when I know it won't melt off due to exercise). I wear perfume from time to time, but that's for my own intellectual entertainment, and it doesn't relate to polish in my mind.

I feel rough and unpolished and generally weird when my lips are dry, so lip balm is essential.

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