I remember when I was about nine or ten that I got a series of books in the mail. These were books that were supposed to teach me about style and beauty. One was all about learning my color palette (a topic that was popular back then but which didn’t actually make sense to me since I was in a late 1980′s hot pink kind of phase). Another was about the shape of my face and body and how knowing that shape could make me more skilled at choosing makeup and clothing that would flatter me.

I read the books and implemented their tips for a day or two. Then I went on about the business of being a kid. However, I actually think that a little bit of the information that I read at the time stuck with me. I eventually came to see that understanding the lines of your face and body and the color of your skin tone could go a long way towards making it easier to choose clothing.

It also makes it easier to choose hairstyles. I remembered this recently when writing an article on how to wear long layers in a haircut. This popular haircut is great because it works for almost everyone. However, how well it works for you typically depends on how you style it. And how you style it should relate to the shape of your face. If you never learned the shape of your face or body then it might be worth it to learn how to do that. It can’t hurt anyway, at least, that’s what this SmartChick thinks.

What do you think – does this stuff matter to you in terms of defining your personal style?

Tags: beauty, face shape, hubpages, shape of face, smartchick, style

I went back to my hometown a few weeks ago where I attended a BBQ with people from the past. One of the guys there was a friend of my sister’s who I had only known for a brief time. When he saw me, he said, “wow, you’re hair has gotten so long!”

The exclamation struck me as funny because my hair is neither longer nor shorter than the length I’ve had it for almost all of my adult life. As a kid, I always had really long hair (down past my waist kind of hair). As an adult, I realized that mid-back-ish is the right length for me.

The reason that her friend thought this was because he had met me during one of my few brief flings with short hair. Three or four times in my life, I’ve decided to drastically alter my look by going chin length with my hair.

When I think back about it, I always say that I don’t like my hair short but that’s not really true. There are a lot of cute short layered hair styles that looked great on me. The problem is that I really prefer my hair long for both looks and just my comfort with my hair. I like to pull my hair back, I like to play with it. You just can’t do that with short hair.

I have a feeling that I’m always going to be a long-hair girl. I’m sure I’ll go through my phases of cutting it short once or twice in my lifetime but long hair is just right for me. It’s one of the things I don’t mind not changing over time!

Tags: beauty, hairstyles, hubpages, kathryn vercillo, long hair, short hair, short layered hair, style

I don’t get the chance to write about fashion very often but it happens every now and then. For example, I recently provided advice on How to Wear High Heels without Hurting your Feet. I’ve been wearing high heels for as long as I can remember but I also walk everywhere so I’ve had to learn how to do this the hard way. It’s paid off in a set of great tips.

The article was chosen as one of the Top 3 articles this month in the Fabulous! Festival. The two other posts that were chosen along with mine for this honor were on mineral makeup and around-the-world shopping from your computer. Although these were considered the Top 3 posts, all of the other posts were also good.

There were posts on beauty in the areas of skin care and alpha lipoic acid. There were posts on fashion topics like pinups, depression chic and Milan fashion week. There were general style posts on handbags and Apple products. And there were shopping tips for things like prom. All great stuff! Do have a read.

Tags: beauty, blog carnival, ehow, fabulous festival, Fashion, high heels, how to, kathryn vercillo, style, tips