Look Classy + Polished (on a budget) | capsule wardrobe, grooming + hygiene, glow up tips

0:00 Hi guys, welcome to my channel. I'm Juliana. Today's video is all about how to look classy, especially waves that don't cost a lot. And if you're on a budget, these tips will be perfect. Before we get into the video, I do want to give a quick shout out to my membership program. It's essentially a Patreon, but it's hosted on my website, style-elevated.com. I love doing more in-depth style content on there, as well as things like celebrity analyses, deinfluencing, all those kinds of topics that I won't necessarily put on my main channel. I also have things like style guides and shoppable lookbooks. So, definitely check those out. There's different tiers, so you can just choose the one that fits you. But yeah, if you're interested, I will put it in the first link in my description. Okay, moving on to the tips. I'm just going to tell you now, it all comes down to having a really cohesive and intentional style, as well as really great grooming habits. I think your grooming and hygiene are kind of like the foundation to being

0:46 classy. Like having great hygiene won't necessarily automatically make you classy, but not having good hygiene is kind of a dealbreaker. So yeah, we start with that, but we really don't have to necessarily spend a lot on say our skincare or our hair products. In terms of skincare specifically, as bad as it kind of sounds, I do think clear skin will make you look very elevated and very polished. And I know people don't really choose to have acne. But a good skincare routine is great to solve more, I guess, superficial acne issues like fungal acne or just where there's dirt or oil clogging your pores. A cleanser that I really like and I do think is worth the money is this one from Youth to the People. It's their kale and green tea spinach vitamin superfood cleanser. As you can see, I'm steadily making my way through it. And I do think skincare is an area where you maybe want to be

1:33 more intentional with, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the more expensive the skincare, the better. I think if you have a $20 cleanser or a $300 cleanser, there's like a bar where it no longer becomes more and more useful. It almost becomes like you're paying for the brand name and the logo and all of that, which is totally fine if that's what you're into, but it's not necessary to have. I would recommend cleanser as being non-negotiable. Cleanser, moisturizer, sunscreen, and then from there, oh, I guess eye cream and lip balm. But from there, everything else just kind of becomes accessory. Also, another tip that I would recommend once you find a product that you really like, you don't have to continue bouncing around and experimenting with other products, nor really should you, since having a lot of different products in your skincare

2:18 routine can actually be a little chaotic for your skin. Once you find one of each type of product that you like, just stick with it and just kind of like run it through until it's finished. In terms of cleansers, I really like the Cetaphil gentle cleanser as well as the Aino Oat Cleanser. Both of these are from the drugstore. And in terms of moisturizer, it depends on the type of skin that you have. Honestly, I am kind of like a Cetaphil girl through and through. But another one that's really great that's kind of more of a gel is the one from Garnier. It's just really lightweight and it's non greasy. So, I really like that one for I guess more oily skin or in the summer. So, my main takeaway for skincare is to make sure you have an established skincare routine and really stick to it to maintain clean and healthy skin, but you really don't have to have a giant skincare routine. That's not necessary. And that's pretty much

3:05 more of just like marketing that would tell you otherwise. In terms of classy hair, the most important thing is to make sure it's well-groomed. Now, well-groomed hair is going to look different on everyone and the care process is going to be different if you have fine hair like me. I did just recently post a video on hair care tips, so definitely check that out. I'll link that also in my description. But if you have really curly hair, your routine and your process is going to be different. But I guess in terms of the end result, the classy appearance is one that looks intentional. Like a hairstyle that looks curated and that looks like it is meant to look like that. And I mean, that kind of sounds like a basic statement. The less classy hair does just mean not very well-kempt, maybe unbrushed hair, which I mean at the end of the day, it's not life or death if you have good hair or

3:50 not. But if you feel like you are having a bad hair day and you're just your hair won't get straight or won't get curly or whatever, I would recommend doing a sleek updo, maybe like a bun or a ponytail. When my front pieces don't really curl that well, I'll sometimes put it in a claw clip. So just a half up, half down. That way, if the rest of my hair still looks fine, it kind of just brings my face into focus and still makes everything look polished and looks like my hair is properly curled. And also, a big thing that I do want to note to save you money is something that's maybe not very fun or maybe maybe not everyone would agree with, and that's totally fine. But I do think to look classy, I do think it's best to not dye your hair. And what I'm talking about in terms of dyeing your hair is mainly bleaching your hair. I do think that the bleaching process is very damaging but also very expensive in the sense that

4:35 you want to maintain it. So your roots will tend to grow out and you have to go to the salon very frequently and I think that's kind of a money pit if you don't really take care of it properly or if you don't get it bleached properly. It can get really damaged and break off and that becomes a lot more high maintenance. If anything I would suggest wigs. Honestly, get a really good wig. Even though a good human hair wig can kind of be more expensive, if you think about the salon trips that you might have to take versus this one wig, it could balance out. So, I would say keep with your natural hair color to kind of save you money from going to the salon and just focus on having clean, polished hair. So, since we've already talked about hair and skin, now let's talk about nails. I guess I feel like these three are the golden trio of grooming and hygiene. You want to have clean nails. That's kind of a non-negotiable,

5:21 but clean nails can mean a lot of different things. I personally like having nails that are manicured, but that's really not a requirement, especially if it doesn't fit with your lifestyle or you don't like gel nail polish, acrylic nails, all of that. You really don't have to. It's just important then to just make sure they're very clean looking and just well trimmed. But I would say if you do like having polish, I would recommend more neutral or simplistic designs. I think really intricate nail art looks so cool. Honestly, I feel like it's an art form. But in terms of the classy polished aesthetic specifically, it doesn't necessarily fit in as well. Since a big component of looking classy is looking kind of simplistic. Therefore, you want to treat your nails as another accessory rather than the main outfit itself. In terms of classy colors, I tend to, like I said, rotate between these nude or

6:06 nude pink shades. Sometimes I'll do white. I think lighter colors in general tend to be more elongating. They elongate your fingers better. So, in that sense, I tend to lean towards lighter colors. But if you prefer darker colors, I do think dark short nails can look very classy as well. Like a burgundy or even I guess like a dark brown or dark green, those can work as well. Red nails of course are very classy in their own way. And honestly, simpler nails do tend to cost less, whether it is bare nails or just a solid color. Clean and simplistic nails are key. Now, I've been mainly talking about where to kind of pull back on spending regarding I guess your appearance. But an area that I would, well, I do personally invest a little more in is jewelry. I think jewelry is kind of almost more powerful than clothing sometimes because if you wear the same

6:52 piece of clothing for many days on end, it will be different than if you wear the same jewelry many days on end. I kind of wear the same bracelets, same necklace, earrings, everything for weeks on end is mostly out of laziness. It's not really out of any kind of other reason. But because of that, I really need jewelry that doesn't tarnish, that can just fit into my lifestyle, that doesn't break apart easily. There are some brands that are really good quality, but are not too expensive. I I guess in terms of jewelry, it all depends on what you consider too expensive. A brand that I really like is Ann Louisa. They've sponsored my videos in the past, so I do have a lot of their jewelry. This video is not sponsored by them, but I really do like their jewelry cuz I test out all types of brands. Some brands that are more expensive, even those tarnish faster. So, I would truly recommend Anna Louisa. I think that each

7:38 of their pieces are reasonably priced if you do wear them everyday. And I personally love the look of a really clean, bright, or just simplistic outfit and really nice, cohesive, intentional jewelry. I think it looks very elegant and it's kind of a wardrobe cheat code cuz that does mean you don't have to have billions of clothing pieces. You can just have a smaller capsule and just elevate it through your jewelry. You do want to make sure you get one that matches your undertone. Right now it's summer, so I'm a little more tan, so I can handle gold more. I have a neutral undertone, so in the winter I tend to have more pink in my skin. And then silver starts to look better. So if you're strictly cool tone, you can tell by the veins on the inside of your wrist. If they're more blue and purple and you have a pinkish tint to your skin, then you tend to be more cool toned. Whereas if you have a more yellow or orange tint to your skin and you have

8:25 more green veins, then you're more warm toned. If you have a mix of all of them, I have a mix I don't know if you can see. I have a mix of green, purple, and blue in my veins, and therefore I can handle both. That's kind of leaning more into color theory, which is its own topic, but I do think matching your jewelry to your undertone is super important. That way, your jewelry looks like it was made for you compared to using the wrong metal, which can look out of place and actually downgrade your outfit. So, make sure you wear a metal that matches your undertone. Another accessory thing I guess is kind of beauty as well, is your perfume. I don't really think you have to have a fragrance if you want to go above and beyond and really make an impression and have that more elegant aura around you. I think it's very powerful. A classy fragrance, it can be bright, it can be floral, it can be fruity, but it doesn't

9:11 tend to be overly sweet. Fragrances can be more sultry, so they can have more woodsy or darker notes. That part will depend on your personal preferences and what suits your body chemistry and your personality. But I just would stray against really sugary body sprays. I think those don't really last as long and they don't always mix very well with body odor in the spring and summer. This is my all-time favorite. It's Joe Malone's fig and lotus flower. Very light and I feel like it's not overly sweet. So again, not having overly sweet scents. I do think this is a very classy and refined scent. Whereas this one is one that I tend to use a lot for fall and winter. It's called Hard Feelings by Uncommon James. It's very different. It's much more woodsy. It reminds me of my favorite perfume back in the day was Elizabeth and James's black perfume. I think they

9:58 long discontinued that one. I can't find it anywhere. So, this one's a great kind of substitute for that. It's a lot more smoky. It's a lot more, I guess, sexy. It will depend on your personal preference in terms of perfume. But having a perfume that just embodies you and is not overly sweet, I think really upgrades how classy you seem. Moving on to kind of the bulk of our wardrobe, which is our clothing. Honestly, when it comes to being classy on a budget is more about what you don't buy rather than what you do buy. I used to have this notion that to be classy and to look expensive equated to wearing designer labels like the Chanel ballerina flats or like the Lady Dior. And I still like the designer aesthetic, but what I realized is it's really not a requirement to look classy. And

10:44 sometimes if you wear really ostentatious brand labels, it can actually take away from how classy you come across. Really loud monograms and designer labels. These are definitely an aesthetic, but not necessarily one that's very classy because they're not super timeless. They're more rooted in something that's very trendy and it really goes against this more elegant, refined aesthetic. So, all this to say is if you can't really afford those pieces, it's totally fine and it's not really something that you have to have in your wardrobe to look classy and to look polished. And that also leads me to my next point that you want to stop chasing trends. I mean, let's be honest, we're all conscious of fashion trends, or at least those of us that are into fashion. And I mean, no one wants to look outdated or not in the no. But at the same time, trends are getting faster and faster in the sense that their

11:30 turnaround and their kind of lifespan is getting shorter. I think it has to do with fast fashion and social media. It's becoming quicker and quicker that it used to be for a couple months or a couple years something will be trendy, but now it can be even a couple weeks it's in and then it's out. So, because of that, it's not really always wise to lean mostly into trends because you're going to be disappointed when all the clothes that you buy are no longer considered the it clothes after just a couple weeks. Being classy does relate a lot to being simplistic and being timeless. So building more of a capsule wardrobe is a really great way to step beyond trends. Have a foundational capsule wardrobe where you wear these pieces very often and you can see yourself wearing these pieces every year like this same classic top or same pair

12:16 of jeans every season that is weather appropriate. You'll still feel like you enjoy it and that you want to wear it again. And a way that I found to not chase trends but to not look outdated is to choose form fitting styles that mirror the natural body shape. Now, form fitting doesn't have to mean ultra skinny, like ultra skinny jeans are not really in right now. So, I'm not saying that the skinnier, the tighter the better. But in terms of form fitting, I think styles that maybe cinch at the waist or just have really clean lines. If you think of widelegg pants, they really streamline your legs. So, they're very flattering pretty much for every body type or stay like a blazer that is very well tailored to your body. This is going to last much longer because the natural body shape normally doesn't go out of fashion. Even when the trend is either towards skinny or towards curvy,

13:03 just having something that seems to fit you well and your personal body shape is most timeless and will prevent you from chasing the current trend, having to spend money on clothes that won't really even be relevant in a couple weeks or a couple months. Now, you might be wondering how you can build this capsule wardrobe if you don't want to spend hundreds and thousands on really expensive pieces, and I really don't think you need to. I think the most important thing is the material. It's becoming more common for things to be really polyester, really synthetic, but you still can find really quality pieces that are cotton, linen, or wool. All these just have a lot more longevity. With a piece that's mostly synthetic, it's going to unravel and look kind of gnarly after only a couple wears, whereas more natural fibers will stay looking nicer longer. I really like

13:48 cotton on Abbercrombie. I do think Abberrombie has really leveled up their selection. I remember it used to just be one of those janky teenager stores, but I think it's their stuff is really nice and almost like utilitarian now. I feel like there's other brands that I'm missing. I really like J. Crew. I wouldn't say J. Crew is the budget brand, but I think it will last a lot longer than buying just more of cheaper pieces, which is kind of another thing. There is a balancing point. You don't necessarily have to pay thousands of dollars for a nice sweater. But you can either buy a good slightly more expensive sweater or five or six really cheap sweaters that look cheap when you buy them and will unravel and peel really easily as you wear them. So, you do want to go for quality over quantity. But regardless of the brand, when you're shopping, just make sure to look at the

14:35 product material. It's always listed online. And when you're shopping in person, it'll always have a tag on the lower left corner when you wear a garment. It'll always show the laundry instructions. And with that, it'll show the composition of the piece. Just make sure to choose ones that are natural fiber because they'll last a lot longer and they'll just look nicer in general. The last thing that I want to mention is something that you can't buy. I think having good posture is crucial to looking classy. I do kind of struggle with this a bit in my videos. Sometimes when I'm editing, I roll my eyes because sometimes in my videos, I'm like this. I have a mic here, so I want to make sure the audio picks up well. But in general, just make sure to have a straight back and have your shoulders up, back, and down. Whenever you can, you want to engage your core in the sense you just don't want to hunch over. As you can tell, there's definitely a demeanor

15:21 change immediately. So, you want to have a straight back, engaged core. Good posture will give you a lot more gravitas and make you seem more confident which kind of is another unspoken component of being classy. Quiet confidence and just having a good strong composure is really powerful. Also when you walk always have the sense that you are walking towards a destination and keep your head up keep your head level. There's no need to really look down on people but at the same time you also want to maintain eye contact when you talk to people. I don't remember who said this to me. It was a while ago, but it's really helped me in terms of communicating with eye contact. When you're speaking to someone, maintain eye contact 80% of the time. If you maintain really strong eye contact 100% of the time, it can be a little intense. So, it's okay to naturally just

16:07 kind of look away now and then. But when you are a listener, have a soft focused gaze on the speaker and pretty much the entire time, like almost 100%. It just shows that you're very engaged with the conversation. And since they'll be looking away themselves, it won't necessarily come off as too intense. It'll just come off that you're really interested in what they have to say. All right, guys. That's all I have for this video. Again, make sure to check out my membership program if you want more exclusive content. Here's my Instagram and Tik Tok handle. Let's definitely be friends on there as well. I've been trying to post more on YouTube. I want to be more active on here. So, yeah. I'll see you guys very soon in my next video. Bye, guys. [Music]