Impeccable Grooming

Impeccable grooming is a vital part of your personal branding -the way you market yourself to the world.

In most of the interviews, it’s your appearance that makes or breaks the chances of your selection. Of late a research has proved that it is the first 10 seconds that decides your fate.

The best part of being well-groomed is, it always gives you enormous self-confidence, which works wonders for you. Grooming can’t be misunderstood with wearing high-end brands. It is of no use if you are poorly groomed and dressed in costly brands, it indeed spoils the effect. Dandruff flakes on the collar, bad breath; scruffy shoes and untidy nails act as instant repellents, driving away the people around you.

Being well groomed means just being neat and odour-free which is really easy to achieve. While you have no power over factors like skin tone and height, you can exercise quite a lot of control over the following aspects:

Hair
A well-groomed crown is always an asset for both men and women. Keep your hair clean, wash them frequently with good shampoo and apply good conditioner. You shall oil your hair in the evenings, generally during the time in which you won’t have to meet people, and shampoo it off in the morning. However, resist using sticky and smelly oil after the wash; instead you may use non-sticky/non fragrant styling gel or cream. But remember, excessive gel or blow-drying give you exaggerated glamorous look which might not be appropriate for most businesses. Dandruff flakes on the jacket are ugly and should be treated with professional care.

Odours

As we work in closed air-conditioned offices, being odour-neutral is the need of the hour. Any foul odour, however mild can mar your impression among your colleagues as it spreads quickly across the work space.

Bad Breath

Although bad breath is unacceptable everywhere, but in closed milieu of offices it even become unbearable, your colleague may be too polite to tell you that you suffer from it. Chewing pan masala and smoking besides being noxious to your health, also lead to bad breath. Consumption of raw onions, garlic and foods with strong aroma contribute to bad breath. Avoid such food during office hours.

“An apple a day keeps doctor away, an onion a day keeps everyone away”

Breath fresheners may provide temporary relief but it doesn’t eliminate the problem as bad breath is the repercussion of unhealthy body and poor dental hygiene, perhaps requiring the help of a medical professional even. For natural breath fresheners, use cardamom, clove and fennel seeds.

Body Odour
Sweating is quiet natural as we live in a hot and humid tropical country. When it traps in our skin for long it emits bad odour. It can be avoided with nice anti-perspirant deodorant and daily shower.

Feet Odour

As we wear closed shoes in our offices day long especially men, this gives rise to feet odour problem. The solution is to use 100 per cent cotton socks and change them daily. ‘Air out’ your shoes at night by leaving them standing against the wall instead pushing them in poorly ventilated shoe drawers. Several anti-odour insoles/powders are also available in the market to take care of this problem.

Hands and Feet

Although often neglected, well groomed hands and feet show your keenness to hygiene and detail. As a rule, men should clip their nails short while women can wear nails up to medium length, painted in neutral colors, see-through polish. Most importantly, they should take care of unsightly cracked feet which show up under sandals.

Perfumes

Use perfumes which are subtle and restrict their fragrance to your personal space. Heavy fragrances exude your pretentious nature and detract you from professionalism or worse .It may trigger asthma or migraine attacks among your colleagues. In a nut shell, use lighter perfumes during the day and the heavier one’s for the evenings.

Body Piercing/Tattoos
Refrain from body piercings and tattoos unless you are a ‘fashion icon’ or a person from creative industry. If at all you want to do it, don’t do it in the visible places of your body.

Always remember: When you invest in yourself, it becomes easy for others also to invest in you!

Published date : 25 Mar 2015 11:00AM