The TV show “How to Look Good Naked” has been a raging success and with good reason - it tackles women’s insecurities about their bodies and makes them feel good about themselves - a sure-fire winner.
For a show about how to look good naked an awful lot of attention is focused on how to look good in clothes. I guess the confidence you get from looking good out and about (and the admiring glances you receive) translates to you feeling altogether better whether you’re wearing clothes or not.
Although the show has to be applauded for attempting to make women feel good about themselves without trying to change their shape, it does go against the grain a bit for me because I am all about helping people to improve their bodies and their health.
Let’s Face it - Your Mirror Doesn’t Lie
When you take your clothes off to get in your shower or to make love to your partner, you no doubt want to look good naked and when you look into your mirror . . . it tells you the truth, whether you want to ‘hear it’ or not. For many people, the mirror is the only time they ever see their toes . . . their excess flab, their love handles and every other bit hang without support - which means ‘how to look good naked’ is more than looking good in clothes.
And I believe the best way for you to look good naked is for you to actually work on your body so it’s the best it can be.
Nevertheless you can do a lot without making yourself feel bad about your body and feeling you are less than perfect because you can’t manage 2 hours a day in the gym.
So what can you do WITHOUT too much effort?
1. Good Fuel
Looking good naked is not about losing weight - most of the women in the show would have liked to be lighter but sexy does not have to mean twig-like. In fact it’s easier to be sexy with a few womanly pounds of flesh here and there than with a bony too-skinny look. Looking good naked DOES mean caring for your body with the right foods to make you feel great - good food and plenty of water to keep you nourished, hydrated and full of energy. And quite often the right foods will result in a slimmer body anyway.
2. Avoid the Pregnant Look
No one is going to look good naked with a stomach stuffed full of pasta. (Just look how you get a 5 months pregnant look next time you go into carb overload). If you want to look good naked, make sure you eat in moderation before you take off your clothes! And if the pregnant look is a constant feature of your body (and you haven’t stuffed yourself with carbs for ages) sign up for the FREE 5 Easy Ways to Flat Abs course here on this site and do something about it in just a couple of minutes a day.
3. Firm Not Flabby
It’s not only our stomachs which look better toned. We all look better - excess flesh or no excess flesh - if we have great underlying muscle tone. Just a few minutes a few times a week spent firming, toning and strengthening your butt, thighs, chest and arms will go a long way to making you look great without your clothes.
4. Pampered Soft Skin
The ladies on the Look Good Naked show have plenty of pampering beauty treatments to make sure that their skin is soft, hair-free and smooth. Flaking, rough skin, goose bumps and hairy legs are not the look you are aiming for…
5. Beautiful Color
If you’re pale, an even and subtle fake tan always makes flesh more attractive in and out of your clothes and helps cover a multitude of sins (fat and cellulite…to name but two).
6. Hair Update
Your hair is the only fashion statement you’ll be wearing so it needs to look current, soft, healthy and touchable (give the hairspray and sticky gel a miss). Most important of all you need a cut which suits the shape of your face and is in proportion to the size of your body. Find a good hairdresser and visit often for a regular trim and occasional restyle.
7. Don’t Forget Your Extremities
Make sure your hands and feet are beautiful with a professional manicure and pedicure or learn to do it yourself. Chipped nail polish, rough hands and jagged nails are not going to win any prizes in the Look Good Naked stakes.
8. A Bit of Makeup
You don’t want your face paint to come off on the bed clothes but a bit on subtle makeup can work wonders to accentuate your good points and camouflage the points you’re less than happy with. And you can also use a bit of body makeup to cover up flaws such as spider veins.
9. Smile
Don’t forget your teeth. If they don’t enhance your look and they make you want to hide your smile it’s time to save up, get over any fear you have of the dentist and get them sorted out.
10. Let Your Eyes Sparkle!
When your smile reaches your eyes you want them to sparkle not show the effects of too many nights burning the candle at both ends. Get plenty of beauty sleep before a big night or as a last resort for a special occasion, use those brightening eye drops.
11. Smell Good
Don’t overpower the world with too much fragrance or use a whole selection of competing products - differently perfumed shampoo, deodorant, soap and body lotion can be a toxic combination. Lightly layered perfume from matching bath products and no more than a light spray of fragrance from the same range will leave you smelling good as well as looking good.
12. Lighting
Remember that none of us looks our best under bright fluorescent light - soft lighting or candle light will improve the mood of the moment AND your body.
If all else fails, you’ve eaten too much pasta, your jeans have popped the first 2 buttons, you’re bleary eyed, your make-up is smudged and you never did do your toning exercises, bear in mind - the person you are getting naked with probably couldn’t care less - especially if you are going to get jiggy with it!
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