If you’re a woman who likes to take care of her appearance and always face the world looking smart and well-made-up, you’ll already know how to enhance your natural beauty to best effect. If you don’t, there are plenty of websites and magazines available full of great advice and tips for looking good, and knowing you look your best can be a powerful confidence boost. However, there can be times when you want a change, maybe a wow factor for a special event, a style more suited to the activity you’re planning, or simply because you feel like doing something different. It’s not always easy to think of ways to change your appearance and retain the confidence your regular look gives you, but there are some easy fixes you can try to help you find the most complimentary effects.

Changing your hair

Changing your hairstyle is one of the main ways to give yourself a new look, but if you cut it or color it and you don’t like the results, you’re then stuck with it until your hair grows out. If you want to change your style, then make use of the virtual hairstylist tools available online that use a photo of you to apply your selected styles to your face. Some are a little clunky, and you could find that the hairstyle sits in the wrong place on your head for instance, but even the most basic ones will give you a good idea of how a style or color change will look on you.

Temporary changes to your hair

If you just want a different style for a day or two before going back to your existing look, there are some clever ways you can try out an entirely new appearance. Wash-in wash-out hair colors will give you a temporary change, but as they don’t have the power of permanent coloring to alter your hair structure, the effects are usually more of a hint than a striking transformation. Wearing your hair up when you usually wear it loose, or vice versa, or simply parting your hair in a different way can make a considerable difference for a temporary alteration to your look. You can always try a wig or hair piece extensions for a complete change. Modern wigs can be almost indistinguishable from real hair, or you could go for an outlandish look for a real wow factor. Hair piece extensions are attached to a fine band that fixes under your natural hair, so the band is invisible and the extensions blend in seamlessly. You could always use a contrasting color to give a highlight or lowlight effect instead of the natural look.

Colored contact lenses

You don’t need to have problems with your vision in order to get a prescription for contact lenses. Anyone can wear them, but you must have a check-up from a qualified optometrist to ensure you get the correctly shaped lenses for your eyes, even if you don’t need the corrective element. It’s also important to know how the lenses should be worn and looked after, and how to avoid infections and sore eyes. There are several types of lenses available:

• Enhancement tinted lenses are designed to highlight your natural eye color rather than change it completely, so they are good for adding depth and enhancing your eyes while retaining a natural look.
• Opaque tinted lenses disguise your natural eye color, so you can go for a complete change. They don’t have the natural look of the enhancement tinted version, so it will be clear you’re wearing lenses, but you can make some dramatic alterations to your look this way.
• Custom lenses can be made to your exact design if you want a specific look that you can’t get from off the shelf lenses. These are great for theme parties and dressing up.
• Black lenses are designed to make your eyes look bigger and more attractive by intensifying the black iris at the center of your eye. You can find out more about these contacts and the alternatives by researching what is available online.

A change of clothes

Women tend to favor a particular style when it comes to choosing what to wear, and apart from subtle design variations or adaptations that reflect current fashion trends, you’ll probably find you go for similar outfits in general. Some particularly confident women and those who work in or with the fashion industry may be more adept at changing their wardrobe day to day, but it’s more common to find closets filled with a few defined styles and colors. Therefore, if you want to make an impact, it’s a good idea to get creative with the type of outfit you wear, the color combinations and the fabrics, and try using different styles of accessories to your regular choices. For example, if you usually wear pencil skirts and high-heeled pumps, try swapping them for a pair of pants and some knee-length boots. If you haven’t got what you need in your own wardrobe, see if your friends have anything you could borrow or go and have a fitting session at the mall.

Make-up makeovers

Like clothes, for most women make-up tends to conform to the shades and designs that they wear every day, with maybe a touch of glitter or extra eyeliner for a night out. The range of cosmetics and colors available is so extensive you’ll have no trouble finding new color schemes to try and different brands to experiment with. If you normally go easy on the mascara and eyeliner, you could try more of a Cleopatra look, or if you normally favor the Queen of the Nile, try the natural, dewy look instead.

Changing your look is all about making an impact in a new way, and there are a fair few options to try in pursuit of your goal. The great thing about most of the ideas here is that they are temporary, so if you decide you don’t like your new look, you won’t be stuck with it. On the other hand, you may love your temporary look so much you change your whole style for good!