Mothers: often they of underrated.  My mother worked full-time and raised three children...on her own.  She was strong, she was loving, she was...really fabulous too.  Where she found the time to dress herself with such care I will never know, but I will always appreciate these gems of wisdom she has left with me.

1. Better understated than overboard.  It's always better to look casually elegant than way over-the-top, so if you're on the borderline, always go for the understatement.

2. Beauty is an attitude. There are plenty of gorgeous girls who get no attention (or bad attention) because of the way they carry themselves.  What makes Tyra Banks so fab even though she no longer models?  Her upbeat attitude and confidence.  Thankfully, those are two things every woman can work on.

3. Fake it if you gotta.  Everybody's got a feature they'd really rather not have.  Some people don't like their bone structure, some people don't like their skin texture: whatever it may be, there's always a trick or tip that will help you enhance it.  For me, I put a little sparkly dust right down the middle of my nose to make it look thinner, and on top of my cheekbones to make them more prominent.  Trick is, you gotta know what you've got and learn to work with it, rather than trying to hide anything. Which leads me to number 4...

4. Love what you've got. Why worry about an asymmetrical nose nostril that isn't going to go away when you've got a fabulous pair of lips right under it?  Know yourself and your body: maybe you've got short legs but they're muscular, or you've got big hips but a tiny waist.  Work with what you like, fake what you don't (see number 3), and don't sweat the small stuff.  Truly loving your body is the secret to sexy confidence.

5. Beauty is an inside thing.  I've already mentioned attitude, but there's another aspect to this fact: physical health.  Those women and men who take care of themselves look better than their peers 100% of the time.  You can enhance features that may be taking away from your overall look (aka, dark circles under the eyes), but you can't totally fake healthiness.  So take care of yourself to the best of your ability, because getting sleep and eating some veggies will do more for you than 20lbs of makeup ever will.

6. Wear Sunscreen.  Pretty self explanatory, this one isn't exactly a revelation.  Sunscreen protects you from skin cancer, but it also keeps you protected from dryness, acne (which is often your skin's response to dryness caused by too much sun exposure), uneven skin tone, and wrinkles.  Make sure it's broad-spectrum and at least SPF15, although 30 is better, and reapply throughout the day (even in winter).  Your skin will reward you.