It dawned on me the other day that I am a bit unique when it comes to inspiration for dressing day-to-day. Everyone has their “thing” that motivates them to wear a certain outfit. One might think I was a shoe-in for … well … shoes. As much as I love shoes, and my belief that they complete the look of any outfit, I start with my skin.

People notice skin — the good and the bad. When your skin looks flawlessly fabulous, you glow! Every morning, I take pride in my skin care ritual. Creating a perfectly smooth canvas for make-up application (another inspiration) is essential.

After my skin is prepped and ready for the day, I move to my eyes. My general rule of thumb — never match  eye shadow to clothing. I look for complementary color options in my closet to bring out the color in my eyes. Of course, my skin has to look and feel impeccable to bring the focus up to my eyes. With excellent skin care, I don’t need to cover up my skin with foundation. Instead, I use a highlighting concealer in the corners of my eyes (and on the occasional blemish). As for lips, berry looks great year round.

As odd as it may sound, especially for a stylist, I design my outfit for the day around my face. My sister is still intrigued by that, as she sees how much I love every item in my closet. She, on the other hand, is an accessories girl — designing her outfit around the accessories she wants to wear for the day. My sister’s style of dressing is classic … of course to showcase her accessories. And while I have some of the best accessories (read: shoes), it begins at skin for me. Everyone has their own motivation for dressing each morning.

What’s your inspiration?