Free The Regal Rules for Girls by Jerramy Fine Page B

their voices, but I had a hunch that one was American and one was British, so I walked past their table to see if I was correct—and of course I was.
    Can
you
guess which girl was which?
    While the Brits love fashion, they haven’t quite caught up with Americans when it comes to hair, makeup, and overall grooming. I’m not quite sure why this is. It might be because salon services are twice as expensive as they are in America. (For instance, a pedicure of mediocre quality costs roughly $100.) It might be because British women simply don’t know
how
to blow-dry their hair or the correct way to apply concealer. Or it might be that a long, long time ago, the only women in England that bothered do their hair and makeup were prostitutes—and so for many years afterward, any woman who dared to paint her nails was deemed an automatic whore. Thankfully, attitudes like this have moved on somewhat, but whatever the reason, the natural American urge to look pristinely polished has not yet been wholly embraced by British women.
    To their credit, there are some British women who have been blessed with shiny, maintenance-free hair (that requires neither products nor heat-styling to look gorgeous) and startlingly clear skin that glows without the help of blush or pressed powder. A girl like this is what you might call a true English rose. Excellent examples are Sophie Dahl, Rosamund Pike, Kate Winslet, and of course our beloved Duchess of Cambridge. (In fact, the lovely Kate is so unusually well polished she’s practically an honorary American.)
    However, on the streets of London, girls like these are few and far between; everyone else you encounter looks like Kate Moss or Amy Winehouse the morning after. Meaning, everyone else needs to wash their hair, clean their nails, shave their legs, and not be so heavy-handed with their eye makeup. And for the love of god, please don’t wear chipped toenail polish in public.
    The Duchess of Windsor (formerly Wallis Simpson) with her husband, Prince Edward, the Duke of Windsor, on their wedding day.
    Wallis Simpson, an American socialite, was hardly known for her beauty, yet she was always immaculately groomed. What happened to her? She married the heir to the British throne.
    The lesson? American grooming makes you luminous. Use it to your advantage. (And just so you know, if Prince Harry falls for an American girl, there is absolutely nothing in the law that says he has to abdicate.)
    For more on Wallis Simpson and her royal love affair see “Royal FAQ’s,” p. 108 and “Your Crush is Nothing New,” p. 118
    This is where you will shine as an American. Without even trying, your daily beauty habits will
already
be eons ahead of most of your London counterparts. And for this reason, you
will
get noticed by Londoners of the opposite sex. When faced with your perfect yet subtle manicure, faultless blow-dry, and flawlessly applied natural makeup, they just can’t help themselves.
    American girls are livelier, better educated… not as squeamish as their English sisters… and better able to take care of themselves.
    —T HE P RINCE OF W ALES , 1930
    Beauty Basics
    When it comes to makeup, always strive for a classic,
understated
look. The real key to makeup is that it shouldn’t look like you’re wearing makeup—it just looks like
you
(only slightly better).
    Understand the shape of your face. The way you apply eye shadow and blush may not work for me because our cheekbones and brow bones are shaped differently. So just because you like your friend’s makeup doesn’t mean it’s the right makeup technique for you.
    See a professional. I went to a MAC makeup counter when I was sixteen years old, and although I don’t use all of their products (I’m still a fan of Maybelline!), nearly twenty years later I still use many of the same application techniques thatI learned that day. So choose a cosmetic counter and book an appointment. Tell the makeup artist that you want a natural,