Living in Miami has left me very in tune with how I look. When I was younger, I had to do less to look good. Now, at 41 years old, I put much more work into my beauty routine. While I believe beauty is in the eye of the beholder, it’s important to recognize your unique beauty and celebrate it; part of this celebration is to take good care of yourself so you can be the best version of yourself possible.

As part of a series on the secrets to looking beautiful at any age, I’ll discuss the truth about what goes into beauty routines. Though it may seem like a lot of work—frankly, it can seem exhausting!—the efforts do pay off. It can take a village to help keep you looking and feeling your best. Start building your beauty tribe so you can look and feel like your very best you!

Secret 8: Call in the Pros.

Anytime I have a big event or gala, I call in the professionals. This is an expensive solution, but this makes all the difference in the world! I don’t care who the person is; if they have a makeup artist and hair dresser, they will look amazing when stepping out. Not only do these people know the right colors and styles to use on you, but they just have so much more experience that the work they do is not even in the same league that you are able to do to yourself.

I find it funny when I see women at events and they try to downplay that they did anything differently to look the way they do at the event. There’s no shame in calling in the pros —it’s a beauty secret worth sharing! The reality is, it takes a lot of work to look good, and when you bring in a team of people who do this for a living, you take your whole look up another notch. This is an absolute essential when you’re having professional pictures taken; it’s worth the investment. Before having professional pictures taken this is a necessity. Whenever you need to look your absolute best, leave it to the pros. You’ll be so happy you did.