This is the 2nd post in December’s Top Tens Series. This guest post was written by Janet Wallace, a cupcake loving lawyer and blogger in Northern Cali.

Every day we are bombarded with advertisements that tell us how to be beautiful. According to the ads, we need dozens of products and procedures to look attractive–creams and highlighters and foundations and lip stains and botox injections. Getting beautiful can be terribly expensive. Sure, I love Sephora as much as the next girl, but here are ten beauty tips that don’t cost a cent.

1. Get Plenty of Beauty Sleep. Sleep may be for the weak, but friends, it is also for the beautiful. Sleeping Beaty didn’t get her name for nothing. Your skin renews itself as you sleep so too little can lead to dull skin and those infamous dark circles. Let’s hear it for a good eight hours of shut eye!

2. Drink to Your Beauty. To keep your skin hydrated and fresh, drink plenty of water. Sure, we all need the occassional glass of wine or our daily lattes, but the rest of the time it’s all about the H2O. And here’s a little supermodel secret: drink ice water which requires your body to expend calories to get the water to body temperature. Every little bit helps, no?

3. Breathe. Alright, so you are on your way to an event and the traffic has you running a few minutes behind. Do you rush in a big frazzled mess? Or do you arrive collected and offer a kind apology? Take a deep breath and hold yourself with grace and dignity. Beauty is more than the products you put on, it’s the way you carry yourself. Speaking of which…

4. Practice Good Posture. Good posture can instantly make you more beautiful. I know, I know: it is also difficult and annoying. We should practice together. Let’s all be lovely ballerinas at our computers–stomachs in, back flat, chin up. Look at that. We are prettier already.

5. Exercise. It’s amazing what a regular workout can do for your body. In addition to overall body fitness, which always makes me feel and look better, improved circulation makes skin and hair look brighter.

6. Smile. A simple and straightforward beauty tip that is twice as attractive when it’s genuine.

7. Edit. It’s time to implement the old adage: less is more. Go through your closet and get rid of all the items that make you feel frumpy, that are worn and outdated, and that simply don’t fit. It’s far better to work with a limited, tried-and-true wardrobe that makes you feel good than have an endless supply of shabby items that just don’t work. {editor’s note: this tip is definitely an example of practice what you preach, Janet recently did a 30 day closet cleansing exercise that consisted of mixing and matching her signature Black & Gray pieces with some color here and there.}

8. Be Classic. It’s terribly expensive to constantly be updating your style to align with the ever-changing trends. Remember: there’s absolutely nothing wrong with being classic. Take a look at Audrey Hepburn, a perfectly timeless example of elegance. Her simple, understated wardrobe would be just as stylish today. When you are about to charge an outrageously trendy item on your American Express, ask yourself: What Would Audrey Do (WWAD)?

9. Know that you don’t have to be perfect, to be perfect. The flaws, oh, the flaws. We all have them (well, except maybe Elizabeth Hurley). The wrinkle here. The pimple there. The frizz, the freckle, the scar. Too thin, too wide, too small, too large. There’s a reason the models in our magazines are airbrushed. It’s simply impossible to be perfect! So, it’s time to let it go. Seriously. Accept the imperfections, whatever they may be. This is probably the hardest item on the list, so make a resolution to make peace with your flaws.

10. Build Your Confidence. Ladies, you are beautiful. Believe it. Radiate it. Confidence is beautiful.