After a brief search over StackExchange I've decided to ask my own question.
I'm looking for a word to describe someone who enjoys grooming themselves or taking care of their appearance, but without the negative connotations of words like 'vain' or 'self-conscious'.
I've thought about some options already that I'm not very happy with:
Vain and self-conscious feel derogative, coquettish feels sexual or romantic and seems to describe the way someone behaves towards someone else, pretty/handsome or good looking seem to describe the way someone appears and not the way someone behaves.
Stylish and fashionable are close ones, but they seem to focus too much on clothing, and I'm talking more about grooming: combed hair, manicured nails, clean-shaven (especially a man), maybe with some makeup on (especially a woman), etc…
The context of what I'm trying to write would be something like this:
A woman who is the perfect blend of practical and ____.
Vain? Stylish? Fashionable? I'm not convinced… help!
Any suggestions?
Best Answer
It doesn't really work in the OP's sample sentence, but I would suggest well-groomed. If we tweak (quite radically, I'm afraid) the sample sentence we'd get
Collins Dictionary
Collins also provides soigné as one of its synonyms, a French loanword which originally meant “to take good care of” (soigner) nowadays its meaning is closer to that of being elegant, chic, and well-groomed. Merriam-Webster says of it