Personal stylist Luana Lima is originally from Rio de Janeiro. In 2018, she made her first trip to Europe, visiting Lisbon, Paris, and the Algarve. It was during this journey that she discovered the calm rhythm of life in the Algarve and fell in love with it. Drawn to its peaceful lifestyle, she later decided to move to the Faro area.

At that time, she had a promising career at a telecommunications company in Brazil, but moving meant starting again from scratch. She began working in a sushi restaurant to blend with the local community and meet new people. Shortly after, she found a job as a financial representative for a large Spanish company. But soon after that, the pandemic began and same as all of us, Luana had to stay at home. Since she had always been passionate about fashion, and suddenly had extra time during quarantine, she decided to take an online course, first with her friend, who is a fashion consultant in Brazil and then with The Lisbon Fashion School.


Luana was later invited to model in a fashion show organised by Designer Outlet Algarve. She got in touch with the marketing manager, who proposed a partnership to her. To be closer to work, she decided to move to Vilamoura and she started to offer her services as a fashion consultant at the outlet, participated in the Vogue fashion event, and continues to provide image consultancy services there.

Stepping into luxury

Another big opportunity came when she was discovered on LinkedIn by a human resources company and invited for an interview for a director position at the luxury Boutique dos Relógios in Quinta do Lago.


At the boutique, she gained valuable knowledge about fine jewellery pieces and luxury watches. Clients of this brand are international, giving her the chance to connect with new people every day. When asked what her favourite jewellery piece was, Luana replied, “I cannot go out without a nice pair of earrings. Then I really like to wear different rings and, of course, since I work in the Boutique, a watch from one of our brands is a must!”

Boutique dos Relógios collaborates with various hotels to host exhibitions of their luxury goods. This opened a new door for Luana, who found a gap in the market and started to offer corporate workshops for companies. One such educational workshop on the Professional dress code for employees was organised at the W hotel in Albufeira.

Her most requested service is for colour analysis, where she helps clients discover the shades and tones that flatter them the most.

Personal image consultation process

Luana believes a personal style consists of two parts: first are the assets we are born with, and second is what message we want to send to the world, and this depends on the actual situation.

Her image consultations are very precise and detailed and normally take place over several meetings.

At the first meeting, she gets to know her client better, understand their day-by-day situations, whether they have children, what their profession is, and Luana also provides a colour analyses. “I need to understand the principal reason why my client is looking for this type of service. Normally, the biggest change in a woman’s life is having a child, when her personal style understandably changes a lot and she might need a little help to redefine it. Another situation is starting a new job in a different field and trying to get the right look to represent her company well.”

Her clients also need to fill in a questionnaire with interesting questions, not only about their fashion choices but also about their preference in decorating, favourite places, colours, as all of this information helps her to create the full picture. “My clients like this first appointment as they feel understood because of how deep I go with all the information I need to create a personal analysis for them.”

At the second appointment, Luana shares the results from the previous meeting. She speaks about body proportions and asks her client if there are any body parts they feel less comfortable with and would prefer to minimise. They also discuss materials and designs.


The next part is to recommend to the client some clothing for all types of situations: work, holiday, dinner, weekends and more.

For some clients, this information is enough; others decide to continue to the following step which is a closet clean-out. “I help my clients to go through their wardrobe and choose clothes that fit with their personal style and remove those that shouldn’t be a part of their closet anymore.”

After this, it is a time for personal shopping, which Luana normally does online, as it gives her much more choice in styles, colours and sizes. The selected items are delivered to the client’s home, where they can try everything on and see if it fits well or adjustments are needed.

She can also create a lookbook, which is a guide that her client can use daily. “My client tries on different outfits; I take pictures and then create a book. If my client doesn’t know what to wear in the morning, just open the lookbook and see all the possibilities already in their closet.”

Luana notes a big difference between the style of Portuguese and Brazilian women. “Brazilians prefer to feel sexier and the beauty culture has played a significant role in their life since childhood. Portuguese women, on the other hand, prefer comfort and authenticity.”

If Luana could style anybody in the world, she would choose Kate Blanchett or Charlize Theron, her Hollywood idols. Looking ahead, when it comes to upcoming trends, Luana believes monochromatic and neutral colours will dominate, together with tailored clothing.

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