Julie Schott is a fellow beauty writer and former elle.com beauty editor. She and I bonded years ago over wailing about acne at Miraval while drinking delicious drinks in the pool. So I hit her up to share her Five Rules. Here they are, in Julie’s words.

1. Don’t share the craziest dream you had last night. 
While it may have been scary/sexy/amusing/weird for you, tell someone else and you’ve got a completely made up story. If you absolutely must share, summarize in one sentence and feature the person you¹re talking to.

2. Own your lineage. Self-hating or hiding is unattractive! I was seeing a born-and-raised NYC dude who spoke in a British accent. If Madonna and Lady Gaga can’t pull it off, neither can you.

3. Be a good guest. Bring something to share ­ food, booze, beauty products ­ whatever. Clean up, replace things you finish, and send a thank you–preferably handwritten when it’s all over.

4. Buy expensive shoes. No, the Aldo knock-offs don’t look just as good, and they certainly won’t work in 10 years the way the real thing will.

5. Let new people into your life. The idea of having enough friends means
closing yourself off and missing out. Stay open for business!

Thanks, Julie!

Stay tuned for more Five Rules installments.

 “Five Rules,” is a series on Rouge18 in which I ask others to share their five rules for life about anything and everything. You can learn a lot about a person by reading which five things govern their actions, no?