Vacation photos don't always capture cherished moments from a trip of a lifetime. Sometimes they reflect the harsh reality that you failed to give a moment's thought about how you look before you stepped in front of a camera.

Take me, for instance. I recently went on a trip to England and snapped a bunch of photos. When I saw them later, I would have torn them up right there if they weren't digital. There I was, posing in places I had always longed to visit, and I looked like something buried inside Westminster Abbey. The photos are so bad they are almost incriminating.

Since this was not the reality I want to embrace now or in the future - and I don't want any folks out there who are planning a fabulous trip to suffer like I did - I thought it would be appropriate to solicit advice from experts who deal in reality for a living. So I asked specialists in the areas of hair, makeup, fashion and photography from the world of reality TV to help prevent the tragedy of the ghastly vacation photo from happening ever again.

In my England pictures, my hair looked like a crow's nest after a tornado. So I consulted with Tabatha Coffey. She is an Australian stylist and the star of "Tabatha's Salon Takeover" on Bravo, which begins its new season Nov. 3. Tabatha's words can sometimes bring people to tears. But since I had shed all mine after seeing my photos, I figured I was safe.

"Before people go on vacation, I would recommend getting their hair done so it's nice and fresh, the color is fresh, and they're looking good," she explained. I should note that some of Tabatha's advice applied to women specifically, and men specifically, but also to both.