To think it's hard to look good if you don't have much money

[sallychadband]

Just this really.

Few clothes = frequent washing = looking shabby.

No make up

Infrequent hair appointments

No beauty appointments

Overworked - long hours = look exhausted, plus little time to spend on / think about appearance

Tackling your appearance from the inside out is one way. So drink shit loads of water, give up alcohol or at least cut down and change your diet.

You can invest in tweezers (eyebrows) and some clear nail polish to keep things trim (eyebrows and nails).

Find second hand good quality clothes eg on eBay and have the basic rule: make sure everything in your wardrobe coordinates and avoid patterns (then less issues with fashion).

In terms of hair - keep it clean and learn some updo styles so a lack of a decent cut isn’t obvious!

CiaoBella I've got plenty of experience of being poor, thanks. I still think the OP is making excuses. You do have to make more of an effort when you haven't got lots of money to throw at things, but thats life really.

Rommel makeup is very cheap and cheerful.

Nice autocorrect!

Moisturiser as used by The Desert Fox Himself.

You make choices in life. The quote goes, there are no ugly women, they are either poor, lazy or both.

You don't need products that cost the earth, simply keeping skin clean and moisturised consistently will make a difference. Drink plenty of water - tap is fine - and eat well. Vegetables are cheaper than any processed crap and will make you look and feel great.

Experiment with some simple makeup. You can get a concealer, an eyebrow pencil, a mascara, some powder and a bronzer (which can be used on both cheeks and as eyeshadow) cheaply. Boots Natural collection is great as is the MUA range in Superdrug. I reckon you could get all of that for less than a tenner. Use fingers to apply.

Buy clothes from charity shops or look at supermarket ranges for the decent bits. This week I bought a Valentino suit, a Hobbs dress, and other bits of Jaeger, Mint Velvet, Boden and Ted Baker in a charity shop. I spent less than £40 and have a bagful of amazing pieces that will look great for the rest of the summer. The good stuff is there, you just have to look.

awaits thread where man is told he needs paint and beauty treatments to look good...

I think I look fine. I’m not naturally beautiful, but I’ve got a symmetrical enough face, slimmish and I’m clean and presentable.

I don’t have much money so I walk everywhere. I’m fast. Several miles a day minimum. That’s exercise. Yes, I own a pair of trainers to do this in (14.99) but I’ll admit I struggle with shoes. My sandals are falling apart at the moment and by the time I’m able to replace them it’ll be boot season again, and my good boots bother have broken zips. I need to take them to the shoe repair shop and figure out if mending them is a good idea. At the moment I haven’t any heeled shoes. But the kids have good shoes. So it’s OK.

I don’t do anything to my nails except cut them. I don’t do anything to my eyebrows except pluck a stray hair here and there. I wear my hair long and it’s not coloured, so I go years between cuts. I use a face wash twice a day which costs £1.79 and lasts two months. I wear makeup, every day, some of it is literally decades old (you can laugh if you like) I’ve never been in a beauty salon or waxed anything. I use disposable razors until they are very very blunt, spend perhaps a pound on razors a year. I brush and I floss regularly, ideally I’d see the hygienist but it often goes by the wayside in favour of actual dental check ups.

I do have more clothes with holes in than I’d care to admit, but I mend them. Most of my stuff is passed on from family members, bought in charity shops or in somewhere cheap like H&M.

I should probably have some kind of moisturiser. I have suncream. I don’t use anything other than supermarket on offer shampoo and occasionally shower gel. I’ve given up using conditioner.

I still think I look fine. Really. I didn’t even think of half of these things on this list until I read through the thread. I guess if you haven’t had them you don’t miss them!

Tectonicplates, I used to trim mu.kids' hair, it never looked good OP, don't do this!

Yes it is harder to look good if you are hard up. (Life is much harder with no.money)

No easy solutions, but start with being a bit kind to yourself and looking at yourself kindly. Give yourself a break. Can you do a clothes swap with friends? Keep your hair washed and clean, wear your best clothes...

I totally agree OP.

I also work, nearly 50 and am exhausted and skint. My hair was getting so long and straggly that i had to to get my mum to cut my hair. Cannot afford any beauty products (no, not even the cheap Superdrug ones).

I came out today wearing a black dress that is really badly faded after so many washes and has fraying sleeves. The bra I was wearing is full of holes and the wire was poking my chest all day. Can't even afford perfume to smell nice. Sole is falling off one of my shoes. And I eat lots of bread (very little veg/fruit) because it's cheap and filling. I live in London where charity shop clothes are expensive! Plus I don't have the time to go rummaging for clothes.

I don't think some people on this thread realise what skint actually means.

I think it is more the lack of time than the lack of money. That is my experience anyway.

If looking good was my top priority in life, I think I'd pick being time rich and money poor over the opposite scenario.

Agree with another poster in that it really depends on what you mean by 'looking good' - if you mean fake tan, fake eyelashes, tons of makeup, botox and the latest designer fashions then it probably isn't easy but if you mean generally well groomed, neat and tidy then it's perfectly possible - I am shocked by what some people spend on hairdressers/make up etc but I think I always look 'presentable', I only shop in charity shops and go to a local college for a hair cut - and I don't colour my grey hair. In my circle of friends none of us spend much on our appearance but looking round we all lovely people and i think we all look 'nice' . I am frequently told I don't look my age.

Perhaps my standards are low !

I don’t know. I had no money in my 20s but managed to look decent. As you get older you do have to spend more on grooming if you care about it. For me it’s face hair and hair itself. Just get yourself groomed and buy a few outfits from a good charity shop.

I’ve been both dirt poor and wealthy, and money definitely makes it easier to look good in terms of nicer clothes, more expensive haircuts, facials etc., but on a budget I still looked great, and did the following.

Tinted my own brows and plucked them using a stencil.
Filed my nails and buffed them.
Drank copious amounts of water (still do).
Used Frownies (still do).
Used jojoba oil instead of fancy skin creams (lately switched to argan oil).
When I couldn’t afford a gym, I walked up and down my stairs nightly for 20/30 minutes while listening to music.
Made my own body and face scrubs using oil and sea salt.
Cut my own hair, after getting an easy style done at a salon, and maintaining it myself with a trim every six weeks.
Bought only classic clothing styles on the high street/second hand.

give up alcohol
I already have, long ago. I can't afford it.

fgs you don't need hairdressing training to trim hair

Really? That may be the case for a blunt cut with long hair, but are you seriously suggesting that other styles would look even remotely ok if attached by an amateur with kitchen scissors?

I think I'll go for the long and straggly look if so...

I’ve spent most of my life with very little money
Prioritise what you can afford
I have never worn make up and rarely afford beauty appointments
I do my own nails, tint eyelashes and groom eyebrows
Buy most of my clothes from charity shops or eBay with occasional sale and outlet purchases
I also sell on eBay things which no longer fit r I get bored with
Exercise helps and cost nothing
My priority is a cut and colour every 6 weeks

Charity shop - there's an excellent one near the bank. So I make a point of dropping in when I need the bank.
Accessorise - cheap jewellery, scarves to tone with your outfit, again charity shop & car boot sale. Look at changing buttons or adding embelishments to upgrade outfits
Hair - a bob is relatively easy to do yourself with a mirror in front of you..
DIY dyeing.
Shoes - always polish, re-heel/sole the favourites.
& finally walk tall - an old lady told me this, she was the smallest of 7 sisters but by the time they all reached their 60s/70s she was the tallest. Always walk as erect as you can as though a thread is pulling you up through your neck at the top of your head, shoulders back, chest out a tincy bit suck the tummy in a comfortable inch and don't slouch (and she always said NEVER walk along on your mobile, for one thing you hunch but you trip and spoil the effect). Apparently you'll look like you are floating and far more graceful than everyone else stuck on their phones

Cakedup sounds really hard. I've been skint but it was a short lived time - only a couple of years.

We have a high household income and i look like a scrubber!

My sister said to me a few months ago that she was saying to her work colleagues that if you saw my sister you would never think she could afford to shop here!!!

Cheeky cow!

I dont have childcare so i never go to a beauty salon or hairdressers.

It's harder but not impossible. Being slim is the easiest way to look good. Carefully chosen cheap clothes can look expensive. I shop around: linen tees from H&M for £10 look the same as Poetry's ones for £100; Uniqlo and Primark have some good basics.

You can do your own facials and nails. Skincare and make up honestly don't have to cost £££. Just keep experimenting until you find the cheaper brands that work best for you. I like Garnier & Nivea for creams and Rimmel and Maybelline are excellent for make up.

Hair is the hardest thing to get right. Hairdressing colleges are a bet, or modelling for local hairdressers' more ambitious styles and colours for free (or mystery shopping for some of the big chains.)

The giveaways are shoes, bags and jewllery. Very hard to fake those well. I buy in the sales and only ever buy classics.

I agree with this. You can look good on the cheap but it helps to be
A) young
B) have a lot of focus and know what works for you.

I’ve had haircuts off trainees, some okay. But a few years ago I had an expensive haircut and everyone commented immediately! I’ve had expensive ones since, but less often. Same with clothes, skincare, shoes, I experimented by buying pricey ones and every single time they made a big difference. So I’ve decided less is more. Pricey products but less of them. And teeth too, don’t forget them! Good teeth, hair, jeans, moisturiser and shoes. Other stuff isn’t as noticeable.

I use the same skin care routine as my grandmother did. Witch hazel as a toner, baby lotion as a make up remover and moisturiser. Eating well does not have to cost a fortune at all, and walking is the best free exercise.

I've never been one to follow fashion, I can't afford expensive clothes either, but I've found loads of bargains on the internet.

I've never bought expensive makeup. No7 or Rimmel or any cheap shite on offer does for me. What I did do though is have a professional make up lesson. I think knowing how to apply the slap on is s big factor in looking good.

When my son trained as a barber/hairdresser the teaching salon was always on the look out for victims volunteers for trainees to practice on. There is always a professional on hand at all times.

Some of what you list can be completely eliminated though with no loss, whatever age.

Makeup - loads of women never wear it. As a PP says, there are also plenty of women about with badly applied makeup, stacks of fake tan and especially at older ages, foundation caking into wrinkles.

Beauty appointments - don't bother. Just tweeze your brows and file your nails. I honestly couldn't go round my workplace and point out who had beauty appointments and who didn't.

Hair appointments - depends on your cut. Regularly go 3 months on mine

Clothes - I still get compliments on a dress I bought 5 years ago and it's in the wash every other week. Every one at work shops at charity shops, even senior management cos we have one round the corner

Yep

I cut my own hair and I reckon it looks good! I do a grade 8 top/6 sides buzzcut with clippers then go through the top with thinning scissors for texture. Bingo: pixie crop, cost: £0. (or whatever the electricity to run the clippers cost)

Thanks for the helpful comments.

By looking good I don't mean fake nails etc. Even if I had the money I would consider that a waste of money & not to my taste.

Maybe it's just me, or maybe I am depressed or something, but I'm often too exhausted to wash & style my hair.

It won't be rank dirty: just not fresh & styled. This is because I've had to travel around every shop in town doing the grocery shop to get things where I know they are cheapest. If means walking as I can't spare the money for petrol / bus fare. It means being thirsty when out and not being able to afford a cup of tea. And bottled water is heavy to carry in large amounts- esp when you have 3 shopping bags.

I wake up tired and have bags under my eyes. I have spots from stress. I lie awake at night worrying about how I will manage until payday. I look haggard. I cry a lot.

That's the type of 'not looking good' I'm talking about - not about not being able to afford fake tan etc.