To ask if you look like shit?

[MrsCrapBag]

No matter how much I mosturise, sleep, drink water, eat healthy(ish), remove my make up before bed, exfoliate, exercise etc etc etc ... all the usual stuff you're told to do I always look like shit. I'm due on my period next week so it's only going to get worse so my high hopes of looking all refreshed over Christmas are down the drain.

Does anyone else feel like this?

@Swipetounlock I reckon magnifying mirrors contribute to women obsessing about every flaw in their skin and feeling bad about their appearance. In real life nobody is looking at a magnified version of your skin they just get an overall impression of your appearance and probably care much less than you think. Those mirrors are just a way to torture yourself / companies to sell unnecessary skin products.

I m 50. I look better than when I was 40 and 5 stone heavier with a mumsy bob and boring clothes.
I do look after my skin so it hasn't aged much but I DO look like shit today despite my long dip dyed hair, nice leggings and boots because I m recovering from a migraine from hell and I have a paper white face, crows feet showing and dark circles under my eyes.

*Are you eating enough healthy fats and oils, dark green veg, vitamin C?

If you aren't eating those in abundance then it's unlikely that you'll feel great or look great.*

I respectfully disagree, I believe genetics outweighs diet
For an unlucky few, it doesn’t seem to matter what we eat our skin still looks shit. That doesn’t mean I’m against healthy eating, but sometimes well meaning advice can almost seem like food shaming
I probably haven’t explained well but Dr Anjali Mahto a dermatologist has spoken about this many times - even as an experienced derm (who unfortunately has bad acne) she still gets ignorant comments claiming she isn’t eating well enough

Yes! Today I’m 37 going on 370. I actually scrub up all right - to the point where people regularly don’t recognise me on the extremely rare occasions I have my hair done, full make up & contact lenses . Currently I have a toddler and a newborn and am plumbing new depths of looking like shit, but fortunately I’m too tired to give too many shits about it.

Yep.

A few stone overweight and a face full of acne scarring that no amount of moisturising or exfoliating will ever fix.

Starting to get fine lines and have long haul suitcases under my eyes, have done since I was literally a baby. There are photos of my and my mum the day I was born and there are purple shadows under my eyes at hours old. They also feature in every school photo.

My hair is getting greyer by the day it seems.

And on top of it all I'm currently riddled with horrible itchy eczema spots that look a bit like acne, mostly triggered by the cold and the constant low level winter virus that is par for the course with a reception aged child.

I'm not even 30. God help me by the time I'm 40

bonbon I do my makeup using my magnifying mirror, also pluck my eyebrows and check for other stray hairs. I look a bit rough but I am applying the makeup with very good attention to detail and not trowelling it on because I can't see. Then I flip it to the non magnifying side and am gratified that I look great!

it's hereditary

unless you're eating 10 big macs a day or drinking like a fish and chain smoking 60 a day, blame your mum

I'm in my late 40s and still get spots

despite never having them as a teenager!

it's like life's cruel trick

Me me me. DS2 is 10 months old and I still don't have the time or energy to make an effort with my appearance. He will howl with indignation if I try to leave him to have a shower, dry my hair, or any other selfish thing like that. I look frazzled. I am.

I started using the Well Woman Vitamins with Nicole Scherzinger and my hair and nails grew super fast and strong this month and skin was blooming.

My mother (who usually criticises my appearance to high heaven) actually said last week “I think those vitamins are helping, with your hair like that you’re even starting to look like Nicole Scherzinger.”

Seriously. Try them.

I have really bad skin, I get blotchy redness and spots. Tried everything but nothing has worked. My hair is really fine and limp and I have fair almost invisible eyebrows. I look good with make up on but without it I look ill and pasty.

On the plus side I have striking green eyes, a nice smile and a good figure so every cloud!

“With Nicole Scherzinger on the packet “ that should have said.

Well I look and feel damn amazing!

I flat out refuse to look in the mirror and disrespect the body that grew and birthed my kids, the legs that ran me through a marathon, the skin that has been treated shabbily in the past that hasn't succumbed to skin cancer, the curly hair that I accept as part of my heritage, my entire being that I treated as an afterthought for the longest time, that I medicated with alcohol, drugs and cigarettes in the past because that being and that body is now the strongest and fittest and most beautiful it's ever been.

I don't care if anyone else looks at me at thinks I look like dogshit. I know the value of me is how I see myself, not anyone else.

I will never put myself down again or be critical because the soul inside is what people see when they get to know you. And if your soul is happy and you smile and you love yourself regardless, then you could be Quasimodo and people will still see you as beautiful...

I bet you're all beautiful

I look better than when I was 40 and 5 stone heavier with a mumsy bob and boring clothes

I turned into a fat frumpy fucker in my 40s 20 years on I look much better. Colourful clothes, some weight loss, still have good skin, and long dark hair. Some greys but not arsed about it. Hair is mostly up in a messy bun, which suits me. Nice to have it down sometimes though.

I don't worry overmuch about my appearance, but notice I look shit without enough sleep. Baggy, puffy eyes. Alcohol makes me look awful the next day too, but I only drink socially, maybe once a fortnight, so I can live with that!

.

OOPS! bold fail

I look like shit because of stress. I look haunted and traumatised - that's my resting face.

Not like shit but I do always look tired, that's because I mostly am tired. My skins not perfect either, my hairs always been a bit rubbish. However I think I could do a lot worse.

Awwww FaFoutis

Yes, I do. Four kids, ans awful long term sleep deprivation. Plus work. I kind of wish it was socially acceptable to go out in a balaclava, as I’m feeling and looking pretty rough

I don't bother with any of that so yeah I do but my main gripe with my appearance is the excess calories stored all over my body.

Yep. Looked like shit for years and past caring. It’s actually quite liberating.

Thanks Ryder.

I look best after a bath - when the mirror is all steamed up! :) op you said it all your due your periods & no matter how you actually look you will never see your self as looking ok :) If you can afford it go get your hair done/trimmed or whatever by your favourite hairdresser. It makes you feel better - alternatively go into the big shops in a large town where they try out make up! Or get the best shampoo & conditioner you can afford and wash & set your hair yourself.

I am starting to think that all this bullshit about eating well, sleeping, water etc etc ad nauseum is a feckin waste of time.

Might as well just sit on my fat ass with a pie, line of coke and a pint of thunderbird

Yeah I look like shit by most people's standards - really unbothered about it though tbh!

Don't do make-up, just wash my hair in the morning and brush it and leave it to dry itself, need a haircut as fringe has got far too long, put on about 2 stone in the past year or so, keep forgetting to tone and moisturise in the morning and can't be remotely faffed before I fall into bed at night... probably need to shave my legs and underarms atm now I think about it... Yes, I am redefining low maintenance

I'm 34 and can't really get away with this lack of regime like I did when I was 20. I've never been a raving beauty and all the make-up and dieting and preening in the world wouldn't make me one, but I do think I have now reached the point where I should probably be arsed to do something... but I can't be! (arsed that is).

Fundamentally I think it's because... what's the worst that can happen if I look a bit crap?

I work in HE so there are women far dowdier/more eccentric-looking than I around in reasonably senior roles (academic women of a certain age by and large don't give a fuck, which I like) so it doesn't impact on my job prospects (not that I'm looking to move up at the moment anyway).

I suppose my partner might stop fancying me/have an affair... but to be frank the state of our relationship sometimes I don't think I'd really mind.

The things I mind about at the moment are: (a) being a good mother to my daughter and (b) trying to rediscover what I take joy in as I feel like I have marginalised myself into a reactive corner for so long I have forgotten what I actually like and who I really am, and become boring even to my own self. This bothers me far more than being a bit frumpy. I used to be funny; I used to be clever. Now I'm just dull and that bothers me.

And more trivially, appearance wise, I hate that I have a lazy eye. It's the one thing about the way I look that upsets me, and the one thing I can't do anything whatsoever about. Sod's law.