How to be groomed?

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Basically I look like a scruff! I don't have any set routine so forget sometimes to do my eyebrows until the are hideous werewolflike messy and my nails are ignored. My skin is atrocious too. I just never seem to be able to look groomed and pretty!!

Do you have a daily / weekly / monthly grooming routine?

How much time do you spend on your looks?

I am thinking that professional help might be needed! Tempted by HD Brows but they would look wrong if the rest of me is well a mess.

I have just never been organised about all this beauty stuff. It is like everyone else was taken into a secret "how to be groomed" lesson that I missed out on. Come to think of it, I missed the "how to style your hair" and "how to dress so you don't look like you got dressed in the dark.... in your Nan's wardrobe" lessons too!

Delurking - this thread is fab.

Some questions for the experts:

What is primer? which brand? I only use Clinique cause everything else gives me spots.

Tend not to use make-up (because of spots) what would help to even out skin tone? Primer? or that thing Clinique have got - Radiance? What about the Turnaround stuff?

Final question: I hate showers, and bathe in the evening. To get my frizzy hair to behave do I really have to wet it, or is there some magic product available?

I am inspired to - dye my eyelashes more regularly (allergic to mascara...) and copy someones suggestion of keeping nail stuff downstairs to use while watching TV.

Primer - Barbara Daly, I have sensitive skin and it's fine for me. Skin Lift, also by BD is very similar to Beauty Flash Balm / Bobbi Brown primer does a great job too.

Frizzy hair - embrace it and learn to love it as it's here to stay ime

Re frizzy hair, I swear by John Frieda Frizz-Ease and bring it back by the caseload whenever I'm in the UK.

Frizz Ease is good but if you blow dry your hair then Tigi Blow Out Balm is fantastic.

Haven't heard of that - I'll have to look out for it. I also find Tresemme Heat Defence and Frizz-Ease 3-Day Straight pretty good for blow drying. It was a revelation to discover that after nearly 40 years of having curly hair, I too could have straight and sleek(ish) hair. I couldn't live without my BBH either.

Have bought BD primer. What do you do with it?

Have also bought garnier miracle skin perfecter all in one cream as my friend says its fab for evening out skin tone.

Goes on after moisturiser and before foundation or alone only.

So shall I not try the BD primer and the garnier skin perfecter stuff at the same time???

I'm not convinced I know what BB cream is - is it a tinted moisturiser?

oops, I seem to have ordered a Liz Earle kit as well as some Opi Nail Envy .... I only hope DH notices the difference ..

I swear my loyalty to Clara forever and ever. She has laid hands on some of that magical primer stuff for me.

cheerful let me know if it's worth it...and contemplating a 50 min car trip to get some

I have frizzy hair during the humid summers here. My hairdresser gave me paul mitchell shampoo and conditioner called straight line or something. She told me to shampoo twice and then put the conditioner on the ends only. Frizz ease didn't do the job but this stuff does. I paid $26 for a huge tub of both the shampoo and conditioner which lasts 6 months. I use it all year round as I really like the smell of the stuff.

Apart from all of this I find the best thing I do to feel groomed is get some exercise and wear simple, classic clothes. After that I do all my grooming in the shower in the morning. I saw a dermatologist who got me on the right products for my rosacea ridden skin - use cheap neutrogena and aveeno cream which is bought in target.

Right, I want to glow and look fabulous, glamorous and healthy. I have a slightly grown out layered bob (now to my collar bone) and it's a very light blonde. I'm getting extensions in a month but they're costing a bomb so I'm still saving in time for my appointment.

Can anyone give me a list of what I should be doing daily/weekly and good cheap products for face and body exfoliating & moisturising please? This thread has just got out of hand with tips and I'm confused :o

This thread is fabulous, it made me take a good luck at how i had let myself go.
I now have a mn haircut ( fab)
Im using the oil cleansing.
I bought new clothes.
Im excercising to tone my body.
Im doing a pamper night every week.
Thanks ladies, i feel like myself again, i look a million times better.

I slept in a hair mask last night, egg, honey and oive oil plus shea butter and sweet almond oil from the bath oils. I will let you know how good it was after i have washed it.

well, Im wearing the BD primer today for the first time and....

I applied my make up at 5am this morning, and its still there!!! i look knackered though

wow

seriously impressed

however, my T zone is very dry and flakey - what am I doing wrong?

I cleanse Number 7 hot cloth cleanser and then Bio oil in evening - then in morning in shower I wash my face with a flannel and water, then use Simple light moisturiser then let that soak in, then apply primer, then foundation rimmel one and then maybeline mouse blusher type stuff which is AMAZING and one pot has lasted a WHOLE year and I wear it every day - just applied to apples of cheeks

I would love to know the answer to this too OnlyWantsOne - my skin is generally quite oily but around my nose and between my eyebrows etc it's horribly flaky and dry - make-up just makes it look even worse :(

BD primer available on line from Tescos.

I even used BD primer on ds1 today under his blue facepaint
does anyone else find it very greasy? Is it supposed to be like that? I only need to apply a tiny bit, i think that 15ml will last forever

Friday night is pamper night, off for a nice long sesh

I like to think i am really groomed, i admit their are times when i leave it, and go to work with minimal make-up on and my hair in a bun, but i work in an office full off old men, so I'm not trying to make any friends/people think i look nice/stylish, anyway..

I wear false eyelashes every time i put my make-up on, either eyelure or ebay
i fake tan every 3-4 days
i have a microbead weave in my hair to make it nice and thick
i get my nails done french - acrylic once a month, my nails grow slowly
i am a total beauty addict and nearly own every makeup/faketan/hair product known to man.
I have a great skin regime, using my clarisonic & an alright-ish dermalogica cleanser, but the clarisonic is amazing.

I'm looking into getting my eyebrows tattooed on, but its £400, has anyone had it done?
I also am going to get my teeth whitened soon.

Can't wait to go back and read this thread!

lolli - sorry for late reply - I'm in the middle of a very sudden move across the country!! I use the papaya peel once a week. If you get random patches of flakiness (eg around the nose) just pop a small amount on that area for 10 mins (brew a cup of tea while you wait) and it will get rid of it for you.

maraki - the mally stuff is weird...it took me quite a while to work out how to get it to do what I wanted so my advice is to tap your fingers on it a couple of times and then gently press your fingers to the areas you get shine. I used the sponge at first but found it just lifted my make up - the tap and press is magic though - dh now uses it too!!!!
Use half a pump of the cleanser...massage over face and remove with a hot cloth...it is lovely!!! Remember to only use 3 drops of the neroli - that is enough for the face and neck. 15 ml will last 6 months if you only use it once a day (obv 3 months morning and night).

oh moss - if you find the LD file is dragging/squeaking/nails on blackboard stylee it means you need a lighter touch and a longer stroke (saw LD explain it to a caller on qvc who had the same problem).

Clara, Clara, Clara - officially the most toppest MNer EVER!!!!! Will PM you of course, but wanted to declare my public thanks for the BD primer which arrived today!!!! Thank you, by jimiiny, it is seriously smooth addictive stuff hey?!

Thanks.

Thsnks mrsm i managed to get the hang of it after a few toe curling strokes! I just filed slightly under the nail and a bit lighter and it was amazing .

Can i highly recommend the Liz Earle exfoliating body scrub, it came this week and used it last night as part of the friday night pamper project, the smell is divine and my skin feels like a baby's this morning. Result!