It's the Countdown to Christmas

[Helgathehairy]

115 days to go

Here we go!

19 days to go

hey Ladies, i'm back! I went to aussie, so my routine changed due to the amazing weather.
I conditioned my hair most days and especially after swimming in the sea. I (tried to) drink lots of water.

I painted my toe nails (gold) and finger nails (neutral & glitter).

and now that I'm back & over the jet lag, my nails have gone to pot, been wearing too thin a face cream, and not been drinking enough water

been great to read all of your work, so encouraging!

oh tea you lucky thing! My parents and sister emigrated to Oz a while back so I'm the only one in the northern hemisphere! It gets dark at 3pm ish where I am during winter .

Sounds like you got lots of exercise and vitamin D .

orangy, I must say that I totally understand the chaotic dressing. i've almost succumbed. your overhaul doesn't include getting rid of everything in your wardrobe does it? I think that I've formed some sort of affection towards my clothes Must stop shopping in second hand shops

I got rid of anything with a pattern in the separates but I've kept patterned wrap dresses. I would be attached to my clothes but they get really over washed and worn so they have to go . I tend to have a capsule wardrobe that gets worn again and again. So I've stocked up with neutral stuff and will add colour with scarves etc. Need to wean myself off m&s wide leg trousers with elasticated waist!

At least you are contributing to charity tea

I meant that most second hand shops are charity shops!

18 days to go

I was going to say I was tip toeing in, but actually, hauling my lazy, tired, tubby self is probably more accurate. Just consumed more chocolate than is probably legal, preceded by half a bottle of wine, and apart from having showers, I've not done a single fabulousizing thing for about a week.

However. I'm thinking that this has been like a pretox (detox in reverse) and I shall arise from the crisp packets, sweetie wrappers and wine empties like some sort of glorious Phoenix, hopefully without a row of false eyelashes stuck to my cheek. Tomorrow will be a new dawn: exercise, stunningly healthy food, buffing, moisturising, all that sort of stuff. I shall be fabulous by Christmas *clinks wine glass

that's the spirit appleblossom, we need a break every now and again, otherwise we'll completley fall off the wagon. Go easy on yourself.

Sounds normal for all of us apple. After half a bottle of wine I have just ordered a DVD of burning fire in grate scenes to make the house more Christmassy. Even has real fire sounds. We don't have a fireplace in the house so the TV has become a substitute. Husband thinks I've gone slightly mad...

17 days to go

Thanke Tea and Orangey - that DVD sounds lovely!

So today has gone quite well, straightened my hair though and you can really see the roots that have been hiding amongst the curly mess... Will get on that tomorrow.

Have any of you tried co-washing? As in washing your hair with conditioner not shampoo? I've tried the last two times I washed my hair and I have to say, I'm really pleased with it. Normally I wash my hair every three days and get pretty greasy roots whilst the ends are like straw - no amount of conditioner, coconut oil, treatments etc make the ends any better. So following advice from on here, I bought some mega cheap silicone free conditioner and massaged loads of it in, rinsed it all out, conditioned the ends with some other stuff (still no silicone) and my hair is lovely! Ends are still a bit dry, but I'm reluctant to put anything like coconut on, unless I was going to use some shampoo to get it off again.... Hmmmm... Might see if it all balances out in the next week or two. Anyway, just thought I'd pass on the tip, and experience in case anyone has similar hair to mine.

Need to eat some food. Will aim for healthy and nutritious rather than a carb and sugar fest.

happy fabulousizing [grin}

16 days to go

16 days to go

I love that, orangytulips, a burning grate DVD...what's that saying about Mohamed going to the mountain? You never know, next year your DH might get you a fireplace

hey apple, yes yes to cowashing! it's a must for my curls. It works for me until up to the 3rd week, then I need to use shampoo. In the summer I can do a cowash every other day, but only once a week in winter. which non silicone based ends stuff are you using? I just bought something from Superdrug today in a blue tube. But it's more for de-frizz than moisture.

Sorry to blab on, but all these shampoos that profess to be SLS free usually contain ammonium sulfates instead and still dry out my hair. so I still end up with dried ends arrrgg.

Am going to a Christmas dinner tomorrow, so will need to get my act together and do my gromit fingernails . Also I think that I've become lazy with my make up and need to restart with primer and foundation rather than going back to do touch ups after looking in the mirror

Got a Christmas jumper from Primark just for the dinner too! hurrah!

15 days to go

ooh am v glad I asked about the co washing! I need an expert. I'm using a cheapie conditioner from morrisons (I may already have said this) and one of the garnier ones for the actual conditioning bit, but I'm worried I've missed something with regards to what all the silicones are called. I know anything with "cone" at the end is a silicone, but are there other nasties too? And also, please tell me more about SLS and drying. Sorry to hijack the thread, but I feel grossly uninformed about what I'm putting on my hair and I'm obviously on a mission to be fabulous, so it's kind of on topic! As previously mentioned, the ends of my hair feel very dry usually. And I think both my conditioners have SLS in. I thought it HAD to be in, so you got some sort of cleansing effect?? Please enlighten me

Fabulousizing jobs done: roots dealt with last night (I use henna, just used conditioner to wash it out - never done that before, v happy with softness of hair today!)
had a nice long walk today
had porridge and nuts for breakfast rather than pain au raisin (this is mega progress)
took vitamins and fish oil

for the rest of the day probs need to drink some more water, only really had about a litre so far, and might use liquid gold tonight. Still hopeful of waking up looking 20 again

ps ought to say previous post about the phoenix thing - scuppered by another last minute night shift on monday. I don't have to do them any more due to a new job a year or two ago, but ward were desperate. So I'm nights-hungover again, and quite chuffed with myself that I'm not inhaling chocolate and thinking "sod it I'll be fabulous next year" which is my usual approach!! Hurray for us all taking care of ourselves even when it's hard xx

hey apple, sounds like you're on the right track with your knowledge on silicones. In shampoos the foaming agent is lauryl sulphates / sulfates. The most common is sodium, but others include ammonium. The foaming agent is a surfactant or surface active ingredient that attracts oils, but may also attract water (moisture out of the hair strand).

I use the Garnier conditioners sometimes too, or the superdrug own brand. But the cone conditioners are just too damn tempting

14 days to go

So, the Christmas dinner went well last night. I think that I was a bit more "done" up than some of the other ladies. Who knows, maybe I'd been prepping myself up a bit tooo much and looked like an overdone turkey Anyway, at least they can't say that I looked underdone

14 days????!!!!!!! Really need to get my arse in gear. I have bought some stuff for the kids, need to do things like get wrapping paper and apply it to gifts.

In style and beauty news, washed my hair with shampoo this morning, used some Lush conditioner, no silicones - hair feels lovely. Nearly finished pack of high dose fish oils, have got some krill oil to try next.

ooh sorry tea - started that post ages ago, only just clicked to post it and then saw yours. I bet you looked lovely - it does feel odd though, I think, when you do more than usual for yourself. Like everyone knows you've put the extra effort in? Have you got any more things to go to before Christmas? I haven't got any and feel like organising something just so I can get dressed up!!

13 days to go