Feel a right mess - can someone give some easy tips for being a well-groomed type person?

[dinny]

Feel I have no time to ever get ready properly and do stuff like pluck eyebrows etc. What's your weekly maintenance routine, all groomed types?

PS My DDs are 3y 4m and 20m

franch, have lost yer email but email me and I'll send you her number!

think my problem is not getting up early enough and showering, so end up not doing anything other than cleanse and moisturise face and clean teeth. hmmmm, dh leaves at 6.45 so think am going to have to beat them all and get up earlier!

do you all floss once a day? or twice?

MI I've lost your email too! But I'll try CAT-ing you.

dinny I've recently got religious about flossing once a day (at night) - have stuck to it for a few weeks so far!

haven't read thread, sorry if repeating.

My advice would be to, if you haven't already, get a good haircut and go every 6 weeks to keep it looking good.

And eyebrows are important so keep on top of tweezing them. Use tinted moisturiser, Oil of Olay is good. That way, if you don't have time in the morning to put on a full face of make-up, you will still look presentable.

That's what I do anyway

Get up and shower before everyone else, don't do the school run looking a mess unless you are going to look that way all day!

Blow dry your hair but only wash it every 2 or 3 days. Get a good cut and colour.

Agree dresses and jewellery are a great basic look.

Flossing after breakfast and at night makes a difference to your smile. So does teeth bleaching.

Or shower before bed... When I was getting up at 5am for work, I'd shower before bed and dry hair. Then a quick wash in the morning over the "important bits", as my mother used to say, and run straightener over hair.

Slap on tinted moisturiser (less time spent "blending" foundation), and rest of make up.

The "holiday skin" type products. I would use on feet for the fist couple of applications, then after wards blend it down from legs with a little moisturiser so to dilute it. Particularly on heels as otherwise you end up with either white "cracks" in the heels or a build up of brown. More or less same deal with hands. Rub backs of hands over your wrists to do the large part, blend with moisturiser for fingers. However, as you wash your hands a lot more than feet, this is easier to fix if it goes wrong!

Goodness, am all inspired - I do have my hair cut and coloured and am prob feeling extra manky as roots have just popped through.

does anyone do a pre-bed lot of sit-ups?

Would LOVE to say I did sit ups anytime, but sadly, no.

For a few months I got up 15 mins early and used that for sit-ups ... Sadly I've let that slide, but you've reminded me ...

I get DH to put moisturiser on my legs and body. I'm too lazy to do it and he thinks he's getting a treat!

Thank you for this! I realised that I never get on with any of this, despite finally having access to good mobile hairdresser and cheap eyebrow lady!! Have just phoned both, and will look more together by Saturday night :-)
also, just used Johnson's sun stuff for the first time - still think it's a bit orange for me, but at least I'm wearing a dress! Can anyone recommend something else for blue/white skin that looks orange whatever I do???

I am using St Tropez everyday now and it looks and smells better than all the rest. Have used johnsons but it smells vile and turned me orange.

This is a great thread, have done all the things suggested on here in the last day and I feel so much better for doing it all. At least tomorrow on my birthday I won't feel as bad as I usually do!

not read all these but this is mine routine:

every 6 weeks or so - eyebrows and upper lip waxed (I didn't have a moustache until pregnancy and birth, pesky brats)

every few months - hair cut and colour (long, so can be left for 3 months without disaster)

daily - shower and hairwash

use those scrubbing gloves in the shower, Body Shop do them

use Johnson shower and shave shower gel, sort out gorrilla legs and other bits fast

body lotion after - E45 lotion in huge pump thing, £5 ish

make up - concealer, dots of foundation, mascara, blusher - TAKES MINS, makes huge difference

I have discovered a shimmer thing that Boots No7 do, will link, makes skin glow

My children are 2 and 4, no excuse for looking like a dogs dinner imo!

says it it out of stock online, pah

think they have an offer on atm as well, spend £16 get a free bag of mini things, including the one everyone is fighting for, the new serum

gloves

Ooh, thanks glitterfairy, I will go and spend my last boots points on it!!
Oliveoil, those gloves are great aren't they? St Tropez is the best exfoliator ever imvho, but a glove is so much cheaper!!
Need to sort out the razor thing as never do get around to having things waxed often enough!!
Whilst we're on all this, is it possible to get a wax where they do all the , urm, undercarriage? But you still have something looking a bit like a tidy triangle at the front? I don't know, I just don't want a strip, think it looks like sometihng on a robot (if it had bits!)........ too embarrassed to ask the salon lady - want to be able to go in and just ask for a "whatever".
Ta :-)

OMG Im lucky if i manage i 15min bath without bein hassled only do all make up nail hair if going somewher generally inlaws so roughly every three weeks hair i get done every 4-6weeks my hair grows soooo fast i shave as needed, tend to trim my lady region! had eyebrows waxed that was bad enough not letting that stuff go in such sensitive place. i feel my routine is ok do have one megga no no i dont pick spots at all my sis would love to be i know it will just re appear next to the one been sqeezed so i antibac cream it till it dried then li goes by itself! my dd 1 next week

I agree about the eyebrow shape. I left mine for months and months.
Last week had them done again. Instant transformation.

Shave legs and armpits every few days at the mo. More in Summer.

So it's good to wear dresses? What sort? I'm 5ft 1 and a size 6-8. I'm a sahm with 3 dcs (7, 6 and 3, ttc no 4). So would a dress be right just for school run?
I tend to wear linen trousers or long floaty skirts in Spring/Summer.

Don't like the smell of holiday glow creams. They all make my skin have that 'headachy fake tan smell'.

My hands and nails are awful. Brittle, ridged nails. Don't bite them but they break so they are very short.

Painted toenails as mine are yukky unpainted. Am using virgin vie rio carnival colour.
Might try gold if that's a good one this year.

Just bought a lovely pair of Birkenstocks in mocca Madrid. Fab! So comfortable and look great with most things.

Revlon 3 day lash tint mascara rules! Just put it on and it stays on for a few days! Fine if you wear contacts too. Have used the stuff for years.

I agree with the dress thing, but I wear mine over jeans, my legs are rarely fit for public viewing.

Have done my own brazilian wax for years, it does require a mirror and some tricky squatting but feels quite glamorous once its done . Use a mixture of the hot wax and pre-waxed strips.

benefit hollywood glo (expensive but lasts for ages) for the face.

i would say eyebrows waxed but it has been far too long since i've had mine done!

a good cut every 6 weeks at the most

agree with whoever said dresses - dresses are the best glamourising item - and so easy

don't have children

I go and get my eyebrows waxed and eyelashes dyed every 6 weeks, other than that I just attempt to brush my hair occasionally, children, my boys in particular, don't seem compatible with being well-groomed

Dress-wearers: are you SAHMs? I usually wear jeans and nice tops - think I'd feel a bit overdressed in a dress, although I am def a dresses girl at heart. Think I'd feel like the other SAHMs would think I was trying too hard - less so in summer tho, if I can find some nice casual ones maybe ...

St Tropez users: Is it the new daily one you use? I'm still collecting fake tan recommendations here.

Other thoughts on hair: I don't blow dry mine with a brush; I just dry it roughly with fingers, then use the straighteners. Speeds things up for me. Also using really good products helps: since I've been using Kerastase shampoo & conditioner, my hair's been in great condition so has needed less attention (e.g. no serum once straightened). On the days I don't wash it, I run the straighteners through it again. And I use big clunky straighteners as they can deal with bigger sections of hair and therefore do it quicker.

Yves Saint Laurent Touche Eclat absolute GOD SEND!!

pricey but lasts ages, nip into boots on your next trip and ask make up lady to try it on you ;)