When do the well-groomed and polished among you actually do your grooming & polishing?

[Countingthegreyhairs]

It's slowly dawning that I need to put MORE effort in to my appearance as I get older and not the reverse.

But this grooming business takes AGES so I thought I'd ask advice from the experts.

I already get a regular haircut once a month (takes 20 mins) and keep my legs and pits shaved - (have dark hair with v. pale skin) but when do you find time to pluck your eyebrows, sort out incipient moustaches, give yourself a pedicure, manicure, do facepacks and all that stuff? Trouble is, I find it all a bit tedious to be honest which is why I avoid it and it doesn't seem very compatible with motherhood. Like the end results though!

Do the well-groomed out there ring-fence a particularly time to do this? If so, please can I ask how long and how often?

I'd like to get in to a routine so it's not such a huge effort to get ready for an occasional evening out.

Is it quicker to do this stuff at home or go to a beauty salon?

I currently make do with a brush of the mane and a quick hoof polish so would appreciate any advice please ... .

Sorry - I know it's a bit of a banal question ....

Bath time (children's) is great for manicure and plucking eyebrows.

Heres my routine

Morning
have a quick shower before kids get up

stick make up on whilst kids having breakfast(tinted moisturiser,blusher,mascara and lipgloss)

brush hair

Evenings (after the kids have gone to bed)

Cleanse face and do mini facial if needed(exfoilate and face pack)

Wash hair and leave conditioner on when in the bath

Have a bath,exfoilate,de-fuzz

Rinse conditioner,face pack etc off

Apply body lotion etc

Straighten hair and do manicure etc if needed.

It may seem alot but if you stick face pack,conditioner on while in the bath it cuts down the time.

I'd say its an hour and half one evening a week and as for make up in the mornings it takes about 5 mins

Heres my routine

Morning
have a quick shower before kids get up

stick make up on whilst kids having breakfast(tinted moisturiser,blusher,mascara and lipgloss)

brush hair

Evenings (after the kids have gone to bed)

Cleanse face and do mini facial if needed(exfoilate and face pack)

Wash hair and leave conditioner on when in the bath

Have a bath,exfoilate,de-fuzz

Rinse conditioner,face pack etc off

Apply body lotion etc

Straighten hair and do manicure etc if needed.

It may seem alot but if you stick face pack,conditioner on while in the bath it cuts down the time.

I'd say its an hour and half one evening a week and as for make up in the mornings it takes about 5 mins

oops

I usually do eyebrows when dd1 (nearly 4) is in the bath. Do my nails at night when she is in bed while on mumsnet!
Always make time to wash my hair in he morning (it is curly) but if I want it straightened I do it at night and just tidy it in the morning.

I don't have time to go to a salon though I do go for the odd sunbed with a friend, we take it in turns to watch the prams.

Oh and I never go out without a bit of makeup, even if it is just concealer for the bags under my eyes!

I too pluck my eyebrows when ds is in bath/shower/on loo.

Have a facial once a month - mil gives ds his tea and I hot foot it round to the poodle parlour for an hour.

Hair gets done every 7 or 8 weeks - but does take 2 hours - so do it while ds at nursery and I leave work early.

Uh its tough, morning is shower, quick straighten of the hair and some eyeliner/mascara.
After kids bedtime, might put a face mask on whilst watching tv, rinse it off in the adverts (yes i am this lazy), paint finger/toe nails whilst watching tv,
pluck eyebrows with one eye on the tv.
And do some light exercise on my lateral thigh trainer (in front of the tv of course)
Thats its really and i don't do this every night, only when i can be bothered and still manage to look presentable (mostly)

Crikey - thanks all - evening beauty sessions seem to be the consensus.

Not sure I could manage a manicure and mumsnet at the same time though

What about regular pedicures? Do you do your own or get them done elsewhere?

Nails (feet and hands) in front of tv when boys are in bed. Hairdresser comes to me every 8 weeks and does DSes at the same time. Facials - therapist comes here when DS2 at pre-school (used to be during his pm nap!) Always put make-up on before going out. Electrolysis - therapist works evenings now so go to her once every couple of weeks after DH has got home.

i pay someoen else to do it
usually on a saturday afternoon

i cant belive it only takes 20mns for you haircut - do you go to edward scissorhands?

I am i hairdressers for 3 hours!!

I apply makeup every morning. Put intensive conditioner on hair whilst in bath. Pluck eyebrows and other stray hairs whilst ds in bath. Carry tweezers with me at all times too!

Body lotion after every bath/shower.

Lip balm constantly.

Hair straigtened constantly.

I'm with you Counting... on having to pay a bit more attention these days

But the thing that makes me queasy is the cost of regular haircuts etc. I know it would make me look and feel better, but I tend to go with the shaggy pony look, cos it's cheaper.

Shower, during which I wash and condition hair every day
and shave when required
buff my feet with a scrapy thing once a week and new nail varnish on toes
moistuiser all over every morning
face pack a couple of times a week

hair cut/highlights about every 6-8 weeks
and that's it.

Thanks all! Sorry - couldn't get to the screen today - but v. grateful for your suggestions.

Nailpolish (v. approp. name for this thread!) - wouldn't mind Johnny Depp cutting my hair - in reality just have short, straight, rather boring style that doesn't need much work from one month to next ... also, as name suggests, should have colour but can't be bothered. I'm in and out of there as fast as humanly poss....

And I'm never without my tweezers either Dr Northerner .

BUT ... will definitely start having a monthly facial and will instigate a weekly nail-polishing routine at dd's bath time.

really your pony tail Tickle - but have a pair of jug-handles for ears

i cant stand people fiddling with me couldnt go for facial, find hairdresser & dentist is enough
couldnt afford anyhow

nails, manicure & pedicure mini foot massage rub whilst fiddling about on here or watching telly
shower early morning best time anyhow!
or early evening like that too

just got back into doing excercises chi gung breathing healing (nursery time) and that is feeling like a good thing

always quite liked this sort of thing anyhow!
oh, it all started with homemade banana face pack in The Jackie!