Little pick me ups (pre holiday cheap and cheerful)

[Bellyrumble]

Due to go on holiday in 2.5 weeks, “camping” mobile home in France for a week.

I feel bleugh. Don’t have time or motivation to lose weight and whilst I could do with losing a few lbs it’s not the be all and end all. Think if I concentrate on other things to feel better I’ll gradually be more motivated to lose weight

Between working 50 hour weeks and fitting in time with DS, I don’t have much time to myself at all.

this holiday is hopefully a circuit breaker and I’m wanting to take more care of myself going forwards, where time permits.

DS is 19m, I’m still breastfeeding. I’m also on a spending/treat ban due to our (very cheap) upcoming holiday and clearing some debts so only have a very minimal budget.

In years gone by I would have just gone to the local salon owned by my friend and let her staff work their magic and give her my credit card at the end. That’s the old me, I need to be sensible going forwards and live within my means.

Embarrassed to say I’m a lawyer and I look/feel absolutely nowhere near as presentable as I should. I’m so motivated to do this if I can.

any tips on the following would be very welcome:

Hair- don’t have the money for a cut and it’s in okay-ish condition. Tips for making my shoulder one length hair look tip top?

nails- I have a lamp for gel and the products but I’m rubbish at applying it!! Any forgiving colours/ tricks?

brows- where to start doing this at home and at low cost?!

Skin- I’m avoiding make up most days and it’s much better, I just don’t have the budget for expensive skincare. Any good cleansers I can pick up for less than £5?

Thanks in advance

Drink more water.

Pick up some argan oil or similar for your hair. Only apply to the ends when damp or it'll look a greasy mess (speaking from experience). Tkmaxx always seem to have hair oils at reasonable prices.

I'm also terrible at applying nail polish. Prep is the key. I like mine short, neat and with a nude colour. It's forgiving and a nice classic look.

What do you want to do with your brows? I tint mine at home using refectoCil and tweeze them to shape. I have also had mine threaded and that costs about £7 here.

As for skincare I spend far too much. I use jojoba oil as my first cleanser which is super cheap. If you have dry skin it make work for you. I buy mine off eBay.

Liz Earle dupe cleanser (the hot cloth one) in Aldi. It has exactly the same ingredients, except replaces beewax with a different wax and is vegan.

Then if you are happy to spend a little bit more, I would use one treatment and focus on that, nails or a basic hair cut.

I think having one nice thing done like that could help to "scratch the itch" so to speak and just make you feel like youve had a treat without breaking the bank. If you can I'd prioritise hair in an easy to manage / style at home style. I'm also crap with nails but you could just file and use clear polish?

Could also do something like face mask, warm bath with salts, body moisturiser relatively cheaply - like a little home spa.

thanks both for your replies.

I have an Aldi a 3 minute walk away so will pop over for the cleanser later.

good idea re picking just one treatment and focussing on it. It would be hair as that’s something I can’t attempt myself, but it’s not bad enough at the moment to justify the £40 spend I don’t think- perhaps I’ll save for that over a couple of months.

water- I definitely don’t drink enough water!!

Hair. No spend styling. If you Google heatless curls you can achieve the exact same effect with a dressing gown tie.

How about a new perfume? Doesn’t have to be an expensive one but I love a new scent for holiday and it reminds of being abroad when I get back. I really rate the M&S perfumes - Under the Palm trees is a lovely holiday smell, and there’s another Santorini something which is fab too. They are only about £5-6 I think for a small bottle.