'Glow Up'/ "Princessing" 2024 Thread 1

[Chaiselongueallday]

I've had some success with these in the past. Have realised that over the years I've picked little habits from these that I've been able to sustain so I thought ahead of the new year I would start a thread for 2024...anyone else want to join me?
I'm 46 this year and want to focus on being healthy, happy with my style and attuned to my body and skin. I don't want to waste time worrying about not being good enough. I am including a bit of health and fitness on my list as I feel better in my clothes when I'm toned and generally healthy in body and mind. I'll be doing yoga, walking and mad living room dancing. I'll not be bothering with foundation (unless a very special occasion) this year fed up of wearing a mask..so looking after my skin will be important. I won't be spending on fast fashion ...I've done quite well on this in the past, inspired by this board and capsule wardrobe threads.

I'll think about a more detailed list and post it later.

I've copied some useful info from a previous 'Princessing thread' below for anyone that fancies it and needs inspiration.

*The term "Princessing" was invented back in 2011 by a poster called Blackswan. It was the year of the royal wedding and she proposed that every year you should get ready for a wedding you were attending as if it were your own.

I took that idea and ran with it!

The general idea behind that original thread and all the "Princessing" "Grooming" "Operation Revnovation" threads since has been to make small sustainable changes that help make you feel better. To make this measurable, most people finds it helps to make a list - not too long, no more than 20 items really of the changes you want to make. The original thread had one general list but as no two people have the same priorities I think it's better for everyone to have their own individual list. To anyone in need of inspiration the original list was:

1. 8 glasses of water a day

1. Exfoliating
2. Using some kind of teeth whitener
3. Using some kind of regenerative face cream
4. Intensive nail care (feet and hands)
5. Some kind of eyelash growth serum
6. The Shred / other intensive exercise
7. At least 2 extra fruit & veg
8. Healthy breakfast daily.

10. Hair oil (moroccan hair oil for eg, or kerastase etc) 11. No alcohol during the week 12. Daily vitamins 13. Body brushing 14. At least 2 servings of salmon or other fatty fish per week. 15. One early night once a week. Suggest 9PM. 16. Regular hair removal 17. Give up one naughty favourite item e.g. chocolate/crisps 18. No more fizzy drinks 19. DAILY body moisturising. 20. Warm water with lemon first thing in the a.m.

You don't have to post your list but I would recommend you write it down somewhere for yourself.

Original Princessing thread*

I really want to do the teeth whitening too but it's £400 at my dentist which is way too much.

Those nails look amazing @Ambi

I joined the gym yesterday - still have to go though

Diet is the big thing for me now and the thing in which all other efforts hinge!

Well, it is a start. I got my hair coloured this morning before work. Brought my own box to the salon. Only charged me £16!!! I have also booked a pedicure for Friday at a chiropodist as my toe nails are hard to cut, one of the small toes (next to right hand big toe), the nail curls almost circular and my eyesight is shite so I dare not try to cut it myself. Eventually I will see about getting my brows done again and my lashes tinted. Slowly starting to eat healthier. Well... not today. Today was chocolate eclair day (cake not sweets) and Riesen chocolate sweets from Poundland but I have upped my game re skin care as I had got lazy.

I am going back to using my slimming powder shakes when not at work. I do love banana milk shake anyway and also a cold coffee and I have a few tubs to use up. I am also trying to eat more salad-y bits though of course when it is cold I am not so enthusiastic!!

I do like the Olay Retinol 24 night cream which is quite rich and my skin still feels good in the morning! I am also liking Revolutions Charlotte Tilbury magic cream dupe for the morning.

I bought myself some pearl drops toothpaste yesterday - I remember I used it years ago and it really helped whiten my teeth. I also bought my hair dye so I will do my roots today. I hate dying my hair, I am so messy and no matter how well I prep, I get it everywhere.

I’m in the market for a tinted moisturiser with spf if anyone has any recommendations?

I have some annual leave next week and one of my jobs is to get down all my boxes from the loft and try on every single item of my clothing. It’s a big task, there’s loads and I find summer clothes harder to be ruthless with as they hold more memories for me. But anything that doesn’t fit or flatter has got to go! I weigh about 3/4 of a stone less than I did last summer so I’m hopeful that some of my nicer shorts will fit again. 🤞

Today as a vague attempt to Princess:

Hairmask ( GlazePlex)
Face exfollient
Face oil

Over the next weekend I plan to do more.

I always feel the urge to do things with my hair over Easter , in the past I have dyed or had it cut . I don't now , I want to moisturise the dickens out of it . I don't dye it and I had my hair cut in early Feb

I do need to wax/epilate
Sort out clothes - put away the winter clothes , put the rest in order and see what needs recycled .

Slow (extremely interrupted due to work and general life stress) princessing continues! I used a champneys sheet mask (so a pretty cheapy one) on Saturday and it was genuinely really moisturising and lovely! I’ve never used one before so it felt a bit weird but I will definitely use one again as it was very cheap and my skin feels lovely now.

Being more diligent with body scrub once per week and moisturising at least once per day. I don’t know why I always feel like it’s a ridiculously hard task to put a bit of lotion on my body after the bath. I am absurd. My skin feels so much better if I do! Hand cream dotted about the house as well as my hands are horrible at the moment. Still can’t be arsed to paint my finger/toenails but hoping for my own Easter miracle and some motivation will hit me.

Looking forward to switching to my summer wardrobe soon. Feel like this weather is neither here nor there, and everywhere outside is chilly and inside is artificially roasting so it’s hard to dress appropriately. Can’t wait for floaty dresses and sandals. It is so much easier to feel pretty in warmer weather (but not roasting!).

Had terrible insomnia over the last week which has made princessing harder.

Too tired to hit the gym as often as I have been doing so I overhauled my diet focusing on whole foods.

I've started wearing a little make up everyday which I'm loving and it helps with a full cleanse at night instead of a quick wash. I have such a huge beauty stash that needs using up. My skin is thanking me for it.

I've ordered some strong Crest whitestrips from USA, I'm excited to try these.

Diet, water, nutrients - very happy with this at the moment
Exercise - getting back into a routine with this
Skin - rebought hyaluronic acid (whole body), argirelene (forehead only), baby oil (night only), pumice stone (feet only) and am on track for hopefully hydrated and soft skin. I need to get some new suncream though and explore what next if I move away from my usual Eucerin one.
Hair - need to get my hair trimmed and start using rosemary oil at the roots weekly. Otherwise fairly happy with this.
Nails - experimenting with red nails on hands and feet - this does need maintenance of every couple of days though but it looks good. I paint my own natural nails rather than getting gels monthly but a friend has recommended a nail artist so watch this space!
Brain - reading a range of fiction and magazines using my library's Libby app. Would like to read non fiction magazines too.
Mind - need to get back into journalling a bit more in detail rather than as daily checklists and writing general thoughts down but otherwise this is fine.

Would like to get more fresh air and speak to friends and family more often.

If you only really use red nail polish then might it be worth getting your own gel kit? I do my own (I know you need to be careful with them!). I realised I barely went for any other colours other than dark red so it seemed really daft to go the nail a
salon - they have millions of colours but I don’t need them! I just bought myself a couple of colours and went from there.

I've just bought some Korres showergel that I hadn't seen for ages they alwas seem to be out os stock.

Now I have to decide which one to keep for holidays .

@Ambi I'd really recommend getting whitening trays made up for you. Then you only need to get the whitening gels as and when. I think it works out cheaper.

My princessing :

Regular hair colouring: once a month with colour wow in between
Fasting when kids are at school: one dinner meal only has meant I lost a stone in a month
1.5hrs walk daily
Serum mixed with regular moisturiser (nivea and caudilee) - has brightened my skin
Facial: she really got out the blackheads which i wasn't aware I had!
Audiobooks on my walk

I have just taken a very large bite of a very expensive bullet and ordered a Dyson Airstrait .

I have fragile menopausal hair which I suffered a huge loss of and the regrowth is very wavy . ( I am glad to have the hair regrowing but it has come back very different )
I had my hair blow-dried at my last cut ( I usually don't as I don't like my scalp touched ) it looked great but I know I am never going to do this myself .

So ...I;m thinking the AirStrait can give me a similar effect with less effort on my part . And of course my DD with her swishy hair is very keen to share ownership

Gosh. One meal only a day - are you not starving? Good on you.
I need to lose my belly fat within next 5 weeks for a holiday. I eat twice a day - maybe I should be inspired by you and step it up to just once a day. Feel like I could manage it for a month or so for the holiday. I think I would have to do lunch though as by 12-1pm I start to feel dizzy at work. I think I could try not having an evening meal / currently a bowl of yoghurt and nuts and seeds which sometimes I feel too tired to even eat. I’m going to try. My lunch is a huge salad with usually salmon or chicken so I think it’s doable.

@JMAngel1 you get used to it you know, then after a few days it's fine. Your stomach then shrinks so you don't need as much. When i used to have any food, the scales didn't move. I did this then lost a stone. It's stagnated again but once you see results, you keep going

I would like to get my teeth whitened at the dentist but I think this is something that will need to wait until next year while I save up!

In the meantime, I think a stain removing toothpaste might help - does anyone have a recommendation for a good one? I can see that the Colgate Max White Stain Remover is on half price offer at the moment, so I might try that one

Wow @Ambi you are doing amazingly well! Do you mind me asking what your gym routine is like? I have a big weight loss goal but I seem to be stalling at the moment

I can report back that the Dyson Airstrait is ruddy marvellous !

I do need to take the time to do my hair in sections for best results but even done quickly ( this was my first use of it ) it has worked really well .

I need to do some intensive conditioning this weekend , I;ve got some purple shampoo/conditioner , I want the grey hairs to be bright , then straight they willl hopefully look shiney .

Thanks Chiara. I have an private insta gym account with no followers or posts but I follow lots of PTs, gym inspo and weight loss accounts.

I tend to do weights for 25mins, dumbbells for arm and shoulders, squats and deadlifts and a flat weight for supine sit ups. Then I go to weight machines, assisted pull ups/ leg press/ chest press. Then onto Cardio for 22mins. I do treadmill for 8mins, (I can't run on them so my programme is incline. Starts at incline of 15 and is a slowish walk, every minute it reduces incline and speeds up a touch). Same for cross trainer 8min, higher resistance that reduces every minute and recline bike for 6min, again high resistance that reduces. I'm soaked with sweat afterwards. I do 3mins of stretching on the powerplate to soothe my muscles.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Conditioner-Lightens-Moisturizes-Free-PETA-Cruelty-free/dp/B08KGC8BGC/ref=sr_1_21_sspa?crid=12TO01JYJ8IVL&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.rgTgKDyv-F-wHZuMAB7o2AZeKLjOQ-t3ssAdWEDgJB78GHu2JecP-IHv7IOHOJF8a7rpjJROv0FugKqPFlPdxNUJTu1ONszzSXgsUmKeMtacbOjFtL62jMYIS0W7VeZmlApTI1i4p8A40YYje0tj1bDz352dBDI4LrRWibTvJU_jXNmVbDQ0UuSly9nz4IE4t6tO6M6zYLadl9OAW8hEU05501tilFU3IVfoZ5uW49esNq2Az-xzvREpGeuIthxrscxIA6-We2rXd3gvg08Sq4WYMoeYV0yuVCZm3hGbmek.y8A7m-rMx_nYllhFULCGBfJ7vMJZicIZK1xzP2mFjk0&dib_tag=se&keywords=purple+shampoo&qid=1714245867&rdc=1&sprefix=purple+shampoo%2Caps%2C858&sr=8-21-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9tdGY&psc=1

I used this today , I had it sitting in the cupboard ,it is something I look at then CBA doing as it needs to sit on my hair with a plastic hat then the conditioner as the next treatment .
I'm hoping my hair will be shinier and brighter . It's supposed to pick up the grey hairs and make them less dull .

Exfoliant and some face oil . I am on a roll.

This is a good idea and something I really need to look into! I've continued with the red nail polish and have a good routine on keeping it looking nice enough but does require effort.

Thank you @Ambi - that's really interesting! I might steal the idea of having a separate private insta for fitness stuff - it's nice to be able to keep it all together. Maybe I will make a princessing insta!

Haven't been on for ages! Just back from holiday and have renewed energy to sort myself out.

-healthier eating patterns (as many whole foods as possible, water, 12 hour eating window).
-10k steps, evening walk.

• really try to build in journalling, yoga and meditation.

-started daily flossing -start weekly pamper

Just been through my bathroom cupboard to throw away stuff that's been open and unused for years. Reorganised shelves so I can see what I have.

Going to swap over winter and summer wardrobe stuff.

Will get a haircut booked in for June.

Having a spring clean and declutter.

I don’t know about any9ne else, but this change in weather has made me want to up my princessing game!

I’ve done quite well recently, had a small pay rise at work that I’ve decided to invest in myself. So, I’ve had 2 courses of laser hair removal on my underarms and lower legs. Next time I’m adding in my face to try and get rid of those stubborn thick menopausal chin hairs and tache.

Had Botox for the first time. I was very nervous about looking too ‘done’ but the woman who did it was very mindful of that and has done a great job.

Hair has been cut and coloured for the first time in a year, so that feels great.

I’ve been working on making my skincare routine a habit and it’s paying off. I use a cleansing balm, remove with a muslin cloth to gently exfoliate, then tone and moisturise. Will do a scrub and mask tonight.

Next on my list is the diet and exercise. I weight train with a PT (he gives me mates rates) and I’m feeling great. But I’m missing cardio I think. We’re getting a new gym locally so I’ve taken advantage of their early joining offer. Just need it to open now! My PT has given me some great advice of what to do there once it does.

Diet needs some attention. But I am making progress in cutting out processed stuff.

Apologies for the mammoth post, I was catching up on this thread and realised I’ve actually achieved a fair bit!

Well done @CurlsandCurves, great list.

My weight loss has stalled as my diet isn't as strict as it was but that's OK. I'm still eating salads, I'm planning to get a soup maker from FB Marketplace. I made my own wholemeal bread yesterday from the FB bread maker I bought last week 😋 it was delicious.

Gym, I'm still going 5x a week, I'm not enjoying it as much now its sunny though, but I am enjoying the results and my body shape changing.

I had a full pamper session yesterday; face mask, face and body exfoliation, shave, deep condition hair, teeth whitening, gradual tan lotion. The lotion is new and I'm very impressed so far. I'd 100% recommend the Crest whitestrips, they are excellent. (Buy from Amazon USA, not legal to buy in the UK).

Yes agree the weather is making me think harder about what I'm going.

I follow this thread from time to time so thought I'd consider what I'm doing and what I need to do.

Currently
Workout 3x per week
Mostly cleanse tone and moisturise daily
Getting into habit of using sun tan lotion and face spf
Trying to keep on top of regular shaving
Finger nails growing nicely and mostly painted, feet and toe nails definitely need work
Hair being done later this month and should make a good bit of difference
Diet - under control during the week - weekends need work to not completely undo the weeks work
Could do with more fruit veg and salad though
Water intake is reasonable
Could do with cutting back on coffee

What have I missed?