How can I make very little effort to look my best

[Exhaustedineedhelp]

I'm menopausal and I seem to be allergic now to lots of makeup. I'm healthy eating as I have a big belly drinking lots of water. Trying to get more sleep. But im tired all the time and I look tired I work full-time and I'm studying and have a 14 year old son at home. Please can anyone give me any easy tips to looking more healthy.

Get your hair done regularly. It's really worth it, it's the one thing that you wear every single day. When you see the clothing shoes they sheets do the hair last as that is what really makes the difference.

Exfoliate a couple of times a week, run / walk outside regularly.

Get your bloods done in case your thyroid, iron etc isn’t optimum.

Use blusher and bronzer and learn to use concealer properly.

Get a bra that fits really well.

Find out which colour is your best neutral (black, navy, grey, camel, burgundy, beige, bottle green etc) and wear it head to toe until you have got your energy back. Then you can start faffing with capsule wardrobes etc.

@NarrowGate I’m intrigued - what’s your rationale for head to toe neutral?

@Exhaustedineedhelp I sleep terribly
just now and I’m wearing less makeup as foundation often isn’t looking right. A bit of eyebrow pencil, mascara and definitely blusher give me a bit of pep (at least looks-wise). I also wear bu bright cooours that suit me as they make me look and feel
better.

For me definitely hair and Botox!

Iron your clothes
Keep your fingernails clean
Put deodorant and perfume on
Do monthly facial peels and moisturize regularly

Add some exercise in.

It will give you a glow that you won't get from any amount of make up.

I agree with having regular haircuts. And ask your hairdresser to show you how to blow dry your hair so it looks good. If your hair looks its best, you can get away with very little make up.

Choose one facial feature that is your favourite and focus any attention on that only. It might be a good mascara to enhance your eyes, or an expensive foundation to even out your skin tone. Try just using one product and go out to see how you feel.

Outside brisk walk everyday.

Hair cut egularly.

Nails neat.

Buy a couple of good coats, you can get away with a lot clothes wise if you have a decent coat on. At least outside.

Clean shoes.

Facial oil at night.

Get your brows shaped and dyed.

Drink more water and less booze. A couple if glasses of wine show on my face now intbe morning.

Smile and have a bit of confidence. And get a good belly laugh and or sex.

Get a really good haircut and dry it nicely every time

get your brows done-mine are subtle as befits my age, but frame the face and give a more youthful vibe. A little bit of Botox also helps me look less tired but is otherwise undetectable.

try a modern “one layer makeup” technique with cream or gel products. The IT your skin but better CC cream, with elf products are great for this.

Get outdoors, and exercise. Maybe try couch to 5k? Nothing makes you feel and look better than being fit

@IsotonicHedgehog Head to toe one colour makes you look like you have thought about what to wear - it’s a deliberate choice. Yet there’s nothing particularly tricksy about wearing navy cords and a navy jumper, or black jeans and a black tee shirt.

Following fashion is quite time and energy consuming, so if you’re short of both I think it helps to keep it simple

Plus I’m short and booby and I think it smoothes me out a bit.

.

Id agree with getting a health check with GP. Alot of people are going around thinking they are feeling exhausted from work or homelife, not knowing they are low in iron, B12 or D, or maybe have thyroid issues.
If thats ok and you still feel super tired then maybe consider HRT.

After that its healthy diet, exercise, fresh air, decent sleep then work on the external self care like decent haircut, pampering yourself with some good skincare products.
Also agree that sticking to neutrals can make you look put together with minimal effort, especially if you pick an accent colour to liven it up abit.

Trip to the hairdressers
Professional eyebrow shape
Teeth whitening

Smart new coat, handbag and boots/shoes
Sunglasses

Shaped eyebrows and tinted lip gloss make a world of difference.

Nothing much to add as all been said.

Just - I too don't like wearing foundation every day. I find that a serum first, then moisturiser second, then makeup primer works nicely. There's something in the finish of that that looks nice. I feel fresh skinned in it.

I then do more eyeliner with my mascara so I definitely do look made up.

Funny old things we do as peri women now, I'm 50 in Sept.

I started fasting some time ago, its that that has made the most difference.

So I find there are 2 stages to this. The first stage is prepping the basics - get your hair coloured or cut however you like it, stop smoking, less alcohol, more sleep, more fruit and veg, more movement.

That will all have the biggest impact.

Then the second 'icing on the cake' stage that makes looking good so much easier - sleep in hair protection so you can wake up, shake it out, and it looks fine. Get eyebrows and lashes tinted and lash lift. Basic skincare. Tinted lip balm. These things take less than 5 mins daily and make you look more out together so easily.

A very decent haircut, that's easy to self-style ie falls in place automatically every morning.

A smile - find something to make you smile every day, it'll lift you enormously. For me it's the bird feeders outside the window, we got the squirrelproof ones and it's lovely now (the wretched squirrels had it empty by 6am every day

Add a few tanning drops to your facial moisturiser - Clarins work well for me , subtle but think I look less washed out. Also blush, lip colours look better against it

I cant afford botox lol

so I have roseacea and my skin is aggravated by a lot of cosmetics. (Aloootttttt!!!) I use Cetaphil to wash my face, avene skin recovery cream (Cetaphil and the skin recovery cream and the spf are my hero products in life, they’ve literally helped my skin no end)

Aimee Connolly primer (about €20), le roc posay spf, either clarins bb cream or Vichy make up and mac prep and prime fx spray. (Just in case any of that helps). Best of luck op, I ‘burned’ my face a lot looking for what didn’t cause it to heat up/ break out in rashes/ dry up and just generally feel awful.

This and an eyebrow permanent tint really helps me look 'done' without any effort

For me the biggest changes, and honestly I have had comments , hair cut and brows tamed. Ive given up on colouring, so its really weird atm with all sorts going on with it, but the cut suits and i can manage it.

Eyebrows I got done by one of those ladies who have a chair in a mall. Cos I have to travel miles , I got myself a x15 magnifying mirror and I keep them as tidy as I can inbetween visits. I even managed to dye them myself this week :)

Then I added to the face care. Hyaluronic acid - OMG, amazing stuff. Cheap as chips in my case. But as I started from zero the changes have been noted. Moisturiser -Q10, again cheap as chips. And a night cream - night Q10 and a serum with collagen. Seriously my skin is glowing

I get very little sleep, most nights its 5 hours, some nights as little as 3 so a wee bit of concealer under the eyes , a bit of blush and a dusting of bronzer - its enough. IF I want a more polished finish, I use Boots no7 serum foundation, it too has the hyaluronic acid , gives a dewy plump finish

Obviously I have also worked on the inside, cook from scratch, eat more fruit and veg then you can shake a stick at ( even to the point that scrambled eggs get spinach ), given up white bread and switched to wholemeal pasta and brown rice

And I walk, every day, even in the pissing down rain we have had for two days solid. Wellies and a rain mac over my coat cos its freezing here as well. I have to feel like Im about to die to stop me. Some days - like today its just been a mile, on a lovely day I can go up to 5 miles but usually its 3. Really really energises me and believe it or not it really helped with my hot flushes, really eased them

So I have fine lines appearing around the mouth and eyes, but its the big 60 this year and Ive lived a life and it shows

Oh and the last thing Ive done, is invested in a pair of prescription sunglasses. I have to wear glasses and just cant see without them so sunglasses only went on if I was sat still - on a beach or something. Now if the sun is showing at all, on go the sunnies. Stops me scrinching up my eyes and looking cross

I wouldn't worry about the botox, people who have it think others don't notice it but generally I do.
Hair is important, I use a face primer to give a bit of a glow. Maybe pick a few go to work outfits that you can throw on without thinking about it. Colours are good if you know what suits.

Thanks everyone im going to try and get an appointment to get my eye brows done. My hair is in a bob. I wear uniform to work so I cant change that. I.ll try and get out for a walk each day. I'm going to try the hydrolanic acid. Also saw you can get vitamin b12 injection so im looking into that I already have hrt. I'm pale and puffy at the moment with a large belly and druppy boobs. I.ll try and get a better bra.

@Exhaustedineedhelp I forgot to mention bra. OMG that in its self is a body lift. I always said I needed the belly to keep the boobs up, what I really needed was a bra that fitted correctly

I used an online calculator and went into store and picked up a few bras of differing styles in the size it told me, and when trying on, for most of the styles it was correct, some I had to go up a cup size. Ive gone for underwire full coverage and for the first time ever Im comfortable in a bra and my boobs are back where they should be

Best of luck xx