What are your NO-NONSENSE style and grooming tips? With products, if poss...

[HildegardVonBingham]

I'll start:

• If you have fine hair it is often best to get it cut shorter. If it's long it can look straggly and wispy. I have accepted my fate, and my hair looks much fuller and healthier now it's all cut to one blunt length.
• The idea that you have to have your nails 'done' all the time is insane and costly. Just keep them clean, filed, and use cuticle oil. In my view a grown-out manicure or acrylics looks bad.
• This is the most hydrating and natural-looking lip tint on the market. It's sooooo good - you can apply it without looking: https://www.clinique.co.uk/product/1605/4772/makeup/lipsticks/almost-lipstick-in-black-honey-pink-honey-and-nude-honey
• If you use a retinol (and you should), use it in conjunction with a serum and moisturiser so that the skin barrier repairs, and you avoid flakey bits of skin round your nose. Naturally wear SPF!!!
• Better to get clothes a size up and have them tailored and taken in. Even a woman with an amazing body looks like a sausage bursting its casing in too-small clothes.
• Colour theory is real. If you have 'high contrast' you can get away with wearing a lot of make-up. I think that a 'full glam' looks amazing on women with darker skin tones, but as I'm pale and blonde I can't really carry a lot of make-up. The 'bold lip' is a massive scam!
• Gradual tan on the body and tanning drops in your moisturiser can make you look slimmer and better-rested with minimal effort if you are pale.
• Your trousers should be almost too long - this makes your legs look longer.

Would be interested to hear any other NO NONSENSE advice you may have.... for instance I would love to know the best exfoliant to use on the body, and how I can avoid getting disgusting calloused hobbit feet from exercise 🤓

I have fine hair but masses of it. I keep it long. People actually stop me in supermarkets and tell me I have great hair. People ask for the name of my hairdresser. You don't need to cut fine hair in a bob if you have lots of it. I mean my hair is kind of floaty and keeping it in a straight looking bob would take real effort. Ideally, I wash it the night before and any frizz is calmed down in the morning. Dry shampoo is the stuff of the Devil and should only be used in an utter emergency.

I see a dermatologist every six months. Thirty years ago one dermatologist chuckled when I asked about using a moisturiser on my oily acne prone skin - he said only if you want to have spots. Every decade or so I try a moisturiser on my face which is followed by spots and then I recall the words of the dermatologist all those years ago. To be fair, no dermatologist since has ever actually suggested I use a moisturiser on my face. If you have oily skin, don't listen to any rubbish about needing moisture - you really don't need a moisturiser. Your focus should be on getting the oil off your face. Not all older women have dry skin. I am over 60 and I still have quite oily skin.

Freckles according to a plastic surgeon who did a scar revision for me really do make you look younger. You will look older if you cover them up. He told me really old people tend to lose pigment so visible freckles do make you look younger. He was talking about small freckles here though not great blobs of sun damage.

After a certain age, polo, turtlenecks and crew necks are not doing you any favours. The contrast with a slightly softened jawline is not kind. Embrace v-necks, scoop necks, sweetheart necklines, boat necklines and even a shirt opened for a couple of buttons.

If you have heaps of eye allergies - I mean true allergies that don't respond to any bleating comments about hypoallergenic products - mineral makeup can be a game changer. The other challenge is getting the stuff off. Microfibre cloths have been amazing for me because you can just use plain water with them to remove makeup.

I always check the ingredient label for any product claiming to be gentle/hypoallergenic for perfume or parfum and you would be astonished at the number of so-called hypoallergenic products which contain perfume.

The older you get, the more minimal the makeup should be.

Tubing mascara is a game changer for panda eyes

Don't splash out on expensive cleansers and toners - they're all pretty much the same. Save money on own brand micellar water/makeup remover etc and invest the money saved on the best moisturiser you can afford. In 20 years time, your skin will thank you.

I think this one actually works SORT of. Ok it’s not going to make you look like you’ve had a month on the mounjaro but applying an even, nice quality fake tan well, can definitely hide a few lumps and bumps and make you look a bit more ‘even’.

I am enjoying this thread. The really great thing about mumsnet is that if you aren’t enjoying a thread, you can just skip it and read something else. No one will come and tell you off, it’s not your work email. Try it.

I’ve always been a bit sceptical about things like double cleansing, but thanks to this thread (I’m sorry I can’t remember which poster recommended it), I have given it a go the last two nights and am genuinely surprised at the difference. My skin feels almost “squeaky” clean at the end and is much better moisturised in the morning. Definitely keeping going with this - thank you.

I am not the author of the post but I use Tan-Luxe The Face drops. I mix 2-3 drops with The Ordinary Hyaluronic Acid and apply every 3 days. It gives my face nice glow and evens the skin tone. I usually buy it in the small bottle size (10 ml) and it lasts me long time.

As a result of this thread I added the blistex relief cream to my Tesco grocery order, which arrived yesterday morning.

Less that 24hours later it has actually made a difference to my lips they’re softer and not all scratchy.

Hopeful that continued use will finally sort out the perennial dryness on my bottom lip.

I also ordered the cherry tinted Nivea lip balm, which I unboxed and placed by the front door; it’s already been lifted and taken to school by the tween so can’t report on that.

I’m trying this!! Thank you x

@FirstDayonthePlanetWhich is the Blistex one please

@CrikeyNumpty , blistex relief cream. Blistex Relief Cream - 5g - Boots

As a child I had gazillions of freckles & they stop being so neat as you get older. They go get blurry - I've never worn foundation or blusher or primer or anything on my face & they are definitely less defined than when I was younger

completely agree

Actually, leaving oily skin unmoisturised will make it more oily over time. Far better to use an ultra-light moisturiser with SPF.

I agree @Epli Tan Luxe are the best facial tanning drops. I apply differently to you though, I put my moisturiser on and then smooth 3 drops of Tan Luxe over that, starting in the centre of my face and blending outwards and down my neck, I feel that way I get a tan on my face like I would in the sun, darker in the centre, fading to the sides and neck.

I found this, my skin was very oily and spot prone so I used to shy away from extra oils or moisturiser but actually I found once I introduced them my skin became less oily. I now use an oil cleanser and serum, moisturizer and an oil at night and my skin is no longer oily and I very rarely get spots. There was a cross over period where I felt like I was making things worse but actually it was quite a short period.

Yes to Green Italy towels.

I get a Blowdry every Friday as a treat and it lasts until the following week, I sleep on a silk pillowcase so it stays smooth.
L’Oréal glass facial products and a primer under make up make my skin look amazing. Regular brow tints.

Oh yeah coffee grounds will fuck plumbing in the UK big time. It's one of the number one things that plumbers have to get out of the pipes.
It happened to my friend on Xmas day. Kitchen sink.

@BillieWiper A plunger should have shifted it. If not, removing and clearing the U part of the pipe then putting it back in place.

Don't use caustic soda to unblock a kitchen sink, any oil will react with it and solidify.

Thanks to whoever recommended the Boots 17 tinted lip butter in deep honey. Mine arrived yesterday and I am a convert. Someone described it as 'your lips but better' and that's spot on.

I hate the feeling of hand/foot cream so I do it before bed every night. CCS foot cream keeps my feet really soft

recently discovery is the sol de Janeiro shower oil - my skin is so smooth and soft with it and it’s not slippy in the shower either

This mascara is great for lower lashes or use a tepe brush! https://www.yesstyle.com/en/innisfree-skinny-microcara-2019-new-brown/info.html/pid.1038885899

powder on your face only where you need it rather than all over

if you have pale hairs but enough of them, brow gel is often more soft/flattering than pencil

lining your upper waterline makes your lashes look denser

I prefer this lip colour stick thing....put it on like lip balm - no mirror required - and gives some colour without being too much...

https://www.beautypie.com/products/shine-up-lip-balm-stick-baby-bare?_gl=11unsrmo_upMQ.._gaMTk5NDY3MDU2NS4xNzY4OTk0MTI0_ga_76YDC86ZZH*czE3Njg5OTQxMjMkbzEkZzAkdDE3Njg5OTQxNDgkajM1JGwwJGgw

@wawawoo142 , I don't like the look of that colour (it might look good on you but not on me) but the whole benefit of the 'almost' lip colours is that you can reapply discreetly just as you would a regular untinted balm.

The naked berry one would do me but I'd not want to pay £20 for it.

There’s always new products coming along so if you find something you like and that works for you stick to it.

Learn to stand correctly. Most people are hunched over or droopy when they stand. Look at yourself from the side, standing as you normally would. Then straighten yourself up. Have another look in the mirror. You will almost certainly look better.