What has made a real difference to your style and beauty?

[Darkdiamond]

Just that really? What have you done that has really worked or that you can't go without? A product or habit or anything that you think has really helped you to look better. I am just in a bit of a rut and want some inspiration! Thanks!

My contribution to this thread is Frownies (used for a few hours while sleeping) and Dior Nail Glow for an everyday manicure.

Can I ask if anyone has found a hair product to deal with dry, frizzy, coarse menopausal hair that isn’t full of silicones?

Great subject. Have always loved fashion now in my early sixties and feel better than ever! Look at trends but adapt to my size which is 5ft 2. I am wary of the trend to only wear neutral colours as I always think of my grannies generation wearing beige when they reached 60. Looks good on the young but washes out older women. Always spend time in morning skin routine…Serum and Clinique Mousturiser the same as my mother who looked amazing right up to her eighties. Bright lipstick good jewellery and not always the same necklace. Perfume and then ready to go. Lots of trial and error with clothes . I prefer buying online as am limited to petite in trousers etc. Good Cashmere in winter and a great coat

Colour analysis and a style day given to me as a present. Then being able to go on a colour and style course with WEA as it was many years later and I had gone grey by then. Since then I buy colours that suit me and styles that also suit me. I went to Lytham for the day recently and various ladies told my friend and myself that we are stylish, In one shop a lady said If I try this dress on would both of you tell me if it suits me .The dress looked lovely on the lady.

Yes but the company stopped trading (byselina) , was the best product I’ve ever found for my hair, mixed heritage, always frizzy and dry, menopause has finished it off! Hope someone responds!

Im almost 50 yo
Mounjaro - lost 25kg
hot yoga/pilates 5 times a week
drinking lots of water
eating healthy/“clean” food
my apple watch that nudges me to complete my rings every evening
aiming for 8,000 steps a day which is a lot more realistic for more than 10,000 steps a day - more likely to try and do it
I sell on vinted but always buy new, in the sales (John lewis i love but also lots of good quality brands)
Drinking very little alcohol
magnesium tablets for a better night sleep
simple skin care routine but with products that work for me (kerastase 8hr hair serum, elisabeth arden night serum, clarins hyarulanic serum in the morning under nivea face cream, clarins vit C serum on the days i use the clarins spf face cream for mature skin, nivea bidy cream)
jewelery from accessoize! Cheap and cheerful!

Keratase shampoo, conditioner and masks - expensive but I bulk buy in Black Friday sales
My Dyson Airstrait - finally have the straight smooth hair a younger me dreamed of
Hair extensions - only a few used for thickness as my hair has gone thinner as I’ve got older
Lash Lift - I look instantly better and more awake and I never have to use mascara
A brilliant hair dresser

Stopping wearing prints.

Like others - a good hairdresser and looking after my hair. It’s thick and coarse but straightens easily, I use a hair oil and have never dyed it. I’m late 30s and have no greys or my natural colour is disguising it well!

I’ve stopped waiting until I’ve lost weight to buy nice clothes. I’m not shifting it any time soon due to many reasons so I’m just embracing it. Not hiding in voluminous clothing but just buying stylish clothes in bigger sizes. I also don’t care what the label says, I buy the size that fits and looks best. I’ve got clothes from a 14 to a 20.

SPF50 on my face and hands every day.

I’ve also found my perfect blusher which is a combo of blusher, bronzer and illuminator

Using a brush to apply foundation. I think I’m a couple of decades late on this development, but I finally got one and the dewy finish on my mature skin is amazing.

Having my hair done every week now and I love it. I am unwell and my friend/hairdresser now comes each week for a chat and a blow dry. But because she comes every week my hair is so tidy and lovely and every five weeks I get a full cut too. It was always good to see her at the salon but this takes the pressure off me to get there somehow and we have a lovely catch up too. I feel I look so much better too.

straightening and whitening my teeth- not stupidly so just natural

Such a great thread. Thank you!

However, vinted. I have tried numerous times but end up taking it to the charity shop. I mustn't know what suits me - head and actual version of me unmatched 😂 unbelievable at 45, still.

What are your tips for learning what suits and making good purchases on vinted? I would love to be a stylish, polished dresser but don't achieve it on many levels.

Exercise - mainly strength training
Mounjaro
Disposable income

For me color analysis and also to have a wardrobe with mostly block colors (from my colour palette), hardly any patterns. I have realised this makes you look more elegant or 'expensive' and a lot of patterned clothes don't look so smart as plain. Then I use accessories to elevate the look a bit and make it less boring (headbands, belts, some jewlwry, a nice bag...). This has make a big difference for me and I am so happy for the change, I feel way more confident.

Dressing for how it makes me feel and not for what others may think.

Vinted: try things on in expensive shops. Stalk Vinted for them the next season.

Can you please recommend your colour style analysis person? I’m so nervous but keen to take the plunge… a positive warm person sounds ideal

I have frizzy/ curly post menopausal hair and now make all my own co wash and conditioner ( silicone free). Recipes on the internet eg from Queen Bee. I realise it’s a bit niche. Before I did that, I’d buy silicone free products from Faith in Nature. It really has helped the frizz a lot. Occasionally use curl cream from Only Curls too, when I can be bothered.

Place saving

Chanel make up, makes me feel grown up!

Losing weigh and improving my posture.
Weight loss has been aided by mounjaro but has made a big difference to my confidence as well as my fitness.
I was having some pain in my shoulders, back and hips so I saw a chiropractor for some treatment and she recommended yoga which I have now been doing for about 18 months. The combination of the two has really helped improve my posture, I think I have probably also had to learn how to stand and move to suit my new body shape. This probably makes me look slimmer too.
The 90’s revival is helping my style too, I’m kidding myself I still look like I did in the 90s!

Happy to, but she's in Scotland. DM me and I'll give you her details if that's of use to you but I might be able to suggest someone else nearer to you.

really getting a style sorted and using Vinted to uplevel my wardrobe at a lower cost.
skincare routine
Lashline tattoo
regular microneedling, skin boosters and Botox

@TwoHoots74 Happy to share. I won’t share links because prices vary dramatically depending on where you are in the world & there are always sales on, but I promise I have tried all of these products - and you can hopefully find some things you like that suit your budget. Photo 1: Shampoo & Conditioned. Really basic, transparent, clean rinsing. No build up. I keep coming back to this one from Japan. (Cheap, giant bottle, refills available, fantastic.) Tsubaki Premium Volume & Repair. Alternate conditioner & thicker hair mask/treatment. Treecell Triple Bonding Treatment (mask) or Treecell Forte Ampoule (lamellar water type. Effective but definitely builds up). Elizavecca Cer-100 protein coating treatment. Not a bonding treatment exactly, but works similarly on my hair. Usually the cheapest and the lightest. Has become a cult product outside of Asia now. Photo 2: Treatment mists to rehydrate hair before drying. My two favourites are HAIR+ (aka HAIRPLUS if googling) Protein Bond Water Essence Kundal Protein Bonding Hair Mist Serum. Both products have different scents available. Leave-in treatment (pea-sized amount squished through the bottom prior to blow drying. The combo of the mist and this one is what has saved my hair, I think.) Lador Protein Bonding Treatment. (No Wash version. The wash out one is too heavy.) HAIR+ Protein Bond Ampoule. This is the lighter of the two, but you use a bit more. Then some hair oils. I literally use the tiniest drop through the ends after I dry it and before bed. These are all lovely. Elizavecca, Treecell, Anillo, Lador. They come in amazing scents. (The Lador one in Osmanthus which smells divine but is significantly heavier than the others.)
Hope that helps. If you want me to explain how & when I use them, technique, let me know.

@TwoHoots74 I forgot to say that the Treecell Treatment (mask) is heaviest, the Kundal Treatment (mask) and No Wash look exactly the same online so be careful to ensure that it says NO WASH.