Does anyone want to join me in giving themselves a DIY extreme makeover?

[BEAUTlFUL]

No, not literally, we won't be doing our own liposuction with straws, or posting messages like, "Keen sewers: I was trying to give myself a lower-body lift but can't reach to sew up the back", or anything.

But does anyone else feel hideous? I do and I'm sure it's at the root of almost all my problems (low self-esteem being the main one).

I need to diet, get hair cut, sort out flattering clothes and ditch fugly stuff, stop biting my nails!, get pedicure, keep up to date on fake-tanning... all that.

Does anyone want to join in? If we were very brave we could post "Before" photos in our profiles then invent a month-long makeover plan, then do "After" pictures, but that might be a bit scary.

We need to ge up earlier and prioritise doing our make-up! And do a beauty treatment three times a week (body scrub, face pack, hair conditioning treatment, etc) just to nourish our Inner Temptresses.

I know it's non-PC to long to look gorgeous, but I'm fed up looking fat and frumpy and desperately need to reinvent myself! am i alone in feeling like this?

I know the awful irony of having a vain log-in name and posting this message, btw.

Booyoo -- hello! Fabulous to have you here! Yes, you are so not alone. We are building a pack of Neglected Vixens who are ready to re-Vamp themselves. Hope your hair looks gorgeous.

I love how we're starting with hair stuff. It's definitely the fastest way to make yourself look better.

God, still have done nothing tonight excepot sit on arse, on internet. This is why I'm so fat!

We are not the first Mumsnetters to feel hideous -- link to old thread

hair colour developing, just digesting entire threa, and i am ashamed to admit i trained as a beauty therapist and all this stuff used to be second nature to me but hildren have put paid to that and i have done the eyelashes at home aswell and they never go dark enough but im dark to start so not really surprised. right am off to bed before beautiful shouts at me for being up past ten. nite all, remember to set alarms for make up time in the morn.

Me! Me! I feel hideous as well.

Have been getting seriously fit for the last 6 months but am still at least 20lbs over-weight due to serious carb-addiction and complete inability to pass up cake (or indeed eat bread and jam when there is no cake on offer.) Have now injured my leg so running and boot camp are out the window. I seriously need to reduce my food intake as of two weeks ago, but have yet to start.

Was only just thinking I need to sort out my hair and get up earlier so I can be dressed and made up before the babies wake up, rather than scratching around at 9am for one of my many pairs of £10 Tesco combats because they're "comfy".

Another recruit boarding the train. Choo, choo!

Re the tanning; I can heartily recommend L'oreal Nutrisummer moisturiser. It comes in Fair or Medium (I have fair skin, but cheat and use the medium every few days instead of every day. You need to be more careful to apply evenly, though.) Also a face version with SPF15. It's non-stinky, non-streaky and not too yellow.

obviously CHILDREN and not hildren!!

Twelveyeargap (I hope that's not between haircuts): Welcome to our Makeover spa!

Getting up early is the secret. We need a mantra: "Early to bed and early to rise, Makes a Mumsnetter well-dressed, with thin thighs". I know that if I get up at 6.30am, I have enough time to shower, do face, syle hair and wear "nice" clothes not just (as you say) combats. and consequently, I feel so much better all day. Sadly, in reality, I've been leaping out of bed at 8am and spending the rest of the day looking hideous.
Anyway, jump aboard. Next stop, FoxyTown.

Booyhoo: a real beauty therapist! Perfect. Please, please, please share your knowledge on this thread. Please. We need professional help! Any tips at all would be fabulous. Really.

Shitfuckbollocks, still have done nothing. Slinking guiltily off to bed now, and picking nice outfit, while Lilacclaire swims Channel and eats 27 oranges.

See you tomorrow. Remember:

• Get 8 hours' sleep (if at all possible)
• Get 60 minutes' exercise
• Cleanse/tone/moisturize morning & evening
• Drink 4 glasses water
• Eat healthily with view to losing weight: IE, no snacks, lots of fruit/veg, nothing naughty like pastry, butter, crisps.
• Every day, do one 15-minute "beauty chore" from that week's list

xxx

I'd like to join in too will ignore the fact I've failed at the first hurdle as I'm here past lights out!

before reading this thread I'd already started back on Slimming World plan as of today. I've got about 11lb to get back to my target weight and I'd like to get there, or somewhere near there by the end of term

better go and cleanse, tone moisturise now then

Im off to bed soon, stacked up with nice salad stuff, ryvita etc.
Think will just shower and body moisturise tonight and teeth whitening (unless I get lucky )

Finishing off bookings for hols and then heading for a shower/facial routine thing based on whatever I discover in the cupboard.)

Today I managed to drink lots of water...but also ate really rich icecream with the kids earlier. Oh well. Did do some energetic tidying earlier though.

Im gonna get train to a wee town 6 miles away in morning, then walk back home (I do like walking). Fingers crossed for good weather!

Hope you have a good start to your day everyone - will be back on tomorrow evening

Oh and can I recommend driclor, its a kind of anti persperant that stops you sweating altogether (under your arms anyway) if you suffer from sweaty pits.
I only need to use it once every couple of months now, you can get it out of any chemist.

Hi BumpyBecky! Lovely to have you here. See, I'm here past 10pm too... Ooops. Slimming World sounds great. Will be joining you, in a way, as Scarsdale is similar, like lots of Red days.

Lilacclaire: you are so inspiring, with all your healthy foods. So good you're here. Hey, when I've done my week of teeth whitening I'll be able to smile like this

I just did shower/exfoliate; all-over body lotion; Keratase hair-treatment (will leave on overnight); vitamins; protect & Perfect serum, eye cream and Oil of Olay Total effects night cream, which is 310-off at Boots at moment and promises to be "tightening".

See you tomorrow, gorgeous ones.

Hello ladies, am I too late to join in as well? Feeling like a big lump, and DD is 9mo now so it's time to do something about it.

I will get some time to read the whole thread later today, and then get myself together and start byoodifying!

Morning ladies! Hope you have woken up stunning. What are your Beauty-Goals for today?

I've decided to weigh myself every morning. I read an article by a Doctor the other day that said weighing yourself daily is very effective in helping you lose weight/keep it off. I know WW tell us not to, but I don't trust them at all with their "Woohoo! You have lost 0.7ounces this month!" nonsense.

I'm also going to dig out the £80 voucher for the local spa that DH gave me ages ago and book a couple of treatments. What do I want? Mani and pedi? Or a facial? Oooh... Maybe that body-wrap thing that makes you lose inches. I've done that before, it was great.

How about you lot?

Hi womma, you are not too late at all. We've only just started. We are sort of following a FlyLady-type Beauty plan, where we fit 15-minute Beauty Chores into our day. Really, you can do anything as long as it's something that makes you better-looking!

"I've decided to weigh myself every morning. I read an article by a Doctor the other day that said weighing yourself daily is very effective in helping you lose weight/keep it off"

DO NOT WEIGHT YOURSELFS EVERYDAY. In fact don't weight yourselves at all just go from fit of clothes.

Can I change the plan (again)? I think we should just have a list of Beauty Chores and just pick 3 or 4 to do every day, concentrating on your "problem areas". Tick them off when you do them. By the end of a month you should have done loads of them.

Here is the list...

BEAUTlFUL'S MONTH OF BEAUTY MAKEOVER REGIME

Every day:

• Get 8 hours' sleep (if at all possible)
• Get 60 minutes' exercise
• Cleanse/tone/moisturize morning & evening
• Drink 4 glasses water
• Eat healthily with view to losing weight: IE, no snacks, lots of fruit/veg, nothing naughty like pastry, butter, crisps.
• Every day, do one 15-minute "beauty chore"

HAIR - 15-minute Beauty chore list:

• Book cut/colour/consultation
• Deep-condition hair with special goop, or olive oil
• Wash brushes
• Buy new hair products, like mousse, Frizz-Ease, deep-conditioner, etc
• Look up hair-styling tips to suit your chosen style and try to do them (ie, using hot rollers, using straighteners to make curls, creating heavy fringe, etc)
• Ask friends' advice on new style
• Take vitamin B complex or eat Marmite to get added shine in hair
• Do cold-water rinse at end of wash, to flatten hair-cuticles and get added shine
• Try new style, for example put hair up in chignon
• Dye eyelashes with home kit, or in salon
• Have eyebrows shaped in salon, or by yourself

SKIN - 15-minute Beauty Chore list:

• Pore-strip on nose and chin
• Face pack
• Wash make-up brushes
• Book make-up lesson
• Try doing make-up differently every day, especially eye make-up. By the end of the month you should have found the way that suits you best
• Skin scrub -- mix handful of sugar with 1 tablespoon olive oil, scrub gently over face in circular motions. Apply hand-hot water to muslin cloth and place over face for 10 seconds, three times (like Eve Lom). Wash off oil, soak muslin cloth in cold water place over face for 10 seconds, pat dry
• Rub Vaseline into eyelashes before bed (to encourage growth)
• Exfoliate ENTIRE body
• Slather all of body in body-lotion, concentrating on elbows, knees and feet
• Apply fake tan
• Shave/wax/Epilate/whatever all hairy areas
• Trim lady-garden area!
• Book pedicure, or give self one
• Soak feet in warm water, then scrub heels and hard bits
• Give self manicure, or have posh one in salon
• Put hand-cream on hands and feet, then go to bed wearing cotton gloves and socks
• Bleach or somehow remove/disguise facial

BODY - 15-minute Beauty Chore list:

• Do 15 minutes' sit-ups
• Arrange something sporty, like regular swimming, tennis lessons, restarting gym membership, vowing to walk to school every day forever...
• Find exercises that target your problem area (Bingo Wings, double chin, saggy bum) and do them. Find relatively uncomplicated ones that you could do easily, nothing too hard-core. Or...
• ...buy a new (or dust off an old) exercise DVD and do it, promising faithfully to try to do it regularly
• Decide a way to lose weight long-term, whether that's a slimming class or doing a diet at home. see if any friends want to do it with you (without opening the conversation with, "Hey lardy!" naturally)
• Buy (or reclaim from loft) nice exercise clothes and trainers. Sports bras are vital
• Take DC out for bike ride, or for run around the park
• Anyone think of any others?

CLOTHES - 15-minute Beauty Chore list:

• Go through underwear drawer as if you were the person who had the tragic job of dressing you when you're dead. Chuck away any undies that you'd be ashamed to wear in your coffin
• Sort the remaining underwear into neat matching sets, tidied away properly
• Sort out your nightwear so you have nice things to wear in bed
• Go through your wardrobe ruthlessly. Sort into 5 piles: Sell; Give away; Mend; Store; Wear
• Then do what the labels say, and try to do it within a day or two or else you'll start putting it all back into your wardrobe
• Ask for one of those Colour Consultations for an upcoming birthday
• Sort accessories into easy storage - for example, belts coiled up in a basket, scarves hanging up in wardrobe, or whatever
• Organise your jewellery
• Ask close friends/DH what you look nicest in, and why
• eBay old stuff, and don't buy anything new until you have enough money to be able to book personal shopper at department store. everyone I know who's had this done says it's wonderful

Thanks Libra, but I am going to weigh myself every day. My BMI is currently 29. I have "forgotten" I'm overweight for a year now... I need to face up to the issue.

Morning fellow goddesses-in-training. So far today I have:

Applied body lotion
Washed my fringe and blow dried it so it isn't all crushed from sleeping
Put makeup on
Selected a nice outfit including a lovely goldy skirt I picked up in a charity shop yesterday
Eaten museli for breakfast (but I do that every day anyway)

Today I will:
Go for a run (I do this 3x a week a la Couch Potato to 5k)
Walk flipping miles taking DS1 to tumbletots
Eat a healthy lunch (already made to eat as picnic)
Dye my eyelashes. I used to do this and it helps because I have blonde lashes and not very long ones at that
Try and remember to brush my hair during the day (will probably fail and look like a burning bush as per usual)

Ugh and now I have just scared myself looking at the before and after pictures on the crest strips

Right, I've just read all of this and its RUDDY FAB!!! Exactly what I need and brilliant to have the company of all of you lovely ladies to do it in as well!

So far I have:

had fruit salad for brekkie

booked a haircut for next week (on DD's first day with the childminder and a week before I go back to work...a good distraction I think, but I may need a slice of cake too)

Going up stairs now to file my feet and have a go on my eyebrows.

If anyone needs some help with make-up, Space NK is utterly fabulous. Book a free consultation and you will be transformed!

Oooh, thanks for the SpaceNK tip! I will definitely do that next time I'm in London. I am still doing my make-up the same way as I did when I was 17.

morning! all you lot typing after lights-out have given me too much to read

so yesterday i did exfoliate and moisturise, and booked my hair consultation thingy. (still open to suggestions about what to do with long brunette/grey curly frizz...)

i also painted my toenails (this normally only happens about once a year, so is a Big Thing) i got 8 hours sleep! (except for a brief foray at 1am to work out why dh was asleep on the sofa... jet lag...)

i failed to get my clothes ready or dry my hair this morning but i did put serummy stuff on in an attempt to combat fluff/ frizz... Will Do Better. baby steps...

today i have had an enforced 40 minute walk (car b*ggered) and am getting on with the water drinking am going to have much walking later c/o car situation, so don't think i need to worry about skimping on the exercise front. i suspect that i had better just walk this week rather than anything mor energetic as it has been a while...

i discovered rather more stretch marks yesterday than i had anticipated, and as i haven't had a baby for nearly 6 years i can only assume they are caused by general flabbage. q - does self tan darken strethc marks, or make them More Obvious? help! this could be crucial to today's beauty chore....

and hello to all recruits! some of you sound like ringers very professional but lapsed lol, so please help me whilst i wallow at the bottom of the class trying to work out what to do with an eye pencil!

i have dark eye lashes none of that tinting nonsense required here, sor which i remain eternally grateful! one less thing for me to flap about!

Yo MadWoman!

Re: your hair. Just ask their advice in the salon. Throw yourself on their mercy. Say you don't have much time to do it every day, so you need a low-maintenance style. I read last night about cuts, and this one was said to be the most universally flattering.

Re: make-up... If I were a novice, I'd go to my nearest bigger Boots shop, one with lots of beauty counters, and find someone on the No.7 or Max Factor counter and ask advice. They will be very helpful - especially if you say you own no make-up and need to buy everything -- and get them to do it. Or book a free makeover at your nearest MAC shop.

Jodi Kidd - or is it Jemima? - does make-up lessons online, will Google.