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.

Hello, please can I join in? I decided today that I'm going on holiday in 5 weeks and have HUGE muffin top which is shameful and upsetting. On week four off the fags/nicorette so am comfort eating like a maniac. I need something!
Am a wreck, eyebrows a la Brooke Shields, scruffy old clothes, feel like shit. You clearly know what I mean ...

So I'm in, if that's ok.

I've been glugging water down all day, I'm sure I've had sixty minutes worth of exercise just going up and down the stairs to the loo!

CJ - you sound like you could be my twin sister going by your description of yourself, welcome aboard.

Morning CJ! You're so in. What are you going to tackle first? A few of us are booking haircuts to get us started. I so need to lose my muffin-top, which is now more like Mr Kipling's factory, so we can definite cheer one another on with ]some weight.

I have looked OK and dressed nicely today, but haven't actually done anything beautifying. What did I say I was going to do today? Pore strip? Shit.

so we can definite cheer one another on with ]some weight.

Or, as we say in English, "so we can definitely cheer one another on with about losing some weight".

Great thread BEAUTIFUL - I have only just found it, can I join too please? Feeling bleurgh and can not keep blaming it on having kids as they are 5 and 3 now. Need to get a grip! I know this is late but my main problems are:-

I am 20lb overweight.
My hair needs a damn good cut
I don't even own any conditioner and haven't for weeks!
My feet are in desperate need of some TLC
My skin is dehydrated
I am a whiter shade of pale
I have nightmares about what age I would be given if I was forced to stand in the street a la 10 years younger!

On the plus side I have my own teeth and hair, went for a facial today and went jogging yesterday so perhaps there is hope!

Tommorrow I will book hair appointment and eyebrow/ eyelash appointment. And drink 4 glasses of water. And take DS2 out somewhere for a bike ride (me running to keep up, like Rocky!)

MADWOMAN - my mum has v. curly hair, she only ever lets hairdressers with curly hair themselves near her, and she gets great cuts. Don't let them cut the layers too short, she also swears by frizzease.

Better get to bed , am 30 mins late already!!

Hi all, thanks for being so welcoming! I was on the dieting thread for a bit but there were so many people on there, I couldn't keep up.

Went to the gym yesterday, but only did 25 minutes swimming, nothing more strenuous than that. Am going again tomorrow, will go on treadmill and bike too this time!

Getting better about wearing nicer clothes but all the stuff that makes me feel good is too damn small at the moment! Am trying to wear make up etc every day, get to bed at a reasonable time and drink water.

Badly need hair cut and colour but am pretty broke at the moment. Tell you what, though - sounds a bit daft but I bought myself a new duvet cover the other day - lovely, bright cheery colours - and it has REALLY lifted my spirits. Maybe it was just the retail therapy element, but it's made me feel so much better!

Good luck tomorrow everyone.

PS Philo, my kids are those ages too. I have left myself go for far too long ...

'let', even. And good night.

Well i'm a fan of the natural look! For a 5-minute make up routine,you can try powder(Bobbi Brown,my personal favourite), mascara and lip gloss for a start. These 3 suit and make a positive difference on most people.

philo, thanks for hair tips! will def remember the layers one and keep my fingers crossed that the woman i'm seeing on monday has curly hair lol!

another morning without the car, so another 40 min round trip to school

on second glass of water.

but had dreadful night's sleep as dh kept lying on his back with his arms behind his head and snoring, and i kept having to knee him in the bollocks ask him to roll over.

am v spotty today. harumph. suspect hormonal involvement. anyone tried evening primrose or anything to balance it out a bit?

intending to take dogs out for long walk and order online shop for tomorrow with lots of fruit and veg and poss self tan later... but can't remember if i've got a meeting tonight... if so it'll have to be just slather in moisturiser...

didn't dry hair again, but am keeping up with anti-frizz stuff... might have to try something different though... am using the tresemme stuff as last hairdresser got all snippy about john frieda/ frizzease etc, but i think it's made it less manageable tbh... sort of fluffier, which wasn't really the look i was hoping for...

Morning babes-in-training!

My biggest achievements this week so far have been getting early nights. I've been tucked-up by 10.30pm every night (normally I mess around all night and stagger up after 12.30 [eek]) and although it's taken a few nights, I feel I've finally caught up with sleep.

This morning (is this fascinating? Are you all gripped?), I leapt out of bed at 6.30am which gave me loads of time to sail around serenely getting ready for school run. Skin looks fab after cleansing/toning every day, and using the No.7 P&P.

Haircut tonight! Thank God!

also, I just bought some Alli weightloss pills -- the ones that make you poop your pants if you eat anything fatty. Has anyone else tried these?

Please keep posting your updates -- you are all inspiring me and keeping me going!

philopastry, of course you can join! Do let us know when you've booked your haircut and eyebrow/eyelash appt.

Madwoman -- haven't tried Eve Primrose, but did use Agnus Castus for a while. Didn't notice any skin improvements but was certainly a lot less certifiably insane with PMT.

CJ -- hello! Can you get a cheapo cut/colour at a local beauty school, or on a salon-training night? I've heard they are very, very good but they take ages, that's the only drawback, so only doable when kids are at school/nursery.

Enjoying the thread ladies. I turned 40 a few weeks ago and have decided enough is enough. If not now then when will I be a babe! or whatever the term is.

Making a little effort everyday certainly does make you feel a lot better. Hopefully before too long I will start to look better. My youngest starts at the school nursery after the summer so I'm hoping by then to feel and look a lot better than I do at the moment.

So today was in gym at 6:30 -- my main need to look good is to tone up and this is the only way to do it.. came too on running machine to find I was actually enjoying it and making plans with myself to come back on Friday!

Have had hair done and it is now slinky smooth and freeze free - am wearing basic make up which is huge progress from no make up .. so today .. feel and look good..

this thread is great .. tonight am going to do total body exfoliate and too a fake tan.. just 15 minutes of work every day seems to working really well .. not much time and yet results are great.. really good idea! thanks!!

Hi fatjac! So what's your plan? You need a plan. Are you going to follow our fabulous, 15-minute Beauty Chores routine?

How is your hair? We are starting with our hair. Are you happy with yours or could you use a haircut/colour/brush?

LOVELY to have you here, all of you. (Whitening strips still not bloody arrived, so I'm still forced to do small, closed-mouth smiles.)

BEAUTY MISSION ALERT!

As I sit here, wearing eyelash dye and a porestrip, I'm wondering how many of us have cupboards and cabinets full of Beauty products we never use? Bought when a fit of ugliness coincided with being in Boots?

Our mission today is -- seek and rescue those products! Take 15 minutes (because we are Super-Fly Ladies) and grab all the unused products you own and put them all together in a basket in your bathroom, somewhere you'll see them every day. Then you'll be inspired to use them.

This also goes for expensive bubble-baths you save for special occasions. Use it!

BEAUTY MISSION ENDS

I have a whole box full of lovely products in my wardrobe gathering dust - I will go and dig some things out NOW and use them tonight.

Do you there is a syndrome whereby just by buying a product you think it's going to work, even if it sits in a drawer for two years? If so, I have it and I'm sure I'm not the only one!

Sitting here typing in nice make up, which I will take off properly at the end of the day. I'm going to book an eyebrow shape for saturday morning too.

Hi lovely ladies

Today I managed to shave my pits and legs in the bath (albeit with my toddler and baby watching), put on proper make up and a dress, and do my hair to a reasonable standard. Even though I had a rubbish night's sleep last night thanks to teething I bought some new foundation - Benefit stuff - as my old one had run out. It does make a difference to how polished I look.

Last night's run was hard work too so it must have done me some good!

Sorting out and using the beauty products we already have is a good plan too. I am a terror for hoarding things until they smell funny and have to be thrown away.

liking todays mission. and considering i have done absolutely none of my daily tasks then i think i owe it to me and all you beautiful ladies to do this one. please send motivation this way, combination of late to bed and baby not sleeping left me shattered and in bad form so not feeling much like being beautiful today. you all are doing really well!

I had my eyebrows threaded the other week and i got a much more precise shape than when i get them waxed.

Well my main concern is weight. However this time I am planning on focussing on the whole package as it were not just the one issue.

Was looking at your link to the Scarsdale diet. Interesting. At the moment I am using up old supplies of Cambridge plan.

Hair is not too bad at the moment. I have a shocking amount of grey now so I do get it trimmed and dyed every 6-8 weeks or so. My big recent (re)discovery is velcro rollers. Instead of using straightners I have been going for a more touselled look. I'm also investigating curling tongs.

At the moment I am concentrating on hands and feet. Both have shown vast improvement in the last week or so.

fatjac tell me more about velcro rollers. What does one do with them?

yes tell about the rollers.

i currently own heated rollers, electric curling tongs, a gas curling tong and GHD straighteners and still havent managed to achieve beautifull curls or even a tousled look. it all falls straight out!!

Well my hairdresser manages to get my poker straight hair curly using GHD straightners but I have never managed to perfect it. So she suggested velcro rollers.

You wash and dry your hair but leave it slightly damp. I use some mousse or styling spray at this stage. Put the rollers in starting at the top and working your way down to your neck. I have Denman rollers out of Boots, they come in 4 sizes and I use a random mixture. They have a special silver coating to conduct heat.

I then spray with good old Elnet and put the hairdryer on them for a few minutes. Wait 10-20 mins to let them cool down and set. Unravel and I have rather nice curls. I turn my head upside down and run my fingers through for a more tousled effect.

My hair used to be very thick and dry but in the last few years it has gone rather lank and thin. By doing this and adding more volume it looks a lot better.

I used to have some Revlon electric rollers but I think the velcro ones give a better curl. You could put then in whilst soaking in the bath at let the steam set them. I also have to say it makes me feel extremely glamourous wafting around in my dressing gown with my rollers in!

I went into Boots the other day to look at curling tongs. OMG has that market taken off!

My last pair of tongs were bought around 1988 when it was all Dallas and Dynasty big shoulder pads. I used to have a Linda Evans flick. Back then it was little gas rechargable things now they have something called a curl press and these conical twisted tongs where you wrap the hair round the barrel rather than wind the tong around the hair. There was also this scary looking hairdryer that curled your hair whilst drying it.

I expect to feel confused when I go to buy a new phone but I thought by my age I could manage to pick a pair of tongs without my head exploding.