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.

OK thanks for the pep talk both - DS2 is asleep in my room so I can't get dressed or have a bath but I am going to book an eyebrows appointment forthwith.

Hi philo! SCORE on the Decleor in the airing cupboard!

I think you're doing FABULOUSLY. Even though your skin is white, think how pink and healthy your liver must be looking after a week off the booze! (Says she who had a Bell's last night.)

What is annoying you the most about your appearance? The bit that makes you feel "Eugh" when you see it? Feet, or paleness? Tackle that bit first.

I always think of fake-tan as being such a pain to do and put it off, but it takes about 10 minutes in reality. what always gets me to do it is remembering something I read on MN, where it was the no.1 top "cheerer-upper" we could think of. Waking up with new fake tan on = bliss.

Also, I try to have a good scrub in the shower in the morning and do body-lotion, then it's v quick just to slap the tan on before bedtime.

You know all this though, so I won't krep banging on.

i did something thats not strictly beauty related today, BUT... it will in the long run benefit the cause and i was inspired by this makeover. and i'm really proud of myself for finally adressing it.

so what is it ive done?

for as long as i can remember i have been the pickiest eater ever. i mean its embarrasing! for years i survived on cereal, toast and sausages, and lots of crappy junk food. i dont ever recall voluntarily eating fruit or veg. i have graduated slightly since having children but still my diet is atrocious. but as much as i convince myself i will like things if i try them, i just cant do it when it comes down to it, so today, i booked an appointment with a hypnotherapist to put an end to it and finaly give my body the nourishment it needs.

i know its not related but i just wanted to share it with you all because it is part of my makeover.

Frownies and Whitestrips have arrived!

I feel so much better for tackling my appearance -- it must have been dragging me down for months and months. Feel so, so much more optimistic and positive this week.

Booyhoo, that is HUGE!!!!!!!!!!!! Well done you for facing that problem and taking such a positive step! Yay!!

And it's totally beauty-related. You will look and feel a million times' better when your body gets the nutrition it needs. Can you imagine? You'll feel like the Billion Dollar Woman.

Hooray for you!

Booyhoo well done! That will make more difference to your health and appearance than any amount of tatting about with tweezers

Ladies, you will be thrilled to know that I am clean and dressed and fully made up at last. And I even went to Sainsburys to celebrate

Go you, PL!

thanks you two, i only wish i'd done it sooner, but i obviously wasnt ready until now.

get anything nice in sainsburys Provincial?

This thread is really proving to me that our appearance is crucial to our happiness. How we think we look completely affects how we feel about everything else.

This message is poo-pooed nowadays, so we all go around feeling depressed all the time because society has told us it's "shallow" to care about how you look. Absolute bollocks. I think it's the most positive thing anyone can do.

Having a bad mental-image of yourself stops you doing so much, or enjoying things. Think how often our inner-critic slags us off about how we look: "You? Starting a new job? With all those frumpy, mumsy clothes?" "You? Paint-balling? Wobbling round like a big fat target?" "You? Getting asked on a date?" etc

This makeover is so uplifting and inspiing, we should Patent it!

Hello all!

I have a challenge which can be done while MNetting (but requires space....)

Whilst reading long threads lie on your side and do some scissor lifts for your legs if you're using a laptop or do some lunges whilst at the PC. Or maybe some arm excercises. Or anything else which can be done sitting down and is toning

I really need to attack my eyebrows!

Five apple doughnuts - three down, two to go

totally agree beautiful.

there have been times when i ignored the front doorbell because i just felt too hideous to deal with anyone, even if it was my mum! now thats bad!!

so really big pat on the back to you for initiating this and kicking us all up the backside in order to make us feel like the gorgeous confident ladies we are.

Mmmmmm... apple doughnuts.

And I agree Beautiful - when I am feeling crap the best thing I can do is try and look my best. Slobbing about in grubby or shapeless clothes with no makeup on does nothing to improve my state of mind.

I'm liking your multi tasking tip FraKKIN!

Beautiful can you tell me how you get on with the Frownies please. I am intrigued to see if they work. I got some L'Oreal de-wrinkle serum the other day. I am astounded to say it has actually already made a difference. It is really nice and goes on lovely, skin feels and looks so good. It cost me £6, although I'm sure they charged me wrong cause I thought it said £12 on the shelf. I have sleep wrinkles, those criss cross lines on your under eye just above cheek bones. They make me look so old and crinkly. This cream has made them look better, not sure if it is removing them or just making them look better, who cares! Can anyone please advise me of a foundation that will give my 44 year old skin a dewy look rather than a crispy matte dried up look please.

righty.
i have come to decision that if i pare down my mn time that would help a Lot from a Feeling Better About Myself angle. last time i felt i was overdoing it i deregged lol, which was a tad desperate, so we'll try mn-lite.

and i would also be able to do 2 x 15 minute beauty chores a day.

i am heretoforward on an mn fast (this thread excepted, natch) and will join no new threads for the next month.

an mn diet if you will.

did my penance with the marigolds earlier - mine have funny lining stuff which smelt funny with the cream though, so i ended up washing my hands afterwards lol

tonight i'm going to break out davina and see if she can get me through the 'power of 3' whilst dh walks the dogs and dcs snooze. i've done 40 mins of exercise, but have spent most of the day vegetating on mn, and my brain is truly fried - hence the fasting option for a month. need to get a grip on self generally i think (helped by this thread lol)

sooooo, if i'm on here all day asking random and irrelevant loosely beauty related trivia, just someone tell me to go and do something else? pretty please?

davina at 8 if anyone wants to join me... (rather depends on you owning the dvd lol, but hey...)

You are so right BEAUTIFUL - look good , feel good,usually in that order for me. And just look at this thread - you can look back and 'hear' the tone/energy of us posters lifting after just a few days on this thread, so thank you, sterling work love! Get it patented, make a packet and then let someone else do all your beautifying for you I say!

And ta for the pep talk - it has persuaded me to get off my arse and slap on the fake tan tonight, will have a bath once kids in bed. I have the added incentive of DH coming home tommorrow (he works away in the week) so fake tan plus nice underwear might just get me that elusive first compliment! Might even sort feet out and - OH MY GOD - paint my toenails. Am fed up of being the only mum on the school run not sporting dark vampy nails. My school does seem to attract an exceptionally well groomed bunch of mums

I do have Davina somewhere - not up for it tonight but will locate it for next week madwoman. Quite like the idea of a virtual gym class!

right, im joining the mn fast aswell. that really will free up alot of my time. god i will be gorgeous after all this!!!

As long as you stay on this thread, both of you, I sanction the MN diet.

OK, so I'm sitting here wearing my FRownies. I'm not sure. The good news is that my skin is already so, so much better after four days' regular cleansing & moisturising that I found it v hard to find any wrinkles! Thr bad news is, I'm not sure I understand how these work & don't know if I've out them on right. I guess we;ll see in the morning.

Off to bed in a minute, to read while I do a 30-minute teeth-whiten! Poor old DH: he keeps seeing me coming out of the bathroom smothered random beauty stuff, facecream, fake tan, bits of sticky paper (Frownies), teeth-strips... However, another lovely compliment tonight. He came home and said, "Look at you!" Then told me I looked like Cleopatra. ???

Have followed Scarsdale diet all day (it's vv easy) so should have lost a pound by tomorrow! When I peel all this paper off my face, at least...

Night night, beauties x

Phio: "And just look at this thread - you can look back and 'hear' the tone/energy of us posters lifting after just a few days on this thread, so thank you, sterling work love!"

That was the nicest thing i've ever read! It kept me grinning for hours! Thank you so much.

I only started it; it's you wonderful lot chucking yourselves in 100% that have made it SO awesome! Hooray for the Beauty School Drop-Outs!!

Walkingwith... For foundation, go to a make-up counter and ask for samples. I did this at the Chanel counter and got a lovely sample of something that made me look very dewy and fresh-faced! Can't remember its name, so bthis was a v unhelpful post... Sorry.

madwomanintheattic the Dermalogica products I use are:

special cleansing gel
daily microfoliant
smoothing cream at night
sheer moisture in the morning

then, less frequently:
precleanse
skin refining masque

Perhaps you could have a facial/consultation and find out if their new Medibac range would help with acne?

Do any of you use a solid foundation+powder in one? I wonder if some of that and some mascara would be a good way for me to wear make up every day, ie REALLY quick to put on.

I find that base + mascara is enough to make me feel good about myself, I'm not really interested in doing more, but right now I'm too lazy even to put on foundation then powder! Actually my foundation is starting to smell, it's that old

naturelover - oo, good tip. will find out nearest stockist and see if i can get there on monday after hair thingy! two birds with one stone and all that

well, davina was... it was great doing it, but i am a tad tight this morning, which i guess means it did something lol! i think walk it off today and do davina every other day... (philo, i'll remind you next week you promised to join in )

beautiful, you are making me laugh - all these compliments despite wandering round the house 'in progress' lol. am v envious of the cleopatra line - i guess you're keeping that fringe!

think i skimped on the water again yesterday - feeling thirsty which has to be a bad sign, so that's priority today. i've got to spend the morning scrubbing the trampoline and climbing frame - they are both under huge trees and turn green periodically so that will be my least glamorous pursuit lol. i will need soaking and moisturising afterwards...

what's today's challenge then b?

Hello!

I use Laura Geller's "Balance & Brighten" face powder which is like the Minerals but MUCH nicer, lighter, and doesn't show up your pores. It's sold via QVC - in fact, Laura is on QVC today, I think, at 11am - eek, that's now! But it's really good, despite the QVC association! You can use it as a powder or by itself. It evens you out but doesn't look cakey, IYKWIM.

She also does this eyebrow-tamer wand which is the best make-up item I've ever bought.