Ruby Sew Sew's Budget Beauty Box

Finefoot

Well done you!
I will be watching with interest.

lessonlearned

Hi there - just popped in to say - enjoying your posts and will keep an eye on your progress.

Well done on getting started - that's always the hard part.

We're doing the same at "Frugal Frump" - keep up the good work.

Good luck.

What sewing are you doing - I'm waiting a bit longer until I've lost a bit more weight then I'll get cracking. Just doing some household sewing at the moment.

MrsWoolfe

Hello Ruby!

I'm another regular on the Frugal Frump to Fab thread, and just wanted to say I've really enjoyed your posts so far- do pop over and say hello- we are all trying to do the same things and it's great to be able to swap tips/sucesses etc I know some have said it moves quite fast but for me that helps to keep me on the "straight and narrow" as it were

your post re sorting out the wardrobe was really interesting one- despite the progress I have made I amway too guilty of letting the clothing get out of control- I admit I am a total hoarder when it comes to clothes..but I am inspired now to tackle that issue! I will be popping into town at the weekend and getting some of those bags...hopefully just in time for us to finally finish putting together the wardrobes that have been half finsihed for....oooh about 3 months? more?

Also liked what you were saying about clutter have recently got around to sorting out the living room and getting rid of junk/putting things in a proper place and it's just so lovely now a nice place to chill out in the evening and I relaly think it has helped with the way I'm feeling...now for the rest of the house!

anyway just wanted to say hello and that I'll be following your updates with interest!


Good Luck!

P.S I too am jealous of your quickly put together outfit- sounds lush!

MrsWoolfe

RubySewSew

Ah, thanks ladies, that is very encouraging. I was just dropping in to say that my day has gone from this morning:

DS2 (whilst grabbing my thigh) "how chubby can a woman's leg be?!" Nice!

to

lady at the swimming pool "I really like your cardigan" (thanks, I got it in the Tesco sale) to "wow, I love your tattoos!"

feeling a little bit perkier as a result!

Last night I decided to paint and manicure my nails whilst watching a film to distract myself from not stuffing my face unneccassarily. Today, my nails have chipped and peeled from all the flipping chores! I am not destined to have glam hands!

I did have a quick look at the fab frugal thread - will be following with interest!

RubySewSew

Are you guys ready for stage 2 of the wardrobe audit - making sure everything you own makes you feel good?

This will take a couple of hours to an afternoon depending on how much you have left. There is a very simple rule to this bit of wardrobe auditing and that is that you feel good about yourself before you start. Make sure you are warm, washed, defuzzed and wearing fantastic and supportive underwear. You will obviously need a mirror. You might need a friend (I hate shopping with other people so on the same basis I always do this on my own). I would also recommend you do your hair and make up but with it in mind that you are going to be changing in and out of stuff.

Now, try everything on. Look at it. Be honest. Does it make you feel good? Does it fit? Is it flattering? When did you last wear it?

This should be an empowering exercise. You should be getting rid of stuff that doesn't make you feel good and keeping hold of a smaller selection of clothes that start to shape you and your style. I appreciate that not everyone will feel like this in which case its important to start thinking about why? When did I last feel good about myself? What changed? Pregnancy? illness? Age? Time? Weight? All of the above?! I do have some exercises you can try if you feel really miserable and lost. I should point out - I'm not a professional, its just stuff I tried when I came out of my marriage with 3 tiny children and no self esteem. It took me 4 years to stop looking at maternity clothes!

If you have successfully pared down your wardrobe - well done! With the stuff you are getting rid of repeat the steps in stage 1.

With your newly pared down wardrobe you need to get organised. This is stage 3. I personally like to colour code my wardrobe because it looks so pretty. This is so simple - just hang everything up with like colours. It gives you a much better idea of what you've got, what matches what goes with everything and what goes with nothing else. My wardrobe goes grey/silver, gold, purple/lilac, bluey turquoise, pink, red, red/black, black and beige/leopard print. These are the only colours I really wear and it makes it really easy to visualise what I've already got on the rare occasions I do get to go shopping.

I hope this helps. Its quite good fun to do. I do recommend Flylady's tip as well (when I can organise myself) of picking your outfit, shoes and accessories out the night before and hanging them up ready to wear.

RubySewSew

lessonlearned - sorry to say all my sewing is imaginary at the moment!! I am in the middle of clearing myself a crafting area so that I can crack on with stuff!

RubySewSew

After swimming yesterday my hair turned into a massive fluff ball rather than glamorous bouncing curls. Then today I applied make up only for it to melt in the humidity of the day. Grrrr! Glamour 0 scruff 1.

I'm waiting for friends to come over for cocktails so had to make a decision over bath, hair fix and make up or tidying the house. I went for the former and still had time for a quick whizz round with the hoover! Yay!

Off to mix up some mojitos now !

WartimeScrapingofMarmite

:TExcellent wardrobe whittling tips Ruby! I have had an evening to myself tonight (DH working overtime, DD at a sleepover and DS fast asleep and snoring) and have just taken a HUGE deep breath and.........sorted out my wardrobe!

I have to say, there is scarily little in my "to keep pile":eek: I am looking at the postives though:- It will be alot quicker sorting out my outfit for the following day and I now know what suits me and what doesn't! I also have a small pile of clothes which I am sure will sell on eBay so more pennies towards to house-deposit fund:)

Enjoy the mojitos!

GemJar_2

Something I do when I'm feeling abit low is to go onto youtube and search for hairstyle and makeup tutorials, theres some really good ones on there and its great for a change. It quite often goes wrong but it takes my mind off it and its nice for a girly afternoon. Another tip to make your make up last a bit longer is one, wet the tip of the brush before you apply eyeshadow it comes up a much bolder colour and two, crush your powders up and put them in pots. Also, I find mixing my lipsticks with a bit of vaseline makes for a fab lipgloss!

RubySewSew

Yay! Glad they worked for your Marmite! It is scary having so few things (especially when you're going away tomorrow and half of your minimal wardrobe is in the wash - eek!). I do need to slowly expand my wardrobe but I have no budget to do it at the moment. But because I know what I need I know not to make any impulse buys unless its on the list.

GemJar, I'm with you, thats what I do when I need a little bit of tlc. YouTube is great for hair and make up!!

I need to get some laundry done. And some ironing. I'm going to see my sister tomorrow who has lost 3 stone and looks amazing. She has worked really hard and looks fabulous but standing next to her makes me feel like a big old frump Any tips for feeling less frumpy next to your beautiful, skinny, younger sister appreciated!