Frugal Frump to Fab - The Journey Continues

Bitsy_Beans

Moneydoesnthelp wrote: »

Hi Bitsy Beans.
I notice that you regularly do your facial exercises. Do you mind me asking which exercises you do? I bought a dvd on facial exercises and the initial results were good but I am finding that when I do them now they add new wrinkles that weren't there before I started. I'm at a stage now that I am worried that if I do them I will be a woman in her 50s with a face of a 90 year old! Not that there's anything wrong with a 90 year old face just not before I reach that age. I wondered if you would mind sharing your experience with the exercises.

I bought this book by Eva Fraser who if you see pictures of her looks amazing for someone who is In her 80's.

I am not sure what DVD you're using but Eva works on building up the facial muscles before adding resistance to them. I am still on the intermediate stage (mostly because I go in fits and starts ) but I can see how the one side of my face is weaker than the other :eek:
What I have done though hasn't added any wrinkles so far. Not sure if that helps of not.

Sorry I haven't been around much, these Easter holidays have flown by and I've not been making as much effort. I do the basics of course but haven't done much above and beyond. So I've written myself a daily plan scheduling what has to be done each day. It's my way of making an appointment with myself to fit in the things I want to do eg yoga and facial exercises.
My nails aren't too bad, I do bite them but only when they get to a certain length rather than habitual biting. Filing them when they are too long sets my teeth on edge :eek: I do need to work on them and I like the idea of a pearlised pink nail polish to smarten them up. I like to go bright and bold on my tootsies, petrol blue, yellow, green etc but fingers I prefer something that won't be as obvious if it chips during the day

Kids back to school tomorrow so new routine will take place

Enjoy what's left of the bank holiday

whichwhydoIturn

Silly question ... Been looking at my skin since starting on here .
It's very dry , feeling papery almost using E4s on it , my hands and nails seem beyond help.
I painted my nails tonight , it looked awful.
Veins on my hands make them look 10 years older than they should .
I had. Very bad excema from birth , still have it now in fact and took steroids for several years so skin quality & nails never been great
But with DD wedding approaching I want to be bit super confident
So any tips or even ideas how to glam up nails , or improve my hands will be welcomed
X

Sniggle_2

Hi. Please may I join this thread?

I really need some inspiration. Like the other poster I have atopic eczema and have had it since birth. I'm still at the hospital every 6 months to try and keep it under control. So basically my skin is always bad? I used to walk with my head down as a teen but have managed to change that one.

I'm overweight too but struggle losing weight as my head can't deal with it and I start binge eating instead.

I have to keep my nails short to stop scratching so I tried false nails, but scratched with them instead until they came off!

I'm still trying tho

Bitsy_Beans

whichwhydoIturn wrote: »

Silly question ... Been looking at my skin since starting on here .
It's very dry , feeling papery almost using E4s on it , my hands and nails seem beyond help.
I painted my nails tonight , it looked awful.
Veins on my hands make them look 10 years older than they should .
I had. Very bad excema from birth , still have it now in fact and took steroids for several years so skin quality & nails never been great
But with DD wedding approaching I want to be bit super confident
So any tips or even ideas how to glam up nails , or improve my hands will be welcomed
X

You could try massaging castor oil into your hands as it helps with circulation and can reduce the look of veins.

Sniggle wrote: »

Hi. Please may I join this thread?

I really need some inspiration. Like the other poster I have atopic eczema and have had it since birth. I'm still at the hospital every 6 months to try and keep it under control. So basically my skin is always bad? I used to walk with my head down as a teen but have managed to change that one.

I'm overweight too but struggle losing weight as my head can't deal with it and I start binge eating instead.

I have to keep my nails short to stop scratching so I tried false nails, but scratched with them instead until they came off!

I'm still trying tho

I am no expert at losing weight but when you say you're head can't deal with it what do you mean? Can you keep a diary and write down the things that trigger a binge? Once you know what the triggers are you can start to work on them.

lessonlearned

Good evening everyone

I notice that a few of you have asked about excema and very dry skin conditions.

Here's my take.

Steroid creams should be used for emergencies only - long term use will thin the skin. Skin gets thinner anyway as we age so the last thing we need to do is to use ointments that thin the skin even further.

I would also suggest that you try to avoid any harsh detergents so rubber gloves for washing up, household cleaning. If rubber gloves irritate then you can buy specially lined ones for sensitive skin - a bit more expensive but well worth paying a bit more for.

I would also suggest you look at your soap powder. I had to swap brands because both my OH and DS2 ended up with contact dermatitis due to biological washing powders. Never touch the stuff now.

Liquid hand wash is another product best avoided - apparently it's the foaming agent that does the damage. A gentle pure glycerine soap is best.

My OH does well with Pears soap, Pears shower gel and T-gel sensitive shampoo. Pears also do a liquid hand wash but I've not road tested that one.

Try to avoid SLS (sodium laurel sulphate) and parabens in bathing products, shampoos etc. Use natural products whenever you can. I currently buy mine but I am in the middle of researching how to make my own shampoos and soaps etc.

(I believe Bitsy makes soap so perhaps if you have a moment Bitsy you can direct us to your favourite easy recipes).

I also don't recommend that you use some of the products that GP's recommend such as Cetraban. Again long term use will thin the skin. I'm also not that impressed with E45 either. Most of these products are petroleum based, contain lanolin which is another well known skin irritant and also a whole raft of chemicals.

I have been trialling Aveeno, but can't say I found it of any real use and it's not cheap. I do add oatmeal to my bathwater and that helps a bit. It softens the water and gives it a milky texture. Cleopatra was definitely right about bathing in asses milk. Perhaps I should buy a goat.:rotfl: Apparently some people add milk powder to the bath but I've not tried it myself.

You can of course buy specially formulated skin care products for excema such as Oilatum but they are very expensive, although in some cases GP's will prescribe Oilatum.

The two big problems with excema are extremely dry skin and itching. Of course if you scratch to the point where the skin opens up and bleeds then you are also at risk of infection.

What I find works best is keeping the skin well moisturised and trying to reduce any inflammation which will make the skin itch.

I seem to have the most success in treating my own and my family's excema and sensitive skin with aromatherapy oils. I just blend my own. I also used to make up blends for my clients when I did my beauty therapy.

A basic mix would be 30 ml of carrier oil and 6 drops of essential oil. Wheatgerm, almond or grape seed oils make good carrier oils whilst the best oil for excema is marigold oil (from the calendula plant).

Other essential oils suitable for excema are birch, bergamot (nice orangey smell), cedar wood, chamomile, cypress, violet, lavender, geranium. You can buy most of these in any health shop, Boots also do a small range, or companies such as Woods or Neal Yard which sell on line.

You can buy Calendula cream (Nelsons) from any chemists. Calendula cream is also recommended for cracked nipples when breast feeding and nappy rash.

I can thoroughly recommend you have a go at making your own lotions and potions. You can save a small fortune and of course you do get to use natural products - much better for your skin than slapping on a load of chemicals.

I also make a lot of my own household products too, like insect repellants, nice room sprays, scented ironing water.

Hope some of you might find something there of use.

G'night all X

NoahsPennilessMummy

Morning😊
Bit of an odd Easter as baby girl age 1 started with noro virus on Good Friday, then our DS got it on Sun followed by me!
Lovely DH looked after us all yesterday and now he has it😒
No Easter eggs eaten yet as a result.

Weather a bit naff after lots of sunny days out last week.
Have been sorting warm weather clothes.... Been on search for boho maxi skirt in white and found perfect one on eBay so got a real bargain☺️
I'm not buying much else as I have most of my wardrobe already. I wear a lot of 50s and rockabilly stuff. I have an hourglass figure and for years tried hiding it and wanting a boyish figure... Don't get me wrong I'm
A size 12 at 5ft 10 so not big but very exaggerated curves ... So I decided a while back to go with it rather than hide it.
The 50s style suits curves so I wear 50s women's shirts and bowling shirts, jeans, Capri pants, circle skirts and converse trainers a lot.
I like maxi skirts to keep cool in when it's a hot day.

Re veins in the hands .... I'd suggest using Broom or Horse Chestnut to improve the look of the veins as it tones and strengthens them.
Castor oil works but mainly centred around the lymphatic system which is why it works well on varicose veins.
I will see if I can find some info for you.

I make my own soaps and beauty products so could suggest recipes if you wanted.
If you don't want to go to that bother then Lush do a DreamCream and DreamWash which works really well on dry skin and eczema.

Still have DS off school till next week so not in my usual routine yet.
I have both kids doing yoga with me each day and I've started teaching yoga classes on a Tues for mums and babies☺️
Have been teaching yoga Nidra to DS who is 10 and has autism, Tourette's and other issues. It has really been relaxing him at night.

NoahsPennilessMummy

Info re Broom and Horse chestnut
http://www.anniesremedy.com/chart_remedy_varicose_veins.php

NoahsPennilessMummy

These are good too. http://www.thelittlegoatsoapcompany.co.uk

NoahsPennilessMummy

I also follow this blog and use it as guidance when making my own products http://www.humblebeeandme.com

Rummer

I am fed up of looking plump and haggard while making excuses as to why I am not doing anything about it! So today I have taken a stand! I have given up processed sugar so only fruit for me for a while and I have upped my exercising. Think I am going to loosely follow the slimming world approach as I have their books and it is not hard to follow.

Skin care is looked out and I am going to book a hair cut so I can lose the curtain effect that my hair has developed.

In relation to clothes I am going to make do with what I have as I don't wan tot spend money until I have at least comfortably gone down a dress size and then I am going to create a capsule wardrobe