Frump to Fab - Onwards and Upwards

nilequeen

lessonlearned wrote: »

Rose - sounds like a good plan. Hope you feel better soon. Your outfit sounds fab.

Well today I have to,wait in for some deliveries so I'm going to roll up my sleeves and get stuck in.

The cellar is now fully cleaned out and the dehumidifier and new air vents are doing the trick. It's now nice and dry. I bought two large industrial style shelving units and a few plastic crates and I have been happily unpacking, sorting and loading up the shelves.

The units will house all our tools, diy equipment and materials and extra cleaning products. At the top of the cellar steps there is small landing affair with shelves which I shall use to house kitchen equipment such as mixers, slow cooker etc, and day to day cleaning materials. It's the next best thing to a pantry......although not suitable for food storage.

At any rate this will free up the kitchen cupboards and the worktops, so hopefully no more clutter. Today's job will be to sort out all the cleaning materials - I bought some baskets for these and to do a bit of plastering and then fablon on the shelves. It's all finally coming together.

Right I'm on a mission.......

I want to sort out my make up and rethink my skin care routine.

I need to think about anti wrinkle creams, and "rejuvenating" products. I have bought a Boots diy chemical peel kit which I'm hoping to trial this week. I have tried nano blur but wasn't blown away by the results. I've tried an Aldi CC cream but found that a bit heavy. I certainly don't want to pay Elemis prices but I realise that the kind of science I need is not going to be exactly cheap.

Any suggestions?

I had a quick look this morning - I just goggled anti wrinkle products and needless to say there were pages and pages of info. I will do a bit of research later this evening whilst half watching TV but I just wondered what your fave "must haves" were.

My skin reacts badly to retinol which of course is one of the primary ingredients to the most effective wrinkle reducing products.

Apparently ROC do a cream with slow release retinol which is supposed to be ok for retinol sensitivity.

All ideas and suggestions on a postcard please:rotfl:

Right time to mix that plaster and get cracking.

Have a great day.

Know what you mean about Elemis products.
Skincare should be a double pronged approach, ie a facial oil as your skin drink and a cream or lotion as skin food, especially in winter. Decleor are great but a little pricey for their lovely facial oils, on the more affordable end there is cocoa butter skin oil for face, has some good properties and I have used it to great effect. Leaves your face with a pleasant radiant glow.
A layer of each, oil first only a couple of drops, then cream, also a good eye cream/gel.
Makeup wise I think bare minerals is a great quick makeup that makes you look lovely and flawless, don`t really favour their shadows but everything else is good.
Let us know how you get on.

lessonlearned

Hi nilequeen and welcome. Some great ideas there. I hVe some bare minerals but haven't used them for a while, I tend to just use a bit of bronzer in the summer but I could do with a bit more help in the winter, will dig them out. I've also bought some pure cocoanut oil to play with.

Re eyebrows. I'm afraid I overplucked them when I was young and they have never really grown back again. A quick tidy up is all that is needed. I have thought about getting them tattooed back on but I have seen some pretty disastrous attempts so I'm very loath to try that.

I just use pencil but have to be very careful to try and get a natural look, pencilled brows can look either very harsh or clown like if not done correctly. I noticed maybelline are advertising a new pencil/powder combo, might give that a try. I understand that Boots also bought out some products designed to stimulate eyelash and eyebrow growth. I think they are called rapid brow and rapid lash.

Has anyone any experience of these. They are not cheap so I'm a bit cautious about handing over my hard won pennies.

Oh dear, the older I get the more high maintenance I'm becoming, what with creams and potions for my aches and pains, industrial strength moisturisers and now trying to regrow my eyebrows and eyelashes........

I do feel like an old crone but I don't want to look like one just yet. :rotfl::rotfl:

maddiemay

LL
I know what you mean about the age/high maintenance thing:(

I have been using a very expensive lash growth serum called Revitalash and it worked amazingly well, but haven't (as yet) tried any others, however, I have bought some organic castor oil, decanted some into a cleaned out mascara container and just started (yesterday) applying this to my brows - they were slightly over plucked, and have lost colour and thickness too. I have found recently that using strokes of two pencils (blonde and brown) seems to work best for me, on their own one is too dark and the other too light, I keep looking at the brow colouring kits, but have been reluctant to spend out on any yet.

It is raining again here and I need a kick up the rear as I am still in PJ's, need some energy and motivation if anyone has any going spare:rotfl:

lessonlearned

Maddie I feel exactly the same today but I have managed to get dressed - just.:rotfl: I've no real energy at all today.

The weather is truly awful and I wish I did not have to go out but needs must I'm afraid. I might have to treat myself to something nice whilst I'm at it.

I don't think I'm slipping into depression because mentally I feel fine, it's just physically. I just feel so drained and lifeless. Winter hasn't even started yet and already I willing spring to be here.

I'm hoping that once the house is clean and de cluttered I will feel better. I think the constant mess is sapping my energy. I can't find anything and even when I do know where stuff is I just can't be bothered to wade through it all to get to what I need.

I know I have a stack of envelopes but can I find them:o: I'll just have to go and buy some more. And so it goes. I can't wait to get this,place ship shape.

Thanks for the advice on eyebrows, the two colour pencil idea sounds great and should achieve a more natural look.

Right looks like,the rain is easing off - time to make a dash to the car and get this shopping done.

I might just treat myself to a laze on the sofa later with a nice DVD.

nilequeen

lessonlearned wrote: »

Hi nilequeen and welcome. Some great ideas there. I hVe some bare minerals but haven't used them for a while, I tend to just use a bit of bronzer in the summer but I could do with a bit more help in the winter, will dig them out. I've also bought some pure cocoanut oil to play with.

Re eyebrows. I'm afraid I overplucked them when I was young and they have never really grown back again. A quick tidy up is all that is needed. I have thought about getting them tattooed back on but I have seen some pretty disastrous attempts so I'm very loath to try that.

I just use pencil but have to be very careful to try and get a natural look, pencilled brows can look either very harsh or clown like if not done correctly. I noticed maybelline are advertising a new pencil/powder combo, might give that a try. I understand that Boots also bought out some products designed to stimulate eyelash and eyebrow growth. I think they are called rapid brow and rapid lash.

Has anyone any experience of these. They are not cheap so I'm a bit cautious about handing over my hard won pennies.

Oh dear, the older I get the more high maintenance I'm becoming, what with creams and potions for my aches and pains, industrial strength moisturisers and now trying to regrow my eyebrows and eyelashes........

I do feel like an old crone but I don't want to look like one just yet. :rotfl::rotfl:

Hi Lessonlearned
Thanks for the welcome, I really like this thread,
Have you tried castor oil for regrowing eyebrows? it is the only remedy and reasonably priced, a large bottle will last ages, a lot cheaper than all those products you were mentioning.
I had a little spareseness on one eyebrow and was told to use this and massage it on that area, now it has grown back and is even again, I always have them threaded and it is only £5 at superdrug and you get points.

maddiemay

Nilequeen - good to see another vote for castor oil, I only started using it on my brows yesterday:D

Health problems mean that I shed an awful lot of head hair, thank goodness that I have a fairly good thatch to start with, I am going to try mixing some with my first shampoo, I have read that massaging it in well is important too. First time I used too much, but intend starting again tomorrow.

So pleased that you are enjoying "being here", it is a good place to be, lots of support and helpful tips.:D

LL - I did manage to get dressed, did supermarket shop as had been too busy in the week and have had half an hour in the garden (wrapped up warmly) deadheading and collecting a few leaves, we have lots of trees here and next door, so it is a never ending job for OH and his leaf gobbling machine, still should have lots of lovely compost eventually:D

nilequeen

maddiemay wrote: »

LL
I know what you mean about the age/high maintenance thing:(

I have been using a very expensive lash growth serum called Revitalash and it worked amazingly well, but haven't (as yet) tried any others, however, I have bought some organic castor oil, decanted some into a cleaned out mascara container and just started (yesterday) applying this to my brows - they were slightly over plucked, and have lost colour and thickness too. I have found recently that using strokes of two pencils (blonde and brown) seems to work best for me, on their own one is too dark and the other too light, I keep looking at the brow colouring kits, but have been reluctant to spend out on any yet.

It is raining again here and I need a kick up the rear as I am still in PJ's, need some energy and motivation if anyone has any going spare:rotfl:

Hi maddiemay
The brow kit I used after having mine threaded for holiday, was Laura Geller, it is baked so sets lovely and look stunning, not ott. I got the brunette as the black would be too overpowering on my already black brows.
Do shop around, try not to go to the shopping channel it is a ripoff, there are a few good online retailers that do it minus p&p.
Threading also makes brows grow back evenly and I don`t pluck anymore, they are now the shape I wanted.
It is best to massage it in last thing at night but it takes a few months, the threading lady swore by it and so do I.
I have an annoying big tree outside my house as well, so a garden full of leaves but try to sweep them onto lawn, good compost for the flowers.
cheers

nilequeen

maddiemay wrote: »

Nilequeen - good to see another vote for castor oil, I only started using it on my brows yesterday:D

Health problems mean that I shed an awful lot of head hair, thank goodness that I have a fairly good thatch to start with, I am going to try mixing some with my first shampoo, I have read that massaging it in well is important too. First time I used too much, but intend starting again tomorrow.

So pleased that you are enjoying "being here", it is a good place to be, lots of support and helpful tips.:D

LL - I did manage to get dressed, did supermarket shop as had been too busy in the week and have had half an hour in the garden (wrapped up warmly) deadheading and collecting a few leaves, we have lots of trees here and next door, so it is a never ending job for OH and his leaf gobbling machine, still should have lots of lovely compost eventually:D

I advocate head massage with heated coconut and almond oil or olive oil with coconut, it is the food and drink for hair, too many people shy away from it. leave it on for an hour or two then shampoo out. You will have a healthy scalp and hair. I do this once a week. It leaves hair in good condition, better than all those chemicals left in hair. I got some pure Argan oil when I went to Morrocco, this is the best and it is completely fresh and unadulterated, so take a big empty bottle when you are out that way. Argan is all the rage now and so are hair oils from various big companies that have jumped on the bandwagon, but these argan oils are so full of chemicals, I have got some but use on the ends only. The oil on it`s own is expensive over here, you pay for the privellage.
Another tip for the castor oil is use it sparingly during the day as well, it will tame brows and leaves a nice brow gel look. The longer it stays on the better it works!

newthrift

Ooo I think I will have to get some castor oil for my brows. I had them waxed once when I was 13 and they made them like pencils which were awful:eek: unfortunately I did keep them tweezed in like that for a while and although now i'm 23 they have grown back reasonable but think they need a bit more too them so I can go and get a decent shape made from them!!
I had bootcamp at 9.30 this morning - it's military - and today crawling around in mud when it had been raining and still was....well I got rather mucky and then cold!! Good session though. Came home and showered then had a 45minute bath to warm up :rotfl: not much other faffing done on myself today but I have also cleaned upstairs.

Going to pop and do my nails though once I've caught up on here, so that will be a little extra.

lessonlearned

Thanks for the castor oil tip. Will definitely try it.

Well I did not enjoy my shopping expedition. Heavy traffic, packed shops, got soaked. Just did the basics and came home as fast as I could, no browsing today.