Frump to Fab 2017 - A Whole New World

Arkers

Thank you for the quick response Floss, I guess it just brings loss of close family members to the fore and focuses the mind somewhat. I have sort of already made up my mind, I just need to gird my loins!

Arkers x

indiepanda

DD265 wrote: »

Disaster: I've fallen for a new perfume having received a sample at a wedding fair, and it's £50+ a bottle. Jean Paul Gaultier Classique Intense. I'm hoping OH might have bought me some for my birthday and if not I'll have a look in duty free next month.

An important reminder for you all; if you've been putting off cervical or breast screening, pick up the phone and book it in. I went for a routine cervical screening this morning and whilst it's never pleasant, it wasn't as bad as I remembered from last time.

Ah, as perfume goes, falling in love with a £50 one isn't too bad. Will last a lot longer than a face cream costing the same. Living in London there are some perfumeries with some perfumes that are rather more expensive that that, and although I love some that are cheap as chips (Caldey Island Lavender which I think is only about £16 per bottle), I have fallen for some that are north of £100 per bottle... and I am not remotely loyal to one fragrance and have multiple ones on the go at once...

I have made life harder for myself by joining the perfume society and going to their events where you get to meet the perfumer, hear about how they came up with the perfumes, try them, and of course then get offered a discount on any purchases. It's an expensive hobby, but I do get a lot of pleasure out of it and have a friend who I go to events with who shares my passion. I have even done a couple of perfume making courses before which is probably one of the most fun things I have ever done.

I also had my routine smear test recently - was all very easy - I had a bad experience when I was younger with someone who was a bit too aggressive with the cell collection and left me sore, but I barely felt this (doing some yoga deep breaths to relax probably helped). Not at the age where you get invited for routine breast exams yet. I have some reservations about that one - there's some evidence the test isn't accurate enough and it gives too many false positives meaning some women get unnecessary treatment, but I will look into it more when the time comes. Fortunately there's no family history on either mum or dad's side of the family so I suspect I don't have any genetic predisposition to it.

hex2 wrote: »

Maman, M&S have Ren rose and testers if you want to try it. I'm newly converted to the body oil but the bath oil is a default gift purchase for my boys to buy me. Indiepanda, I tried the cream in M&S yesterday and really liked the texture. Feel unique have a body wash and lotion set in their sale at £22.40. I also like the 1 minute flash facial.

REN's website is closed for maintenance at the moment and has been for a few days at least, but I should mention for when it is back on line they do really good deals on their site. You earn points on every transaction to spend on products and they seem to be quite generous (can't check exact terms as the website is down), they also allow you to nominate one favourite product that you can get a permanent discount on which I think was 10% and then they do various gift with purchase offers which can often mean the value of the free stuff is greater than the value of the stuff you paid for. I use a lot of their products (probably more than of any other single brand) so it's proved a good way of shopping for me.

I've had a couple of hectic days at work so far this week and was quite glad I had planned dance classes both nights to make me leave if not on time at least at a vaguely sensible hour. Taken home made soup in both days intending it to be for lunch and to go and have a small dinner between work and class, but ran short of time so finished soup late afternoon and only had a snack when returning home as too late for dinner by then.

Tuesday night was Salsa followed by Bachata - I had done a bit of Salsa years ago but never tried Bachata. Enjoyed both but for the Salsa the room was really busy and it was quite hard to do the steps with bumping into the next couple. Ceroc I had my second lesson this week, really enjoyed this so have paid up front for a block of lessons - the offer was I could pay £20 tonight to cover 5 lessons which seemed a good deal. The friend I have been with the last couple of times is on holiday the next couple of weeks but I think one of our other friends might give it a try too, and in any case, everyone seemed very friendly and others come on their own, so I wouldn't be put off by going solo.

I had been considering trying Swing Patrol tomorrow, but I suspect that might be a step too far given have been a bit inactive the last few weeks, but will see how tired and / or stiff I feel in the morning. My new specs are ready and I have to go to the shop near my hairdressers to collect, which isn't that close to the office, so I might do that tomorrow instead.

Night all xx

AlwaysAllie

I think I may have missed posting yesterday........

Anyway, I managed to paint my nails the previous evening, only pale pink but better than nothing. Yesterday saw me 'earringed and perfumed'. Had a battle with my brain which wanted me to stay in jeans to go out but I did force myself to change into skirt etc. Couldn't wear much make up as my eye was very sore with 2-3 styes.

Feet haven't started falling apart yet following Tuesday's peel procedure, it partially removed my nail polish as well so much tidy that up tonight.

AA

indiepanda

AlwaysAllie wrote: »

I think I may have missed posting yesterday........

Anyway, I managed to paint my nails the previous evening, only pale pink but better than nothing. Yesterday saw me 'earringed and perfumed'. Had a battle with my brain which wanted me to stay in jeans to go out but I did force myself to change into skirt etc. Couldn't wear much make up as my eye was very sore with 2-3 styes.

Feet haven't started falling apart yet following Tuesday's peel procedure, it partially removed my nail polish as well so much tidy that up tonight.

AA

It took my feet a few days to start peeling after using the booties with the peeling stuff in. I found having done it twice that it's a lot more effective if you get time to soak your feet / have a bath.

Painting your nails is good going whatever the colour. I rarely put anything other than clear polish on my finger nails as it chips too easily and I find keeping on top of it a drag. Usually have coloured toe nails all year round, but at the moment I am treating my big toes with some fungal nail treatment as the podiatrist thinks I have a bit of an infection. Hopefully I can get it all cleared up ready for summer. I don't like being without colour even when the only person that sees it is me - but much better now than when I want to wear sandals, can't abide doing that without a pop of colour. Funny that it bothers me so much on toes and not on fingers!

I have to take some colour off my finger nails this morning, was testing one for the beauty bible, those of you who were on the thread last year may recall I was testing ten different products for them. Mixed bag of items but it did introduce me to four brands that I hadn't used before and would definitely think of using again as I liked the items they sent me, and the £30 I paid to take part was massively outweighed by the value of what I received. The review forms did take quite a bit of work to fill out, but overall despite not liking some of the products, I think it was worthwhile doing.

Right, must shift myself and get to work. Crossing my fingers none of us are too badly affected by the forecast snow later. Have a fab day all x

Treacle_Toes

Busy few days, visiting my sister at the weekend and working Mon, Tue, Wed.

I've been keeping the fabbing up by moisturising my body and taking my time with make up and hair. I bought a colour for my hair yesterday as the roots need a touch up, so I'll do that at the weekend.

I've been getting compliments on my appearance at work - glowing skin with my tan (touched up now with a bit of Garnier!) and also as I've been wearing my heels with a new smart skirt.

This morning I've been out early to keep up with my half marathon training, wanted to get it over before potential bad weather arrives. 14k non stop, which is my furthest so far - 7 weeks to go! I've showered and I'm currently snuggling under the duvet with a creamy coffee, as I tend to get cold for about an hour after a run.

Later it's food shopping - I've made a list to keep myself low carb (did have a sneaky Bailey's last night - trying to finish the bottle).

TT x

LoLo

chanie wrote: »

I was on on another thread ages ago and the poster recommended having a small paragraph outlining what you want to achieve. So, it could be 'I want to keep up with the fabbing because when I look good, I feel happy and confident'. My version is in my diary and I read it every morning in my head on my way go work. It really helps to keep me focussed and make better decisions. I have noticed it popping into my head at certain times. Anyway, I thought it may help someone.

I love this idea. I'm going to use this as I'm sure it will help on those days when I can not be bothered .

lessonlearned

Chanie ....I agree - daily affirmations can be very effective.

Had my hair done today. Got rid of the white. Now a soft caramel blonde with pale copper highlights. I love it!!!

The upkeep will cost more of course but I'm soooo worth it. :rotfl:

sukeyboo

Hello all,

Not much 'fabbing' been going on the past couple of days as our beloved little cat (the one in my Avatar) is very poorly - vet has diagnosed kidney failure and it is a case of keeping him comfortable until the dreaded time comes. She says he is not in pain and at the moment he is still eating a small amount, cleaning and purring but is losing weight quite rapidly. If he doesn't go naturally within the next week or so (or if he deteriorates any further) then we will have to make that awful decision and have him put to sleep

Sorry to be on a bit of a 'downer' - hope you all have a lovely weekend - DH and myself will be spending some quality time with our little boy (we don't have children so he is very special to us

chanie

sukey sorry about your cat, that's awful. Take care of yourself.

maddiemay

Sukey, so sorry about your lovely cat, it is an awful time to go through, but at least we are able to spare them pain or discomfort, however heartbreaking it is for us. Gentle virtual hugs.