Frump to Fab 2019 - Here We Go Again

sugarbaby125

Hello Ladies,

I was surprised that the weather was so much cooler yesterday evening that I had to wear my black leather ankle boots when I was going to The Other Palace Theatre to watch The Feeling.

Maman you must be so pleased at how well your bathroom refurbishment has turned out and glad that it has enthused your husband to do other jobs around the home to make your home look even better.

I am going to the cinema tonight, an inexpensive and enjoyable night out for me.

Maman you are right, sometimes I could give in to the Arthritic pain and simply stay at home, but once I am in the cinema, I can relax and lose myself in the film or films. I always take a bottle of water and painkillers with me to the cinema as I often need them. When I go to Odeon Haymarket or Odeon Leicester Square I am lying back in a Luxe recliner seat which makes watching a film feel like a real luxury. :T:D

maddiemay

LL- thank you for the mention of "The Truth About" programme, I watched it and found it most interesting, particularly the reference to the "up market" products fostering low self esteem and thus creating an aspirational purchase.

Something that didn't sit right with me and I might have misunderstood, it was said that there was no evidence in favour of using moisturiser long term, but they only trialled over a very short time, so how could they know?

I also watched the one about healthy foods, for me the most interesting part was in respect of hydration, milk or coffee is just as good as water, and the often recommended (preached) 2 litre intake of water, has no scientific basis, it is likely that 1 litre will be found to be fine.

lessonlearned

Maddie........you raise a very good point about the shortness of the testing. As you say there was no mention of long term usage and whether or not using moisturisers had any beneficial affect or whether they were a waste of time.

The question they were trying to answer was whether moisturiser was necessary on healthy skin as opposed to skin that was already suffering from problems linked to dry skin conditions.

Here's my take based on what I was taught when I did my training.

Healthy skin is protected by the acid mantle which is made up of the skins own natural oils. It is these oils which keep the skin supple and which stop it from drying out and cracking.

For a variety of reasons the acid mantle can weaken, natural aging when oil production decreases, environmental factors, harsh chemicals, hormone fluctuations, illness, stress etc. Once this happens then skin will naturally dry out.

Despite their name traditional moisturisers do not add actually much moisture to the skin. How they work is by providing a barrier and locking in the skins own natural moisture.

Traditionally, the only way you could add moisture to the surface of the skin was by using products that contain a humectant which draws moisture from the atmosphere. The most commonly known humectant is glycerin.

Prior to the rise of the cosmetic industry our great grandmothers would have used a concotion of neat glycerine and rosewater or naturally derived emollients such as beeswax or even goose fat. I have tried neat glycerine (never bothered messing about with trying to melt beeswax:rotfl:) and found it both ineffective and quite unpleasant to use. It just seemed to lie on the surface of the skin, leaving it feeling very sticky and clammy to the touch. Not nice at all.

I found that the old original formula of Nivea felt the same. Although my mum swore by it I could never get on with it at all. It always felt very heavy and greasy, just lying on the surface the same as glycerin.

By comparison most modern moisturisers are much lighter in texture and do seem far more effective. They do seem to soak in better iyswim.

Since I did my training the science behind beauty products, especially moisturisers has come on by leaps and bounds. There is now almost a bewildering array of creams, serums, oils, mousses, foundations etc that all make extravagant promises to not only add moisture, but also to both delay and even reverse the signs of aging.

Nowadays we hear much about peptides and the term "nano technology". All this means is that the molecules are small enough to pass through the skins outer membranes and into the sub cutaneous layer. The beauty industry hail this as a modern miracle, allowing their active ingredients, such as hyraulonic acid, retinol, vitamin C to "slip through the net" as it were, working from the inside out to plump up the skin to reduce wrinkles.

At this point I am not too sure if this is necessarily a good thing or not......because .......as you so rightly point out, although these miracle creams have been rigorously tested and deemed safe, we don't actually yet know the long term effect of consistent daily usage. And we won't know for definite until they have been around for another 20 years or so.

What we do know for sure is that if something gets into subcutaneous layers then it enters the blood stream. It is possible that some ingredients could be dangerous if there is a build up in the internal organs. The truth is we just don't know the effects that a 20, 30, or 40 year build up might have.

We do now know that certain cosmetics have been found to contain ingredients that are carcinogenic. Lipsticks, hair dyes etc.

My conclusion is that, if skin is likely to dry out for the reasons I have stated earlier, then even if the moisturiser were to only function as a protective barrier, locking in the skins own natural oils and moisture then it should still afford a level of protection and help keep the skin healthy and supple. And a healthy and supple skin is less likely to suffer from premature aging.

I haven't watched the one about healthy foods yet but I will. Interesting about hydration. I didn't know about coffee being just as good as water.....That's nice to know.

maman

That's interesting LL . I'd have thought so much of what we do can dry out skin like sun or central heating. I know my skin feels much better when it's moisturised.

We now have a functioning bathroom! :j It's looking great and we've used it already. Brilliant! All trades have finished except for the guys who have to resurface the drive after pipework. We have our house back.

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies

Maman. I struggle with central heating too, it really dries my skin. Problem is I think I would also struggle more with being cold.

Funny because I never lived in a house with central heating until I was 32. I managed perfectly well without it. I must have grown soft.

Went to see Toy Story last night. Loved it.

Today I'm off into the city. Will have a little mooch, take a look at the autumn/winter stuff. I could do with some knitwear. Might treat myself to a spot of lunch. Then I will pop into Aldi's on the way home. A nice gentle day today.

Have a great day y'all.

silvasava

If anyone is interested in a reasonably priced retinol cream - Sally's Beauty stock Skincare Cosmetics retinol Day Cream with an spf of 20 for about £10.00. They also do a night cream in the same range.

maman

silvasava wrote: »

If anyone is interested in a reasonably priced retinol cream - Sally's Beauty stock Skincare Cosmetics retinol Day Cream with an spf of 20 for about £10.00. They also do a night cream in the same range.

Thanks for that silva. I'm sure we have a branch in the city centre. I have a list of things I need to do there (including visit a bank:mad:) so I'll add that .:)

NEWSFLASH!! We have a working bathroom!!:D

It looks absolutely fantastic. So much so that it doesn't feel like my bathroom but as if I'm temporarily staying in a hotel. While I've had a couple of showers I haven't been able to take my time pampering myself. I'm looking forward to that.:)

I bought some small grey baskets in Matalan and at the moment DH and I have one each for our every day toiletries. The cupboard is very spacious so everything else has gone I there. I bought cheapo 'plastic' baskets from Poundstretcher for the cupboard. It's what I did in my old bathroom. It's so much easier to store things in baskets than piled on the shelves.

I'm out for dinner with friends tonight. I'm undecided what to wear. It's a strange time of the year, can't believe only last week it was the Bank Holiday and I was having lunch in the garden in a sleeveless dress. I think I'll wear my Zara dress with a camisole or something underneath. If I'm too hot I can always nip to the ladies' and take it off. When I was in Matalan I noticed there are a lot of those long, shirt type dresses in various prints coming in for autumn so I'll get even more wear from mine this year.

lessonlearned

Thanks for the heads up on the retinol cream, Silva. I will look out for that one.

Maman....how fab that your bathroom is finished and that you are so pleased. It's worth it in the end isn't it,

I have had a good day. Went into the city, had a good mooch and breakfast in a nice cafe. Sitting outside in the warm sunshine.

Picked up a beautiful buttery soft caramel coloured leather jacket - a bargainous £9. And a couple of winter skirts £1 each. I do love charity shops. :rotfl: Was exhausted when I got home, crashed out on the sofa again for two hours.

Also bought a load of shrubs from Aldi. Got the labourer coming on Sunday so he can double dig the area that flooded, try and improve the drainage before we replant. If that doesn't work then next year I'll have to look at putting in a drain and some kind of balancing pool.

The weather is very changeable, quite a challenge knowing what to wear at the moment.:D

lessonlearned

Good morning lovely ladies...

brrrrr!!! It's a tad chilly here this morning. I intended to paint ceiling beams but that means throwing open doors and windows so I might have to wait until this afternoon when hopefully it warms up a bit.

In the meantime I have decided to have a wardrobe sort out.....do some serious editing.

chanie

Happy Fab Friday everyone


LL and Maman well done in your home fabbing.


Silva thanks for the skincare tip.


I hope everyone has a nice weekend.