Your tips on how to look more Groomed, Glamorous or Polished #2

xxAprilxx said:

I'm so bad with drinking water. When I make an effort to drink enough, I definitely feel and sleep much better.

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Not to jump in uninvited but I used to be the same and then while doing egg freezing the doctor told me I really needed to up my hydration game, and what I found super helpful was an app called WaterMinder that pings me every hour or so telling me to drink! And then you can see your progress and how much it goes up if you drink from a pint glass Might not work for everyone but worth a shot!

Codiaeum said:

Do we have a thread on household tips, similar to this one?
I totally second that a nice home makes me feel better (though I can't bring myself to iron my clothes)!

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I haven’t seen one but there was a great thread called Glow Up Secrets or something like that and lots of posters there talked about housey stuff, from memory!

Codiaeum said:

Do we have a thread on household tips, similar to this one?
I totally second that a nice home makes me feel better (though I can't bring myself to iron my clothes)!

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This is a great idea!

Meant to say a big thank you, a few days ago to @harveydean for the BarryM Cupcake recommendation - it's truly brilliant!
Longer lasting than my Chanel and Dior faves, and an even better shell-like colour, I can't thank you enough

xxAprilxx said:

I'm so bad with drinking water. When I make an effort to drink enough, I definitely feel and sleep much better.

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I was like this, first thing in the morning as soon as I wake up I have a pint of water. When we first wake we are slightly dehydrated so it's easier to drink, always before food or morning coffee.

Kittypops said:

Meant to say a big thank you, a few days ago to @harveydean for the BarryM Cupcake recommendation - it's truly brilliant!
Longer lasting than my Chanel and Dior faves, and an even better shell-like colour, I can't thank you enough

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My pleasure! It’s great isn’t it?1 coat looks good, but 3 gives a really nice solid colour.

There’s also a dark red which is Chanel rouge noir dupe (I have both and prefer Barry M!)

harveydean said:

My pleasure! It’s great isn’t it?1 coat looks good, but 3 gives a really nice solid colour.

There’s also a dark red which is Chanel rouge noir dupe (I have both and prefer Barry M!)

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Oh yes, absolutely, I've been doing two coats, but did three this week from fresh and it's perfection! In the picture, the BarryM looks much pinker than it is on the nails.

I'm going to need the name of the Rouge Noir- alike...

Kittypops said:

Oh yes, absolutely, I've been doing two coats, but did three this week from fresh and it's perfection! In the picture, the BarryM looks much pinker than it is on the nails.

I'm going to need the name of the Rouge Noir- alike...

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Im so pleased! It’s called after dark.

I’ve tried other Barry M polishes but they’re not great - I mean good for £3 but the quick fry ones are quite gloopy!

I used to own 300 plus nail polishes at one time (now I own none!). I had the Chanel’s, Tom Fords, Marc Jacobs, Nars, Essie, Ciate, etc but the best ones in my experience are OPI, Maybelline Stay Perfect (or whatever it is called these days - superb staying power especially on toes - limited colour range - they used to do a Rouge Noir dupe) and Primark! Chanels were not worth the money. Chip to buggery, in their case you really are paying for the name.

Talking of dupes…I was in Harrods today and fell in love with Tom Ford Rose Prick - any cheaper alternatives?

House of Tea said:

I used to own 300 plus nail polishes at one time (now I own none!). I had the Chanel’s, Tom Fords, Marc Jacobs, Nars, Essie, Ciate, etc but the best ones in my experience are OPI, Maybelline Stay Perfect (or whatever it is called these days - superb staying power especially on toes - limited colour range - they used to do a Rouge Noir dupe) and Primark! Chanels were not worth the money. Chip to buggery, in their case you really are paying for the name.

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Where do you buy OPI from? I prefer buying make up in person so I can see it properly, and a quick google of ‘OPI stockists’ gives me physical stores (Boots and John Lewis) that I’ve never seen OPI in, and I live in a major city with big branches of those shops. I used to swear by Essie until I discovered that they’re owned further up the chain by Nestle.

Codiaeum said:

I loved the unscented Salt of the Earth deodorant for a couple of year and had a 1l refill bottle, but it somehow stopped working for me and I had some shirts where I couldn't get a funky smell out of anymore. Before that it was great against smell - obviously doesn't help against actually sweating, but that's also not what it was for.
I now use the Glassdoor natural deodorant, it's coconut-oil /shea butter based and great against the smell, but it keeps giving me painful bumps in my armpits, I suspect from clogging the pores. And since I'm so done with sweating like mad every day, especially as I have a couple of important events coming up where I'm usually soaked due to nerves just thinking about it, a good time to switch to the strong stuff. I did order some Nivea deo though, just in case I don't like the Yerka - I always had good experiences with their alu-free spray deos.

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I highly recommend the Aurelia cream deodorant. Took about a week to get used to it but I can’t be without it now and I smell fresh all day. With ‘normal’ deodorant I was pretty funky after an hour or two

Millais said:

Where do you buy OPI from? I prefer buying make up in person so I can see it properly, and a quick google of ‘OPI stockists’ gives me physical stores (Boots and John Lewis) that I’ve never seen OPI in, and I live in a major city with big branches of those shops. I used to swear by Essie until I discovered that they’re owned further up the chain by Nestle.

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I don’t buy any polish any more, stopped a few years ago just before covid. I gave them all away eventually!

The John Lewis in Oxford Street London and their branch in Sloane Square (Peter Jones) used to have a decent selection. They tended to have a few classic shades, and their latest collection. I haven’t bought any in the last few years, not sure if they are still stocking them. Another one in London was an upmarket pharmacy called John Bell & Croydon in Marylebone, they used to have a good selection. Not much use to you if you are not in London.

I was obsessed with nail polish - I was bloody ace at painting my nails. Crap at all other make up. Nails Inc Kensington base coat and top coat were a must as the bread in the sticky nail polish sandwich. Seche Vite thinner to degloop the polishes. Boots ultra nourishing polish remover. Zinc capsules to take internally to strengthen nails, better than any topical nail hardener. I bought a lot online,use to put the shade in Google images and look at a lot of the images to make sure I liked the shade. Didn’t make many mistakes. I once spent a couple of hours hunting down a rare Marc Jacobs polish in New York like a numpty - what a waste of valuable time. I got it but it ate into my holiday!

I bought some great polishes on Etsy. Or I use to merge different polishes to get a different shade.

Sorry, just going off down memory lane.

harveydean said:

Talking of dupes…I was in Harrods today and fell in love with Tom Ford Rose Prick - any cheaper alternatives?

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Don’t know about prices, but I usually go to Fragrantica to check for dupes or smell-alikes

I have many nail varnishes, too. Ciate, Barry m, nails inc, Chanel (yep, they chip incredibly easily) Leighton and denny, but I just don’t have the patience to do it. Anyone remember the hard candy nail varnishes that had the ring around the lid? And the make up brand called Pout? I remember buying a lip gloss from there in Covent Garden I think? In a squeezable tube.

it’s not been changed?! said:

I have many nail varnishes, too. Ciate, Barry m, nails inc, Chanel (yep, they chip incredibly easily) Leighton and denny, but I just don’t have the patience to do it. Anyone remember the hard candy nail varnishes that had the ring around the lid? And the make up brand called Pout? I remember buying a lip gloss from there in Covent Garden I think? In a squeezable tube.

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Do they still make Leighton Denny. They had some great shades.

Millais said:

Where do you buy OPI from? I prefer buying make up in person so I can see it properly, and a quick google of ‘OPI stockists’ gives me physical stores (Boots and John Lewis) that I’ve never seen OPI in, and I live in a major city with big branches of those shops. I used to swear by Essie until I discovered that they’re owned further up the chain by Nestle.

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They stock them in a discount make up store called beauty outlet or sallys beauty x

House of Tea said:

Do they still make Leighton Denny. They had some great shades.

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Marks and Spencer’s sell it!! I got the name wrong and called it Leighton and Denny that just shows how long ago I looked in my box of nail varnishes.

indeedjoy said:

They stock them in a discount make up store called beauty outlet or sallys beauty x

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Forgot about Sallys. They used to have a big range.

Butter London and Zoya have some really unique shades. Petrol was lovely.

it’s not been changed?! said:

Marks and Spencer’s sell it!! I got the name wrong and called it Leighton and Denny that just shows how long ago I looked in my box of nail varnishes.

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LD is a bloke isn’t he used to appear on QVC. They had one of my all time favourite winter polishes, a sort of blackened green metallic. Sounds hideous but was very elegant.

I used to buy from here a lot

House of Tea said:

Forgot about Sallys. They used to have a big range.

Butter London and Zoya have some really unique shades. Petrol was lovely.

LD is a bloke isn’t he used to appear on QVC. They had one of my all time favourite winter polishes, a sort of blackened green metallic. Sounds hideous but was very elegant.

I used to buy from here a lot

Leighton Denny | Nail Polish Direct

Browse the Leighton Denny nail polishes and accessories at Nail Polish Direct with Free UK Shipping. Professional quality nail varnishes & tools.

www.nailpolishdirect.co.uk

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Watching him on QVC is my ASMR

it’s not been changed?! said:

I have many nail varnishes, too. Ciate, Barry m, nails inc, Chanel (yep, they chip incredibly easily) Leighton and denny, but I just don’t have the patience to do it. Anyone remember the hard candy nail varnishes that had the ring around the lid? And the make up brand called Pout? I remember buying a lip gloss from there in Covent Garden I think? In a squeezable tube.

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I had a the Hard Candy nail polish and also their glittery eyeshadows. I had the nail polish in white - very on trend with the influencers now They did nice colours and the little jelly ring was a novelty.