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Grooming Essentials (Hair; Skin; Eyebrows; Teeth; Breath; Body Care; Facial Hair; Legs; Hands and Nails)

Written on August 11, 2008 – 10:28 pm | by dodo

Regardless of income, background or lifestyle, modern women have no excuse for being badly groomed. We can all transform our appearance simply by bothering to attend to details — and a little regular care and attention doesn’t take as much time as you might think. Here are some guidelines.

Hair

Clean, conditioned and well-cut. Individual needs obviously vary but, at minimum, have your hair trimmed every 6-8 weeks.

Skin

Cleansed, moisturised and protected. Develop a basic skin care regime. There is no need for expensive facial treatments. Once a week expose your face to a bowl of steaming water to open pores and cleanse away built up grime. Add herbs to the steam for an added treat. Try lavender or camomile.

Eyebrows

Well-shaped and tidy. Pluck regularly as necessary.

Teeth

Brushed and flossed at least twice daily. Try to brush after lunch as well to ensure fresh breath. Have your teeth professionally checked and cleaned at least twice yearly.

Breath

Bad breath has something to do with how regularly you brush and floss your teeth but more often than not the problem connects with the level of acidity in your system due to eating and drinking patterns, and tooth or gum decay. If halitosis is a problem, try to cut out coffee and tea (except herbal varieties), alcohol and acidic foods. Each morning, drink a glass of water containing a pinch of bicarbonate of soda, to counteract an acidic system and keep your breath fresh. If you think or know that your gums are the problem, consult your dentist without delay. Modern dentistry is quick, efficient — and painless — so why put up with unnecessary social embarrassment and the risk of losing teeth?

Body Care

Skin care for the body is not an indulgence, it’s a necessity to keep you looking toned, fresh and well-groomed. Just as the face needs regular deep cleansing and moisturising, so too does your body. Use a natural bristle brush, loofah, body scrub or body mitt made for rubbing vigorously over the body to remove dead skin. Do this when the skin is dry. Moisturise your body with virgin olive oil weekly, rubbed into your damp skin after a warm shower (use about a dessertspoon of oil on a moistened flannel).

Body Odour

Body odour can be caused by the foods you eat (curry, Mexican food, cheese) or by wearing stale clothes. Aside from the obvious safeguard of bathing regularly (that is, daily), appreciate that odour often comes from new sweat mixing with old sweat on clothes. Be sure that your clothes are dry cleaned or laundered and aired regularly to prevent any unpleasant odour. Also use a deodorant if your system is acidic and omits an unpleasant odour. Most natural sweat, off a fresh clean body, is quite pleasant.

For women who perspire heavily a deodorant won’t prevent wet underarms and clothes; an anti-perspirant/deodorant is what’s required. However, women who don’t have overactive sweat glands should stick to using a simple deodorant as natural sweating helps to flush out toxins from your system.

Facial Hair

I know, life isn’t fair. Some of us are darker and fuzzier in places we wish we weren’t, and during our period a female ‘moustache’ can become darker and more noticeable.

If you have noticeable hairs on your face you have three options:

• Bleaching them monthly. This is fine if the hairs aren’t coarse or too long. Apply a special facial hair bleach to lighten the hair. Follow the manufacturer’s instructions. Always test a patch of hair on your arm first. Some women’s hair turns red, which can be worse than the natural shade.
• Using a depilatory, a chemical that dissolves unwanted hair. These are available as creams, gels and sprays. Make sure you use one formulated especially for the face. Try a patch test initially to be sure you won’t react to the chemical.
• Having electrolysis, which is the only method that permanently removes hair. It can be a slow, time-consuming and expensive process but it’s the best long term solution to an embarrassing problem. Only qualified professionals can perform electrolysis; they insert into the hair follicle a fine needle through which an electric current is charged to kill the hair root. Fine hairs need only one session; stronger coarser hairs may need several treatments before they disappear permanently.

Legs

Most people agree that leg hair that is dark, long or stubbly is not attractive and needs regular treatment. There are three viable options:

• Shaving
• Using a depilatory
• Waxing.

Any one of these three options are fine provided you do it regularly. Electrolysis is a huge undertaking which proves far too expensive and time-consuming for most busy women.

Bare legs have their place on holiday or at home or on relaxed social occasions, but for working women, the change to a warmer season is no excuse for abandoning tights. To avoid discomfort on really hot days wear stockings to help with ventilation, and avoid those using Lycra (which allows little, if any, `breathing’). Another option for working women is to travel to and from the office bare-legged, but wear tights or stockings whilst working.

Hands and Nails

You use your hands all day long to express yourself. Think of how aware you are of other people’s hands and ask yourself what impression yours give. You can’t do anything about the shape of your fingers or the size of your hands but you can enhance them tremendously through regular and simple grooming, including the maintenance of nails and cuticles and by using hand cream or lotion to keep the skin soft and smooth.

Keep hand cream or lotion at every sink where you wash your hands and carry a cuticle cream and emery board in your handbag for regular touch-ups.

To have beautiful hands and nails a weekly manicure is a must. But don’t panic, it is very easy to do this yourself. Consult an assistant on a department store beauty counter or treat yourself to a professional manicure and watch how it’s done. I find doing it at a set time each week is the best way to ensure it gets done.

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