{"id":209,"date":"2020-01-03T16:54:29","date_gmt":"2020-01-03T16:54:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/?p=209"},"modified":"2020-05-03T17:03:45","modified_gmt":"2020-05-03T17:03:45","slug":"need-to-look-your-best-fast-just-cheat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/need-to-look-your-best-fast-just-cheat\/","title":{"rendered":"Need to look your best, fast? Just cheat."},"content":{"rendered":"

After Christmas those fitness classes are really busy aren\u2019t they? Happens every year. It\u2019s the natural reaction to a fantastic Christmas break. Perhaps we should have refused seconds, not eaten quite as much Christmas pud and as for the chocolate and alcohol consumption\u2026 but not<\/em> resisting temptation is what makes the Christmas break so much fun. It\u2019s the one time of the year when we can relax and indulge ourselves without feeling guilty. Then we start the new year resolved to kick the bad habits once and for all. A regime of regular exercise and healthy eating will pay dividends, but if you\u2019re doing it properly then the losses, weight and inches, should be slow and steady. But slow and steady isn\u2019t really helpful if you have to go to an event in the next couple of weeks and want to be in stunning shape. For that you need fast and furious. In other words, you\u2019ll need to cheat; the best news is that looking fab-u-lous won\u2019t even take a day to achieve.<\/p>\n

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Underneath this Frock and Frill dress is a pair of Spanx!<\/p><\/div>\n

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Starting at the top and working all the way down to your toes, here are my failsafe tips on what you can do to look your very best, very quickly, without spending a fortune:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Hair: <\/strong>A good hairstyle matters, but there\u2019s no time for a dramatic makeover, so you need to work with what you\u2019ve got. Whether you prefer neat or messy, make sure your hair looks healthy. If those split ends which should have been cut off weeks ago are still there, then apply a tiny amount of argan oil to give your hair some sheen. If the roots are showing, cover them; there are plenty of DIY powder alternatives if can\u2019t get an appointment with your usual hairdresser.<\/p>\n

Eyes: <\/strong>We\u2019re all a lot better at looking after our eyebrows these days, and I guess I don\u2019t need to mention monobrows or Frida Kahlo here do I? Let\u2019s assume all straggly hairs have been plucked away and you know how to use a little brown or grey eye shadow to fill in any gaps or make them a little more intense, but not Cara Delevingne intense. The focus is now on your eyes. They may be the windows to your soul, but nothing ruins a photograph or Instagram post more than if those windows look shut. You need eyelashes that make an impact and open up those eyes. If your own lashes are long, then it\u2019s worth investing in a good quality eyelash primer and mascara. Need a little more help? Then false eyelashes are a safe option but, if you can\u2019t put them on yourself ask a friend or, if you buy the lashes from the cosmetics counter (big stores only), the makeup artist will apply them for you. Some women are advocates of lash extensions, which can look amazing. The Russian style might be a little OTT and Classic too light, so you could opt for Hybrid, which is a mix of the two. Once they\u2019ve been applied, they\u2019re yours for four weeks or so, and you don\u2019t need to apply any mascara to achieve that wide-awake look. Lack of sleep or inherited undereye shadows can make you look tired, even if you don\u2019t feel it, so don\u2019t forget the concealer.<\/p>\n

Lips: <\/strong>If you haven\u2019t used filler to make your lips fuller, don\u2019t do it now, experiment when you\u2019re not in the spotlight, just in case you have a reaction. There are some lip plumping products out there, but in my experience they have a limited effect; to give your lips the appearance of fullness start using lip balm – do it now – to keep your lips hydrated, which will make them look softer and less lined. Then you need lip liner, which you can apply slightly outside the edge of your lips, but make sure the colour is only a tad darker than the lipstick you\u2019re wearing (don\u2019t do a Jackie Collins). A matt lipstick may be too drying, I\u2019d go for a satin effect and then apply a little clear lip gloss to the centre of your lips to create an optical effect of plumpness.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong>Body: <\/strong>Often it\u2019s not the outfit that will make you look a million dollars, but what\u2019s underneath it. Whether you\u2019re wearing a dress, skirt or trouser ensemble, a more streamlined figure will make it look that much better, which means you\u2019ll feel more confident and will wear it well. You may have a tummy you\u2019d like to see less of, a waist you\u2019d like to find or boobs that have given up the fight with gravity; if that\u2019s the case, only good underpinnings will solve the problem. M&S was my mecca for bras until I discovered Rigby and Peller; their lingerie stylists know how to select the size and design that will be perfect for enhancing your shape in a specific outfit, but their bras aren\u2019t cheap and, as they only have nine boutiques\u00a0 in the UK, not that accessible. The important thing is to make sure your bra not only gives you good support, but a good shape too. You need both, not one or the other. If you want to reduce the size of your midriff, waist, stomach, hips, bottom or thighs, there\u2019s an abundance of shapewear available to you, and they are far more comfortable than they used to be; you may feel a little restricted at first, but it\u2019s so worth it. Spanx is a well-known brand, and Kim Kardashian\u2019s Skims range has amazing variety, but there are cheaper own label ranges out there and you\u2019re spoiled for choice. If you don\u2019t need as much help in this area, there are some great control tights and slips (petticoats) for a light smoothing effect. There\u2019s no shapewear for bingo wings, so you either decide to flaunt your arms, or cover up as Helen Mirren does (although I think her arms look great). Don\u2019t forget your hands though, a manicure or false nails, will make them, and you, look more soign\u00e9e.<\/p>\n

Legs:<\/strong> If they\u2019re going to be on show, and you\u2019re not wearing tights, you might want to consider flashing a tanned pair. There are many good quality self-tanning products on most chemists\u2019 shelves, but a spray will give your legs an immediate a healthy glow. Don\u2019t forget a pedicure, as that completes the look.<\/p>\n

Now you\u2019re ready for that party, and both the effort and cost of getting there have, let\u2019s face it, been minimal.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After Christmas those fitness classes are really busy aren\u2019t they? Happens every year. It\u2019s the natural reaction to a fantastic Christmas break. Perhaps we should have refused seconds, not eaten quite as much Christmas pud and as for the chocolate and alcohol consumption\u2026 but not resisting temptation is what makes the Christmas break so much […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,39,37,40,13,18,16,47,15],"tags":[21,53,55,52,51,54,48,49,50],"class_list":["post-209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ageing","category-beauty","category-diet","category-exercise","category-fashion","category-health-and-fitness","category-silver-foxes","category-spanx","category-style","tag-beauty","tag-eyebrows","tag-faketan","tag-frockandfrill","tag-hairstyle","tag-lashextensions","tag-manicure","tag-pedicure","tag-shapewear"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=209"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":215,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/209\/revisions\/215"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sharonmorrison.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}