Feel good. Taking care of your appearance can help you to feel good about yourself, ready for life's daily challenges.
This page has articles on Hair, What to Pack in a Beach Bag, Sleep, Hand Care and Manicures
Maximise the Benefit from a Visit to the Hairdresser
 I always look forward to a visit to my hairdresser. I imagine that I will enjoy an hour or so of peaceful pampering, and finish looking a picture of stylish sophistication.In reality, I have sometimes experienced that left me feeling so frazzled that I felt I needed to lie down in a darkened room.
Don’t let this happen to you!
I love my current hairdressing salon and find it an oasis of calm. Here are some suggestions that might help you to achieve the same level of satisfaction.
Before leaving home:
Avoid washing your hair for a least a day or so prior to your appointment. Clean hair can be difficult to handle.
Dress as if you were meeting a friend for lunch. Aim to give your hairdresser an idea of your ideal standard of appearance.
Take along a book or magazine, unless you are certain that the salon will have a good selection of current magazines.
Take your diary so that you can book your next appointment at a convenient time.
Be aware of the weather. Take an umbrella if it looks like rain.
Allow enough time in your schedule so that you will not feel stressed if the hairdresser is running late.
Make sure to leave home in time, factoring in the possibility of meeting an old friend on the way, delays on the journey, finding a parking place (etc).
If you will need to pay to park your car, take change for the meter.
Ensure that you have the correct cash for an appropriate tip for your hairdresser and the salon’s “junior” (if appropriate).
At the hairdresser’s salon:
Switch your mobile phone to ‘silent’ mode.
Tell your hairdresser what you like about your hair, and anything that you don’t like. If you are having your hair trimmed, be clear as to what length you want. For example, if you like to tuck your hair behind your ears, make sure your hairdresser knows before any cutting begins.
If you wish to alter your hair style, seek your hairdresser’s opinions. Ask if your ideas will be suitable for the shape of your face and the condition of your hair.
Try to avoid a style that will need frequent maintenance – unless you have the time and money for extra visits to the hairdresser.
Watch while your hair is being styled so that you can see how to get the best effect at home.
Ask for details of any styling products used on your hair. This may help you to replicate the look.
Before leaving the salon:
If you are pleased with the finished result, thank your hairdresser and give the appropriate tip. If a junior member of staff has washed your hair, remember to give them a tip as well.
If you are unhappy with the way in which your hair has been cut or styled, say so! Aim to be calm and polite as you explain what you don’t like about it.
Book your next appointment.
Take a look out the window before leaving the salon. On days when it is pouring with rain or blowing a gale it might be worth getting a taxi home, or back to the station (or whatever).
Hopefully you will have somewhere to go to show off your newly groomed hair.
What to Pack in your Beach Bag
 This list is based on the idea that you might want to swim from the beach.If you wear your swimsuit to the beach, you will probably wear a kaftan or cover-up and possible jeans or shorts over it. It this is the case, remember to pack some underwear in your beach bag. Walking back to your house or hotel in a damp swimsuit can be uncomfortable.
The first step is to equip yourself with a sturdy bag. I would not want to take a very expensive bag, but neither do I want one that looks shabby. The bag shown above is from Seasalt and at time of writing is available for £36.00 (reduced from £45).
Alternatively, you may wish to go to the beach fully dressed, in which case you will need to pack a swimsuit.
I think that the most essential item for your beach bag is sun protection cream. The ideal sun screen for the beach is one that is formulated to stay on if you go in the water.
This season I’ve been using Riemann P20 (shown in picture). According to the label, this product gives 10 hours of sun
protection and is very water resistant. I like the fact that it comes in a 100ml bottle, so it is easy to carry. On application the smell is rather odd, but it seems to fade fairly quickly.
I’ve been using an after-sun spray this year (also in picture). In the past I’ve always thought that after-sun products were a bit of a gimmick, designed to make us spend more money. Now that I’ve started to use one I appreciate that the formula does cool the skin. The best feature of the Nivea product shown is that you can spray it on. This is not only good for the beach, but also at home.
I bought both the products in the picture from ChemistDirect because the sunscreen was on a "2 for 1" offer. I then found that I could have paid less for the Nivea product at Boots, where it was on sale at half price. So it can pay to research before buying products for your beachbag.
A wide-toothed comb is useful for untangling your hair after a swim, or if the wind is blowing. If your beach has showers, you might consider taking a small bottle of shampoo to get the salt water out of your hair.
Whether or not you plan to swim, pack a hat. This is a good weapon against sun burn, and can protect colour-treated hair from too much sun.
 Pack a beach towel to dry yourself, or possibly two if you plan to sit on the beach. I favour towels that are not too garish so that they can double up as extra towels at home. The towel pictured is available from John Lewis. I think the blue stripes look nice and summery, but it would not look out of place on the towel rail in my bathroom.Take a bottle of water to drink. You will probably be able to buy ice cream or snacks at the beach, but bottled water (if available) may cost more than it would from a supermarket.
Remember to take some money to buy snacks if you think you are going to be hungry. I suggest taking as little as possible so you won’t have the worry of leaving stacks of money if you go in the water for a swim.
If you like to read on the beach, I suggest that you stock up on paperbacks from a charity shop before your holiday. This is an inexpensive way of acquiring books, so you won’t mind if the book gets wet or sandy.
I need to wear reading glasses, and have discovered the joy of tinted reading glasses – or “sun readers”. They make it much more comfortable to read in the sunshine.
That’s really all that you need, so you won’t be lugging a huge bag to the beach. The main object of a trip to the beach is relaxation.
Beautiful Sleep
 Wouldn't it be great if we could sleep like cats or dogs - simply lie down and go to sleep. We all know that we look and feel out best when we get enough sleep. The amount of sleep that is ‘enough’ varies from one person to the next, and can change from time to time for the individual.
I often wake in the night, and have had difficulty in getting enough sleep. This has resulted in feeling tired during the day, and sometimes having a pinched look to my face that leads others to tell me that I look tired. (Why do people tell you – is it supposed to make one feel better?)
There is a wealth of advice on how to get enough sleep; these paragraphs are about what works for me.
I sleep best when I stick to a pattern. Even if I feel that I have not slept very much during the night, I still get up at the same time every morning. It is tempting to stay in bed for another hour or three to ‘catch up’ but the result is often another bad night.
When I do have a day of feeling tired, I try to take a short rest period after lunch. When I was working this consisted of about 15 minutes quiet time. I tried to get away from my desk to a park or the public library. Any place where it is possible to sit quietly provides a mental break from telephone calls and the visual stimulation of a computer terminal.
It is possible to lie down and take a nap at home, but I find that it is important to set an alarm and not sleep for more than 20 minutes. Expert advice says that after 20 minutes the body goes in deep sleep, and that a long nap in the day can make one feel worse.
It helps me to keep to a regular bedtime and have a time of winding down in the evening. In my experience either television or computer viewing makes me feel wide awake, even when I know that I am tired. I try to turn off everything with a screen at least half an hour before it is time to go to bed.
There are various products on the market that are supposed to promote sleep. The one I have illustrated smells nice, but I am not sure that it makes a huge difference. However, one could use it as part of a bedtime routine to help feel relaxed at the end of the day.
Before going to bed I check my diary for the next day, make a note of things that I need to remember and put out my clothes for the morning. This reduces the possibility of waking in the night and feeling panic stricken that I have forgotten something important.
If I do wake up in the night and think of something that is important, I get out of bed and write myself a note. When this was first suggested to me I resisted the idea for some while, thinking that getting up and putting on the light would make me alert that I would not go back to sleep. In practice I have found that it enables me to get back to sleep more often.
Often I wake in the night for no apparent reason. In the past I would often lie in bed and worry that because I was not asleep that I would not be able to cope with whatever I was scheduled to do the next day. Now I tell myself that I am lying down and resting. I don’t know why this works, but a calm attitude does make me feel better. I feel less tired since I have made the effort to relax.
At some point in my history of disrupted sleep I made the decision to stop complaining about it. I realised that I was frequently telling friends and family that I couldn’t sleep and was always tired, and felt that my insomnia was becoming part of my identity. So I stopped talking about it. I’ve never read any research to suggest that this might help, but I feel that it has helped me.
If you feel that your life is impaired through lack of sleep, I suggest seeking medical advice. It is possible that there is an underlying health issue, or that your doctor could refer you to a specialist.
The most basic hand care
 If you can only manage to do one thing to look after your hands, I suggest that you make a habit of using hand cream. This is especially important when the weather is cold. The skin on hands seems to dry out more quickly during the winter months. I don’t know why, but wonder if it might be the contrast between warm centrally heated rooms and the rigours of the weather.
My favourite hand cream is Clarins; Crème Jeunesse des Mains. I usually buy my online from LookFantastic, but this it is available in larger branches of Boots the Chemist as well as many department stores. My skin is dry and I have eczema. The Clarins’ cream absorbs quickly and doesn’t leave a greasy-feeling residue. I’ve tried less expensive creams but they don’t suit me as well as this one.
I do keep a less expensive hand cream next to my kitchen sink. I try to choose one that is inexpensive and without perfume.
About Hand Care– Level 1: Neat and Tidy
When you are drying yourself after a bath or shower, take time to gently push back your cuticles. You could use the edge of the towel, or an orange wood stick. Make sure that all your nails are perfectly clean. If you use a body lotion or cream, massage a bit extra into your hands, taking care to rub some in around each nail, and smooth down the skin on your joints, moving the cream from the tips of your fingers towards your wrists.
Keep some hand cream by your kitchen sink, and use it regularly. During the colder months, you might want to carry a small tube of hand cream in your bag, for use during the day. If you have an office-based job, consider keeping some in your desk drawer, to combat the drying effects of central heating.
Last thing at night, try using cuticle oil, or a specialist product, and then massage in some good hand cream before turning out the light.
Take a few minutes every few days to file your nails, to keep them smooth and snag free, and a uniform length. We’re not saying they should be short or long – that’s up to you – but we do think they should all be more or less the same length.
If you smoke, be aware of the effect of nicotine stains on your fingers and nails, take extra time to cleanse the hands. Here’s a tip that we’ve heard of, but not tried personally: wash the stained area of your fingers with lemon juice, and then rub gently with a pumice stone. Alternatively, mix the lemon juice with salt and lightly scrub. Do this about once a week, but make sure that you are not making your skin sore.
About Hand Care: Level 2 - Polished Appearance
When manicuring and varnishing your nails remember to plan ahead. It will take about half an hour for your nails to be truly dry.
To go beyond ‘neat and tidy’ hands to polished perfection, give yourself a manicure. You will need steady hands plus patience, and ideally the following list of items:
1. Nail file
2. Base Coat (especially advisable for dark colours)
3. Varnish
4. Top Coat (to enable nail varnish to last longer)
5.Quick dry (Optional, and may be part of the top coat.)
6. Have an orange wood stick at hand to correct mistakes with the polish.
Cover your work surface with something that you can throw away if you have a spill – e.g. yesterday’s newspaper.
Here are the basic instructions:
1. Ensure you have carried out basic maintenance. Your nails should be clean with cuticles pushed back. Nails should be filed to an even length with no rough edges.
2. Start by applying a layer of Base Coat. This will even out nails, and provide a slightly sticky surface so that the polish goes on well.
3. Roll the nail polish bottle between your hands to mix it up. A vigorous shaking can create air bubbles that will look like little blisters when you apply the polish. The finished result will quickly chip or peel.
4. Wipe any excess polish from the brush on the inside of the bottleneck. The brush should have just enough polish for one nail.
5. Apply the polish, starting from the base of the nail stroking towards the top. Depending on the width of your nail plate, use two or three strokes to cover the nail. To avoid getting polish on the cuticle, place the brush on the nail about 1/8 of an inch away from the cuticle, then push backwards towards it, stopping just short of the skin. Then stroke upwards towards the nail tip.
6. Apply two thin coats of polish, leaving time for the first coat to dry before applying the second. If you go over the edge of the nail plate, you can use the orange wood stick to take off the extra polish – but be careful not to spoil your other nails in the process.
7. Wait three minutes before applying Top Coat.
8. You may wish to apply a quick dry finish, depending on your choice of Top Coat.
9. Your nails will appear to be dry in a few minutes – but it will be at least 30 minutes before they are thoroughly dry.
It’s easier to keep your nails looking lovely if you have the right tools.
We list here items to help you to maintain your hands and nails. 
Basic maintenance,
1. Orange wood sticks to clean under the tips of your nails. These can also be wrapped in cotton wool to gently push back cuticles. Wind the cotton wool around the stick, like candy floss. This provides a buffer so that you don’t tear the cuticle.
2. Nail clippers and/or curved scissors. Can be used to trim long nails, and to cut back any hang nails. The latter should always be trimmed back. Never attempt to tear them off, as you may make them worse.
3. Nail file. Try to find one with a fine grain, these give a much smoother finish.
4. Hand cream
5. Cuticle oil
To polish your nails, add the following to your kit
1. Base coat may be considered optional, but it does make polish last longer. Also, if you are using a dark colour, it will prevent your nail plate from absorbing colour. You may wish use a formula to strengthen your nails.
2. Nail varnish
3. Top coat ,again, optional, but it also makes the polish stay on longer.
If you use a ‘quick dry’ formula, it can speed up the process.
4. Nail varnish remover and cotton wool . You can purchase cotton pads that are soaked in remover, in a plastic case. This is very good for travelling.
In addition, consider a cuticle remover if you have fast growing cuticles. It may be sufficient to simply push your cuticles back with a towel when you are drying yourself after a bath or shower. We don’t recommend cutting your cuticles.because their purpose is to protect the area between your skin and nails from infection.
If you are fanatical about nails, you could buy even more kit. Check out the relevant section next time you visit a large branch of a chemist or drug store.
There is a huge choice of products for specific nail problems. For advice, we suggest having a professional manicure. Then you can discuss this issue with a trained person. If you are short of funds, you may live near a college that trains beauty therapists. Colleges often have training salons, where you can have inexpensive treatments by students under the supervision of fully qualified tutors.
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