We have all had a short term illness at one time or another, whether it be a horrible flu, cold or even something more serious and what makes us feel even sicker is that when we look at ourselves in the mirror we usually look so awful that it makes us feel ten times worse!

Obviously when you are feeling ill you don't have much energy other than to vegetate on the sofa or even in your bed but as rotten as you are feeling you should try to use a little of the energy that you have left in trying to improve your appearance because believe it or not it will be energy well spent as you will feel that much better after you look at yourself in the mirror.

In hospital nowadays they believe in this quite a lot, and no matter how ill the person is (obviously discounting any one who is in intensive care) there are volunteers who come to give the patients manicures, face treatments and most importantly tend to their hair. If you are in hospital yourself and they provide these services put yourself down for all of them, but if you are not in hospital but at home the following are some of the things that you can do yourself in order to give your sick appearance a boost.

The first on the list is always the hair. Because if you are ill you might very well have had a temperature which will have made you sweat not only on your body but on your head and your hair will probably be feeling dirty and greasy. If you are able to walk yourself to the bathroom and wash and dry your hair yourself so much the better, but if you really don't have the energy to do this then get one of your friends to buy you one of those dry shampoos. A dry shampoo looks more or less like talcum powder and smells very nice and the idea is to distribute this powder all over your head of hair, leave it on a few minutes during which time it will absorb (like blotting paper) any grease and dirt and then after you brush the last remnants of the talc it will leave your hair smelling fresh and clean. If you have long or medium length hair it would be a good idea also to tie it back in a loose pony tail with a nice velvet ribbon.

Try to wear a fresh pair of pyjamas, clean night dress or what ever you wear to bed every day and at least a fresh pillow case every day as well. If it can be your favourite night dress or what ever so much the better as it will make you feel good.

Clean and freshen up your face by wiping your face with cotton wool balls soaked in face tonic and then follow with a fresh moisturizing cream. Use optrex drops in your eyes which will help to refresh them and restore their whiteness. If you can't get to the bathroom to wash your teeth that often then at least use those chewing gums that help to clean your teeth and freshen up your breath.

Have a good lip bsalm by you to apply often as the lips are the first to suffer when you have a temperature and they get very dry and if it has a bit of colour in it even better as it will also help to give some colour to your face. Also put a tiny bit of cream blusher onto your cheeks for some added colour. Give yourself a squirt of your favourite cologne as smell is a lovely way to revive your spirit.

Put on a small pair of ear-rings and one of your rings and set about giving yourself a simple manicure. All you have to do is to file your nails a little so that they are all more or less the same length, push back your cuticles with the use of an orange stick with some cotton wool wound round the end and then apply a clear nail varnish. When you are sure that the varnish has dried you can now apply a good nourishing hand cream.

Have a jug of water beside you at all times and drink as much of it as you can as it will hydrate your skin and help to eliminate any toxins which you don't want in your body when you are trying to concentrate all its resources on fighting back at the illness that you have and not the toxins.

If you feel that you really can't manage a bath or shower every day you can use those moistened towels that are used for babies and apply them all over your body followed by the application of a body lotion.

Now look at yourself in the mirror and you will seem to appear looking slightly better which will boost your morale and self healing powers and if anyone comes to visit you you will also be looking quite decent!

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