Seasonal makeover: from couch potato to festive diva

Lockdown has not been kind to our beautiful selves, but now it is time to shape up. Emma Beddington gets to work on her pre-Christmas, full-body makeover. But where to begin?

How do you look at the moment? It's a loaded question, I know. Asking me to choose one physical feature I feel bad about is like asking me to choose my least-favourite family member since lockdown," says my friend F. An unscientific poll of friends and acquaintances reveals a tally of 2020 woes: worry wrinkles, maskne", Zoomface", presidential" hair and Covid kilos. Weird grief seeps out of me and my eyes are tired," read one extremely relatable response.

Eating more, exercising less, sleeping badly, scrolling and worrying constantly... barring some boastful Instagram blowhards, we are all looking and feeling suboptimal as 2020 draws to a distinctly unfestive close. My own tally is standard but dismal: I look like a parboiled potato, in both face and body.