YOU LOOK GREAT… IT’S AMAZING WHAT YOU CAN DO WITH MAKE-UP

You know when you’ve been given a backhanded compliment – first there’s a warm, fuzzy feeling, then the sting of the insult kicks in. Whether it’s a deliberately catty comment or praise gone pear-shaped, our favourites are overleaf…

I told my husband to go out and have a nice time one Friday night and he said: ‘I don’t want to have a nice time, I want to be with you’ SARA, 49 When I went to the States on holiday, my mother said that I would look slim there as most Americans are obese. Still love her, though! HELEN, 49 I was once showing off a new black leather coat to a friend, looking over my shoulder with a smouldering expression. The friend said: ‘You look like Garbo. From the back’ BARBARA, 59 I was working in LA once as part of a TV crew and a young guy on set said to me: ‘I just wanted to say, I love your haircut, it looks great.’ ‘Oh thanks!’ I said, thinking how nice, because he was quite good-looking too. I’ll bank that, I thought. He continued, ‘What I really love about it is, it’s so ageappropriate. Living in LA, I see so many women your age trying to look younger. I think it’s great that you’re just embracing it’ KATE, 42 Personal highlights include: ‘You’d be so pretty if you were thin’ and ‘You’ve got such an expressive face’ ELLIE, 28 I was away with a group of friends at a wedding and the girls had spent two hours getting ready. We went downstairs and a male friend said: ‘You all look great, you’ve done a really good job’ ANNA, 32 I WAS AT A BLACK-TIE DO, ALL DRESSED UP, AND FEELING SORT OF OK IN MY RED TOMMY HILFIGER SKIRT AND A GORGEOUS TOP. AT THE END OF THE EVENING, I WAS QUEUEING AT THE COAT CHECK WHEN A YOUNG WOMAN CAME UP TO ME AND SAID: ‘I JUST WANT TO SAY THAT WHEN I GET TO YOUR AGE, I HOPE I DRESS HALF AS WELL AS YOU’ PATRICIA, 50 My mum’s friend, who I’d just met, told me: ‘I love your skirt. I wouldn’t wear one so short – it’s fabulous that that doesn’t seem to bother you’ LUCY, 22

Stranger in a pub: ‘You’re a nice looking chick… with a big nose.’ I wouldn’t mind but he was no George Clooney himself POLLY, 39 ‘You’re really photogenic!’ ie, you don’t look so good in the flesh... It’s been a feature throughout my life CAROLINE, 45 A woman once commented on how amazing my daughter is at ballet, then added: ‘She must get it from her father as you’re more sturdy; more… you know, hockey-like’ AMANDA, 53 A colleague recently told me: ‘I really didn’t like you when I first met you but now I think you’re really nice’ SARAH, 30 A ‘FRIEND’ ONCE SAID TO ME THAT THERE ARE MANY DIFFERENT TYPES OF BEAUTY… AND I WAS BEAUTIFUL ON THE INSIDE LINDSAY, 46 ‘You’d have an OK body if you went to the gym’ ISABEL, 28 ‘You look great – because you were too thin at one point, weren’t you?’ CELIA, 32 WHEN I WAS SINGLE, I WENT TO SEE BRIDGET JONES AT THE CINEMA. AFTERWARDS MY FRIEND SAID SHE WAS SO PLEASED SHE HAD GONE WITH ME BECAUSE I WAS SO MUCH LIKE BRIDGET LIZ, 50