I don’t want to go all crazy-pants on you, but I do believe our thoughts are constantly creating our reality. My friend Kristen has four kids (no, she’s not a Mormon, the last one was an accident -- because she’s Catholic) and she always, no matter how icky she feels, greets her babies when they wake-up with a smile. Babies are like little mirrors that reflect back onto us. So it makes sense researchers can now prove if you say nice things to yourself in the mirror, you’ll actually feel and look prettier. If you keep reading, I’ll prove I’m not crazy-pants.

“Forget anti-ageing lotions, or even a nip and tuck. A youthful appearance could be down to saying kinder things to ourselves and adopting a happier outlook on life,” says Nikki Owen, a practitioner of neuro-linguistic programming. (Okay, I admit I’ve never heard of that job title, but lets be nice, I don’t want any more wrinkles.) Owens goes on to say, “Each of us has the power within ourselves to create the life we want - not just a career and all the trappings, but also our looks.” She conducted a simple experiment with hundreds of women and the results proved we are what we think,  our thoughts impact our mood, body and looks.

Owens had women cut an apple in two, (apples have the same water content - 60 per cent - to the human body) and put one half in a jar, labeled "love" and say kind things to it for a week, and place the other half in a jar marked "hate" and be as spiteful as they could to it – yes, this sounds crazy pants, but keep reading. At the end of the week, the hated apples were in a considerably worse state of decay than the apples that were the subject of affectionate words.

I know apples don’t have feelings, but Dr Masaru Emoto has done countless studies where the molecules in water crystals are be affected by thoughts, words and feelings, thus determining the shape of the crystals. The bottom line is, I’m grateful pretty is as pretty does because if you feel and speak positively about yourself you’re more likely to look radiant and pretty. The average woman has 36 negative thoughts about her body every day -- so knock it off! Say nice things to yourself. Take it from me. You are gorgeous. I promise. And if you don’t believe me, you’re the one who’s crazy-pants.

That’s why I’m grateful pretty is as pretty does.