Cheryl Cole's pretty price for her X Factor

We all know it, but it is always good to be reminded that celebrities go to extremes to look the way we seem them. I've posted an extract from The Daily Telegraph on Cheryl Cole's beauty, fitness and diet regime, which she follows to give herself 'the X Factor'. It's not to ridicule what she does, she is a celebrity and it's the way she chooses to be, but it is more to act as a reminder that for us regular girls, it's pretty tricky to emulate celebrities' looks. Read this article to find out the maintenance schedule for Cheryl's image.

Cheryl out and about 

Cheryl without make up

Hair Extensions


Julien Guyonnet created Cheryl's Sixties-inspired bouffant hair with 'Monofibre' acrylic fibre hair extensions. Tall, French and dashing, Guyonnet has a new salon in Notting Hill.


He told me: 'Cheryl has wavy extensions to give her volume. She comes in once every three months for the extensions, and every six weeks for a tidy-up.'


The 'volumising' extensions take about four hours to attach. They cost from £375, but Cheryl's are thought to cost £750 because of her stylist's experience. Guyonnet says Microfibre is better than human hair as the solvents used are less harsh and the hair is lighter.


He moved to London three years ago, after being a hairdresser in a salon on the Champs Elysees. Other celebrity clients include Peaches Geldof and Russell Brand. The total cost of Cheryl's extensions is thought to be around £4,000 a year.


Exercise


Cheryl had a personal trainer earlier this year, along with the rest of Girls Aloud, and claimed: 'We'd all indulged a bit too much. I felt my love handles creeping back and my weight shot up, so I decided things had to change.


'As a group, we hired a personal trainer and went for it. I just wanted to be toned. So I'd go on the treadmill for 30 minutes and then do an hour of resistance work with weights. I still have a lot of work to do on my legs.'


She was sent a Hypoxi therapy bike as a gift from Harrods three years ago. The bike costs £36,000 and while pedalling the exerciser she is supposed to wear a high-waisted rubber skirt to help banish cellulite. However, Cheryl's spokesman said she no longer uses the bike, nor has she kept on the £14,000-a-year personal trainer.


Diet


Cheryl denies using the services of a nutritionist and says she does not diet - although she barely eats carbohydrates like bread and pasta. Since becoming famous, she has abandoned the takeaways she enjoyed when she was a waitress in Newcastle. She is largely vegetarian and enjoys Japanese food because of its low fat and dairy content. Miso soup and edamame beans are in, and she likes shrimp and cod.


She says: 'If I start the day eating protein, I'll try not to eat carbohydrates, but I believe you should pig out once a week. I usually pig out on a Sunday because that's my hangover day.


'I was nine stone when I joined [Girls Aloud] and I'm eight stone now.'


This gives Cheryl a body mass index of 19.5, which is just about healthy. Below 18.5 is underweight.