Beauty for busy mums
If you suffer from time and money constraints, there a quick beauty fixes
When you’re the mother of young children or babies, time to pamper yourself is not a priority unless you are lucky enough to have a cleaner, nanny and helpful in-laws or parents. Different women react and cope differently with the pressures of raising young children. Some sail through this period and seem serene, perfectly groomed and organised, whereas others get frazzled, exhausted and barely find the time to have a soak in the bath or slap on a bit of make up. The family budget makes a difference. If money is not too tight, then a tired or stressed mum can pay a cleaner or babysitter to help so she can go out and get a relaxing massage, beauty treatment or attend a yoga class. If, however, money and time are a bit on the sparse side, read on!
First-time mums tend to be a bit shell shocked, therefore stress levels are higher and anxieties more common. If you have a young child to look after, you have enough to think about without stressing over your beauty routine. The cosmetics corporate machine certainly doesn’t help, with its subtle but now totally ingrained messages that lead us to believe that if we don’t slather all sorts of lotions and potions on our faces on a daily basis, we’ll wake up one morning a few years from now with wrinkles and a face that sags to our knees! This is not true, so if you are totally shattered at the end of the day and the last thing you feel like doing is fiddling around with creams, then don’t bother, your skin will be fine – besides, a few minutes to unwind and then going to bed for some much needed sleep is going to be better for your skin and face anyway.
If you find that you don’t have time to use face creams for quite a long period of time, say, for months or even longer, don’t stress. You will not be causing horrendous irreparable damage to your skin and once your baby or toddler is a little older and your energy and available ‘me’ time return, you can start being more disciplined with your skincare and beauty routine.
On the other hand, if you totally neglect yourself, you may get into a rut and we all know that looking after oneself is psychologically healthy. A happy, self confident mum is a good mum, so how do you find a balance when time (and money) may be on the short side?
Here are the basic beauty ‘musts’ that take just minutes but will keep you looking and feeling like a ‘Bella Mamma’.
l Use a face wash morning and night instead of cleanser and toner, it’s quicker. Use one cream for face, around eyes and neck.
TIME: about 5 minutes
l Use a setting clay mask on nose or T-zone if you have blackheads, once every couple of weeks. Rinse off as soon as it dries.
TIME: 1 minute to apply and 4 minutes to remove
l Don’t have thinly plucked eyebrows. A thicker natural shape looks far classier and you won’t have to tidy them every couple of days.
TIME: around 5 minutes
l Hands become as dry as sand paper when there is a baby in the house. Keep a good quality hand cream by the sink and bed and apply as often as you can, especially at bed time. Olive oil is good or try The Body Shop’s rich body butters.
TIME: 1 minute
l If you don’t have time for manicures, keep nails short and avoid dark or bright coloured varnish. Slather greasy cream or oil into cuticles every night to stop them from looking tatty and ‘raggedy’.
TIME: 1 minute
l Don’t underestimate what an all over scrub in the shower can do for you. Forget those gritty, bitty body scrub gels and creams, they’re not worth their weight in sea salt and don’t really do anything. Use a loofah, body brush, friction mitt or any kind of rough-ish textured bath glove. Use with gentle shower gel and scrub gently and thoroughly starting from legs, then arms, tummy, chest and lastly your back. Great when you feel lethargic, when your skin is rough or pimply, when thighs and tummy look flabby or have cellulite, or if skin looks dry, rough or dull. Doing this regularly will, I promise, perform miracles.
TIME: about 10-15 minutes
l After your body scrubbing session, feel even more virtuous by rubbing body lotion or oil onto skin. You don’t have to do the whole body, just the dryer bits, like legs and arms, which take one minute to do. Almond oil is cheap, natural and one of the best skin moisturisers around.
TIME: 1-3 minutes
l Have hair cut in a style that needs minimal upkeep, so you can just wash it and leave to dry naturally.
TIME: the time it takes to wash and condition
