Being a mom means having crazy schedules and limited time for self-care. When not doing household chores, we are playing with our babies, picking kids from soccer practice, beating deadlines at work, attending business meetings, advancing our careers, and basically holding our little families together. With such overflowing schedules, it is even hard to understand how we create time for meals, bathing, or sleeping- leave alone time for a little pampering.
As busy as our schedules are, however, we cannot afford to ignore our beauty needs. Moms are girls too, after all. We deserve to feel and look good. If not for anything else, being well-groomed and classy boosts our energy & enthusiasm, earns us favors from colleagues & random strangers and gives us the confidence we need to take on life’s daily challenges. Getting a little pampering regularly is an absolute necessity that cannot be tossed to the side.
I’m excited to help you maintain your beauty routine when you have an insanely tight schedule. Here are 5 of my trusted quick beauty tips that will certainly help you stay fresh and revitalized as a busy mom.
1. Master the 5-minute DIY mom makeup
You may not have all the time in the world to pamper yourself, but you certainly can create and follow a simple 5-minute DIY make-up routine. To get you started:
– Buy multipurpose beauty products. For example, buy a concealer that not only conceals dark circles and blemishes but also serves as a natural-looking base.
– Apply an overnight moisturizer every night before going to bed. This way, you always wake up with your face ready for quick skincare and makeup routine.
– Get yourself an all-in-one, densely bristled makeup brush that comes with an interchangeable brush and sponge heads. This will allow you to apply both beauty and makeup products without needing multiple brushes/sponges. A multipurpose brush also allows you to apply makeup using one hand in case your baby is acting up.
– When applying makeup in the morning, dab a few drops of foundation around your problem areas (blemishes, redness, wrinkles, pimples, etc.), complement it with a concealer, and then set everything up using a wet blend sponge. The sponge absorbs excess foundation if any.
– Get a flawless finish by patting your cheeks gently using a blusher and then making circular motions to blend everything out.
– We don’t want tired eyes to ruin our flawless makeup. You will need to apply eye shadow with a shade that complements your eye color (preferably a shade that contrasts your eye color).
– Apply dark eyeliner for a bright and wide-eyed look.
– Lastly, tint your lips using a lip tint. This is a much more effective alternative to using lipstick because lip tint doesn’t smudge as quickly as most lipsticks. It doesn’t require you to reapply every now and then, plus it doesn’t stick to your teeth!
2. Do facial yoga every day
What is facial yoga? Do you know how regular yoga helps your body stay fit and relaxed? That’s exactly what facial yoga does to your face. Facial yoga will reset your facial muscles and give your skin a natural glow, giving you a youthful appearance. I’d recommend these 4 facial yoga exercises for a busy mom:
– Puff your cheeks by inhaling air through the mouth. Your cheeks will bulge as a result. Move the air from cheek to cheek for about a minute and then release. This exercise prevents your cheeks from looking hollow.
– Kiss and smile practices: Here, you push the lips out (like you do when kissing) and then smile broadly to achieve a youthful jawline and flushed cheeks. Make sure that the lips are stretched out as much as possible and the smile is as broad as possible. Do at least 2 kiss and smile practices every hour for best results.
– Eyebrow exercises: Place your index fingers slightly above your eyebrows and then press the eyebrows down using the other fingers. Try to lift the eyebrows upward. Do this for about a minute, at least once every hour. This will keep wrinkles at bay.
– Yogic, abdominal breathing exercises to protect your complexion from paling due to stress.
3. Eat right for natural beauty
Proper nutrition is one of the proven and natural ways of eliminating wrinkles and age spots. Eat a balanced diet every day to achieve glowing skin even without makeup. Among other nutrition strategies:
– Eat lots of fruits (especially oranges, kiwi, papaya, strawberries, and blackcurrants) and vegetables (especially carrots, broccoli, spinach, and kales) they’re powerful antioxidants. Antioxidants will protect your skin from cellular damage (age spots and wrinkles) that mostly result from smoking and excess exposure to direct UV rays. Normalize eating at least five portions of fruits and veggies every day.
– Eat foods that are high in vitamin E, e.g. almonds, pine nuts, avocado, and hazelnuts. Vitamin E boosts healthy skin growth.
– If you are starting on a weight loss journey, please don’t crash diet as this can easily put you on a loop of losing and regaining weight. You don’t want to be in this loop as it causes wrinkles, skin sagging, and stretch marks. Talk to a nutritionist about the best way to diet for weight loss.
– Increase your intake of omega-3 and omega-6 fats (e.g. chia seeds). These help with eczema and psoriasis, among other inflammatory skin conditions.
– Adopt a selenium-rich diet (selenium is found in Brazil nuts, shellfish, and eggs). Selenium is a powerful antioxidant that will protect your skin against sun damage and age spots.
– Drink 6-8 glasses of water a day for optimal hydration. Dehydration makes your skin dry and wrinkled. Healthy alternatives to water include herbal tea (caffeine-free) and watermelon.
– Avoid drugs and excessive alcohol because they accelerate skin aging.
– Increase your intake of healthy fat monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats (nuts, oily fish, and avocados). These fatty acids provide your skin with natural moisturization, plus, they contain a healthy dose of vitamin E. Additionally you can incorporate vitamin E gummies into your diet for a better intake of this necessary vitamin.
– Increase your zinc intake (poultry, fish, and nuts). Zinc is good for repairing damaged skin.
4. Save time by booking salon appointments online
As busy as you could be, you will need the services of hair and beauty professionals. You will need to spare a few hours every two or three weeks for a professional manicure/pedicure, hairdressing, or makeup. But then, you cannot afford to spend hours on end in a salon’s waiting area or be kept on hold as a front desk operator books your appointment over the phone. You want to rush and get served within the shortest time possible. That is where online salon booking comes in.
With online booking, you have the freedom to make beauty salon appointments at any time of the day and at your own convenience. Beauty salons that have embraced online scheduling, provide their schedules to potential online clients. You are able to, for example, see the day and the hour your favorite hairdresser is free so that you can place your appointment request accordingly. When the salon confirms the appointment time, you rest assured that you will not waste any time in a queue when the time and day of your appointment come. What’s more, you can make online appointments via Facebook, Google, and many other online platforms. It doesn’t get more convenient than this!
5. Protect your skin from harsh weather elements
If you allow harsh weather elements to have a field day on your skin, your skincare routine will always require more time than necessary. That is why you should keep your skin protected every time you’re outdoors. Here are some of the proven skin protection tips:
– Moisturize your skin every day using petroleum or cream-based moisturizers in order to winter-proof it. Applying a petroleum-based lip balm is also a proven way of protecting your lips from the dry wind. Also, for the moisturizer to be effective, apply it immediately after bathing, when your skin is still wet.
– Cleanse your skin in moderation. You don’t want to overdo it as that can remove the skin’s natural moisturizers.
– Invest in in-room humidifiers to minimize the negative effects of excess dry air. Dry air is notorious for pulling moisture from the human skin.
– Avoid extreme cold temperatures because they may cause skin disorders or frostbite.
– To protect your skin from the sun, never go outside without wearing sunscreen. Not just any sunscreen… use products with a sun-protection factor of above 15.
– Take vitamin D supplements during winter (when you don’t have enough sun exposure).
– Make a habit of visiting a dermatologist regularly especially when you have dry skin, rashes, itchiness, or skin growths.
Conclusion
You cannot afford to be left out of the magic of a beautiful mom despite having tight schedules. The tips above will get you started on an amazing, magical journey of self-care and beauty. Start the journey now and be resilient at it. Nothing comes easy, after all.
Published by HOLR Magazine.