After becoming a mom my crunchiness grew 100% overnight. Once I held my not so tiny 9lb baby, skin to skin, I became obsessed with doing everything the natural way, for both of us. I realized that everything I put on myself would of course come in contact with her so I wanted to be extra safe with my choices.
Postpartum was rough on my self image, I remember wishing I knew how to do full glam makeup when I Iooked in the mirror. Instead- I leaned into embracing natural beauty and the results were empowering; peace with myself & finding joy in my choices. Here are my best tips!
- Use natural products- but know how they work
It takes a bit of mindfulness to switch over to natural makeup, and heads up they’re so many fakes out there (I’ve been fooled over and over). The hardest part of switching over to natural makeup, for me, is the price and inconvenience. No more just grabbing something at the grocery store while you’re there. But the plus is I have so much fun online shopping for makeup and taking care of myself to the best of my knowledge feels good. My favorite places to shop makeup are organicbunny.com and youngliving.com I’ve also tried Crunchi’s concealer and it’s fantastic.
The number one complaint I hear about natural deodorant is that it doesn’t work or just stops working after a while. To combat this you need to detox your armpits fairly often to keep the natural deodorant working. Here is how to detox your underarms. This is just one example of being knowledgeable on how products work & last. Another example is that essential oils are light sensitive- so knowing where and how to store them will save you money and ensure you get the most out of them!
- Choose quality
It’s hard to walk through a store and see all the products we’ve been trained to call “self care” and just want to grab yourself a little something special. But future you will thank you if you just skip it all. Make the choice to purchase quality products with ingredients you know and trust. I love organicbunny.com and fitglow.com for examples (not affiliate links). If I have the choice between cheap lipstick I’ve bought on an impulse or quality long lasting lipstick- you already know what I’m choosing to use! So save yourself the trouble (& waste, plastic, money) and buy fewer, but high quality products. Trust me, you are going to feel like a queen & you deserve it
- Choose to love yourself
When I am feeling down on myself; usually after an online compare & despair session I stop and remind myself that this body is what I have, and I choose to love it. I am the only me and that’s pretty awesome. A quick check in with your thoughts, to stop the negative spiral and then let your mind move on to other things.
- Make a quick “I’m ready” routine
Most of us have a bottom line routine we must do before leaving the house, even if it’s just “have shoes on.” Decide one thing, or a few, that make you feel beautiful and do them before you leave the house, in the morning, before a friend comes over or whenever. For me, my signature “I’m ready look” is earrings and lipstick. Doing these simple 2 things has gotten me compliments left and right over the years. Literally just a bare face with lipstick and some cute earrings (typically dangle earrings-as fancy as I want). Putting these on has my husband asking “where are we going?” everytime. Other quick ready things could be
Mascara (I would do this but the thought of taking it off at night later has me only using mascara for special occasions)
Perfume (essentials oils of course)
Hat or headband
Concealer/ BB cream
You get the point. Youtube is full of 5 min makeup routines and tips as well!
- Compliment yourself daily
Pick something you love about yourself and make a point of saying it to yourself daily. It may be a physical attribute or something else you are good at. I will often say “ I am such a good cook” while I am preparing dinner as a way of being kind to myself. When I say it outloud my husband typically repeats it back to me, as an added bonus. Take care of yourself!