Beauty care for mommas!. Review on Overall Face Care

Harrased moms, read on. Here are a few beauty pointers that won’t consume much of your time. There’ll be days you get barely enough time to brush your teeth. And yet you have to look well groomed at work.

So what do you do? Accept that you won’t be able to go for elaborate beauty procedures both in and outside the home.(Who needs those anyway!) Try to care for yourself on the sly, while you are the midst of other work. And no, I am not advocating the famous ‘receptionist filing nails at desk’ routine either.

First off, the term ‘beauty treatment’ is misleading. What I am about to present is ways to care for yourself, to prevent yourself from looking totally frazzled(you fat momma, you!) while juggling job, housework and baby(s).

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Steal Baby Products

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Congrats – you have a baby! And a bag full of baby products too. Soaps, oils, lotions and creams. While you use these on baby, use these on yourself too. The baby oil, for instance. In most Indian homes, coconut, mustard or olive oil is used for babies. So that leaves you with bottles of fragrant, vitamin E rich oil, all for yourself! Even if you do use it on baby, rub the residue on your hands and feet.

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Steam, steam, steam

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Boiling water for drinking? Remove the lid and steam your face for about 2 – 3 minutes. Wash with cold water. Alternatively, buy a steam console, available at most medical stores for around Rs.200/-. It heats up in practically no time. You can also create a mini sauna in your bathroom by closing the door tight and letting the steam from the console fill the room.

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Scrub away

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After steaming use a scrub. There are plenty available. Buy collapsible tubes in smaller quantities to avoid contamination. My all time fave is St.Ives apricot scrub. This takes 2-3 minutes only and its bye bye to dead cells. Don’t scrub your face too hard and avoid the under-eye area. Scrub your neck too. In my experience, don’t scrub more than twice a week, or your skin might break out.

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Don’t forget the eyebrows

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Unless you are one of the few people on this planet with perfect eyebrows, you must thread your brows unfailingly. Sneak out somehow and get it done professionally, and half your grooming battle is won. Keep your nails short because you’ll be handling children a lot. Eschew nailpolish altogether. There is no way you will be able to maintain it, and nothing looks worse than chipped polish.

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Make up

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You’ll have to keep it minimal. Invest in 2 or 3 good shades of lipstick. Apply with an easy hand. Forget brushes, lip liners and the like. Go for pencil kohl rather than eyeliner – it works faster. Save foundation routines for parties if at all necessary. If someone has gifted you a lipstick that does not work on your lips, try it on your lids.

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Kitchen classics

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This reminds me a bit of a spoof on beauty programmes, which once appeared either on Asianet or Surya, the Malayalam channels, where the actors eventually used everything from dosa batter to spices on their faces. Seriously though, try clubbing work in the kitchen with ‘beauty treatment’(there’s that word again!). Mix besan and turmeric(the kind beauticians used – it is called kastoori manjal in Malayalam). Apply on your face and neck and wash once dry. If you have oily skin, add a little lime juice or milk if you have normal/dry skin. My mother-in-law scrapes off the residue from the bottom of the vessel used to boil milk and applies it to her face. None of this consumes much time.

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Start the day right

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Drink a glass of hot water first thing in the morning. This will flush out all toxins and leave you feeling energized as well. In fact it makes better sense than tea or coffee, which is what most of us prefer when we wake up. Drink lots of water during the day. Ensure that you eat right, which is easier said than done. Don’t forget your calcium supplements if you are feeding your baby.

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Manage time

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Baby’s naptime is the best time. Promise yourself you will devote 10 minutes each day to yourself. It could be as simple as detangling your hair or trimming your nails. Do things simultaneously. Soak your feet in warm water while eating dinner. Scrub your feet with a pumice stone/scraper during the stipulated 3 minute wait while you condition your hair.

And while it is a cliché, beauty does come from within, so be happy and enjoy what you are doing. And also realize, there’s only so much you can go against your genes!

If you’ve got this far, congrats. Hope my not-so-little piece doesn’t read like a Cosmo ‘10 ways to flirt with your husband while on a bus’ kind of write-up