If one more person tells me to invest in a good tinted moisturizer, I’m going to lose it.” That’s an actual quote from an actual friend who has two actual kids and one more on the way. “It’s like the magazines think we have no idea that we’ll have less time in the morning when we decide to procreate, but I’ll be dead before I trade in my full-coverage foundation.”
Amen to that. So in the name of digging up beauty tips for moms that aren’t BS (or, you know, a total waste of valuable time), we went straight to the source: We asked 11 new-ish moms to find out what the best beauty tip they ever got from a fellow mom was. Read on for our favorites below:
“For some reason, my four-year-old son would never let me sit and polish my own nails during his quiet play time, and a fellow mom suggested letting him pick out the color so he feels involved without actually ‘helping’ me polish them—a.k.a. making a huge mess all over my hands. It worked like magic: Now he sits and plays with his toys while I polish my nails in peace. He likes to ‘approve’ them when I’m done.” —Anna, mother of one
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“The best beauty tip I learned is to put on my face masks while my daughter is in the bath. She thinks I look funny and ridiculous, I’m able to keep my skin looking amazing, and it’s all done in exactly 15 minutes. It may be the most genius thing I’ve ever done.” Katya, co-founder of Hey Mama
“About two weeks before my due date, I got my eyelashes tinted at the insistence of a fellow new mom. Best decision I’ve ever made. I’d suggest going a little earlier in your pregnancy if possible though since it’s hard to lay flat on your back at eight-plus months.” —Chloe, mother of one
“I keep hair ties in every single pant and jacket pocket that I have, this way I can easily put my hair in a top knot in the middle of the day when I realize that I should have washed it the night before! For moments like this, I just add baby powder to my hair so that it has a fresh smell.” —Adele, mother of two
“I used the same Mary Kay powder blush my mom used for as long as I could remember. I even brought it to the hospital with me when I gave birth to my twins. When the nurse saw it, she laughed and suggested I replace it with a cream version that can do double-duty on my cheeks and lips for when I want to look presentable, and it was so true. I also find it’s easier to carry a small pot in the diaper bag and use my fingers when I’m out of the house, rather than a compact with a brush. Now, half my beauty products come in pots and require no brushes!”—Charlotte, mother of two one-year-old twin girls
“My hair never does that braid-it-while-wet-and-get-perfect-waves thing so foam rollers were the best trick any mom has ever taught me. I usually put my toddler to bed around 8:30, which is three hours before I lay down. Once she’s out for the night, the foam rollers go in. They take about half an hour and I can do it while catching up on my shows. Genius!”—Christine, mother of one
“I have long, thick hair and rarely get the chance to style it with a blow-dryer or flat iron. So when it comes to hair-wash day, I deep condition and comb it while I’m still in the shower. After I towel-dry my hair with a cotton T-shirt, I put it in a braid. I get to look cute while it’s drying and when it finally dries (usually next day for me), it’s wavy.”—Kira, mother of one
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“I was trying to find another use for nipple cream after coming home from the hospital. The first ingredient in mine was olive oil, so now I use it to remove eye makeup!”—Gioia
“I had a friend that worked at a fancy department store counter for years, and she told me eye cream was a waste of money. Instead, when I have bags under my eyes, I use green tea bags instead.”—Francesca, mother of three
“I literally have 12 minutes in the morning to get ready since I go to the gym at 5 a.m. so I shower at night. When I wash my hair—I learned all about dry shampoo after being a mom, so now I wash my hair maybe twice a week—I spray it with beach wave spray, put it in a bun on the top of my head, and sleep with it. When I take it out, even after the gym, it’s dry and wavy. To get it looking someone uniform, I go in with a curling iron and curl a few choice pieces. It saves me almost 20 minutes that I definitely don’t have in the morning.”—Lori, mother of two
“Cream highlighter is your friend! Dab it on the inner corners of your eyes and in the center of your eyelid, and you just might trick your co-workers into thinking you got more than four hours of sleep last night.”—Max, mother of four kids all under age 5
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Originally posted on StyleCaster.com