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Postpartum makeover , what it meant to me – Embrace the new ‘U’

Being a mom of two wonderful daughters and a image makeover consultant, I love helping new moms to embrace the new ‘U’.  I love helping them with healthy life style choices from inside out , shop or design a new wardrobe ,  put down a hair and skin care regime , work with color cosmetics  and work with the hairstylist to give them a new hairstyle to suit their new role.

There are people who exclaim –  “oh! You don’t look like mom of two!”.  Unfortunately, the stereotype of a mom is that of a person who neglects herself in order to take care of the family, is terribly outdated.

Believe me,  you will be the better mom if you take care of yourself. Looking good  will make you  feel  better about yourself, and put you in a better frame of mind to labor throughout the day, and handle the challenges that parenting brings.

Why is the postpartum body seen as something that needs fixing? Shouldn’t our bodies that gave birth to little miracles be celebrated?  Relax. It took nine months to build that baby-growing body, so give yourself time to get back into shape. And lets look at it like this…you are the tigress who earned her stripes…lets be proud of our stretch marks.

I am not saying that I will be hooraying for tummy pooches or sagging breasts. oh yes I can hear the screams for the stretch marks  nor  would I deny  that I wanted to be ‘ yum mum’

I’ve never wanted to go under the knife , not that I am opposed to plastic surgery . But I was not sure If I wanted to take that mental and physical pain of going through that surgery. Nor did  I want to spend that kind of money and get into a debt J.

For me, postpartum makeover  meant  getting back to shape ,  knowing  the colors which will look good on me and also figuring out what style of clothing would suit my new lifestyle ( being a new mom ).

Maybe a new hairstyle that doesn’t need much of maintenance as it was more of “bye  bye  hair straightener and  salon kind blowouts”.  I was looking for someone who would help me to put down a hair care and skin care regimen ( with a baby around who needs to fed every 2hours I was losing my hair – literally 🙂 :))

If you have your first kid in India , where you are pampered  by your parents,  the only thing you need to worry  about is feeding the baby ,  and having  someone wake you every two hours to feed the baby .

Being in the US when I was expecting my second daughter was a completely different experience .  Taking care of a premature baby and a toddler who needed constant attention with no helping hand  was a big challenge. For me not feeling good was not an option. So I made sure that I was not going to get into the mommy rut or neglect myself .

Stretching and morning walks in sunshine helped a lot to cheer me up( I would feed the baby  and ask my husband to take care of the baby , so he could have the father-daughter bonding time, yes I did put it that way :))

Ask for help – there is nothing wrong , you won’t get any medals for being a super mom .

It could  be aching arms , or baby blues  or maybe you just want to sit somewhere peacefully and read a book . Ask for help from people whom you trust, your friends  or spouse .

I used to take off to the mall/window shopping/library/park with my older daughter so I could spend time alone with her. This was better than telling her that she cannot talk loudly as the younger one is asleep  or that I was too busy for  her as the baby took all my energy and time .

Give yourself time and treat yourself well , meanwhile do few things so you can be the ‘diva’

Wardrobe

Use of dark ( or even bright )and monochromatic  colors will help, as the spit up stains and the leak ( you know what I am talking about )  won’t show . Leggings , draw string trousers  or even the first maternity jeans ( that you got when you were in your first trimester )

New mom makeup kit  and skin care

With no time to sleep and fatigue the only eye makeup you would be wearing is blood shot eyes. The fatigue and excess body fluids makes a deadly combination leading to  those puffy eyes .

Cold tea bags work well, too — tea contains tannin, a natural astringent that may help reduce puffiness. You can also try an eye gel (keep it chilled in the fridge) that contains ingredients such as arnica, chamomile, and cucumber that reduce puffiness. Sleeping on couple of pillows so your head stays raised up also prevents the fluid accumulation around the eye.

It would be a good idea to invest in some good concealers  and some bright eyeshades  or lip colors .

I repeat, you will be a good mom if you invest some time in yourself, if you take time for yourself you will be less depressed and irritated.

Babita Jaishankar 

CEO/Founder, WSol Fashion & Image makeovers Pvt ltd

designer@babitajaishankar.com
https://babitajaishankar.com/,http://bajathenewu.com/
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