#3things: beauty hacks for new mums

Are you a new mum? Do you find yourself congratulating yourself for getting dressed before the sun goes down? I remember the first few months on my son's life, those days when I actually managed to have a shower, wash my hair and put make up on, I felt so much better. It might be superficial but it really did. Before becoming a mum I always had neatly painted nails - I was obsessed and would give myself a fresh coat of nail polish every few days. Now, brushing my hair counts as being "done". Over the past six months I've discovered a few tricks for looking put together in less time.

Nails. I no longer have time to file, buff and paint my nails once a fortnight, let alone every few days. Now, I file my nails once a week and then add a coat of No7's Ridge Filing Base which is fast drying and leaves nails matt and looking buffed.

Eyes. When you're dog tired from night time feeds you'll do anything to feel and look more awake. I love Botanics refreshing eye roll on for soothing and cooling tired eyes. I used to swear by this after a night out. Oh, how my life has changed!

Eyes continued. I'll also admit that I'm more than a little addicted to my mascara - and my eyelash curler. Or I was. I'm not one for regular trips to the beautician but I recently had a treatment that has helped to save me so much time that I might just be converted. I had a lash tint and curl. Genius. No need to curl my lashes every day or use mascara. Basically I've just been adding a little bronzer to give me a healthy glow and I'm ready to go.

What beauty tricks do you use to save you time?

#3things: helping me to fake the 8 hours sleep look

The baby is sleeping really well - for a four week old. But the breastfeeding means that I'm up two or three times a night - and have been for the past month. So right about now, I'm not looking too fresh come the morning. So I've found a few things that help to fake it - and I thought I'd share them.

1. Washing my hair (and even just showering) is proving difficult with a newborn who doesn't like to be left on his own for even a second while I jump in the shower! So I've been relying on dry shampoo A LOT. This Extreme Volume dry shampoo by CoLab (which comes from a collaboration with Ruth Crilly of A Model Recommends) is my newest find - it smells divine and helps to rejuvenate my hair - even after four days!
2. Mascara is a must for making me look awake in the mornings. An eyelash curler really helps too. Right now I'm loving this Limited Edition Bourjois Tropical Festival Volume Clubbing mascara (which is on offer right now) - it really helps to curl my lashes and makes my eyes look wide awake (or a little awake!).
3. Finally, this Rimmel London Sculpting Palette by Kate Moss is a new addition to my make up bag and I totally love it. I wanted to try it for a while and picked it up as a little treat earlier this week. I've not actually used it to contour yet (no time!) but I have been using the highlighter and blusher every day this week and both give me a lovely glow.

Any other tips for looking awake after a night of newborn feeds and nappy changes?

beauty: No7 lovely lips lip balm

As summer arrives (here's to hoping!), protecting your lips from the sun is as important as protecting the rest of your body. Unlike your skin, your lips contain almost no melanin so they really do need that extra care and attention to keep them healthy.

SPF lip care is essential and No7 is on hand with its newest lip product: the new Lovely Lips Lip Balm with SPF15 which will nourish and condition lips all day, as well as protecting them against harmful UV rays.

You can also wear it under one of the four new gorgeous shades of the No7 Lovely Lips Lip Balms. All of these moisturising balms are enriched with mineral oil, beeswax and vitamin E for extra condition and care.

The sheer, buildable colour helps you perfect that natural look - which is great, if, like me, you're not a huge fan of full-on lipstick. Using the SPF lip balm underneath the colour definitely tones down the shade.

I was kindly sent three of the new shades to try out:

I was really impressed with just how moisturising these balms are - I've thrown the SPF lip balm into my hospital bag for when our baby arrives! And I'll be using the coloured shades to add a pop of colour when I'm tired and pale after the baby arrives!

No7 Lovely Lips Lip Balms in Poppy Petal, Parisian Pink, Deep Raspberry and Coral Blossom and the No7 Lovely Lips Lip Balm SPF15 are available in Boots stores now for £9 - and remember, they're currently offering their £3 off No7 make-up vouchers, so you can get one for just £6 right now. Plus, it's buy one, get one free - so you can get the SPF balm and a colour for just over a tenner!

beauty: SEVENTEEN brow's that! brow kit

Eyebrows are big right now. That's both in size and popularity. I have had a few emails in my inbox recently about how eyebrow products are set to rival mascaras.

Last week, in my first ever make-up tutorial video, I showed how to use the No7 Beautiful Eyebrow Kit. Today, it's the turn of the SEVENTEEN Brow's that! Brow Kit. The SEVENTEEN version is less than half the price - and with the addition of the eyebrow pencil, it offers a bit more. My only preference from the No7 kit is that the powder comes in two shades and it has a double ended brush, as well as a mascara style wand to neaten brows. But for less than £6, the SEVENTEEN kit is ideal.

You'll see from my before photo that as a teenager, I got my hands on my mum's tweezers and totally wrecked my brows - they are nearly non-existent by the ends! They barely show up in photos and I'm always a bit embarrassed about that. But this kit makes them a lot stronger.

The kit comes with an instruction card - always useful, particularly if you're unsure.

1. Start with the brow pencil and using small strokes, fill in any gaps. You can also use the pencil to create the shape you want. I like to fill in my tadpoles so that the inner corner isn't so pronounced. 
2. Next, use the wax on your brush to set your lashes. I'll be honest, I have a brow brush (like this one by Real Techniques) that I used for the wax and to get my actual brow hairs in line.
3. Then use the brown powder to add a little more colour and definition. Finally, you can use the highlighter right under the brows.

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maternity leave: painting nails

I've been so tired - or sick - for most of my pregnancy that one of my favourite things to do very quickly fell by the way: painting my nails. Before I was pregnant, my nails were very very rarely bare. In fact, I'd often paint them twice a week. Since last autumn, I've maybe worn nail polish twice.

But now that I'm a lady of leisure, I have cracked out my (extensive) collection of polishes. I have also added to them.

The two shades above are from Boots No7's latest summer collection: Candy Apples and Beach Blues.  No7 nail polish is always spot on - the shades are always on trend and the consistency is always easy to apply and long lasting. These two new shades deliver on all fronts.

And below is the battle of the classic reds. Trafalgar is a slightly pinky red, while Pandore is maybe more of a true red. I'm rocking Trafalgar right now!

pregnancy beauty: clarins mum to be spa treatment

Two weeks ago was my birthday. My husband very kindly treated me to a day out in Birmingham. He told me he'd booked me a surprise for the morning and that we'd then go for lunch.

My surprise treat was a mum-to-be spa treatment at Clarins based in Selfridges. It was heavenly and exactly what I needed.

I have been to Clarins spas before and have always found them to be the nicest, cleanest and offer the best service.

The mum-to-be treatment included: a back massage, a facial, a shoulder and neck massage, arm and hand massage, leg and foot massage and an oil rub on the bump to help stop stretch marks.

For the back massage, you are on a stool, leaning over a pile of pillows on the treatment bed. For the rest of the treatments you're on the bed, at an angle (similar to the angle my midwife usually has me at at my antenatal appointments).

The products that Clarins use always smell divine.

It can feel a little intimidating to strip off at 35 weeks pregnant but they offer you the space to get ready and provide a robe (to wear backwards over your bump) for the back massage and then cover you with multiple towels for the other treatments and just expose the necessary parts. They will also ask you if you're comfortable with each treatment before they start. So if you're not so keen on someone rubbing your bump, you can pass on that.

The beautician who did my treatments told me that they offer the package to anyone, right up to the end of the pregnancy. I have to admit that if it wasn't nearly an hour from home, I'd be very tempted to go back for another one once I start maternity leave later this week.

Have you tried any mum-to-be packages?

3 things: they don’t tell you about pregnancy

There are a few obvious things that happen when you’re pregnant – you get bigger, your hormones make you go a bit mad, you might get morning sickness, there’s foods and drinks you’ll have to give up, you might get cravings, a constant need to pee. All of these things I know and have experienced to a degree. But there are other things that they don’t tell you. It’s like all the women who have been pregnant have made a pact to not mention some of the “symptoms” of pregnancy as it might put off those who have yet to procreate. These are three of the most surprising things that have happened to me since I have been pregnant – they won’t necessarily happen to you but they are normal (apparently, according to the pregnancy books and websites I have read):

1. I feel hungover. All. The. Bloody. Time. Or nearly all the time. I have flashes of what it might be like to have the “pregnancy glow” but for 99.9% of my pregnancy I have woken to feel like I had had more than a few G&Ts, accompanied by a good few Jägerbombs and a 3am bedtime. The reality of the situation is so far removed – a 9pm bedtime with a glass of milk. So very rock and roll.
2. My nose runs all the time. I can’t leave the house without first making sure I have a lot of tissues to see me through the day! This, as well as nosebleeds, is apparently fairly common in pregnancy. Doesn’t make it any more attractive!
3. Dry skin. This isn't just any dry skin either - this is scaly, snake-like dry skin. As someone who has never suffered too much with dry skin (a little on my legs perhaps after shaving previously), this has been a revelation. I blogged before about the products I'm using but seriously, no amount of hand cream seems to be enough right now. Or lip balm!

3 things: helping me look awake!

If you’re working through the pregnancy you’ll know that, particularly in those first few months, when you don’t want to tell anyone but when you’re likely feeling your most tired and possibly nauseous, getting to the office and looking reasonable is a big deal. Here are a few of things that got me through my first trimester – when I was feeling really poorly. And are still helping me to look awake now, nearly into my third trimester!

1. Under eye concealer. Sickness, headaches and exhaustion are some of the slightly less glamorous effects of early and later pregnancy. And with these come tell tale dark circles. Fake it, with an under eye concealer. I use No7’s Instant Radiance Under Eye Concealer – so easy to apply with a built in brush system and a part of the Match Made collection so it will be matched to your skin tone.
2. Fake a glow. Almost immediately that I found out I was pregnancy my skin got really really dry (see my post here). The fatigue also means that my face often looks a bit dull too. To combat this I’ve been faking a healthy looking glow with Dior Diorskin Nude Tan Bronzing Powder (this was a treat to myself before my honeymoon last summer!).
3. Go bold. It’s the oldest trick in the box – wearing a bright lipstick to take the attention away from the rest of your face. I love MAC’s orange-red Lady Danger for a real pop.

top tips: 5 products you need to style a fringe

A fringe is a great way to create a new look without loosing any length in your hair style. If you've taken the leap and had a fringe cut, you might suddenly be wondering how you style it and what you need to style it.  I blogged about my inspiration and ideas for a fringe at the weekend.

I realised that once the baby arrives I will have little no time to wash my hair, let alone style it. So I decided that three months out from the big due date, I would mix up hair style a bit and add a fringe. I've had a fringe before and know that they take a little extra attention so thought that while I was still able, I'd change it up.

There are a few tools and products that really help when it comes to a fringe:

1. Hair dryer. Even if, like me, you're unable to give yourself anything close to a professional blow dry, your fringe will be somewhere you can excel. I'm rubbish at blow drying my hair but I am ok at my fringe. I tend to clip the top layer of my fringe back and then blow dry the bottom layer first. Make sure to point the nozzle down the hair from the roots. Dry to one side and then to the other side, to ensure it moves freely.
2. Round brush. I swear by my large round brush to give my fringe a good amount of bounce. As I'm blow drying the fringe, I use this underneath the layers. I swear by my Denman Head Hugger brush for this - it also helps to blow dry the sides of my hair well too.
3. Straighteners. If I want my fringe to last all day, rain or shine, I run the straighteners over my fringe too. It helps to "finish" the look.
4. Dry shampoo. Your fringe sits right on your forehead, right where you'll likely have applied day cream, foundation and possibly even powder. You might also, like me, find yourself playing with your new fringe more than normal. All of this equates to a quickly greasy fringe. Yuck! Dry shampoo is a godsend. Keep a small can in your handbag for daytime touch ups, if necessary. I love Batiste dry shampoo for their really affordable collection and extensive fragrance range.
5. Grooming brush. Keep a grooming brush handy throughout the day to keep your fringe looking smooth and sleek. Also, you'll find your new fringe is a little susceptible to any gusts of wind. Denman grooming brushes are my favourite - they offer a really affordable collection. If you're after something more high end, you could try Mason Pearson who are famous for their grooming brushes.
6. Hair spray. Ok, so that makes six - I know! But if you find your fringe is splitting during the day, spritz a little hair spray over it and it should stay as you want it all day.

beauty: moisturise, moisturise, moisturise

My skin - up until about five and a half months ago - was always fairly "normal". Never too oily or too dry. I didn't often need to use a moisturiser - although I did at night. Ever since being pregnant, my skin has become soooo dry. On my face, on my legs, on my arms - everywhere. Nowhere has been safe from the dryness.

This, combined with the fear of stretch marks, has meant a whole overhaul of my skincare routine. No longer can I remove my make-up and maybe remember to put some moisturiser on my face before falling into bed, or get up in the morning, have a shower and get dressed. I've had to make time for a whole lot of moisturising.

Over on my style and beauty blog, I blogged about the Boots No7 Early Defence collection a while ago. This is still the best moisturiser I've tried yet. I particularly love the night cream but now, the day cream works well too. I can't skip day cream under my make-up anymore otherwise it cakes like never before.

For the rest of me, I'm currently loving the Norwegian Formula Visibly Renew Elasti-Boost Body Lotion. First of all, the pump action dispenser saves time and second, the formula is light and absorbs quickly - so important for getting dressed quickly in the morning.

I'm using this on my bump too in the mornings but for the evenings I've been slathering on Palmer's Cocoa Butter Formula Massage Lotion For Stretch Marks. Like the original Cocoa Butter, this lotion is thick and highly scented. It feels luxurious but is a bit much for all day - for me.

*Disclosure: I was sent the No7 Early Defence creams and Norwegian Formula lotion to try out. All views on these are my own - in fact, I have re-bought both since running out!