Beauty for busy mums

My moisturiser: I was sent this by a PR to review and have been using it ever since. I think it has been discontinued because they decided to change the ingredients so I will have to find another product to replace it.

Earlier this month, I attended another Twitter party organised by British Mummy Bloggers, using the hashtag 5minMax. The previous party was about half-term ideas to entertain children, but this was definitely all about 'me time'. 

There was an expert from Max Factor giving us tips, but what really struck me was that some of the most popular beauty items were unusual to say the least. I must confess that prior to pregnancy, I was much keener on makeup and beauty products. Aside my personal interest in looking good, I freelanced for women's magazines so I used to get lots of tips and freebies (or items for very little money as magazines have regular beauty sales). I still treasure one of my best buys, a Versace pastel eyeshadow duo for just 50p (the packaging was missing, somebody didn't recognise the logo and put it in the cheap area with the shop own brands). I know I should technically throw it away as makeup doesn't last that long and I might potentially get an eye infection, but cannot bring myself to. 

But back to the Twitter party! Unsurprisingly, it emerged that mums don't have time to beautify themselves on a daily basis. Those who worked outside the home still made an effort but mums like me who work from home didn't feel the pressure to 'put their face on'. It's a renowned fact that homeworkers go for the bare minimum, sometimes even working in their PJs. This is especially true on those mornings when your child is winey and you just manage to get them dressed, fed and watered.

At the Max Factor Twitter party I started with these two beauty tips:

• If you haven't got time for makeup, use tinted moisturiser and a slash of lipstick or lip gloss so you don't look washed out!
•  Any nipple cream left? Use on lips or under the eyes if you have dry, cracked skin. Honest! 

Both were quite popular and the second one was considered very amusing. I had to tweet a reply to the various comments:

• I am not weird! Nipple cream soothes chapped lips, noses, nappy rash and itchy stretch marks. 

Twitter imposes limits on characters but here is a site that confirms how versatile nipple cream is. I think there are many other baby products that can be used by mums, watch this space for a blog on this subject!

As the party went on, it emerged that tinted moisturiser is a must-have as mums don't have much time for applying makeup. Besides, applying foundation is such as messy business and it is not that great on mature skin.

More tweets from me were:

• Anybody tried the ice cube trick to fix makeup? Yes, I admit I was a teenager in the 80s when you heaped makeup with a trowel
• A tan (natural or artificial) is the best makeup.
  
  

So what are the other unexpected items? Vaseline was definitely a hit with most mummy bloggers, no wonder the company extended its product range! If you are a mum you are a captive buyer. Another unexpected item (aside the nipple cream) was Sudocrem, yes, the one you use for nappy rash! Apparently it's very good for chapped lips too. And last, but not least mascara! This was very popular. So if you are targeting mums, the essentials are mascara, tinted moisturiser, Vaseline and lipstick...