Blogstar entry: parenting attractively

We all know (or find out pretty quickly) that once you’re a parent, your time gets crunched and it’s hard to maintain a beauty routine of any kind. So how do you keep feeling attractive? Three important things will make a difference: finding the things that really matter to make you feel good; finding the things that give you the greatest effect for your time; and finding products that work best for you.

The first thing is to work out what’s important to keep you feeling good. This will be different for everyone.  One thing that makes a huge difference to me is keeping my toenails painted nicely.  It’s a little thing, but it makes me feel more put together no matter what has or hasn’t happened to my face and hair.  A good pedicure will last a couple of weeks – or even longer if you’re lucky.  It doesn’t take a lot of time, I can do it myself in ten minutes if needs be – but it can make me feel more attractive for weeks.  Find something like this that makes a difference to you, and make sure you find the time to do it.  You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes on days when you feel – and maybe look – like something the dog’s dragged in.  

It’s best if it’s something you can do once and then have a payoff for a few days or weeks, but if it’s something you need to find two minutes for every morning – find that two minutes.  Just remember, you won’t be able to do everything every day, so make sure you know what makes the critical difference to you.  Focus on that when time is tight.

The next thing is finding the things that give you the greatest effect for your time.  You’ve got twenty minutes?  Putting a semi-permanent color through your hair will give you a lift for up to six weeks, for example. Again, it’s what works best for you. You might want to use a face mask. The critical thing is prioritising, and doing something that keeps on giving. Spending twenty minutes doing your hair lasts a day, so maybe it’s not the best use of your time – unless you know “special” photos will be taken that day.

And finally, find the products that work best for you. Again, this is because they’ll repay you in this way: a smaller effort will have greater and longer lasting results if you’re using the right products. Use beauty blogs, get advice from friends, try samples – and when you find something that works, stick to it until you find something definitively better.

These three tips will help you look and feel better when time is tight.

Please note: There has been no editing to this blog entry as it is part of beautyheaven’s BlogStar competition 2011. Subject, tone, grammar and style should all come into play when you are casting your vote.

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