to wonder how women can have kids under five and still manage to look good?

[fufflebum]

I feel frumpy today. Anyone else?

Have a four year old and a nearly one year old.

AIBU to wonder how other women seem to manage to put on makeup and buy good fitting clothes???

I manage a shower and hairwash every morning but makeup and new clothes an impossibility.....!!!

Any tips?

[getbusyliving]

Zombie thread but 'struggle' still persists

[getbusyliving]

I have 4dcs, 3 under 5 and the only way to look half decent is to have a routine and a very helpful husband

[TheVeryThing]

Why is a zombie thread listed under 'discussions of the day'?

[okitoki]

Okay, I'm gonna say it, don't be a hater. I always looked good when my kids were small and I still look good now lol.
When my babies were tiny I was ready for the world after an application of tinted moisteriser. My bronze blusher would be swept accross my cheecks and eyes with an applicaton of masscara to my lashes. Clean clothes everyday. Earings and a bracelet a must. My hair, my pi?ce de r?sistance, I wore a wig , every morning I'd arrive at nursery or school with fresh bouncy, shiny curls, not one soul knew my secret!

[Hay135]

Yep I long for the days when I use to have time to dry and style my hair. Now it Is thrown in a but (usually still half wet) an if I am lucky I spend 30secs applying face cream.
I wait too long between hair cuts etc as it's just hard work fitting it in and it's very really seen by anyone anyway .
Maybe someday I will miss the mad rush getting everyone ready but for now I crave the time to get ready by myself

[Timeisablindguide]

Catherine Zeta Jones's mother always said to her "Always dress well, you never know when you might meet the President"...
...I've not met the President, nor am likely to but I did run into a friend of my mother's a while back who is a lovely woman and always well dressed and groomed and I felt mortified to be with my two boys, in a top that had seen betetr days (not as black as it had been before relentless washing) and with hair that hadn't seen a stylist for longer than I could remember! From that day forth I revamped my wardrobe (nothing fancy but, as YearOfTheCat advises, I shunned my supermarket specials for something a little more enduring and took Gok Wan's advice to wear nowt but v-neck necklines as I'm a buxom lass) and now feel confident that I look respectable (of course since then I've not bumped into anyone who could then go off and report seeing me in my new yummy mummy phase). C'est la vie!

[Pogleswood]

Agree with everyone who says organisation is key - but still remember Mum telling me,when DD was newborn,to do a particular thing'as soon as I got up' and thinking 'But I've already got umpteen other things that need to be done 'as soon as I get up'! Do get showered and made up and smartly dressed for work,more smartly dressed for school run now I'm getting old and wrinkly and need the help,but often if I have half an hour spare there's things I'd rather do - read,talk to dcs or dh,garden,read,tidy,read...And if I bathed /showered twice a day everyday my skin(dry/eczema)would fall apart and even if fixable I would need to spend money on creams etc which...I would rather spend on other things. Ditto make up. So i am a bit messy - but def. don't smell. Oh well!

[SnowlightMcKenzie]

I tried ELF. It feels lovely when on, and where my skin is good it is fab, but I look like I have chickenpox with a healthy glow.

[hazeyjane]

snowlight, what sort of mineral make up did you try?
I have bad skin (acne, scarring, blotchiness, eczema patches etc), and have found quite a good qay of layering make up that seems to work, without being too heavy.
I found the Maybelline mineral make up pretty good, but not on it's own.

[SnowlightMcKenzie]

redybrek I did similar to you and bought some mineral foundation and concealer. However, I have to conclude that mineral make up is only any good if you don't need make up i.e. if you don't have red blotchy acne skin

However, I might go and apply fake tan, because although that makes my acne worse, if also disguises it.

[redybrek]

God, I've just read this entire thread and I don't know where I stand on it being pg due in April and a 12mo, but bizarrely,I have just gone and applied fake tan and plucked my eyebrows!

[chefswife]

oh my god yearofthecat. i can't believe that you cut and pasted comments from my posts. truly, wow!

[TheYearOfTheCat]

I've been thinking about this thread, and I think a good bit of advice is to avoid shopping for clothes at supermarkets, if your budget / time allows.

When I think of my wardrobe, the best things are those bits which I have paid more for. My favorite labels are Jaegar, Evelin Brandt, Gerry Weber, and Olsen. I also like Monsoon & Principles.

Although they are fairly pricey labels, the quality is fantastic, and I always try to buy these labels in the sales. I know it is a bit of a cliche, but you really do get what you pay for - I bought a Jaegar suit for work 5 years ago, and despite being worns lots, it still looks like new. The same with Evelin Brandt - I have quite a few pieces, which I have worn so often and still look fantastic. They also look much classier and more unusual than the normal supermarket stuff.

When I look in the drawer which is the home for all the sad clothes which never washed well / will never be worn again (before I take pity on them & bring them to the charity shop), it is all the supermarket clothes. I am convinced that I have probably spent more on these 'disposable' clothes than I have on good labels over the years.

I know it this is not in the price range of everyone, but I think it can be good advice.

[Monkeygi]

Pamelat you are a mere stripling compared to me!

[pamelat]

ah yes the daily ponytail habit, thats me I am 31.

[Monkeygi]

I bath every evening cos our shower's rubbish. I'm slutty and wash my hair in the bath and then, if I'm going to the gym or doing karate the following day, try to remember to shave pits and legs as it's difficult to do some exercises with your arms clamped to your sides. These days I also try to remember to put make-up on before I go out (ds2 enjoys himself by emptying my belt drawer) but I don't always get there. My worst habit is always putting my hair in a ponytail. I'm 40 fgs! Bad form. But then, it fusses me to have things floating around, especially hair. And scarves! I've tried those and all that happens is they come undone/get dipped in food/get yanked by ds2, throttling me in the process. I also recently had to give up wearing necklaces cos he actually broke my bestest beads . BUT I have bought2 skirts and a pair of good boots so am hoping am making headway......

[hazeyjane]

They are fantastic quotes, this is my favourite

'ps. i have a very demanding 2 month old and manage to keep myself and house clean on top of having sex a few times a week too.'

I might have to print it off and stick it to my fridge (although might not want dh to see it!)

[Leo9]

NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[TheYearOfTheCat]

Best thing is - they are all by one poster, who for confidentiality reasons, I shall decline to name.

[Leo9]

TheYearOfTheCat those quotes you have pulled out have absolutely made my day! am PMSL and ROFL. Is there a list of classic quotes? they should ALL be on it!

[TheYearOfTheCat]

By LeQueen on Tue 10-Feb-09 17:23:11 'Some women want to feel fresh and look groomed, so willingly sacrifice an extra half hour in bed in the morning. And, some women aren't bothered about their personal appearance, and prefer to sit and enjoy 2 extra cups of tea.'

LeQueen I don't think it is a simple matter of the extremes of your post above. I thought that many of the posters were giving their tips on how they manage to look groomed without having to necessarily get up earlier in the morning - I count myself as someone who, for the most part, is pretty well groomed - I need to be for the days I work, and it makes me feel better on the days that I don't work. However, I don't get out of bed earlier to do it, I just try to make better use of the time I have. I think there have been some fantastic tips on this thread, and I know that I will be using some of them from now on. (And I'm still hoping Joecool lives near me .)

However, life has got much easier for me as my DC have got a bit older (approaching 2 & 4), and I have started to recover from those zombie filled early months! But I still remember what it was like, and I wouldn't judge anyone who finds it difficult to make time for themselves.

My comment about competitive mothers was not in relation to those who are well groomed (as I said, I try to turn out pretty well myself ) - it was in relation to the competitive tone of some of the posts, for example:

'i had a home birth with no painkillers or anything, gave birth at 2.30 am and when the midwife came back to see us the next afternoon, my house was clean, i was showered and groomed and wearing clothes and mumsnetting while breast feeding DD.'

'the rest of you out there can stop with excuses... pull your heads out of your asses and get organized. and who in their right mind makes lunches in the morning.'

'ps. i have a very demanding 2 month old and manage to keep myself and house clean on top of having sex a few times a week too.'

'i still stand by my belief that for the most part, laziness, lack of time management and disorganization is the real reason most mothers develop self-proclaimed martyrdom and start whining about not finding 20 minutes for grooming and condemning those of us who do.'

'i wouldn't attempt doing my nails when the toddlers were up... that's bad time management.'

'i was only making a point that even after birth, i still took a shower and did my dishes when DD was asleep because i was fully capable of doing so (i know not everyone can) and i wasn't about to sit around moaning about having just given birth and not being able to do it. likewise with my everyday. i'm not going to sit around and moan that because i have kids, i no longer have time for myself because that is a crock of shit.'

'i wasn't one to whine about. just got on with it.'



Chefswife: If you are going to try to be facetious, it would probably be better if you could differentiate between the use of capitals and uppercase. Capital letters are defined as being the large leading letters used to begin sentences and names etc. Uppercase refers to the exclusive use of capital letters in type, and derives from the cases (which were kept on the upper level) which print setters used to keep their capital letters in.

[Bumperslucious]

See pamelat, I see 'bath every night, shower every morning' and think 'that's an extra 15 minutes I could have in bed' , and that's why no-one is writing writing the OP about me

[pamelat]

DD is 12 months.

I need 20 minutes to shower (I wash my hair the night before, bath every night) and to eat breakfast and stick mascara on and brush my hair.

I look ok ish, sometimes?!

[chefswife]

and i was being facetious in my use of capitals.