If you're one of those mums with a small baby and you do your hair and full make up every day

[memoo]

Can you please tell me how you manage it because at the moment I am feeling like a real slummy mummy rather than the yummy mummy I want to be!

Sometimes I turn up at DC's school to pick them up and I'm embarressed by the way I look after a long day with a 4 month old!

Cheers Cat, me too.

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and a bigger that I tried it.

I have 3 dcs, aged 3y5m, 2y1m and 3 months. I'm not a big makeup wearer - have never worn foundation, even pre-dcs - but don't tend to leave the house without a few dabs of balm (Neals Yard Wild Rose) which gives my skin a good sheen (which I like!! I know lots of people blot furiously to get rid, but different strokes eh) and eyeliner. Have recently started using a few dots of Benefit Moonbeam and Rush Hour on cheeks. Tinted lip balm can be applied in the car at the traffic lights. Youngest dc lies on a boomerang pillow in the hallway outside bathroom door while I shower and preen, the other two roam about and demand "me too mama" (answer - no)

Long hair which gets bundled into a ponytail or knot, long fringe which I sometimes drag the straighteners through, sometimes not. It makes it hang into my eyes more, thus further reducing need for makeup!!

Big sunglasses are my best friend in summer, slouchy wooly hats in winter...

Oh god yes - sunglasses are a must. I wear them pretty much every day - snow glare you know .

I had one of these. Plays for 15 minutes and meant I had time to have a shower, get dressed and do my make up .

I am reading this with interest..next baby due in march..last time around i wore heels(gina)to 8 and a half months in pregnancy and made a huge effort post birth because i wanted to prove i could still do glamour..3 years on i have glitter and glue in my hair,hardly ever wear heels and consider myself dressed up if i wear boots rather than trainers..things change and you find compromises that suit your new lifestyle..it becomes really hard work if you lay too many expectations on yourself..everyone wants to be the 'perfect mum' but honestly something has to give,there just aren't enough hours in the day..i wish i had sat at home in front of the tv with DC just cuddling instead of feeling i had to cart us around to endless playgroups/clubs that probably completely overstimulated her(though they are good for you to meet people)just Enjoy your baby and try not to worry about the rest too much.

I'm generally a slummy mummy but I do like to put on a bit of mascara and under-eye concealer. Takes 1 minute.

I use a waterproof one and the eye-make up remover pads so there's no faffing at bedtime.

mollieo We have a fisher price mobile that plays for 10 mins (although mine are too old for it now) and allowed me to shower in peace. Worth its weight in gold IMO.

Aim low is the key!
I find the only way to do it is to shower/wash hair (no shaving legs or anything, i do that at night) while DD1(3.11) has a wee in the morning and DD2(2.3) plays with taps.
I get dressed and downstairs with DD@s in PJ's, have breakfast and get them dressed after they have finished flicking food everywhere.
Then after they are dressed they get to watch 10 mins telly before school run while I put on makeup/brush hair.
ALl my makeup is kept downstairs, and I put it on at the table in the front room, just foundation, one colour eyeshadow, mascara and lippy.
However, makeup doesn't mean that much to me, so if I haven't managed it, I don't really mind!

I went to hospital the other day and the woman doing my scan said she always feels really grubby when mums come in fully made up and with jewellery and everything on as she never has time, until I pointed out that DH had taken the day off so I could come to hospital, and I had had a whole hour to get ready!

Got 2 DS' (2 and 5) and DD1 on the way....have had the same routine for YEARS. Up at 6:45/7:00 to do kids breakfast and my own, unload dishwasher, reload (and when DS1 was little, used to breastfeed in this time slot or do the whole spoon feeding thing). Upstairs again for 7:45 to dress kids and clean their teeth....then put kids in front of cbeebies in my room (or when DS1 little, in cot under mobile.....baby einstein mobile was fab as it goes for 15 mins!!!!, or in cot to play with toys - cot was in my room) while I take quick shower and wash hair (no more than 5 mins). Need to leave door open to keep eye on kids!!! Then back into bedroom to get dressed, blow dry hair and put on make-up (takes around 10 mins - the joys of having thin hair!). Then everyone downstairs and in the car to go to nursery/school by 8:15. I used to pack DS1s school bag the packed lunch the night before, but now if I eat breakfast on the go (i.e. standing up) I can do all this at the same time in the morning. I am both lazy and vain, so this "leave till last minute but still manage to get make-up done" approach works well for me - I don't factor any time in for choosing an outfit as I try to clear out my clothes every season and only have a set number of tried and tested combinations to choose from so its a no-brainer each morning to just pick the next one and put it on. Feel a bit guilty for letting kids watch tv in the morning, but as it's only for 20 mins max, it should be ok (and having tried it with the tv off, its much safer, as DS1 and DS2 find other things to do like jump on bed and maim each other.) Before I had 2, i used to think that it would be impossible to get out of the house still looking stylish, but its just a case of practice - heavens knows what will happen when DD1 comes along, but no doubt I will work something out!!!!

I do it all in the car!

DD (11 months) ALWAYS nods off in the car, and I keep my make-up bag in the nappy bag so I have it with me. At traffic lights/whenever I pull up at my destination I put on mascara, undereye concealer and blusher as a minimum. Sometimes a sweep of eyeshadow and lip gloss. It takes 30 seconds, maximum.

I've got long straight hair that I wash and roughly blow-dry every two days, in the evening usually, or while DH watches dd in the morning. I recently got a thick fringe cut, to give me a bit of style, and that takes a 10 second blast of the hairdryer to straighten in the morning. Then ponytail makes me feel perkier than I really am.

Like someone said, doing this every day (basic make-up & fringe straighten - total 1 minute) is the same to me as brushing my teeth, and makes me feel a million times better about myself. I'm really just a sleep-deprived barely-coping zombie underneath it all though. HTH

My 6m DD plays with toys in her bouncy chair or kicks around on a mat while watching me have a quick shower (usually 2 in 1 shampoo & conditioner, no exfoliating etc, use the razors with gel on them, so no need for shaving mousse etc). Then I either put her in cot or in chair while she watches me quickly dry hair (used to straighten as well, hardly ever now!)

I know I don't have to blow-dry hair, but it looks terrible if I don't and would seriously depress me otherwise, I've always done it, it makes me feel like 'me', iykwim. Make-up takes about 2 minutes, but don't bother if I know I won't be going out that day.

Well my DC are older now but from the moment I became pregnant I vowed I wouldn't let myself 'go' to the extent of being waxed, facials etc before going into birth.

I did it by having a mobile beautican coming round - cheaper than going to a salon and she waxed my eyebrows, legs, bits and underarms and my tinted eyelashes and did a facial manicure and pedicure. I arranged this for when the baby would be having his morning nap.Of course she couldn't do all this in one visit so she came over twice a month. (Still does in fact)

Doing my hair, and make up is just part of my normal grooming routine, done after I got out of the shower.

I made sure that when I went through the door I always had nice clothes on. I refused to go down the trakie bottom route. Only put them on when Dh and kid snuggle up in the evening!

Sure a bit of effort but not doing it was not worth thinking about it!

I am one of these ladies I am afraid ....

I shower while DC's are still asleep. youngest DC (7 months) wakes around 7am for brekky but goes back down for an hour so thats when I shower. then I get older one up for school, dish his brekky out then do make up while he is eating it!

I only do bare minimum make up, touche eclat under the eyes and around the nose and mouth then a bit of powder on top. I use that loreal eyelash serum on my lashes - its colourless but gives them definition and is meant to hep them get thicker and longer.

but try and always look groomed. i hope i do anyway!!!