My guide to looking and feeling good (well, human) with a baby

It's always interesting to see where traffic to my blog comes from, and one traffic source recently made me a little sad. My rms Beauty 5 minute face video was linked on a parenting forum, in response to a mother who had posted that she was feeling ugly after the birth of her child. I thought I might write a post on how I got through the fugue state of the first couple of years of Miss L's life while managing to look, if not exactly stunning, at least halfway decent/alive.

The recommendation of rms Beauty products is a very good one. I breastfed Miss L for a loooong time, because she threw up like the child in the Exorcist every time we tried her with formula. As a result, every last drop of oil was sucked out of my body and my skin was drier than desiccated roadkill, and I'd have loved rms Beauty then. Cream products are generally easier to slap on quickly than powder products, and the rms Beauty creams are very easy to work with, as well as feeling nourishing on the skin. They don't look overly made-up either, which is fantastic if you don't want to look too done.

Not having rms Beauty at the time, I relied on Becca and Bobbi Brown products. I swore by the Bobbi Brown eye concealer and powder kit, and I loved both Becca and Bobbi Brown cream blushes. The Becca Eye Tints would be a good choice for anyone with oilier lids as they wear very well indeed.

If you need or want to feel a little more glamorous, then I found (and still find) a good lipstick is the quickest way to achieve that. I am liking the Rouge Terrybly reds I bought before Christmas a lot, and By Terry has just released some very pretty bright pinks in this range. I also love and recommend Tom Ford Lipcolors (and I do recognise both of these recommendations are horribly expensive). I haven't tried them myself, but I know the Revlon Colorburst lipsticks get good reviews on blogs that I trust; one here by Cosmetic Candy, and here by Lipglossiping. If you're using lipstick a good lip balm is a must. I absolutely swear by Lanolips 101 ointment, which is 100% pure medical grade lanolin.

For skincare, I'd particularly recommend Apivita skincare products - available from www.apivita.com, as much for what they don't put in the products as for what they do (no mineral oil, parabens etc). The 3-in-1 Cleansing Milk removes make-up and cleanses the face quickly and gently, and I liked the First Line spf 15 day cream very much. Melvita also has effective and gentle organic products at reasonable prices.

For body care, it has to be Haus of Gloi. I'd recommend the Aether unscented line, particularly if you are breastfeeding or sensitive to scent.

I wouldn't recommend cutting your hair short (I know, I didn't follow that advice myself) - it's actually easier to deal with longer hair as you can throw it into a ponytail or knot to keep it out of the way. I found I had to wash my hair more often when it was short too.

Not strictly beauty related, but I found I looked a lot fresher when I wore lighter, brighter colours near my face rather than my habitual black. Also, babies tend to throw up on your shoulder a lot, and it's less obvious on paler, patterned fabric than it is on black or navy. Uniqlo has lots of good t-shirts and tops at reasonable prices, and I swear by their knit leggings trousers (okay, they're jeggings). They're as comfortable as leggings, but they have proper pockets and a zip and button fastening, so they're more aesthetically pleasing (to me, at least). Also, BritishBeautyBlogger swears by them, which is good enough for me.