I think we have all experienced a beauty emergency at one time or another. It could be a bad haircut, overdue manicure or pedicure or even false eyelashes falling off in the middle of a party.
I think moms are more prone to beauty horror stories because we are so busy taking care of everyone else that we either rush or don’t have enough time to fix our mistakes. I spoke to real moms and bloggers about their worst beauty horror story and how they fixed it.
I have to admit for myself, as a mom and beauty expert, I have experienced numerous beauty horror stories. Sometimes I realize I need to take my own advice! My latest story just happened last month. It was time to visit the dermatologist for some Botox around my eyes. However, the previous month I had increased the amount of fish oil and flax oil supplements as a health boost.
I forgot to stop taking them for one to two weeks prior to getting wrinkle treatments (they increase your chance of bleeding and bruising). As you can guess, I bruised for the first time… and badly. It looked like I was in a fight! It was very hard to explain to my children why mommy all of a sudden had bruises around her eyes.
I solved it by applying VitaMedica’s Recovery Cream, (VitaMedica.com, $22), which contains Arnica Montana, to the area. I tried lots of concealers too and the one that worked wonders was L’Oreal’s Crayon Concealer (Target, $8). It is lightweight but has amazing coverage. The crayon also allowed me to target the small areas and I could take it with me everywhere!
Here are more beauty horror stories:
Molly Skyar, mom of two and parenting blogger
I had my first baby when I was 35 and I had already started dyeing my hair to cover the grays. I really didn’t feel comfortable coloring my hair during my pregnancy, so I would cut out every gray hair. Imagine the endeavor because about 30 percent of my hair was already going gray! It was a weekly event that I recruited my husband or other family members to help me with.
After I had the baby, my hair was a nightmare and it took a long time for all those little short hairs to grow out. Yikes! During my second pregnancy, I got smarter and discovered a few different types of hair color wands that let you paint on temporary color over the grays (TouchBack or ColorMark). It was so much easier than cutting each hair out and it covered them for as long as I could go without washing my hair. No one ever had an idea that I had those grays and it was something I could do quickly in the morning… a lot less hassle and it solved the problem!
Romy Schorr, mom of one and blogger
Because I live in SoCal and the weather is usually moderate, I wear sparkly flip flops a lot and my feet get really dry and cracked — it’s kind of embarrassing. My secret weapon is wiping my feet with Stridex pads almost every night, slathering my feet with a rich yummy cream, putting on snuggly socks and then I wake up in the morning with soft, smooth feet.
Lisa Haisha, mom of one and inspirational speaker
I was always bloated. I solved it by cutting out white flour, sugar and coffee.
Jennifer Brandt, mommy and blogger
I have been getting my upper lip waxed for a gazillion years, and luckily, never had any issues. I could literally walk out of the salon afterwards and you could barely tell. But recently, and I have no idea why, I got totally red and inflamed — like a welt. I panicked as I had a meeting right after. I went to the store, got a cold Diet Coke and applied it to my upper lip. After a few minutes, the swelling went down but it took all day to look “normal.” I assumed the person I was meeting would just think I had Botox, but oh well!
Tip
Learn how to prep your face before waxing.
Shelby Barry, mom of two
I developed brown spots on my face late in my pregnancy. They came very late but didn’t go away after I had the baby. After I had my baby, I had weight to lose and big brown spots on my face and wasn’t looking so good. I went in for a couple of IPL treatments and they zapped right off. It worked wonders!
Charli Eaton, mom of one
I found out when I wore a liquid foundation it made me look very made up, too much. I learned a little goes a long way. So now using a powder foundation helps with coverage and controlling how much is applied. It’s all about looking naturally beautiful.
More ways to survive a beauty horror
A smart idea for any mom (and women in general!) is to keep tools and products on hand to help correct beauty emergencies. Your kit should include cotton swabs (to fix smudged makeup), makeup and nail polish remover pads (easy and convenient), heavy duty concealer, hydrocortisone (helps with itching or rashes) and self-tanner remover, such as St. Tropez’s Self-Tanner Remover (Sephora.com, $25).
If you get skin peels or microdermabrasion on a regular basis, a thick cream such as Aquaphor (Target, $5) helps soothe redness or peeling skin. It is also great for dry hands and feet. I always like to keep small ice packs in the freezer that can help reduce puffy eyes or an inflamed face!
Bad hair days or haircuts can be concealed with a cute hat. Finally, if you dyed your hair and the color is way off or pool chlorine has turned your hair green, keep a clarifying shampoo on hand , such as Paul Mitchell’s Clarifying Shampoo Three (Amazon.com, $16), to help fade the color.
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