It’s Not “Good-Bye”, Just “See You Very Soon” …

Mon, 23 April 2012 11:07AM

Over the past two months, since I started what I can only call my dream job, I’ve nattered on at you about my various obsessions and paranoias and theories (in between much beauty talk, of course). And, as blogging tends to go, things have gotten quite personal; my partner and friends and parents have begun to weave their way into my posts. Nevertheless I have failed to mention one, uh, not-so-minor detail that is going on in my life right now: I’m pregnant.

Very pregnant, in fact. Actually, due this Saturday. Uh-huh. That’s a whole lot of puffy ankle action going on.

Oh if only I could carry off pregnancy like one Ms Nicole Richie:

Anyhoo, building a bridge …

What that all means is that this is my last Daily Gloss post until early July. I’m spending the next few days handing over the reins to a pair of very prettily manicured, very capable, and (to you, I know) very familiar hands – those of one Eliza Ashe.

Eliza will be taking over the Daily Gloss column for the next two months, as well as overseeing all the beauty goodness that goes into PRIMPED every day. Hayley, our beauty writer, will remain on Blush Hour alert, and our gorgeous, ultra-talented contingent of writers will continue to reporting from the beauty frontline: Yaz, ECB and Emily.

Oh also, stay tuned for some new guest bloggers to come on board, as well as the start of our PRIMPED Posse programme. And we’ll continue to blog about what all you other beauty bloggers are blogging (phew, that’s a whole lot of blogness going on).

And you might even hear from me, from time to time, from amidst the frenzy of breast-feeding, nappy-changing, muslin-wrapping and pram-pushing that is life with a newborn.

Now that I have broken the news about my pregnancy (better late than never, right?), it seems like a fitting time to share my top pregnancy beauty tips. Because chances are, maybe you are also up the duff, or maybe you soon will be, or maybe you have your fingers in your ears and are singing out “I can’t hear you” but then you’ll come back and bookmark my tips for a pregnant rainy day waaaayyy in the future…

Preggers Tip #1: Learn to love body oils. Drench yourself in them. Zone in on your belly, hips and boobs – the hotspots for stretch marks. Having said that, I hate to say it, Primpettes, you still might develop stetchies after all that time and effort. I did. I have a network of silvery white stripes all over my lower back. Hmph, they didn’t even have the decency to first go red or purple, to let me try to take some sort of preventative action; they went straight to silver, the point of no return. So I doubt even the highest-tech laser could deal with them. Still, I don’t regret all the hours I spent oiling up. It was nice, pampering me-time. And I have a hunch that by massaging oil into my thighs, my cellulite didn’t worsen as much as it could have. (Stretch marks, cellulite .. yes, ladies, pregnancy is no walk in the beauty park).

Preggers Tip #2: Wear huge sunnies, huger hats and loads of broad-spectrum sunscreen. Melasma – a type of facial pigmentation triggered largely by the hormones that pregnancy pumps through the body – is a bitch. (Again, I’m not really selling the joys of pregnancy, am I?)

Preggers Tip #3: Go a little Earth Mother. Just some of the skincare you can’t use during your up-the-duffness: hydroxy acids, vitamin A and benzoyl peroxide. That hugely limits your anti-ageing and anti-pimple skincare strategies. Me, I stripped my skincare right back. I used Cetaphil cleanser, removing it with a soft flannel or part-mixing it with a soft-bead exfoliant whenever my skin felt in need on a deep-cleanse. And I treated my face to the occasional hydrating or clay mask, as needed. And then I lavished on the rosehip oil. That was kinda it. Sure, I got the occasional spot and stressed over a line here and there, but mineral makeup covers all sorts of sins – including the rosacea that pregnancy seems to stir up (in me, at least). And anyway, remember it’s not a life sentence. You can hit the hydroxy acids and retinol as soon as bubba has made his or her grand entrance (my AHA and A serums were two of the first things I packed in my hospital bag!)

Preggers Tip #4: Wear maxis. When one tanning company told me they couldn’t say that tanning during pregnancy is safe, and it was best to ask my doctor for permission, I decided then and there not to risk it. On particularly pale and pasty days or nights, I covered myself in bronzing minerals (Youngblood Mineral Illuminating Body Tint, $52, Youngblood) but for the most part I just hid my legs under long dresses and skirts. Oh, and because it gets trickier to shave your legs well as your waist movement becomes more and more limited, maxis are a convenient way to hide the growing fuzz.

Preggers Tip #5: Enjoy it. Cankles and all. As I’ve said, pregnancy is only a temporary state of challenging beauty moments. And there’s still a lot you can do, beauty-wise, to make it fun. If your ever-expanding waistline makes you feel awkward, you can deflect attention by playing up your face and experimenting with new makeup looks (PS – once you have a baby, finding the time for such makeup fun is close to impossible, so it’s worth getting your fix now). Oh, and you can also play up that pregnancy glow. Mix illuminiser into your moisturiser, your sunscreen or your foundation (or, heck, all of the above) and just wait for the inevitable “oh, you’re glowing” compliments to come your way.

So, Primpettes, this is where I waddle off into the sunset … but I’ll be back before we know it. In the meantime, tell me:

Do you have any interest at all in seeing beauty advice related to pregnancy or mums every now and then? You can tell me no-way if you want to – I won’t be offended.

What have you liked about PRIMPED in the past couple of months? Anything you’ve hated? Again, brutal honesty is totally fine. I may cry for a minute but I’ll just put it down to the pregnancy hormones (pregnancy and the hormones and baby brain that come along with it are a great excuse for so much behaviour).

When I get back – sleep deprivation notwithstanding – I’ll be pretty gung-ho to throw myself back in PRIMPED land. So have a think about whether there’s anything you really want to see – or no longer want to see – on the site in the future, let me know, and I’ll add it to the to-do list. Along with ‘express milk’ and ‘keep those balls juggling’ and ‘try to keep sane’.

Kat xx

Posted by: Katrina Lawrence

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Tags: alpha hydroxy acids, beauty bloggers, beta hydroxy acids, cellulite, glow, illuminator, illuminiser, mineral makeup, nicole richie, oils, pigmentation, pregnancy, pregnant, Primped posse, retinol, rosacea, rosehip oil, stretch marks, tanning, vitamin a, youngblood mineral cosmetics