Words by Nicole Pearl, The Beauty Girl
Parenting and adulting is hard enough. Of course, you want to look good doing it but that shouldn’t require a Herculean effort. In fact, my philosophy is “Beauty Shouldn’t Be A Bitch.” As a beauty editor and on-air expert who plays with every booster, essence and serum out there and tests the top trends, I sniff out the gimmicks from the gifts and present the picks that will truly elevate your everyday. These 5 tips will save you this season:
HAIR
99% of moms are throwing their hair into a bun for obvious reasons. However, once you try the Beachwaver curling iron, you may have a change of heart. The iron’s barrel rotates so it literally does the work for you, creating pretty waves that feel more special than your typical style. Get an extra 10% off beachwaver.com with code BeautyGirlWave.
PM HACK
Do you ever wish you could just snap your fingers and be ready for bed? We’re so exhausted at the end of the day that my patience for a beauty regimen is short. Even if I’m too tired to put on my lash serum, the one no-no, no matter what, is going to bed with makeup. The Face Halo is a plush pad that only requires water. It easily melts off makeup, including liner and mascara, and won’t tug on delicate skin. I also appreciate that it’s reusable and replaces up to 500 single-use wipes.
NAILS
Nothing can replace the hand massage, which is never long enough, that you get at the salon, but these nail stickers from ManiMe will leave your nails looking polished to perfection. Two things set them apart: 1. The stickers are custom sized to your nail shape. This makes application simple and fast because you don’t have to spend time filing and fitting the stickers to your nails. 2. The stickers come in solid colors as well as limited-edition nail art designs from some of the top nail artists on Instagram. They’ll definitely up your cool factor in the carpool line.
INSIDE OUT
Did you raid the frozen fruit and vegetable aisles when Covid hit? If smoothies have become a part of your breakfast rotation, level up their nutritional value in one step with a BlenderBomb. Each “bomb” contains a mix of chia seeds, almonds, hemp seeds, flax seeds, walnuts, pecans, dates, bee pollen, local honey, cinnamon, and vanilla bean. Here’s my go-to recipe for a delicious beauty drink the whole family enjoys: Almond milk, frozen spinach, frozen fruit (mango, blueberries, strawberries), splash of water and 1 BlenderBomb.
NO MAKEUP MAKEUP
Makeup is minimal these days, especially if you want to avoid “maskne”. Keep the focus on lashes, not lips. The best way to do this is with a dab of undereye concealer. Use a peachy color to hide dark circles. Next shimmy on mascara to lift lashes (aim for two coats) and finish with a tinted brow gel to frame your face.
Optimize Your Space
Feeling cramped at your bathroom counter? Just break out The Matte — a foldable and expandable mat that fits on top of your sink and literally turns it into your makeup table. It has divots to keep your cosmetics in place and folds up in a cinch so it can be stored away when you’re done. Here is the link to my favorite organizers.
Thank you to Chicago North Shore Moms beauty contributor, Nicole Pearl, The Beauty Girl! The Highland Park native, now city mom has three kids ages 9, 7 and 3. Nicole has written for national publications including Allure, Cosmo, Marie Claire, Self, In Style, Seventeen, and more. She appears as a beauty and style expert on TV for shows like TODAY, Windy City LIVE, and more. Learn more about Nicole here.