After I had my first daughter in 2013 I quickly discovered what “Mom style” was all about, and not that chic kind with cute flats and effortless outfits. The “I don’t have time to find matching or clean clothes” kind. I’ve always tried to be put together even though shopping is quite limited where I live, I am 5′ tall and plus size which limits my options even more, and I’ve never been able to really do my hair or makeup like I see in all of these “easy to follow” tutorials. However I do care about feeling pretty and so I would try but I would always feel like I am failing.

Fast forward to now. I am 20 weeks pregnant with daughter number two and really feeling the frump. The few pieces of clothing I had that I did actually like now don’t fit and as much as I want to emulate all of the adorable pregnant celebrities I just don’t have the money to spend on these pieces nor do I really look anything like any of them. I decided last week it’s time to quit whining and just get on with the transformation.

Step 1: Hair

I had let my hair grow really long because I just hadn’t taken the time to get my bangs trimmed and my hair cut. My bangs that I love so much grew out and I was just feeling flat and blah. I decided last Friday to revive the bangs and also chopped about 6 inches off the length. I do like it, it has a lot more bounce because it’s no so heavy and it has also helped with the crazy headaches I get. I could never wear my hair up because it was too heavy, now I can pile it on top of my head with little problem. The bangs allow me to have some style to my hair without really needing to do anything except applying some mousse and blow drying my bangs and the crown of my head. The rest dries in waves and it looks like I spent time and effort on it.

Step 2: Makeup

Step two was probably the most intimidating, makeup. I love makeup but I hate the feeling of caked on makeup and it never seems to stay in place for me. Lip color wears off in 10 minutes and I just don’t have the time or patience to reapply it every hour. I secretly envy all of the beautiful photos I see of celebrities and their perfectly contoured faces but again, I have no desire to ever wear that much makeup so I never really tried to pull it off. Over the weekend I stopped at Ulta Beauty and spent more money on makeup than I ever have. I decided if I was going to do this it would take a little bit of investing in quality products to achieve what I want.

I started with a contouring kit. Again, I am not a makeup artist and I don’t really have the skills yet to do much so a kit with instructions and a brush included seemed like a good place to start. I ended up with the PRO Contouring Kit by LORAC. I honestly didn’t know what to expect but after trying it out twice now it’s pretty idiot-proof. The colors are great and can be mixed for a variety of skin tones and the basic instructions guided me through the key parts of contouring. What I liked the most is how lightweight the powder is but how pigmented it is. You really don’t need much which works out well for someone like me who doesn’t want caked on makeup. I applied it over my basic drugstore brand foundation (foundation is something I will work on upgrading next) and it instantly made a difference.

My other big struggle is lip color. I cannot get enough of Taylor Swifts beautiful bold red lips but I honestly didn’t have the confidence or skills to apply it and keep it on (and off my teeth!) all day. I decided to look in the drugstore brand section again and came across PROVOCALIPS by Rimmel London and it promises long lasting coverage. I have to say I’ve been wearing “Kiss Me You Fool” and “Little Minx” for two days and it has stayed on ALL DAY. Even through eating and drinking. A small touch up didn’t hurt after quite a few hours but it has two tubes, one for color and one called “lock & shine” which really does just that. I am not sure I’ll ever be able to wear anything else because this is just too easy to put on and forget.

I would love to do a video at some point soon showing my process for those of you like myself who are not particularly skilled in makeup application but really want a fun new look. It’s been pretty easy the past few days and i hope to continue with it and improve it.

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