I have been thinking about the items that have made my life easier since Luke graced us with his presence almost three months ago and came up with the following list. I have a lot of friends and family that are also in this baby boom with me and I figured I could share what I consider are must-haves for new mommies! I am by no means an expert and would love to hear what other people consider must-haves. 🙂
Beauty:
BeautyBlender: I have used other types of makeup sponges in the past, but there is something about the BeautyBlender that sets it apart! Oh my goodness. I feel like it just makes your foundation go on so smoothly and helps cover everything and then also helps blend in concealer. I have been using the Philosophy Hope in a Jar foundation lately and I just put a pump of that on the back of my hand, take the beauty blender and run it under cold water and squeeze it out into a towel and then dab it into the foundation then “stipple” it onto my face. It is fast and simple and I can get good coverage in a very short amount of time!
Makeup Remover Wipes: I love these wipes because they take off all of my makeup (except for some stubborn mascara) and it is quick when you are dead tired…which is basically all the time when you have a newborn! I have these in my travel bag as well.
Concealer: From the lack of sleep, dark circles under your eyes are a constant battle. I have found a few concealers that seem to hide that darkness and help you look bright and awake. Maybelline Fit Me Concealer is affordable and I feel like it has a great formula for coverage and blending and not looking cakey. I dot it on underneath my eyes and use the beauty blender to blend — it also helps pick up any excess product — then I pat a little powder on to help set the concealer in place. I have also heard many great things about the Naked Skin Weightless Complete Coverage Concealer by Urban Decay that I have been wanting to try for a while.
Highlighter: So I have been following YouTube make up guru Jaclyn Hill ever since she first started and she recently did a collaboration with Becca Cosmetics for a highlighter called Champagne Pop. I purchased it the day it came out and I have been using it constantly. It is gorgeous and just adds a little shimmer to give you a glowy look. I just lightly dust it along the tops of my cheek bones but I have seen others put it on the bridge of their nose and collarbone.
Baby Stuff:
Auto Rocker: This rocker is what Luke sleeps in every night and it is AMAZING. It plugs into the wall so you don’t have to worry about batteries and it has an option to run for 6 hours before shutting off. I heard about this from another mom at Babies R Us when I was registering for stuff and and she said it is a life saver…I totally agree!
Swaddlers: One of my momma friends told me about these SwaddleMe Swaddles by Summer Infant and they quickly became a necessity for us. We noticed Luke slept longer when he was swaddled for about the first 6 weeks after we brought him home. It has little velcro tabs which are great to keep him wrapped up and when you’re half asleep trying to get him in there it helps a lot! The one downside: the velcro is loud and can sometimes startle a sleepy baby if you need to change them!
Baby Wrap: Luke loves to be held and I have found this Boba Wrap gives you the ability to simulate baby being held close to you and you also have free hands to get some things done around the house. There are plenty other brands out there that are basically a strip of stretchy fabric that you wrap around your body and stick your little one in there. It takes a little practice but YouTube tutorials helped me get the hang of wrapping it!
Feed Baby App: This app is awesome. It allows you to set alarms to keep you on top of feedings, changings, pumpings, etc. There are other categories that we don’t really use like sleeping, baths, and medicines but they are available if you want them! We paid for the premium app so it would sync between mine and David’s phones to keep us up to date at all times. SO worth it.
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