4 Bad Beauty Habits That Mums Should Forget About

Everyone knows that being a mum can put a damper on your looks, but are you making it worse with these bad habits? Read on to find out more.

When you become a parent, everything about your life changes. Your habits change, your schedule does a complete one-eighty, and the next thing you know, your beauty routine is different as well. If you're lucky, you'll be able to maintain your appearance with minimal effort. But if you're like the rest of the general population, becoming a parent can leave you with little to no time to take care of yourself, much less keep up with your pre-parenthood beauty routine.

While it may be impossible to squeeze beauty regimens into your already busy schedule, making certain changes to your lifestyle can mean all the difference. And by changes, we mean getting rid of these bad beauty habits that almost all mums are guilty of:

1. Neglecting your hair

As a parent, your days will end up exhausting more often than not. So exhausting, in fact, that you can barely get yourself in the shower, and so you don't. For many parents, this means going days without washing your hair, which always ends up in having a tangly, oily, dirty mess on top of your head. Sound familiar? Don't worry, you're not alone.

However, neglecting your hair can result in more than just an annoying mop on your head. It can also lead to the degradation of your hair's health, which, in turn, can cause all sorts of hair damage, such as excessive hair fall, brittle hair, and hair loss. And while most of these problems can be solved with hair loss replacement or a good round of deep conditioning, you may not be so lucky. Everyone's hair is different. If your hair is weak enough, to begin with, the rigors of pregnancy and succeeding parenthood can easily take a toll on it.

2. Using too much perfume

On some days, you're going to smell like baby throw-up or soiled diapers, and you won't have a chance to take a shower before you have to head out to the door. Some mums may remedy this problem by spraying on an excessive amount of perfume, but this is actually doing more harm than good.

First and foremost, most perfumes and colognes contain volatile organic compounds that can end up in both your and your baby's respiratory system. When this happens, the effects are usually bouts of sneezing at best, but some children can have severe reactions to perfume.

Hence, it's best to avoid this habit entirely for both of your sakes. If you must use something to cover up your smell, use a light cologne and spray a small amount only.

3. Putting your hair into tight hairstyles

When you're a parent, you have to protect your hair from grabby baby hands unless you want to lose a few strands. That, and you also have to keep the dirt on your hair from ending up on your baby's face and body. As a solution for this, most mums tie their hair up in hairstyles that are tight enough to stay put throughout the day.

There's nothing wrong with tying your hair up, but if your hairstyle puts excessive tension on your hair, you're most likely inadvertently damaging your locks. Hair can withstand high amounts of tension, but not for longer periods. With that in mind, choose loose hairstyles instead. Better yet, cut your hair into a more manageable length so that it's both easier to take care of and style without using excessive tension.

4. Overcompensating on skincare

For many mums, feeling guilty of self-neglect is a common problem, and that's because neglecting one's self is too easy when you're a busy parent. And so, during random bursts of energy, you may feel tempted to have a self-care session that involves doing every type of beauty regimen that you missed out on because of your parenting duties. But wait! Keep in mind that your skin can only take so much. And if you put it through multiple products and treatments at once, it may get back at you in the form of breakouts, at the very least.

Instead of overcompensating on skincare, establish a realistic skin care routine that you can do every day. You don't have to do much to take care of your skin, in fact, basic face washing, toning, and moisturizing will usually suffice, all of which you can do in under ten minutes.

Being a mum can already take a toll on your mind and body; don't make it worse by continuing to do these bad beauty habits. If you're guilty of one or more of these, it's high time to kick them to the curb and make way for a healthier beauty routine.