Surrey Homes | SH29 | March 2017 | Fashion supplement inside

Beauty
beauty
Post-pregnancy
Josephine Fairley explains how to care for your post-baby body...
I
always think there are two kinds of new mother.
The ones who were looking at the giant Mack truck
heading towards them at great speed – and the ones
who are simply looking the other way when it hits them.
In reality, almost every new mother is somewhat blindsided
by the arrival of that little darling nestling in his or
her crib. The love is overwhelming. But even if your best
friend warned you about the stitches, the tiredness, the
soreness and the challenges of doing literally everything
with one hand, chances are she didn’t get around to talking
about some of the beauty challenges which are so common,
post-pregnancy. That’s where I come in, this month.
What to do about thinning hair. A hair ‘fall’ is entirely
normal after pregnancy. What’s actually
happened is that during pregnancy, your
hormones prolong the growth
phase of hair – so less hair falls
out than normal. After birth,
the hair that was supposed
to fall out but didn’t tends
to shed all at once, because
oestrogen levels plummet.
You will almost certainly have chunks
of it falling out in the shower but
the worst thing you can do is panic,
because hair doesn’t like stress one jot.
Nightly massage can help deliver
nutrients to hair follicles; spend five
minutes really moving the scalp over
the head (which you’ll also find
fabulously de-stressing, as we carry
a surprising amount of stress in the
scalp). Ideally, ensure your diet
features lots of greens, seeds, nuts
and oily fish – but highly respected
Victoria Health pharmacist Shabir
Daya recommends that you
might also want to supplement
“While sleep’s
a must, so is
exercise: get up,
get out there,
move your body”
with a product called Superior Hair, (£26.50 for
90 capsules), featuring well-researched nutrients
including zinc, biotin and MSM to support hair
strength, boost follicle health and encourage
healthy growth. Actually, victoriahealth.com is
something of a go-to for thinning hair; the
Phylia de M is fantastic for scalp health and
for skimpy hair. That range is made up of
Clean (shampoo/£30 for 265ml), Condition
(conditioner/£32 for 265ml). Connect (a
rejuvenating spray/£47 for 120ml) and
award-winning Re-Connect Spray, £60
for 120ml. I know, I know: an arm and a
leg. But since you’re probably
not getting to the hairdresser
much, divert your funds to these – which are
absolute bestsellers at ‘VH’ (as beauty editors
know it), with an incredible following.
How to smooth away your stretchmarks?
Stretchmarks are a bit of a lottery. Everyone
thinks they’re to do with skin that has literally
been stretched like a Space Hopper, but in
reality, it is largely your hormones which dictate whether or
not you develop stretchmarks. Angry, red marks will definitely
fade over time – but the silvery lines left behind really can
be helped. I was terribly cynical about this fact – but after
sending lots of products out to testers for our Beauty Bible
books, my co-author Sarah Stacey and I became convinced
there are products that really work; those that did well in
the trials – not just on ‘fresh’ stretchmarks, but those which
had been around for some time – included Aromatherapy
Associates Renew Rose Massage & Body Oil, £42 for 100ml,
good old Bio-Oil, £8.99 for 60ml, and Clarins Stretch Mark
Control, £38 for 200ml. As with anything, though, products
only work if you use them; you need somehow to carve
out time for regular application of your chosen product,
smoothing it at least once a day into the affected zone.
Be sure to nourish your nipples. (Sorry, don’t mean
97 wealdentimes.co.uk