As I write this, I’m eating a medium size serve of chips from the local fish and chip shop. I had grand plans to have a healthy, nourishing homemade stew for lunch, but this is the reality of motherhood. #letsbefrank

My daughter is 9 months old today. And as I navigate the beautiful journey that is parenting, whilst juggling the workload that comes from running two businesses, I also found myself getting acquainted with a new version of my body. Let’s cut to the chase, here’s the weird and wonderful skin & body issues I faced and how I dealt with them.

NEW BODY WEIRD THING ONE: Breakouts

I’m 35 and for the most part, breakouts are were a thing of the past. When my cycle resumed, so did the cataclysmic skin eruptions that were ever so present in my high school days. I resisted the urge to burn them alive and instead opted for a gentle and very reliable regime that helped.

• Oil cleanse every evening to remove all traces of dirt, concealer etc.
• Mask with our Charcoal Face Mask twice a week to help rid impurities that cause breakouts 
• Drink a tonne of water to help keep my body hydrated and add anti-inflammatory foods to my diet like Tumeric, leafy vegetables, bone broth. (AKA; Not the chips I am eating at this very moment)
• Took a great quality postnatal vitamin. Emphasis on quality. 

NEW BODY WEIRD THING TWO: Hair loss

From more glossy, thick hair than I knew what to do with, to clumps coming out in my hand and a sheer coating of brunette strands on the bathroom floor. Yum. 

At about the 4 month mark my hair started falling out in spades, this is normal. During pregnancy hormonal shifts basically make your hair follicle dormant which means you retain almost all your hair instead of the usual amount of shedding we all experience. After birth these hormones shift again and the follicle resumes its normal cycle and you shed all this build up hair at once. No product will stop this, but you can look after the strands you have left behind with a nourishing hair mask that keeps them silky and smooth. The plus side is, if you’re like me you’ll get an extra-extra deep treatment because as a new mum you’ll put the mask in and find time to rinse it out three days later. 

NEW BODY WEIRD THING THREE: Chapped lips

And not just chapped, dryer than the Sahara. No amount of water seemed to help, I’ve resolved myself to the fact that unless they are permanently coated in our nourishing Lanolin based Lip Balm, they will be dry and splitting. I gently scrub them with our Lip Scrub, as needed. I also used this on my boobs and would wipe it off between feeds. 

NEW BODY, WEIRD BUT WONDERFUL THING FOUR: C-section scar

My daughter was born via C-Section due to placenta previa and I feel very grateful to live in a time where there was an option to keep us both alive. I love my scar, it reminds me of how my beautiful baby girl came to be earthside with me. But I also knew it was VERY important to look after it well to avoid adhesions, numbness and pain. I followed a very gentle rehab program for the first few months, drank more bone broth than you can imagine and did scar mobilisation massage every day once the top layer of my scar had healed. I did this using our Booty Drops oil. You can find a lot of info online about this or even better – talk to a Chinese Medicine Doctor or Women’s Health Physio.

NEW BODY, WEIRD THING FIVE: Fluid Retention

If you have a baby you will wake up in sweats for a period of several weeks after they are born. It’s as rubbish as it sounds. I knew that to speed this process up, helping my body process the excess fluid was important. Again, drinking 4-5 liters of water a day was key, especially because I was breastfeeding. I tried to scrub every few days to help boost my circulation and lymphatic system and clear out all the fluid build up.

If you’re looking to simply treat yourself as a new mum but don’t know where to start: may I suggest the Charcoal Face Mask I mentioned earlier. It helps keep your hormonal skin calm and clear, in a very gentle way, but also helps you take a little bit of time out for yourself which is so important. 

Jess x