Some women treat their body like a temple.
By comparison, since my teens I have tended to treat mine more like a shopping centre with too many
cafes and restaurants.
However, even those of us unused to regular buffing, exfoliating and grooming feel more in tune with our bodies during
pregnancy.
Making your body feel special
It's largely to do with the amazing way in which most of us immediately click into a new outlook when we find out we're pregnant. I would never have
imagined I could so easily give up a glass of good wine as I did when I got pregnant! But also, from the early weeks when eating and sleeping well
are our priorities, to the later months when we need to start practising our active birth poses and our growing bumps are being examined by complete
strangers in hospitals, we become much more conscious about our bodies.
Additionally, most of us feel less inclinded towards wild nights out, late sessions at the office, or weekends spent doing extreme sports. Instead, it's
great to enjoy the moments of calm before the 'storm' of new parenthood.
Finding safe lotions and potions
Burning candles, doing some undemanding yoga exercises in front of some good telly, and long luxurious baths are great, easy treats. BUT - oh
cruelty of cruelties - we're not allowed to have hot baths, saunas or even many of the bath oils we would usually enjoy.
Happily, more companies are using safe, natural products now, and few can beat the quality, luxuriousness and the results you get with Elemis. If
you're lucky enough to get along to a funky spa, you'll probably already know all about them, as their range of oils, foams and lotions are popular
with many experts in massage and therapies.
Elemis treats for hands, body and feet...
All Elemis products for skincare and anti-ageing are safe to use during pregnancy, which is great if you've got tired of reading the small print on
bottles in the chemist. This is also good to know when you're breastfeeding - another period when your bathtime regime becomes a precious, small
'me-time' luxury. They're not the cheapest range around, but their ingredients are wonderful and well-balanced to treat the hormonal changes women
go through at various times in their life. Plus they cost less than those girls' nights out you used to enjoy!
Our favourites here at ThinkBaby HQ include the Skin Nourishing Milk Bath (400ml bottle, £38) which is great when your skin dries out, or feels
itchy from the stretching it's having to do. Added to a bath, it leaves you feeling supple and smooth, and the delicate scent is wonderfully relaxing. On
the Elemis website (www.timetospa.co.uk), Kim
Fenn offers some yummy mummy tips, including a chic home manicure mixing the milk bath and the Exotic Fangipani Monoi Moisture Melt (100ml,
£29).
Used on its own, the Moisture Melt is a wonderfully rich but light oil that you can rub into those dry, unloved bits like ankles, elbows and knees. It
can also be used as a hair and scalp conditioner or a massage oil for feet and hands.
If, after years of peachy skin, you feel you're less 'blooming' and more 'blotchy teenager' in appareance, then the SOS Emergency Cream (50ml,
£45), is a must. Ingredients include willow, lavender and myrrh and the results help soothe irrtated, stressed or 'hormonal' skin. To keep the skin soft
during pregnancy, when it can dry out or get irritable from your growing bump, try the Japanese Camellia Oil (100ml bottle, £24) which is good for
seeing off stretch marks and safe as a massage oil for those nights when you demand a mum-in-waiting massage from hubbie. If he grumps about
doing all the massaging, you could treat him back - but I always found a quick reminder about the 'impending pain of childbirth' was enough to guilt
trip Andy into action!
For more about Elemis, visit the www.timetospa.co.uk website.
Don't forget to check out our Elemis competition here at ThinkBaby - you could win a £250 Pregnancy Pampering Set filled with Elemis goodies!
