This week: Beauty tips for busy moms, brittle nails and hat head.

I just had a baby, and between feeding, clothing, and changing her a million times a day I can’t seem to get myself looking presentable. Help!
   
I know the feeling. Right after my first daughter was born, I felt like I had been pummeled by a steam roller. My body was exhausted, and my mind was fuzzy from lack of sleep. Not to mention the daunting task of caring for a newborn! None of my clothes fit, and I left the hospital in the same maternity outfit I arrived in. When I got home, I was determined to put on a brave face, even though some days it was impossible to get a shower. I found that I could quickly apply at least three things to help me feel more like "myself". Plus, it can be done in as little as one minute!

The key is having these three items handy in the medicine cabinet so you don't spend time digging for them: First, use concealer to disguise those dark under-eye circles from lack of sleep, and to cover up any broken capillaries from those numerous hours of pushing you endured to bring your new bundle of joy into the world. Second, swipe on some great mascara. It opens up the eyes and always makes you look more "together." Lastly, sweep on some rosy lip gloss, preferably one with a wand for easy application.

No one expects you to look perfect, but these three easy steps will make you look radiant and polished—ready to face the world and the mirror in just 60 seconds!

My nails are brittle and dry in the winter, and keep breaking, what can I do?
 
What?! You don’t get weekly manicures from a French lady named Monique? All right so that’s a fantasy many of us can’t afford! But wouldn’t that be nice? There are a few easy ways to take care of your nails at home during the winter. Nails dry out in the winter time because of intense hand washing to stay healthy and all the dry air that is around because of heaters. Sometimes nails will peel and split which is so annoying. There are a few simple things you can do to prevent this. Try to keep a bottle of hand and nail cream by your sink. Make sure it is specifically designed to help keep your nails healthy too. A layer of clear nail strengthener applied twice a week will help to protect nails, too. Don’t file your nails in a see-saw back and forth motion. This weakens the nail. File strait across in one direction to achieve the “squaoval shape” which is a square shape that is slightly rounded at the top. Try not to file along the sides and they won’t break down below the nail bed. And lastly try to do as little housework as possible. Cleaning products also weaken the nail shaft. How about hiring a maid and butler to do everything for you? Well, that is another major fantasy of mine to that is never going to happen! So get out the rubber gloves the next time you use any cleaning products.

I live in a very cold climate and my mother always made me wear a hat in the winter. I still keep up this request but how do I avoid the dreaded hat head?

I love hats! Before I had children I wore the cutest chicest winter hats, at least in my mind they were. My then fiancée who’s now my husband used to laugh at my big bushy furry Russian-looking black winter hat. It kept my head warm though, and used to flatten my hair. It also left an attractive little mark from the brim on my forehead. Tres chic. Now that I have children I do make sure they are properly bundled up, but I don’t have time to put a hat on my own head. Usually because I am chasing my one-year-old around the house trying to wrestle her into her own coat! So no hat or gloves anymore for me. Poor me. But that’s not the point. The point is your awful hat head hair. The best thing to do after you have a hat on and you take it off at your destination is to grab a dryer sheet and run it over your hair. This will help with static. Or keep a travel bottle of spray gel in your handbag if you have wavy hair. Use a couple spritzes of this and then rake your fingers through your hair. That will restore some of its body and oomph. Plus it will diffuse any of the kinks left over from that stylish hat you are wearing.