In an age of social media, we always want to look our best. And a recent survey shows that giving birth is no exception…
The team at beauty discovery website www.Cosmetify.com surveyed more than 2,000 British women over the age of 18 for the study, all of whom have had at least one child in the past five years. Results showed that 79% of those aged 18-31 take their makeup bag into the hospital with them and 68% of British women put makeup on the same day as giving birth.
And not only are we getting beautified once we’ve given birth, but also just before. It was found that 64% of women aged between 18-31 will get some sort of beauty treatment done before going into labour, compared to just 37% of 32-45 year olds. Those most likely to get a treatment done were found to be from the North West (62%) and the South East (56%), with the most popular pre-labour beauty treatments found to be:
- Hair removal – 65%
- Manicure – 57%
- Pedicure – 43%
- Spray tan – 37%
- Blow dry, cut or styling – 32%
The average time between giving birth and applying makeup was found to be two hours and 30 minutes, with the quickest time revealed to be just 20 minutes.When relevant respondents were asked why they put makeup on after giving birth, whilst still in the hospital, the top reasons emerged as ‘I wanted to look decent in photos’ (31%), ‘to look presentable for visitors’ (26%) and ‘I didn’t want to look ill/drained/tired’ (22%). Just 35% of women said that they felt comfortable allowing a photo to be taken with them and their new-born without makeup on.
A further three quarters of women (75%) announced the arrival of their baby on social media the same day as giving birth, and 80% of those shared an image with the announcement. The average time taken to announce the arrival on social media was found to be 3 hours.
Sadly, more than half of those surveyed (56%) feel there is pressure on women to look good after giving birth, with ‘social media’ (24%), ‘parents’ (20%) and ‘friends’ (17%) the top areas where they felt the pressure came from.
Commenting on the findings of the study, Isa Lavahun, Digital Brand Manager at www.Cosmetify.com, said:
“In the age of social media it’s not that surprising that so many new mothers are sharing the good news on their social channels, often with a picture to boot – it’s a quick and easy way to get the news around without having to send a dozen messages. That being said, it’s sad to hear that so many new mothers feel the pressure to wear makeup to look presentable for photos and visitors; after what they’ve gone through they shouldn’t feel the need to rise to the pressure of looking good and being presentable.”
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