Meet Jen Lovelady!

You may remember that back in early November I had the amazing opportunity to attend Ali Brown's Shine event. One of my favorite things about that event is the incredible women I got to meet from all over the country. One of these women is the lovely Jen Lovelady. I was lucky enough to have Jen as my roommate. She is truly inspiring - I mean, this woman has 4 kids and also a thriving business. She runs a fabulous accountability program for moms called Joy it Up! and is getting ready to release her tried and true potty training methods (I'll be sure and fill you in). This woman does it all, and does it with such an amazing and loving attitude. She clearly has a husband who loves her (he tucks little gifts into her suitcase when she travels - how sweet!) and a family that is filled with joy.

I caught up with this busy woman to find out how she manages to look so fabulous while running a business and taking care of her family. Here's what she had to say:

1. As a busy mom of 4, how do you find time to find time to take care of yourself?
It is hard, but I get cranky if I don’t time for myself. Sometimes I actually have to get a babysitter and schedule everything on the same day. Other times I am forced to make time because I grow a uni-brow and my roots are so bad…then I know I am waaaaay overdue! With 4 kids I often send the older kids off to school then do a kid-swap with someone else for 2 hours. It saves money and I know I am getting some time for myself.

2. What does your morning routine look like?
It is a very short routine. I have 4 kids to get ready and out the door for school, so about 20 minutes is what I can count on. I always make sure my hair is washed the night before WITH product in it before I go to bed, then in the morning I decide if it’s a ponytail day, a curly day, or a flat iron day. I put my illuminator moisturizer on, followed with bronzer, highlighter for a few areas, add some lip balm, and I curl the ol’ eye lashes and add mascara. Very natural.

3. What’s your can’t-live-without beauty product?
That is easy! I can’t live without lip balm and face illuminating moisturizer. I crave moist soft lips all day long. I seriously have lip balm or Vaseline in every room, in every car etc…I never leave home without it! But I also can’t live without my moisturizer that has illuminator in it. It makes my face feel sparkly and healthy even when I don’t feel sparkly.

4. What’s your best-kept beauty/style secret?
Ha…you really want me to give it away? Ok, but only to all the One Chic Mama ladies. I use a clear eyebrow gel (it comes in a tube with a mascara wand and it is used to tame wild eyebrows) for taming all my crazy wild hairs in my part on my head. It seriously works! The wand goes right down into my part and follows down the hair shaft taming all those broken crazy single hairs. You can find it for just $7 at the drugstores.

Sorry, I just had to give you two secrets! My other one is the kitchen SOS scrubber. I LOVE them. I keep them in the shower - but rather than using them on the walls in the shower I use them for my body. I am not kidding! I never buy body-scrubs in a bottle because my SOS does the magic and keeps my skin super-duper soft.

5. Do you have a foolproof outfit that makes you look fabulous and feel confident? Tell me about it.
I believe you should always play up your best asset. For some it is their waist, their bust line, legs, collar bones, their shoulder - everyone has their favorite part. My legs are my better asset. Not necessarily the top half, but the bottom part! So I LOVE wearing any dress, or skirt that shows my legs. Is that wrong? I am just being honest. I am not much for showing cleavage and I don’t care for my upper arms so I cover those areas. If I wear a short skirt, a t-shirt and Uggs I feel great! If I wear a short nice black skirt and baby sweater, I feel great. I also LOVE color on the top!

6. What’s your best advice to other moms to stay motivated to look great?
Gosh I could write a book on this! Nothing good comes from neglecting YOU. Everything falls off a cliff when I am not feeling and looking good. If I don’t look good then I don’t want sex, I don’t want to be in pictures, I hate walking into my closet and picking out yet another pair of sweats, and I eat lousy when I don’t look good. I could go on and on as to why I have to stay motivated. The bottom line, you HAVE to put appointments into your calendar and block out time that is designated for YOU.

7. What did you learn about beauty and fashion from your mom, and what do you hope to teach your daughter?
My entire life I was raised on a 3,000 acre wheat farm with my sisters so fashion really wasn’t a high priority. My mom taught me how to embrace simplicity and how my personality is what makes people take a second look, not my looks. She is a really caring woman and raised all three of us girls to be who we are and dress how we prefer. I have been teaching my 4 kids the same.

8. Anything else you’d like to tell me?
Embrace your inner beauty and the outside will catch up to the magic on the inside.

Thanks, Jen. These are all great tips and it's apparent that you really practice what you preach.

Read more from Jen at JenLovelady.com.