I’m a mum of three under 5s.  It’s not surprising that my “beauty regime” usually consists of cleaning my face with one of the numerous wipes my 2 year old discards as she pretends to blow her nose on each separate one in the pack.

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If I manage five minutes alone in a room that’s “me time”.

And, if I do get any colour applied to my face, it’s usually courtesy of said two year old’s face painting box – her current technique errs on the side of more is more.

So when I saw makeup artist Zoe Moore’s pre-Christmas post in the Facebook group Lincoln Mummies xx offering free makeovers to local parents in order to enhance her portfolio I thought it was a lovely idea.

“We’re too focused on everyone else this time of year so this is a treat for you,” she wrote.  “I can come to you or vice versa, but I will have a two year old in tow so kids welcome”.

And I have to admit it was her credentials as a fellow mum that clinched the deal for me.  Most mums know not to expect another mum’s house to be of show home pristineness and that you’re very unlikely to complete a conversation let alone activity without numerous and varied interruptions.

As Zoe updated the Facebook group at a later date “I’ve been having lots of fun doing free makeovers for stressed mummies! We’ve had screaming children, lots of mess and breastfeeding to work around but it didn’t stop us   It’s been really rewarding making you all feel a bit better, if only for a day.”

The first thing Zoe and I had to work around was busy schedules.  We finally agreed on a date and then had to pick another one due to a changed medical appointment for my eldest.  Then my youngest decided to put in an early appearance and we were in hospital on that day so we had to rearrange again.

When our stars finally aligned, our two year olds enjoyed a romp through our toy collection together whilst Zoe transformed my usual sleep-deprived look into a more glamorous countenance.

Working with the Body Shop products she is a consultant for, which appeal to my ethical leanings, she explained every step and described each product as she applied it and discussed different looks and techniques that would be suitable for varied occasions.

Being pampered for even just a short time with the usual chaos continuing around me was lovely.  Zoe didn’t know when she came that I’d received two very sad piece of news the day before and that her and her daughter’s visit was a very much needed light point in an otherwise upsetting week.

We were both interested in what daddy Malpi’s reaction was going to be when he came home from work.  He said “have you had your eyes painted? It’s pretty. It reminds me of how pretty you always are.” And then spent the next few minutes trying to say it was nice but not that I don’t look nice normally which was amusingly sweet!

Now I just need to find the time to look through the catalogue she left me.  The cleanser she used along with the eye shadow palette are definitely on my want list – hopefully they’ll inspire me to find a few more minutes to devote to making myself feel better in the future and help to hide the suitcases under my eyes that have taken up residence following more than four years of disturbed night times.