Jesinta Franklin’s outlook on beauty has changed since giving birth to her daughter Tullulah in February this year. While the Olay Ambassador admits to being quite efficient when it came to getting ready pre-baby, she has even less time to spend on beauty these days.
“I just don’t have the time anymore,” Franklin told TheLatch—. “My main priority is obviously Tullulah so she comes first, so for me, it’s just about finding things that are really efficient and work.”
Navigating the early days of motherhood during a global pandemic is quite a unique experience but one that Franklin and her husband Buddy have tried to meet with positivity.
“I think there’s been positives and there’s been some challenges,” Franklin said. “It’s been so nice that Buddy was able to spend so much time with us because he obviously wasn’t training and wasn’t playing, so he got to be at home with us for a good eight weeks, which was really, really beautiful and so nice to see them bond and just to have that time together with us three.”
“But I think you’ve just got to try and focus on the positives and know that everyone is going through really tough times at the moment. We’re just really grateful for that time we got as a little family.”
TheLatch— spoke to Jesinta Franklin about the products she’s loving at the moment, what she hopes to teach Tullulah about beauty and what she’s looking forward to doing when things settle down.
Alexandra McCarthy: Hi, Jesinta. Congratulations on the birth of your little baby girl, Tullulah! How have you been going given the current circumstances?
Jesinta Franklin: I think there’s been positives and there’s been some challenges. It’s been so nice that Buddy was able to spend so much time with us because he obviously wasn’t training and wasn’t playing, so he got to be at home with us for a good eight weeks, which was really, really beautiful and so nice to see them bond and just to have that time together with us three.
And then obviously as a new mum you already feel quite isolated so not being able to go to the mother’s groups, see our friends or family. I mean, she still hasn’t met Buddy’s parents and a few of his sisters so that’s been probably the more challenging side to it.
But I think you’ve just got to try and focus on the positives and know that everyone is going through really tough times at the moment. We’re just really grateful for that time we got as a little family.
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AM: How has your approach to beauty changed since becoming a mum?
JF: It’s been cut in half [laughs]. Actually more than that. I just don’t have the time anymore to be spending — not that I would spend a long time anyway in the bathroom kind of getting ready, I was always quite efficient.
But yeah, now my main priority is obviously Tullulah so she comes first, so for me, it’s just about finding things that are really efficient and work and not have too many steps in my regimen and just sticking to something consistently.
And you know, now obviously having her I’ve realised that going off to a clinic and getting a facial for an hour, that’s just not going to be able to happen for at least the next six months or the foreseeable future.
So just doing at-home treatments and yeah, anything that I can do kind of between feeding or naps and changing nappies and doing washing and all the other things that come with it. So yeah, it’s just become far more efficient [laughs].
“My main priority is obviously Tullulah so she comes first, so for me, it’s just about finding things that are really efficient.”
AM: Can you tell me about a few of the beauty products which have become staples for you over the last few months?
JF: I’ve been loving — especially over the last 12 months — the Tone Perfecting Serum from the Olay Luminous range just because I see instant results with that. It does exactly what it says. It says it’s tone perfecting and that’s exactly what it does.
It really evens out your skin tone and the texture of your skin changes and it makes me feel really glowy and dewy. And then I’ve just started to trial the Olay Retinol24 Eye Cream. I’ve never used a retinol before because I’ve been so nervous of skin becoming too dry or too sensitive out in the sun and things like that.
So I’ve kind of avoided that but obviously with the new technology that Olay’s introduced into their retinol range, I’m really excited to try it because it doesn’t dry your skin out and it’s a lot more gentle on your skin but still is potent, which I think is absolutely incredible.
The advice from the professionals has been to not use all of the products at once and just start with maybe one or two of them and do it every alternate day. I’ve been doing mine every third or fourth day just because I don’t know how my skin’s going to react even though I know that it’s really gentle, I still just want to take my time with it and see the results with that.
And then for me, just a really good cleanser. I love just a cream cleanser. I have it sitting in my shower, so it’s just kind of one less thing that I have to do when I get out of the shower. I can do it while, you know, my conditioner is sitting in my hair — just cleanse my face and that’s that done. I just keep it really simple with serum, an eye cream, a cleanser and then a night moisturiser.
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AM: That’s great to know about the retinol products because I also haven’t used retinol before as I’m scared of the sensitivity.
JF: Yeah and it’s not prescription either so you can get it from any leading chemist. I think when something’s prescription that’s really scary because it’s like, ‘Oh gosh, it’s going to be really strong’. It’s really great that this kind of product is now just readily available in the new form that Olay has created. I mean they spent 20 years on this formula, so it has been a long time in the making. So I’m really excited to start trying it.
AM: So now that you’re back at work, how are you finding the mum and work-life juggle?
JF: I started easing back into it last week and today has been my first full day and yeah I have to be really honest, I was really anxious. I haven’t spent any time away from her and I think I’m really blessed that I get to work from home today.
Usually, this would have been an event and I would have been gone all day. I’ve got mum here looking after her, so I’ve been able to do a few nappy changes and have a few cuddles, which has been really nice to ease into it because I’m not quite ready to leave her even for a morning or an afternoon. I’m not at that stage yet.
So it’s been nice to be able to ease back into it from the comfort of my own home and I really take my hat off to mums that stay at home full time and mums that return to work because both roles are extremely challenging and full-on.
Sometimes they say that going back to work, you feel like you actually get a break, because the demands throughout the day, it’s really full-on. I’m just kind of testing the waters and seeing how I feel and we don’t have a nanny, so it’s definitely going to be a juggle but I’m just going to have to figure it out as I go I suppose.
“I have to be really honest, I was really anxious. I haven’t spent any time away from her and I think I’m really blessed that I get to work from home today.”
AM: How have you been prioritising your health over the last few months and taking care of yourself?
JF: I think it’s really important for new mums to take care of themselves because obviously the baby becomes the number one priority and everything you do is for their health and their happiness and just to keep them feeling loved and cared for. So, I’ve really been focusing on that.
The easiest thing for me is focusing on the foods that I eat, so making sure that I’m eating really healthy and drinking lots of water. I had a postpartum doula for the first three weeks after she was born, which is really beautiful.
It was a really beautiful time because it just meant she did all the cooking for me and really took care of me, so that all I had to do was focus on Tullulah and bonding with her and feeding her.
That was really, I think, important for my healing process and also my journey into motherhood. I haven’t really exercised. Like I go for short walks either in the morning or the afternoon while she’s napping, but I haven’t gone for a run or gone back to boxing or any of that because I’ve just really focused on finding my feet as a mum.
The easiest thing for me, because I’m not exercising, is just to really focus on eating healthy food and nourishing my body in that way.
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AM: What do you hope to teach your daughter about beauty, seeing as you work so heavily within the beauty industry?
JF: It’s so interesting. Having a daughter has changed my perspective on a lot of things, especially in regards to beauty because I look at her and I’m like, ‘You are just so perfect and so beautiful the way that you are. I hope that you’d never want to change anything or feel the pressure from society to be anything other than who you are’.
And I think, for me, teaching her that beauty really does come from within and being kind and caring and loving and living life from her heart space. And to me, that’s true beauty. If I think of someone beautiful in my eyes, it’s someone that is loving, kind, caring. It’s more the attributes that you hold within yourself rather than the kind of physical attributes.
And also enhancing natural beauty, I think it’s amazing that we can put makeup on and feel like a different person. But also being confident without makeup on as well. So teaching her about, you know, taking care of yourself from the inside out and good skincare and routines from a young age — obviously not at three months old [laughs] —but when she gets to the age where she’s interested in products and all of that.
But yeah, just to love who she is. I think that when someone’s really beautiful, it’s someone that is just really confident and comfortable in their own skin.
“It’s so interesting having a daughter has changed my perspective on a lot of things, especially in regards to beauty.”
AM: What’s something you’re looking forward to when life goes somewhat back to normal?
JF: The first thing that I’m looking forward to is getting over to Perth for Tullulah to meet Buddy’s parents and the rest of his sisters. That’s really important to me. I just can’t wait to see them and introduce her to the family. It’s such an exciting time.
And then I think just being able to go and sit in a cafe and see friends and hug people and not be worried about social distancing. And then in a more superficial light, I’m really looking forward to getting a pedicure [laughs].
And getting my greys covered up as well because I’ve had a few greys come through. I didn’t go to the hairdressers for the last six weeks of my pregnancy because I was just so hot and so big and so pregnant. So I haven’t been to a hair salon for over four months so I’m really looking forward to that, but that’s the more superficial stuff but still things that make you feel good.