Hospital bag essentials for giving birth vary for everyone. For some, clean clothes and toiletries top the list, while for others it’s all about a good book, a calming playlist and their comfiest slippers.
For Alaha Majid, it also included a 35-eyeshadow palette, several liquid lipsticks, her favourite false lashes and her complete makeup brush set.
But forget the post-birth snap for Instagram and family albums, Majid applied a full-face of makeup during her labour. Her drug-free labour, we might add. (Watch: Four genius makeup hacks from a professional makeup artist. Post continues after video.)
Just WOW.
A makeup artist and beauty blogger boasting over 80,000 Instagram followers, the 27 year old used it as a way to relax in between contractions.
Set up with a makeup station in her hospital bed that many would still be envious of, Majid filled in her brows, baked her foundation and nailed a smokey eye as she prepared to give birth. Wonder Woman, anyone?
“After being in labor for over 10 hours, the only thing to help keep my mind off of the pain was to do something that I love to do,” she told Us Weekly.
“I also love to read and during the first few hours that is exactly what I did, however reading started to give me a headache, so I figured I’d pull out my makeup bag.”
When her contractions became too painful, she enlisted her husband to assist with her contouring. (Post continues after gallery.)
Celebrity mums and daughters playing with makeup
When her new born daughter finally arrived, she did what any beauty lover would do – and named her after her favourite Huda Beauty lashes, Sophia.
(We’re kidding – we’re pretty sure the lashes were chosen in honour of the baby, but wouldn’t it make a nice story?)
While many of her followers responded positively (including asking her what setting spray she used) to the images, others were less kind.
“Others called me an idiot for ‘putting looks before the baby’,” she told Buzzfeed News.
“Anyone who has been through labour knows that it’s a waiting game. Of course I made sure my baby was well and healthy. I made sure my doctor was OK with it before proceeding with my makeup application. What I was doing didn’t put my baby at risk and it didn’t interfere with my labour one bit.”
What did you do to stay relaxed during labour?