One part new mom (to two-year-old Carmen and 9-month-old Rafael), one part yoga instructor, one part soon-to-be-published author, one part Instalebrity and one part devoted wife to one of the most famous faces in the world, Hilaria Baldwin perfectly balances all of those roles with grace, ease and a lot of laughter. Just one look at her Instagram feed and you’ll find a focus on her family, fitness, wellness, humor and a whimsical approach to life that is both endearing and infectious. She shares a lot with her followers, so it’s no surprise that she and her husband Alec Baldwin have just announced their next big project via her Instagram page, they’re expecting a baby boy, less than a year after welcoming their son Rafael. We took a minute to talk to with her about family, life with Alec and her refreshing attitude toward beauty and celebrity.
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NewBeauty: Do you have any tips for new mothers who feel too overwhelmed to make time for their own health and fitness?
Hilaria Baldwin: I’m obsessed with my children and want to spend every moment with them, but you have to create the time. I do it because I know I’m going to feel better and be happier with my body. When I was younger I was obsessed with perfection, but now it’s more about feeling good and making sure I have enough energy throughout the day. I still want to look good, but now I see it as looking good is a direct side effect to feeling good. I try to workout during what I call “found moments ” while I’m doing things like cooking or watching TV. You can take that moment and fit your fitness in at the same time, it’s all about making the time whenever and whereever you can, staying active and not expecting perfection. Also, putting the calories in your body is so much easier than taking them out, so think about how much harder you have to work to eat things that are bad for you. I don’t count calories, I’m a big eater and I’m breast feeding, so I have to make sure I’m eating the right kinds of foods because I don’t have the energy to work off junk food.
NB: How has your beauty regimen changed since becoming a mom?
HB: I’ve always been pretty low maintenance. I do have to hide my lipsticks from Carmen now because she’s a beauty fanatic. She speaks Spanish and in Spanish lipstick is “pintalabious.” When she sees my lipsticks she’ll grab them and say “pintalabios mama, necessito pintalabios.” It’s so cute but now I have to hide my products. I don’t wear a lot of makeup on an average day. I hardly ever put anything on my face, but every day I do wear a little mascara or cover girl eyeliner I bought at the drugstore. I wash my face twice daily and wear a light moisturizer, but not too much because when I over moisturize I end up having problems with my skin. Sometimes I actually dread those two minutes when I have to wash my face because I’m tired and I know my son is going to get up at one a.m. to breast feed again. Those two minutes it takes to wash my skin every night can feel so overwhelming, but it’s something I know I have to do no matter what.
NB: What do you hope to impart on your social media followers?
HB: I think that anything is possible. My husband and I just celebrated five years of knowing each other and before we met I didn’t know anyone who was famous. People think that celebrities are magical creatures, it’s a very strange thing this whole fame thing. I’m not a celebrity, but I live with one, and I’m the same person that I was five years ago. And although my husband is a celebrity, and he’s amazing and the love of my life, but he’s still just a guy like any other guy. So I want to sort of hold up a mirror to show that I’m a normal person like you. I want people to realize that no matter who you are, you don’t have to look at people and admire them for what they’re doing in their lives. Anything is possible in your own life too. It’s possible to be healthy, exercise, be a good wife and mom and have a sense of humor about life.
NB: Are there any beauty products you own that your husband likes to use or are there any products that he uses that he’s introduced you to?
HB: Yes, we both really like tea tree oil. I know it’s kinda stinky but it’s really good. The Body Shop has an amazing line of tea tree oil products and I was given a beautiful basket filled with tea tree oil stuff and Alec stole them all. I use their Tea Tree Oil Skin Facial Cleanser every day in the shower and we share it. I love it because it wakes you up and keeps your pores super clean. We’ll also sometimes share cologne, men’s cologne is the best, especially when you’re going out and have on your heels and some dark lipstick. It’s the best thing ever.
NB: What does the hashtag #365daysoflivingclearly mean?
HB: It’s 366! I started it as 365 and someone corrected me because of the leap year. I have a book coming out next year and it’s about living clearly and getting to a place where you really see yourself. In my youth I really struggled, like most people do, with questions about who I was going to be, what are my passions, how should I eat, how am I going to live and just constantly seeking answers that really sum up how to live a good life. Through teaching yoga I developed a method called the “Living Clearly Method” that consists of five principles to help combat stress, not just the little moments of stress, but also those big moments of life stress. I want to help empower people and show them how to deal with those moments by being strong in themselves, by not cowering but also by choosing the right ways to cope and react.
NB: One of the most enviable things about you is your ability to do amazing yoga poses in almost any setting. How important is your yoga practice and what would you say to someone who thinks they aren’t flexible enough to practice?
HB: Yoga practice is very important to me. That’s my passion and what I’ve dedicated my life to and it influences pretty much everything I do. When people say to me they can’t do yoga because they aren’t flexible, one of my favorite quotes is, “saying you’re too inflexible for yoga is like saying you’re too dirty to take a bath.” You can’t expect to be flexible or to balance or do a handstand by just looking at someone else doing it on Instagram. You have to go and get on the mat yourself and start doing it. Anything is possible and it’s through practice that you become more flexible and are able to do things with your body that you think you can’t. You just have to keep working at it and practicing. I’ve seen people do incredible things in their lives. I’ve had my own experiences getting out of shape, like when I broke my hip and spent a year healing and everything felt impossible, or after having two children. But I’ve been able to come back from that and I think those experiences have taught me how to connect even more with people who feel like staying active and fit is impossible.
