Model turned clean beauty entrepreneur is spending her days preparing for the arrival of her baby while working on Wander Beauty from her family home in Ohio amidst C19. We caught up with this stunning mother-to-be as she shares healing after a miscarriage, the power of meditation, why a little beauty goes a long way, plus adjusting to living and working remotely. @lindsellingson @wander_beauty

Last January, we got pregnant with my first very quickly and I thought it was going to be smooth sailing. However, much to the surprise, at week 16, my water broke early and immediately put on bed rest. I was in complete denial and insisted nothing was wrong while praying that everything was going to be OK. Sadly, in the end, it wasn’t, and the loss of my baby was the most gut-wrenching soul-crushing experience. While miscarriages are hard no matter when it was especially difficult given how far along I was and had seen sonograms of her sucking her thumb. In the weeks that followed, as I searched for answers they couldn’t tell me why we lost her, which was extremely difficult to accept. They called it a premature rupture of the membrane (PPROM), which can be caused by an infection but I had no signs of fever. After going through the worst of it, I was exhausted and felt as though I’d run a marathon only just as I was getting to the finish line someone picked me up and placed me back at the start. 

Between pregnancies, I dedicated myself to meditation. To heal, I learned to surrender and let go of control. I was never able to meditate until I discovered Gabby Bernstein. I fell in love with her voice and would listen to her guided meditations every morning and night while imagining myself holding my baby. We waited a few months before trying again but there was nothing I wanted more than to be pregnant again. Fortunately, I was able to get pregnant relatively soon after; there was nothing I wanted more. We were very lucky and in some ways, I feel like I manifested our baby. 

This pregnancy, in comparison, has been wonderful, super smooth, and very healthy. Overall, I have felt good, especially now. During my first trimester, I had a ton of food aversions and was tired all the time. By my second trimester, my lack of appetite and exhaustion leveled out. Now that I’m in my third trimester and in the home stretch, I’ve been having the most bizarre cravings like citrus! I’ll have crushed ice with an entire lemon or peel a lemon as if it was an orange and eat it straight. Also, anything sweet. I’ve been baking banana muffins and apple crisps on the regular. I try to make them healthy with whole wheat flour and alternative sugars, but also I’m letting myself indulge. 

It’s been hard at times to feel motivated working out from home, but I try to do something each day.. I’ve done yoga and pilates for years, where it’s been all about the core  but I find pregnancy fitness confusing…now I’m just supposed to work out my glutes? I don’t get it. However, Ballet Beautiful has been a great resource for online streaming classes. Another quarantine friendly workout has been Sweat With Bec’s Booty Band, which I brought with me to Ohio.. And to end our days, we usually take a walk around the lake at sunset.

When COVID started to escalate in NYC we left for my husband’s family’s home in Ohio to wade out the worst of it, never expecting to be gone this long. Now that we’re getting close to our due date, I’m torn about where to give birth. Our local family doctor can deliver our son and will take me at a moment’s notice, although I really want to have him in NYC. We’re waiting a bit longer to see how things go but I have to decide shortly. That said, the bright side of delivering in Ohio is our family’s here which will be an incredible support. 

Growing up I had terrible scoliosis that required spinal fusion surgery. My entire spine is fused with metal rods to straighten out my back therefore it’s been explained to me that an epidural may not work although I won’t know until I’m in labor. In light of potentially having an unmedicated birth, I’ve been doing hypnobirthing classes in hopes of managing the pain, otherwise, the alternative is a C-section, which I’d like to avoid if possible. My goal is to labor as long as I can at home and then go to the hospital. Unfortunately, I’ve heard tons of stories about how unbearable the experience is, which has stuck with me. Why do women only share traumatic stories? I feel like you rarely hear about a blissful birth. That said, I’ve heard hypnobirthing can be really powerful and taps into your body’s natural ability to let go of fear and relax to do what it’s meant to do. One thing I’ve learned from hypnobirthing is to listen to the positive affirmations and block out the negative stories because everyone’s experience is so different. Perhaps this is solid advice for life too. Even during times of crisis, there are always positive stories and it’s important to seek those out. 

Recently I asked my community what books I should be reading. I received so many incredible recommendations but the number one book suggested was Ina May’s Guide To Childbirth, followed by On Becoming Babywise – both are on my list to read. Currently, I’m reading the Happiest Baby by Harvey Karp. 

As for podcasts I try to keep it positive. I love Oprah’s SuperSoul Sundays, and Tony Robbins is great too. Plus, I listen to Pregnancy Confidential religiously; a 5 minute podcast with info on the different stages of your body and baby. 

My day starts around 7:30 with a healthy breakfast, and my one, very precious, cup of coffee. After which I jump into work for most of the day with a few breaks here and there wherein I stand up, walk around, breathe, and practice my hypnobirthing. In addition to modeling, I’m the Co-founder and Creative Director of Wander Beauty. I do most of our product photography and work with an amazing team tocreate all the content for our launches and social channels. Luckily I was able to set up a little studio here at our lake house that has beautiful light so I can still shoot all the products we need to support our launches. I’m a self-taught photographer and editor and have really enjoyed this time to focus and be creative. To best work from home, I was able to create a work area separate from where we eat and live, which for me is really important. Plus, I’m so grateful for my team who is making all of this possible on a daily basis as we adjust to working remotely; everyone has been amazing through this process. 

For the first few weeks of shelter-in, I was living in leggings but after a certain point, I had enough. Now, I make an effort to get dressed every morning and put on a little makeup. My go-tos have been my HATCH pink gingham dress and blue gingham top. Plus, I do a quick five-minute mood-boosting routine with our Dualist Concealer, On-the-Glow Blush and Illuminator, and a little mascara. Putting a touch of color on my face and wearing a dress makes a world of difference in my confidence and productivity. 

I launched Wander Beauty with my partner, Divya Gugnani, a serial entrepreneur, and mom of two. When we met, I was traveling the world modeling and working with the most amazing makeup artists all over the world. My makeup education came from long days on set learning from the best and I brought all of that clean beauty knowledge to our brand. When we started to brainstorm the evolution of beauty, I felt no one was speaking to the woman on the go. Every brand had too many steps and it wasn’t practical. We wanted to create a line of clean beauty that was multifunctional and meant to simplify your routine to keep you gorgeous on the go. We’ve found this really resonates with women, especially new moms as it’s easy to use and looks natural. A touch of blush, a little mascara and you’re good to go.  

Hard to plan into that between COVID and my business. As a Co-founder, I don’t want to be away from the team too long but I’ll likely check out for the first month and re-engage in the second. I want to stay in touch with my team as much as I can, but also want to fully be with my baby. Overall I’m so excited to start this new chapter. For so long I have been so focused on my career and myself, it’s wonderful to finally take a step back and begin our family. 

Healing from my miscarriage and navigating the uncertainty of my second pregnancy forced me to surrender and stay in the moment, which has been such a powerful learning. Therefore, I can’t say enough about finding strength in leaning on your community, meditating, and doing yoga.