Emily Mortimer Swears By Dry Shampoo – and Spanx!

Michael Loccisano/Getty

Mom-of-two Emily Mortimer felt the pressure to bounce back after welcoming her daughter May Rose in January — but fortunately, she had a bit of help!

“You don’t really want to or feel like parading yourself about town [if you] look like a house. There’s pressure if you have to have your photograph taken,” the actress, 38, tells Babble.

“But Spanx are amazing. Whoever came up with them — it’s the most genius invention of the 21st century. I have more than one pair on.”

Realizing that time is precious when it comes to raising May, 4 months, and son Sam John, 6½, Mortimer has even found a way to postpone showers.

“Dry shampoo is the best! You can just put it in your hair, and you don’t have to take a bath for about three days,” she says. “With the help of Spanx and dry shampoo, I’m more able to face the world.”

But all these tips and tricks couldn’t prepare Mortimer for her most embarrassing mommy-moment to date.

While attending a YMCA Mommy and Me class with Sam, the actress became caught up in “boasting to the other parents” about his first-place prize in a recent costume parade, only to look up to see her son’s latest discovery.

“[The other parents'] faces fell and they looked so horrified. I realized they were looking behind me and I turn around to see Sam walking across the room with a pack of Marlboro Lights raised above his head,” she confesses.

“He’d been rummaging in my handbag looking for his pacifier and instead pulled out this packet of cigarettes and walked through the Mommy and Me class like they were some trophy. It was awful! I never went to one of those again.”

– Anya Leon

Comments

Not sure I’d mention to anyone that I go 3 days between showers, but to each his own

- TC on May 15th, 2010

3 days without a shower? i understand new mommyhood is hard, but no thanks! the five minutes i have alone to shower everyday is like a mini-vacation lol and besides that, i just can’t stand not having a shower everyday, i feel dirty. and a shower isn’t just to wash your hair, but you’re entire body..but.. whatever floats her boat lol. i just hope to never be downwind of her on that 3rd day sans shower, eek

- Amy on May 15th, 2010

Dry Shampoo? No thanks. Because bathing is soooo terribly unpleasant? What is she, a 10 year-old boy?

- klm on May 15th, 2010

No word about 3 days without taking a shower, only a bath… Perhaps she does take a shower every day but don´t have the time to wash her hair daily? Perhaps she was just joking?

Despite the fact that it´s not recommendable to wash hair daily…

- Anonymous on May 15th, 2010

I’m betting she’s doing a little fun exaggerating, forgetting that stars can’t do that… everything they say is taken as complete gospel, judged and held against them.

- Me on May 15th, 2010

I have 5 kids and I still manage to take a shower. This is ridiculous.

- DS on May 15th, 2010

what’s ridiculous is that you people are taking her seriously! I don’t shower everyday, and I rarely have a bath due to the waste of water, and yet funnily enough I don’t stink or look dirty! How about we all take a breath, read what she actually said and have a bit of a laugh over the sentiment she is sharing…

- Steph on May 15th, 2010

Dry shampoo?

- kimmy0808 on May 15th, 2010

4 kids for me, ages 6 to 1. I get a shower (even though it’s short) every day!

- SH on May 15th, 2010

Pretty sure she was making a few jokes, ladies!

- cris on May 15th, 2010

I didn’t even know dry shampoo exists. Wonder how that works, you just leave it in?

- Anna on May 15th, 2010

I’ve heard dry shampoo works great for thick hair, too. Also, as with Anonymous, I’ve also heard all too often that washing hair every day isn’t good for it. I wash my hair every 2 or 3 days because it’s super thick and if I were to wash it every day it would be way too oily and really unhealthy.

- Sarah M. on May 15th, 2010

I don’t think she is kidding.
Frankly, there is absolutely no excuse for not bathing daily, other than a major operation that makes bathing impossible. For those who don’t, you may think you don’t stink but having a desk near a person who does not bathe properly, I can tell you, you do smell. You just don’t know it. Also, for those of us with oily skin and hair it is necessary to wash our hair daily. Doing so does not damage it at all.

- Sb on May 16th, 2010

man i hate reading the comments on anything here anymore because it’s all so judgey and sanctimonious – “well I wouldn’t DARE not take a shower…. blah blah blah” it almost makes me want to be a hermit and never leave my house knowing all the women around me are likely judging my every move! you ladies make me lose faith in women. and i’m not overreacting – practically every single post here has negative, judgmental, sanctimonious, bitchy comments. good to know you all are so perfect. heaven forbid anyone live differently than you do!

- amandamay on May 16th, 2010

I’m sure she’s joking, but if she is skipping showers in favor of dry shampoo, then she should ditch the Marlboros, because three day old stale cigarette smell is bad.

- Allison on May 16th, 2010

iagree with alison about not taking a shower and smoking cigs. my sister is a smoker and if she doesn’t shower everyday she smells like a stale cigerette. i don’t smoke so i can smell it lol her clothes smell etc. and not showering for three days would be bad! lol

- gina on May 16th, 2010

Amandamay I am with you, all the comments on here are much to negative and snobby, you’d think we were in high school.

When my daughter was an infant I would shower quire rarely, up to once a week. Plenty mother are like that they just wont say it out loud. Also postpartum depression will do that to you, if I remember correctly many of the stars who have come out having PPD gwyneth, brooke, etc.. have mentioned staying in their pajamas all day and not showering much.

And no I did not smell bad, since I was not doing any sweat causing activities, mainly lounging around in bed breastfeeding, showering was not that of a necessity.

- lola on May 16th, 2010

Anna- Yep. You just leave it in….and you can put it in dry hair, which is why it’s called dry shampoo. From what I’ve read, it was first invented for hospital patients and bedridden people in nursing homes and such.

- CelebBabyLover on May 16th, 2010

Also, I just want to point out that it’s possible that, while Emily might not shower or bath every day, she may take sponge baths.

- CelebBabyLover on May 16th, 2010

I completely agree with Amandamay’s comments. Get a grip people, so what if she doesn’t bath daily, that doesn’t means she smells or is unhygienic. I would hate to read your comments if she had done something seriously wrong, what a nasty opinionated bunch.

- Linsey on May 16th, 2010

Amandamay: your comments comes across as pretty judgemetnal in itself! Let’s not forget this is a COMMENTS section and if a star makes a provoocative statement I am sure they do it for reaction. She would probably love all the comments!

I love Emily Mortimer BUT with her moneyed background I thnk she would ahve all the help she needed for her children. Although she is joking she’s also probably entering into the new Holywood Mom competitive thing, reverse “Perfect Mom” kind of “well, I am so normal like you and don;t even have time to WASH/BRUSH TEETH/PUT ON UNDERWEAR/LIP GLOSS etc. etc. etc.”.

What next? A “no shower off” with Jen Garner?

- Manon on May 16th, 2010

Ive heard of dry shampoo but i thought it was the stuff they give people in the hospital who cant get out of the bed to wash their hair or shower? do they sell it for regular people? I figured she was joking too.

steph

- steph on May 16th, 2010

Oh lighten up, girls. She obviously was just having a laugh about the showers.

- Judy on May 16th, 2010

Dry shampoo is great. I can’t use it 3 days in a row, but it certainly helps to extend periods between washing. I have very thick and dry hair. I also colour my hair because of the grey, so not washing my hair too often is actually keeping my hair healthier. If you have a good haircut, it doesn’t take forever to style either.
As for the showering, I am sure she is exaggerating and I have to admit that life with more than one kid is a lot busier. There are many days when I skip a shower, but I still manage to take care of the important and most smelly parts. I know I don’t smell cause I am always asking my sisters about that and they are honest!

- Mari on May 16th, 2010

Does anyone else think it’s a little strange that it’s so offensive to most that she might not shower for a few days, but no one seems the least concerned that she’s SMOKING, that her son found her cigarettes?! She obviously has the right to do either, but it seems odd to me that the lack of showering gets people more riled up than smoking!

- Chris on May 16th, 2010

I think the bigger issue here is that she is a smoker and has two young children, including one who is 2 months old. There is no excuse for this. There is so much information available (including through the medeia) about the dangers of second hand smoke for children- I think most everyone realizes this in 2010.

- Valerie on May 16th, 2010

There are some people that have to wash their hair every day, I’m one of them. I’ve got short baby fine hair and if I go more than 24 hours between showers my hair is greasy and smells.

I didn’t think she was joking, if I was to joke about something like that I wouldn’t use a time frame that would be believable. I’d say a month or 6 months so that there was no question it was a joke.

I don’t see anything wrong with the cigarettes, how do we know she smokes in front of her kids? My boyfriend smokes, but never inside with the kids. He smokes outside as do a lot of people I know with kids. She never states once that she smokes around her kids.

- TC on May 16th, 2010

oh lord some of you clearly have wayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy tooo much time on your hands.

understand this, you can not control how others behave, yes this is a comment secton but really you have noting better to do tha get sll bitchy about showering? really? i always thought one of the best things about motherhood would be if i struggled there would be another mum right there next to me, shoulder to shoulder to help but what i have found is yes theres nother mum, standing next to me bitching/patronizing/complaning and best of all thinking shes better than me.

motherhood best club in the world if you ignor the members because unless hey are manking you feel bad they just arn’t happy.

- hayley on May 16th, 2010

Oh for Pete’s sake Manon. Way to pick at straws. You can make your comments about others, but then pick on others when they have their say? Please…

You call Amandamay judgemental, but then a few seconds later you pick on Emily for many reasons. Grow up.

- J on May 16th, 2010

omg, people. you’re freaking out about the length between showers (although i agree it’s probably an exageration) but not about the pack of smokes in her purse?? good lord.

- mary on May 16th, 2010

This was probably a joke but many people claim this to be the truth for them. It takes me, what, 5 minutes to wash my LONG hair and an additional 3 to lather up and rinse myself. And of course I use conditioner.

- Hea on May 16th, 2010

How does “My son found a pack of cigarettes in my purse” translate to “I smoke around my kids and endanger them with secondhand smoke” ?????

SMH. Only on CBB.

- alli on May 16th, 2010

She told that story about her son and the cigarettes before. Apparently the sight was such a shock to her that she quit cold turkey. Not sure if she started up again, because that happened a while ago, but she did quit.

I personally find it refreshing when I hear about women (famous or not) who admit to not being consistant in their personal care and covering up their wobbly bits with spanx and things like that. Makes you feel much more normal than the celebs who insist that all they had to do was nurse and they were a size zero a month postpartum.

- meghan on May 16th, 2010

@-Steph, what’s ridiculous is that you people are taking her seriously! I don’t shower everyday, and I rarely have a bath due to the waste of water, and yet funnily enough I don’t stink or look dirty! How about we all take a breath, read what she actually said and have a bit of a laugh over the sentiment she is sharing…

CBB is pretty accurate in their articles Steph. I don’t shower every day, I shower every other day like most people do, unless I’m sick. I don’t take baths often, but my kids do. It’s not wasting water to take a bath. Showering is wasting more water than a bath is. No one said that she stinks, we think it’s gross to have an excuse not to take a shower, because you can use dry shampoo in your hair. NOT the same thing.

So she’s advocating not showering for three days, instead use dry shampoo. And now, her son is prancing around with her cigarettes, so now she’s advocating smoking too! Gee, I don’t know what’s so ridiculous about our comments!?

- DS on May 16th, 2010

And, actually, it’s really bad to wash your hair every single day, unless you have extremely oily hair. Washing your hair every day, completely strips the natural oils out of your hair. I’ve known people that have very oily hair, and have to wash every day, but that’s an exception.

- DS on May 16th, 2010

First off, I love Emily Mortimer, she is a great actress! Secondly, I am guessing some are taking her comments far too seriously- I am thinking some of her comments were more tongue in cheek. While I for one don’t smoke or care for it, everyone is entitled to do so and we have no idea if she smokes around her children or not. She could be one of those social smokers that has one in the evenings or out with friends for a drink. And two, if she chooses not to shower every day or every three days we really don’t need to judge. I agree with some of the comments though, I find my shower time, albeit sometimes just a few minutes, can be my “me” time to feel refreshed and relaxed. Get some great smelling body wash and warm water and a mom of one, two…or five can feel new again!
Re: the dry shampoo, I have never seen that before but I have heard many times that baby powder can work in a pinch if you can’t shampoo to take the grease out and give your hair a quick freshening up. Never tried it but been told lots that it works so my guess is it is the same idea here.

- molly on May 16th, 2010

As far as smoking goes…here is something that just baffles me~ a friend of mine spends thousands on her wardrobe, hair and makeup and then spend an 1 1/2 hrs getting ready each morning. She is a smoker and no matter how good she looks, she stinks! I just don’t get it! Smokers WAKE-UP you really do stink and it takes away from everything else (hair, make-up, clothes) and just makes you appear dirty…even more than not showering for 3 days!

- cris on May 16th, 2010

Alli-
“SMH”? What are you, 16? I had to look that one up.

I do not think it is strange to judge negatively a person who smokes in this day and age- especially someone who is young and part of a generation who grew up learning from the innocent mistakes of those in previous generations regarding smoking. Everyone now knows it is unhealthy. If you smoke, you are likely cutting your life short – which is not good for your kids, and also you are not being a good role model. Also, if someone has cigarettes in a purse, it must mean she smokes fairly regularly and second hand smoke then is hard to avoid no matter how hard you try. I actually can’t believe I am sitting here typing engaging in a debate about smoking. Only in CBB? No… try just about everywhere.

- Valerie on May 16th, 2010

The baby powder trick can absorb (so can hair spray to a degree), but the trick probably works better on light hair than dark, even if you brush it out, it sort of shows/changes your hair color. I have purchased a product called “Psssst” in a white aerosol spray can at Walgreen’s (not sure I got the # of “s’s” right) – it comes in original formulation for any hair color (which also does kind of change your color a bit), and I also have it in a newer formulation (silver can) where it was for brown hair, sold in other colors as well I am sure. There are also other dry shampoo products like the one from Bumble and Bumble, and powder that comes in a stick/brush applicator called Shampowder. I have fine thin hair that is super oily, so it’s usually easier to just wash it, but if I really have to, I have these products to fall back on sometimes. They can give you more texture to work with and the appearance of a little more hair.

- Sistinas on May 16th, 2010

i think if you really don’t have time for a shower, at least rinse/wash your body and then just pull your hair up in a ponytail. the effort to go through with the dry shampoo or sprays, might as well do a quick shower.

- Allison on May 16th, 2010

I just find her comment odd, because I need to shower much more than I need to wash my hair. I can go about four days without washing my hair, but I can’t go that long without showering the rest of my body.

- dfs on May 16th, 2010

disgusting…three days without taking a shower? c’mon! I also have two kids, and yes..maybe sometimes I don’t have time for a shower, but the next morning the first thing i do is take one! I wake up 1/2 hour earlier and that’s it, you CAN find the time to wash yourself…always.

- sgv on May 16th, 2010

I have five kids and I HAVE to find time for at least a quick shower because otherwise i smell like spit up, Play Doh, and Mac n cheese. I do it either half an hour before they wake up or right after they go to sleep. However, I do think she was just making a joke. I don’t like the fact that she was smoking enough that her son found the cigarettes, but I do vaguely recall this like meghan. Maybe she’s quit since then. I’ve never heard of dry shampoo before but now I’m thinking about searching for it because I could shower a lot quicker without having to wash my hair.

- Luna on May 16th, 2010

I’m sorry but that is gross. I can’t stand skipping a shower for one day I just feel gross! and with thin/fine hair washing my hair everyday is a must it will get super greasy.

And just because you think you don’t stink… doesn’t mean you don’t… So do everyone else a favor and at least take a bath every other day at a minimum.

- Diana on May 16th, 2010

Valerie,

The problem with people like yourself (and this site in general) lies within the fist few sentences of your post. STOP JUDGING. You’re attacking me like I’m somehow advocating smoking. I actually grew up in Europe where many mothers (yes, even the good ones) occasionally indulged in a cigarette. Personally I think it’s disgusting.

I’m generally sick of people equating casual comments made in humorous interviews with bad mothering.

And no, Valerie, I am not 16. I’m an intelligent, NON-JUDGMENTAL 22 year old who, unlike you, doesn’t view the world in extremes (she smokes, and smoking is bad, therefore she is a BAD MOM). Where I come from, people have good AND bad qualities.

- alli on May 16th, 2010

Wow. Shocking. Intresting how people play on words. I guess I read things differently, because I saw where she says you don’t have to shower….not that she dosen’t shower. AND I saw no where that states she lights up in front of her kids. Funny how people are soo quick to judge and point the finger.
I remember many times in early mommyhood when I didn’t have as much time to shower. Didn’t make me any less of a mom, or a bad mom because I didn’t have time to smell fresh as a rose for my infant. I did what I had to as a mommy first. Sometimes sleep won over a shower. What can I say. I’d rather be a happy person than be anal and worry about having perfectly clean hair around my infant….who, btw, dosen’t care how you look.
Really, Emily is an excellet actress. Everyone has their vices. Everyone makes mistakes. Makes us human. Pointing out anothers mistakes tho. Makes us rude.

- mommytoane on May 16th, 2010

i recently discovered dry shampoo, they have several different kinds at sephora and ulta. i LOVE it, i can go another day without having to wash my color-treated hair.

and yes sometimes i skip a day between showers, give her a break, i think she was kidding about going three days:)

- meg on May 16th, 2010

mommytoane,
you are right, the infant doesn’t care how you look – but i’ve always felt that it’s even MORE important to shower every day in those early infant months simply because you’re taking care of an infant. not to be gross, but when you have a baby you bleed for several weeks. if you’re breastfeeding, you have to be clean. you need to shower every day. it only takes 5-10 minutes if you’re quick! plus, it makes you feel better! nobody’s saying you have to put on makeup or do your hair…but a clean pair of underwear and some clean nipples and nursing pads are a must!

- SH on May 16th, 2010

Wow, you people are so judgmental!! Not everyone’s babies are a like and just because you can sneak in a shower every day doesn’t mean everyone can! She’s not asking you to stick your nose in her armpits!
When my second was an infant I’d go days without showering. I wasn’t sweating up a storm so I wasn’t stinky but my hair was oily at the roots. She cried a lot, rarely napped, and when she did it was very erratic. I’d be lucky if I got 15-20 mins before she woke. Most of the time she ended up falling asleep in my arms after nursing and if I tried to move her then she woke up again. My husband was only home on weekends so this was just something I dealt with.
Why, do we as women, always have to tear each other up? It’s not even a “I’m a better mother than you because…” thing as I see it amoung women who don’t even have children. Why can’t we be supportive of each other?

- Lorus on May 17th, 2010

Helllooooo… I’d bet that most of the world doesn’t shower/bathe everyday. Sponge baths, absolutely, but showering and washing of hair on a daily basis, no.

I don’t even shower everyday and I have the opportunity to. Sb, the person sitting near you probably has a deeper issue than regular old BO, so I wouldn’t judge the entire world by them.

At the end of the day, we don’t live in Emily Mortimer’s house so we have no idea what’s going on there. So she doesn’t shower everyday; we don’t have to smell her, we just get to watch her movies!

As far as her smoking goes, she’s probably had the lecture from her mom, her husband’s mom, her doctors, her kids’ doctors, etc. I’m sure she’s figured it out that she shouldn’t smoke around the kids, if she ever did so. Hopefully like someone else said, she’s quit. If not, hopefully soon and I encourage her to do so without making it out like she’s killing those kids today, huffing and puffing in the nursery, in the car or directly in their little faces.

- Jen DC on May 17th, 2010

Alli, you made a big leap in your reasoning. Nowhere in my post did I say I thought she was a bad mother. I was saying that I thought it was wrong for her to smoke. Yes, that is a judgement but one that many people make these days. But I, like you, believe people have good and bad qualities. The leap you make is here-
you say I view the world in extremes and that I must think that “she smokes, and smoking is bad, therefore she is a BAD MOM” She does smoke, and smoking is bad, but I NEVER said this makes her a bad mom.

- Valerie on May 17th, 2010

I can’t believe some of you ladies are taking her seriously. I laughed when I read her comments. She’s funny. I have a hard time finding time to shower myself, but I do take a bath with the baby every night. My hair could use washing more often. Maybe I’ll look into this dry shampoo. Don’t judge!

- Shannon on May 17th, 2010

Geez people. Get over yourselves. I have three little ones and work full time. No, I do not shower every day. I definitely don’t wash my hair everyday (twice a week MAX). I have “personal cleansing clothes” that I use daily and rinse of quickly most of the time. I allot two gloriously long showers per week. I already get up early in the mornings to get everybody going, not about to get up earlier. When I get home it’s dinner, dishes, bathing the kids, storytime, dinner for hubs and some relax time. I simply do NOT have the energy for a shower every single day.
By the way, I don’t stink. I don’t use scented lotions or perfume but I’m often complimented for “smelling good.”
Get off your squeaky clean high horses.

- MammaDucky on May 17th, 2010

I don’t get it. If you don’t want to take a shower every day, fine, but seriously, a shower only takes up an extra five minutes a day . . .

- dfs on May 17th, 2010

Who cares? I have time to take a shower everyday, but I don’t because it’s not necessary!! Only in America are people so uptight to think they need to shower every day. Probably the same people who use hand sanitizer after every door knob….

- ecl on May 17th, 2010

Uhmmm… yeah that’s just plain nasty.

- Cenai on May 17th, 2010

gosh i am currently on day 3 without a shower … my daughter is 8 weeks old and has reflux… and will not be put down put or left and can only sleep on my body…. so that is difficult. If you add in my son (almost 3 ) with a case of flu also needing to be close to me or getting hysterical and a husband away for 6 months on work…. well… no, 5 minutes in a shower actually was not possible yesterday or today.

sorry if that offends the majority but you are all welcome to come and hold sick children for me anytime while i luxuriate in a bubble bath.

- bo-peep on May 18th, 2010

Lighten up people! First of all, as someone said, she clearly said it with a mixture of seriousness and humour. Secondly, I was actually told by my dermatologist to avoid taking showers more than every other day (every third during the cold season), because my very dry skin needs time to rebuild it’s own oily layer. I wash myself, I use a deodorant, I take showers if i get sweaty or dirty, and as far as I know, noone has complained about me smelling (I have asked them to).

As for dry shampoo, it’s great for when you are travelling, on camps, music festivals or when you are preparing to go somewhere and realize that your hair does not look as clean as desired, a friend with very thin and fine hair loves it because it gives her hair more texture, making it easier for hair do’s to stay put without spraying the hair into a helmet.

- MiB on May 18th, 2010

i think this is a really old quote or from an old story. you don’t do mommy and me when a kid is 6

- j on May 19th, 2010

Only in the USA are people so obsessed with cleanliness that they take unnecessary baths/showers everyday.

- Adriana on May 19th, 2010

Adriana- I take a bath pretty much every day, and I’m not obsessed with cleanliness! I take daily baths for one reason, and one reason only: I like to take baths!

I get where you’re coming from, but please try not to generalize!

- CelebBabyLover on May 20th, 2010

Sometimes baths/showers are VERY necessary. My husband works at a steel mill every day. Comes home black from 12 hours of work. I used to work at an animal hospital before I had kids, again, 12 hour days. I got peed or pooped on by an animal at least once a day, not to mention the other juices they get on you. We both HAD to shower when we got home. Now I have 4 small kids at home that I take care of every day. They as well as I need a shower every day. They get grubby!

- SH on May 20th, 2010

Remember, she is British – not American. Most Europeans do not bathe everyday, and Brits often prefer a bath to a shower. When I went to school in the UK, our flat had a separate room with a bathtub and then one with a shower and toilet. My showering every morning was seen by some as wasteful, since it really is not the norm over there. Each culture to it’s own, because the ability to shower every day is a luxury.

- Kat on May 20th, 2010

Why is it such a big deal to only shower every three days. I have a mom friend with 2 small toddlers. He hubby travel all the time. what do you think she should do the the kids for 20 minutes each day while she showers?

Besides, I went to my dermatologist with a rash–just a general rash. She said I should stop bathing everyday. The water and soap is very harsh on skin–especially sensitive skin. She said when I do shower, I should only use soap on certain area that tend to be stinky or need washing. If I go to the gym or the pool, of course, I’d need a soapy shower everyday. But for non-workout, non-sweaty days, do you really need a shower. Also, the doctor recommended I try dry shampoo.

So, it has been 2 years, and I bath everyother day. I don’t stink, I don’t get rashes, and I don’t look dirty. Really. Open up the doors a bit.

- Dawn on March 22nd, 2011