You probably know Jade Tolbert from The Bachelor franchise where she fell in love with her now-husband Tanner Tolbert, or maybe you found her on Instagram and loved her lifestyle and motherhood tips—the former reality star is now a mom of three little ones under four years old! We love that she shares the good and bad, the filtered and unfiltered, and isn’t afraid to get real with her 1.5 million-plus followers. Here, Tolbert shares what it’s like to share your life on social media, how her beauty routine has changed since having kids, and the skin-care treatment she swears by for a “baby face.”
You have amassed an incredible following. Is it strange sharing your life with so many people or do you enjoy it?
“It’s something I never I would have, and when we were on The Bachelor, social media was just starting and Instagram wasn’t really in our heads at that point. But I really love the community, especially as a female and a mom, just being able to share my life with others. Hopefully they can relate to some of the things I’m going through, and that’s why I love talking about things that maybe others aren’t talking about, to help make people feel a little bit less alone. Sometimes it is overwhelming when I put something about there about myself and I know more than a million followers are going to see it, but they’re amazing. Some of the stuff they’ve shared with me personally too just makes me feel very close to them. It’s kind of crazy to have this ‘social media family’ ya know?”
I feel like you’re such a positive person. How do you deal with the unavoidable negativity on social media?
“It’s definitely hard! There are a lot of people out there who you can consider ‘trolls’ or ‘haters,’ and I’ve definitely dealt with my fair share, especially when it comes to motherhood. People are very brutal and critical, and it’s something I’ve just learned to try not to take personally. It does still affect me some days, but I try to flip it around and think about what’s going on that person’s life that is making them so miserable today. They must be going through something. I try to humanize the person across the keyboard. My advice for anyone else in this situation is to know it’s not about you. Just try to brush it off and either block the person to protect your own energy, or delete those messages so they’re outta sight, outta mind. That’s what I do.”
What are your everyday beauty staples?
“I probably have a bigger morning skin-care routine than night because nighttime is my kid’s bedtimes, so I usually just wash my face and go to bed. I really try to use vitamin C serums—I love anything from REN and Algenist—and moisturizer in the morning. My skin runs on the dry side, especially when I wake up. My skin care makes me feel more alive and puts a little pep in my step, and even if I’m not able to put makeup on that day, I know my skin is taken care of and that makes me feel better.”
How did you routine and/or your skin change (if so) after having kids?
“To be honest, for a while it kind of got put on the back-burner because of having babies. I’ve had three kids in four years, and sometimes you’re just too tired or you don’t think about yourself. Now I’m realizing that it’s an investment in yourself, and I’m in my mid-30s now, and skin care is more important than ever. My youngest is 10 months now, so I’ve really decided that I need to get back into this and take care of myself, which makes me feel better overall.”
Speaking of investing in your skin, I know you recently had the Lumenis SmoothGlo treatment. How was that?
“It was actually exciting because I had actually had a conversation with my husband Tanner about a month before Lumenis reached out to me—I told him I wanted to do some kind of skin treatment done, something for myself and self-care. Then Lumenis reached out and told me about their new treatment coming out, it was exactly what I was looking for. I loved it because it was minimally invasive, I was able to do it while I was breastfeeding—I’m still nursing—and it had little downtime. I could go get it done and then pick my daughter up from school and not worry about what I would like for the next few days.
What was the treatment experience like?
“It’s two synergistic, sequential treatments, so you do IPL first and then radio-frequency microneedling. They recommend three to four sessions, and I’m doing the full four. I actually have one still left. But even after the first treatment, I saw immediate results. It’s pretty amazing, and I loved knowing that my skin would improve even more over the next few treatments. “
Was it painful?
“That’s another reason I was really excited about this treatment, is that you don’t have to do any numbing cream. The IPL feels kind of like a small rubber band snapping on your skin, but hardly any pain. It’s very tolerable. With the radio-frequency microneedling, the needles are small enough that you don’t need numbing cream either. I would say it’s less pain than a tattoo needle; a little irritation, but nothing bad at all, and the pain goes away within 15 or 20 minutes.”
How has it impacted your skin?
“The results have been amazing. Even Tanner is a believer: He said, ‘Wow, you look like a baby face; you look so good.’ It really has firmed up my skin, and it helps stimulate collagen production, so I’m even going to see even more results as the months go by. My skin is so smooth, too. I could put foundation on right now and it would just glide right on. It’s also helped with the fine wrinkles on my face. I look more awake, which was a big thing for me too. Being a mom who gets no sleep, I just wanted to look alive and my skin looks so bright.”
Is there anything that surprised you about the treatment?
“There was a sunspot I had on my cheekbone that I had always been sort of been self-conscious about, and after two sessions, it was gone, so I was really surprised they could just get rid of sunspot on my face. But I was most surprised by how bright and youthful my skin looks. I didn’t think I could get this kind of results. My skin just looks like a flawless complexion—it’s really crazy. I told my mom that when she comes into town, we need to go do this. I think she would be blown away.”
Are there any other in-office treatments you’ve done, or would consider doing?
“I think I would be open to other things, but I’m somebody who doesn’t want to give my followers unrealistic expectations of what a person of my age looks like, and that I need all the things. But I also want them to feel like they can take care of their skin. So I’m definitely down for all the skin-related ones, but I’m terrified of getting lip fillers and things like that because I’m afraid I’ll have bad results. I think it’s good to invest in your skin and skin care, and I’ve been so happy with my results, so I may consider other treatments in the future. I don’t ever want to say no because who knows where I’ll be in a few years, and I’m pretty open-minded. I think people should do what feels good for them and make their own personal choices.”
I love that you took time to do this for yourself as a busy mom. What advice do you have for other moms like yourself who are scared to do things like this for themselves though they want to?
“It’s like that saying they use in planes: Put on your oxygen mask first. It’s so hard as a mom not to feel that mom guilt, right? We pour everything into our children and it’s so hard sometimes for us to take time for ourselves, but we’re filling our own cup, we can give even more to our families. It’s good to prioritize yourself—you deserve that self-love, too. I know it’s hard, I make excuses for myself all the time, but it really does help you mentally and emotionally. I encourage anybody out there to take a baby step if you need to, and do one small thing for yourself and see how it feels. Every mom deserves self-care.”
Are there any other ways you take time for self-care or find time to relax?
“I try to practice mindfulness with mini meditations and breath work, which helps me with my patience and puts me in the right mindset in the morning. It starts me off on a good foot so I can be a good mom throughout the day. It’s little things like that, because otherwise my life is chaos. Our days are nonstop, so I really try to do little things in the morning. Honestly, sometimes it’s just a cup of coffee and sitting down, taking in the morning by myself before my kids get up. I know it sounds silly, but that’s my time.”
Do you use a specific meditation app?
“It’s on my Spotify—this lady named Donna D’Cruz does these simple, guided 10-minute meditations that really put you in the right mindset and gets all the heavy stuff on your mind out of your body. They’re amazing.”
