On January 19, Sophie Attwood gave birth to her first child, a baby girl she named Isla.
Four days later, the 27-year-old got all dressed up and went out to enjoy a tasty meal with her fiancé, Daniel Lewis.
She says getting out of the house helped her avoid "cabin fever", but there are some who were appalled she would do such a thing so soon after becoming a mum.
But more than anything, these same people were horrified that she would even consider putting on a full face of make-up mere days after having a child.
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Sophie, a PR managing director from Staffordshire, shared a snap of herself on social media following her evening out - but she wasn't prepared for the reaction it provoked.
The mum-of-one claims her picture was met with a wave of cruel messages from people telling her she shouldn't have left the house.
Speaking to Mail Online she said: "I was surprised by the negative reaction. People, including my friends, started to question why I was out of the house, wearing make-up and not spending time at home in the newborn bubble.
"I received direct messages like, 'Four days and you have a full face of make-up?! Lol where do your priorities lie?' and, 'You have the rest of your life to go out and your are spending these first few precious days in a restaurant! Ridiculous!'"
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Sophie says close pals began telling her they felt pressured to look as good as she did after giving birth, but she told them that putting make-up on just gave her a "sense of normality" and made her feel human again.
For the mum, make-up is her "war paint" and she says she wears it every day as it makes her feel like she can "conquer the world".
She even admits to topping up her make-up in the car on the way to the hospital while she was having contractions, to make herself feel "fresher".
And even after an eight hour labour and emergency c-section, the young woman couldn't resist putting on her favourite beauty products before she left the maternity ward for home - though it garnered her some "dodgy" looks.
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In a recent post to her 10.7k followers on Instagram , she revealed why she had decided to speak out about the harsh reactions to her photo and her message to the critics is powerful.
She wrote: "I thought about it and I realised that if I could make just one new mama realise that you can do WHATEVER THE HELL YOU WANT TO - and maybe make another taste their words before spitting them out - then [it] would be worth doing.
"Motherhood is hard - with mascara on or not - so let's back each other all the way and support each other instead."
