Blake Lively is feeling good about herself and her body, just five month after giving birth to her second child with Ryan Reynolds.
The mother-of-two chatted with E! News‘ Zanna Roberts Rassi at the L’Oréal Paris “Galentine’s Day” event Monday night—entirely curated and party-planned by Lively—where she was joined by her sister, Robyn Lively. Blake, 29, got to chatting about how pregnancy has not only changed her body, but taught her to appreciate it so much.
In fact, the actress got candid about getting back into shape after baby No. 2, saying, “It’s all a process. You know after the second kid it’s really different. So this is not my normal body, but I like it.”
She continued, “I’m learning to love my body in every iteration and that’s hard for women, and I learned a lot.”
Blake took that confidence with her to the event, looking stunning in a flirty, navy SemSem dress adorned with hearts and polka dots. She accessorized the look with a pair of Christian Louboutin spike-studded stilettos and a maroon purse.
That radiating confidence is something Blake was hoping to spread at the L’Oreal party with women celebrating women.
“L’Oréal told me this idea they had to have a Valentine’s event with your gals—your best girlfriends,” she told us. “I thought, ‘Right now, more than ever, it’s so great that women are coming together and supporting each other and building each other up.’ I got a little too involved. I said, ‘I don’t really just want to show up. I sort of want to plan it.’ It’s a lot more fun to plan a party when it’s not on your dime. I changed the party a bit.”
But party-planning aside, it was the message behind the event that was most important to the mother of two daughters.
“This is the first time in my lifetime where I have been aware of a women’s worth being questioned. I know it happens all the time everywhere, but I never felt it,” the actress explained. “It’s made me so much more aware and empathetic to the challenges that women face always, because I’ve been really fortunate. I think it’s just so important that we come together and build each other up—and that we remind women of their value. It’s really beautiful to see women come together. It’s something I’ve never seen.”
Reprinted with permission