Tried and Tested - Homemade Foot soak

In the middle of winter, dry heels is not something that I normally fuss (tis the season of tights) about but my feet have been so dry lately that I needed an intervention. I remember seeing a quick fix home-made remedy on facebook during the summer and as I had all the ingredients in the house, I decided to give it a go.

Here is what you will need:

There are no fancy methods with this. You literally throw everything together in a basin and soak your tootsies for about 20 mins.

Did it work? Yes and no..

It softened the hard skin on and around my heels all right but I think just soaking them in the warm water for that long would have done exactly the same job. There was no notable peeling or removal of dry skin. Your feet feel tingly and refreshed but that's about it I'm afraid. To really get polished heels, you would need to use more vigorous methods, like filing or using a chemical peel.

The overbearing smell of vinegar in the bedroom just isn't worth it



Have you tried this foot soak before?

Kel x

The BIG Reveal - Irish Beauty Bloggers Secret Santa

Good morning and a very merry 4 day countdown to Christmas to you!

It's the 21st of December which means it's Secret Santa Day! Can I get a whoop whoop
Before I get into things I just wanted to say a big Thank you to Aisling from Total Makeup Addict for setting the whole thing up and adding me onto Santa's list last minute.

This was my first year to get involved and if any of you have read last years Christmas post you will know that I'm not that into Christmas. (I'm a strange one alright). Anyhow, this year I promised to try and get into the spirit of things and the Secret Santa task gave me just that opportunity. There has been a serious buzz on  twitter over the past few weeks and I've really enjoyed keeping up. Some of the gifts that were sent look great and people went to a lot of effort. I'm looking forward to seeing what was inside those perfectly wrapped presents.

My Secret Santa to me . . .

Champneys Cracker Collection

4 x 50ml bottles of bubble bath.

Distant Shores Bubble Heaven
Mediterranean Bliss Bubble Heaven
Exotic Retreat Bubble Heaven
Oriental Opulence Bubble Heaven

With two kids I don't get much time for Baths these days so I look forward to cracking these pretty gels open 'one day' lol

Noel Essential Oil

 Thank you Zoe Fitzpatrick! (Zoecoco.com)

Me to my secret recipient . . . 

I was matched to Sarah Priestly Keogh of Flame Coloured Skies

I would be lying if I said I found the task of buying something that Sarah might like easy. I wanted to make sure I got her something that she might genuinely be interested in. Unfortunately for me, Sarah's blog was set to private so I couldn't have a read of that without risking giving myself away. I managed to find her on pinterest so I used her pins as inspiration. 

For Sarah, I purchased a pretty Paris notebook, as she likes to sketch. The Paris connection relates to her love and admiration for models. Paris being the fashion capitol of the world, I thought this was fairly apt.

Sarah's love of Lana Del Rey popped up somewhere (her blog title!) so I researched some Lana makeup tutorial videos to see what look she goes for. With that in mind, I purchased 2 lip products so that Sarah could recreate one of her favourite singers looks.

Last but not least, I got Sarah some sparkly festive nail polish...fun Christmas nails and nail accessories.

I really hope you liked your gift Sarah.

A very Merry Christmas to Sarah and Zoe.... 

Til next year!!

Kel x

Budget Beauties #1

Ya'll know I'm a buyer of mainly budget friendly products. While I love Chanel and YSL among others, I gotta be honest and tell you, I'd be totally punching above my weight with those babies. The Chanel logo alone makes me go weak at the knees, but I've got to wait for special occasions (Birthday & Christmas) to add Chanel to the collection. In the meantime, my focus is on the likes of Catrice, NYX, Essence, Rimmel etc.

If, like me, you scan the posts of beauty bloggers on a daily basis, you will note that a lot of BB focus on the budget friendlier products also. If they are going to appeal to the everyday girl, they've got to have some budget friendly options in there too :-) . Among my favourite posts are dupe posts, where the blogger compares high end products to something similar and more affordable. Cha ching!!

I don't buy makeup every single month. I wish I had the money too. So I'm not going to post 'monthly favourites' posts. As I add some budget beauties to my stash, I'll keep you posted!

Here's a peak at the treats I picked up recently.

Milk Anyone?

Ah, the fine art of milking oneself. A skill I have perfected over the last 5 months. (Compared to the difficult days, the ones I live right now seem pretty perfect to me)

Breastfeeding and me

Milk coma - Baby Petit :-) x

I breastfed my first child for literally 3 weeks before throwing in the towel. I was tired, scared, worried, sore, fed up, young etc etc.... A 7 year gap between babies gave me enough time to forget I didn't enjoy it much the first time around and allowed me the chance to have another go. I was more determined this time around to stick at it and whether I went down the route of bottles again, I was always going to breastfeed for the first few days anyway. 
I was lucky and my little one latched on quite well from the very start. Her nickname is the 'little monster' (boobie monster, to be exact). She loves her grub and was never going miss a drop. I decided to just take it day by day and see how we both got on. 
Oh man, there were days that I struggled. The worst part of which was the fact that I didn't know which aspect of feeding I was struggling with.

Pain: Yes I was sore. I know all the experts say that if you are sore then you are not doing it right. I don't believe this. I think everyone is sore at the very beginning. If something has to break through thick skin, i.e. milk through the nipple...it's gonna get sore. Plus, you have a baby sucking the life out it 24/7. Anyway, Lanolin cream will be your 'breast' friend (see what I did there lol) in the first few weeks and no new breastfeeding mum should be without it. 

Tired: I was tired, but compared to my first post baby experience I actually felt grand and pretty on top of things (that means I managed to get dressed occasionally) 

Feeding in public: Never bothered me and I had no negative experiences either. 

Feeding schedule:Ah ha! Sweet baby jesus......Why did no one tell me I would have no life. This, for me is exactly where the problem lay. For 6 weeks I struggled with this big time. I just kept thinking, why did nobody warn me. When my little one was about 4 weeks old, I fed her and then went to collect my other little girl from a friends. I was gone for 30 minutes. When I got back, my husband was pacing the floor with a screaming baby. It is in that very moment that I realised I couldn't leave the baby. (Unless I expressed beforehand....this could never happen as she constantly drained both breasts)
Ssssshhhhhh, I can hear loads of breastfeeding mums shouting at me telling me their child fed every 3...maybe 4 hours. Great, fantastic..for you! I'm just saying, my little monster wanted boob all day every day :-) 

Now I will admit here that I focused so much on getting breastfeeding right that I kinda ditched a sleep routine. Big mistake as poor Petit baba was unable and unwilling to fall asleep anywhere but on the breast. 

Anyway, once I realised, that I was no longer able to just get up and go, or that such things as 'cluster' feeds existed, I started to chill out a bit. So what, I can't get up and put a wash on. So what, I can't change the beds today....So what, I didn't get dressed. 

Once I had made peace with things, I rejigged a few other things too. I focused more on nap times which in turn gave me a little, predictable break. I made sure, that when I did get dressed, I wore something that had easy access to the boobs plus was comfortable for me to hoist up and down all day. At 4 weeks, the nipple pain eased and at 6 weeks was completely gone. The let down discomfort was not as noticeable and my breasts no longer became engorged as quickly. 

6 weeks to now..... I LOVE BREASTFEEDING. ! All those happy endorphins being released with each feed has me feeling great. Yes, it's hard when your sitting up in the middle of the night alone, feeding your little one but embrace it. Time passes so quickly and you will not have the opportunity with your little one again. There are many years of sleep ahead for me but only this one opportunity to Breastfeed baby Petit. I get such a buzz out of picking her up and watching her little head bob around until she finds her liquid gold. 

I look at how much she has grown and stretched already and think, wow, I grew that little beauty inside of me and then nourished her til now. 

With my return to work date looming, I have started to wean her off the breast. I do hope to keep feeding her morning and evening after I return to work but we will see how things go. For now we are both happy out :-)

How was your experience of breastfeeding?

Kel x



*(Each to their own, I'm not concerned with whether you breastfed 1 child or 16 children. This post holds no judgement and I would appreciate the same in return)

Sweet Soul Sunday

There is a gap in the clouds and the sun is peaking through. What a beautiful Sunday morning. I'm sitting back, a cup of tea in hand and listening to the sweet soul sounds of Sam Cooke. 





Check out some of my favourite tracks:

Bring it on home to me

A change is gonna come

Twistin' the night away

Chain Gang

Cupid

She was only 16

And 1 more . . .  Dreamlover

Are you a fan?

Kel x

Tress in Distress

Oh Lord, I have heard that you lose a lot of 'dead' hairs post pregnancy but things are getting ridiculous around here. So much so, my husband has suggested I knit a jumper with what comes out of the hair brush!!

I think drastic action is needed if I don't want to be as bald as the Christmas Turkey on December 25th. First things first, instead of my usual  - grab whatever Shampoo and conditioner are on sale, Ive bought myself some nice new hair products. A bit of luxury for the tresses. I'm hoping my hair will thank me by staying firmly rooted to me head.








Shampoo : Prosys, Organic Shampoo

I had not heard of this brand before but it smelled so good I had to have it. The shampoo has a creamy consistency with a pearl, shimmery look. It lathers quite well. I have medium -long hair and use about 3/4 pumps. Lately, I have been shampooing twice to really get my scalp clean and all those loose dead hairs out. This shampoo rinses out well and doesn't leave a film on your hair.

If you are thinking of buying this based on the organic label, I'd think again - looking at the ingredients, this shampoo does not say organic to me.






Conditioner: Mastey, Frehair detangling Conditioner

Mastey is the original sulfate free shampoo which says a lot about their product ethos. It is also paraben free. I love the salon smell from this product. Two days ago I washed my hair and as usual with no time to dry it, I tied it up wet. I do this all the time with no issues. This time though, my hair looked and felt so greasy and slimy. It was horrible.

My scalp has been seriously itchy also and I'm not sure whether to blame the shampoo or conditioner yet... So my friends, the jury is still out on these products.

1 positive I have to mention is the price point. These products were a bargain in TK maxx






What are your go to products for shampooing and conditioning?

Kel x

Busymum Family Organsier

I'm not normally a 'family organiser/diary' type of person but there are only so many days you can pack your child off to school, only to discover she has a day off when you reach a closed school gate.  (*shame face). I bought one of these Busymum organisers last year and found it really good for planing out the weeks. When they hand  out the school calendar in September, I am able to fill in all the dates for the year. This means I don't have to worry about losing that sheet or remembering what days are half days etc.

I'm not bad at remembering birthdays but when your 7 year old starts getting invited to 10 plus parties a year, things can start to get a little tricky. I found the organiser great for planning ahead. Usually, when a birthday pops up, I'm reactive, as in, the day before I run out to get a present. With the busy mum organiser, I can look ahead a month or two and pick up what I need at a more proactive pace!

The organisers run from September to December and come with cute little stickers for highlighting special occasions. Each month gives busy parents little tips and cute suggestions.

You can write each family members name along the top and their co-ordinating activity on the dates underneath. The layout allows you to see quite easily if anyone's schedule clashes. To those of you that only need to look after numero uno, you won't see the benefit in this. Anyone with more than themselves to look after, a household to run, a job to go to etc etc needs one of these in their lives!





This little doozy retails at €12.99. I bought my 2014 organiser in Carraig Donn and 2015 one in the pop up calendar shop @The Blanchardstown Centre.

Kel x

Clinique - Take The Day Off Cleanser

Just over a week ago I was in Arnotts with my mother in law. A lovely young woman approached us from the Clinique counter and offered us a free cleanse, using their new Sonic System Purifying Cleansing Brush (Wow, that's a mouthful). This was a real treat for my MIL. The girl that done the cleanse offered to apply some makeup afterwards too. I thought this was very nice of her so as a way of showing my appreciation, I thought I would pick up a product or two while we were there.

I needed a new cleanser and without asking or going through the products in detail I just picked up a bottle of the 'Take the day off cleansing milk'. If I am totally honest I picked the cleanser the same way I pick a horse in the grand national. I picked based on colour alone. That's never a good idea!

I have been using the cleanser at home since and can you believe it's not living up to it's colour! lol Seriously, though, I'm just not mad about it. Yes, it cleanses the face and is fragrance free etc etc but I find that it leaves a kind of film on the skin that I just don't like. If you have ever used the Nivea in shower moisturiser you will know that oil and water kind of feeing on the skin. While this is beautiful and soft on the body, it doesn't work so well on the face. Anywhere near my eyes and this stuff burns!

The price comes in at €23 so I will be sure to use it and get my moneys worth but I can't see myself purchasing this product again. If you have a bottle and feel the same about it as I do, I have found using it in the shower to remove makeup in best.

What is your go to cleanser?

Kel x

Gentlebirth - A review

Greetings from the 12 week mark. I survived!!

As many of my friends and followers know, we welcomed a beautiful little girl into our family, 12 weeks ago (almost). I've wanted to write a post on the Gentlebirth program for a couple of weeks but as you can imagine with a newborn, there isn't time to pee never mind write blog posts. I want to get straight into it but before I do can i just say, I'm not an expert on labour and certainly don't claim to be. I'm not proclaiming to have found the answer to a pain free delivery nor do I want this to be a platform for negativity. I've come across articles on labour and 'coping' methods before and have found a lot of criticism directed at new mums. EVERYONES experience of labour is unique to them and EVERYONE deals with labour differently. I wanted to share some of my pregnancy/labour journey with you as I feel it might be beneficial. Nothing ventured, nothing gained as they say!

Gentlebirth:

Gentlebirth is a positive birth program that teaches you easy self hypnosis techniques that allow you to relax easily and to feel calm and in control throughout your pregnancy and labour. 

There are a number of different programs you can choose from, between pre pregnancy, pregnancy and birth. The complete box set, which includes a 200 page guide plus 8 cd's is the one I used but you could take a look at the website and choose which one suits your needs. The cost of the complete box set is €70.

My Gentlebirth experience:

DONT WORRY!! It's ok to keep reading, I'm not going to divulge all the in's and outs of my labour. I just want to give you an overview and explain how the gentle birth program played its part in my recent birthing experience. 

So, scan back 7 years to my first childbirth experience. Nothing out of the ordinary, it was your typical first birth experience.  Waters (hind waters) broke at 1pm ish. Headed into the hospital, nothing much happening but I was brought up to the labour ward and started on a drip to get things moving as there was meconium in my waters. I vaguely remember the next 14 hours. I know at about 3-4cm I was rolling around the bed, begging my hubby to get me an epidural. Obviously swearing blind that I was never having children again.! When the epidural kicked in life was sweeeeet . . . until it wore off and the pushing started. I pushed for 2.5 hours, stirrups outs, vacuum attached and out into the world came Saian. That's it in a nut shell. When I got home, unless there was 5 cushions under me, I didn't even attempt to sit down. Ouch!

From the negative to the positive . . . 

I had heard people refer to 'alternative' methods used to relieve pain and distress during labour and honestly, thought they were mad. No epidural, are these people for real...Why would you do that to yourself? 

My friend introduced me to the gentle birth program. It started with the Irish Better Birth Book. I read this book in super quick time. It was full of stories of 'gentle', 'relaxed', 'happy', births and I didn't believe a word of it. In fact, I found them so annoying. Total bullish*t, I thought. I simply could not get my head around anyone being anyway 'relaxed; during labour.

The positives are coming, bear with me...I'm just trying to get the point across to you that I was a total non believer in this stuff. I know many of you wondering about the program are probably in the same boat.

The reason I looked into the gentle birth program was because it offered calm, and I needed calm. I was in and out of hospital in the first 3 months of the pregnancy with bleeding and my nerves were shattered. I had unfortunatly experienced a miscarriage just before this pregnancy so I was extremely on edge. My friend referred to the gentle birth cd's as her sleeping tablet and I wanted some of what she was taking!!

I bought the complete box set and without reading the book or following the instructions, I started listening to random tracks. I got myself all set up, quiet room, headphones on and lay down on the bed. The particular track I first listened to was one where you visualise yourself floating out to a boat in the distance. Things started off well until my mind started doing overtime. Before I knew it, I was wondering if the waters I was now floating in were shark infested. No joke, what was supposed to be relaxing turned out to be the opposite. I got up, put the program away and almost wrote it off. 

About 1 week later, sitting watching t.v; I picked up the manual that comes with the program and it's then that I realised, there is a listening guide. Ooops... (Listening instructions)

Ok, so let's try this again.

I started using the program at 25 weeks and following the instructions, it became my single most favourite tool in pregnancy. I was sleeping, I was chilled out, and most importantly for me, it made me believe that things could be different this time around and that I could cope with labour. I had not made a definitive decision not to ask for the epidural but I had decided that I would use the gentle birth program for as long as it worked for me. 

I felt positive and ready, going up to the labour ward...Until those double doors opened and I heard some stomach churning screams. (She obviously wasn't using the gentle birth program, ha ha). Gone was the calm exterior, I was in full blown panic. I didn't think I could make it back. I was desperately trying to come up with ways to get out of there. "See you later doc, I think I'll come back another time". We all know it doesn't work like that unfortunately, so I stuck my earphones in and blasted out some of my favourite Boyz II Men tracks. It took me almost an hour but I began feeling relaxed again. Gentle birth had taught me how to calm myself down even when not using the program itself. 

Labour in a nut shell

At 4pm my waters were broke. (ARM). No progress followed so I was induced using a drip at 6pm. I chose to stand bedside and gently rock side to side. I used earphones to block out external noises and went into my little zone. I worked my way through the now familiar tracks and once I felt like I had reached the calm hypnotic state I had hoped for, I felt comfortable to switch to other music albums. Now, I'm not suggesting that you stick on any old album. I had already planned what I would listen to. Choose something that takes you to a 'happy place'. Pour moi, that is none other than the amazing Sam Cooke, of course.

Things progressed well. At one point between contractions I was side stepping to Sam Cooke's 'Twistin the night away'. (This is around the 6-8cm mark). Reflecting back to my first labour, I assumed I had a long way to go, especially since I had not started climbing the walls yet or screaming profanities at my husband! lol Boy was I wrong, two contractions later, things changed, the intensity of the contractions revved up a gear and I knew my little one was on the way. The midwife checked and I was 8cm! I could not believe it. That alone gave me the motivation to keep going. 

The next fifteen minutes consisted of sharp contractions followed by an innate urge to bear down. The pushing down seemed to take the pain out of the contraction and give me something to focus on. I'm absolutely an advocate for the gentle birth program but I am not about to tell you that my labour was pain free. There was pain...a lot...of pain, but the difference this time was that I could manage and cope with it. For that, I am grateful that I used the program. At 10 past 9 I hit the 10cm mark and at 9:16pm my beautiful baby girl was born. I felt like I was present. That's the best way I can think to describe it. After my first labour, I would ask my husband to tell me the story of what happened, as if I wasn't even there. It was such a blur of pain and misery. This time, I had control over my body and what was happening to some degree. I felt the pushes, I felt her little body move through the birth canal and watched wide eyed as she entered the world. 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't the proudest I've ever been of myself at that moment.

To end this enormous post!, what I would really like to get across is that I tried this program not believing it would be any help at all, only to discover it brings out the miracle within, literally. You have nothing to lose by trying it, and everything to gain!

Happy ever after

Just a few words on the recovery after birth. Following the birth of my first, I was very sore for a long time. My recovery this time around was much smoother, not only physically but mentally too. 

Have you used, or do you plan to use the gentle birth program?

Kel x

HOTD - 2nd October 2014

Hiya October.... You are looking fiiiiine!!

Lovely weather for October eh? All this extra sunshine has added a pep to my step. I recently signed up to a 12 week challenge (ok literally 2 days ago). It's 3 x 40 minute workouts per week and I'm hoping to drop a dress size by Christmas. I will follow up with a post in a couple of weeks and let you know how I am getting on and I'll post the details of the program incase others wanna sign up. Since having the baby my confidence has been non existent. I noticed I didn't really look in the mirror any more. Maybe this is how I managed to leave the house still wearing slippers ha ha.

With a new me on order from Santa, I decided to treat myself to a hair cut too. My hair was in bits and was falling out at an incredible rate. It was so knotty too. I got the girl that does my hair to put in a treatment before she cut it and it feels amazing. I can notice a big difference already. She uses Redkin products only and I am a big fan...just for the smell alone!

So anyway between this new gym challenge and the treatment, I didn't want to wash my hair this week. It started to look a  little greasy today so I had to tie it up. I didn't want to feel frumpy so I stuck it up in my version of a 'faux hawk'.

I'm lovin this easy updo. :-)

What's your favourite 5 minute updo?

Kel x

Slowly losing my mind

Good morning,

This blog post is the ramblings of a mad woman, it would seem. Honestly, I think I am losing my mind (a.k.a. baby brain). I have been up to all sorts of weird and wonderful things lately. I thought it would be a good idea to document them, incase of course I am losing my mind for real and also to give you a little laugh this weekend.

So there are your average everyday crazy occurrences going on around here but these 3, from this week, take the biscuit!!

1. Dropped my little one to school during the week and as I'm trying to lose this post pregnancy weight, I decided to 'jog' home. What a sight for sore eyes that was! Anyway, as I'm getting to my house there was a woman with a dog standing in off the path to make room so I was conscious of getting past her as fast as I could so as not to inconvenience her. Run past lady and dog and up the driveway I go. Stuck the key in the door...or tried to at least. Shit! There is something wrong with the lock. The key is not going in. So, as you do, I mashed my face up against the window to see if my husband was in the kitchen. No sign of him, so I knocked a few times and no answer. I turned to look for my mobile. In doing that I spot some random items in the garden that were not there earlier. Instead of this maybe setting off a few alarm bells, I proceeded to F  and blind about someone dumping rubbish in the garden. As I am about to start forensic analysis on garden items, I also spot a for sale sign in the garden....hmmmm......Who the * put that there....pause ........And slowly back away from the neighbours front door MORTO!!!

2. Pandemonium here yesterday when we discovered the dog had taken herself for a walkies. We have the cutest little maltese called Indie and she's babied by everyone in the house so you can imagine the absolute panic that set in when I realised she was missing. I was sitting on the bed feeding the baby and asked my other little girl to check on the dog. I hadn't seen her in about 20 minutes and maternal instinct must have kicked in lol. About 3 minutes later I hear a high pitched cry, so I shout down to ask whats wrong (Afraid of the answer). "Mam I can't find the dog". Faster then you can say 'jayzus', baby is off the boob and I'm tearing down the stairs two steps at a time. 
Before I fill you in on what happened next, I have to tell you that my wardrobe has consisted of tank tops with easy boob access and blouses for the last 12 weeks. Yesterday, was 'sheer' blouse day.

Queue crazy Mam... Out on to the street I went, back into the house, back out of the house. Put 7 year old on baby watch while I ran up and down asking passer-by's if they have seen her. By the way they are looking at me I'm sure they think I'm crazy. I stop for a minute to take stock of the situation and think to myself, there is a bit of a chill in the air today.....Yep...you're cringing for me now, I know...You've guessed right. In all the panic and haste, I forgot to 'pop' the boob back in. 
World please swallow me whole!!!

p.s. Doggy was found safe and sound.


3. I blame number 2, for number 3. Needless to say after the missing dog saga, I was out of sorts for the rest of the day. At about 6, I took kids for a walk. Do do do...off we head down the road. Pass a few people, as you do. Hello Hello! Something doesn't feel right...no wait, something felt very right. I was so comfortable! .... Eh yeah, that would be because I still have my SLIPPERS on!!!!!



I'm not leaving the house today..... Happy Sunday Everyone!!

Kel x

Catrice Nude Illusion Foundation - Review

Bonjour September,

Hey everyone, where did the summer go? I feel like I wished it away a bit because I wanted the difficult few weeks of having a newborn over with. Things have certainly settled down and with the school run on the daily schedule again I am trying to establish some kind of routine. I'm hoping that if I can get a bit of routine going then I will also have time to start blogging again. I really enjoy blogging and have so much content that I want to blog about but I've just been brutal at putting some time aside. Seeing the pride and work that goes into other peoples blogs inspires me. Blogging for me is the chance to chat about the things that I love, be introduced through other blogs..to the things I love and to be part of a community. The blogging community has some real characters, whose posts and twitter comments I get a great laugh out of on a daily basis.
Being on maternity leave, it's nice to feel like there are still adults in your world, especially during those night feeds!!

Anyway, back to the beautiful world of foundation!

Lately, and by lately, I mean about a year, I can not get a foundation that matches my skin. I don't know if it's my bad judgement or if I'm colourblind but I can't get the shade right anymore. Because of this I have just been using BB creams. I knew I needed a new foundation though, as I don't feel 'dressed up' on a night out if I'm just wearing BB cream as a base.

I've heard the Catrice Nude Illusion foundation mentioned by beauty bloggers a couple of times over the last two weeks, so when I seen it in the local pharmacy, I picked it up. With a wedding last week, it was the perfect opportunity to road test it.





I literally did 'road' test it. We were running late and I had to apply my makeup in the car or risk missing the I do's.

Risky business trying a new foundation on the way to a wedding with no back up plan but in lovelygirliebits I trust! I LOVED this foundation. Wow, well done Catrice.




The foundation: 

• Quite thick but spreads easily using either fingers or brush. I use the real techniques face brush. 2 pumps is plenty (for me)
• Comes with pump dispense
• Medium to full coverage 
• Smooths out skin
• Leaves skin luminous but not to the point where you forehead looks like it was shined. 
• Matte finish
• Budget friendly (Approx 8 euro-Total bargain)
• Available in 5 shades ( I picked up 020 - Rose Vanilla)

This foundation certainly won't break the bank, so if you try it and don't like it, at least you won't have to keep repaying the loan you took out of the credit union to buy it, while it sits on your makeup shelf getting dusty! I'm thinking your gonna like it . . . 

Let me know if you've used it and what you though? I'd love to hear about other magical little beauties like this one too.... So be sure to share a find or two. 

Kel x

Hello routine!

Sunday Book Review - Simon Fitzmaurice, 'It's not yet dark'

Good morning,

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching Ireland am and was introduced to Simon Fitzmaurice, his wife Ruth and the story of Simon's battle with motor neurone disease. I was immediately drawn in, not by the story of his life but how, as a family, they dealt with such a debilitating disease.

During the interview, Simon spoke about his new book 'It's not yet dark' and I knew I had to get my hands on a a copy. Lucky for me it was around the time of my birthday and my friend bought me a copy of it. I say, lucky because the book is priced at almost nineteen euro which I think is a little pricey.

With a new baby at home it took me a couple of weeks before I got the chance to pick it up. After seeing and hearing Simon being interviewed already, I think I had built up an idea in my mind of what the book was going to be like so I wanted to make sure I gave it the time and concentration it deserved.

The story . . . 

The author Simon Fitzmaurice was diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease in 2008. At the time he was given only 4 years to live. With a wife and young children at home, Simon fought the death sentence handed down to him and has defied medical opinion. In 2010, following a lung collapse, Simon chose 'life'. He chose to ventilate in order to stay alive. According to reports, home ventilation had only been successful twice before but that wasn't a statistic that would stop him from proceeding with his decision.

The book, written by Simon using an eye gaze computer looks back at the start of the disease, the early symptoms Simon experienced and in turn, how the disease progressed. In short, this is a book, based on love, human strength and the innate drive to stay alive.


Review . . .  3.5/5

Did I enjoy reading this book? ... No.
I didn't enjoy reading the book, not because it wasn't well written or have interesting content but because it scared me. It frighted me to the core. It's death and dying laid bare. I read this book while nursing my newborn and developed the most uncomfortable feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Of course, I live in the real world and know that we all die someday but on the day I picked up this book, I just didn't want to think about it. Sorry, Simon, no disrespect intended. In fact, I have the upmost respect for this family man that is fighting the fight of his life to stay with his family. How lucky they are that their husband and dad is not willing to give up on himself.

On a different day,
in a different frame of mind, this book but have had the opposite effect on me, An effect, I think it will have on you. It is the motivation we all need to wake up and grab life by the balls each and every day.

This is a quick read and will be done and dusted in under 2 hours.

Have you read this book? Let me know what you thought.

Kel x

Dream Dots Review

Morning,

It has been so long since I've been on the blog. I'm struggling to find the time to open the computer these days, never mind write blog posts. I take my hat off to those that blog full time and run a household or bring up kids. Thats seriously impressive!

So with that said, this morning while the petit monster feeds, I wanted to do a quick review of Dream Dots. I don't think I need to go into great detail explaining this product because if you are alive and breathing, then you have heard of Dream dots. The all singing, all dancing defender of flawless skin.

Put simply, Dream dots are an overnight spot treatment which help to calm, clear and heal spots. 
You can find loads of information on the product by visiting, www.dreamdotsforspots.com
I mainly wanted to blog my experience of using them.

Ok, so normally spots are not something I need to worry about. Lucky me! What happens though is that whenever I do get a spot, it resembles a big massive volcano. From what I've read in other reviews of this product, that type of breakout is exactly what Dream dots are designed to deal with.

I would now like to call exhibit A to the stand. 


Warning: Icky spot picture.

This is the culprit. Before you get any ideas that I have started growing a beard, this is the back of my neck. I know, I know, even ickier!!

Last night I applied one of my Dream dot patches directly to the spot. For me this is the selling point right here. I would much prefer to walk around with this little patch on then have that ugly spot on display. The patch reminds me of  Compeed coldsore patches. It's the same concept. Like spots, coldsores are ugly and in your face. The patches, take that raw, sore and stomach churning view away.




Fast forward to this morning and voila! Okay, so I still have an ugly spot BUT....it does look much better. The redness has certainly been reduced. There is no pain at all, whereas yesterday it was sore to the touch. you can see that whatever is in the patch, it has drawn the bacteria in the spot to a head. Instead of waiting until tonight to apply another, Im going to apply one today and feel confident that with 2 dot applications this little blither will be history. 




Hope you enjoyed the review and manage to get your hands on these little beauties soon. I know my friends are gonna love me when I start handing out these gems. 

Kel x

NOTD - Think Pink

Happy Monday everyone, 

Here's a snap of today's nails. Have a great week ya'll !!





The colours I used were:

Catrice - 28, You better think pink

Catrice - 04 Oyster and champagne

LD 2000 - 34 White

Essence color and go - 144 black is back

Essence gel look top coat

Kel x

Beautiful Belly Bar

Morning All,

I have the pleasure of bringing you an amazing little product today. When you hear people say that great things come in small packages, they were obviously referring to Lisa Heeney's 'Beautiful Belly Bar'. Lisa kindly sent this to me to try on my growing bump and I genuinely love it. 

First impressions are definitely lasting . . . 

When I mentioned to some of my pregnant friends, that this little gem was on its way to me, they were uber jealous. They had all heard about Lisa's products and have been wanting to try them for a while. This added to the build up and hype, so when the product arrived, I was afraid that I might have been left a little disappointed. That certainly wasn't the case. When I opened up the cute little storage tin, WOW, the scent of sweet orange and organic aromas that were released, made my mouth water. I was immediately transported to a holistic, calming environment. For any mom's or bumps to be, I would suggest, setting some time out from the daily grind to really enjoy this product. I had done exactly that, so after a relaxing bath, I had time to indulge this little beauty.

The bar itself is shaped like a pretty flower. 

The instructions Lisa had sent, said to remove from the tin and hold in your hand until it softens slightly and then begin spreading over your bump. I have used products like this before and they really annoyed me because unlike goldilocks, I could never get it "just right'. The products would either take way to long to soften and do the opposite and almost turn to oil. I usually end up using products like that, twice or three times max and then I just leave them there. Like most working man's, time is of the essence and beautifying yourself is awarded the least amount of time in the day. Fortunately,  the belly bar only takes about 20-30 seconds to soften in your hand, and no matter how long you spend using it, it never gets too soft. I found the best technique with this product is to soften slightly in your hand and then start to rub on your bump.Although it won't spread as easily to begin with, flip it over after 10 seconds and voila. 

Now, this product is specially designed for pregnancy bumps, but why stop there, I couldn't! My tummy was so soft, that before I knew it, I was on to legs arms and bum. I don't know if it's down to my ever increasing pregnancy size or just ageing skin but the area between my bum and the top of my legs has been really dry lately. When my other half mentioned it to me, I started putting lashings of creams and lotions on the area but nothing seemed have a lasting moisturising effect. I used the belly bar in the same way and thought "well, we'll see". The change was immediate. I'm not talking about 10 minutes later, because of course, it was going to appear soft and moisturised straight after using the product but the next morning and even the following day I really noticed a change. That change is here to stay it would seem too. I've continued to use the bar on those stubborn dry areas and the skin is so much smoother. The dry bumps have all but gone.

Something I really admired about the belly bar was the lasting effect, I jus touched on.  The specially designed ingredients, work. Lisa has done a great job pulling these products together, creating a nourishing and skin rejuvenating blend. If you were to use this product on a Monday evening and have a shower on Tuesday evening, you will still feel its softness by Wednesday. 

Ingredients:
Organic Thistle Oil, organic Shea butter, Beeswax, Organic rose hip oil, Calendula infusion, Vitamin E oil, Organic Avocado butter, Sweet orange, Lavender, Frankincense, Neroli and Benzoin.

Some reviews are really hard to write because your always trying to strike a balance between good and bad and giving an honest review. The only difficulty in writing this review was knowing when to stop. I think you will agree, it's obvious I am a big fan. 

For more information, on this product or any of Lisa's other products you can visit her website: www.lisaheeney.com

Let me know if you have tried this or other products created by Lisa. Are you a fan?

Warning: May leave you irresistible !

Kel x

NOTD - St. Patricks Day

Morning all,


Here are 4 really really simple nail ideas for today. They literally take 2 minutes but will look like you have made some effort at least to be patriotic.

Have a look through your nail collection, I was surprised by how many, green, white and orange nail varnishes I had. 

Colours used:
Catrice - I'm not a Greenager
Angelica - Emerald Isle
Sally Hanson - White


Lá fhéile Pádraig

Kel x

Rowenta Activ Volume and Shine Review

Good Morning,

This blog post is a review of the Rowenta Active Volume and Shine Styling brush. I purchased the brush back in January when I was in Munich. I was going to do a review on it back then but looking back now, I'm glad that I didn't. I'll tell you why... If I had of reviewed this product back in January when i first got it, I would have told you that it was a piece of crap and not to go near it.
Fast forward 2 months, to when I found and English speaking tutorial on it and "voila", I learned how to use it properly.
After watching the tutorial, I got the brush back out and tried it again. It was like using a new styler altogether. The first time I used it, it got totally knotted up in my hair and how I didn't end up with a bald patch is beyond me. (pregnancy is creating enough bald patches!). Anyway, as I say, when I finally figured out how to use it correctly, I realised what my problem had been. Having not used a rotating brush like this before, I assumed the brush did all the work. It doesn't! (A lesson painfully learned). You need to keep it moving constantly so that it doesn't get tangled up. Don't be afraid of it, you need to keep an element of control, especially as you are controlling the rotation of the head at the same time.

The credentials:

• This is a hairdryer and Styler in one.
• It has 2 heat settings
• It also comes with 2 separate rotation(30mm and 50mm-removable) heads, to create the style/curl you are looking for.
• 1 speed setting (left and right)
• Right/left rotation of the attachment-styling the hair in both directions on both sides of the head
• Integrated anti-static IONIC BOOSTER - Produces up to 40 times more ions, compared to the previous version (CF9220)
• Ceramic coated brushes. 

Now that i have figured out how to use it properly, I am starting to get the best out of this tool and really see its advantages. While, I will never put my Parlux hairdryer into retirement, I find myself using this brush more often. If you are travelling, this would be great to have, as it saves you bringing a big bulky hairdryer and a set of brushes for styling. 

I find the brush really great for 'second day' hair. My hair length is medium to long so can look dead and lifeless the day after my shower. This brush gives my hair a real boost and even on a  second or third day, my hair looks freshly washed. You can create great volume at the roots too.

A little word of warming though! What ever you do....be careful when using this. Just like a hairdryer, your hair, if you are not careful can get sucked into the bottom of the brush. Unlike the hairdryer which usually releases the hair if you catch it quick enough...the Rowenta is not so forgiving. Ouch..get the scissors out!

There are a number of different versions of this brush. The one reviewed today is the Rowenta Rotating Brush CF9320 Hot Air Ionic Booster White-Purple 1000W

Have you used this styler or have you got a similar one that you would recommend?

Kel x

Bebe Bijoux

Hi all,

I have so many posts to write and catch up on, but I shall start with the cutest! Over the past couple of months I have accidentally come across some amazing Irish companies and websites, which specialise in baby products. As much as I would like my child to have all of these treasures for him or herself, I'm sure I can share a few with you ha ha. The first of the new Irish baby companies, I discovered were:











Moobles and Toobles - Creators of the most adorable hand painted baby apparel. The range of bibs, vests and cute gift sets are made from 100% cotton and the ink used in the designs are water based and eco friendly. 

I've been obsessed with the designs over the last few weeks and while the website states that they will print customs colours on request, I'm holding out until Baby arrives before i send in my order. i also plan to purchase gifts for friends that are due babies this year. All designs are unique so they make a great change to the boring pack of vests you would normally grab on the way to visit a   friend who has recently given birth.



You can purchase Moobles and Toobles products from the following stores in Dublin, 
The Jam Factory, Dublin 8
Piquant Baby, Powerscourt, Dublin 2
Cows Lane Designer Studio, Essex Street, Dublin 2



You can get more information on these fab baby sets, by visiting www.mooblesandtoobles.com


Let me know if you have heard of these guys before? I'd love to be the one that introduced them to you :-)


Kel x