Are Men The Real Expert?

I'm not going to lie... I'm not the best when it comes to my skincare, but I'm trying to get better! Especially since I have noticed that after having Harley, the texture and condition of my skin has changed dramatically.
Before becoming a mum I had little to no problems with breakouts, however now I find I get a lot more spots and a lot more texture to my skin specifically targeting my forehead, and it drives me INSANE!!

So I wanted to introduce something to my skincare that was quick, easy and also affordable.  I had every intention of heading out to go to the shops and have a look at all my options so I popped into the shower and I noticed one of Bertos facial washes, so I gave it a go and I AM IN LOVE! The source of my love? The L'Oréal Men's Expert Black Charcoal Wash Multi Action Purifier (and we thought women were bad for naming products).  I used a pea sized amount to a wet face to create a refreshing frothy lather. I left the lather on my face for around a minute and then simply washed it off. Simple.
The charcoal acts like a magnet to pull out any impurities from your skin while the menthol scent gives you that freshness to kick start your day. I'm usually not a fan of menthol but this is devine!
When I washed the product from my face, my skin was squeaky clean, I mean SQUEAKY clean!

I know this is technically a men's product and people will think I'm crazy but I swear, I have seen a huge difference in my skin after using this face wash every second day for the guts of the past year. I don't get half as many spots, barely any blackheads and my texture issue on my forehead has definitely decreased. Not disappeared but definitely decreased. I love it so much that I have repurchased twice now and a bottle will last me around 4-5 months because you only need such a small amount for your whole face. Also at around €8 you really can't go wrong. You can buy this product here

However, please don't try this for the first time if you are planning a night out or a special occasion in the next few days. This product is designed to pull any underlying spots or blackheads to the surface of your skin so be prepared! I know that nobody wants spots but this does mean that it's working. You want the first couple of times you use it to get rid of all that gunk in your skin and then to be using it to maintain this clear complexion.

You'll thank me later! Let me know if you try it!

Jen x

Festival Fun

I love festival makeup. You can be as creative or as natural as your heart desires. It really is a free-for-all and anything goes, so have fun with it!

This image has been going viral on social media this week. The stunning Brookelle McKenzie (@bybrookelle) absolutely stayed her festival creation, not to mention her Instagram feed of perfection.

So I thought I would try and re-create my own version of this look. 

I may have had to scrub this all off to go take the dog for a walk. I think the neighbours would have given me a few side eyes with this one. 

Loving Layouts

When it comes to technology, I just have to look at something for it to break. I have always hated the look of my blog and have spent countless hours trying to re-do the layout. These house were completely wasted as I simply didn't have a clue what I was doing. 

I found Kotryna Bass Design online as she was used by another blogger that I follow and I decided to purchase one of her templates. There are lots of beautiful layouts to choose from at a really affordable price for both Blogger and Wordpress. You receive the template immediately after payment and it comes with instructions on how to install it yourself. If your anything like me though and you find computer stuff like reading japanese symbols, then she also offers a free installation service which is completed within 24 hours.

I couldn't reccommend Kotryna enough. She was very helpful and she was happy to answer any of my questions. I couldn't be happier with my new layout.

Do I, Don't I?

It's a tough decision whether or not to give your baby a soother or not, and if you do, then when?

There is a lot of pressure out there when it comes to parenting and everyone definitely wants to give their two cents on what is right and what is wrong. At the end of the day, they are only trying to help but you have to learn to take people's opinions with a pinch of salt (or a bucket). You have to do what you feel is right for you as a parent to your own child.

We have been very lucky with Harley. She rarely cries, only wakes once most nights and is quite content being cuddled by anyone who holds her without making strange (I have every finger and toe crossed that it stays this way, I know babies like to change things up as soon as you think you have a routine established). Because of this, I haven't had to start her on the soother as a form of comfort. To me, this worked great as I felt that could lead to tantrums if she dropped her soother or waking up if she was using it to help her sleep. 

However, the past week Harley has discovered her hands. Every time I turn around, there she is, hand in mouth and dribble everywhere (I think she is beginning to teeth). 

Harley has been on her soother a week now and she loves it. I have to admit, she looks super cute with it.

Enough with the Excuses

I think it's time to stop with the excuses. Yesterday was officially day one of a new healthy diet and a solid exercise routine, hopefully three times a week. 

I had a list of excuses not to be healthy so that I could happily indulge in everything that I am not allowed to have. My list consisted of:

1. I'm still recovering.

2. I will establish a routine with the baby and then I will start a diet.

3. It's selfish to focus on me, concentrate on the baby and pass me the chocolate.

4. It's March, there is no point in starting a diet when Easter is at the end of the month. I need to train my stomach with small doses of daily chocolate to prepare for the mother-load on Easter morning.

5. Cream eggs.

6. It's the 1st of April, I'm going to start. Hold on, the 1st of April is a Friday - nobody starts a diet on a Friday.

7. I've run out of excuses. Shit, I'm going to have to work out.

I am easing myself into the physical side of things because I am aware I have to be careful as you can really harm your pelvic floor if you go too hard or too heavy too soon. 

Diet will be tough for the first few days. No more sugar, only home cooked meals, cutting down on carbohydrates and lots of fruit and vegetables.

Day 2: Can't walk.

Wish me luck!

Bye Bye Baby Bump

After baby arrives, it can take a few days, even a few weeks to settle in to your new way of mom life. When Harley was around three weeks old and we had established ourselves in to some sort of a routine, it finally hit me that my bump was gone. Although I haven't shifted the inevitable baby pouch just yet (she is eight weeks old at the moment and let's face it, it was Easter last week), it suddenly hit me that I no longer had my giant watermelon baby bump.

It's a strange feeling. You're so in love with your new arrival, and so happy hat they are here and healthy, but I can't help but miss her little kicks inside of me.

By now I'm happily getting a hold of things and everything has gently clicked in to place. I am starting to know her hungry cries from her sad cries, her happy smiles from her 'I just pooped and it's all up my back' smiles and I have finally mastered the art of doing the household jobs with one hand. Just a heads up, babies have impeccable timing. Harley has a super power of knowing exactly when to wake up just as my dinner is ready. I suppose cold dinners aren't such a bad thing as long as she is happy. 

It's all a learning curve and we are learning together every day. We'll get there one day. After all, nobody is perfect. 

Wardrobe Dreaming

Wardrobe goals, something every girl dreams of having when owning their own home. I spend way too much time flicking through Pinterest and screen shotting far too many inspiration pictures. Here are some of my fave pics of things I would like to do with my wardrobe/desk area. 

Love Jen x

Seven Eleven

The chaos that is my everyday makeup bag!

 

Everyone that knows me, knows that Revlon Colorstay Foundation is my holy grail of all foundations. If you love a full coverage that doesn't budge throughout the day, then give this a shot. I have quite oily skin and not many foundations stay that well for a full day around my nose area, however, this foundation doesn't move whatsoever and I don't have to worry about powdering on the hour every hour. I mix Natural Tan and Buff to achieve the colour I like. I would say that the combination to oily version is the one that I use, I have tried the dry to normal however I found it was like water. 

I love this Mac Pro Sculpting Powder in Definitive for contouring. It's the perfect cool tone to achieve that sculpted shadow under the cheekbone. A shadow on the contours of the face would naturally have a cool undertone. Many people make the mistake of using colours that are too warm however by mixing in a cooler shade you will see an instant difference in your sculpting technique.

As I don't have much tan on today, I mixed Inglot 502 and 505 HD sculpting Powder to warm up my face and blend out my contour. 

Mac Blush in Melba is the perfect peachy tone for nearly all skin tones. My kit is never without this little gem. I also love to use this to warm up colours and blend out eyeshadows.

So when doing brows we clearly need some Queen B on in the background. I am obsessed with this song at the moment. I use Mac Dipdown Eyeliner in my brows and set it in place with Essence Clear Brow Gel which is less than €3. 

I store all of my lipsticks in my Muji Acrylic Drawers facing bottoms out so I can see what colour I am selecting.

Finally a bit of sun here in Dublin even though it is still cold out. The finished look including my essential aviators.

Love Jen xx

Easter Obesity

I'm not usually one for baking. If you bake, the usual proceedings afterwards is to eat which results in me devouring EVERYTHING! It tends to be safer for me and for the people around me to just stay clear and leave the baking altogether.

Being Easter however, I have decided what's the harm in half a dozen Easter eggs (Cream Egg of course), a huge family roast dinner (courtesy of the mother) and to make 60 triple chocolate chip chocolate cupcakes with marshmallows (yes I counted 60, I got a bit carried away and I'm not even sorry). While we are on this truth buzz, I also had pancakes for breakfast. I can feel the diabetes creeping into my body already.

For my cupcakes I used the Betty Crocker Devils Food Cake Mix in Chocolate. It is the easiest All-in-1 recipe to follow and being close to midnight that I finished these, it was just Aswel.

I used to make these all the time as a kid with my next door neighbour so it was mandatory to listen to some old school Green Day albums to relive my youth before endulging into the chocolatey madness. 

You pop all your ingredients into a big bowl and stir. It couldn't be more simple unless Betty Crocker came over to your house to physically do it herself but one can only dream! 

Once all stirred up, I clearly have a chocolate obsession so I add far too many chocolate chips into the mix to give it that extra obesity factor that I am a little ashamed of at this stage. Pop into cupcake cases, into the oven for roughly ten mins and decorate as desired.

I did have hopes of hand making teeny pink icing Easter bunnies and cute yellow icing chicks but we can all imagine how they turned out like a three year old had made them with there eyes closed using their left foot so that was abandoned quickly.

Of course I knew this was a very strong possibility so I had a backup plan of these cute pink and white heart shaped marshmallows which worked just fine.

I hope everyone has a great Easter and gets ridiculously full on chocolate so we can all feel super regretful together next week.

Love Jen

Xx

Here Today, Tartan Tomorrow

Today's essentials are a black and gold type of affair, and tartan, tartan is always welcome in my book... and my hair!

Luggage Essentials

So, with only three weeks left until I jet off to paradise, I thought I should pick up a few bits to make the journey a little easier. I popped into trusty Penneys and purchased some really cute bits and bobs to make travelling a little more organised......and colourful!

The first item I picked up was this gorgeous little silicone passport holder. My passport has been on a bit of a journey since I got it a couple of years ago and basically it's starting to fall apart. This little number will keep it protected while looking super cute and girly for only €2.

How boring would luggage be without this adorable little owl head keeping all of my contact details safe and sound. Again, only €2 and you can trust if your luggage goes on a little side tracked detour that they can find you again in style.

Last time I was in South East Asia, I learnt my lesson when it came to sunglasses. Currently there are twelve pairs of my sunglasses washed up somewhere on the coast of Thailand.....TWELVE! This time I come prepared. I got this gorgeous floral print sunglasses case for €3 and three sets of sunnies ranging between €1.50-€4. You just can't go wrong!

Where are you jetting off to this year? 

Lots of Love

Jen x