Wednesday, April 27, 2016

BEAUTY: BOURJOIS HEALTHY MIX SERUM REVIEW

Product Review


Let's talk about foundations for a second. For the longest time I've struggled with finding the right foundation for my skin type.  Either they are too drying, too oily, too powdery, too yellow, too pink, too sheer, too matte...you get the idea. There is always something I usually do not like about my foundation. Maybe it is because there is no perfect for everyone type of product out there. My skin type is extremely dry. When I try on new foundations, I often find they cling to my T zone, especially between my eyebrows and around my nose. You can see the flakes on my skin, which is so unflattering.

A couple of months ago, I saw a YouTuber talk about her favorite "Drugstore" (or affordable) foundation, and she mentioned the Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum. In the United States, this is not a brand that is sold at the drugstore, but it is on the UK and I believe in Europe. I ordered mine on Amazon.

Let me tell you, this has become my favorite foundation! First of all, I have to be clear, this is a light to medium foundation. If you are looking for a matte perfect skin type foundation, this is not for you. But for me, I was looking for something light that I could wear on my day to day makeup looks. I usually go for the "no-makeup" makeup and this foundation is perfect for it. The consistency if very liquid. I find it applies best with your hands. One thing I love about it is the fact that it smells like pomegranate, but not an overwhelming scent. I got mine in the shade light vanilla and it matches perfectly. I feel like this is a dupe for the bareMinerals Complexion Rescue Tinted Hydrating Gel Creme. I used to love that foundation but lately it just doesn't stick to my skin. This formula does not break me out, and it lasts all day without disappearing from my face. My concealer also applies nicely on it and it does a pretty good job of make my skin look even. It is a bit tacky, so I lightly set it with translucent powder.

Anyways, I feel like I want to dump all my other affordable foundations in the garbage and just use this one. It looks like second skin. Just.In.Love 

I hope you found this review helpful. Until next time, stay gorgeous!



Monday, April 25, 2016

BEAUTY: COLOURPOP HAUL

Product Review

A couple of weeks ago I bought a couple of things from the new Spring Line of ColourPop. I have to say, ColourPop has become my favorite affordable makeup brand HANDS DOWN. Their products are such good quality! Highly pigmented, creamier than butter, and they last a long time! 

 

From the new collection I bought two Super Shock Shadows, one Ultra Satin Lip and a Creme Gel Colour. Here are my thoughts.

Super Shock Shadows

Luckfully

This is THE STAR OF THE SHOW! Oh my gosh! This shadow is perfection! I am usually not to fond of blue eye shadow but this little puppy is amazing! The pigmentation is amazing and it is so blendable! I absolutely love it. I have been wearing blue eyes so often after this. From their new collection, in my opinion this is the best product. 


Flower Show
This is another great eye shadow! Very pigmented, it almost looks like a mermaid tail. It is a tiny bit less dramatic than Luckfully, so maybe it can be worn more. It is a beautiful teal. Again, another great product!

 Ultra Satin Lip

Botanical
I am not a fan of this lip color! I had such high expectations about it but it just fell short. I really do not like the actual color. On the website it looked like a very beautiful peach lip color, but in reality it is borderline neon. It is so vibrant that you cannot wear it easily. The second thing I did not like about this lip color is that it gives you that white ring on the inside of your lip. It is so unflattering! This is a shade I WILL NEVER USE. :( Now, I have to say, this is very smooth formula and it doesn't feel like your lips will fall 
off like many liquid lipsticks, so I guess that is a plus.



Creme Gel Colour

Descanso
I am on the fence with this one. I have a love hate relationship with it. I guess sometimes I hate it, sometimes I love it. But I hate it more that I love it. The colour is beautiful, it has some tiny little sparkles. In paper, it is perfect for a purple cat eye. The thing I don't like is that it its a bit chalky. It is not as creamy as I was expecting it to be. I have heard their eyeliners are way better than their Creme Gel Colours. Maybe I will buy the liner and see if I like it more. 


Anyways, that's it. I would say I had two hits, one fence and one miss. I hope you find this useful, and stay tuned for more reviews. Until then, stay fabulous!

Saturday, April 16, 2016

IT'S JUST A HEMANGIOMA, GET OVER IT!

I have been debating for almost eight months on weather or not to address the very white elephant in the room, my son's hemangiomas. After months of this internal struggle, I've decided to actually write about it for one reason, to educate people about them. 

So let's begin with what is a hemangioma? A hemangioma, by Mayo Clinic's definition is a birthmark that most commonly appears as a rubbery, bright red nodule of extra blood vessels in the skin*. They are known to occur very early in pregnancy, and they are basically a cluster of extra blood vessels, that's what gives them that very bright red appearance. They do not hurt, but in some cases, can interfere with breathing, vision or feeding, depending on where they are located. Most of them fade with time (most of them gone by the time a child reaches 5 years old), although in some cases there is minimal discoloration at the site.

My son's hemangiomas are located on his bottom lip and his neck. They weren't visible at birth, but started to become visible when he was about 7 days old. We took him to a Pediatric Dermatologist who prescribed medication to treat them. Most hemangiomas do not require medication, but in my son's case, it did for several reasons. The first one being that his biggest hemangioma, the one on his lip, was big enough to interfere with breastfeeding/bottle feeding. If it would have burst, it would have been incredibly difficult to heal and feeding him would have been very hard. The second reason was that by having two hemangiomas so close together and aligned, there was a chance that he could have a third hemangioma on the inside of his throat. That third possible hemangioma could have grown and potentially block his airways. Thanks to many prayers from our family, that was not the case.

Now that I've addressed what a hemangioma is, I want to address the thing we, as parents of a child with an hemangioma, have to deal with on a daily basis. I remember when we were at the dermatologist office, he warned us about something. He said, and I quote, "when you have a child with a visible hemangioma, everyone and their brother will have something to say about it. Everyone knows everything there is to know about it, and they will be very vocal about it, so learn to mute them". At the moment I did not quite grasp what he was saying. Now that my son is 8 months old, I so get it. 

I know that most people come from a place of love and good intentions when they make a comment about it. Most of the time we hear "his birthmark is so cute", "you can barely see it" or "I wouldn't worry about it". Some people, with a smaller than usual filter in their tongue, have said something along the lines of "what is wrong with your son's lip". Very few IDIOTS, have said "you know, that mark is caused by you giving him a pacifier" or "was it your fault?". My husband and I have learned with time to tune them out. 

To be quite honest, most of the time, I don't even notice my son's mark. I am with him 24/7 so I am so used to it by now, I just don't see it. But what gets me every time someone makes a nice, not so nice or plain uneducated remark, is that my heart breaks a little for my little man. Not because I think he has a disability, which he does not, or because it looks ugly, but because it makes me realize, that it is still there and it is the first thing people see when they see my son. They notice that first, instead of what a happy little boy he is, how beautiful his almond blue eyes are, or his incredible huge smile. I know that in three years time, we will not be able to see where his hemangiomas where. They will be a faint memory in us but not in him. 

We could edit his pictures if we wanted. Erase any evidence that he has a mark on his face. After all, he will not remember it. We could spare us a world of questions and stupid comments from people that don't know any better. But we do not want to do this. I do not want to teach my son that he needs to change his appearance in order to fit in. I hope that when he grows up and sees his baby pictures, he realizes that we loved him no matter what and accepted his mark. I think it is the most beautiful little lip in this whole world. I don't care that he is different, as a matter of fact, I have embraced it. One day, when he is a grown man, hopefully he will know that beauty comes in every shape and form, and that you should judge people for who they are and their character and not by how they look. 

Until my son's hemangioma fades, I will try to educate those who are truly curious about his mark, and to all the idiots that have a not so nice comment, I will just ignore them.

My son's lip hemangioma when he was 4 months old.

*Mayo Clinic hemangioma definition: http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/hemangioma/basics/definition/CON-20028587




 

Monday, April 11, 2016

MOMMY BLOG: WEANING WEEK 11

Hi there! This will probably be my last weaning blog before completely weaning my son! Like last week I am only nursing my son once a day, in the morning. Not much has changed this week. My body is used to this new schedule and so is my son! I have decided to extend this schedule for at least a couple of weeks, since I (mommy not baby) are not ready to stop breastfeeding. 

So, this is a short one! I have loved nursing my son, something I did not expect to happen. I only planned to nurse him for 6 months but here I am, my son is 8 months old and I am just not ready to give up that relationship just yet. 

There is something so special about breastfeeding for a mother and her son. For me, I just love seeing him drift off and fall asleep. Look at his long eyelashes while he nurses. He also puts his hand on my face while he nurses, which tugs at my heart! He is such an energetic boy and so independent, except when he nurses, when all he wants is mommy and cuddles. I just cannot let go of that at the moment. 

Until I can prepare myself to let go of that, I will keep nursing him in the mornings, cuddle for a couple of hours after that and make this bond even stronger. 

Hugs, Frances

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

BEAUTY: VIBRANT BLUE SMOKEY EYE

Last week I ordered several things from ColourPop Cosmetics and one of them was a gorgeous SuperShock Shadow called "Luckfully". I was so excited to receive the package yesterday so this morning I had to play with that gorgeous shadow!! I will be doing a full haul/review post soon! This is the look I came up with! 


Face
Primer: Physicians Formula Argan Wear Argan Oil
Foundation: Bourjois Healthy Mix Serum in the Shade Light Vanilla
Concealer: Mac Pro Longwear Concealer in the shade NW15
Under eye setting powder: Rimmel London Stay Matte Pressed Powder in the shade Natural
Countour: Tarte Amazonian Clay Waterproof Bronzer
Blush: Coastal Scents 10 Blush Shade (no name but the Peach Color 
Highlight: Physicians Formula Nude Wear Touch of Glow Palette in Light

Eyes:
All over the lid: Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Palette shade "super mom"
Crease: first Tartelette in Bloom Palette shade "smarty pants" then Tartelette Amazonian Clay Matte Palette  shade "natural beauty"
All over the lid (base): NYX Extreme Shine Eye Liner in "Gun Metal" and then ColourPop Super Shock Shadow shade "Luckfully"
Crease: (after Luckfully) Tartelette in Bloom Palette shade "rebel"
 Brow bone Highlight: Tartelette in Bloom Palette shade "charmer" 
Inner Corner: ColourPop Super Shock Shadow shade "Lovely"
Mascara: Benefit they're Real Mascara 
Falsies: Ardel Natural Demi Wispies Black
Tightline: Maybeline Master Precise Skinny Gel Pencil in Black 

Lips:
Urban Decay Revolution lipgloss in the shade Kinky

A quick guide of how I achieved the eyelook. I first applied super mom all over the lid. After that I applied smary pants on my crease and then I followed with natural beauty to intensify that brown. Then I applied tape to my outer corner because I wanted a very defined cat eye. I went with NYX eyeliner in gun metal and applied it all over my lid as a base for my eyeshadow. I wanted my eye to be very dark. Then I blended the liner with a fluffy blush so there were no harsh lines. After that I applied Luckfully with a synthetic flat brush all over the lid. After that I went in again with natural beauty and blended all the harsh edges. After blending everything out, I used rebel to intensify the redish look on my crease and then I applied Luckfully again with my finger to intensify the color. I used charmer on my brow bone and blended it out. For my inner corner I applied Lovely with a tiny flat synthetic brush. Since my eyelashes are red/blonde I always have to tightline my eyes and use mascara even if I am wearing falsies because you can see my lashes so I applied two coats of Benefit they're Real mascara and then applied falsies! 

I hope you like this look!!

Until next time, stay gorgeous! 

 

Monday, April 4, 2016

MOMMY BLOG: WEANING WEEK 10

Hello there! Long time no bloggie! I had my father in law visiting this weekend so I didn't post a blog on Friday! But here we are, Weaning Week 10!

This week was surprisingly good. I am now only nursing my son once a day, in the morning when he wakes up. He usually wakes up around 6-6:30 am and I let him nurse for as long as he wants! I am nursing him on both breasts since if I do not do this I will be engorged by the evening and it is quite painful! I have decided to keep nursing him in the morning for more time, probably until 9-10 months. I just really enjoy our morning routine and it is so special to me. After he nurses he falls asleep with me in bed and we cuddle until 9:00am when we wake up and go downstairs for breakfast.

I am comfortable with this routine.

One thing to mention, remember when I said that my son started not wanting to nurse at around 6 months and it was a battle. We now have learned that he is lip tied, which may have something to do with the lack of patience to nurse. I am sad to have learned this, because it was a battle that I thought was my fault. Now I know that it was probably hard for him to nurse. We are going to see a specialist soon to see if he needs to be revised. That is another reason why I want to keep nursing him, since I've read it helps with the pain management after the procedure.

My heart is breaking a little bit for my son after finding out that it might have been hard for him to nurse. I experienced pain (mild) after 1 month of nursing. The first month it was excruciating pain. Now I know, it was all due to a mild poor latch. So, if you are experiencing any kind of pain while nursing or your baby is thrashing while nursing, don't just check for a tongue tie, also check for a lip tie! AND try too see a pediatric dentist that specializes on tongue and lip ties (not all of them do). Pediatricians sometimes are not educated enough on this matter.

Until next time!

Hugs,
Frances