MATERNITY: One of those easy to throw on outfits... (plus my bump at 18 weeks)

Being pregnant and watching my bump grow and grow is just incredible. I'm so happy that I now have a noticeable bump but it is meaning finding clothes that fit is becoming more challenging. I recently purchased this grey jumper dress from Primark for £9, with the hope it's stretchy material will last me for a couple of months. I do have some maternity clothes but I'm also just buying normal clothes that are made from a stretchy material, so there's some space to grow! I simply paired this Primark dress with New Look shoes (£8 in the sale) and black maternity tights from Mothercare (£10). A really quick, hassle free and comfortable outfit to throw on...

(Bump at 18 weeks)

Have you picked up any good non-maternity clothes for during pregnancy?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

SKINCARE: Surviving the Colder Months

I don't know about you but my skin is starting to fall apart. The cooler days and heating on always send my skin into panic mode, it starts peeling away and no amount of exfoliation seems to help. This year my skin seems to be the worst its ever been, my forehead, chin and apples of my cheeks are all beginning their peeling marathon of the winter months. But this year WILL be the year I manage these problems and sort my skin out.

I began prepping my skin, ready for the colder months, at the end of summer with finding/trying/buying a range of moisture rich products. During the summer my skin is so resilient, if I forget to moisturise (due to the relaxed holiday vibe of the summer) my skin isn't fazed. It just gets on with it. The autumn/winter is another story all together, my skin is so sensitive to any changes - whether that be weather, my skincare routine or make up I use.

I've come up with a collection of products that I've been using to try to combat the whole 'autumn peeling look'. I'm really happy with how they are all working together to help keep my skin moisturised and more resilient to temperature changes.

My 'Surviving the Colder Months' Kit:

Garnier Fresh Essentials 24hr Hydrating Day Cream - Normal + Combination Skin

This is a great daily moisturiser, which helps to hydrate those dry areas and it does keep my skin feeling moisturised all day.

Sanctuary Spa 5 Minute Thermal Detox Mask

I have noticed such a difference since using this twice weekly. When I don't have time to use it twice during a week I can really tell the difference with my skin. It has a slight warming feel as you apply it, which is always welcomed during these colder months. I don't find this mask helps with hydrating my skin but it is perfect for targeting the t-zone and doesn't dry my skin out at all.

Aromatherapy Associates Hydrating Rose Face Mask

I got this sample size free with a magazine a while ago and I've been really enjoying using this mask alongside the Sanctuary Spa 5 Minutes Thermal Detox Mask. I apply the Sanctuary Mask over my t-zone and this mask over the rest of my face. It's a light, clear gel so it's easy to use and feels really hydrating.

Nivea Daily Essentials Sensitive Cleansing Milk

In the past I have found some cleansers quite drying, an attribute no one wants during the colder months. This cleansing milk is really gentle yet effective, removing all of my make up (except waterproof mascara). It never leaves my skin feeling tight or dry, consequently making it the perfect daily cleanser.

St. Ives Fresh Skin Apricot Scrub

I think this must be one of those skincare products that has been in my weekly routine since I started a skincare routine as a teenager. It's a well loved staple by many, due to its fresh scent, fantastic ability to gently scrub away dry skin and the fact it seems to last forever. I've had this mini tube for what feels like a very long time, despite using it weekly.

Sudocream Antiseptic Healing Cream

This product is usually associated with nappy rash and babies but it's actually an excellent moisturiser for those especially dry areas. I use this on target areas that are really playing up, which at the moment is around my nose (thanks to all that nose blowing) and just in the centre of my forehead. I like to layer it on at night and allow it to soak in throughout the night. Easy, fuss free and very hydrating.

Which products do you use to get your skin through these colder months?

Helen x

MATERNITY: My Staple Style Top during the 2nd Trimester

As my bump gradually grows bigger and bigger (though I know it's still small compared to how big it's going to get) I've been struggling to find anything to wear. At the start of the second trimester I was very much in a middle phase, not big enough for maternity clothes but much too big for my 'normal' clothes. I've grown out of a lot of my clothes now, especially my extensive dress collection that go in at the waist - a no no for pregnancy. As I've been having a lot of back and muscle ache I've definitely been going for comfort over style. Trust me, when you're pregnant being comfortable becomes more important than anything else because, lets be honest, comfort isn't something that occurs very often.

I've been living in those black tube skirts from H&M, they are £3.99 and so comfortable. But I've been struggling with tops that don't require any thought processes - you can just chuck them on and go out. At 6am, when I get up for work, I don't have much time/energy/concentration to be searching through my wardrobe for a top. Hence the mass purchase of Primark long sleeved tops. They are comfortable, a good length and their sleeves are long enough for my monkey arms!

At only £4 each for the patterned ones and £3.50 for the plain ones, they are a bargain and such hassle free. I wear them with the black H&M skirts I have and that's pretty much my recent maternity style. Comfortable and easy.

^All except one have a scoop neckline - perfect for those days of nausea.^

^This is the only one with a higher neckline.^

What did/do you wear during the second trimester?

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

CHRISTMAS: Advent Calendars without chocolate?

Every year there seems to be more and more 'alternative' advent calendars to choose from. Forget chocolate or pictures, you can now get advent calendars filled with beauty products, alcohol, candles, puzzles, jewellery etc. This concept excites me greatly, I'm a massive Christmas fan and anyway of extending that excitement across the whole of December is ok with me. Generally the downside of these advent calendars is the price, too often they are very expensive for an 'advent calendar'. After searching the internet it's clear that the options are almost endless, so here's my quick guide to some of the choices. Starting with the cheapest...

Nutcracker Advent Charm Bracelet by Little Baby Company - notonthehighstreet - £16.95

Advent Christmas Tea Gift Set by Victoria Mae Designs - notonthehighstreet - £19.50

W7 Cosmetics Advent Calendar - TK Maxx - £19.99

Yankee Candle Advent Calendar 2014 - Yankee Candle - £21.99

No7 Beauty Calendar - Boots - £35 (Sold Out now)

Ciate Mini Mani Manor Advent Calendar - Ciate London - £49

12 Beers of Christmas by Best of British Beer - notonthehighstreet - £49.50

The Body Shop 24 Days of Joy - The Body Shop - £50

Elemis 12 Days of Beauty Gift Set - timetospa - £59.50

Jo Malone Advent Calendar - Harrods - £250

What would you want in an advent calendar?

I love the idea of having a new candle each day, especially when they are festive scents. I'd also love to have an advent calendar that had a different vouchers/gift cards in each day, so you can treat yourself when money is tight!

Helen x

BEAUTY: Let's Go Lashes

False eyelashes are becoming more and more popular, the designs and methods of application are constantly changing and improving. During my university years I would wore false eyelashes quite a lot, they were my more social years. When I hit the working world the number of 'nights out' dropped significantly and I found I had fewer and fewer opportunities to really get dressed up. You know the drill: a long soak in the bath, candles, planning that glamorous hairstyle and make up look, applying false eyelashes, putting on a new dress, donning a new pair of heels you can barely walk in, a final spritz of perfume and your out of the door. The whole process would take a good couple of hours and I'd enjoy every moment of getting ready! So instead of letting those 'getting ready' treats become a thing of my distant university days, I have made a conscious effort to organise/attend events that I could indulge in a good 'getting ready' session. Christmas is a staple 'I'm going to put extra effort into my Christmas Look' and so starts the make up, dress, shoes, hair product, false eyelash hunt.

This year I stumbled across a brand of false eyelashes I hadn't heard of before Let's Go Lashes. They say that their lashes are easy and quick to apply. 

The range is vast, with a lot of different styles that would suit any occasion. I tend to keep my false eyelashes looking as natural as possible. Think 'my eyelashes but better'. Let's Go Lashes do offer some less dramatic eyelashes, which are ideal for day to night events like Christmas Eve/Day/Boxing Day. 

Personally for the Flirt 3 were slightly too long for me, I found that they would tickle just below my eyebrow. This is completely personal preference though, as my friend loves having longer lashes and would have absolutely loved these! 

Regarding the ease of putting them on, I didn't find them as easy as applying individual false eyelashes but compared to other strip lashes I've tried they weren't too bad. As with all false eyelashes they are always a little bit fiddly but nothing a pair of tweezers couldn't sort out! These were also incredibly light, you can barely feel them. Gone have the days when it feels like you have butterflies hanging on to the end of your weighed down eyelashes!

What kind of style eyelashes do you like wearing?

Feel free to leave a comment :)

Helen x  

PREGNANCY: My Top 5 Tips for the First Trimester

Being pregnant isn't as easy, as I naively thought it would be, yet it's the most incredible time as well. I have relied heavily on a small range of tips and tricks that I've learnt along the way that I wanted to share with you. If only I had known about these earlier I would have probably had a slightly easier first trimester. 

(Photo Credit)

Tip #1

Once your sensitivity to smells increases, it will hit you like you wouldn't imagine! There's no questioning, 'Oh I wonder if I've got an increased sensitivity to smells?', you know, trust me. I couldn't stomach a lot of smells: fresh washing, Tom's aftershave, any food cooking, LUSH bath bombs, my own perfume etc. It was pretty hard to avoid these but I would try my very hardest! I found that wearing a light scarf that had a smell on it I could handle (a berry smell was ok for me) was a sickness saver. As soon as I could smell something I didn't like I'd smell the scarf and wouldn't end up gagging. A slightly extreme move but honestly, when I say smells will repulse you, I mean repulse and you'll do anything to get away from it. 

Tip #2 

Sitting up in bed before getting out of bed. Simple, easy to do and it would help my tummy settle before getting up for the day. I found getting up straight away at 6am would leave me feeling light headed, sick and generally not very well. For the last 2 months I've been sitting up when my alarm goes off and then getting up 10 minutes later when the snooze goes off again. I couldn't stomach eating anything at that time, so it really helped to settle my nausea and definitely worth a try if your suffering from morning sickness. 

Tip #3 

Having food with you at all times. I take a 'picnic' of cold toast, apples, bananas and crackers out everywhere I go. Even if you think your only going to be half an hour it's really worth taking food with you. For me, if I don't eat every 2ish hours then I feel so incredibly sick, eating does help to make the nausea more manageable. Sometimes I couldn't be bothered to make toast and bring it out with me but boy did I regret it an hour later when I was feeling so so sick. 

Tip #4 

Sleep with a pillow in between your legs. Very early on into my pregnancy I struggled with lower back pain, which made sleeping difficult. I found that sleeping with a normal (I say normal because it wasn't a pregnancy one) pillow in between my legs and using it to rest my tummy on really helped. It took some getting used to but it was personally certainly worth it. I do plan to get a pregnancy pillow, which offers even more support, at some point soon as my bump is getting bigger by the day!

Tip #5

At times during the first trimester I found it extremely hard to be positive, as I was feeling so sick and knew that I had at least a month and a half still left feeling like that. If only I had known how incredible the first scan would be, I would have found it so much easier. As this is our first pregnancy, it's very much the unknown, so we didn't know what to expect at the scan. We were of course mostly concerned about finding out if our baby was doing ok, which they were. It was just so special, amazing and magical seeing our baby for the first time. They were dancing around, it's just so incredible to think that they are only about 6cm but already look like a little baby! So if your struggling with your emotions during the first trimester, then I'd try to focus on the first scan because I found that it changed my outlook on my pregnancy. 

What helped you through your first trimester?

Feel free to leave a comment :) 

Helen x

MATERNITY OUTFIT: Autumn Stripes (plus my bump at 13 weeks)

Since being pregnant and looking for maternity wear I've realised just how hard it is to find flattering, stylish outfits. Asos have a good maternity range but I didn't have a massive bump at 13 weeks. I was in that awkward stage where my normal clothes are too tight but maternity clothes are generally far too big. So I've settled on 'normal' clothes that have a bit of stretch in them.

Cardigan - New Look - £17.99

Deer Scarf - Gift

Stripy Long Sleeved Top - Primark - £4

Black Tube Skirt - H&M - £3.99

Tights - Primark - £3.50

Shoes - New Look - £8 in the sale

(Bump at 13 weeks)

Feel free to leave me a comment :)

Helen x

WEDDING: Top companies that really made our wedding day!

During the planning process of our wedding we came across so many fantastic companies, brands and products that really added that something special to our wedding day. Our guests loved searching around the tipi for all of the small touches and we had so many compliments for how the tipi looked. It was so lovely and only possible with the brands and products the following companies offer...

drinkstuff

Drinkstuff are primarily a catering website that offer the widest range of products for events, catering and drinks. The service is fantastic, always such clear communication and quick delivery. The photographs on their website are also so accurate, which is something we actually found wasn't the case on a lot of other websites. You knew exactly what you were ordering with drinkstuff and it arrived looking exactly as anticipated. Perfect, as wedding planning is stressful at the best of times. We had a wide variety of products from drinkstuff at our wedding, including enamel bowls which had the potatoes in for the main course, large glass drink dispensers which had the cocktails in for the drinks reception, ice scoops and tongs for the sweet area, pale blue Kilner bottles for tap water on the table etc. We couldn't have been happier with the products and the value for money, we struggled to find anyway cheaper for the same level of quality. If you're doing a diy wedding, like ours, then I highly recommend you check out the drinkstuff website. 

^Ice Tongs and Ice Scoop^

^Glass Drink Dispensers^

^Pale Blue Kilner Bottle 1ltr^

Beanbag Bazaar

This company offer something perfect for an event or just at home. Beanbag Bazaar sell a fantastic range of beanbags, in a range of styles, sizes and colours. We opted for the Bazaar Bag Indoor & Outdoor Giant Bean Bags because we knew they'd be tough and waterproof, which they certainly are. We had always wanted a chill out area in the Tipi's, where guests could sit and relax and just take in the day. After looking into a range of possibilities we settled on the idea of having giant beanbags, as they are so comfortable and you can easily fit two people on one. They also brig out the child in everyone, which is adds a fun aspect to the event. When we recieved the large beanbags we made them up (incredibly easy!) and the put them outside to sit on and enjoy the sun. They are so comfy and can be sat on so many different ways! Tom quickly adopted one as his 'sitting in front of the tv' beanbag and has been loving it ever since. Our guests used the chill out area almost more than any other area, it was lovely to see people relaxing and enjoying themselves. The children loved them too! In fact as a result of seeing the beanbags at our wedding a number of people (adults and children a like!) have added them on to their Christmas lists! A compliment of the biggest kind. 

HuggleUp

This was a brand we came across quite late on in our wedding planning. HuggleUp are a brand that offer personalised photo prints in either Polaroid style, framed or magnets. You order through their app, which makes it so easy and quick to do. Although you do have to make sure all of the photos you want to print are either on your smart device, Facebook or Instagram. I made a private album on Facebook for the photos I wanted to print, so that it was quick and easy to do on the app. It's only £12.50 for 22 personalised fridge magnets, which is incredible value for money! I knew I wanted to incorporate these into our wedding somehow but just wasn't sure how. I already had an order of their personalised photo Polaroid prints, which I loved! Then it came to me - we'll give personalised photo magnets as our favours. It's such a personal favour and really doesn't cost much at all. We slipped then just behind our menus, so they were a complete surprise for our guests and they loved them! Everyone wanted to say how much they loved their photo and we've since seen them on a lot of our guests fridges. We used some old photos that were scanned into a computer first and others that were photos of photos. The quality was good for all of them, which really made them special. We used the Polaroid prints on the photo booth photo line, to encourage others to peg their so there too. It worked perfectly! 

(HuggleUp Polaroid prints hanging next to the photo booth)

(we slipped in the photograph magnets just behind the menu - you can just about see it poking out)

The Hanging Lantern Company

Aren't hanging paper lanterns just beautiful? Tepee's have really tall 'ceilings' so we knew we wanted to do something with that space. A popular choice is a disco ball but we felt that that wouldn't really fit in with the theme of our wedding. After searching on good old Pinterest for ideas we fell in love with the idea of having a range of paper lanterns hanging from the ceilings. We came across The Hanging Lantern Company, who sell the widest range of paper lanterns in a variety of styles, colours and sizes. Although we didn't have a colour scheme, we were trying to stick to pastel colours. We settled on white, baby blue and robin egg coloured round paper lanterns. They were just perfect hanging from the ceiling and our guests loved them too! I also love the fact that their website has so much inspiration if you're struggling to envisage what your venue is going to look like.

Off the Wall

  Off the Wall sell a range of different sized decals that can be completely personalised for your special event. The excellent thing with decals is that you can peel them off, not in a reusable sense but you can apply them to surfaces that aren't yours (i.e. a venue dance floor) and then just peel them off when you're finished. They leave no residue and add a lovely personalised touch. We had a mini decal on a large glass vase that was filled with marshmallows, next to the log fire.

Which companies help to make your wedding day extra special?

Feel free to leave a comment :)

Helen x

BEAUTY: Rio Beauty GO Laser

A while ago now I was sent the Rio Beauty GO Laser to try out - a laser hair removal treatment. I know that most women will be with me when I say how annoying and time consuming keeping yourself hair free is - it's a chore. We've all had those random sunny days we go to wear no tights and realise we haven't shaved our legs for a week or *that* vest top will have to be for another day as the underarms haven't been defuzzed in a while. I thought I could only dream of hair free days, until I read about the Rio Beauty GO Laser.

Soon after I received this product I found out I was pregnant, so couldn't really use it over the summer. Instead of letting it sit around for 9 months unused I let my sister-in-law borrow it. We checked her skin type would suit it, which it did so she began using it at the start of the summer. Very much like me, she dreamt of not having the daily faff of shaving and wanting something more permanent. This review is my sister-in-laws findings and opinions of this product, with my opinions thrown in when necessary.  

'Enjoy beautifully smooth skin every day with Rio Go Laser™. Laser hair removal for face and body hair.
GO LASER™ hair removal works by sending a laser beam to the hair follicle with enough energy to permanently disable the root without affecting the surrounding area. The result is permanent hair reduction. 
Simple to use, Go Laser hair removal is suitable for unwanted face or body hair. Just plug in and Go.'
(taken from the Rio Beauty website)

How incredibly smart does it look?! It doesn't look intimidating or overwhelming, which some may expect with a laser hair removal device. The instructions were simple and easy to follow, with clear visual instructions that meant you couldn't make a mistake. My sister-in-law said that it was easy to use and not as painful as she was expecting, more uncomfortable than painful. She tried it on her legs to start with. The results? Significantly less hair on her legs, she's not completely hair free as it takes quite a few treatments but she can definitely get away without shaving for a lot more days now. She's been super impressed with how easy it was to use, it wasn't too heavy.

One of the only downsides is that the area the laser targets at any one time is pretty small, which means covering your whole legs takes a lot of time and patience. There are two treatment modes -  scan mode that targets multiple hairs (but still a small area) and single hair mode, which does what it says on the tin. Unless the hair is on your face I can't really imagine when you'd want to target only a single hair but maybe that's just me?

Overall my sister-in-law is so pleased with the outcomes and she's going to continue using it every now and again until I want it back when our baby is born!


Do you dream of a life without the hassle of shaving everyday?


Feel free to leave me a comment :)


Helen x