A Lush Outing - Lush Peterborough Bloggers Event

      I'm really excited to tell you all about this event and all the different products that we were shown!          

                       

On Friday evening myself (with my little girl Avie-Jennifer in tow as I'm her food source!) and a couple of my friends Georgina and Amy (please see their blog address at the bottom of the post) went to the Lush store in Peterborough for their first ever bloggers event!

It was late night shopping so the shop was still open to customers but that didn't make any difference to the experience. When we got there we had a wander around the store and took some pictures...I think it's time I saved up for a decent camera and not rely on my phone camera! We also met Kat, Laura and Foz it was great to meet some other bloggers.

Lisa, Grace and Carolyn greeted us with some yummy drinks to choose from and some lovely looking biscuits my choice was a funky pink swirly one which tasted equally as good! (I never did ask where they were from!) We slowly moved on to a tour of the store, now I've visited lush several times but I have to admit it's probably been to buy bath bombs for gifts for friends rather than buying anything for myself, little did I know lush isn't just all bath bombs and soap!

                                                   

Our first stop was the make up, as I have said in previous posts I love experimenting with make up and different coloured lipsticks in particular. Grace talked us through the make up on the display and she was even wearing the highlighter herself which looked lovely, I was quite taken with the lip scrubs I've wanted to try them for a while now but I wasn't aware lush even did them. The lip scrubs smelt delicious and from the three flavours of popcorn, bubblegum and mint julips the bubblegum was the top runner for me. So much so I purchased one at the end of the night.

                                                  

We moved on to the teeth section.... yes you did read that right the teeth section, if you are like me It was another  producd I didn't realise even graced the shelves of lush! Lisa showed us the toothy tabs and crushed one in her hand, you use these instead of toothpaste, chew the tab between your teeth and then brush there was an array of flavours and colours. Now some of the colours and flavours will probably make you think, but how do they even clean your teeth properly and to be honest that was my instant thought but we were reassured that your teeth feel squeaky clean after using them. We were given a few samples of the toothy tabs which I will tell you more about towards the end of this post.

          

As we worked our way around the store Lisa, Grace and Carolyn told us all about the different products and types even demonstrating them on themselves ( I don't think Lisa had a spare space on her arm for the products by the end of the evening!) we passed around several items and had a feel and a good sniff of all the various products. I've always wondered how people work in lush all day without getting a headache from the smell but after being in the store for a while it isn't as as overpowering as when you first walk in.

We also looked at the sunblocks, massage bars and shower gels that lush have to offer which is a varied range from powdered, solid blocks and liquids and I believe there is even more available online. Avie-Jennifer had also decided to wake at this point but she was as good as gold as we continued to walk around!

                                                    

The last section of the shop tour was mostly to do with hair products, there was hair products for all types and even hot oil treatments, we were given a little hair consultation at the end of the night and gifted a shampoo bar which would suit us each individually I was given Jason and the Argan oil my hair is very damaged thick and dry so I was looking forward to giving it a try, and even better these little round bars can last up up to 80 washes! For a small product I wasn't expecting it to work as effectively as it did and it lathered up loads when I used it for the first time I found it easier to lather it on to my hair rather than in my hands.

            

The final product that we looked at was the fresh face masks they were all sat on top of an icey mound and looked lovely and refreshing! Grace and Lisa also showed us how the face masks were made, the particular mask they made had actual blueberry in, that's right blueberries all mushed up what could be better than fresh product in a product. The mask also had calamine powder in it so it was a really good face ask for outbreaks as it is calming on angry inflamed skin. Unfortunately I left my sample behind so right now I can't comment on how I found it but it sounded very appealing.

       

After making the masks we were treated to a relaxing hand and arm massage using the massage bars the girls had shown us on the tour around the store, luckily Avie was still being a good girl chilling out and sucking her fingers so I sat back and enjoyed the massage thank you Lisa! A lovely end to a brilliant night. I must have been so relaxed this is why I forgot my facemask!  Whilst the others received their massages I quickly grabbed a pot of lip scrub and some fun a 4 in one product you can use in the bath or shower for your body aswell as being able to play with it, I thought it would be ideal for the boys to use when they had a bath, as it was like playdoh but with less mess which is always welcome! 

       

Before we left Lisa told us about all spa experiences that lush provide at certain locations, they sounded amazing and revitalising! We also got to see a couple of the best selling bath bombs - the experimenter and intergalactic in action they looked beautiful fizzing away in the water.

                                                   

If you were thinking about going to an event like this in the future I would definitely recommend it I learnt so much about the different products and now have a list of Products I would like and products that would be good to gift to others.

As soon as I got Home on Friday evening I tried out one of the toothy tab samples that we were given I tried the boom ones, despite it looking quite alarming having a black/greyish foaming mouth and the first taste being a bit unusual the overall experience was good and I noticed straight away my teeth looked whiter! I tried out the lime toothy tab as well and was equally impressed. I ran out of samples on Sunday, so when my friend said she was popping to town asked if she could pick me a pot up this time in boom, but next time I may go for the lime.  After explaining to my friend about them she purchased a pack for herself aswell!

So far I'm pleased with the results of all of the products I purchased my lips are definitely smoother with using the lip scrub which is a vast improvement as they have always been really dry plus you can just lick it off at the end of application! My 3 boys also really enjoyed playing with the fun in the bath and writing words with it on their bodies.

                                                

Thanks Lush I will definitely be back!

To visit lush online - www.lush.com

Georgina's blog - www.2prettylittleladies.com

Amy's Blog - www.thefiveinone.co.uk

   

But she is so cute.....

Avie-Jennifer was born in February 2016 and her brothers have been smitten with her ever since, so you will probably understand why I get the mummy guilts when I tell them to leave her alone!
           I love that they adore her, but the poor girl can't even have a feed in peace sometimes! Or she just goes off to sleep and she will get a big kiss on the head which wakes her up. Of course I'd rather this than them hitting her or other alternatives though! In fact it's really very sweet they want to show her affection, and I love to watch them all interact with her.                       

      


                    


So far I've had the reasons but mummy she is so cute, but mummy  I can't resist her, I just love her so much mummy. Avie in return seem to adore her brothers back particularly Rory. Rory is 8 and the eldest brother, he has always loved babies and is always telling me how lucky we are to have a baby girl/sister after 2 brothers I'm guessing it's a nice change! She will sit and talk/coo to him for ages. (Video on my Insta : littlelovesx4) 
Jasper is 6 and he is the main culprit for the kissing on the head thing, he is usually the one to tell me he just can't resist kissing her...which is pretty true, why are baby's so kissable! Flynn who is 4 is just so pleased when she smiles at him... Awwww she smiled at me.....she's so cute, is what he will often tell me.

I'm really proud of the sibling bond they all have with her, as always as she gets older things may alter but I'm enjoying all the love between them all at the moment even when they do wake her up!

How did your older child/children take to having a sibling? Did they find it an easy transition?

As always I would love to hear about your experiences.

Birth and C-sections

Let me start by giving you a brief background of my experiences, If you aren't already aware I have 4 children 3 boys - Rory, Jasper and Flynn and a little girl Avie-Jennifer each have been delivered by c-section and each in different circumstances!

Rory is my eldest son he was born in 2007 when I was 20. I had a textbook pregnancy and what I hoped would be a textbook labour, clearly that was not to be! After an incredibly painful 10 hours of back to back labour I had only reached 5cm and that's when things went quickly downhill. At that point I had the urge to push but was told not to as I was only 5cm, let me tell you that is not an easy thing to stop once the urge is there. Minutes later I was told to push even though I was still only 5cm, talk about confuse me whilst I had pethadine in my system! In the moments after the room went from just the midwife in it to about 10 people in there and my legs were up in stirrups, I'm sure I looked rather glamorous! What was actually happening was my cervix was swelling up and when I pushed the babies head was bouncing off it causing his heartbeat to dip and his blood oxygen levels/ph levels to be a cause for concern. There wasn't enough time for a spinal block so I was rushed down to theatre to be knocked out for a c-section leaving my mum and boyfriend not really knowing quite what to do!
             Rory was born at 10.50pm but as no one was allowed in the theatre not even my boyfriend Ben saw him when he was born. Mum and Ben went to see him in special care shortly after waiting for me to come out of theatre, Rory wasn't breathing very well when he was born so this is why he was taken down to special care, I eventually saw him at 6.30am the next morning. Unfortunately this wasn't the only time in my life I have had to visit special care which brings me to Jaspers Birth!

The picture I was given after Rory was born  

 Jasper is my second born son he was due on the 6th February 2010 but was born on the 7th November 2009 at 27 weeks gestation. With Jasper I didn't go in to labour and the only reason I was sent to hospital was after having a private 4d scan. The scan was carried out as normal but after
it had finished the sonographer mentioned that Jaspers heart has blinkered all through the scan, she
told us that it can happen at the start of as scan but didn't usually happen all the way through, she had also noticed there was fluid around his heart, lungs and in his tummy. At the time she wasn't overly
concerned and was just going to send the findings on to my midwife, however another lady that was there that day was also a midwife and advised we take the scan pictures of what they had found and go straight to be checked out at hospital. Typically I didn't have my notes with me so had to go home and Rory stayed with my mum and dad, the scan appointment was at 10.30am so we must have arrived at hospital around 11.30-12. I was monitored for an hour or so before the consultant came in and said he wasn't happy and he wanted to deliver him.....they didn't know what was wrong with Jasper which made it even more scary, although having said that I was relatively calm maybe that was shock more than anything, I was taken down to be prepped for an emergency csection whilst Ben got in his scrubs. This time I was awake and had to have a spinal block.....scary but not as bad as I had anticipated! Jasper was born at 2.05pm, the section itself was a bit of a blur and as soon as they had lifted my teeny baby out he was whisked off into the other room with the neonatal team. Jasper weighed 2lb 10oz when he was born and spent 10 weeks in special care. We never did find out the cause of the fluid that showed up in the scan.

Jasper at a day old 

 

 

When I found out I was expecting Flynn I thought I would feel alot more apprehensive and anxious,    My pregnancy was fairly straightforward with Flynn although I always measured weeks ahead when I saw the midwife! As I had had two previous c-sections I was booked in for an elective section with Flynn and at 39 weeks exactly I went in to hospital to have him, after having twos babies who I didn't get to see or hold as soon as they were born I really hoped everything would go smoothly
          Flynn was born on the 16th March 2012 all 8lb 7oz of Him! I was first to go down for my section out of 4 other ladies there that morning and it was a similar process to when I had Jasper but a little less rushed and calmer atmosphere. The spinal block wasn't any less scary the second time around or maybe it's just the thought that it will stop working mid section! Just For reassurance it didn't but these are the things that go through my mind whilst being prepped! When I was laid down
ready I did start to feel very sick which they did explain may happen but a bit of antisickness sorted
that out. I made Ben fully aware I wanted a picture when they had just lifted Flynn out, the section went well the sensation is one that I don't think I could ever describe, there is obviously no pain but I'm sure I was pulling some very odd faces during it. After Flynn was born he was taken into another room with Ben and the midwife whilst they weighed him Etc and then Ben came back in holding him and showed me not that I could see very well from where I was laid down. I didn't get to hold Flynn till we were taken back round into recovery but at least it wasn't hours later.

Flynn just after he was lifted out during csection

 

And finally my little Avie-Jennifer, Avie was born on the 8th February this year. I knew that an
elective section would probably be the route avie's birth plan would take and I was ok with that but I wanted to make sure I got as close to a birth I wanted as I could, I wanted to have delayed cord clamping and use a cord tie rather than a clamp, I also wanted to use cloth nappies from birth but
most importantly I really wanted the first hold and skin to skin whilst I was still on the theatre table. To my surprise I was the only csection booked in that day, I was 39 weeks and 2 days I explained the things I would really like to the midwife and she took it all on board. This time Ben was allowed
In whilst I was having the spinal block...it actually made me more nervous! The spinal block it's self took a lot longer this time than my previous sections and it took a second person to do it sucessfully, I did get anxious I would have to be knocked out again.
            It was the same surgeon that delivered Flynn that was delivering Avie-Jennifer and as soon as
he lifted her up and out Ben took a photo for me. Everything was nice and calm and the midwife
shouted out to do delayed cord clamping this is obviously not the done thing after a csection but due to not being under a time restraint the surgeon happily obliged,  even though he wasn't quite sure what to do with himself as he was just holding Avie above me! After the delayed cord  clamping the midwife wrapped Avie up and bought her around to show us, and then I got skin to skin straight away I was so pleased that after 3 sections I finally got my baby in my arms straight away and had skin to
skin, Avie hadn't even been weighed at that point. She remained on me and then we were moved around to the recovery room, in the recovery room I gave her her first feed. Avie was weighed shortly after that and we put the cord tie on ( it had been clamped longer to give room for the cord tie then we took the clamp off) and we put her first cloth nappy on her and got her dressed.

Avie just after being lifted out and having skin to skin 
 
 

 
The main reason I wanted to write about my experience of csections is to give a bit of an insight in how different one can be to the next, my first csection was my hardest to recover from and looking back I probably did too much too soon, my last c section I recovered from fairly quickly... But with 4 children I knew there wouldn't be much time to rest!

I often hear from close friends and from reading that csection mummies feel guilt they couldn't give
birth naturally. I've never felt this way myself, but this may be due to the circumstances around my first two deliveries and just wanting my last two babies to arrive in a situation where I felt I was more in control. To all mamas no matter the delivery your bodies grew a tiny human, YOU DID AMAZING!

I would love to hear if you have had a csection before? What was you're experience? How did it make you feel?

Nicola xx

Look Incredible Beauty Box Review May 2016

  

     

  

      

Look Incredible Standard Beauty Box

May 2016

www.lookincredible.co.uk

This is the second beauty box I have received from Look Incredible. I love all things make up and skincare and I'm always looking to try new products so after trying out another beauty box from a different company I came across the Look Incredible box. The box is delivered each month at a price of £18.99 plus postage (£2.50) bringing the total cost up to £21.49 per month.

The Look Incredible Box's best selling point for me was the full size products, in each box you will receive at least 5 full size products that you would expect to find on the high street. Now as much as travel sized products are great that you find in other beauty boxes who doesn't love a full sized product! Especially if you find a product you love! 

My first box received was in April, after being a little apprehensive due to cost of the box, I was soon pleasantly surprised with its contents and value for money. Aprils box contained brands such as smashbox that I have wanted to try for a while now - Although the product contained in the box is now discontinued from the smashbox range it gave me a idea of the quality of the brand. 

The May box contains the brands Claire's, Mac, Bare Minerals, Bellapierre Cosmetics and Korres. 

May's beauty box has a contents value of £86! 

Here is what the box contained 

Claire's Nail Varnish 10ml x3 (£3 each) - £9

Now technically you are getting 3 products here but counted as one! These Claire's nail varnishes are a good size and I have to say I am partial to a sparkly nail. I received a silver, gold glitter and rainbow sparkles. out of the three the silver was my favourite I found the gold glitter and rainbow sparkles quite hard to get a good coverage on the nail. The rainbow and gold glitter would probably work better over another colour for an added bit of sparkle.

Bellapierre Kabuki Brush - £22.50

This little brush is made from Taklon, and super soft to touch which is always nice when you are using it on your face! I have actually never heard of this brand before. It probably wouldn't have been something I would have thought to buy as I don't use many mineral powders although I have had some in the past, but also due to its size although the size isn't a bad thing! the brush itself is a good size and as it doesn't have a long handle is ideal for popping into a make up bag for on the go. 

Korres Eye Primer - £15

Perfect! was my first thought when discovering the Korres eye primer in the box, I've been thinking of buying an eye primer recently, the Korres eye primer provides a 360 degree smooth canvas around the delicate eye area, ensuring crease proof long lasting west of eye shadows and concealers. For day to day wear I don't tend to wear eyeshadow but I still get creases where my foundation and concealer seem to gather. The eye primer definitely improved this but I felt like I had to use quite a bit of product, although it could have been that there wasn't loads of product on the applicator each time I dipped it in the tube so it felt like I was using more! Although I don't suffer too much with darkness under the eyes (I'm not sure how I don't with 4 children!) I know it's a big issue for some people. the Korres eye primer says the apricot undertones instantly corrects darkness.

Bareminerals Blush 6g -  £22 

Bareminerals is a brand I have tried before although never a blusher so was excited to give it a try. I received the colour French Kiss (out of the two colours the other colour was a bronze/beige colour) which is a bright rosey pink colour which is just my style. I always find the little brushes that come with the blushes too small so used a different brush to apply. The blusher stayed put all day and looked nice on my very pale face! 

Mac Patent Polish Lip Pencil 2.3g - £17.50

I am a fan of Mac lipsticks already but have never tried this product, there was again a choice of 3 colours and it looks like I was lucky In receiving a pinky toned colour called pleasant - the colour i would have picked out of all three. The first thing with Mac products i notice is the sparkly black on the outside that already I thumbs up for me! The actual product offers the comfort of a balm with a sheen of a lipgloss and precision of a lip pencil. I have to say it's really easy to apply and being that it's like a balm I feel like it moisturised my lips whilst wearing which as I am also a keen wearer of matte products which I feel dry my lips out a bit is a nice change.

What My Verdict On This Months Box

The May box has left a similar impression on me as Aprils did, although I think the May box topped the April box. I was really pleased with the products I received, some brands contained I have heard of and use and other I haven't. But even the brands I had heard of/use I had never tried the particular products that the box provided. I feel like I have definitely had value for money this month the bareminerals blusher is worth over the cost of the box alone!  I am very much looking forward to next months box already! 

Please note these are all my own opinions, I am not a professional.

Back to blogging

After a long time away from the blogging I've decided to start writing again, now I'm not the best writer you will come across but I do like to talk! i will mostly be blogging about my life with my boys - Rory, Jasper and Flynn and my 3 month old little girl Avie-Jennifer.

My baby girl is now 3 months old and is getting so big already, I figured this is a great place to document and share things about her in particular (as well as the boys) as she grows, and comment on certain products we may use with her after 3 other children I tried my best not to buy things we really didn't need but they all like different things! Being my first girl this clothing thing is a whole different ball game although monochrome clothing is catching my eye at the moment! Avie-Jennifer is breastfed (don't worry even though I'm pro breast feeding I bottle fed my eldest little boy! I'm a firm believer of happy mummy and happy baby is best) We have also used cloth nappies on Avie-Jennifer since she was born (we also used them from 8 weeks on Flynn-they are so much easier than I thought they were going to be) as well as helping run nappy library so be prepared to see some cute nappy pictures!

I love anything beauty and hair related. Make up, skin products, and anything to help my hair be straight and long. So if you have any recommendations let me know! Although I'm no professional you will probably get to hear about a few brands I use and like as well. Have you tried beauty boxes?  I love the idea of the beauty boxes, I wish I could afford to subscribe to them all! I've recently tried the look incredible standard beauty box - https://lookincredible.co.uk/products/beautybox and I've been really pleased so far. If you follow me on Instagram I will pop a picture of the contents up every month and do a little review on my blog

This year I'm aiming to make my house more co ordinated! I think we have had the same brown curtains in my bedroom for 6 years. Asides from boring curtains, I want to add more accessories (my friend loves little plaques and her house always looks cute) although I don't know where I would put  things like plaques, I do love the modern word prints you see these days Avie has one to go on her wall from www. roryandthebean.co.uk which say 'and though she be but little, she is fierce. I keep
seeing those light boxes to go on the side that you can change the letters and messages on different occasions I'm not sure if it's the monochrome feel to them but they really appeal to me!

Instagram is one of my go to apps, documenting thing with pictures is my favourite although I can't promise I won't babyspam, I'm also slowly getting back into Twitter so feel free to follow me on both.
I'm still trying to sort my blog out and get it how I want it, so if it keeps changing appearance sorry!

Bye for now xx

 

A Little Bit Lost

So I have found this year has gone by in a blur..... Let me start from the beginning and maybe it will explain why I am a little lost!

In July last year my sister who I was extremely close to, lost her battle with ovarian cancer at the age of 28, although we knew it was coming it didn't/hasn't made it any easier to deal with, especially as she has a 7 year old daughter. I spent a lot of my time at her house and now can't bare to step inside her house anymore.

I talk about her often, and think of her everyday - I want my boys to know and remember auntie Jen and the amazing person she was, they loved her so much and although they haven't shown it in any behavioural ways I know all the change has been strange for them, we used to spend practically every weekend at her house and they saw Courtney their cousin a lot more than they do now.

Routines have changed a lot this year and we now tend to spend more time at my mum and dads house which is still great for the us and the boys get to see nanny and granddad more, I don't in general openly talk about how I feel about it all and I usually save my tears for when I'm on my own, it's just something I've always done! I do worry it makes me look cold sometimes but I guess it's my coping mechanism.

The boys keep me busy most of the time but I find some days harder than others, Wednesdays I tend to struggle more as it's a day I spent with Jen as jasper didn't have preschool. I feel so lost without her and miss her terribly and I know people say it gets easier with time but it doesn't feel like it ever will I guess It's still pretty fresh and will take a lot longer than a year.

My two youngest boys have had chicken pox recently so I hadn't been able to get out much and In turn giving me more thinking time than I needed! I messaged my friends one morning after a pretty horrendous night so probably a bad time saying I was bored, bored with life, bored without my sister!
Obviously this was intensified by stress of not being able to make my poorly boys feel better but it's a feeling that's been brewing for a while.

I'm not bored with life I think that was the wrong choice of words as I should and I am grateful I am
here to make the most of it but I am still very much lost without my sister who was more than my sister she was my best friend an irreplaceable one.

London Baby !!

Ben and I went to London this weekend, we just stayed overnight on Saturday but I'm so tired out!  I did have a good time but missed the boys who were very good boys for nanny and grandad.
       It was very busy in London and as always I'm so paranoid of pickpockets usually I keep my stuff down my bra! We went to Madame tussards where I was nearly scarred for life by the et replica! Let's just say we skipped that whole bit even the things around it I am not a fan of the little green alien! The 4d superhero show was good though.... Brainwashed by the boys and Ben. We also took a walk down by big Ben and the London eye and took some pictures to show Rory :)