Company Highlight: Beauty School Drop Out Cosmetics

I found out about Beauty School Drop Out Cosmetics while flicking through Instagram one day, I was caught by this picture of beautifully pigmented eyeshadows and had to find out more. I was pleasantly surprised when I found out they are a new company based in New Zealand which of course meant they are cruelty free. They have a stunning range of 29 colours that span the whole colour spectrum but since I'm not overly great at eye make up I choose some pretty basic colours to start my collection of these shadows.

T & Me
This is a beautiful Rose Gold shade that can be used in so many ways. Lately I have been wearing it alone and it really makes my blue eyes pop and seem like I am bright eyed and well rested. Which is a life saver for when I need to leave the house as no one is getting much sleep with a new born around. This shade is slightly shimmery but in a subtle way so it is perfect for daytime wear and a "no make up" kind of look.

Hot Choc
This is a matte brown shade that should be a staple in anyone's eyeshadow collection. I use it in two ways, either as a base colour on my eye lids or as an eyebrow power as it matches my eyebrows perfectly! I am yet to find an eyebrow pencil or powder that does match until now. This shade makes a great base to build or blend other colours with, I have worn it alone also for an understated everyday look.

Nights sky
I had to have this stunning black shimmery shade in my collection, it is just gorgeous! I don't wear much liquid eyeliner but I have been using an angled brush and applying this as an eyeliner over a base shadow like Hot Choc or T & Me to give it a bit of dimension. Although this shadow is black the shimmer means it can be worn day or night as it lightens the colour and doesn't make it seem so dark. When hubby and I get back to date nights I plan to use this shade in a smokey eye.

These shadows apply smoothly and there is minimal fall out from the shimmery shades. At only $8.50 per shade they are a really good way to build your eyeshadow collection and try some colours that you may not normally pick out. I have my eye on a few more that I want to try and a couple that I intend on giving as gifts. They also stock Z palletes that you can store all your single pans in and add your other favourite colours to and create a custom pallet. I hope to see Beauty School Drop Out do really well in the beauty game as they are fantastic quality and price.

If you have tried them I'd love to hear your thoughts!

9 Years on

This week marks 9 years that B and I have been dating. We meet when I was 16 and he had just turned 18. We met at a friends birthday dinner however we didn't say a word to each other that night but couldn't stop talking after we met up a few days later. He was pretty shy back then but I remember him sitting across the table from me rocking his band shirt and beanie. I thought he was really cute because he tucked a napkin into his top so that the pile of tomato sauce on his plate wouldn't get his top dirty.  It wasn't long after that we started dating and for a few years we were just a normal teenage couple, it took a while for us to move in together, I think we had been dating for about 5 years at that point but we were always together anyway, whether it was at each others houses or going away to Napier or Lake Taupo for the weekends.
I knew for a long time that I wanted to marry this boy but B being B took his sweet time in asking me but when he did 6 and half years after we met he sure did it right. A beautiful beach in our favourite holiday town, Napier, where he wondered off down a beach and wrote "Will you marry me" in the sand. Just over a year later we were married in the most beautiful day of our lives. After that we kind of didn't stop achieving things. Got pregnant and bought our first home within months of each other and then had our gorgeous baby girl.
Seeing B grow from this long haired, car crazy boy that I started dating to this wonderful, caring father and husband always brings a tear to my eyes. He has grown and changed so much in these last 9 years and we as a couple have too. Long gone are the drunken Friday nights(I think he misses those a little bit) they have made way for snuggling on the couch, watching the baby drift off to sleep. I must admit some days I miss how care free we were but having my high school sweetheart kiss me and our baby goodbye every morning is the best feeling in the world. He is working on a little
 project as an anniversary present for me that I cant wait to share with you all.

Here's a brief look at the last 9 years...

Our Honeymoon in Rarotonga

Our wedding day

Winter Skin Care Saviours

Winter can be problematic from most peoples skin, the cold, windy days can dry out skin and having heaters turned up can suck moisture right out of your skin leaving it looking dull and lifeless. For the most part I tend to stick to the same products all the time for my skincare routine however I do change out products to match the needs of my skin as the seasons change.


Morning Cleanser:
Washing your face too often can cause your skin to dry out, which in winter is something we don't want. Lately I've been using QSilica Rehydrate Energising Facial instead of washing my face in the morning since I always wash my face at night. This refreshing my skin and the added colloidal silica gives me skin a lovely healthy glow. This contains Glycine which helps your  make up stick to your skin. If I'm applying make up awhile after doing my morning skincare routine I will either give my face a quick spray or spray my brush before I apply any make up.

Morning Moisturiser:
Even thought it may not seem like the sun is around much during the winter months it is still very important to wear SPF every day. Sun damage is the main cause of ageing and unhealthy skin. Most mornings I use Skinfood SPF 15 moisturiser which is lovely and light but still protects my skin. It was hard to find an SPF that wasn't too heavy under my make up and caused my make up to slide off my face during the day but this on absorbs rapidly and is a really affordable price point.
Since having Evelyn there are many days I don't go outside at all so I have started using Trilogy Vital moisturising cream which is really hydrating and protecting which is something I need as we have our heat pump on non stop causing my skin to dry out a bit. This cream contains Rosapene, Trilogy's own special blend of Rosehip oil and Antioxidants which protect and replenish the skin. While I am only 25 it is still important to me to protect my skin against the skins of ageing while my skin is still relatively young and doesn't need to work hard to repair itself. Rosehip is fantastic for protecting and replenishing the skin for ageing. The beautiful Orange flower scent is uplifting and a great way to start the day.                                                    

Evening Cleanser:
I love to try out different cleansers, our bathroom is full of ones that I like but lately I have been using Wild flower lane Frankincense and Mandarin Cream Cleanser and I love it. The whipped creamy texture gives the skin so much moisture while the Mandarin oil helps to tone the skin. It also means you only need a small amount of product. I have been mixing this cleanser with a dry exfoliator powder but I have used it on its own and it is just as effective. This is one of my favourite cleansers I have tried in a long time and the price of it makes its even better! Read more about the Wildflower range here.

Evening Exfoliator:
Some people say not to use an exfoliator everyday however I am yet to have a problem in doing so. This The Herb Farm Exfoliator Powder in Kiwiseed and Zeolite is very gentle so that may be why my skin is coping well. That fantastic thing about this is that it is a powder and I can mix and match with a cleanser that suits my skin, this was really helpful during my pregnancy as my skin just kept changing. I like the clean feeling that exfoliating gives my skin but I always follow up with a good moisturiser even though my skin can handle daily exfoliation it is still stripping the top layer of skin, so moisturising afterwards helps to keep your skin nice an hydrated and glowing.


Evening Moisturiser:
when I first found out I was pregnant I spent a lot of time searching for a good night cream since I knew I wasn't going to be getting a lot of sleep. that's when I found the Oasis Beauty Sleep night cream, I had heard great things about it so deiced to give it a try. It is packed with brilliant vitamins and some really powerful anti ageing ingredients like Rosehip and Evening Primrose oils. It also contains Hyalurinic acid which sounds scary but it helps to get rid of the old dead layer of skin, letting the beautiful glowly new skin underneath show through. Every morning I wake up with soft glowly skin to start my day.


Mascara Remover:
Up until not that long ago I've been shocking at taking off my mascara as a separate step in my skin care routine, I always just assumed it would come off with my cleanser. However I have since been making an effort every night to actually take it off and I tend to switch between two products to do that with. Linden Leaves Soothing eye make up remover which is an oil base that glides on softly and removes every last trace of mascara or WildFlower Lane Mascara Melter is a creamy Mango butter based eye make up remover that also helps to condition the lashes and surrounding skin. I take a small amount and melt it between my fingers then coat my lashes with it. I work it into my lashes slightly then use a cotton wipe to remove it. I use these as cotton wipes as they can be reused and they save so much money. Again you only need a small amount of the mascara melter to be effective.

Eye cream
Eyes are the first place on our faces to show the signs of ageing and with the little sleep I'm getting at the moment I have been trying really hard to ensure I use an eye cream every night. I'm currently using Antipodes Divine face oil with Avocado and Rosehip oil since this is more heavy duty then the eye creams I own. The serum moisturises well yet doesn't feel too heavy on my skin. Since the skin around your eye area is very delicate, use light pressure or sweeping motions with your ring finger to apply the eye cream.

I have tried so many skincare products and these are the ones I found work best for me. Try different brands and ranges, just because something says its for one skin type doesn't mean you cant try it. The needs of our skin change every season and every year we age so change your products up and add new products when you need them.

Hair vs Hard Water

I never knew there were different types of water until we moved into our first home, we are on the other side of town from where we were renting. After the first week of being here I noticed my hair was being so difficult to mange, it was fluffier than normal at the ends and around my roots felt like there was still a mass of shampoo there. At first I thought it was the water pressure maybe not being strong enough to wash everything out properly, so I demanded a new shower head, that didn't help. I bought millions of different shampoos thinking that maybe my hormones had changed again being so close to the end of my pregnancy, they didn't work. Finally I took to Google, of course the best way to find out anything, and learnt it was most likely due to us having Hard water.

Hard water means there is more minerals in the water, mainly Calcium, Magnesium and Manganese. These cause all sorts of issues with not letting things foam as well and leave unsightly stains in your bath room. They also reek havoc on your hair and skin.

The easiest way to manage hard water is to change to non hard water by means of a shower head filter, yes that's a real thing. Easier said than done however since they only fit certain shower heads and of course ours is not one of them. In my Google research I did find some easier ways to manage hard water and its effects on your skin and hair.

1. Use filtered water to pre soak your hair and to do the final rinse. Easy enough if you have a water filter in your kitchen but not an option for most people. You can collect rain water if you are that way inclined. I tried this once and it didn't cross my mind that rain water would be cold, I'll blame that on baby brain. I never did it again.
2. Add  vodka to your shampoo. Yes, you read that right.  This is what I am currently doing and so far it has been working well. I added a shot of vodka to a full 200ml shampoo and gave it a good shake. I'm not 100% sure why this works but I have found that it helps the shampoo to lather, which is something that hard water prevents. The down side is that it can make your scalp dry which leads to dandruff, so if you can try to reduce how often you wash your hair.
3. Dry shampoo is your new best friend. I used to wash my hair every second day but now because of my vodka mix shampoo causing a bit of dry scalp I wash it maybe twice a week. The other days I use Batiste dry shampoo. This product is brilliant! It gets rid of all the excess oils and at the same time gives my hair a bit of volume back. They have a wide range of scents and a coloured one for brown hair.
4. Apple cider vinegar rinse. There is a never ending list of ways to use Apple cider vinegar and hard water is one of them. I mixed a capful into a cup of filter water and used it as a final rinse over my hair. It does smell pretty interesting to start with so I don't recommend washing your hair with this before heading out. I am a night time hair washer and the smell had completely gone by the time I woke up the morning. While it didn't leave my hair as clean feeling as I'd like it did add a lot of shine.
5. Use a finishing oil since the ends of your hair tend to get dry thanks to the water. While my hair is still damp I run a small amount of Argon oil through the ends, no higher than my ears as that tends to be where it starts gets oily. Batitse also do a spray on conditioner which I am yet to try but could also work.
6. I also found that chucking my hair up in a bun after lathering the shampoo in and letting it down in small sections helps to ensure all the shampoo is washed out. I have pretty thick hair so it takes a while but I notice the difference if I don't do it.

I'll be the first to say I am no hair expert, most days I just chuck it up in a bun because I don't know how to style my hair any other way. In saying that I did a fair amount of reading up on hard water and ways to resolve it, while these things worked for me they may not work for you. We will be installing a water filter once we re do our bathroom, which I cannot wait for!

Here are some of the sites I found most useful

• http://www.hairbuddha.net/save-your-hair-from-hard-water/
• http://www.xovain.com/how-to/how-to-care-for-your-hair-and-skin-in-hard-or-soft-water

Do you have any tricks that work for you?

Evelyn's arrival

Its hard to believe this was over 5weeks ago already! I may have forgotten some parts of her arrival since sleep these days doesn't happen much and I'm sure our own bodies force us to forget the joy that is giving birth.

On Thursday 9th June just as I hit the publish button for my hospital bag post I felt a cramp like pain. At that point I was 40 weeks and 4days pregnant and convinced I would be pregnant for the rest of my life as I had felt nothing at all until that point. It was almost like period pains so I didn't think much of it, instead I kept working on the next post but not long after I got another pain. I text a friend and asked if the start of her labour felt like period pains. She instantly got really excited but we both know that first babies aren't in a hurry to go anywhere and Mum had really long labours with my brothers and I so I thought that's what I was in for. The pains were getting closer together and were starting to hurt rather than just being uncomfortable. I text Mum and let her know and she suggested to just go to bed as they were properly nothing. I packed B a bag as he was yet to do one himself and he was out sorting out some car stuff.
It had been about half an hour since I started noticing things happened and it had gotten to the point where it really started to hurt, with walking around the only thing that took my mind off the pain. I decided to run a bath and let my midwife know what was happening. Her advice was very much the same as mums, relax and rest. Easy to say but these contractions were getting very painful and I wasn't getting much of a break in between them. I must have been in the bath for around an hour by the time Brendan got home at 10.30pm, he straight away knew something was happening by the look on my face. I asked him to call her midwife and get her to come round just to confirm that I was in labour. Half of me knew I was but the other half was thinking that this wasn't like the movies, My waters hadn't broken in a big dramatic pool and surely things wouldn't happen this fast with a first baby. Waiting for my midwife to arrive I was trying to convince myself I could do this, even if this was just the very start of labour that I wouldn't give in an get an epidural. I wanted a natural birth but if it hurt this much this early on I wasn't sure if I could do it.

My midwife arrived not long afterwards and confirmed I was 4cm dilated. 4cm!! I had only been in labour for about 2 and a half hours. We decided at that point we would head into the hospital since my contractions were so close together, better to move while I at least had small breaks in-between them. B rang mum and she headed straight down to meet us at the hospital, while I manage to call my friend in between contractions and let her know. From here on the rest of my labour is kind of a blur.

We got to my birthing room and the bath was already run and all I could think about was sliding in and taking the edge off this pain. I don't know how long I was in there before I asked for the Gas and Air, which is brilliant! The only downside is it made me vomit which is also when my waters broke. At this point  freaked out as I heard my midwife say there was Meconium in the waters and I was so sure I was going to need a c-section. I remember looking at mum and I must have looked terrified as she assured me it was all ok. I guess that's the joy of watching TV, every show makes birth seems so much more medical and life and death than it really is. Meconium in the waters generally means the baby is in distress. My midwife assured me the baby was fine and checked the heart rate with the Doppler. Little did I know that was the last time I would ever hear that sound. Pregnant ladies, record your babies heartbeat! If you are anything like me you will really miss that sound.

When it came time to push I was terrified.  All of a sudden it was very real that I was having a baby and that our lives as they were would never be the same again. I had wanted a water birth so when  my midwife told me to get out of the bath and try pushing on the bed again I was sure some the was  wrong. I found out a few weeks after having her I pushed for over two hours and she had one of her hands up by her head which is what made the birth slightly more difficult.  About half an hour before she was born the midwives took my gas away in the hope I would push better, to a I was less than thrilled would not begin to cover what I was feeling. It was my only pain relief and I was convinced I couldn't do it without it. Lets just say I now understand the term "Ring of fire". At 3.02am on Friday 10th June Evelyn Florence McCabe made her grand entrance letting us all hear how well her lungs worked. At 8 pounds 14 ozs she was a pretty big girl. As soon as we had skin  to skin she settled well and even started feeding by herself not long after her birth. B and I forgot to check what the sex was until about an hour after she was born, on finding out she was a girl apparently I exclaimed "It's a fucking girl!". The whole time I was pregnant I was so sure that we were having a boy and everyone we knew who was expecting at the same time were having girls. I didn't care either way what we had and in the back of my mind had always wanted a girl. Sure she will be harder work during her teenage years but I hope that when she is older we can be as close as my mum and I are. Not to mention all the pretty dresses and shoes I get to play with in the mean time.

I was so thankful that everything had almost gone to plan apart from actually having her in the water, I got the birth I had wanted. From start to finish the 6hour labour was intents and most certainly life changing. If there are people reading this who are due to give birth soon, my advice to you is don't doubt yourself. You can do this, it sounds corny but your body knows what it is doing and the moment you start to think you can't do it is when it all gets much harder. However you choose to have pain relief or do it naturally, it is one of the most amazing experiences in your life ( I can say that now some of the mental trauma has worn off!) and it is all more than worth it at the end when you get to meet that baby.

What I packed in my hospital bag

I read so many articles on what to pack for the hospital and made several lists. After about 2 weeks of stopping and starting with my packing this is what I ended up with. It's hard to tell how long we will be there for, I have had huge problems with my iron levels already needing one iron infusion with the possibility of a blood transfusion after birth. I feel like I've packed for a holiday but a lot less tropical! Here's a glance at what I've packed

Since we don't know the sex of the baby we needed to keep the coming home outfit neutral, so this adorable little brown and white striped all in one is perfect, it is so soft too! I intend on a water birth so I included a little muslin blanket to use in the bath after our little one is born and another knitted blanket for once we head up to the wards.
The little booties are something B surprised me with early on in our pregnancy so of course they are coming with us. They are lined with sheepskin which will be perfect since our little one will be making a winter entrance.

I want as natural birth as possible so I packed a little bag of goodies to help me. Bossy Cosmetics aromatherapy stick in Comfort&Ease is packed with soothing oils that you inhale through your nose. I love these and use the Alive and Perky one on a daily basis. Lavender spray to use on myself and around the room as we cannot use candles. The Herb Farm Relaxation cream is great to use on areas of your body that are a little tender, perfect for my lower back during labour. The other essentials include Lip balm, eye drops, hair ties, tissues and so on.

Make up, of course, there is no way I am having photos taken without looking slightly less like death. I'm sure post birth this will be my last concern but right now I feel like it will help me feel more human after pushing out a human. I don't tend to use this BB cream much as ZA test on animals but there is a small amount left in the tube and it does give good coverage. The Eyes Right mascara gives a natural coat to your lashes, enough to make me look awake. The E.L.F brow tint is ideal to add a little colour and shape to my brows as the gel formula keeps them in place too. E.L.F liquid lipstick in Ruby Red which gives my lips a lovely hint of red without looking too over the top.

Samples were brilliant to pack in the bag since I don't intend on staying for a long period of time and they saved so much room!

Shampoo and Conditioner

Nappy wallet complete with Nappies, wipes, Ultrabalm(Used as a nappy cream) and Wildflower lane Nipple balm

Nursing bras and samples of nursing pads

Anything you recommend I add?

Four Favourites

Our garden in full winter effect

It has been my first full week of maternity leave this week and I have loved it! While it was a little strange not working at first, I can honestly say that I could get used to living like this! Too bad I'm due to have our baby very soon! So in the mean time I have been finding ways to fill my days before this baby decides to grace us with their presence and have even managed to get a tiny bit of study in. Winter has come full force and these cold, crisp mornings are always my favourite thing about winter, I love sitting on the back doorstep, rugged up with hot coffee in hand and take some time to just think.

Some Paris themed stationary to make studying more enticing

Little baby outfit ready and waiting

One of my all time favourite books, The Great Gatsby