REVIEW: Younique Moodstruck 3D Fiber Lashes+

Recently I’ve loved finding ways to relax and indulge myself a bit which don’t involve chocolate and wine (taste amazing, but stick around on my thighs for a while).  I’ve been loving a wide range of different candles over the last few months but I may have found a dangerous new area in which to spend my money!

Make up!

I’ve never much one who has gone overboard on make up, only in the last couple of years giving in to a marginally more expensive and better quality foundation. But I may have found a range that I could get really in to. Younique products seem to be extremely well wearing, are not tested on animals and also run the Younique Foundation which a charity supporting sexually abused women. Sounds like a great start…right?!

Add in one very enthusiastic and genuine colleague who in a previous life spent 10 years as a journalist with her own beauty page, is a self-confessed make-up addict and who can’t stop raving about how amazing the products are and you’ve got me thinking a bit more.  The lovely Kirsty has just launched her business page on Facebook where you can access her Younique shop to have a look at some of the wonderful products.  She’s been uploading some great little tutorial video’s and is inspiring women across Worthing to look glamorous no matter what they are doing.

Kirsty was even more generous and has given me a ‘Magic Mascara’ to try out and holy moly is this thing good! It’s sold 1 million sets since it’s launch in the summer and I think I might already be hooked.

So here’s the science stuff that you need to know:

• It will boost your lash volume by up to 400% and increase length without the need for fiddly falsies.
• It is hypoallergenic
• It features a specially designed brush to separate and define the lashes

What I really want to show you is the difference in my lashes when I wear it.

Before and after application

1. After the Transplating Gel is applied 2. With the Fiber’s attached 3. Finished eyes after locking in the Fiber’s

It’s particularly hard wearing too. I wore it on Thursday at work which turned out to be a tough day, a few tears were shed in the evening and I had rubbed my eyes in tiredness and frustrated throughout the day. My lashes?! Looked exactly the same as when I’d put them on at 6.30 a.m.

Admittedly, due to the 2 different applicators to use, it does take a few minutes longer to apply than my normal one coat mascara but if you already apply more than one coat of mascara it’s probably about the same.  I guarantee you that it makes you feel a little bit extra special and glam as you wear it, which is quite something for the tired Mama’s and teachers of the world.

I also love that there are windows on the sides of the tubes so that you can see as you are getting lower so no surprises when one morning it just stops working, not great for faking alertness!

I think my next step might be to sit down with Kirsty and decide upon a whole new make up bag contents for me, one that makes me feel more like the glam goddess which is hidden so far inside at the moment. If you want to have a look at Kirsty’s site pop over to Facebook. Those of you who are based elsewhere in the country can either put orders in through Kirsty and pay the P&P to your address (free P&P for orders over £65), or order through a presenter local to you and save on the P&P.

 

* I was given this product for the purpose of a review. All opinions are my own *

For information on other products I have reviewed visit the Review Page.

My ToddlerCalm session

I would describe Sprog as a happy, enjoyable and entertaining little boy.  As his mother I am lucky enough to be able to say that he sleeps well, eats reasonably well and plays/interactions nicely with people when he’s awake. Our relatives are always keen to tell us how lovely he is but that when we think about expanding further and having another baby, they will not be the same as we’ve been so lucky this time.

Happy, smiley boy!

I am sure that a lot of this is luck, I know that some of my closest friends have done similar things with their babies and they are not so easy to manage.  I know that we’ve probably ‘messed up’ along the way according to different theories of parenting. I also know that we are very conscious of trying to do the ‘right’ thing in our minds by him.

I’ve been struggling for a while with the concept of development come your baby’s 1st birthday.  It felt to me like up to that point, we had a checklist of things they were meant to achieve and then there was very little guidance about what developmental milestones were to be hit and when.

What I’m sure all parents realise is that somewhere between 12 and 24 months, the baby becomes a toddler, and the toddler (can) become very, VERY loud and maybe, just maybe throw the odd tantrum.  Who am I kidding?! Even my pleasant natured, happy little man can throw the mother of all screaming hissy fits should he desire.  The kind where there’s the silent scream, mouth wide open, eyes screwed closed and then… the tears!

Remember this one, when all he wanted was the slipper that he’d just put on my foot?!

We are lucky enough to have a pretty supportive ‘gentle’ or ‘attachment’ parenting network in our local area although my involvement has been limited to the cyber world as they tend to meet when I’m at work.  I started this whole parenting lark with no clue what I was doing and over time, I have found myself influencing, sometimes unknowingly, by the ideas of these schools of thought.

What could be wrong with just loving your child and supporting them through their changes in a natural and loving way?!

I attended a ToddlerCalm session in Brighton recently and I have found it so helpful to planning our way forward.  I was starting to feel lost with regards to a strategy, a plan for helping Sprog go from lovely happy toddler, to a mature, considerate and kind teen! I know that his teen’s are a long way off but I teach them… I know that what happens in their first few years, shape who they become and that it can be very difficult to change their behaviours later on.

I won’t share too many of their secrets but the session was held in a lovely little meeting room complete with snacks provided by Anna who ran the session.  We talked through our hopes and dreams for our small people and then the science behind how their brains actually work.

We talked about the feelings and frustrations of the toddler and what they need from us as parents. We discussed the ToddlerCalm way, if there is such a thing, of planning to avoid trigger situations and then handling the tantrum when it rears it’s ugly head.

I now feel much more confident as a Mama again. 

This cheeky boy is my reason for being and I feel like I can be more for him now.

The strategies that I’ve come away with may not be the complete answer, but they’ve definitely made me feel like I can forge forward and help to mould my Sprog to be the best man that he can be.

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Here’s the key things that I’m going to use and implement in our little world;

1 – Praising and noticing the effort behind a task rather than the outcome so that Sprog knows that it is important to try his best.

2 – Creating a visual timetable for his bedroom wall to avoid one of his triggers for tantrums which is his change in routine.  Not necessarily daily rhythms that are disrupted but when we have changes like me going back to work after the school holidays –  we had problems with that this time around.

3 – Giving more control to Sprog by giving him choices… these will be as simple as which socks does he want to wear, does he want a Satsuma or a kiwi, or which pattern of pants (in our cloth bums) does he want to wear.

I shall, of course, update you on how these changes are going but I think it’s safe to say that hubby and I both feel like we have more direction now and are more sure of the decisions that we are making.

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You can find out about where your nearest class is here. I did the 3 hour ToddlerCalming course with Anna in Brighton.

*I was able to participate in the class in return for my honest review of the session.  All opinions are my own*

I have also previously written about the 4 week BabyCalm course that we attended when Sprog was brand new and that has definitely shaped the parents we are, I don’t know that I would have started babywearing were it not for this course and that is something that Sprog and I still both enjoy a lot!

2014 – the complete Mama’s reflection

At the start of 2014 I had pretty much never read a blog unless I’d stumbled upon one accidentally, I had no idea that there were these lovely online communities of people who share their every day waffle with each other, I was half way through my maternity leave and, actually, I was struggling.

At the start of 2015, I am an actual blogger, I know what widgets, Tots100, linky’s and sticky posts are (the last one I’m less sure of!), I feel comforted by a group of wonderful parents online, I am fully back at work and tired beyond belief, but I am happy and motivated.

I have a great big diary (a lush, gorgeous 100 year diary) that I fill in every few months as a reflection anyway so I suppose this post is just the online, sharing version of the end of year entry.  And let’s face it, there’s only one way that I could break this down to review – blogging life, teaching life and mama life!

Blogging highs

• I have had had a blast since I set this blog up in April by finding out many weird and wonderful things from fellow bloggers.
• Being part of a parenting community. I was the first of my friends to have a baby and was totally bewildered and unsure, I love that every day I get online and share my stories and read other people’s stories of parenting highs and lows. It most definitely gives me comfort to know that I’m not the only one winging it!
• Almost 10,000 views, almost 500 twitter followers and a new love of Instagram…I’d never even been on it this time last year.

Blogging challenges

• Increasing my audience was something that stressed me out for quite a while once I realised that I quite enjoyed blogging.  Once I found some linky’s and got involved in the social media side of things though, that soon came.
• I’ve not always found it easy to post original or interesting content.  I work full time. And that’s not just 9-5 full time, that’s teacher full time which is close to 60 hours a week, if not more as well as looking after Sprog.

Teacher highs

• Honestly, just going back to work and being ‘me’ again. I loved being off with Sprog and a much more leisurely lifestyle but I felt like my brain was rotting.  Going back to work has been amazing for me.
• The social time with colleagues has given me space to be ‘me’ again and to relax.
• Surviving. There has been an awful lot of challenges. Tiredness. Complete lack of time. Being too emotionally invested in students. But the great big positive in all of that is that I am surviving and just about managing to stay on top of all of my spinning plates.

Teacher challenges

• Lack of time to do anything.  I am constantly up against a lack of time to do all my planning, marking, phone calls home, interventions with students, revision sessions, trip planning, meetings with colleagues, moderation of exam work, CPD programmes and it can feel one feeling a little inadequate no matter how hard you are trying.
• Missing my little Sprog like mad.
• I’ve actually had a really tough term with some of my GCSE students who have admitted that they don’t like History, they don’t know why they choose it, and their behaviour and effort has therefore been…difficult.

Mama highs

• So so many that I don’t know where to begin.
• I suppose the key thing is just the genuine joy and happiness that Sprog brings to my life, my husband’s life and to everyone else he meets.  He is honestly the most smiley and cheeky little man going and luckily (or not) for him, he has inherited my great big gobby grin!
• He is kissy, huggy, smiley, loving, angelic (I would only guarantee this whilst he’s asleep though), monsterous and amazing!
• He just makes my heart melt.
• Too soppy?! So how about the days out that we’ve had together – a summer and a winter trip to London, an epic adventure to America, days out at the farm, trips to the library and great baby activities. O, and making my loving group of Mummy friends!

Mama challenges

• I will just pick two things as we all know that this parenting gig is no easy one. In the last year, I have left a whole range of emotions.  Far beyond what I have felt before.  There were really low times – this time last year I was really struggling to feel ok, to want to get going and I actually felt quite useless as a Mama.  But I’ve also experienced incredible highs like when Sprog took his first steps and I’ve never cried at so many happy things! The rollercoaster of emotion is one of the toughest and best things about being a parent.
• Secondly, the utter, unrelenting and constant tiredness. Enough said.

I hope that when you sit back and reflect upon 2014 that no matter what chaos the universe has thrown at you, you can see positives and that as you plan for 2015, which we inevitably all do, you can look forward with anticipation and eagerness.  My plans involve shedding the remaining Mama tum… eek, and actually just remembering to enjoy my family as much as I possibly can.

It’s been lovely ‘meeting’ everyone this year and all that remains is for me to wish you all a fantastic New Year and a wicked 2015.

P.S.  If you’re stuck for ideas for NYE with a toddler, I came up with a few this week!

If you like what you’ve been reading, how about following me on Bloglovin’

Sparkling gnashers!

“Your teeth are looking very white and sparkly today Miss” No way?!?! What are the chances of this.  I giggled and exclaimed that I had recently been sent some whitening toothpaste to review. This was how a conversation with one of my more observant colleagues the other day – it took the rest of them 3 days to realise that I’d had a fairly large amount of hair cut off at the weekend so you’ll understand why someone noticing my teeth is a big deal!

I had been using White Glo for about a week when my sparkling gnashers were noted. It is an extra strength whitening toothpaste which includes mouthwash.  An odd concept to me as I thought that mouthwash was meant to swirl and twirl in all of the places that a brush wouldn’t reach.  I was also suspicious of the taste.  I don’t really like any flavour or brand of mouthwash so was a little apprehensive.

However, I was pleasantly surprised. After the initial shock from my taste buds that I would dare to use something that didn’t pack an almighty minty punch, the taste is rather tame and that feels ok. The obvious thing that you want from a whitening product is for you and for others to notice that your smile now has a winning flash to it.  My teeth were not particularly discoloured to begin with so for someone to actually note a change, it must be doing something well.  My only compliant with this product is that sometimes I wake in the morning with a very dry mouth as I think the mouthwash element zaps the moisture from my mouth overnight.  A relatively small issue when you could have people actually noticing that you have whiter teeth!

I was sent White Glo to review for OneChicMom.com and you can find more about the products on their website.

Almost there…

A couple of days delay in posting this but I may actually be getting better!

This morning I feel like I am much closer to the sort after ‘domestic goddess’ title. Morning nap came round again, like clockwork, and off sprog goes to the land of nod.

As his snuffles quieten on the monitor, this mama zooms off on a mission. To do all of the jobs without nearly burning the house down! (See previous post)

I managed a variety of mama jobs… washing up, preparing snacks, making my lunch, preparing his lunch, get the washing out of the machine… AND onto the line, eat something, out make up on, brush teeth… and as the hubby would say “Boom!”, I did it all!

The thing I was most impressed with?! Aside from not burning down the house (I was not leaving that stove unattended today!) I stood back, looked at the load of washing swishing in the breeze and realised that I, single-handedly, without help from hubby or my mum, had restored previously yellow, orange (both baby snacks) and blue (?!?! No idea ?!?!) stained greying clothes to crisp white, fresh specimens wafting in the sunshine and they all smelt good. A small but satisfying victory to the mama!