Wednesday 3 February 2016

Shave Balm...Face Primer??

As an avid reader of Daily Mail I was surprised to see amongst all the celebrity drama of the day an article that read the following...

'I've tried pretty much every high-end primer... this is definitely a winner': The $12 budget MEN'S shaving balm that beauty bloggers swear by to keep their make up perfect all day long

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-3420009/Niveo-Men-s-shaving-balm-beauty-bloggers-swear-make-perfect-day-long.html#ixzz3z97DNCNt






So of course I was intrigued. Im obsessed with Primer. I want to be like the celebrities where the look flawless all the time due to their primer and contouring skills (meanwhile in real world they have stylists and makeup artists...but in my mind I pretend that I can look like a celebirty/supermodel if I try hard enough...ok maybe not but we all need goals!!). I have tried a few primers and my favourite at the moment is Stila One Step Corrector. I love this primer. Its like moisturiser  colour corrector and primer in one and it looks all scientific with its triple helix modelled creme. 



Now that I am on a budget and will struggle to afford my fancy primer (ok its only $52 you might say, but to me its expensive and with all makeup it adds up, and I wear primer ALL the time). So I thought I'd try this shaver balm. $12 what have I got to lose?! Dignity and self pride by buying mens shaving balm. I purchased it as if I was purchasing tampons or condoms, I had to slip it in amongst other "normal, everyday" items i was purchasing and wouldn't be judged for. Shampoo, lipstick, tinted moisturiser, paw paw cream and amongst that would be Nivea Men's Post Shaving Balm. Ok maybe Im over thinking it but I care what people think. I shouldn't, but I do. I mean this whole blog makes me feel vulnerable and uncomfortable as it is but I want to try it, so I need to cop people's judgement and my friends making fun of me, and some of them even correcting my spelling errors. 

Back on topic Nivea Shaving Balm. Apparently it contains a high level of glycerin which acts like a glue for your makeup. Most primers don't have this ingredient according to those bloggers who few bloggers who have claimed how great this Shaving Balm is. The 'Stila One Step Corrector' does, however what the levels are in it I'm not sure. What is Glycerin you ask? I wasn't quite sure either and I felt I should have a look into this. Glycerin  is a neutral, sweet-tasting colourless thick liquid which freezes to a gummy paste and has a high boiling point. Glycerin can be dissolved in to water or alcochol but not oil. In the shaver balm it is diluted into water to not severely dehydrate the skin as if it acted along with would significantly dry out your skin making it less of a balm/moisturiser and more like a glue.

So I have been using it the last 2 days. First thing I thought it felt oily so I would suggest you don't use much more then an amount the size of no bigger then a 5 cent piece...it spreads quite nicely. It also felt more like a night cream at first but its absorbs quite nicely and made my skin feel quite smooth, more then other moisterisers I have tried. I shouldn't really be a surprised as its designed to smooth and hydrate skin after a man has shaved his chin. The one thing I did find off-putting however was the smell. Not that it was a bad smell, it was nice actually but it made me smell like a man. So I started to wonder how long the smell would stay around for and was starting to envisage people looking at me weird when interacting with me.

I decided to stick to my plan. I followed by putting my foundation on and it felt like it glided on smoothly with the shaving balm...it felt comfortable. Comfortable is a weird way to describe putting on makeup but thats the best way I can describe it. I felt it helped to keep an even complexion. Now especially since its humid I was interested to see how long my make would keep. It didn't keep all day but its kept most of the day which is longer then my Stila primer if Im too be honest. Now would I give up my Stila primer... Not just yet! It does work for me and I love it. But whilst Im not working full time at the moment I'm not opposed to the idea of shaver balm as a cheaper option so I will continue to use this bottle I have purchased and potentially buy another once its finished...

I would suggest you try it if you are game...xo

Sunday 31 January 2016

Toilet training - Does 3 days work?...xo

So Im finally back...I have quit my full time job in order to have more time with my son and my family as well as do something that makes me happy so here it goes...

So when I started to think about what was important in my life and whether full time work, or if the retail business life was for me...one of those things that was on my mind as a full time working mum was how am I meant to train my child to use the toilet. I thought I could do it all...work 5 days a week and manage to make my child want to use the toilet by simply having him sit on it once at night before bath time (because he always wee'd in the bath..genius I thought?!). He did it a few times and I did the whole song and dance routine when he successfully wee'd in the toilet.. which he loved...but was he motivated to use the toilet as opposed to the bath..no. I asked his dad to assist on his days to ensure regularity and uniformity...that didn't happen. My child was using the toilet 6 nights a week and he wasn't always going. I even had the genius idea of reading to him so he wasn't trying too hard to go and it would come naturally. Reading 'Dinosaur Roar' 5 times over was getting to me. Bath time became a massive hassle and I dreaded it.



How was I to get him to use the toilet. I started having fears that he would go to school on his first day wearing a nappy and children around him would question what the smell was when he did number twos. So when i decided to leave my full time job and change career I felt my first priority was to have my son toilet trained..crazy when I write it down. But it was important and with no help from his father I was determined to do whatever it took.

Now apparently there is a 3 day potty training "program" that people swear by. This was the first I had heard of it. I think, maybe, a friend did it a year or so ago with her toddler but thats when my boy was a newborn so I wasn't paying attention. That was long from my mind. So I researched this 3 day potty training technique and they all say it only takes 3 days to never use Nappies again. 3 days? Thats a blimp in the radar of life I can do this. I have to do this.

http://www.projectpottytraining.com/potty-training-in-3-days/

So day 1. I put on the underwear. I asked him if he wanted to go to the toilet at least every half an hour and waited until he would either say yes or he would wet himself. He wet himself. Tears galore. He hated it "Mummy fix" he said. I put him on the toilet but it was too late. I felt he didn't get it. So we kept with the same thing. I was also continuously putting him on the toilet and waiting for him to go. He hated it. I hated it. I was ready to give up. I couldn't see how this was possibly going to work. My new theory would be that he would simply wet his pants for the rest of his life and say "Mummy fix".

Day 2. He had an accident in the morning as I didn't get to him in time. However from there I would ask continuously if he needed to go with same response "No I don't need toilet". I noticed though when he felt like he needed to go he had this guilty look on his face as he was playing with his cars he would stop and look up at me as if he was hiding something but couldn't hold in the secret...so I then asked do you need to go to the toilet "Yes" finally he could say yes to the question I felt like i had asked 100 times over.  It felt like I was watching his ass all day and couldn't relax. I felt housebound. I felt like I couldn't go anywhere as it wasn't possible and wasn't a part of my mission.

Day 3. This was to be the day he would be toilet trained. I woke up thinking...as if this will happen. How do you change in 2 nights! He has been wearing a nappy for 3 years..how would 3 days make him change that. I still felt trapped. I had nowhere to go.  I needed wine...I wanted to be on my own for a minute. BUT no! I had to do this. If it doesn't work then I have no idea what I will do but it hadn't reached 3 days so it just might happen. Now we were at the point where I couldn't put him on the toilet unless he needed otherwise I feel him might have developed ad adverse feeling towards the toilet. Do you remember the scene in "look whose talking?" where Mikey goes to the bathroom during the night and the toilet starts yelling at him?! I didn't want my child to see that face from the toilet. Ok thats a bit far fetched but it had been 2 days with 1 day to go and I desperately wanted him trained to say I had succeded. I could do this as a single parent. He told him after breakfast he needed to go to the toilet. I put him on his seat and he went. I was beyond proud. I did the song and dance because I actually wanted to. I did it! But was this going to last...

Ok so its been 2 weeks since I began my 3 days of potty training and safe to say I havent had an accident since...I mean my son hasn't just in case you read that wrong?! He tells me when he needs to go and still gives me a cute smile whilst he wees in the toilet. Dork. But I love him and am proud of him. But more importantly Im proud of myself. You might say it seems silly but it is one of the hardest things I think I have had to achieve as a parent. 3 days felt like forever but realistically its only 3 days of your life and its so worth it. I recommend this method but I also suggest tailoring it to what you child responds well to as I knew my son was lazy and couldn't be bothered going that if it appeared I was forcing him he wouldn't have done it. Another thing I will admit, which may sound weird, I felt like we became closer and appreciated our time together. Its a memory I will take with me forever...ok I said that more for dramatic effect to end my story however realistically I truly appreciate my time with my son even if its 3 days watching his ass.

To those mums training their children to use the toilet...no need to stress it only takes 3 days...xo