My Personal Challenge

I haven’t written a blog post in a very long time. Even trying to write now seems difficult and weirdly unnatural.

So where to start?

When one difficult situation isn’t dealt with it creates some kind of a snowball effect and every setback that happens after that just adds on and things can become too much to deal with. Which brings me to the point where I am in my life right now. It brings me to my personal challenge: Getting Started.

At this point I am 25 years old and a Mom to three beautiful kids – two girls and a boy. I am unemployed and searching for my purpose in life. I love my kids and being a mom and wife. But I believe there’s more I am meant to do in my life. And I always wanted to tackle every situation in my life and felt like a complete failure when everything wasn’t sorted out when I wanted thought it should be. And I just wanted to give up and  not try to rediscover my passion. But then I just decided that I just need to start. So writing this blog is my first step in getting started.

Intially I started this blog thinking that it was going to be about beauty and fashion. And sure it will be but first and foremost I am a Mom and thats what I want to write about.

So here’s to my journey of discovery and just getting started!

Makeup Jams Vol1

I love music. I love to sing songs at the top of my voice (its not the best sounding voice if I must say so myself) and I love to dance till my body hurts. I love having music just play in my house whether I’m doing my makeup, bathing my kids or cooking (which almost never happens). Certain songs hold such special memories and when I hear a certain song I remember the long family drives down to Cape Town over December holidays, I remember my first dance with my husband at our wedding and I remember singing my daughters to sleep when they were so tiny.

So I decided that every Friday I will put together my Top 10 songs for the week that I have been obsessed with and listened to over and over again! These are usually the songs I listen to when I’m doing my makeup in the morning. I must warn you I have the craziest music taste. So if you see Backstreet Boys and System of a Down in one playlist don’t be alarmed. But I will ease you into this one seeing as it is the first one.

Have a good weekend!

Sugarpill Heart Breaker Palette: Mochi Eyeshadow

Hi Lovelies

So I wasn’t planning on doing a makeup post today but I mentioned previously that I’m taking part in an Instagram photo challenge and today’s post is: Makeup of the day. So I thought why not share my look today and the products I used to create my look.

I am crazy in love with Sugarpill’s Heart Breaker palette. Their colours are gorgeous and the pigment is insane! Its such a beautiful day in South Africa so I decided on doing a bright pop of colour for todays look.

Face products: MAC Prep + Prime MAC Pro Longwear Foundation and Concealer Ben Nye Luxury Powder – Banana Bobbi Brown Bronzer – Golden Light MAC Blush – Pinch Me Palladio Shimmer Bronzer

Eyes: MAC Paint Pot – Painterly Sugarpill Eye sahdow – Mochi Maybelline – Master Precise Liquid Liner L’Oreal Telescopic Mascara Lips: Rimmel Lasting Finish by Kate – 03 NYX Lipgloss – Ballerina Pink

So there’s my look of the day!

Hope you like it.

Lesley xx

Sunscreen: An all year round must have

This is such an important topic for me. Sunscreen is something that should be applied on your skin all year round. Living in South Africa where we basically have two Seasons all year round the sun is always out and the African sun is hot! So with Summer right around the corner I think we should brush up on why we need it in our everyday bag.

Why should you use a sunscreen?

Sunscreens are products that have a combination of several ingredients that help prevent the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays from reaching our skin. There are two types of UV rays: UVA and UVB. UVB is the main cause of sunburn. UVA penetrate the skin more deeply. This is the main cause of wrinkling and skin degeneration. UVA also increases the carcinogenic effects of UVB rays. This leads to an increase of UVB rays being a cause of skin cancer.

What is SPF?

SPF stands for Sun Protection Facto and is a measure of how well a sunscreen will protect the skin from UVB rays. For example: If your skin burns after 10 minutes in the sun, applying an SPF 15 sunscreen would allow you to stay in the without burning for approximately 150 minutes. This will depend on the skin type, intensity of sunlight and the amount of sunscreen used.

How much sunscreen should be applied and how often?

You should be applying about 30ml of sunscreen (full body amount) to ensure you get the full SPF of the sunscreen. If you are spending a day out in the sun you should be using about 50ml of sunscreen (full body amount). Sunscreen should be plied 30minutes before sun exposure to make sure the ingredients bind to the skin. Reapplication of the sunscreen should be done every 2 hours after the first application. Also, remember to reapply after swimming or if you have been sweating a lot.

How to choose a sunscreen?

1.  Look for a water proof sunblock if you plan on being in the water or if you tend to sweat a lot. This way you can ensure that you will be protected even if you are covered in water.
2. Look out for a broad spectrum sunscreen. This will protect you from UVA and UVB rays.
3. Choose a sunscreen with a SPF of at least 30. Sunscreens with a really high SPF like SPF 75 or SPF 100 do not offer significantly greater protection than SPF 30 and mislead people into thinking they have more protection than they actually do and tend to reapply sunscreen a lot less.
4. Choose a sunblock that contains Zinc Oxide or Titanium Oxide. These ingredients are able to reflect UV rays so that they are not absorbed by the skin.

Sunscreen options:

I have recently become quite obsessed with natural and organic products for the skin. I think especially since I have kids I am much more aware of what I put onto the skin. I want to look after their delicate skin and my skin the best way I can. One website that I love to browse for organic products is Faithful To Nature (www.faithful-to-nature.co.za). So here are great organic sunscreens for kids and adults:

Badger SPF 30 Baby Sunscreen

• 87ml
• Certified Organic
• Vegetarian
• R248.00

Sunumbra Kids SPF 40 Sunscreen

• 100ml
• Organic Ingredients
• Vegan
• Proudly South African
• R215.00 (current special price)

Badger SPF 30 Unscented Sunscreen

• 87ml
• Certified Organic
• Vegetarian
• R249.00

Sunumbra SPF 30 Sunscreen

• 100ml
• Organic Ingredients
• Vegan
• Proudly South African
• R215.00 (current special price)

Eco Suncare Lipcare SPF 30

• 4g
• Certified Organic
• Vegan
• R49.00 (current special price)

Don’t forget to put sunscreen on these commonly missed areas:

• scalp
• ears (on and behind the ears
• lips
• eyelids
• tops of hands (after washing hands especially)
• underarms
• back of knees
• top of feet
• back and front of the neck

So what you waiting for? Go apply that sunscreen!

Lesley xx

Black Lipstick Look: Illamasqua Pristine

Good Day Lovelies

I have been taking part in a Photo Challenge on Instagram. And Day 9 for September was just the word Black. And I thought this is quite an open topic so I decided to stick with what I know and do a makeup look. I have never tried Black Lipstick before and thought there is no time like the present. I used Illamasqua Lipstick in the colour Pristine.

So I decided to make this look all about the lips. I kept the face clean and contoured to accentuate my features. I decided to just contour the cheeks and add no blush. The eyes were also kept clean with just a hint of Black eye shadow on the outer corners. And then bam! Black Lipstick!

Products used: MAC Prep + Prime MAC Pro Longwear Foundation MAC Pro Longwear Concealer Ben Nye Luxury Powder – Banana Bobbi Brown Bronzer – Golden Light

Products used: MAC Paint Pot – Painterly Black eye shadow from Coastal Scents L’Oreal Telescopic Mascara Illamasqua Lipstick – Pristine

I had so much fun doing this look!

Till next time…

Lesley xx