Battle of the body conditioners.

My new favourite product of 2014 so far, has to be body conditioners. I didn't know what a body conditioner was until a couple of months ago but now i am obsessed. 

I use mine in the shower, after my shower gel.  I put it on whilst standing out of the water and then leave for a couple of minutes before rinsing off.  I've found they have the added bonus of also being a great shaving lotion, so I put on and shave and by the time I've done that it's time to rinse.  After rinsing i get out of the shower, towel dry as normal and then get dressed.  No need to moisturise.

I have to admit being a working mom, I have skipped the moisturising stage over the last year as i just don't have the time. The discovery of body conditioners is something that has literally made a difference to my routine and i don't think i will ever look back.

So which ones have I tried and what are my favourites?

I started with Lush Ro's Argan Body Conditioner.  I'm a bit obsessed by Lush at the moment and the lady in the shop talked me into trying this and I took away a sample.  I've loved the product but at £15.95 i thought it was a bit pricey, so I went on the hunt for a cheaper alternatives.

That's when i came across the Soap & Glory Whipped Clean shower butter.  This is amazing stuff.  It's definitely my favourite and is the product that has got me hooked on body conditioners.  It smells nutty and leaves a lovely feel to my skin.  

After realising there was no turning back, I went and bought the full size Lush Ro's body conditioner.  Out of all the ones I've tried, this definitely is the most moisturising but I'm not keen on the smell.  So, if i could only buy one it would be the Soap & Glory but I'll probably end up alternating between the two.

In the meantime, I started seeing TV adverts for a Nivea Body Moisturiser.  It seems like the rest of the world was now talking about body conditioners.  They were half price in Tesco last month, so for about £1.60 they were worth a try.  However, I'm not impressed.  They aren't as conditioning and the smell is too Nivea like (if you know what i mean?!).   For now I'm sticking with Lush and Soap & Glory.

Have you tried Body Conditioners?  What do you think?  Let me know if you have a favourite you think i should try.

Cheerio for now
Sx

Reuben's 19 month update

Ok, so Reuben is now 19 months and i'm just getting round to his one and a half year update. I'm always late.  Expect his two year update around Christmas!

Me and Reuben in Brixham at Easter 2014

Reuben at the top of a slide

Weight: I haven't taken him to be officially weighed for months.  i think he gets a two year review with the health visitor so that will probably be the next time we get him weighed.  However, he loves getting on our bathroom scales and he did this last week and he was 1 stone 11lbs.

Height: He is definitely growing, but again no official measurement.  He is in 18-24 month clothes.

Clothes: Mainly 18 - 24 months. He no longer wears vests and most days his 'uniform' is a t-shirt, long sleeved top and a pair of blue or light grey joggers.

Feeding: Cows milk when he wakes up and at 6.00pm (when the bedtime hour starts on cbeebies).  He has his milk drinks out of a tommy tippie beaker.  He has 3 meals a day plus a couple of snacks. He doesn't eat that much generally and at nursery I often pick him up and they tell me he hasn't eaten his lunch. Top 5 meals are, Fish Fingers, Spaghetti Bolognaise, Scrambled egg, roast dinner  and Shepherd's pie.

Development: Walking has now turned into running, he can climb onto chairs and the sofa.  He dances around in a circle when he is excited.  His language has really come on in the last month and i've counted he has over 50 words or phrases (see below)

Up, more, please, no, yes, daddy, mummy, grandpa, grandma, tick tock, juice, ready steady go, toast, all aboard, ball, dog, mmm (for moo), baa, quack, miaow, peppa, duck, bird, dirty, bubble, pop, night night, bye bye, hiya, there, Nana (for banana), apple, pear, choo choo (for train), shoes on, door, ta da, uh oh, baby, one, two, three, four, Five, wee, its a phone, bowl, peas, help, turtle, goal, e-i-e-i-o (from old MacDonald), roar, ne-nah, beep, stick

Reuben has also been learning Makaton signing and can sign: more, food, drink, bath, bubble bubble pop song, wind the bobbin up song, help, pig

Activities: My working days are now Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and on those days Reuben is at nursery. On mondays and tuesdays we generally do similar things.  Mondays are Noah's ark toddler group or gymnastics centre in the morning and shopping or park in the afternoon. On a tuesday we generally go to the Long Ashton coffee shop in the morning and toddler group in the afternoon.

Favourite things: A bat and ball, balls in general, skuttle bug, books, ikea panda cuddly toy, biros and pens, stickers, slides and swings

Poo: We are averaging 2 a day.

Nicknames: Roo, sausage, monkey, poppet

Routine:  Is a little bit more flexible but a good day looks like this.

6.30am get up and milk from beaker. We generally get up between 6.00 and 7.00. 
7.30am Breakfast - cereal, half a banana and a piece of toast 

7.45am brush teeth and get dressed (and then to nursery on those days)

9.30 Snack of some sort

10.30-11.30 - Activity

11.30am Lunch. 

12.30-2.30 Afternoon nap, mostly in cot

2.30/3 - drink and small snack

3-5 Outing

5.00pm dinner
6.00pm - milk from beaker

6.40pm Bath

6.50pm  brush teeth, story (I love my mummy/dig dig digging/That's not my reindeer are favourites)

7pm bed  

Purchases: A few clothes, wellies 

Places we've been: Centreparcs Longleat, Brixham,Walsall, Shaftesbury to see Great Grandpa

Reuben making friends with the ducks at centreparcs

See you at 2 years!

Used up or given up on | November 2013

Sometimes it feels like it takes forever to get to the bottom of a product. I've had some items for years. 

I thought I'd start noting what I use up on a monthly basis, so here are November's empties. 

Used up

Firstly, it's my Loreal EverPure Shampoo and Conditioner. Usually, my conditioner lasts longer than my shampoo but this month they've emptied at the same rate. A friend mentioned to me that she avoids sulphates in products, especially hair, as they can strip it. I have to admit I never usually check the ingredients but I spotted these in Superdrug and gave them ago. I was worried they wouldn't later up, but the consistency was good and my hair felt clean and healthy afterwards. I've repurchased the shampoo, but I have a couple of other conditioners in the cupboard so I'm using them next. 

Dove purely pampering cream oil body wash. I'm not loyal to my shower gels and get a different one each time (I usually go for what's on offer). I enjoyed using the Dove, especially as my skin gets dry now we've got the heating on at home. I'm not consistent at applying moisturer, and my skin isn't dry so it's also a thumbs up. 

Given up

Sometimes you just need to call a day on products that don't work for you. This month I've decided to give up on my Wilkinson Sword Quatro razor.  It has protector bars across the razor but I find it just doesn't work well or remove my hair effectively. So although I'd bought the additional cartridges, I've decided to bin it. 

Second is a sample I got in a Glossybox a couple of months ago. Its a cleansing bar by Gamila Secret. Basically it's a posh bar of soap, and that was my issue with it. I used it a couple of times, and although it cleansed by face effectively, I just have no way of storing a bar of soap in my bathroom. I tried putting it back in the box, but this just made it soggy and left stains on my sink.  It also reminds me of my Gramdma and I just don't want to feel that old just yet. So, that has made it to my bin as well. 

See you in December (oh, just realised we are in December now! Eek better start Xmas shopping!)

Suzanne

X 

My everyday make up brushes

While I was on maternity leave, I treated myself to some new make up brushes from Real Techniques, Nanshy and Sigma.  My old brushes had seen better days and weren't making it easy for me to apply my make up easily or quickly. 

Here is a sneaky look at the brushes I use every day. 

I keep my everyday brushes in a glass jam jar on my dressing table, so they are easily accessible. I have more brushes which I store separately in an old Glossybox box. 

For my face I mainly use Real Techniques brushes. These are the best brushes I've ever used and I wish I had more! In fact I think Samantha Chapman has just brought out a new limited edition set called Sam's picks which I think I'll be adding to my Christmas wish list. 

From right to left

Expert face brush (£9.99) - I use this to apply my foundation (currently Bourjois Healthy mix)

Powder brush (£12.99) - funnily enough I use this with my powder (Rimmel stay matte) and bronzer (Too Faced bronzer)

Blush brush (£9.99) - I'm currently using a Sleek blush from a contouring palette

I bought the Real Techniques brushes from Superdrug. 

I bought the Nanshy brushes before the Real Techniques. If I had my time over again, I'd just head straight for Real Techniques. The Nanshy ones aren't bad, they just aren't as good. 

However, I do use the Flat Top Buffer brush occasionally for my foundation, the Angled Brush for contouring and the Pointed Foundation brush for highlighting. 

I bought the Nanyshy brushes from Beautystore4u.co.uk

I don't wear eye shadow every day, but when I do I use these brushes from Sigma.  I bought the Sigma Beauty Eyes kit from Cloud 10 beauty via Amazon for £53.95. 

From front to back

E05 - eyeliner brush

E65 - small angled (I use this for my brows)

E30 - pencil

E60 - large shader

E40 - tapered blending

P88 -precision flat angled (I bought this separately but have been disappointed with it.  I mainly use it to work in concealer but my fingers do a better job)

I curl my eyelashes every day.  I am currently using the Emite eyelash curler I received in a Glossybox. It does the job but I'm not fussy on my brand of eyelash curler. 

I hope you enjoyed the look into my make up brush collection. 

Suzanne x

Toe nail art, Sally Hansen Crackle

I think a lot (rather too much) about my finger nails, which I paint maybe once every two weeks. However, my toe nails are painted 365 days a year. I have this weird thing whereby I feel 'wrong' if my toe nails are bare. 

I rarely branch out from reds and pinks, but today I thought I'd give them some love and a festive feel. 

Apologies, if toes gross you out. Don't look down if you don't want to see.  I know they aren't the most attractive thing to look at! 

I went for Essie Good as Gold which I got last week for a bargain £2 from the Original Factory Outlet store in Nailsea, with Sally Hansen Crackle Overcoat in the colour Ink Splatter 08 over the top. 

The black and gold feels festive and I like the look.  I think I'm going to be more creative with my toes in future. 

Sick baby, NHS 111 experience

This week has been really tough. My son got sticky eyes and a sickness bug last weekend, and after projectile vomiting on the rug twice, in his room and down me he finally stopped being sick by Tuesday. Wednesday night he was coughing quite a lot, but I put it down to a cold as he was able to sleep through it. Everyone seems to have a cold at the moment. So, Thursday he was back in nursery.  However when I picked him up he'd had a temperature and they had given him calpol. He was also coughing significantly more. He'd lost his appetite from the sickness bug, and it had never really picked back up again. Poor thing was really not very well. 

Thursday night was awful, he couldn't sleep.  He was constantly coughing and every time he did fall asleep he'd manage about 10 minutes before the cough woke him up. My husband tried walking him in the pushchair, as we thought a more unpright position might help. But again, every time he fell asleep he just woke up coughing. 

It was 12.30am by this point and Reuben was just so tired but constantly moaning with pain. We called  NHS 111 as he just wasn't right. The lady asked us lots of questions and decided he needed to see a doctor. She made us an appointment at a health centre about 5 miles away, and by 1.30am Reuben was being checked over by the doctor. 

He gave him a thorough examination, temperature, breathing rate, oxygen in blood, capillary test and listened to his chest. He diagnosed viral bronchiolitis. Unfortunately as it's a virus all we can do is wait for his immune system to fight it. The doctor did give us a salbutamol inhaler to help with Reuben's wheezing. 

We had never used the 111 number before, but we were so grateful to the quick way we got to see a doctor and the friendliness and professionalism of the doctor at 1.30am.

Our friends have been great offering lots of advice. I didn't realise warm, humid air helped but a friend just dropped over a humidifier for Reuben's room. 

Reuben is on the mend. He still isn't eating much and wants lots of cuddles but this morning he started pulling things out the the kitchen cupboards, his favourite game, which is a sure sign he is feeling better. 

Me, Roo and Panda having a duvet day on Friday. 

Moving from Apple to Android

So, I'm making to move to Android. I've had my iPhone 4 for over 3 years, it's been my best friend and companion since the day we met. I can't remember my life without it (or how I coped!). But, after years of good service, it has now seen better days. It crashes a lot, sometimes doesn't turn on, the home button doesn't work and well, IOS 7 the least said about this the better. 

I realise the market has moved on somewhat in 3 years and the alternatives to iPhones look just as good, if not better. I couldn't face parting with £629 for the 32gb iPhone 5s so I started to do some research. YouTube is my go to research tool and I saw a lot of new posts on the Google Nexus 5, which was launched on the 1st November. The reviews were very good, and I have a friend who has the Nexus 4 and loves it, so I was sold. At £339 for the 32gb, it seems like a no brainer against the iPhone 5s (I always go sim only). 

I got onto the Google play store but it was not available until the 22nd November. I carried on and ordered and I've just had an email to say it has been dispatched. I'm so excited! 

Don't get me wrong, I love Apple and I'm currently writing this post on my iPad but I'm excited to try something different. I'm hoping I won't regret it and my favourite apps will be available. 

Can you be both an Apple AND Android lover or do you have to choose? 

I'll let you know how I get on with my Nexus 5.