Thursday 31 October 2013

Thoughts of the Month

1. I downloaded My Fitness Pal this month to help me lose my baby weight. What a brilliant app! I'm finding it so useful. I didn't realise how much sugar was in some of the foods that I was eating. It's also helping me drink more water. I've been really lazy with my water drinking recently, which isn't good, especially considering I'm breastfeeding. No wonder my skin has been dry!

2. This month I've made an effort to make new friends and connect more with the friends that I have. I must say it's been really nice. I hadn't realised how much I've missed having friends and company.

3.Why are the most beautiful souls often the most damaged? I caught up with a friend of mine recently, we've been friends for about 17 years now and she's a beautiful, beautiful lady. She's one of the nicest people I know and yet she has suffered so much. 

4. There are times when I really miss the convenience of living in the city and having everything I want right there. Even though this is a city too, there just isn't the variety. We particularly miss having a good health shop. Does anyone know a good Australian online health shop? I use iHerb, but it doesn't stock all the products that we usually get. 

5. I got some great books for Chai at Big W recently. They are the When I'm Feeling series by Trace Moroney. Chai really loves them and I love that it gives us an opportunity to talk about his feelings in an informal way, so instead of him having to try and express how he's feeling we talk about how the bunny in the book is feeling.  

6. Last weekend we went to the Brunswick Show. I haven't been to a show for years, I'd forgotten how much fun they are.

7. Whilst we were at the show we got a BioFlow bracelet. I'm sure they are a load of crap, however Tiger says a lot of the guys at his work swear by them. I think it's the placebo effect! The guy at the show said if they don't work for us he'll give us half our money back, so I figure it's worth a try. Have any of you tried one? Do they work?

8. I really wanted to come up with ten thoughts, but I've got nothing else so we'll just have to stop at eight. 

9. Or I could just waffle on for two points. 

10. Yes, that's what I'll do. Yay! I made it to ten thoughts, go me!


Wednesday 30 October 2013

October Empties

It's the end of another month already! The months just whiz past don't they? I'm a little early with my empties post as my empties drawer was getting full and I couldn't fit anything else in there. Here's hoping November will be another big month for empties!
Palmolive Decadent Moisture Body Butter shower gel - This was nice but nothing amazing so I probably won't repurchase it.

Milk Face Cleanser - Love this! I have a full review coming up, but suffice to say it's a great cleanser that I'll be purchasing again. 

Sanctuary Spa Body Scrub - This came in the Priceline skin care bag a few months ago. I'm glad I didn't pay for it because I didn't particularly like it. It smelled nice but it's one of those scrubs with loofah in them and I just don't find them scrubby enough.
Gaia Bath and Body Wash - This is the only body wash that I use on Chai now. His skin can be a little sensitive and this one doesn't irritate his skin and doesn't dry it out. 

Audra James Eczema Oil - My miracle product, actually it's Chai's miracle product. Whilst Chai doesn't have eczema he does get dry, irritated skin. When his skin is like that moisturisers just don't work. My favourite way to use this is to put it in his bath. I find it more effective (and less messy) than putting the oil directly onto his skin. I just put a little bit in his bath and when he gets out his skin is nice and soft, then I layer a moisturiser over the top (the MooGoo eczema moisturiser). I only need to do this for a few days and his skin is back to normal. 

Crabtree and Evelyn Tarocco Orange Deep Cleansing Body Scrub - This was a real disappointment. It smelled nice but as far as scrubs go it was totally ineffective, there just weren't enough scrubby bits. I definitely won't be buying this again. 
Dove Go Fresh Deodorant - This is one of my fall back deodorants when my pits are upset. I've been upsetting them a bit lately on my quest to find a natural deodorant that works. I usually prefer the cream Dove stick, but when I can't find that this does the trick. 

Palmolive Ayurituel Energy shower gel - I really liked the scent of this and will probably buy a full size one next time I see it on sale. I can't say it did anything for my energy levels, but it smells great and that's enough for me.

The Body Shop Vanilla perfume oil - I've been hoarding this for years because Vanilla was discontinued, but now that they've bought it back I used what was left of this. Vanilla is one of my favourite scents and the TBS version is fresh and lovely.
Prevage Day Cream - There is a lot of hype surrounding the Prevage range but I just don't see why. Perhaps because I've never used a full sized product so they haven't had long enough to work. Having said that, this is a lovely, rich moisturiser that my parched skin loved. I wouldn't be willing to pay $170 for it though.

The Body Shop Moringa Body Butter - If you like floral scents then this is the body butter for you. It's such a beautiful scent, I'm planning to get the body spray and perfume as well.

Decleor Essential Balm -I lfound that this is more like an ointment than a balm, it's very thick so only suitable to use at night time. Even the tiniest bit went a long way and felt quite heavy on my skin, however it was perfect for winter use and I woke up with lovely soft, hydrated skin.

Ophelia's Apothecary Toasted Marshmallow lip balm -This is one of my last Ophelia's Apothecary balms, I'm going to be so sad when I use them all up as they are lovely but I just can't justify the huge shipping cost to buy more. I have a full review coming up soon.
L'oreal EverPure Moisture Leave-In Conditioner -To my surprised I really like this. Because I have fine hair I usually find that non spray leave in conditioners are too heavy for my skin, however this one wasn't, even when I accidentally applied too much. It didn't weigh down my hair at all, it just kept it hydrated and healthy.

L'oreal Casting Creme Gloss - This came with a hair colour but there was way too much so I got two uses out of it. I love the way it made my hair feel, really soft and it looked so shiny.
Maybelline Great Lash Lots of Lashes - Despite all the hype I hate the original Great Lash mascara, it does nothing for me at all and I have no idea why it's so popular. The Lots of Lashes version is another story all together, it's great! It plumps up my lashes and gives them lots of volume. I'll definitely be buying this one again. 

The Napoleon Lashes to Lashes and Benefit They're Real are both tosses, I didn't like them at all. I got Lashes to Lashes free with In Style, used it twice, hated it so tossed it. I've yet to meet a Napoleon mascara that I like. 

They're Real is a product I had high expectations for but it just didn't do anything for me. I used it for about a month to be sure I'd given it a good go, but it just didn't work for me. It didn't give me any volume and made my lashes really hard and brittle.

Sunday 27 October 2013

Bits and Pieces

I Am Natural Store are now stocking W3ll People. I've been wanting to try this range for ages! They now have free shipping for orders over $50.

Burt's Bees have released a new lip balm in the US, it has dark chocolate in it. I need it. 

Also, Chapstick are releasing some lovely products that I want to get my hands on but it's so hard to find them. Their website isn't updated with the new goods and they don't reply to my questions on Instagram asking for stockists in my area. So frustrating. 

Endota Spa has opened in Fremantle. If you haven't been to an Endota Spa yet, get there asap!

NYX is now being sold at Target. I'm so excited! Unfortunately it hasn't arrived at my local store yet, hopefully it will soon.

Friday 25 October 2013

FFS Friday - I'm not late

Hello Friday! You may have noticed that my post is rather late today. If you haven't noticed, then my post wasn't late, it was posted at 7am as usual.
If you have noticed, I sat down on Thursday night to add in a few final whinges but my computer battery was flat. FFS.

I'd plugged it in to charge but hadn't turned the power on. FFS.

Clever me. FFS.

Like his brother before him, Eljay has now decided that he hates the car. FFS.

He screams the whole time we are in the car. FFS.

Unlike his brother, he gets really, really upset. FFS.

Chai used to scream but it was just yelling, he didn't get really worked up. Eljay gets really upset, his face goes all red, he sweats and if we are in the car for more than five minutes he gets so worked up that he can hardly breathe. FFS.

It's horrible. FFS.

I can't walk everywhere so have decided to just stay home until Eljay is six months old and I can turn him around. FFS.

Saturday I had to go out shopping. It was pelting down with rain so I decided to go in to town where I could park undercover. All the undercover spots were taken. FFS.

When I finally got myself and the boys inside I discovered that they didn't have the things I needed at Coles. FFS.

I went to the other Coles and Eljay screamed the entire trip. FFS.

Poor baby got so worked up that the only way I could calm him down was by feeding him... whilst I was walking around the supermarket. FFS.


For those of you following along at home, you'll be pleased to know that my cervix has reappeared. Tiger is also pleased about this as it means he doesn't have to get the snip. Not FFS.

I had my gyno appointment on Monday at 4.30pm. Not a good time of day. FFS.

Thankfully I had Mum and Dad there to help. Not FFS.

Bub normally goes to sleep around 3pm and doesn't wake up again until after 9pm so the plan was for Mum and Dad to be at my house whilst I went to my appointment and if bub woke up Dad could amuse Chai whilst Mum looked after bub. Good plan. Not FFS.

Bub had an unusually long midday sleep so I didn't get him to sleep until 3.45pm. FFS.

Then I raced out and started getting ready to leave. When I told Chai that I was going to the Dr he insisted on coming with me. FFS.

I got him ready and bundled him into the car, Dad came too. FFS/Not FFS.

As soon as we'd pulled out of the driveway Chai started asking for his bottle which I hadn't bought with me as I'd left in such a rush. FFS.

He complained about that for a while then decided he didn't like the dvd that was on and said that he wanted to watch Mickey Mouse. FFS.

I explained to him that he'd have to wait until we got to the Dr because I couldn't change the dvd whilst I was driving. He alternated between crying for a bottle and crying for the dvd to be changed. FFS.

A few minutes later he was asleep. FFS.

I got to the Dr and left Dad in the car with Chai. Not FFS.

My appointment went well and it was all over in a few minutes. It cost me $280. FFS.

Chai woke up when I got into the car and started crying because he had only had a short sleep and was tired. FFS.

Then he started falling asleep again. FFS.

There was no way I wanted him going to sleep at 5pm so Dad and I spent the rest of the trip home trying to keep him awake. FFS.

When we got home Eljay was awake, he'd woken up 15 minutes after I left. FFS.

So I had two tired little babies who both needed me. FFS.

Lucky I have two hands. Not FFS.

I sat on the lounge suite cuddling Chai whilst feeding Eljay. FFS/Not FFS.

My dodgy postman has been at it again. FFS.

Monday I was expecting a package so left the front door open so I could hear him. I heard him pull up so went to the front door and once again, by the time I got there he was already back in his van. FFS.

He saw me come to the front door and started backing out of the driveway. FFS.

He'd left a package on the door mat so I got that and watched him drive off. He watched me the whole time then reversed back and came back up the driveway, gave me my package and said "Oh, there was another package". Like he forgot it. FFS.

I'm sure he didn't forget it, he'd just been planning on doing a runner again. FFS.

By Tuesday he must have resigned himself to having to knock on the door and give me my parcels, because he didn't try doing a runner, he actually handed over my parcel. Not FFS.

He's a very pleasant, friendly fellow. NOT!!!!! FFS.


Tuesday night Tiger was due home. Not FFS.


Usually when Tiger is due home Chai gets really excited. Not this time. FFS.


This time he decided that constant whinging was the best way to express his excitement. FFS.


Not to be outdone, Eljay decided to get in on the act too. FFS.


I put Eljay to sleep six times between 3pm and 8.30pm and each time he'd sleep for 15 to 20 minutes then wake up again. FFS.


Chai crying and yelling didn't help. FFS.


Dad was there to help me but Chai wouldn't have a bar of it and only wanted me. FFS.


I finally got Eljay to sleep at 8.30pm and Tiger got home a few minutes later. Not FFS.


By the time he walked in the door I was an exhausted, frazzled mess. FFS.


I usually try to look at least half decent when Tiger gets home, I failed dismally. FFS.

In anticipation of Movember Tiger has started growing a beard. FFS.


When Eljay saw him he cried. FFS.


He's shaved it back so it's just a mo and a flavour saver now, but I don't like it, it's all prickly and horrible. FFS.


I really don't know why he started growing it so soon, he can grow a full beard in a few weeks. FFS.


That's the end of my weekly whinge. I hope you have all had a great week. If you haven't, tell me all about it in the comments! If you'd like to read more whinges, head on over to Sarah's blog


Dear Baby G

Wednesday 23 October 2013

The Jojoba Company Jojoba Absolute Serum


I am so in love with my Absolute Serum that I don't even know where to start. In short, it's bloody amazing. It has totally changed my skin. I really didn't even think that was possible. At first I didn't notice any changes, but after I got half way through the bottle the magic happened. I woke up one morning with soft, smooth, glowing skin. Initially I thought it was just a fluke, but when it happened again and again I realised my Absolute Serum was working it's magic.

The Jojoba Company says: The ultimate anti-aging serum, Absolute Serum helps reduce the visible signs of lines and wrinkles and firms up the appearance of slackened skin naturally. The di-peptide carnosine in conjunction with hyaluronic acid and silymarin, a potent antioxidant from milk thistle, work together to aid collagen production and refine skin smoothness and expression lines.

Whilst I don't have slackened skin, I can say that my fine lines and wrinkles are less noticeable and my skin looks brighter and more healthy.
 
Initially I was only using Absolute Serum once a day but I'm now using it twice a day. It's a very light, quickly absorbed serum that I can't feel at all once it's absorbed. Despite containing hyaluronic acid I don't find that it's very hydrating, which means that it would also be suitable for people with oily skin. Those of you who don't like fragranced products need to be aware that Absolute Serum is fragranced. It has a lovely, fresh floral scent that I really enjoy.

I've finally found my holy grail face serum. The only problem I have now is that I really want to repurchase it when I run out, however I have a lot of other serums that I need to use up. 

Absolute Serum costs $69.95 for a 30 ml bottle. Whilst this seems rather expensive, I only need two pumps to cover my whole face, neck and décolletage, so it will last around five months, making it relatively cheap. 

Absolute Serum can be purchased from most health food shops. Click here for a full list of The Jojoba Company stockists.

Ingredients: aqua, glycerin, polysorbate 20, jojoba seed oil, Kakadu plum fruit extract, Siberian ginseng root extract, lilly pilly fruit extract, bitter orange flower oil, sodium hyaluronate, lecithin, carnosine, vitamin E, silybum marianum fruit extract, alcohol, benzyl alcohol, salicylic acid, sorbic acid, phenoxyethanol, ethylhexylglycerin, chondrus crispus, xanthan gum, potassium sorbate, citric acid, sodium benzoate, citral, geraniol, limonene, linalool. 

Monday 21 October 2013

If I had to start again

Thanks to my father, every time I go away on holidays I am convinced that the house is going to burn down and we'll lose everything. Thankfully this has never happened, however it got me thinking about what I'd buy if I had to start all over again.

For body products I'd get everything from Haus of Gloi and Soap and Glory.

I'd buy Crazy Rumors and By Terry lip balms.

I'd use Original and Mineral hair care.

The perfumes I'd buy are Lancome Miracle, Philosophy Falling In Love, Chanel Chance, Chanel Allure Sensual, Clean, Michael by Michael Kors, Issey Miyake, Narcisco Rodriguez and MOR Marshmallow.

I'd get Bonne Bell and Lancome Juicy Tubes lip glosses.

Lipsticks would be Chantecaille Lip Chics and Chanel Rouge Coco Shines.

For make-up I'm not loyal to one particular brand so would buy things from a few different brands. I'd buy Laura Mercier Caviar Stick eyeliner, Bobbi Brown Corrector and eye shadows, most of the Models Prefer range and Physician's Formula Happy Booster powders.

Skincare I'd get from Audra James. She custom makes everything so I'd get exactly what I needed.

There are times I think it'd be nice to have a clean start with my make-up and skin care. I'd have a very small, pared down stash. I wonder if it'd get out of control again, I don't think it would as I would be a lot more fussy about what I bought and I'd try to get samples before purchasing new products.


If you are wondering why my father made me think our house is going to burn down, read on.

I grew up living in a large wooden house, out of town, on a one acre bush block. There were a lot of trees and fire fodder around and if something had sparked the whole house would have gone up in flames as it was made entirely of wood. We used to go on holidays in summer, so the house burning down was a realistic prospect. Thankfully it never happened. 

If you had to start again what would you buy? Am I the only one who thinks about what they'd buy if they had to start again?

Friday 18 October 2013

FFS Friday - It's one of those days everyday now

I have my computer back! Yay! Even better, it only took 1 day to fix and cost $65. Bonus! That's my good news for the week, now it's time for me to get my whinge on.

We have a good Australia Post package deliverer and a dodgy one. FFS.

The good one is the one who made a comment about me getting lots of packages when I only got 2. FFS.

The last week the dodgy package deliverer has been on. FFS.

Thursday he dropped off some packages, didn't bother knocking or ringing the doorbell and I caught him as he was about to drive off. FFS.

He was super quick, I heard him pull up and in the time it took me to get the door keys and get to the the front door (less than a minute), he was making a run for it. FFS.

When I sprung him he said "Oh, you have a doorbell, I didn't see it there". FFS.

There's no harm in knocking mate! FFS.

Friday I was expecting another package so was keeping an ear out for him. The dodgy bastard must have parked out the front so that he could do the drop and run. FFS.

The first I knew was when I got an email telling me there had been an attempted delivery. FFS.

I was really annoyed so called Australia Post and lodged a complaint about him. FFS.

Now who knows what state my packages will arrive in, he'll probably throw them at the front door from the road. FFS.

Clearly it's too difficult for him to do his job properly. FFS.

Sunday was One of Those Days. FFS.

It started at 4am. FFS.

Eljay woke up for a feed, whilst I was feeding him Chai woke up for a bottle. Chai likes to be cuddled back to sleep, which I couldn't do because I was feeding Eljay. I got Eljay back to sleep, got Chai back to sleep then Eljay woke up again because he had wind. He woke Chai up. FFS.

I nearly had Chai back to sleep when Eljay did a huge poo explosion so I had to change his nappy. I changed him and nearly had both boys back to sleep when I realised that Chai was wet so I had to change his nappy too. FFS.

I somehow managed to get Eljay back to sleep but Chai refused to go back to sleep and that was the start of our day. FFS.

It felt like we'd been awake for half a day and it was only 8am. FFS.

For some reason Chai was in a very challenging mood all day. FFS.

When I was changing Eljay's nappy Chai hit him really hard in the face. FFS.

Then when I was trying to get Eljay to sleep Chai kept on running into the room, jumping on the bed and roaring like a lion. FFS. 

We had to go to the supermarket so I got us all ready and just before we got into the car Eljay spewed all over both of us. FFS.

I got him changed, got myself changed and we headed off. We'd been at the shopping centre for ages, done all our shopping, had lunch, Chai had gone on three rides and it was still only 11.30am. FFS.

Later that day Chai headbutted me in the boob. FFS.

I told him in a very calm, nice voice not to do that because it it hurt so he ran to his room, closed the door and wee'd all over the carpet. FFS.

A few hours later I was feeding Eljay and he headbutted him really hard in the head twice, so I had to feed standing up because Chai just wouldn't stop jumping on me. FFS.

Then Chai did a huge wee in the kitchen and walked in it so there were wee footprints all through the kitchen, dining room and lounge room. FFS.

Thankfully Dad came over at 3.30pm and saved the day. Not FFS.

Unfortunately for me, most of my days are like that now. FFS.

What's that saying about it taking a village to raise a child? I'd like my village please.

There is something strange going on with the comments on my blog. FFS.

They are all supposed to go through Intense Debate, however some do and some don't. FFS.

I tried reinstalling it to no avail. FFS.

So some comments go through Intense Debate and others go through Blogger. FFS.

Then Blogger randomly decides which ones it wants to publish. FFS.

So to all of you who's comments my blog has eaten, sorry!

That's the end of my weekly whinge. I hope you have all had a wonderful week. If you haven't, tell me all about it in the comments so I can have a laugh.

 
Dear Baby G

Thursday 17 October 2013

Bits and Pieces

Every now and again there are a few random things I want to talk about that don't warrant an entire blog post, so I decided to start a Bits and Pieces post. Here goes:

Adore Beauty now stocks Sodashi Skincare. This is a range that I've wanted to try for ages, it looks and sounds so beautiful. It's one of those skincare ranges I imagine myself using when I'm a sophisticated, grown up lady. Consider I'm 40 I'm not sure I'll ever get there, but I can dream.
Added bonus, Adore has free shipping, love that.
Little Luxuries Sunday Gift
If you live in Perth and are in the mood for shopping, head to Karrinyup Shopping Centre on Sunday. Every Sunday in October they are giving away 250 Crabtree and Evelyn Honey and Corriander Little Luxuries packs when you spend $60 or more in the shopping centre.
The Napoleon make-up kit (valued at $82) that comes with this month's copy of InStyle.
The November issue of In Style Magazine comes with three full sized Napoleon products, a cream blush, lipgloss and mascara. It's available at all outlets that sell the magazine.
Glam It Up! Complexion Collection in Light-Medium 8.0 pack
Priceline currently have some great Nude By Nature packs. I got the pack shown above and I'm loving it. The foundation, concealer and mineral veil are quickly becoming favourites.
Honeymaniaâ„¢ Body Butter main view
The Body Shop's Honeymania range is finally in store and I'm in love with everything. I have the lip balm, soap, body butter and shower gel, they're all amazing. I'm planning on getting the rest of the range soon. Surprisingly they don't smell like honey to me, the scent is more floral, but it's gorgeous and fresh, perfect for summer. I really wish they had released the perfume here, but it doesn't look like they are going to.
 Rose Jam Shower Gel 500g
Those of you who like rose scents need to buy Lush's Rose Jam shower gel. It's one of the nicest rose scents I've tried. If you like the smell of Ro's Argan you will love Rose Jam. It's available for a limited time so get some now before it's all gone.

That's the end of my bits and pieces, if you have any other interesting news, please post it in the comments.

Wednesday 16 October 2013

Wishlist Wednesday

Image credit

The entire Soap and Glory range - I wish we got the whole range here, they have some gorgeous looking products that we don't have access to. I'm considering buying them from the UK and using a mail forwarding service.


Clinique Intense chubby sticks - I didn't realise they did these until I saw them on Natalie's blog and as I'm on a mission to try every chubby lip product ever made, I need these. 

Speaking of chubby lip products, I can't believe I've never tried the Lipstick Queen Chinatown Glossy Lip Pencils. Need to remedy that next time I'm in Perth.
Image credit

Tarte Glamazon lipsticks - I've heard so many raves about these that I really want to try one. As an added bonus the packaging is beautiful.

Clarins Motherhood, The Most Beautiful Days of Your Life gift set - This looks so pretty. 


100% Pure Coffee Bean eye cream - I've heard so many raves about this, apparently it's great for fine lines and dark circles, so is exactly what I need.

Monday 14 October 2013

September Empties

September has been another great month for empties. It just goes to show how quickly I can use things up if I use them all the time instead of swapping and changing all the time.

L'Oreal EverPure Moisture shampoo and conditioner - I got one use out of these so it's impossible to say if they were good or not. They didn't suck, that's about all I can say.

Swisspers Cucumber Facial Cleansing Wipes - I've spoken about these before so I won't go on, other than to say they're really good and I'll buy them again.

Priceline Round Cotton Pads - A constant repurchase.
Natio Ageless Advanced Lifting and Firming Serum - This is supposed to target fine lines, moisturise and firm. It did a good job of moisturising but made no difference to my fine lines. This is a light, quickly absorbed serum that was pleasant to use. I wouldn't purchase it again, not because there was anything wrong with it, but because I'd prefer to use a serum with more active ingredients.

The Jojoba Company Hydrating Day Cream - I really like this and will buy it again. It's a great, hydrating moisturiser for winter. This kept my skin feeling soft during the freezing cold winter we've had here. I wouldn't recommend it for combination or oily skinned people as it would be too hydrating.The only negative is that it doesn't contain sunscreen. 

Palmolive Lime and Mint Foaming Hand Wash - I've repurchased this countless times because I love the scent and it isn't drying.

Did you know that you can reuse the bottle and create your own foaming product? You just pour a little bit of soap, cleanser etc into the bottle then fill the rest up with water and you've converted your product into a foaming version. I usually fill the bottle with 1/4 product to 3/4 water.

Clarins Extra-Firming Day Cream - I can't really give an opinion on this because I only had a few uses left in it. I'd been using it a while ago then lost it in one of the moves, then found it again last month so used it up.

Dior Capture Totale - Meh.
Crabtree and Evelyn Citron Hand Therapy - I got this free with a magazine and it's the first Crabtree and Evelyn hand cream I've tried. It certainly won't be the last because it's lovely.

Ophelia's Apothecary Cappuccino lip balm - All my regular readers will know that I love these balms. They are the perfect, deeply hydrating winter lip balm. I've only got two left now so will be placing another order soon.

Pantene Prov-V Single Dose Intensive Treatment Programme - There's not really much to say about this. It does what it's supposed to.

Philosophy Living Grace perfume - I love all the Philosophy perfumes.

Emergin C Multi Fruit Cleanser - Another product I got one use out of. I really don't know why companies bother with single use samples, they really aren't enough to tell if you like a product or not.

Cacherel Liberte perfume - I didn't really like this, it reminds me of something my mum would wear.
The Body Shop Chocomania Body Butter - This range is a chocoholics heaven. I've repurchased most of this range time and time again.

Dr Bronner's Hemp Rose pure castile soap - I paid $9.95 for this and it was worth every cent because it lasted me for ages. It's a very liquid, runny soap so I only used a small amount each time. It felt like I was using this for at least six months. It'd be perfect to turn into a foaming product due to the runny consistency.

Neutrogena Naturals Purifying Facial Cleanser - I love this cleanser and am now onto my third bottle.
Clarins liquid eyeliner - I'm tossing this one out as it just didn't work for me. No matter how hard I tried I couldn't get a smooth, consistent line with it, which is a real shame as it's super long lasting and waterproof.

Make Up Forever Pearly Waterproof Eyeliner pencil - I'm tossing this one because the colour just doesn't work for me. I've had it sitting in my collection for years, at least eight years. Now that I'm getting tougher with the products I keep, this one had to go.

L'Oreal Smoky eyeliner in Mystic Grey - I don't remember the proper name for this, it's their new smoky one and it's amazing. It's so soft and easy to use, but once it's applied it stays in place all day. I'll definitely repurchase this next time it's on sale at Priceline.

Ardell Taupe Brow Pencil - Love this pencil. It had gotten to the stage where I couldn't sharpen it anymore so I'm calling it empty. I've already bought another one.

Natio Tinted Moisturiser - I'm tossing this one because it's too dark for me and makes me look awful.
 
A lovely pile of empties. 

Friday 11 October 2013

FFS Friday - The case of the missing cervix

Hello Friday. Time for me to get my whinge on again.

You may remember a few weeks ago I mentioned that I turned the swimming pool green. Turns out it wasn't my fault! Not FFS.

The day before Tiger left, the pool ran out of chlorine which he didn't replace and didn't bother telling me. FFS.

No wonder the pool turned green! FFS.

As soon as he put more chlorine in it went back to normal. Not FFS.

I've been unsure about posting this, but since I have no shame I'm going to. If you don't like hearing about girl bits I suggest you stop reading now and come back next week.

A few weeks ago bub and I went for our six week check-up. Whilst we were there I was going to have a Mirena put in but it didn't happen because they couldn't find my cervix. FFS.

Yes, that's right, my cervix hid. Clever thing. FFS.

There I was laying on the table at the Dr's surgery, naked from the waist down, whilst the Dr tried to find my cervix. FFS.

He reassured me that I definitely have a cervix as I'd just given birth a few weeks ago and couldn't have done that if I didn't have a cervix. FFS.

Good to know.

After he had a good look and feel to locate my missing cervix, the nurse had a look to see if she could find it, but she couldn't either. FFS.

Then the Dr went and got another Dr to see if she could find my cervix. FFS.

She managed to find it and showed my Dr. Not FFS.

I was laying on the table, legs spread, with two Dr's bent down looking up my vagina trying to see my cervix. FFS.

See, my life is all fun and games.

Since they couldn't find my cervix, I have to see a gynaecologist to get the Mirena put in. FFS.

I rang the gyno's office to make an appointment and was told that I couldn't make an appointment, I had to take my referral in and once they'd received my referral the Dr would look at it, decide if he would see me and then I'd receive a letter with an appointment time. FFS.

It took two weeks to receive the letter and the appointment isn't for another four weeks. FFS.

Chai is potty training at the moment as he's decided it's time. I was hoping he would wait until summer but he's decided the time is now. FFS/Not FFS.

His preferred method is to run around the house pantless, which isn't ideal with the cold weather. FFS.

Much ceremony is made of him using the potty and then washing the contents down the toilet, which is his favourite part. Being the independent little chap he is, he likes to take the full potty and flush it down the toilet himself. You can imagine how much mess he makes. FFS.

He tries his best the carefully carry the potty to the toilet, but every time we end up with wee spilled all over the place. FFS.

Thank goodness we have tiles! Not FFS.

Those of you who follow me on Instagram will know that we got a new washing machine. It's so high tech that I need to read the operating manual each time I need to do a load of washing. FFS.

It also has buttons that Chai can reach, so yesterday he started the machine up again just after it'd finished, and got all the clothes soaking wet. FFS.

I've been looking for a job lately. FFS.

Obviously this is a crazy idea and not possible considering I have a nine week old baby that I'm breastfeeding and no-one to look after my children. FFS.

I know I can't have a job, but that hasn't stopped me looking. FFS.

There are no suitable jobs around. FFS.

Which shouldn't bother me as I can't have a job at the moment anyhow, but it does. FFS.

Clearly I'm going a little bit crazy. FFS.

Last Saturday I went out to the shops with bub, all on my own. Not FFS.

It was bliss. Not FFS.

I fed bub before I left and when I got to the shopping centre I put him in the carrier so he could go to sleep. As we were walking in the doors of the shopping centre he spewed all down the front of me. FFS.

It went down my top, between my boobs and pooled in the bottom of my bra. FFS.

I considered going home to get changed, but since I never get to go out without an entourage, I wasn't willing to give that up so I cleaned up the spew and went shopping. FFS.

I figured that bub was attached to my front so no-one could see the spew anyhow. FFS.

Then I went straight into The Body Shop and put on some perfume so I didn't smell like spew. Clever. Not FFS.

I was also forced to buy some more of the Honeymania products to help me get over the trauma of being spewed on. Not FFS.

Whilst I was out I had to go to the supermarket. It was packed. FFS.

They only had four checkouts open (not counting the 12 items or less ones). FFS.

I waited in the queue for 30 minutes. FFS.

Just as I was paying they opened more checkouts. FFS.

I'll never go to that Woolworths on a Saturday again. FFS.
(For those of you in Bunbury it's the Woolworths at the Forum).

Yesterday Mum, Chai, Eljay and I all went out to meet up with Su. Not FFS.

I'm sick of lugging around a heavy nappy bag that I rarely use, so I put a nappy and some wipes in my handbag and left the nappy bag in the car. So of course Eljay had a poo explosion that went all over his clothes. FFS.

I cleaned that up and only had one wipe left, then he spewed all over himself, me and Mum. FFS.

Should have know something like that would happen the one time I didn't have the nappy bag with me. FFS.

Remember how I was saying about my broken computer last week? It's still broken. FFS.

My brother couldn't fix it so I called another computer shop who told me they can fix it no problems, it's a common problem with HP computers and they have no idea why the other computer shop said they can't fix it. FFS.

Hopefully I'll have my computer back soon. In the meantime I'm using Tiger's stupid computer. I really don't like the new windows, it's so un user friendly. FFS

We want to get a dog for Chai so have been looking around since we moved into our house. The plan was to get a rescue dog that wasn't very old and we found a few that we liked. Despite our best efforts, neither of the rescue places called us back and we couldn't get an address for them. FFS.

We called and left messages for two weeks to no avail, so now we're getting a puppy. From Kojonup. That's at least three hours drive from us. FFS.

It'll be eight weeks when we get it. So basically I'll have a third child to look after in all my spare time. FFS.

That wraps up my weekly whinge. If you've made it this far, congratulations! Have a wonderful weekend. If you've had any FFS worthy moments, please share them below. Otherwise, head over to Sarah's blog and see what everyone else has been whinging about.

Dear Baby G

Thursday 10 October 2013

Face of Australia Gentle Make-Up Remover

You know how you have some products that you use over and over again but don't really pay much attention to them? This is one of those products. I can't believe I haven't reviewed this before as it's my all time favourite make-up remover. I've lost count of how many bottles I've gone through

I like this for many reasons: 
It's gentle enough to use on my eyes. 
It doesn't irritate my eyes.
It easily removes all my eye make-up including mascara, without me having to rub or tug at my eyes.
I can use it all over my face with no problems.
It's cheap ($8.95 and it regularly goes on sale at Priceline).
It is dual phase which looks cool.
FOA is a cruelty free company.
They are also an Australian company.

If you are after an effective make-up remover, give Gentle Make-Up Remover a go.

Note: I was originally sent this to review, however I have repurchased it countless times. 

Wednesday 9 October 2013

The house saga

Now that we've got the bond back I can finally tell the truth about everything that went on with our rental house. I was going to make this part of a FFS Friday post but it's too long so it gets a post all of it's own.

If you're going to attempt to make it through this marathon post, you'll need a packed lunch. Don't say I didn't warn you.

As I mentioned previously, we'd been in the house for five weeks when the owners put the house on the market. The estate agent told us that the house was going to get repossessed if it wasn't sold and that if it got repossessed we'd have 30 days to get out. Considering I was pregnant at the time, this was not good news.

We seriously considered putting an offer on the house but realised that we'd only buy it because we couldn't be bothered moving again and that it wasn't the type of house that we'd want to live in long term. So we didn't put in an offer. Instead we started looking for a house to buy.

We found a house and fortunately it was empty so we were hoping we could have a short settlement and be in the house within four weeks. We already had pre approval for finance and were told we'd get final approval within five days. We should have known that things are never that easy.

We put in an offer on the house, it got accepted and the owners were happy for a short settlement. We were hoping to be in the new house before I had the baby. Meanwhile the owner of our rental property said that she'd let us out of the lease. Things were looking good.

We put in all the paperwork for the mortgage application and waited for finance approval. As part of the application we had to get my investment property valued. The valuation came back $70,000 less than the actual value. They'd based the valuation on a 3 bedroom fibro house. My investment property is a 4 bedroom brick house. Since they'd clearly got the valuation very wrong, we asked for that valuation to be reviewed. They reviewed it and refused to change the valuation. I still don't understand how they worked that out. Their reasoning was that the house next door had sold at $60,000 under it's value. And even though that house was a 3 bedroom fibro house, they insisted that it affected the value of my house. You'll never guess which agency sold the house next door. That's right, the same dodgy company who were selling our rental property!

The low valuation meant that we had to get mortgage insurance. Great. More money for absolutely nothing. After five days the loan application hadn't been approved so our broker followed up to find out why. We discovered that when we'd sold our house in the city the bank had released the wrong title. They'd released the title to my investment property. They said that they'd fix it up and pay the appropriate fees. How kind of them! As if we'd pay the fees to fix their stuff up! It's got me beat how they managed to release the wrong title considering our investment property is in another town with a totally different address to the house that we sold.

Two weeks later we still didn't have finance approval. When we pushed to find out why it turned out that the bank still hadn't fixed their stuff up so when the application went for mortgage insurance it was turned down as they thought we still owned the property in Perth. Onya Bankwest. It's bad enough that they stuffed up so badly, but then not to fix it straight away is disgusting. A stuff up like that could have cost us the house. Thankfully our mortgage broker and estate agent were very clever and got us an extension of time to get finance approval so as not to void the sales contract.

For reasons that I don't understand due to the time that had elapsed, the entire loan paperwork had to be redone. So we filled everything in again and once again submitted the application. Our broker came around and we signed all the paperwork for him, then waited. They'd said that our application would be rushed through due to the delays. Tiger called up a few days later to check the progress and was told that the paperwork wasn't all signed. We signed the missing parts and waited. After another two days, Tiger called up again and was once again told we hadn't signed all the paperwork, so we signed everything and sent that through, then we waited.

Two days before the day our rental home had to be sold, I had Eljay.

The day that our rental home had to be sold the selling agent rang us and told us that it was likely that there was going to be an offer on the house and asked us if we wanted to put in an offer at the same time. WTF? Did he really think we'd be stupid enough to get into a bidding war with another couple? We politely declined.

The date that our rental home had to be sold had come and gone and we had no idea if the house had been sold and if we were going to be evicted. We didn't know if we were going to get finance approval so weren't sure if we should start looking for a rental or what to do. Our property manager didn't know if the house had been sold either, so we were waiting for a letter from the bank telling us we had to move out. Thankfully, the day after the house had to be sold, we found out we got finance approval. What a relief! This meant that even if the house was repossessed we had a home to go to.

All up the finance approval which should have taken five days, took four weeks. That was solely due to the bank making a monumental stuff up and then not fixing it straight away.

Once we had finance approval we asked the owners of our property for vacant possession. This would mean that we could move into the house before settlement. The owners agreed provided we pay them rent, which was fair enough. We called our property manager and let her know that we'd be moving out. She said that she didn't think the owner would be willing to let us out of the lease. We reminded her that the owner had agreed to let us out of the lease and that was why we'd found somewhere else to live. Our property manager phoned the owner who said that she was no longer willing to let us out of the lease and that it'd been a one time offer. No-one had bothered to tell us that! We said that we were moving out regardless and the owner said she'd take us to court, so we said we'd see her in court. 

Five days later the selling agent rang us and said that the property had been sold and that the new owners wanted us to stay in the property. Great. That wasn't going to happen. When bub was ten days old we moved. Luckily for me my Mum and Sister in Law did all the packing and unpacking, whilst I looked after Eljay. The only thing I did was pack and unpack our bedroom and bathroom. I couldn't have done it without them!

The rental property saga continued. We were getting ready to go to court so documenting everything that had happened. Thankfully our property manager was on our side, she said that in the same position she would have done exactly the same thing. She told the property owner that if she took us to court she wouldn't win. A few days after that the owner stopped advertising the property for rent and that was the end of it. We moved out, got our bond back and that's the end of the saga.

I'm so glad the whole thing is over and we are finally settled in our new home. It's lovely here and it really feels like home. Chai loves it here, he loves having space to run around and a backyard to play in. He's also very excited about having a pool to swim in. For me, living here means that my best friend, other friends and family are all no more than 15 minutes away, so I get to see them all the time which is great. Our rental home was on the other side of town to my friends and family so I didn't get to see them very often.

The only downside is that it takes Tiger an extra 15 minutes to drive to Perth and fly out. It also means that when he comes home it takes an extra 15 minutes. This doesn't sound like a lot but when you've worked 168 hours in 14 days and are exhausted, 15 minutes is a long time. It's something that we just have to deal with for the time being. Tiger isn't going to do FIFO forever so it won't be forever. Other than that, everything is lovely here.

Monday 7 October 2013

September Favourites

Time for another favourites post. I love reading about the products that everyone has been using each month, even though it makes me want to go shopping.

I don't have many favourites this month, I haven't been wearing much make-up and I've been using samples and travel sized skin care products as I'm trying to finish as many products as I can. I've been thinking about doing some sort of Use it Up challenge. I'm not sure what though, cause I don't want to do a Project Pan again, I've done that a few times and it's getting boring. I did consider doing 5 out 1 in or something like that. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.
Ophelia's Apothecary lip balm - I know I've mentioned it before, but I really love these balms. They are so rich and hydrating, perfect for winter. My lips have been so dry this winter and this balm is one of the few that is rich enough to keeps my lips from cracking.

Rimmel Kate Salon Pro nail polish in Soul Session - I don't paint my nails very often because I hate having to reapply every few days. I heard that the Salon Pro nail polishes were long lasting so I picked up Soul Session when they were on sale at Priceline and I'm really glad I did. I applied two coats with no base or top coat and it lasted with no chips for five days. That's pretty amazing. I'll definitely get more of these.

Milk Beauty Wipes - These are a great, time saving idea. They are a make-up wipe on one side and the other side has little lumps on it to exfoliate. Sounds strange but it works really well. I'll be doing a review of them soon.

The Body Shop Honeymania - I've only had these products for a few days but I love them, they smell sooooo good. At the moment I only have the body butter and the lip balm, I'm planning on getting the bath cream and perfume if we have it here.

The Body Shop Moringa Body Butter - This smells so good and the scent lasts all day, so I don't need to wear perfume. Which gets me to wondering if they make a Moringa perfume. If they do I'm going to buy it.

Friday 4 October 2013

FFS Friday - I'm God, or good, or neither

You may have noticed there was no FFS Friday post last week. If you didn't, carry on, there is nothing interesting to see here. If you did notice, it's because my computer is broken. FFS.

When I turn it on I get a message saying that one of the fans is broken and that the computer is going to switch off. FFS.

I rang the computer shop who told me that they don't fix fans but they can back up all my data for me. FFS.

They went on to tell me that I will have to buy a new computer. FFS.

It's not even two years old. FFS.

I called my brother who said that of course they can change the fan and that he'll fix it for me when he gets home. Not FFS.

Now I just have to wait for him to get home. FFS.

I tried to fix it myself but I can't even get the back off the computer. FFS.

Last week in honour of Tiger getting home I decided to put on my 'fancy' pj's. The fact that I have 'fancy' pj's is a bit sad. FFS.

I put them on, Tiger got home and before he even had time to notice them Tiger had spilled medicine all over them and then Eljay spewed on them twice. FFS.

Don't know why I bothered. FFS.

We've been dog sitting my brothers dog for the last week. The first day we had him I opened the front door and the dog went running. FFS.

Thankfully he wasn't very fast so I caught him at the house two doors down. FFS.

My poor little Chai had hand, foot and mouth disease last week. FFS.

He was so sick and miserable, it was awful. He couldn't even open his mouth or swallow. FFS.

Trying to keep him away from Eljay was very difficult because he loves to kiss and cuddle him. FFS.

Once Chai started getting better I discovered that he is a true male. FFS.

He had the toddler version of man flu. FFS.

Imagine a 2 1/2 year old whinging constantly for three days. FFS.

That's what he did. It was a bloody nightmare. FFS.

Strangely enough he'd only whinge when it was convenient to him and over things that hadn't bothered him a few minutes earlier. FFS.

For instance, when he was eating chocolate his mouth wasn't hurting, but when he finished eating the chocolate and had to get his nappy changed, his mouth was hurting. FFS.

Hilariously, Tiger constantly referred to it as Foot in Mouth disease. Hahahahahaha.

He'd only just got over it when the PIL's arrived. FFS.

What is it they say about no rest for the wicked? That's fine, but if I have been so wicked I wish I could at least remember it cause I'm sure it would have been lots of fun. FFS.

If I remembered the wickedness at least I'd be able to remember it fondly during times of duress. FFS.

Having no memory of my wickedness is just cruel. FFS.

My mobile phone has a language all of it's own. FFS.

The auto correct gives me the most inappropriate words. FFS.

Lately it's been switching good for God. This means I am constantly telling people I'm God, when I really mean to say I'm good. FFS.

Technically neither of those statements are true anyhow, so I should just stop saying it. FFS.

Dear Baby G

Wednesday 2 October 2013

How I sorted myself out

I've been thinking about writing this post for a while and a few of you said you were interested, so here it is. This is the story of how I sorted my shit out. 

Like most people, by the time I got to my 20's I had some baggage. I had an okay childhood with a few difficult events in it. I was sexually abused by my cousin when I was nine and I had a rather emotionally dysfunctional family. Overall though, I was a fairly happy person. Life floated along nicely with no major problems, however every few years or so I'd have a meltdown where I'd get extremely emotional and upset for no particular reason. I'd go to counseling, sort myself out then think I'd dealt with things. A few years later it'd happen again. Sometimes it'd be triggered by an event (a relationship breakdown, issues at work etc) and sometimes it'd be triggered by nothing. 

I wanted to be a whole, healthy person so I spent time in counseling to deal with the sexual abuse and other issues. I thought I'd got that all sorted and yet the meltdowns kept on happening. 

In my early 30's I had a meltdown so went to see my naturopath. She told me that I could have 25 to 30 sessions with her or I could do this course. I had no idea what the course was, she just told me it was starting the next day and I agreed to attend.

I arrived there the next morning and saw a mixed bunch of people, all of them seemed pretty normal and friendly. Then the class started and I wondered what the hell I'd got myself into. They started the class by singing. WTF? I was thinking that I'd let myself in for six days of new age, mumbo jumbo crap, but I was already there so decided I'd see what happened and if I didn't like it I wouldn't come back for the second day. Surprisingly I couldn't sing without crying. Hmmm.

The rest of the day was interesting, we learned how to meditate which was very interesting if a little frustrating. The first meditation was talking about examining a flower and they spoke about examining all the different parts. I found it frustrating as they were talking about examining parts that I'd never heard of so I couldn't visualise it. I was wondering when we were going to get into the fixing ourselves up part.

The rest of the week continued in much the same manner. We started the day by singing and then spent the rest of the day learning meditations and talking about what had happened during the meditations (if we wanted to). There were all sorts of different meditations designed to teach us how to heal ourselves and heal others. We learned how to travel back into our past lives which was fascinating if a little unreal.

One of the really bizarre things we learned was distance healing. It's such a strange concept that still spins me out. We were all given sheets of paper with the outline of a body on it. We had to think of someone we thought needed healing (emotionally or physically) write down their first name, age, hair colour, eye colour and the areas that needed healing. We swapped our sheets, then sat down with a partner, went into a meditation and visualised the person on the sheet of paper held by our partner. Our partner would tell us the persons name and gender. The really bizarre part is that each time we did this we knew the persons hair colour, hair style, approximate age, eye colour and usually the areas that needed healing, all without being told. Strange. I have no explanation for that, it still freaks me out a little.

By the end of the week I was feeling like a different person. I actually enjoyed the singing and I now start my day by singing. Singing brings so much joy and pleasure, it's a beautiful way to start the day. I choose a positive, happy, uplifiting song (or three) and sing at the top of my lungs every morning. Chai thinks it's great fun too.

The course was emotionally exhausting, but in a good way. Some nights I'd get home at 6pm, go straight to bed and not wake up again until my alarm went off at 7am the next morning. When we finished the course I knew that my life had changed for the better. I spent the next two weeks processing everything that had happened. I walked around in a happy daze. I spent a lot of time sleeping and a lot of time just sitting quietly doing nothing. After two weeks I was back to normal.

It's been about nine years since I did the course and I haven't had a meltdown since. I don't meditate as regularly as I'd like to, however I know how to heal myself emotionally and when I have an issue that's exactly what I do. Courses like this aren't for everyone but if it's something you are interested give it a go. Frankly I didn't think a course like that would do me any good and if I'd known what I was signing up for I wouldn't have gone, but I am so, so glad that I did, because it literally changed my life.