New Mom Beauty Essentials

This isn't my first rodeo, but I would most certainly consider myself a new mom. I'm not sleeping, I've got a little extra weight on me and it takes 3 hours to get out of the house. For me, this is not like riding a bicycle - my son was the easiest baby ever. When I put my baby girl down, I know that I have between 3 and 5 minutes to get myself ready before she starts getting annoyed. Here are my 5 favorite things to use when I'm trying to get out of the house.



Dry Shampoo - You don't get a whole lot of time to shower, let alone blow-dry! I hate leaving the house with wet hair so I'd rather just use a dry shampoo when my hair is looking a little slick. Dry shampoo has come a long way and drug store versions perform just as well as the more expensive ones. My favorite is Got2B's dry shampoo. It's only $6!

Tinted Moisturizer - Honestly, I was never big on foundation. I couldn't find one that didn't make me look as if I'd caked it on. Tinted moisturizers typically have sunscreen in them which is a big plus, making this one product replace three. Truth be told, they don't offer a ton of coverage so if you have troublesome skin, you might need something more. But, it's nice to know that you can throw is on and it will help you look a little more alive. I like Mary Kay's tinted moisturizer, $18.

Highlighter - Ahhh, the shimmer. I typically wear a highlighter when I'm going out or trying to look fancy. However, I wore it daily throughout my pregnancy and now wear it everyday. Lol. I figured my dewy cheeks would distract people from the bags under my eyes and the multiple chins I had going on. It worked because people would compliment my pregnancy glow. Sorry y'all, it was just my highlighter. Under the eyes and a little on the cheeks, goes a long way. For a long time, Benefit's Moon Beam was my favorite but it's been replaced with Benefit's NEW highlighter, Watts Up. $30. (The price is steep but it lasts a long time! Believe me, I'm cheap frugal.)

Lip/Cheek stain - I'm not joking when I said that I have an average of 4 minutes to make myself look alive, much less presentable. I also like my makeup to be pretty basic - I don't wear false eyelashes to Target (I know people who do!). A lip and cheek stain gives a nice wash of color and obviously, is a 2 in 1. It's also nice because you can build the color, making your lips darker than your cheeks. I like to keep it old school and prefer to use Benefit's Benetint, $29.

Coconut Oil - MY HOLY GRAIL! I use coconut oil to moisturize my face, my body, my kids and anyone else that comes through my door. I also use it to take my eye makeup off. And I use it in my cupcakes, instead of vegetable oil. There is a bunch of information on the internet about coconut oil and it's fabulousness. I don't know if I believe every single use that I've read but I have sipped the Koolaid. For an oil, it sold in its solid form, which is nice. The scent is pretty light, as I HATE coconut anything. It absorbs quickly and it doesn't make me break out. It's becoming extremely popular so it's availability is growing. However, the best price I've seen is at Trader Joes, $5.99. (UH-MAY-ZING PRICE!)

I don't have drawers or train cases of makeup and I lack the attention span/ skill to apply 45 different colors to one eye. I do, however, try a lot of different products. Hopefully this helps anyone in the New Mom (or busy student/overnight shift worker/ etc) boat. Love!

Throwback Thursday: 1994

Martha's Vineyard. I'm second from the right. Poor photo quality because it's a picture of a picture!

Love finding photos like this!

I DIYed It: Tissue Paper Monogram

While browsing Pinterest one day, I came across A Blissful Nest's tissue paper wreath. It was fluffy and pink and perfect and I was inspired! I've been a little obsessed with monogramming things lately so I put two and two together to make this:

It looks pretty dark in the photo but the tissue paper is more purple than blue. I figured I'd veer away from pink, for once in my life.


I got my supplies from Hobby Lobby....all two of them! The wooden letter was $12.99 and the package of tissue paper was $.99. Hobby Lobby emails a 40% off one non sale item every week so I used that for the L. The coupon brought the cost of this project down to $8 and some change. Don't ever step foot in a craft store (or any store) without a coupon! You will also need scissors, a glue gun, a screwdriver (or something similar) and a piece of ribbon. I bought 3 packages of tissue paper but ended up using less than 1 full package. At least I have a lot of purple tissue for gifts, right?

The linked tutorial cuts the tissue paper into 5x7 squares. I cut mine into 3x3 squares. Tomato, tomatoe. Next you want to twist the tissue paper squares into little tufts. I kind of poked my finger in the middle of the square with one hand and then twisted that section with my other hand, to make a little tab. They end up looking like little flowers, I guess, because that's what my 3 year old was calling them!

Whip out your glue gun, and glue the little flower tufts in rows, onto the wooden letter. You don't have to be exact or perfect! As long as the tissue tufts are all around the same size and there aren't any holes, you are good. Keep on tufting and gluing until you've filled in the whole piece of wood. I used the screwdriver to push the hot glued tufts onto the wood to ensure that they were attached. I started using the screwdriver only after I burned this shit out of my fingertip, giving myself quite the blister. Anyway, attach the piece of ribbon to the back of the letter with your hot glue gun and TA DAH!

BEAUTIFUL! You could make one for every season or holiday. Beware though, if your front door is in direct sunlight, your tissue paper with probably fade. And any moisture on the glass will not play nice with the paper.

People are selling similar projects on Etsy for between $32 and $54. $9 is a much better deal and it's a quick project. I finished the whole thing during nap time!

(Photos taken via iPhone. Sorry!)

Overnight Refrigerator Oatmeal

I like oatmeal, I like Mason jars and I love convenience. The three of those things come together to make this the perfect breakfast on the go. If you Google refrigerator oatmeal, you will see that there are hundreds of variations of the same idea. I love that. Versatility is the spice of LIFE. I always have strawberries and bananas in the house so that is what I'm using for the oatmeal. I also use coconut milk and I'm still on my chia kick, so I tossed some of those in too. It's important that the oats sit for a while to soften. Throw everything in the jar at night and it's ready for you when you wake up in the morning! Perfection.

Ingredients
3/4 cup oatmeal
3/4 coconut milk
1 tbsp chia seeds
4 large strawberries, diced
1 heaping tbsp strawberry jam
1 banana, sliced

Directions
Combine oats, chia, jam and strawberries in your Mason jar.
Pour coconut milk into jar.
Cover and SHAKE.
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Overnight is preferred.
Top with a sliced banana before eating.

You could eat it cold but I prefer to put it in the microwave for 30 seconds or so, just to take the edge off. If you're not big on the strawberry jam, replace it with brown sugar. I think you need something sweet in there so that it's not so bland.


ENJOY!

Steal Vs Splurge

[ Etsy: $11.90 // J Crew: $150 ]
J Crew is one of my favorite stores. I love the quality and style of their clothes. The same goes for the style of their jewelry. However, I’m not one to spend $150 on a piece of costume jewelry. Statement necklaces are so trendy right now and they can totally make an outfit. Enter: Etsy. This steal is almost identical to the splurge at less than 10% of the price. It's also not something you're going to wear for longer than one season but for less than $12, who cares!

Whipped Coconut Oil

Coconut oil has so many benefits, that it's almost unbelievable. Wellness Mama has a list of 101 uses/benefits. To be honest, I am not a huge fan of coconut flavor which probably has something to do with college and Malibu Rum. However, I have subbed coconut oil for vegetable oil when baking. It gave a very mild coconut flavor and was not bad at all.

My favorite use for coconut oil is moisturizing! I seriously use it from head to toe, including my face. SHOCK AND HORROR! I know! Oil on my face! I was really skeptical at first but I did it anyway. My face is so smooth and the fragile skin around my eyes is moisturized! I have read conflicting experiences on several blogs. Some people break out, some do not. You will just have to chance it I guess. ANYWAY. It still works wonders on dry appendages.

I recently discovered via Pinterest that you can WHIP! coconut oil. I was melting the oil (it's typically in solid form) to use it and dripping the oil all over the place when trying to get it from the bowl to my skin. Not good. I gave up on melting it and was just scooping it out of the jar. Again, I got it all over the place because it was crumbly. Whipping the oil has been the best option ever. Its soft and melts quickly, however it stays in place and goes on smooth when you take it out of the jar.

Trader Joe's sells a 16oz jar for $5.99. THIS IS AN AMAZING PRICE! The first time I ever purchased it, I paid $13 for a jar the same size at a regular grocery store. Never again.

Put as much as you'd like into a stand mixer or mixing bowl. Turn your mixer on and let it do all of the work! I stop it once or twice to scrape down the sides. Let it go for a few minutes until it looks nice and fluffy.

I used a spatula and put the whipped oil in a Mason jar. You could easily put it right back into the jar it came from. I decided to just leave the oil plain but you could mix in some vitamin e or your favorite essential oil. I skipped the essential oil because of the smell. Too much scent triggers a migraine. No good!

Nicole adds salt to hers and packages it up as gifts. Easy, inexpensive and luxurious! An especially great idea for new moms, moms to be and anyone else you know.

Throwback Thursday: 1986

Just me, being the best big sister ever. ;) My brother was a couple of months old. I loved snuggling babies, even then!



(It's a picture of a picture. Sorry!)

Well, hello.

Surprise!

So typical. My last post was over two months ago. Whoops.

So, here we go again. This is the first post to let you know, that there are more posts coming. And there is a giveaway coming. You'll just have to keep coming back to see what and when it is. ;) Things will be more of the same. Except I'm back on the wine now. Watch out.

Lets do this!