Headed out sans kids! Met some friends in La Manga Club and their parents kindly offered to babysit 🙂 headed to new restaurant and bar Ampersand. A cool mix of al fresco dining with club that caters for all with a downstairs music lounge, massage, tattoo and fashion boutique. Feeling very grown up without the kids! Drank fizz followed by a stunning rabbit (a first!) paella. A real treat.
Opted for sequinned Pacha River Island play suit with jewelled flip flops and Stella McCartney handbag
My two youngest still nap for an hour at lunch, this is my saving grace when it comes to keeping ahead and yes, they could probably manage without it now and again but I definitely couldn’t! I usually plan in my head in the morning exactly what I want to fit into that time frame and it ensures I’m chilled with the kids because I don’t have numerous chores to fit in when they want to play.
Example – this Saturday I had a big girls night out, so Friday lunch hour:
12.30 – put a colour on my hair
12.45 – topped up my Shellac nail colour from Christmas
12.55 – mopped the kitchen
hair dyed, nails done..on to the mopping!
13.00 – loaded the washing machine ready to turn on when kiddiwinks awake
13.03 – emailed local nightclub to organise VIP entrance (girl’s nights out are such a treat it had to be done haha!)
13.05- tweezered my brows
13.10 – showered and rinsed hair, body brushed and face scrubbed!
13.20 – epilated under arms
13.22 – hung evening outfit up
13.25 – took Saturday’s meals out of freezer to defrost
13.26 – put roast chicken in oven for tea
13.28 – kettle on and cup of coffee made
13.30 – kids up!
Now that, pre-kids, would have taken at least a day and a half!
I could have easily tried to fit that around the kids on Saturday but will have undoubtedly not achieved half of it in double the time and it left me Friday night for my first bootcamp session – the pain!!
va va volume with velcro rollers
Adding some va va volume doesn’t need a visit to the salon, simply two minutes and a handful of velcro rollers whilst the kids are eating breakfast!
The added bonus is that it is always better with at least one-day old hair as freshly washed hair is too smooth and slippy 😉
Grab the biggest velcro rollers you can and simply separate your hair into sections, slightly backcomb each section and roll the hair around the rollers. It literally is a two minute job. I then leave them in until I am about to load the kids into the car. It is a’just stepped out of a salon’ moment! Sprtiz a bit of hairspray, work with your fingers and away you go.
These are my favourites which I use:
The fairer beauties amongst us are far more aware of the importance of framing our faces with strong brows – especially as the years roll on, framing our ‘delicate’ bone structures becomes more and more important 😉
Being dark, I have simply focused on combatting the perils of bushy brows and tweaking the shape (always have tweezers near every mirror in the house in case I spot a stray!).
I have only recently realised the benefits of simply adding extra pigment to my brows can wake my face up dramatically. Now when I don’t apply any other make-up I still frame my brows and apply mascara.
before and after
I love mineral make-up and this one is my must-have brow kit so far http://janeiredale.com/eyebr_bbk.html
It is so easy to use, doesn’t look overly applied and the three brushes each do their job perfectly.
Gap hat and snood, Monsoon cape, Osprey handbag, CK jeans, Russell & Bromley boots
Wet and windy, greasy, beach-bum – hats can be the epitome of style and cover sinful ‘slap head’ hair!
On casual days, if I can get away with it, a hat is a must. It immediately gives the impression you’ve made an effort.
Today was a greasy day 😉
Boys joined in with gorgeous Monsoon headgear.
The Monsoon mohair wrap is several years old and I don’t know what I will do without it as the quality of the mohair would make anyone feel like a sumptuous Snow Queen!
Hint – decent quality handbag with cute detail lifts a casusal outfit ten-fold. This Osprey has great chunky leather stitching.
5,4,3,2,1…morning count down
I get ready when the kids are having breakfast – nothing new in that.
I get breakfast ready the night before = saves at least ten minutes in the morning rush.
I never shower in the morning, always the night before, so then I just need to quickly blow-dry over the sleep frizz = 5 mins max.
The boys are 5 & 3 – their uniforms out and book bags/spellings on the table for them to do whilst eating. They get ready themselves with the bribe, 5 mins Power Rangers TV once dressed and ready = saves at least another ten minutes not having to dress the 3 year old.
My routine is perfected with my 2 year old who pleasantly waits in her cot bed (don’t ask me how I’ve managed this one – not sure!) until I’m fresh as a daisy and ready to hoof it to the THREE different schools they’re currently at!
All in all an extra 20 minutes for me to get ready in the morning – now that is luxury in a mum’s morning 🙂
Looking fresh, shaped, polished and manicured every day of the week needed either silly time or money. Looking down at peeling, dry, detergent poorly nails just isn’t fun and definitely doesn’t make you feel good.
I have found a DIY delight which keeps bringing a smile to my face every time I type, wash up and change a nappy!
We all have heard of the 3-week manicure, Shellac or whatever other brands are out there, BUT it is still the same old story of needing the time and money needed to pop in for a talon touch-up. At an average of £25 a pop it’s still an expense I’d rather not  have, even if it is now only every 3 weeks.
Save time, money with DIY Shellac
A bit of googling and hey presto I am now my own in-house Shellac technician for less than one trip to the salon! A nail UV lamp, three colours, top coat, base coat all bought on ebay. There are plenty of colours to choose from all costing about £6, so you can have a rainbow of colours which you can play around with each month. http://shellacnailscnd.com/
All you need now is a steady hand, a decent episode of Sherlock to entertain you and tada you have fine fingers every day forever!
Check out this video to show how easy it is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-mItP5g9d4M
circusmum 