Hi, todays blog is about more nyx the final collection of lipsticks i do own a few others but i would imagine by now 3 posts is enough because each one is about how fab they are and all of them are of the same quality! although like the wicked ones a few of these shades take a few more layers to get the colour pay off. 

now i may be wrong but i think the nyx were the first to launch pastel shades?!

and like the other collections as soon as i saw them i knew i needed them! 

everytime i look at them i think of summer!

Before the nyx ombre pencil days i loved this line of lipsticks for ombre looks with no liner just 2 colours darker first and then central the lighter shade but this took so much longer ages of smudging and tidying the edges!
I do think these shades although crazy colours are in some way more wearable than maybe the wicked collection?! Just because with the hair trends around now why not match your lipstick?!
The formula of these is a tad less Matt compared to the wicked line and I did find in no way can you have lip balm on before applying these shades it won't go on ! So it's a good idea to blot your lips dry before applying them to get the best application!

This is going to sound crazy but these lipsticks actually make fab eyeshadow bases if you want a bright colour so for example I find yellow eyeshadow really hard to get a good vibrant finish I have used before the citron shade a base and ontop a yellow shadow and it worked really well to be fair NYX milk pencil prob would have done the same job but the yellow really came out vibriant using the lipstick as a base !

Again I love the fact you can see the product colour around the middle so you don't have to open it or look at the bottom. I do think tho the packaging could be made of something a little more expensive looking and feeling I can't help but always think that although I like the design it really reminds me of wet and wilds lipsticks from a packaging point of view . 

All in all NYX is one of the best affordable brands out there in my opinion and I'm so over the moon that you can now buy most of the products in the uk in selected boots and next stores but I have found products missing in the U.K. Like the ombré pencils they were not available in boots probably online on the website but I never order from the site I always give Dom a huge list when he goes to America
I really wish NYX would open a store jut full top to bottom of products my dream job would be to run a NYX store!
i think I want to start a pitition for a full NYX store maybe that and Sephora will join the uk even better throw in some bath and body works to who's with me ?!?!

Thanks for reading hope to write again soon
Hannah and Thea xx 

 being an identical triplet and also my thoughts on being an aunt to identical triplets! 

us as kids with our older sister

liz left me right at my baby gender party last year

The hunt for a pram was on! we actually waited to buy a pram until a few months before Thea was born mainly because she was due mid April so we figured waiting for the Jan sales was a good plan! And to be fair most places didn't disappoint with the sales.

A friend of mine was due in the February so we made a few trips to Mother care and had a test of some of the prams boy am i glad we did this i would have bought totally the wrong pram! now before i kept telling my friends and family that i was going to get a silver cross - i had my heart set on it and nothing was going to change my mind not even the £800 price tag! i had it all planned and had saved for it even showed every one  which one when they asked me - for reference i wanted the silver cross surf 2! and followed second by the silver cross wayfarer.

on these trips with my friend to mother care and having done a few solo trips during my lunch breaks at work - dangerous i bought many an item i didn't need but impulse bought!

i realised how many there where out there and how many actually were not what i was looking for and pricey for what you were getting in my opinion, the silver cross was only on a bundle including the  car seat twice a year and the car seat would have been an added £100 ontop - no thank you! even tho i loved the look of the pram and i loved the size of the shopping basket - deal breaker for me believe it or not!  a good size basket is needed for trips to buy nappies and formula! i was disappointed with the way it folded and how heavy it was!  

Most of the best selling prams with the huge price tags made me question everything in what i was looking for -they all on paper ticked the boxes, yet actually having a test of them in my opinion every single one was so heavy and a pain to fold down. 

Ok yes they all look fab but none felt for me practical this lead to Dom ( hes the bargain hunter and computer genius in our house ) researching other prams he mentioned ones he had with his 3 kids but i felt like i wasn't  keen again seeing a few of them in Mother care i wasn't sold fussy much?! 

we googled all in one travel systems where i found many i liked i kept going back  to Cosatto giggle 3 in 1 travel system because purely it had a star print! and another one i really liked was Billie Faiers travel system in cream the price of these was the only thing stopping us buying one of them and also the star print may have been a bit much for Dom when he would be pushing the pram around.

While we googled travel systems Ickle Bubba stomp came up they have 3 versions of the stomp (we got the most recent version the v3) and as a fairly new company the price was very good in fact extremely good for everything that was included in the bundle we eventually got from kiddycare.com via tesco online bundle pictured bellow, for £445.00 we got a huge amount unlike the silver cross £800.00 and no car seat and heavy pram! we got all this,

Carry cot 0-6m

Toddler push chair seat 6m-3yrs

Car seat 

Isofix Base 

Changing bag - includes changing mat 

all accessories needed for carry cot - sun canopy for toddler chair , foot muff ,canopy for carry cot and cover, seat insert in colour of your choice to match the other fabric accessories

Sun visor for car windows 

Rain cover 

Mosquito net for carry cot /pushchair 

Rock Steady Bouncer - included in bundle RRP ALONE ON THIS IS £60.00!!! 

this is a huge amount to get for such and amazing price and no need to search for a bouncer which was on the shopping list!

To add to an already amazing deal they had a good colour range we went for grey as Thea's room is grey and white with stars thrown in! in a way i wish i had gone black as during a trip to Superdrug i got lipstick on the hood of the push chair and there is no hiding that on grey! however - you can wash and remove the fabric parts so no problem - i left it to late and the lipstick was a stone shade so nearly black and whats worse i didn't buy it!

You can also purchase separately the fabric parts so could easily change the colour.

 Hi, Today's blog is about Nyx Wicked lipsticks 

The love of nyx continues although these are not everyday wear they make fantastic photo lipsticks and great occasion lipsticks like Halloween or an occasion that for some reason calls for  metallic shimmery green or blue! 

where do i start i love them all! the blue and purple are probably my favourite up close they are metallic and shimmery like i hadn't seen in any another brand up to that point since these launched other brands have followed with good reason any makeup lover or instagram makeup blogger or you -tuber would for sure check these out so any other brand would be silly not to!  

considering the consistency of metallic must be rather hard to create, these are smooth and silky lipsticks a couple need a few more layers to reach full shimmery goodness but not a bother when you see how beautiful they are. 

before having Thea i did often photograph  makeup and post on inst these days are few and far between now  but i found some i took when i got these to show what they look like on.

 Now i am  as pale as pale can be i make white paper looked tanned in comparison so not all these shades would be wearable out and about unless your feeling brave - the blue and purple i think really suit pale skin and i can see all the other shades complimenting darker skin tones well.

I even love the packaging as you can quickly see what colour is what without seeing the bottom i like this feature as i store them standing so it makes for a quick selection!

day to day i don't grab these but again they are so beautiful and unique i felt the need to add them to my collection!

01 Betrayal

The purple and blue shades in this collection are great for creating the illusion of whiter teeth bonus if you want that look! the formula of the ones i own are not patchy and easy to apply although the greens i found needed an extra layer to really bring the shine out i don't find they go on uneven 

I own 4 out of the collection 09 Risque is a deep forest green and 07 Immortal is a bright purple with purple shimmer (not pictured just swatch pics from NYX.com) 

I wish i could get my hair these metallic colours  

how amazing would that be?!

i suggest buying these even if its just to occasionally look at them ha ha and as a lipstick they are lovely and unique!

i have a blog on the macron shades coming soon! my love of these lipsticks and the brand will always continue, i now fancy to check out the kat von d line of similar shades wonder what they are like they look lovely! maybe once im back at work and can fund this obsession a little better!

thanks for reading hope to write soon 

Hannah and Thea xx 

Hi, today's blog is about our journey so far with baby eczema.

Babies do get dry skin and it's common for this to be around the wrists and ankles and knees when babies are new born / few weeks old and with moisturising these areas this dry skin does improve. 

At first this is what happened to Thea in those areas and it did improve but I she was around 6 to 8 weeks old and I started to notice her skin wasn't what I thought normal for a baby.
Being a first time parent something didn't feel right but was it new mum fear or actually an issue?!?!

Thea had cradle cap at the time so her face we put down to cradle cap this had spread onto her eyes, cheeks and sides of her face, cradle cap can spread but again with treatment improves. Thea's older half brother had bad eczema as a baby so we  thought ok maybe this in some way could be related to this as her body started being flaky and extremely dry Dom as a baby had also had some eczema. 

I thought it had to be something else but what?! At first burt's bees seemed to work but even that now wasn't cutting it and Most people seeing Thea or when I posted about it said its normal don't worry all babies have dry skin it will go in time and that her head was cradle cap -now to be fair occasionally yes it looked a bit better but In no way normal !
As the weeks went on and her head and face getting worse along with her body being so dry she was itching making her skin so sore it would bleed I did what every new mum does Google remedies and ask my friends on Facebook who gave me some advice, for most babies these remedies work I was so desperate I tried a few suggestions, little did I know this was going to cause a major flare up the first we tried olive oil on her head with a rub while in the bath to help her scalp. next one was the one that made me really consider something else was going on I tried Vaseline.

Olive oil - made her skin red and inflamed
Vaseline - Skin weeping and inflammation

At this point I was going crazy seeing her skin weeping as obviously Vaseline is shiny ! But to the touch her skin was so weepy and sticky and stuck to any fabric causing irritation to Thea I had to wash my hands every time I touched her.

 Thea was due jabs and I was getting anxious that the nurse would take one look at Thea and say I wasn't looking after her properly in some places her skin almost looked burnt.

before the jabs I got desperate things getting worse and my anxiety increasing thinking about having to take Thea to see the nurse looking like she did I got talking to our friend who at the time was struggling with her daughter and re-flux and what she thought was a lactose intolerance, now after chatting about Thea that she could also be suffering from re-flux and sickness from a few weeks old, we assumed colic as Thea would cry for hours and hours most days all day. People kept advising us it's normal for a baby to cry and have colic and the health visitor had suggest to try comfort milk to help with the re flux which should help the colic.
Now yes it could have been colic - Dom researched the cause of colic a lot of info suggested that it is caused by the babies not being able to digest lactose in their milk. We tried Thea on the comfort milk and this did not agree with her, so we went with lactose free milk ?! Based on research ?!

Before using lactose free our friend mentioned she had tried her baby on soya milk and for her this was working and helping to improve her daughters problems. I know all babies are different and yes maybe this was just working for her baby and may not for Thea but I was so desperate to find anything to help we gave it ago I would like to add  I didn't consult anyone about switching formula which raised a few eyebrows when explaining the situation to my GP and the HV later down the road. 

To my amazement within a day Thea's skin was better and she was happier less crying and barely any re-flux fluke ?!?! Maybe?! So for a few days we kept her on the soya now the crying started to creep back but on a much easier level and her stomach seemed better and her nappies improved. I can't remember why but I had rung the health visitor and got talking about Thea's skin and the soya she said I was to take Thea off soya and not use it as there was no way it would be better for her and no way would it be the reason her skin was better.

Soya Milk - HV said soya is linked to growth issues and development issues and is to be only used under the advice and guidance of a medical professional
Colic and the Lactose - HV, no the amounts of lactose in the milk will not be enough to cause colic in her opinion
Lactose free Milk - HV said f we wanted to try it and see we were welcome to as long as Thea was off soya milk, she recommended SMA gold

SMA Gold didn't help the colic and Thea's skin was still bad after it had cleared up using the soya.

Injection day comes around and we continued with SMA but she now had bad weeping skin and an upset stomach so the nurse gave Thea her injections but we couldn't do the rota virus because of her stomach. The nurse asked us to come back in a 2 weeks, we continued using the SMA, when we returned Thea's skin was worse on her face the nurse said look I can see there is an issue with her skin what formula is she on ?! I explain about SMA and the Soya she says she was a HV for a long time and thought as we did the skin was in relation to her formula and I was to book and see the GP she also said if the Soya works then that could be the way forward but to see the GP as it does have side effects.

Finally someone agrees it's the formula not just bad baby eczema I don't feel
So crazy about how her skin improved on soya and I don't feel bad for trying it as it did point towards the milk being the issue we see the GP in the next few days.

I have to hand it to our GP he listened and agreed and really thought about the cause and treatment, he has from then until today been so helpful with his knowledge and as a parent of a 1 year old he listened and didn't judge he really investigated formulas and what it could be.

 Firstly he says soya is not the best but if we try a few things for a longer period and they do not work he would consider Thea remaining on it,

He then suggests organic formula explaining how they are made and why it will suit her better, it was something along the lines of how the burn down the ingredients so we were to look for a hydrolysed formula but suggested HIPP ORGANIC because of the way it was made.

Now he also gave us what I always call lotions and potions to try a few of which didn't work (listed at the bottom of the blog) but again he was very kind and considerate and would see us regularly that it wasn't to much of an issue as we quickly found one cream combo with a bath oil that worked surprisingly coconut was a good thing on her skin ?! Weird considering the olive oil issue !

Although an improvement her skin still wasn't great and the re-flux still there so we went back and we talked about what we think it is. Dom and I had been leaning towards a milk protein and lactose intolerance which are rare and normally run in the family so we thought maybe that's not it.

 We look this up and Google allergy's related to eczema, lactose comes up as well as, dairy, gluten, wheat, but most common of all was milk protein so we investigate Thea's issues and we figure maybe that it is ?!

When searching I found many a great blog and mum web pages that also sounded like Thea and how their doctors thought they were mental for leaning towards the formulas! Finally we don't feel alone! So I explain what we found and he agrees that could be the cause as it wasn't healing tho improved so he gets his little medical book out - he often uses this as a reference point  because there are so many options!

He gives us a new formula that is completely free from its a medical amino acid formula called Neocate
He says try this with the creams and come back in 2 weeks.

We google the Formula and some parents found it didn't work but others did a lot of people say it can cause sickness which we were still getting and although Thea was itching it began to work slowly her sickness was ok but her skin did start to heal bingo we are on a roll !

Theas formula

Then the hot weather comes things go down hill and Thea gets a bad patch again and we notice around the sunshine her skin is worse and she is itchy we also noted that my sisters dog could also be a cause of an allergy After we had been away and she stayed with my sister and her skin flared up again so off we go back and he seems really impressed with the progress I guess from the outside you can see it I can't as I see her everyday ?!

So he gives us body suits and medicine to give her twice a day and we continue the routine we cream her all the time and at every nappy change we cover her Head toToe at night we use the suits and medicine including Piriton and slowly we get to her Today.

 Her skin is smooth and good for the most part still a few areas around her face and stomach but good and getting better everyday the only down side is she has started teething and all the dribble is causing her face to get bad but no where near the same level as before.

Thanks for reading, hope to write again soon

Hannah & Thea

thea's skin when it was worse

What worked  
Balneum Plus Cream- (contains urea which is effective at stopping itching)
Piriton - used at night (for any allergies)
Daktacort Ointment - Mix of Miconazole nitrate 2% & Hydrocortisone 1% (used on her scalp)
Nizoral - Anti Fungal cream was used before Daktacort Ointment 2%
Hydrocortisone 1% - (used on bad patches around face and body)
Clotrimazole cream 1% - (we used this for skin folds but have stopped using as they have healed)
Euciren - Bath oil (used once a day)
 Coconut oil - we used this before getting Euciren, it helped ease the itching

Didn't Work
 Epiderm - (caused inflammation and pain when applying)
Diprobase - (made skin real dry and itchy)
Oilatum - Bath oil (made condition worse)
Bria Organics Balm - (didn't work on this occasion)
Johnson & Johnson Night Time bath & Baby Lotion - (Caused redness and irritation)

By using a darker shade faded into a lighter shade usually concentrated into the centre of the lips you would be surprised at the difference it can make! 

There are many techniques out there for creating an ombré some are so easy it doesn't even require a lip liner it's done with two shades of lipsticks I've tried this method -it can get messy but has a very natural barely there look which is lovely for day time and simple looks but these pencils create more of what I was looking for a very obvious ombré as I like a bolder lip look. 

On Pinterest and Instagram you can see some beautiful works of art done with ombré lipsticks and liners my favourite would be a sun set one done with orange and yellow go and have a look on pin and Insta you will waste ages looking at the beautiful pics ! 

Since colouring my hair I hadn't considered the makeup i wear may not always go with blue hair ! And to be honest I'm not sure I'm brave enough to wear the ombre red and black in public just yet but it would make a fab Halloween look and even a great look for anyone brave enough to wear it out ! I think when my hair is no longer blue I will be able to wear this out! 

I love that NYX have these duos they really give anyone the skill to do a quick and easy look that before would have taken longer having to find a lipstick and liner that you want to use which then would lead to do they go ?! Will the colours even ombré ?! ! But this does it for you a nice safe way to have an ombré look colours are ready to go! There are endless combos with these duos and a nice wide range of colours I will definitely be asking Dom to grab the other shades when he goes again!

I realise this post doesn't have swatches I'm writing this in a nap break so when I have a few mins I shall insert swatches and also all colours on so you can see how lovely these pencils are! 

Hope this inspires some ombré lip wearing ! 

Hope to write again soon 

Hannah and Thea xx

Yay! 6 months time has flown by to fast from a tiny baby to 6 months already, to celebrate i had seen on pinterest cute pics marking the half year mark which made me of course think i could re create them, all i need is a 6 month old baby a background cake or cupcake phone and i'm ready!

so i decided to steal a neutral coloured blanket from my sister to use as a background and use the sofa as its got enough space to make a mess and good light from the balcony windows!

i did wonder if cupcakes were a good idea but no harm in a few licks of icing here and there! all Thea wanted to do for the most part is smash it up and rub it over the blanket.

i have no idea why i bothered to attempt putting a single candle in the cupcake i should have seen the hazard coming obviously its the first thing Thea wants to eat or put in her eye - the candle swiftly after a few pics comes out!

i don't have a fancy camera or anything really good to take pics with i always use my i phone and then some apps like Insta or Enlight 

these photos are fairly raw as in only an insta filter has been added looking at them maybe the bow was to much and the collar on the dress is very creased - I iron nothing ever why start now ?!

for me in every pic its Thea's expressions that make me love them some shes happy to have a cupcake in others she has no clue whats going on! i do forget she has no idea shes 6 months ha ha.

the second photos she has on a cute white and pink dress on and pink headband

maybe its just me but i love Thea in a headband i think it makes her look more cute.

the first cupcake just had icing on it , the second one i added wafer flowers thinking it would add some jazz to the photo if anything it actually helped contain the icing so was less messy than the first  

so that's by random 6 month photo blog i will prob do a update one on solid food and development and current things we use like her bouncer and things!

thanks for reading hope to write soon 

Hannah and Thea xx