Feeling The Pressure

Being a mum is a tough gig at times. Let's just be open and honest about that. Sleepless nights, endless crying, growth spurts, mum guilt...the list goes on. Something I've been having issues with lately is the guilt. Am I doing enough with Matilda? Is she a happy child?

I never used to beat myself up over stuff in life, I would get on with it. I didn't used to over-analyse or over-think - it just was what it was.

How motherhood changed all that.

In the first few weeks of Matilda's life, I felt pretty shitty. I'll dedicate more on that in a different post but it took me a while to find my feet, longer than other Mum's it seemed. Then when she was about 3 months old, we started going to baby groups, baby massage classes etc and I felt fully immersed in the new Mother & Baby lifestyle.

At 7 months old I returned to work part time, doing 3 days a week. And its since then that the guilt has grown and grown. On the days when I'm not at work, I feel so much pressure to do something fun with Matilda. Like a trip to the park or beach, a few hours at a soft play centre or a play date with other little ones. But on my days off I have shit to do too. A house that needs to be kept in a relatively clean state, washing that has to be done, food shopping and just other general boring errands that Matilda must hate, right?

I see the Instamums with their seemingly perfect fun filled days out and then think Matilda has spent the best part of an hour plonked in front of the telly watching Peppa Pig with a custard cream whilst Mummy does the washing up and prepares the tea.

She is a happy kid, I know that. And she loves me, no matter how many trips to Morrisons we make. I just have to remind myself of that. I work so that we can have an even better life as a family and honestly, work is sometimes my escape as I don't see my friends as often as I might like. But that is parenthood. My daughter laughs every day, like proper belly laughs and that brings a lump to my throat because she is an incredible little human.

I guess the point of this post is to let out the guilt. And to let other mums know that it is always OK to do what you need to do to get your shit done. So what if you haven't spent all day at soft play or the park? Playing in the garden at home pulling all the flowers from the fuschia is just as much fun to these little people. The pressure we put on ourselves as Mum's can be massive sometimes.

I would love to hear what you thought about this post.

Chloe x

High Street Cleansers You Need To Know About

Hi guys!

I need to update you on two new cleansing products you NEED to purchase. Today. They are so good.

The first is the new oil infused micellar water from Garnier. You may have already tried their normal micellar water with the pink lid? And thought that was really good? It was good, but the new one is amazing! It smells divine, it removes every last bit of makeup from my skin, including my waterproof Lancome mascara which is an absolute bugger to shift usually. It doesn't leave a greasy, weird sheen either that some oil cleansers do. It is such good value for money too at under £6 for 400ml. However, Superdrug have it on offer here for under £4.

The second product is a new cleansing gel from Palmer's. I use this in the mornings to wake up my face and also in the evenings to remove my base makeup. The formula of this gel means it doesn't foam up too much on the skin (does anyone else hate a bubble covered face?) and it is so light my skin feels refreshed and clean, not tight and dry. Palmer's products are great value again, this gel was £3.99 and you can pop this in your shopping basket to purchase now, here.

Let me know if you've already tried either of these and what you thought!

Chloe x

New In: Beauty

Hi guys!

A recent shopping trip to Westfield White City with two girlfriends left my purse a little barren shall we say!

I had a few beauty products on my shopping list so headed to House of Fraser to try out a few. First up, a new foundation. After hearing Victoria from Inthefrow highly recommend the Maestro Glow by Giorgio Armani, I knew I wanted to buy something here. However, my skin is very oily, so the lovely lady advised I should try the Luminous Silk instead. Maestro Glow does what it says on the tin - make you glowy. I don't need any more shine as I have enough from my super oily t-zone come 3pm!

I go for foundations with more pink based tones than yellow as this just works for me, so bought shade 4.5.

I am very lucky with my skin, I'm generally free from any spots and the tone is pretty good. I do get a bit of redness around my nose, but I find a concealer helps with this. I'd heard good things about the Urban Decay Naked Skin concealer and was advised to try shade light warm. It is very lightweight and a shade or two fairer compared to what I had been using, so this a great brightening concealer for under the eyes and down the nose. So far I like!

Also whilst checking out the Urban Decay counter, I picked up their make-up setting spray. A bit of a cult item if you will. They do three types, so I went for the oil control one. The guy at the counter reeled of some spiel about the contents, sorry but I'm no chemist so I have no idea about the ingredients and what they do. All I know is people love this. And that is good enough for me. It can even be kept in the fridge and used as a cooling mist too - love this idea for hot weather.

Finally new tools! I love Real Techniques, so if you've never used any of their brushes before you definitely need to try them. Created by two make-up artists, the collection has everything you need for flawless make-up. I've been raving about their miracle complexion sponge for months now and even mentioned it in a '5 Holy Grail Beauty Products' video on my sister's YouTube channel. My current one is in a bad way so bought a replacement and I grabbed the core collection for my base at £20! It has a large brush for buffing, a smaller brush for contouring, a tapered brush which is great for getting in to corners and I love it for my powder highlight. And lastly a mini brush which I now use for lips!

Do you have any of these products? Or have anything new you can recommend I need to try?

Chloe x