HEY GORGEOUS PURE WILD VOLUMISING MASCARA [REVIEW]

Are you tired of lashing out (lol, pun intended) at your mascara brush, because your eye feathers aren’t quite co – operating when it comes to looking all fabulously voluminous?

Great! I’m glad I’m not the only one.

As you may know, I am trying to make a conscious effort to use cruelty free make up brands and skincare products, and contribute towards living less of a waste free lifestyle. Fortunately, one of my favourite skincare brands from South Africa,  and now MAKE – UP brand too, so happens to fit these exact qualities.

Yes, my heart skipped a beat too, when I heard that Hey Gorgeous was working on a make – up line, and they’re dropping some hot new things!

For the last two months, I have been testing out their very first product from their up and coming range, which is the Pure Wild Volumizing Mascara in Black/Nior. Everything about this packaging is SO “HEY GORGEOUS”. Think fun, playful and my favourite bit – CRUELTY FREE!

I first used this mascara when having a braai (bbq) which lead to a night out of drinks, so yes, I have put this little tube to a few good tests! The brush wand is Pure Wild! See what I did there? Thanks to this marvellous wand (Oh, and Hey Gorgeous too), I found that when using this, my mascara was clump free. I have honestly struggled to find a non-clumpy mascara. I mean, how difficult can it be, with all of the mascaras out there in the world?

The formula is thick enough to build up to your desired thickness on your lashes, or keep it light and fresh for a day look. To get the look in my picture (above), I went in with 2 layers of mascara. Volume is key for all sorts of sexy eyelash fluttering! A girl has always got to be prepared!

Black marks under the eye? I absolutely love how I have had minimal to none! The only time I had a bit was when I got caught in serious torrential rain for about 30 min and when I’ve done really REALLY intense, sweaty exercise sessions. But that’s a given, right? Day to day activities, have also allowed me to return home after a day out looking like the same species that I left the house as, and not a panda! Black eyes are a thing of the past!

I love that the wand has smaller bits which allow for the inner lashes of the eye to be reached easily with no mess. If bottom lashes are your thing, then this wand makes that super easy too, with the smaller brush bits.

Another big quality that really tickles my pickle (and probably my lashes too), is that I don’t have to fight with them to get the mascara off at the end of the day. It is super easy to remove and totally hassle free.

Below is a picture my mascara in the morning, followed by an evening picture of what it looked like at the end of the day. Fabulous, isn’t it?

eautyblog.files.wordpress.com/2018/08/img_6351.jpg”> Bright eyed and bushy tailed with my lashes!

 height=

This wand can be
[/caption]This wand can be found in both South Africa (R140.00) and in the U.K  (£14.50) Im so excited for Hey Gorgeous to release the rest of their make-up range!

ECO PERSONAL CARE BY NATY

Being squeaky clean, should always be on the top of your list. A shower a day keeps the stinkyness at bay!

With that in mind, my husband and I have recently been trying to make a joint effort at being eco-friendlier. We have since introduced these eco-friendly ways into our daily hygiene, being conscious of the products that we use.

If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will know that our daughter has been using the most divine eco-friendly range from Naty (Eco by Naty). Naty are a Swedish company, dedicated to being waste free and have designed a beautiful extensive baby range from nappies, nappy bags, all sorts of baby toiletries to eco-friendly clothes!

Naty always leaves Harpers bum as happy as can be, so with that in mind, my husband and I gave the Naty Adult range a try. Parents have to have some spoils too, right?

We have the Naty shampoo, shower gel and body lotion.

A lovely family photo!

The first thing that I noticed is that all of these products are packaged in waste friendly bottles, with beautiful branding that’s simple, yet elegant. Who wants to look at unattractive bottles anyway? Respect for the eyeballs really goes a long way!

husband and I both really liked the shower gel, its smooth, fresh, and a little goes a long way. To me, the shower gel has a beautifully light rosey scent. Its super subtle, but its definitely there. Robbie said that he thought it smelt foresty, but this is also the same person who thinks that strawberries smell like apples.

Robbie loved the shampoo. He found it to lather really easily and left his hair as soft as Harpers bottom. I found that the shampoo worked quite well. I have EXTREMELY damaged hair from years of highlighting. I often buy salon quality shampoo ranges specifically for blonde/damaged hair which are extra conditioning and give my hair some serious TLC. As far as my damaged hair goes, my hair was left feeling dry, but I can only guess that it’s because there are no bad chemicals, parabens, or mineral oils. However, when brushing my hair wet, it was totally fine where my hair has grown out, but when I brought my hairbrush down to my highlighted hair, it didn’t brush through very easily. This tells me that if I had an entire head of natural colour free hair, that this shampoo would’ve been superb, especially being friendly to our planet and waste free. Robbie and I both loved the scent – very similar to the shower gel, just a little stronger, in a yummy way!

I absolutely LOVED the body lotion. It smells like a bottle full of sweets! How delicious! One of the mumma bloggers Gill from ChatsWithGill, that I regularly interact with and follow was recommending this lotion to her audience, and now that I have tried it, I TOTALLY understand why! The lotion formula is smooth and again, a teeny bit goes a long way. The bottle also has a pump lid, making it easy to apply and scoosh out. I’d absolutely recommend this!

All in all, the Naty Adult range is really an amazing one to try, simply for its eco-friendly, chemical free, oil free, pollution free ethos. So many things FREE!

It’s also a priority of Naty’s to be cruelty free, which is a major bonus in my books as I really am making a slow move in that direction. I truly love everything that this company stands for after using both their baby range and adult range of body care/hygiene products.

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

xxx

FITNESS UPDATE: MY POSTPARTUM WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY FEBRUARY 2018

This month’s journey has been an interesting few weeks of trial and error, making space for room to grow (well not literally – we’re trying to shrink in size LOL).

I’ve been on this journey for EIGHT short WEEKS!  When I realised how long I have been on this journey, I couldn’t help but feel a little sad, thinking that I should have lost at least a minimum of 8kg this far. I had a pity party moment, sulked, might’ve eaten a Cadbury’s crème Egg (or I might not have), and read back over my progress chart to try and figure out where I have gone wrong.

And besides for the Cadbury’s Crème Egg, I realised that I hadn’t really gone wrong anywhere! I’m not going to pretend as though I’m a Positive Percy 25/7 (25 (not 24/7) because wannabe over achiever).

Thank heavens for the progress chart, because that ended my pity party very quickly. Although I have had a month of crazy toy – toying with my weight on the scale, my measurements have really fly kicked through what I thought were feelings of disappointment of thinking that I could do better. Only losing 1.6kg this month can send one into a state of such thought, especially after losing almost 5kg the month before.

January 4th 2018 to the left and March 4th 2018 to the right.

So, what’s going on? Why is the scale playing with my feelings like this?

First things first, anyone who is on a weight loss journey should know that the scale is NOT a true reflection of how your body has changed for MANY reasons – especially if you’re a lady, but more of that for another day.

I have always used the scale to measure my “success”, but have also let the number that reflects back at me control how I feel when it’s not what I want to see. For this reason, I have made a big decision going forward, which is to DITCH THE SCALE and my weekly weigh in and only go by measurements.

I’m doing this because for the last month of hopping on and off the scale every week, with minimal results and fluctuations more disastrous than the stock market, I have been second guessing my progress, feeling somewhat demotivated. I will be doing a casual weigh in once a month to keep myself in check and relying mostly on the progress of my monthly measurements results.

THIS MONTHS UPDATE

Although I have only lost 1.6kg, I have also lost a total of 13cm – which backs my decision even more to ditch the scale.

This brings my total weight loss over the last 8 weeks to 5.8kg with a total of 29.5cm lost all over. My measurements have gone done the most around my “mum pouch”. I have lost 11cm around that area so far, which makes my little heart very happy as this is a VERY difficult area to lose from and a total of 6.5cm around my waist.

January 4th 2018 to the left and March 4th 2018 to the right.

Throughout this month, I have also tried to put my fear aside of exercising my abdominals after my C section – and I have managed to do an abs session at least twice a week now. I can feel that this area is getting stronger, slowly but surely. Abs have always been one of my favourite exercises to do, which is now becoming more of a reality again since having Harps – and I AM SO FRIKKEN EXCITED!

January 4th 2018 to the left and March 4th 2018 to the right – Not the best look, but small victories count!

So, if you are on this journey too, and you feel like you are taking one step forward, and … you guessed it – 2 steps back, then try and find the denominator as to why this is. Mine was the scale which was tugging at my heart strings ever so viciously, but I’m hoping that this new strategy going forward will help change the mind-set to get where I (you) want to be.

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

xxx

 

MOTHER’S DAY FACIALS WITH HEY GORGEOUS! [BAYSIDE MALL]

Firstly, HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the new mommies, grannies and god mommies out there! Today we celebrate all the years of putting up with tantrums, attitudes, and memories of laughter, love, surprises and everything else in between.

I for one know that I have given my mom grey hairs, an occasional wrinkle (not that she has many) and of course, I have been accountable for all the marbles that she has lost over the last 24 years. Apparently I WAS an absolute terror and my “terrible two’s” lasted all the way until I was 22!

With the excitement of becoming a new mom myself later in August this year, and realizing that I MIGHT have a Naughty Nelly of a child on my hands, I decided to treat my mom and myself to a Skin Evening and Brightening Facial at Hey Gorgeous (Bayside Mall) to celebrate Mother’s Day and hopefully reverse all those years of stress and apparently the odd “wrinkle” that I caused.

Atlantic Sea Kelp & Brown Rice Cleansing Powder looking dashing!

We started off with the Atlantic sea kelp & Brown rice cleansing powder for a pre cleanse and skin polishing, you know for all the years of stress. This mask was left on our skin for 1 minute and was then massaged in with a cleansing brush. While this mask was getting to work we could totally feel our faces tingling and our  skin was already feeling so much happier! After that, our masks were wiped away with warm water.

Step 1: Looking a little like Shrek in my Sea Kelp Cleansing Mask

The Peach and Rosehip seed cleanser was applied next. This cleanser smelt amazing! There were whiffs of maple syrup and orangey wafts of deliciousness, and not to mention the subtle sweetness of the peaches in the air! While the snouts were enjoying these smells, our faces were having this concoction massaged in with the cleansing brush.

The Peach & Rosehip seed Cleanser and the Vitamin C Toner posing for pictures together!

After that, our moment of heaven was wiped way with the Vitamin C Toner, which is superb for an instant burst of freshness, and helps with collagen production to fight those wrinkles (yet again, for you Mother and all those years of torture) and of course ensures evenness in the skins tone and texture.

Step 2: My mom looking all happy and enjoying the cleansing brush!

The Goji Berry Face Mask was lathered onto our faces next, and that was it, we arrived at our next moment of heaven! Believe me when I say that this smelt more amazing than your grandma’s baked apple pie, and of course has less calories too!!!

The Goji Berry Face Mask with REAL bits of berry in it!

The mask was massaged in with a sponge brush which was so soft and helped penetrate those pores. This was left to work its magic over the next 5 min for those everlasting years of “terrible 2’s” before being wiped away with water and soft cotton pads. Our faces felt softer than your average baby’s bottom (not that I have felt many) and I could feel instant relief from my chin area that was misbehaving with a breakout of super painful spots.

Step 3: There’s a berry on my face!

Goji berries are also fabulous for its anti-aging potential by plumping up those fine lines and hydrating tired skin. You can’t go wrong when evening primrose oil, shea, mango butter, green tea and honey are having an absolute party on your face! Talk about being pampered!

After being wiped away with water, the Vitamin C Serum (for age defying purposes) and the Skin Evening and Brightening Serum was massaged into our faces and left to sink into our skin, helping with moisture and yes, those little lines, yet again.

Step 4: Vitamin C Serum and Skin Evening and Brightening Serum

Afterwards, the Revitalising Eye Cream was applied around the eye area and was massaged in with a super duper magic wand that was heated up.

Step 5: The Revitalising Eye Cream and The Magic Wand

We finished off the treatment with the Skin Lightning & Brightening Moisturiser which helps correct the skin tone. And believe me when I say that this tub of awesomeness is the absolute tits! Wafts of Liquorice Root can be enjoyed by the snout as well as shea butter, coconut and jojoba oils which left my mom feeling like the Fabulous Fiona that she is! I also loved this moisturizer and thought that the entire treatment was to DIE for – even though I TOTALLY walked out there alive!

I absolutely love these products being all natural with no preservatives and have also recently found out that Hey Gorgeous now ship worldwide – how fabulous! There was such a friendly warm atmosphere in the room when having our facials done and we were made to feel right at home and treated with such happiness and had plenty of laughs at the Bayside Mall store. We absolutely loved our facials and I definitely cannot wait to go back and try out all the others.

Look at my mom, all happy and realizing that the last 24 years of torture from me have totally been worth this facial!

I am currently testing out their Belly Butter and Stretch Mark Healing Oil for my growing tummy and will be doing a full review on these once my little one has surfaced after August this year.

Alrighty ladies, head on over to your nearest Hey Gorgeous Store for your facials!

P.S There’s a 30% discount for all facials done on a Friday!

Until next time,

Mycaila – Jade

XXX

LUSH 2017 EASTER RANGE

I hope you all put a Spring in your step this Easter with my Lush Easter Beauty Haul over Instagram. YES, these Lush treats should’ve had you bouncing about, so ears to hoping you had a superbly hoppy Easter. Today I will be going through my thoughts on these beauty bombs, so prepare yourself for a few funny yolks along the way, and make sure you look out for next years 2018 Easter range.

A few weeks ago, I was invited to attend the LUSH bloggers event at my local LUSH store, which was a complete honour! Right up until the last moment where I couldn’t make it because PREGNANCY got in the way. You know, some days are superb and others not so much. As you can imagine, I totally wanted to risk it, but you never know what to expect when there’s a little chick waiting to hatch. I had to unfortunately give the event a skip, but I still managed to get my hands on the new fun Easter range from LUSH.

First up, we have a BUNCH OF CARROTS BUBBLE BAR. These are SO CUTESY for some magic in the bathtub! What’s even better is that these carrots are reusable and can last for 30 baths in total between the collection – that’s 10 baths per carrot and a whole lot of bubbles. These are also fun for kids to use. Simply hold a carrot under the running tap, watch the bubbles pop and the water change colour! These also aren’t your average vitamic C carrots, just by the way. These bubble bars are rich with lemon, bergamot, and buchu oils to fill your tub with citrusy bubbles and scents.

Bunch of carrots bubble bar

Next, we have the GOLDEN EGG BATH BOMB. With explosions (literally) of glitter and cocoa butter, you’re guaranteed to come out looking all sparkly and feeling moisturised. This bomb melts in the bath and turns the water bright yellow – almost as if you’ve cracked an egg! This is a slow melting bath bomb and spins about dissolving in the water like a baked potato!

Golden egg bath bomb

This next one is one of my favourites. It involves a bunny, and a squeaky clean face. Yip, it’s time to meet FLOPSY! This is a face cleanser or if we want to get technical, Flopsy is actually a face wash cleanser. How does it work, you may be wondering? Well that’s an easy one! Flopsy lives in a tub. Everytime you want to use your little jelly, all you need to do unsquish him out the tub, stroke over your face, or rub between your paws to get it frothy and create a lather. This is also the best smelling bunny in Town. Bergamot oils and zesty lemon will leave you feeling jolly with this jelly!

Flopsy

If you’re looking for a bigger bomb, then the CHICK ‘N MIX is perfect for you. This little (or rather large, actually) bomb is basically is 2 bombs in one – winning! Chick n mix is a fun mixture of half yellow and half blue with a little orange egg. They can be used together or for 2 separate baths, to make your bomb go further. This bomb is the perfect excuse to get chicky with it, with bergamot oils, tonke absolute and a few surprises in the bath.

Chick ‘n Mix

My final bomb of the day is the “Which came first” egg. Plop this bomb into the bath to see whether the chicken or the egg surfaces first. It’s petty egg-straordinary if you ask me and smells just like Spring. If you’re looking for relaxation, then look no further. Scents of refreshing lemon and grapefruit oils are sure to make the water super soft and creamy.

Which came first?

I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter and that your Sunday was at the very least, a good hare day.

Until next time,

Mycaila-Jade

xxx