Latest In Beauty: Dream Box 3.

Helloo,

I love the whole idea of the beauty boxes but I don't like the monthly subscriptions not knowing what my money is going on. I feel like I would be disappointed and don't want to waste money. Last year I discovered Latest In Beauty and their fabulous boxes. They are a bit more pricey and it varies but you get a lot more content and it isn't regular subscription - you simple pick when you want if you like.

Last year I grabbed British Beauty Blogger Dream Box, I'm not sure if it was the first or second one - read it here. But I was so overly impressed, everything was so good and I found my new favourite ever mascara the Too Faced Better Than Sex and Benefit It's Potent Eye Cream! Both which are now in my daily routine. I saw the third edition of the box was out a little while ago, and I made sure I grabbed one as they always sell out so quickly. So here is a look at what was inside:

**I apologise for the bad quality photos - I wasn't feeling very well yesterday so photos suffered from this :(**

Eyes Of Horus Teal Eye Pencil - £17

Benefit They're Real Remover - £14.50

Essence Nail Polish x 2 - £1.80

Dr Organic Lip Balm - £3.49

The Scottish Fine Soaps Company Luxury Soap - £4.95

Orelia Gold Temporary Tattoos - £5

Deciem Hand Chemistry - £18.99

Vita Liberata Tan Lotion - £37.50

Roger & Gallet Fleur De Figuier Fragrance Water Spray - £32

Crabtree & Evelyn Pear & Magnolia Body Lotion - £16

Salon Science Soothing Serum - £18

Ole Henriksen Pure Truth Melting Cleanser - £24

Makeup Revolution The One Fluid Blush - £3

Nuxe Creme Fraiche De Beaute Mask - £18.50

Bourjois Rouge Velvet Lip Cream - £8.99

Swatches (from left to right) - Bourjois, Makeup Revolution and Eye Of Horus

Jane, the mastermind behind these dream boxes because of her amazing blog British Beauty Blogger. She is incredibly knowledge of all things beauty and you can tell she puts a lot of effort into choosing only products she would recommend and use herself. The box is supplied with 16 goodies, some full or sample size, some products the colours may vary for each box. The box then also comes with a leaflet explaining each product along with some offers for the companies too. It cost £21.95 altogether with free delivery. 

Makeup is more my thing than skincare but I am really looking forward to test out everything especially the teal eye liner and a lip balm with moroccan oil sounds really interesting!! Will be trying out the gold temporary tattoos on my next night out, something fun and different to play around with :) 

Thank you Jane for yet another fantastic box! 

I don't get to try out new products very often as money is limited, I rather stick to what I know and like. That's why these boxes are so great as I get different brands that I would never of thought of before, all for such a great price. I actually have another review coming next week on the Latest In Beauty Party In Prep Box. 

Love, Gemma xo

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Silent Sunday #36

Helloo,

I don't usually write along with Silent Sunday posts but it has been exactly 3 years today since one of the most important people ever to me passed away in her sleep. It doesn't get easier with time and no matter how much I try to hold on the memories, they have begun to fade. This is the only picture I have of Corey and my nan. One I will always have with me. Excuse the bad quality picture, it was taken 3.5 years ago at Corey's Naming Day (christening)! I won't say anything more as I am turning into a blubbering mess but I would do anything for just one more hug!

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March 2015 - Monthly Favourites #1

Helloo,

A lovely fellow blogger Nicola from Life Through My Eyes has started a great new linky called Mummy & Me :) The reasoning for this is because Nicola like myself and many others are always taking photos of our children but rarely of us with them. Another great linky very similar to this is called Me & Mine - a family portrait linky run by Lucy at Dear Beautiful. So this is a great way to treasure those special moments and a place to put monthly. I've always wanted to join in and finally starting so come back at the end of each month to see what photo is next :)

Part of the Me & Mine linky is that you share what not only I but Corey have been loving this month so not sure if I can think of much, but will give it ago.

*Mummy Loves*

Booked a girls birthday weekend away

All the beautiful morning sunshine

Finally getting better at learning to drive

*Corey Loves*

Went on first ever school trip

Being able to write his name and mine
Memorised the ipad passcode!
Learning about Easter

An absolutely massive part of this month that was both Corey and my favourite, was Corey's first ever holiday abroad to Fuerteventura. It was amazing and beyond better than I could have ever imagined. It will be one of those trips I treasure forever. I wrote all about it here if you wish to have a look :)

So here it is, finally my monthly family portrait that I am using for this month :) This picture has been used before on my blog, it was from Mother's Day earlier this month which you can read about here. Obviously another massive part of this month. This picture really captures our personality and is now one of my favourite photos of us!

Hope you enjoy this new feature on the blog, lots of new bits coming soon too :)

Love, Gemma xo

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House Of Fraser - Designer Boys Clothes*

Helloo,

A bit of fashion on the blog for a change, boys fashion. House Of Fraser  were kind enough to send some bits over for Corey before our holiday. So here they are and how gorgeous they are:

Mango - Mickey Mouse Top £12.99

 

Tommy Hilfiger 'H' Top £24

I have to admit House Of Fraser  wouldn't of always been my first choice for children's clothes as I thought the prices would be extremely high. However, they have some wonderful bits for reasonable prices if you have a look for them. It is great for Designers bit too! I don't mind paying the extras now that Corey is older and clothes are lasting longer for him :) Certainly will be hunting some goodies now though! 

I'll have a post coming soon on some of the best places to shop for children, so would love to know where you shop? :)

Love, Gemma xo

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Silent Sunday #35

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Breast Feeding: It's Your Choice!

Helloo,

So today I am doing something about different on the blog and I am approaching the very controversial topic of Breast Feeding but from all angles even breast feeding in public. This is also a varied topic on expressing and formula feeding. So please be open minded whilst reading all of this and see what I have to say :)

IS BREAST REALLY BEST?!

Ah I hate that saying with a passion because what could be okay for someone else isn't necessarily okay for another. Of course as a mother we always have our babies best interest at heart but by doing that we also need to take care of ourselves too - it is very important to remember it is about what is best for both the mother and baby. Some mums are totally for it, some totally against. 

There are a few ways to feed your baby so read up about them all before making a decision. You could either breast feed, express or formula feed. 

I personally was a young mother and didn't particularly want to breast feed. I felt pressured at first. My midwife didn't give me any information at all but just said "breast is best". So I done my own research with our good old trusty friend Mr Google! I found out about all the nutrients that are supposed to be good for the baby within the first couple of days. There are many pros and cons. Back then breast feeding in public was "frowned" upon and although I see it as very natural and you know a baby needs food. I wasn't comfortable to get my pieces out in public. I finally decided that the best option for me would have been to express. This is a great alternative to get both. It meant that Corey would have been bottle fed with my breast milk. For me this was best, it meant Corey's dad could still do feeds and bond with Corey just as much as I could. It meant I could keep an eye on how much Corey was drinking each feed too. However, due to Corey being premature it didn't really work out. He got a few bits of expressed milk but straight to formula milk really. I had a bad experience where a nurse on duty just came over with a pump and forced me to try, despite knowing my decision because she knew I didn't want too. I didn't do anything about it at the time but looking back I wish I had stood up to her because what she done was wrong. If I were to have another child, I would try what I wanted too with Corey and that is express. A picture of Corey having his first bottle at like 3 weeks old:

Family Fever has a great post on breast feeding a premature baby. If I had expressed from the beginning like Kate had than I would have been able to continue but because Corey didn't eat for the first week or so, I didn't think I could which is a common myth that a lot of us believe. 

Now there are apparently studies showing that breast feeding means your child will be more intelligent. I think what a load of rubbish, it may be true but who knows. Every single human is different. I personally don't think breast feeding could factor into somebodies intelligence. I could be wrong but so could these researchers! Zena's Suitcase has a good post on her opinion here. Modern Military Mother has also written a bloody brilliant post here about the research and how apparently broccoli (yes you read that right!) will compensate for the lack of IQ us non-breast feeding mums didn't give our children!

I would also just like to say a very big important factor that you could be dead set on breast feeding being the only option or maybe worth a try but it does not necessarily mean that your baby will take to being breast fed - quite a common problem. It can be quite an emotional and distressing time if your baby does not take to breast. Midwives on the ward will be there to help but it doesn't always work. If this is the case then don't be upset, you can try expressing as they will still get your milk which is ultimately what you want. Maybe you might not produce enough or be too poorly too. Birth is hard work and can leave some mums very ill. Messed Up Mum wrote a post on her experience here.

Is it really that bad to formula feed?! With all the resources and technology we have around these days, they are formulated for a reason to meet our children's needs and requirements for their various ages or stages. To be honest the "hungrier" milk was a god send for me as Corey needed it, he may have been born little but he soon made up for it with all he drank. Amy from The Smallest Of Things has written a great post here on why she formula fed too and how her daughter wouldn't latch - a common problem like mentioned above.

As for breast feeding in public, it is always all over the news and a very big on going debate. Silly Facebook sees a breast feeding picture as nudity when usually the baby is covering any main parts anyways. Yet it allows some disgusting videos of violence or naked people pictures. Some people think breast feeding in public is disgusting, off putting if eating etc. But surely if you don't want to see a woman's breast you just don't look?! There is no need to stare and in fact that would be them being rude by staring. What is so wrong by a baby being fed their food?! It baffles me. Family Fever has a great post on it here too. Kat from Beau Twins wrote a post about breast feeding, which you just have to read because the way it is written - I admit I found funny! It is a conversation between breast and baby. Read it here.

I suggest if you are pregnant and considering whether to breast feed, express or formula feed you do some research, get some advice from midwife or friends and really think about what is right for you and your baby :) It isn't up to anyone else, it will always be your decision alone. No one can force you.

Whatever our personal choice may be, or how circumstances actually turn out whether it be how we want or differently. We always do what ever is best for our own baby and that is all that matters :) 

I was a little worried about posting a controversial topic on the blog as I do not wish for a big debate. However, I am very varied in my opinions and I am not one sided. I would just like to say that these are my opinions only, there is no right or wrong and everyone is different :) 

Love, Gemma xo

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BiB Awards 2015 - Nominations :)

Helloo,

So it is that time of year again for the BiB awards. Going to tell you about how it works, what categories I would like to be nominated in if any of you lovely readers feel I am worthy of them - then your vote would mean absolutely everything :) 

Seems strange as last year I wrote this post and I had been blogging for 6 months now a year later and it is suddenly 18 months! 

How it works: 

Nominations - So everyone can nominate  a blog for each of the 12 categories. Nominations are open from now until 12th April at midnight.

Shortlist - 10 people from each category will be shortlisted, 5 chosen by most votes from community and 5 chosen by judges. Shortlist annonced 28th April. 

Voting - For those that are shortlisted, vosting begins for them by the community from 28th April to May 15th.

Finalists - There will be 5 finalists from each category, 3 chosen by community and 2 by judges. These will be announced on 22nd May. 

Winners - Will be announced at the brilliant Brit Mums Live event on the Friday evening for the special BiB awards ceremony.

YOU CAN VOTE HERE!!!

Categories:

*Highlighted are the categories I think are most suitable for my blog*

- Fresh Voice (newbies)

- Food 

- Inspire

- Social Media 

- Writer

- Photo

- Video

- Travel

- Style

- Crafts

- Family 

- Outstanding (overall great design, content, social media etc!)

I guess it is hard to choose a category as I don't have just one specific topic!

No matter what happens I am really looking forward to Brit Mums Live in June and attending the BiB award ceremony. It was a great night last year and will be just as good this year :) It is so important to celebrate the success of us bloggers!

YOU CAN VOTE HERE!!!

Love, Gemma xo

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Mother's Day 2015 ❤

Helloo,

I am hoping all those who celebrated had a lovely Mother's Day yesterday, hope you relaxed and were treated to something special whether it be a lay in, bubble bath, presents or anything :)

Although I have a 4 year old, this was actually my 5th Mother's Day :) Corey shows me all year round how much he loves me and I have been noticing it more and more recently. For some reason I have been complimented a lot lately on the bond that Corey and I have. Which is just the best thing ever and I shed a tear every time it was said. It is so heart warming that people notice something like that! Although he drives me up the wall sometimes (okay alot!), he is always my best friend and my whole entire world :) Everyday he will tells me he loves me, that I am his best friend and we are forever having kisses and cuddles.

I tried to get the perfect smiley picture of us both, but it didn't work out and I ended up with this. I did get some with smiles but looking back through I saw that this picture shows his true personality - a little cheeky monkey. I couldn't be happier with it - it is certainly now one of my favourite pictures of this year so far at least :)

So presents aren't really a huge deal as it is materialistic and the little things matter more. However, let's not pretend that we don't all love receiving them. Due to being a single parent, I am really blessed that my mum makes a massive effort every year for me from Corey. I got a beautiful handbag from Wallis, my favourite Cadbury Milk Tray chocolate box, a cute little mug, some Me To You pyjamas. Last but not least an extremely beautiful Links Of London clover necklace! It had been on my wishlist for a while now because I represent clover as my lucky Corey after almost losing him as a baby, even have a clover tattooed.

Corey painted a teapot with dots all over for me at school and wrote 'From Corey' inside :) It even came with a tea bag - although this is one mummy that doesn't drink tea - so it will go to nanny! 

Now I know it seems strange that I put a picture of his writing skills, but whilst we were celebrating one evening Corey wrote my name and his all by himself with someone sounding the sounds of the letters. So not much help at all. I know it isn't perfect but it is so good considering he hasn't long been 4 and just started out learning to write properly. It has made me the happiest to see him write my name like that! Was an amazing memory for mother's day that I shall treasure :)

 I know it is is technically Mothering Sunday, but I have been lucky enough to have three days of celebrations this year. On Friday, I went to Corey's school for Mother's Day Afternoon Tea with lots of other mums and their children too - it was very sweet and some yummy cakes. Such a lovely thing for them to do - I was really impressed! Usually we would have a family meal on the Sunday itself, however my nan booked herself to go on holiday instead so we done it a day early with everyone. Corey and I took a bike ride to the bike first before dinner and had some quality time although it was a bit chilly! Then on Sunday we had some cuddles in bed all morning watch my favourite Disney movies before heading to my mums for a steak dinner - yummy :)

Of course not forgetting to mention the two most important ladies in mine and Corey's life with is my mum and nan who we depend hugely on. We see or speak to them most days and very thankful to have them apart of our life :) Sometimes it is easy to forget to tell them how thankful you actually are for everything they do!

Usually Mother's Day is the last Sunday of this month but was early this year. If it hadn't of been early then it would have been on my late nanny's anniversary of death. Which is so sad to think about of course and she crosses my mind daily but especially on days like today - I shall remember some of the good times :)

So there we have it a round up of my Mother's Day 2015 :) Here is what I got up too last year and the presents I got then too. Hope you all had an amazing day! What did you get up too?!

Come back later this week to see a new post on all the things I love about being a mummy ❤

Love, Gemma xo

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Silent Sunday #34

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Fuerteventura Holiday 2015

Helloo,

So last week I was a bit quiet on social media but if you saw some of my updates then you would have seen that I was in fact on holiday. Corey took his first ever trip abroad to Fuerteventura. It is part of the Spanish Canary Islands. We have only ever done holiday's in the UK like our Butlins trip last year. We were lucky with the weather it was in the lower 20s which was lovely as hot enough but not too bad where you can't do anything - perfect for children I think as didn't want Corey to burn. I was going to split this into a couple of posts but decided not too - this holiday was the perfect excuse to use my Canon 700D to test out my photography skills so bit of a picture heavy post!

I admit I was quite worried about a 4 hour plane flight with a 4 year old. I had no idea how he would take to flying or if he would be good. To make it even worse our flight out was at 6 am, so we needed to leave at 2.30 am to get to the airport for check in. Despite waking up in the middle of the night, he was extremely well behaved considering. He didn't like big queues though and as you can imagine there were a fair few! He went through the security fine, not like most kids we saw. He sat on the plane nicely - we brought lots of food and movies on the phone. It worked! He even liked the really loud noises of taking off and landing. On the flight home it was a mid morning flight, he was still as well behaved, although he spilled his orange juice on my new handbag *sheds a tear*. Oh yeah or the fact that the car was broken down in the airport car park on the way home - just to prolong the journey a bit!

We stayed in the most beautiful villa in Parque Holandes. It had four bedrooms, two with en suites and one shower room. It was tiled throughout which was great as meant stayed really cool even in the hotter days. A lovely huge conservatory where we ate all our meals. The best part was the outside, a little area with a swimming pool with beautiful sea views. It was so peaceful and quiet being outside, no noises to be heard at all. It was pure bliss! I felt relaxed after just an hour of being there. I admit I really didn't want to come home and could quite happily move there forever!

I admit, I haven't taken Corey swimming since he was a baby due to illnesses, operations etc. In the past year he has been a couple of times with his dad so I was really excited when we had our own swimming pool so I can finally see him swim. Corey had told me he could swim with just arm bands but that was a bit of a lie. He did need a tummy ring but his doggy paddle was really good. I also taught him the froggy swim and how to float on his back which he loved! It was really fun swimming and now we are back home, he is really excited as I said he could get swimming lessons :)

Between where we stayed at Parque Holandes and the closest town called Corralejo there are around 9 miles of pure sand, it really is beautiful. So one day we headed to the beach to build sand castles which we were really rubbish at, they always fell apart. You weren't allowed to swim in the water at this beach but allowed to walk in it of course. Corey was far too scared to do this at first, it took a good half hour of persuading. But in the end he really enjoyed splashing his feet around and said it tickled :)

Although it was quite expensive to get into the Oasis Park - Fuerteventura Zoo. Around 100 euros for 3 adults and 1 child, it was an amazing day out and well worth it. It was much better than we had imagined, it was huge but packed full of animals. They had over 400 camels!!! We saw all sorts of crocodiles, flamingos, monkeys, children's farm, otters, meerkats, lynx and more. We missed the cheetahs for some reason and they didn't have lions or tigers which at first I thought was a let down but it really wasn't as so many other animals. Corey got to feed some elephants and giraffes which is just a great experience :) We watched a sea lion show which was great, they brought one out into the audience which was right in front of us. They done all sorts of tricks down slides, hula hoops, clapping, diving and more. The parrot show was really good too, they done tricks too including a bird sunbathing. The lady got a bird to sit on my head, I was a bit shocked as wasn't expecting it but Corey found it funny. They kept flying so low that Corey ducked and almost fell off his seat - luckily my mum and uncle were sitting behind and managed to catch him. Corey was not impressed! They had a cute little children's park in the shade that Corey enjoyed, a trampoline which he loved - even more reason to get one at home soon. It had a Botanical Gardens too, which was just full of 100's of cactus'.

We had lunch in Correalejo one day, looking over the port and where the boat trips to Lanzarote were. It was so beautiful and a lovely way to spend our lunch - the food was yummy! Corey had this amazing clown face ice cream which he really loved :) These are some of the beautiful views too, so many mountains which Corey called volcano's!

So one of the best bits of the trip was everything was so cheap like it was insane. Corey and I were given some spending money by my nan so we certainly spent away :) Here is some of the bargains we got that we would not be able to get so cheaply here in the UK -  Havianas Flip Flops £15, Vera Wang Be Jeweled Perfume £35, YSL Lipstick £16, Rimmel Nail Varnishes £1 and Corey got a Spanish Football Top £15. Then of course I got a few souvenirs such as a fan, fridge magnet (I collect one from every holiday!), lucky coin magnet. Corey got a shark tooth necklace, a ring, a toy car and a boomerang that he really wanted from the start of the holiday. The dinosaurs are from the local food shop called 'Hiper Dino' - Corey really wanted to spend his money on them, there is a mummy one, boy one and baby one. He also got flip flops for the beach and goggles to swim under water with - for like £2 each. I also got this black handbag, I have spent around a year looking for the perfect black every day handbag to replace my 4 year old one and finally I have for like £15!!

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So really that sums up our holiday to Fuerteventura :) We had the absolute best time, it was such a great experience and I am so glad I got the chance to take Corey abroad with my family. We will hopefully be going back again and hopefully be able to explore more of the world too. I admit there is not a huge amount to do on the island so quite hard to keep children entertained but if you go to a hotel they have more suitable things for children like evening entertainment, games, pools, more children etc. So I would recommend that :) I hope you enjoyed reading about our trip. I have another post coming later this week on the big debate of taking children out of school for holidays - I'm all for it. 

Now I would love to know where your favourite place to vacate too is? :) I really want to visit Barcelona, Paris and DisneyWorld! 

Love, Gemma xo

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Silent Sunday #33

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