Making Some Self Changes

Since having a baby my body hasn't been quite the same. I'm tired, some days I eat a lot, some days I don't eat much of anything, some days I eat a ton of crap and feel bad about myself. A week ago I decided it was time to work on making myself feel better about the way I feel and look. I lost all but three pounds six weeks after giving birth. I've never had a problem with weight. I'm naturally slim and have a fast metabolism so watching what I ate and exercise weren't big things for me. But after you have a baby and your body stretches out to hold an almost ten pound baby(!) you need to work a little to get it back to the way it was. Or as close as you can, because I don't think my stomach will ever look the way it did before. I did get stretch marks on my belly and hips, and all the lotions and potions help to minimize the appearance slightly, but I think the only thing that can really help those is time. So while I may not be able to do much about those, the extra skin around my belly I can help.

While I would love to be able to just go to the gym, and workout a few times a week, having a baby doesnt make that very possible. So for now, I'm doing at home workouts and trying to eat more fruits and veggies, aswell as water which I rarely drink. Eating better always makes me feel better about myself. Over time I hope it gives me more energy and hopefully helps me to sleep better through the night. As for the workouts, i'm currently doing two challenges from the #fitgirlcode website. The 30dayabchallenge and 30dayfullbodychallenge are great starters for me because there are only four exercises in each and only take a few minutes to do (perfect for moms). Each day it increases the amount of each you're doing and I really can feel it working on my stomach, even if I won't see it anytime soon.

When the weather gets a little nicer, I hope to get out running a few times a week as well, but it's still too cold and icy out for that at the moment. Because Im not trying to lose weight, I dont have a specific goal for myself. I hope to stick to this and will update with how things are going. I may start posting what I eat and some recipes to go along with this to keep me motivated. Any recommendations are always welcome, and feel free to come along this journey with me if you so please.

The Brows

Now i've never been one to spend time on my brows. I wax/tweeze them of course, but i've always had a full, dark brow that filling them in never crossed my mind. Over the last year or so i've been experimenting a little bit with brow products. There isn't much I need to do, its more keeping them in place, also the ends are getting sparser and I noticed from a distance it looks like I have half a brow (think angry emoji). No one wants to look like that.

I don't like pencils because I don't want it to look like I did anything to them, so most of those products people talk about were not going to be any good for me. Plus, I didn't want to fork out a lot of money on something that I wasn't that worried about. While purusing the aisles of the drugstore I spotted the NYX Eyebrow Cake Powder, which has two powders, a wax and a mini spoolie and applicator brush. The black/grey shades are pefect for me. I use the lighter one most of the time, though I do mix it sometimes. I'm not really a fan of the wax but I do use it every now and then. I apply with an angled Mac brow/liner brush (the name wore off so I don't know what it is) to the tail ends and lightly run over the rest of the brow. This is my go to brow product currently.

Another option is the brow mascara. All these companies are coming out with them, similar to the Benefit one. Not knowing if Id even like the idea of the product, I didn't want to spend $30 on it for it to just sit there, so I went for the cheaper option. The only one I could find in my drugstore was Maybelline Brow Drama Sculpting Brow Mascara. I went for the darkest shade which is a good match. It comes in a tube like a mascara, but has a very odd brush applicator. Even having bigger brows I still have a bit of a hard time not getting it on my skin. Why they made this odd design i'll never understand, but the product itself is pretty good. It doesn't go on too full, so you can build up the colour a bit if you need to. I think this would be better suited for someone like me, just wanting to get the sparse areas and keep in place because its definitely not a shaping product. It makes your brows feel a bit weird, but it keeps them in place. This is a good quick option, but I think I might try the Benefit one next time.

Side note: I forgot to remove it one night and I must have been scratching at it because in the morning I had little pieces of brown all around my eyebrows. So I would recommend not scratching your eyebrows if you use this because you may not notice and have no one tell you like me.

I don't need to spend too much time on my brows lately because of my full bang, but these are still what I use. What are your opinions on these? What do you use, and is there something better out there I should try. Let me know.

Lush Skin Drink

Having dry skin, im always on the hunt for the best moisturizer. While purusing the Lush website, I can across Skindrink, a moisturizer for dehydrated skin. Id never heard of it so I was interested in giving it a try.

This hydrating cream contains rose petal extract, avocado and aloe vera extract, as well as evening primrose, neroli and rose oils. It has a bit of an odd scent but it really does help but irritated itchy skin. The thick texture blends easily, though it does take a bit of time to sink in completely so I prefer this for night time use unless im not going to be wearing any makeup.

At $23.95 it may not be the cheapest of options for everyone, but most moisturizers ive found that work on dry skin tend to be over $30, so for me this is not a bad price. A small amount of product goes a long way so it should last you a good few months anyway.

Stila Smudgestick Waterproof Eyeliner in Lionfish

I'm strongly a liquid liner girl. Every now and again i'll use a pencil, but I always find liquid to look better and just easier to use. I got this Stila Smudgestick in a set a few months back and recently decided to give it a try. The shade is Lionfish, a gorgeous metallic brown. I typically go for black but the colour is what made me want to use it.

The consistency is lovely- it was super easy to line my lash line, glides smooth and softly and with good colour payoff. I stay away from liners because they tend to be hard, I can't get a smooth thin line, and require going over a few times to really be able to see. The also seem to smudge throughout the day, but I didn'y have any problems with this one. I loved this because it was so easy to use and the shade really brought out the green in my eyes. It's less harsh then my usual black so it would make a great everyday liner. I just may need to try some other colours in the future.