So 2017, what was that all about? We managed to have a baby in February, sell our old  house (which had become a bit crowded) in a record time of 5 weeks and buy a new one in September, all whilst coming off maternity and surviving Christmas as a now family of 6. We have just celebrated this little superstar’s 1st birthday.

Trying to tidy and prepare a house for viewings with 4 children in tow nearly killed me, I was almost a quivering wreck in the corner. We were happy to get it sold quickly to lower my stress levels. Thanks to family we mastered the art of speed packing and got moved with not too much hassle. Although both mums are probably still trying to recover from us staying for a week or 2 while we started decorating the new place. 2017 was a whirlwind, our son who is 2 was taken into hospital a few times shortly after Arya was born with breathing difficulties, so he is now being treated as an asthmatic and doing a lot better, although we won’t know for definite until he is older if he is a true asthmatic. It doesn’t run in the family, so its bit of a mystery why he is the way he is.

 

Meanwhile in the work world I am in limbo. My nail desk is currently sat in the dining area, I am doing a bit of work in my kitchen and mobile. However long term this won’t work for me, so I’m now looking at other options which I will update you all on in a later post. I have started adding to my kit slowly as I break myself in ‘gently’ since coming off maternity. I recently bought the Anastasia Beverly Hills Lip Palette Volume 1. I do mainly bridal and wedding guest make up, this is the perfect palette to mix and customise shades to suit any skin tone. It comes with 18 matte shades, a mixing palette and scraper. Its perfect for any artists kit as those 18 shades can be blended to make even more colour options.

How beautiful is the purple shade, even on its own though?? The fact it is ‘volume one’ is exciting as it means there could be more ‘volumes’ to follow.

I also purchased some of my favourite lip pencils from Mac in shades : Kiss Me Quick (a deep red), In Anticipation (a pink brown tone), Dark Out (a dark brown/red) and Nothing Sexier ( a peachy nude).

For my nail kit this month I have just purchased the CND Shellac Nude collection for Spring 2018. Nudes featured heavily at Paris Fashion Week. These 4 beautiful shades teamed with Lecente glitter in white gold iridescent will be perfect for this time of year. For good measure I also added Lecente Rose superholo as its just so sparkly and pretty that I couldn’t resist.

Cuffed nails seem to be everywhere at the moment, I gave it a go for the first time using a deep blue Ink London gel polish and gold glitter. Its pretty straight forward to do but next time I would leave a cuff all the way around the nail instead of just in the cuticle area. I did the usual rockstar style nail, sealed with one layer of top coat then painted over the top using the blue leaving the glitter cuff on show. I then sealed it all with top coat. Its going to be a popular trend as its simple but effective, and can be done in various colour ways.

 

This months Glossy Box came up trumps with 5 gifts I will actually use. I have had to fend off my teenage daughter though as she had her eyes on the Steve Laurant lip balm. The box itself is pretty, it’s now stuffed full of Niamh’s LOL surprise dolls and accessories. This is my first ever subscription beauty box and it was surprisingly good!

I have been looking into various training courses for this year. Working on my own its easy to find myself a bit lonely and unmotivated as I have no one to bounce ideas off. Regular training helps me stay focused and work on any skills that may be lagging whilst staying up to date within the industry. First stop on my hit list is lash skills. I will keep you all updated whilst I research my options. I have one training company in particular I am keen to work with as their work inspires me. I should know more later on this week.

Last but not least is a call out to all my fellow professionals to check out Lisa’s Army. Lisa Wells is a former nail technician and trainer for Ink London who was diagnosed with terminal liver and bowel cancer when her second daughter was only 5 weeks old.  I have been following her story and her campaign to help raise money to secure the future for her 2 young daughters. As a mother I have found her story heart-breaking. Her strength and courage is inspiring and can be seen via her vlog style updates on the Lisa’s Army Facebook page. In honour of Lisa Ink London have released a glitter called ‘Lisa’s Army’. It costs £5 and the full £5 goes straight to Lisa’s campaign. It can be purchased here. I urge you all to buy it in support, not only is it a beautiful  and versatile iridescent pink, it’s also for a fabulous cause. Please do check it out.

My blog wouldn’t be complete without a few mummy moments so here you go: enjoy.

Until next time: sparkle  on,

Jo x#

mummy moment 1~ catching your son planning to ‘paint’ with your favourite Morphe x Jaclyn Hill eye palette #unhandthepaletteson

 

mummy moment 2~ when your daughter makes the dog a collar which he sports for days until it disintegrates after being rained on #shesnowtakingorders #paperplatecollar

mummy moment 3~ being nicknamed ‘mummy monster’ as I desperately try and rejuvenate my tired sleep deprived skin while multitasking folding laundry and refereeing the kids #mummymonster