My Favourite Foundations

Hello again,

Now I'm no make-up artist but when it comes to the latest trends I am all over them. I love trying new products from foundations to mascaras and everything in between. I have owned at least 100 foundations at this stage and never found one I absolutely loved and went out especially to repurchase, however lately I have found 2 that I really really like.

Me and my problem skin have always avoided matte foundations but now I wish I never did. I have started using L'oréals Infallible 24h-Matte foundation along with the L'oréal Infallible Mattifying Base. This combination has worked perfectly for my skin. I really love the primer it is definitely one of the best I have used and the foundation sits perfectly with it for a flawless look. The foundation has great coverage and even hides all my ugly breakouts. 

When it comes to contouring with a matte foundation I find powders work better as the cream ones tend to hug the foundation and become cement like making it impossible to blend, so when using this foundation I use my Sleek Face Form palette and it works a treat. And the days where I am having a bad skin day I spray some Botanics Instant Moisture Mist onto my beauty blender to make it 

For the days I don't want full coverage, when my skin is in good condition I just want something light and dewy even for days when I don't have time to spend ages on my face this is perfect. Recently I purchased the Bourjois City Radiance foundation its a skin protecting foundation with a brightening effect which also has SPF30, Anti-Pollution screen and Radiance-Boosting Pigments. I bought this as I have summer holidays coming up and wanted something that would give me a dewy look with minimal effort and this does just that, the coverage is great and hides my blemishes without looking like I am wearing any foundation.

So if you are looking for a new foundation and have problem skin like me I would really give these two a try and they won't break the bank either, its a win win.

Lynda x

My Go To Dinner

Being the Mammy of toddler is hectic and dinner is not always a fancy home cooked meal, more a grab whats in the freezer dinner or a lazy take away, but this recipe is a hit in my house, so easy and my absolute favourite.

*Parma Chicken Noodles

What you need:

• 1 tablespoon of butter
• 500g chicken breast (diced or cut into strips)
• 150g sundried tomatos in oil (chopped)
• 4 cloves of garlic (peeled and crushed)
• 300ml double cream
• 1 cup shaved parmesan
• Noodles
• Salt to taste
• Dried basil
• Red chilli flakes

1. Heat the butter in a pan. Add the chicken and sprinkle with salt. Cook until chicken is golden brown and cooked through.

2. Add sundries tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of oil from the jar (optional), and add garlic, sauté until fragrant.

3. Lower heat, add cream and the parmesan, simmer while stirring until the cheese has melted through. Sprinkle over salt, basil and chilli flakes to your taste.

4. Add noodles and continue to simmer until the noodles are cooked (5-8 minutes)

Thats it, that is my go to fancy 'I made an effort' dinner. 

Enjoy, Lynda x 

Caviar For Your Face

Hi all,

I am back with something I am sure many women can relate to. I have spent an absolute fortune on face creams always trying to find one that I really loved. I have 'problem skin' as I call it where it has a life of its own and never cooperates with me, most days I struggle to get make up to sit right and have a few too many break outs.

When it first came out I heard great things about Aldi's new caviar moisturisers and how they are similar to the La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe cream which has a price tag of a whopping €370 for a 50ml jar. They both contain caviar which is rich in vitamins and proteins and known as an anti-ageing active ingredient. So after spotting it lately in my local Aldi store I picked up the day and night cream and at €8.99 each they are a bargain.

I used the night cream first and straight away I could feel it tightening on the skin, its a real rich feeling cream and a little goes a long way. Along with Caviar it also contains snow algae which stimulates collagen which counteracts the ageing process. Another ingredient in this cream is one everyone is going mad over lately and thats Hyaluronic Acid which prevents water loss and keeps the skin moisturised all day, along with vitamin b5 to repair damaged skin. It is recommended to use this cream for two months to see results but for me the next morning my skin felt really soft and still moisturised, it even seemed brighter and healthier looking even after one use.

I am always sceptical about using day creams because I struggle so much with getting make up to sit right, I tend not to use face creams during the day but rather serums instead but i was on a mission to give my skin some TLC. For the first few days I didn't wear make up and just used the Caviar Illumination day cream which also has SPF 15. Just like the Caviar Illumination night cream, it contains all the same ingredients and gives anti-ageing protection for day time. This cream has the same rich texture and glides on so easy, the skin feels immediately firmer and looks brighter and again a little goes a long way.

So when it came to biting the bullet and putting on make up I didn't think this cream would work well because of its rich texture even though on the box it claims to be light in texture and perfect for under make up, I have used lighter. I applied a tiny amount of the cream and and added more if I felt some part of my face needed it. I used a make up primer just to give an extra help to my foundation. I applied my foundation with my beauty blender as I always do and it went on and sat perfectly I was thrilled. I did my make up the same way I always do and it lasted all day, there was no difference at all. 

Although I have never used the La Prairie Skin Caviar Luxe cream, I have been using both these Lacura creams for about a month now and really enjoying them. There has definitely been and improvement in my skin over the last month. Thankfully I don't have many wrinkles to deal with yet but it is recommended to start anti-ageing treatments in your mid 20's. So for €8.99 a jar these are worth every penny in my opinion.

Lynda x

Accepting Anxiety.

As long as I can remember I have been a worrier, I worry about worrying about things. It is always something that never really bothered me until one morning while sitting in my car before college. I was just about to hand in an assignment, it was finished on time, right amount of words and on topic, why was I so stressed? Every morning when i sat in the car park I would FaceTime my little boy and if I made it there 10 minutes early I would be excited for 10 more minutes on the phone with him. This morning was different though, I just wanted to cry. I sat in my car and FaceTimed my son anyway but I just didn't want to talk, I sat there pulling at my sleeves, putting up the window of my car then putting it down again, I felt as if someone had punched me in the chest I couldn't breathe, I was having a panic attack. That's when I realised something was wrong. 

I fought on for another few weeks in college finishing up all my assignments until it came close to my Christmas exams this is when it all got too much, I cried literally non stop for the whole 'reading week'. I couldn't concentrate and I just kept focusing on the fact that I would fail, never the fact that I could pass. The day of my first exam was awful, I cried all morning and felt so sick I couldn't even give my son his lunch. Waiting to get my seat outside the exam hall I felt so anxious, I felt like a tiny ant amongst a herd of elephants. Everyone else seemed to be a lot more calm than me, they were talking and laughing with each other while I stood in silence feeling lost.

I sat in my place shaking so much even writing my name was a struggle, the first 20 minutes of the exam my writing looked like that of a five year old, I kept making simple mistakes and crossing out spelling errors, the exam script looked like I was drunk. Eventually the shaking stopped and I almost forgot where I was, I calmed down enough to finish the exam on time, and as it turned out when I got my results I was only 2 marks short of an A grade (proud!!!) After that exam I made the decision to speak to my GP about how I was feeling as I still had 2 more exams to go and the thought of dealing with them scared me. After talking with my GP I decided to defer my remaining exams until the repeats were on.

Finally it was Christmas and I could forget all about the stress and panic attacks and focus on getting things ready for Santa. Of course the Christmas break flew and before I knew it it was semester 2 already. Things were going well again for a few weeks but the stress came back and hit me like a truck, not only was being a Mammy and a student stressful I was still dealing with my earlier diagnosis of Graves' Disease. I had it in my head that I had to have my life together by the time I was 30, house, marriage everything, and at 24 I was in a rush to get to college and deal with everything like super woman, slowly coming to the realisation I couldn't.

I took a few days off college to relax and think about things, at the same time i went back to my GP and asked for something to help with my anxiety, so I was put on medication. I also had an appointment with my Graves' consultant around the same time. Talking to all these different people they all told me the same thing, I am still young, my health and my child are most important, life is too short, you name it I heard it. Having said that, I made the decision to contact my colleges retention officer about my struggles.

I was so nervous about meeting her as I didn't want anyone to think I wasn't grateful for my place in college or I was wasting their time, I didn't want anyone to think I was a failure, but she was so nice I may as well have been chatting to a counsellor. We sat down and I told her everything, I even brought my son for moral support. She completely agreed with me when I said I wanted to take some time out and focus on getting my health to 100% not just 60%. She helped me fill out all the forms and told me exactly what to do next. For the first time in months the weight of the world had been lifted off my shoulders. I remember afterwards squeezing my little boy while crying telling him I would be a better happier more fun Mammy.

Once I accepted the fact that I am in control of my life and that the only person who probably thought of me as a failure was me, I was finally able to get the help and support that I needed. College isn't the be all and end all, neither is the way you think your life has to go, if your struggling, get help!! Trying to be superman or superwoman will only make things worse. Going to college is all for my son but if I am unwell and miserable the whole time, he isn't going to have the Mammy he deserves. We are our worst critics, nobody Else's opinion should matter. If you are stuck someplace you hate, a job, a relationship, whatever, change it! Be brave and go for whatever you want. Life is too short to be anything other than happy!! 

Lynda x