24.1.12

A week in photos

So last week Mr Jones went back to the office after working from home for a number of months,so it's now just the two of us at home. Here's what we got up to in the week......



Estella's first trip on a London bus, she clearly isn't as fazed by public transport as her mother!!

Ok, so not the most glamorous product, but when you have a little one sleep is definitely a luxury! Especially when that little one has a cold. Little E was having trouble sleeping, her nose was so blocked that she couldn't suck her dummy to send her off to sleep. Until I discovered this ingenious soother and decongestant. We also used the drops in an oil burner to help unblock her nose.  


Little E is growing so fast that even her sock ons are getting small. We love, love, love sock ons, such a clever and yet such a simple idea!! I ordered these in white, pink, fuchsia and grape from My Blankets and as usual they arrived with lightening speed!!!!


I admit it!! I prefer Gurgle to Vogues these days.

My Dukan diet went out the window on Friday when my lovely little sis invited us all over for Fondue. Dinner was delicious but the house almost caught fire when Mr Jones poured far too much alcohol in the burner!!

18.1.12

A Five Star Pressie!!

As my little one's name means violet star, we are gradually accumulating a collection of clothing and accessories with this theme. But nothing that we have bought even comes close to being as clever as this star wrap blanket by Tuppence and Crumble which was a Christmas gift from my sister. Here's little E doing a spot of modelling:


I think most mothers have been in the situation where they take their little ones out for a walk to send them to sleep, then decide to stop for a coffee or some lunch. But, it's a little bit warm indoors so you try to take the baby's arms and legs out of their pramsuit without waking them and then, bingo! All hell breaks loose!! Well the star wrap resolves this problem, it's basically a very clever pramsuit made from a fleecy fabric. It's ideal to use in a buggy, car seat or a baby carrier and because there are no zips or buttons and it is also quite loose fitting, you can easily unwrap the little one without waking them. It comes in various different colours but we have heather which matches our violet ( I did say there was a theme!!) Stokke Xplory stroller perfectly, we like!!!



17.1.12

Mock Croc

Walking along Fulham Road the other day, I noticed a new salon offering real snake skin manicures and pedicures!!! Intrigued, I searched for some images to see what could justify the whopping price tag ( £20 for one finger!) and whilst I love unique and innovative nail art, I think I'll stick with snake skin on my handbags!!!

Animal print nail art is everywhere at the moment, Barry M have even brought out a croc effect crackle polish which I picked up in Boots for the grand price of £3.99. Ok so it isn't snake skin but the overall effect is a bit more me. I managed to do a quick manicure whislt Estella had a nap. I even snapped a few photos for the blog but I smudged it soon after whilst clipping the nappy bag on to the pram!!


I used two coats of Essie- Sand Tropez and one coat of the Barry M Croc Effects. I did notice that when I initially swatched the two polishes, using only one coat of  Sand Tropez, the croc effect came out much smaller and more defined, which I actually preferred! This is also a lot shinier than the standard Barry M black crackle polish, so I didn't bother with a top coat. Et Voila:



16.1.12

No Scream Dream

During my pregnancy, my skin became super sensitive and waxing was even more excruciating than usual. On a visit to Strip wax bar in Chelsea, the sales assistant recommended Relax and Wax's No Scream Cream. I tried the cream out at the time and it didn't make a huge difference to the pain levels so I stashed it away in my cosmetics cabinet and promptly forgot about it. Until last week, when I decided to give the No Scream Cream a go on my now non hormonal skin and I'm happy to say that the waxing hurt considerably less than usual! It took the edge off the whole ordeal and possibly reduced the pain by as much as half.
The active ingredient in No Scream Cream is benzocaine, which is a topical anaesthetic. You need to apply the cream to the area you're going to wax about 45 mins before and then wipe off any excess before you start waxing. It's ideal for small areas such as underarms or bikini line.
P.S. A large glass of champagne before hand works wonders too!!!!

10.1.12

Chloe Baby Dresses

I have been quite fortunate in that quite a few of my friends and family have had babies around the same time as me. However, one thing I haven't been able to compare with other new mamas, is the dreaded baby weight! Everyone I know seems to lose weight quicker than Kim Kardashians marriage, I on the other hand, still have at least couple of stone to lose before I even allow myself to think of spending money on clothes again!!

So one of us has to keep the side up, right? Our usual destination of choice for beautiful and reasonable baby clothes is H&M but over the Christmas holidays I met up with a friend who raved about fabulous finds from none other than TK Maxx. I remained sceptical but as we were passing by one day, I thought it would be rude not to check out what all the fuss was about. Much to my delight I found two beautiful Chloe baby dresses for a bargaintastic £16.99 each!!!!!! One is a beautiful taupe pinafore dress that even Harper Seven would be proud to wear. I plan on pairing this with a floral bodysuit and white tights to prevent it from looking too much like school uniform. The second dress is a gorgeous pale peach corduroy shift with cute little frills on the sleeves. Off we go to try them on.......



8.1.12

Incoco Nail Polish Appliques

I am totally obsessed with nail polish so I couldn't think of a better way to begin my blog than with a review of Incoco Nail Polish Appliques. As a new mama I rarely have time to paint my nails, and if I do then they are smudged within minutes so Incoco has been a godsend for me. Incoco appliques are basically strips of nail polish which adhere to the nail as soon as you  press them on, which means that you can apply them wherever you are and you don't have to worry about drying your nail polish or annoying people with the smell of polish! All you have to do is file your nails and push back your cuticles with the orange stick and file provided in the package, and clean your nails with the included nail polish wipe and then press the appliques on to each finger. The whole process took me no longer than 15 mins, genius!
For this review, I chose Dream World which is a funky, glittery nail art design, but if you prefer a tamer look then they also have more classic nail colours and even a French Manicure. I discovered this product in Selfridges a while ago and decided to treat my self, but I have since discovered that it's far cheaper to buy from ebay, I paid about £7 for these.





The last picture was taken about four days after the strips were applied, I think it still looks pretty good considering conventional nail polish only last a couple of days on my nails before chipping.

Some Incoco tips:
  • If you have short nails, you can use both ends of a strip so that you can do two nails from one strip.
  • Once you have opened the packet, the strips do dry up so try to use them quickly and seal the package well in between uses.
  • There are great application tips here on the Incoco website.
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