Beauty Essentials

**Sigh** Gone are the days where I could spend endless hours in front of the mirror doing my makeup, trying out new looks and testing their effect in enticing my man. Whilst I couldn't say that my current make up approach is minimalist, I like to think I have found a happy medium. So, like everything else in life, there are some things I love love love, especially where there is a touch of convenience mixed in with total luxury. Here are some of my favourites:

Nuxe Huile Prodigieuse: Yes, I can't pronounce this either, but they just so happen to make the best beauty buy in the world. Shimmer oil, moisturiser, instant pick me up- all with a touch of jasmine infused oil. I use this for everything, especially for those beach days where I feel like a bit of sparkle to go with my smile

Lush Bath Bombs: This is perfect for those days where you need a break from nappies, teething and pureeing and all you want to do is sink into the tub with a glass of wine and some candles. The Lush brand is totally organic and the products are handmade. I love the fizz that these bombs give off, and they give me something to look forward to after another exhausting day

 Christian Dior just so happen to make the most amazing eyeshadow ever. Ever ever ever ever ever. This stuff is smooth, silky and make you look like the dramatic goddess you always wanted to be. I love every colour under the sun. Unfortunately my bank balance isn't as much of a fan

Lancome Juicy Tubes Swirl: Arghh I practically died when I came across these limited edition Juicy Tubes. These are amazing, and they are so versatile for a "pick me up" when you are on the go. As they say, the best things come in small packages

Mantra for Life

Ca-ca-carnival!!!!

Oh yes, it is officially that time. The end of summer, the beginning of the cold chill in the air and the last goddamn time we get to wear hot pants until July next year. Notting Hill Carnival has always fallen on my birthday weekend and has always given me the best memories of London. But since I was pregnant last year (and writing my masters dissertation), I gave it a miss for the first time in 4 years. Soooo.... I always knew that this year I had to party doubly hard to make up for lost time. Pulling together a group of my super hot girls, we decided to wear our funkiest threads to celebrate my birthday, and all that is good in life. After gathering random cans of red stripe along the way from Shoreditch to Notting Hill, we joined the crazy, madcap commotion that you call carnival. I never thought I would see so much booty shakin in one place. We checked out All Saints Road, Marley Sound System and Portobello Road and joined in some of the dancing with the crazy ladies on the floats. After a good 2 hour session through the crowds, we finally made it to the madness of the KR3W party, full of the coolest hipsters in all of London. Much to our surprise, we were joined by Florence Welsh from Florence and the Machine and Jamie Winstone who boogied (almost) as hard as us. The day went waaaaay too quick for my liking, but after shaking my tailfeathers for the whole day, I managed to stumble home to my little baby who had been super well behaved for his sweetheart daddy. This was quite possibly the best carnival yet

Check out the awesome video by the KR3W lot:  KR3W Carnival Party

Fashion Inspiration

Becoming a mama has certainly changed the way I think about dressing. For some reason, I feel a huge urge to avoid becoming a "mumsy mum." Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that I am surrounded by crazy fashionistas walking down the street in shoreditch, magazine editor girlfriends and just a general renewed sense of self worth coming from the love of my little one, but I feel that this is changing the way I think about clothing and fashion in general. Before I had Baby M, I dressed in sexy mini dresses, high heels and loads of bright prints (think permanent ibiza holiday). But with the changing tides, I have had to forsake some (not all) of that in favour of comfort, fashion and style. These days you find me rocking wedge heel sneakers, cut off customised denim jackets with a scotch and soda scarf, or maybe a funky print mini dress with grunge inspired ankle boots and loads of dark eyeliner. I love the tie dye leggings I pair with an oversized tee and my hot pink nikes. American apparel nail polish with some disco pants and some crazy earrings are the way to go, but only if I get to rock my harem pants and distressed leather jacket with some studded heels. I love Gwen Stefani, Amber Rose and Rita Ora. But most of all, I love the inspiration my girl friends give me. Who says you have to be a mumsy mum? I might have a bit of dribble on my funky scarf, but I have a wet wipe to sort myself out. I might take an extra 10 minutes to get ready, but I have become an expert at doing my makeup with my baby sitting on my lap and nibbling on my ear. Everyone has different ways of coping with the perils of motherhood, and I love to say that this has become mine.

Baby sick = Mama cries

Oh my god, there are a hundred million things I wish I knew before I got pregnant. I wish I knew that sleepless nights lasted longer than 2 weeks (more like 2 years). I wish I knew about colic, reflux and gripe long before it all came along. I wish I knew that teething was the endless blight of all parents worldwide, but most of all, I wish I knew what the eff to do when my little one got sick.
After waking up this morning from a stellar weekend, it seemed that mummy was not the only one who had overdone it. My poor little bub has a cold- a runny nose, a slight temperature and a grumpy disposition (which I would usually write down as teething). But today felt different. I could see that Baby M wasn't interested in his food, and that no matter what position I put him down in, he demanded to be held....no scratch that, he demanded to be cuddled like a little koala bear. As his mama, there is nothing more that I love than a love fest orientated cuddle. But when you see your little one feeling like sh*t, all the cuddles in the world won't make the grip around your heart loosen. I have to keep reminding myself that this is another hurdle in the epic adventure they call motherhood, and that like everything else, we will get through it together. You never realise how much control you lose over things like this when you become a mother. Pre baby, its easy to control where you will go, what you will eat, what job you take and who your friends are. But if its anything that being a mama has taught me, you cant control when your baby cries, you cant control the world around him, and you cant control the moment when he gets sick. This is crazy, and I know I'm not the first mama to feel a little helpless when your little one grizzles and tosses and turns when he sleeps. I just hope that tomorrow is better than today, and in the meantime, I will make sure that the cuddles don't stop. Ever.

ASKE Gardens x Nike x MM

Argh, the summer madness continues! On the hottest day of the year, I decided to grab a bunch of my gfs, our babies and my very hot hubby and headed over for some serious shoreditch style parklife. Getting down to some funky grooves, playing hula hoops and watching my friends battle out over 3 legged races and egg and spoon races, I didn't think the day could get any better. Until of course, someone suggested we drink loads of pimms and go trampolining via the facepainting booth. Yes, this sounds like a crazy circus themed daydream, but it actually happened to be one of the most amazing days of the year. Extra kudos to the fact that it was the launch party for the Motivation News Fanzine for Mothers Meeting, where my first article was published! Argh I still feel like I am flying on that trampoline! This has turned out to be the best summer of my life

Jagga Rocks

I quite possibly went to the coolest gig ever last Friday night. Heading out with two of my hot mama friends (sans baby of course), we decided to check out the classic Koko in Camden to see Jagga, the hottest piece of talent to come out of East London. Bonus that Jagga is the baby daddy of my hot hot hot girlfriend, we spent the early part of the evening downing tequila shots to be ready primed for the madness that was ahead. And boy, was it f**king awesome. Jagga's sound is so unique, I really couldn't put a label on it. Think Chase and Status meets Katy B meets Bob Marley meets Jimi Hendrix. His video for the song is officially SICK, and I have it on repeat on my ipod. We were screaming out the lyrics to "Love Song" and dancing our toned asses off. OMG I think I'm officially a groupie. Lush love all the way

Check out the mad video here: