nyx matte lip creams

First off, I apologize for the scary close up of my mouth. Haha. But I'm comin at you with a beauty related post 💁. I'm a little bit of a liquid lipstick freak and these matte lip creams by #nyx are amazing- annnnd like $5. Crazy! So I thought I'd show you swatches of the ones that I own incase you haven't heard about them or wanted to see some of the colors in action. 1. London

2. Stockholm

3. Istanbul 

4. Tokyo

5. Milan

6. Monte Carlo 

My favorite combo is Milan with Tokyo or Istanbul on top! It's been my go to lately. Bottom line, these are awesome, especially for the price!

Adjusting to life with two children

This whole mother of two thing has been all sorts of wonderful but at the same time, challenging. Lola is such a sweet calm baby and Dash has been so good with her that it almost seems too good to be true. But even though things are going smoothly, the mama guilt is real. Worries of am I not loving on Dash enough? Is he jealous when I nurse Lola or rush to her when she fusses? Do i love my children equally? 

See, Dash was an extremely fussy baby. Nothing about his first year came easily- we had a rough start with nursing (luckily, we got the hang of it and nursed for 18 beautiful months), he was very colicky and cried non stop as a newborn on top of me having postpartum baby blues, then as he grew out of the colicky stage he developed a stubborn streak a mile wide. Things weren't always easy but the struggle made us stronger. The bond we developed was so special because we fought for it. Countless sleepless nights, tantrums, teething nightmares, and night terrors all brought us to where we are today. And I must say, Dash is and always has been the light of our lives. He has turned into such a sweet and loving toddler- always giving mike and I hugs and kisses and doing little things he knows will make us proud like bringing us our drinks and our shoes when we're getting ready. My heart feels like it might burst when I look at his big blue eyes and pouty lips and I think to myself- how did I make such a perfect little human? 

Then came Lola, my sweet daughter. Who I'm going to say, just might be my easy child? *knock on wood*... She came out nursing like a pro, grunts when she wants to be fed, doesn't care who's holding her, and spends her waking time staring around contently. She's the newborn I've always heard about- I just wasn't sure they actually existed! Yet here she is, curled up beside me peacefully asleep. 

It's hard for me to wrap up what I'm trying to say because I think it's difficult to even make sense of it in my head. But that's postpartum hormones for you right? I'm sure these feelings will fade as I adjust to life with two children. I just hope they both know how much they're loved and never feel like they're second best. I was blessed with two beautiful babies and for that I'm so very grateful.

 

Lola Grace- a birth story

At 8 pm on June 20th, 5 days past my due date, my water broke right after pleading with Dash to clean up his toys and throwing in a load of laundry. I yelled to my mike downstairs and we called up our midwife to let her know. She said to head in at either 6 am or if contractions started following the 4-1-1 pattern. Coincidently this is exactly how labor with Dash started as well- by my water breaking at 8 pm with contractions soon to follow. Apparently it's uncommon for your water to break before labor starts but you know, it's just how I roll. I put Dash to bed *shed a tear or two about how it would be my last time seeing him as my only child* and called my parents to come over to watch him. Contractions started around 10 minutes apart and lasting over a minute so I was just puttering around trying to get last minute things together while mike went to bed. After a while I decided to try to get some sleep with mike while I could but could only sleep for around a half hour before my contractions were too strong to ignore. At around 12:30 I got back up to clean some more and timed my contractions at being 5-7 minutes apart. A few of them were even 4 minutes apart but I didn't want to get to the hospital too early or wake mike up before I had to. One contraction in particular brought me from leaning on my dresser to having to get on my hands and knees to ride it out. After that, I decided it was time. After waking mike up we told my parents good bye and headed to the hospital. During the 45 minute ride I had around 3 or 4 contractions that were very manageable which is great because I was terrified of laboring in the car. However, as soon as i stepped out into the parking lot of the hospital I was hit by a massive contraction that made me rethink not getting that epidural and then 2 more on the way to the front desk. I quickly signed in through a few more contractions and was placed into my labor room. I was suddenly in a lot of pain and had a hard time even getting onto the bed. I sat on the edge and told the nurses I needed a minute through my nervous laughs and uncontrollable shaking. I'm sure they thought I was some sort of lunatic. Finally after settling down a little I was checked and at 4 cm which I was happy about because I was still zero at my last appointment a few days prior. (Again, same with my last birth- zero dilation before water broke) My midwife had me get into the shower to labor which was amazing. My pain immediately went down to a manageable degree and I was able to focus. I sat on a stool with the shower head pointing at my belly while mike sat on a stool outside the shower. It was hard deciding whether to point the water at my front or my back since both were contracting with each contraction (haha), but my front ended up winning. A bath tub would have been nice but there aren't ones in the individual rooms at the hospital and I didn't want to move to the one they had in the hallway. Besides, I think the sound of the faucet running helped me through the pain as well as the warmth. I was in the shower for around 3 hours.... Which is a little insane considering it felt like 45 minutes at most. I was having to moan loudly during contractions and between them I leaned my head on my shoulder or the shower wall and dozed off for a few minutes. Here's a funny side note- at one point I glanced over at mike and he was doing something on his phone that looked like a game. I asked what he was doing and he apparently had a guitar tuning app open to see what key I was moaning in. It was D flat for anybody who's interested. At this point I decided to move to the bed. I knew if I got out of the shower things would get serious fast so I put my big girl pants on (there actually weren't any pants but I did have a towel) and b-lined to the bed. The lights in the room were set really low and my midwife had some peaceful zen music playing which was a nice touch.  I was checked and at 8 cm. I laid on my side and began loudly vocalizing *screaming like a wild banshee* during each contraction and dozing off in between them. It was wild. Mike said I would go from letting out the most primal guttural yell he's ever heard and then start snoring. I even had lucid dreams during each mini nap! After maybe an hour I began to feel the transition feelings set in- intense pressure, pain, and panic. I think at that point I opened my eyes and begged for the nurses to help me. I'll never forget the blank stares on their faces. I was on my own. My midwife gave me permission to push and I immediately began involuntarily pushing on my side. It was the kind of involuntary action such as throwing up- my body was taking over without me trying. At this point I think a combination of the noises I was making, my sweat matted hair stuck to the side of my face, and the death grip I had on the nurses wrist had Mike wanting to run for the hills. Bless him for sticking it out by my side. I moved onto my back at some point to continue pushing. From here on things are very fuzzy but I'm told I pushed for 12 minutes before lifting my baby girl onto my chest. It was the most painful and beautiful experience of my life. I'm pretty sure I traumatized mike and every nurse and expectant mother in the maternity ward that morning but for her, it was so very worth it. 

Lola Grace Schmierer 
Born June 21st, 2015 at 6:40 am
7 lbs 5 oz 19 in long

Hair FAQ

Ok so I get an overwhelming amount of questions about my hair so I am dedicating this post to a few "frequently asked questions" that I get most often... Sorry if anyone has felt like I'm ignoring your questions, it's just hard for me to keep up lately with everything else going on! I will put the #faq's in the comments below! *disclaimer* I am a lisenced cosmo so use this information at your own discretion! If you're feeling up to doing your own color at home, then keep in mind that results may vary based on your base hair color/ color history/ etc. 1. Hair color- I color my hair using Paul Mitchell 5RO with 20 or 30 volume developer and 5 or so color shot drops mixed in for added vibrancy. Since my hair is so short, I throw it on the entire length from outgrowth to ends without worrying about damaging my previously colored hair. I usually process for around 30 minutes before rinsing. 2. Upkeep- To keep my red vibrant, I shampoo with #tressa watercolors shampoo in the color "fire". I let it sit for 3-5 minutes before rinsing and it is absolutely necessary for maintaining a bright red in my opinion! 3. Cut- I cut my hair with a razor and thinning shears. I have thick hair so I use the thinning shears to get rid of the extra bulk around my ears/on the side, and at my nape. I use a razor to give a whispy/choppy look all over. I like to keep the back short and the bangs longer so I can play around with different styles while still maintaining the pixie look! (Possibly a video coming soon of how I cut my hair!) 4. Style- I wash my hair maybe twice a week. After washing, I use Paul Mitchell super skinny on wet hair to smooth and shine and normally let my hair air dry. I run a straightener through it to either straighten or curl and then add bed head hard to get to mold my style, a spray wax such as sexy hair play dirty to mold and somewhat set my style, and a hairspray to hold everything in place- I'm currently using and loving kenra or Paul Mitchell! (Possibly a video coming soon of this too...) Hopefully that answers a lot of your questions! If there is anything else you would like to know, ask in the comments and I will do my best to get back to you! Xoxo

Bits of Dash: a video

Today I got the iPhone 6 plus as an early "christmas present" from Mike. We don't normally go all out on gifts for each other, but I needed to replace my full storage iphone 5 and I found the 6 plus hard to pass up! I've been using it almost all day and I've already adjusted to the size. The camera quality is even better than my 5 and I can't wait to start taking a ton of pictures and videos of our little family, our daily happenings, and all the excitement that is to come! Today was also my first experience with iMovie and I am obsessed! I never got around to taking very many videos of Dash but I threw together the special few that I do have and made this little video. I guess you could consider it a "baby's first year" video but it's more like "baby's first 18 months!" Anyway, I had a blast making it and even though my video quality hasn't been great up until now, I can't stop watching it and tearing up about how much our tiny newborn has grown. Please do give it a watch and let me know what you think!

Favorite lipsticks

I thought today I would share some of my favorite lipsticks with you all. Most of these can be found at your local Target and a couple are a little more "high end." These are the colors that I reach for most often (besides my beloved elf matte lip color in natural! How did I forget to include it, dagnabbit?! Oh well. It might take time but I think we can move on from this.)  so in no particular order, I present my other faves at the moment!

1. Loreal Color Riche in Jennifer's nude- could this name be any more perfect?! I picked it up immediately purely because it's "my nude" then when I opened it and saw the color, I knew it was meant to be. This one is part of the privee JLo collection. I was immediately drawn to the sleek matte black packaging and the Jennifer shade was the perfect nudey mauve. It goes on smooth and is a little bit of a sheer/light formula so it wears down nicely and doesn't end up looking chalky over time which a lot of my other nudes do. Definitely a new favorite!
2. Revlon Colorburst in Soft Nude - so I think this lipstick was discontinued and I forgot to swatch but this is a true peachy nude with a smooth formula. I don't like to wear it by itself because it tends to wash you out but with a darker nude liner, it's perfect!
3. Benefit in Wild Card- Also discontinued I believe, (but if you're determined to own this color for yourself you can pay three times what it's actually worth on amazon.) I tend to go for more matte reds, which this is not, but it is a really pretty brick redish brown with a slight hint of deep rosy pink. It goes on smooth and leaves a hint of shine. I haven't worn this one in a long time but I thought I would include it because it WAS a favorite and I love Benefits lipstick tubes. So pretty, so sleek. So there.
4. NYX Matte Lipstick in MLS17 Sweet Pink- I'm obsessed with this color! Bright Barbie pinks aren't normally what I would go for but this color has the perfect hint of coolness which makes it perfect for fall and makes it seem less "neon pink." It's very matte which I love and the lasting power is amazing. Also, $5!! It doesn't get much better ladies. I can't wait to pick up more colors from this NYX matte collection.
5.Elf Matte Lip Color in Rich Red- I'm a huge fan of these Elf Matte Lip pencils (see introduction) and at $3 a piece, it just wouldn't make sense to not pick them all up! This one is a really pretty basic matte red. You can't go wrong!
6. MAC in Lady Danger- probably my favorite red that I own. Super matte and the perfect bright redish orange shade!

Of course I had to make this jumbled collage to show you what the colors look like on with the photos in no particular order including some doubles and one triple, just to confuse you all! (Sorry about that) I'll try to direct you along. Please bare with me. Top left- Loreal Color Riche in Jennifer's nude. Top middle, right, and middle left- NYX Matte Lipstick in MLS17 Sweet Pink. Middle middle- Elf Matte Lip Color in Rich Red. Middle right and bottom left- MAC Lady Danger. Bottom middle and bottom right- Benefit Wild Card. Phew! Hope that wasn't too confusing!

DIY marble mug

Today I'm sharing an easy DIY that I've seen a few times on Pinterest called "watercolor mug". It's super fun and easy to do and the results are different each time! I tried it with a couple fall inspired colors and felt that they ended up looking more like natural stone than watercolor, hence the name- marble mugs! The second one I made (above) even ended up reminding me of rose petals.) If you would like to learn how to make your own unique mugs, for yourself or as a gift, please read on! 

Supplies

- bowl or shallow dish

- nail polish

- white mug

 

How to make it

- fill your dish or bowl with water. 

- add a couple (or a lot) of drops of polish to the surface of the water. Get as close to the water as you can so that the paint stays on the surface instead of sinking to the bottom. You will see the polish make it's own designs in the water so add drops where you would like more color/a fancy design/different colors.

- dip your mug into the water on it's side and the paint will stick to the ceramic.

- if you want just the bottom portion of the mug marbleized, then use a deeper container and dunk the mug upright instead of dipping it on it's side.

- let dry for at least 2 hours.

- water shouldn't take the paint off but I wouldn't scrub or put them in the dishwasher. 

- make yourself a hot beverage and admire your unique work of art!

Here's my first attempt using the dunk method that ended up looking like natural stone!