Playing around with some makeup ;)

For the first time in a long time, I took out my makeup kit. At first, I started going through it and organizing, but the mood hit me and I put some on. It only took me about 5 minutes, but I figured I would take some photos and share them with you, and maybe I'll start doing some makeup looks soon, we'll see!

Update on my Life

I don't normally write about my personal life. But I figure while I'm not doing my usual makeup posts, I'll give you all an update on how I'm doing and what's going on.
I am pregnant with my second child, and I am suffering from HG (see my post HERE). I still have another few months to go, and we're getting more and more excited every day.
These days, I've been feeling a little better. The first five months of this pregnancy were the worst, but I'm now past it. Unfortunately HG is not something that just goes away, even if you feel better. That means I am still bed-ridden for the most part, and can't do anything that requires even the slightest bit of effort. For me, feeling better means I have stopped throwing up as much and I am beginning to gain some weight.
I recently found out that it is possible that HG is an allergic reaction to the pregnancy hormone. It was reassuring to me, knowing that research is being done on this extreme condition and hopefully, more awareness will be spread.

In other news, my son just turned two! 

He is getting cuter and cuter by the day. He brings me such joy, thank god he is a very happy and easygoing toddler. Today, he told me: "Spiders not scary." I disagree completely.

I plan to return to blogging after my baby is born and I'm feeling better. HG requires a long recovery time period, but I will hopefully be able to do some makeup posts in the next few months.

Hyperemesis Gravidarum A.K.A. Puking your guts out while pregnant.

I have very absent here for the past few months, and unfortunately it will continue for another few. If you'd like to know why, continue reading.

With all the media surrounding Kate Middleton's pregnancy, (see HERE) I have decided to help spread awareness of HG. It infuriated me to watch professionals get their info so wrong. (See The View discussing it HERE.)

For those of you that don’t know what HG is, I envy you.

What it is: Although 90% of women suffer some amount of morning sickness, HG only affects around 1 in 200 women. Symptoms include severe nausea and vomiting, food aversions, significant weight loss, dehydration, fainting, and malnutrition. It is serious, and without the proper care, can result in life threatening complications to both mother and baby.

Here is my story:

Pregnancy #1: Husband and I find out I’m pregnant; we are thrilled and clueless like any first time parents are. I feel great, and I naively think I will love being pregnant, just like my mother. It shouldn’t be surprising, my mother and I are nothing alike, but I get sick at 8 weeks pregnant.

The first 3 months are spent with my head in the toilet. I throw up an average of 30-40 times a day. Occasionally, I don’t throw up at all, and that results in me momentarily blacking out. I lie in bed all day, fantasize about taking a shower standing up.

I don’t cook supper, and I don’t let my husband cook supper. The smell of the sun gets me sick, my husband tries smelling it and can’t. We go on vacation when I’m five months pregnant and I black out after standing out in the heat for ten minutes. I sit under a tree while my husband gets me water, and a bunch of people are staring at me. I laugh, thinking it’s no big deal, this happens all the time, but it hits me: This is not normal.

Baby is monitored constantly throughout the pregnancy, baby is growing well. At nine months pregnant, I weigh less than I did at my wedding. After a long labor, I give birth to a huge, healthy baby. A little while later, I eat a peanut butter sandwich, followed by meatballs and spaghetti.

Pregnancy #2: My mind tricks me into thinking I can handle a second HG pregnancy. Once again, we are thrilled and clueless like any second time parents. I get sick sooner this time, at 6 weeks, and it’s more severe. My vision of a normal pregnancy is gone, and is replaced with the reality of popping 25 pills a day.

This time, the sun doesn’t have a smell, but water does. Husband doesn’t agree. I don’t drive, I don’t bathe my son. I don’t cook, clean, or work. I rarely leave the house and I often make my husband skip work to stay home and help me do absolutely nothing.

I am unable to physically care for my son, so I send him to daycare, and it breaks my heart. Its déjà-vu this time, so I don’t freak out when I black out. The pills work, I don’t throw up so much. Instead, when I do, it’s very sudden so I throw up on my bed, in the sink and on the floor, unable to make it to the toilet. Pros: We finally have a reason to dry clean our blankets.

I am now a little over five months pregnant. I’m over the worst, but still going through it. I throw up once in a while usually accompanied by a brief black out. Based on my first pregnancy, I will most likely feel this way until I give birth. I cannot wait until my babies are older so I can tell them what I went through and make them feel bad. Just kidding, I would never do that.

I’m lucky. I never stayed overnight at a hospital and managed to avoid an IV. My story is not one the really bad ones, you don’t want to read those, they’re crazy. Kate Middleton is pregnant, and although I sympathize with her greatly, I’m happy that HG will finally get the awareness it needs so people stop telling me, “Just try ginger, it helps wonders with nausea.”

LINKS:

A funny but useful guide for husbands of women suffering from HG.

Ashli Foshee McCall just published her story on the “Washington Post”.

I will do my best to return to regular blogging as soon as I feel up to it.

Sorry!!!

 

I'd like to apologize for my lack of posts recently. Unfortunately, due to my health right now, I have not been wearing much makeup other then some eyeliner and mascara :( I hope to start getting back into it within the next few months, and I promise to post something really good when I get to it, so it'll be worth the wait. I would rather not post something that's boring and wait for inspiration to strike :)

 Thanks for bearing with me!

My Everyday Makeup Look

I get questions about what kind of makeup I put on everyday, and lots of people are surprised to find out how little I actually wear. Here is a tutorial with my typical, everyday makeup.

 Eyes:

1) Apply foundation as a base on your eyelids. I used Revlon 24 hour stay.
2) Apply foundation powder on your entire eyelids up until your eyebrows. I used Physicians Formula translucent powder.
3) Apply bronzer in the crease. I used Revlon Bronzer.
4) Apply black eyeliner with a pencil. I used Revlon black eye pencil.
5) Use an eyeliner smudge brush to blend out the eyeliner.
Finish off by curling lashes and applying mascara. Your eyes are done.

Face:
I do not wear foundation on an everyday basis. I apply some moisturizer in the morning after cleansing my face and stick to just that.

Lips:

I vary my lipsticks, sometimes I only apply Vaseline, over here, I am wearing MUG's Adorable.
Finished Look:

Shellac Manicures

I finally got around to trying a Shellaq manicure for the first time, and I'm officially hooked! I love how quickly your nails dry, no blowing your nails for an hour and not touching anything for fear of scratches. These pictures were taken a full week after I had my manicure and they still look perfect and newly done, there is not one chip or scratch!
I'm not big on nail art, but I always paint my nails myself, so I love that I get a few weeks off ;)

Have you ever tried a Shellac manicure? Did you love it as much as I did?

Autumn Rain: Blue and Silver Makeup

The look I have for you today is inspired by the uglier part of autumn; pouring rain. 
Rain can be beautiful, especially if you're indoors, but I decided to focus on the real kind of rain, where everything turns dark and your umbrella does that thing where it turns inside out and leaves you to deal with getting soaking wet. You know, the rain we all love ;)

I used my Sephora Colorista Palette to create this beautiful look, and I love how it turned out. I kept the look dark and smokey by applying black gel eyeliner all around the eye and winging it out.

On a separate note, I've gotten some requests for more Gimp tutorials, so leave me a comment with what kind of tutorials you'd like!