Beauty 411

Guys, this cold, it's killing me. I must have spoken too soon yesterday because it came back with a vengeance and this time it means business. The sinus congestion alone is enough to make me not want to go up-and-down the stairs because of the change in air pressure (A little dramatic, I know). I guess on the bright side there is no excuse for me to not purge my email box and closet today--every girl's dream for a Friday afternoon.

Anyway, this post has been in the back of my mind for awhile. A few weeks ago I went on a small tirade about my skin and hair issues since having a baby. Well, I am happy to report that it has been a little over a month of no shampoo and I can say that while my hair may be a bit more frizzy my scalp has loved the change. My skin issues on the other hand have required a little more trial and error.

Now let me just say for the record that I by no means am a makeup snob. I will, however, fight to the death for certain products that I love. While I have remained loyal to a few brands for years I've slowly started to gravitate towards individual products instead of entire lines. Since Addison's birth my skin has tended to be more dry and what use to be a simple process of putting on foundation, now requires moisturizer, primer and concealer beforehand. My face seems to have welcomed the presence of a few lines as well. I'm sure they all derived out youthful ignorance and my choice to not wear SPF. "Wear sunscreen!" my Mom always said...

After months of trying multiple brands here a few of the products that have been baby-tested//mother approved

1//L'Oreal Voluminous False Lashes //perfect for giving the illusion of fake lashes without the price.

2//Mary Kay Oil-Free Eye Makeup Remover //I've been using this eye makeup remover for years and I may cry if they every stop making it because it just works that well!

3//Too Face Primed and Poreless Skin Smoothing Face Primer //This junk is amazing. It fills in my creases and creates a flawless look once I apply my foundation.

4//Revlon Colorburst Lip Butter in Candy Apple & Sorbet //Goes on like lip gloss, but looks like lipstick without the "cakey-ness." Plus it doesn't come off on my kids when they hug me. 

5//EOS lipbalm //put this stuff in the refrigerator then use it--amazing.

6//bareMinerals Purely Nourishing Cream for Dry Skin //This cream kicked my flakey-dry skin dilemma. I use it at night before I go to bed. And the ingredients are natural i.e. watermelon extract. Um, yes please. 

7//L'Oreal true match in sand beige W5 //So finding a foundation has been tricky. I tried nearly every brand out there but they all seemed too thick and would sluff right off my skin. Because this isn't a "one-color-fits-all" brand I was able to do a perfect color match to my skin and so far I have been pleasantly surprised. As a bonus that fine ladies at MAC recommended this brand if I didn't want to spend the big bucks. 

8//Smashbox Photo Finish Primer Color Adjust //I have a reddish hue to my skin and this color adjuster nips it in the bud. When I pair it with the Too Faced Primer it creates an even/smooth tone on my face. 

9//Too Faced Powder Blush-Who's Your Poppy? //Love this blush. Not to pink, not to red. Yet still looks natural. 

10//Anastasia tinted brow gel in Granite //I was graced with naturally dark hair and naturally light eye brows, so it has always been a battle trying to find the right brow liner. This gel is amazing. It goes on like mascara and provides just the right darkness so as not to look fake. 

11//Lorac Liquid Liner //Need a perfect liquid liner. This it is. 

12//Victoria Secret Summer Seduction Eye Kit //I have yet to use any of the colors in this palette except the gold tones. What I have used is the bomb. It's my favorite color combo to date. 

13//Benefit -Watt's Up Highlighter //use this highlighter on your chin, above you lip, t-zone, and cheek bones to highlight your face. two words: life changing.

14//Bare Escentuals/bareMinerals-i.d. Mineral Veil //After I've applied my foundation I use tinted mineral veil to eliminate shine as well as set my foundation. I've used it for nearly five years and I have never been disappointed!

15//Benefit-Hoola Bronzing Powder //Bronzers are tricky--too much and I feel like the love child of Snooki and  Carrot Top. Yet if I don't use it, my face seems super round--baby face round in fact. I use it under my cheekbones, along my jaw line, along the sides of my nose and near my temples. 

There you have it. I promise as soon as I have a little sun on this washed out face of mine I will provide a tutorial. Maybe even a vlog if you're lucky. ;)

Have a fun weekend!

Easter Weekend.

Did I ever tell you about that one time when I was eight or nine-years-old and my older cousins made us hold hands and then one of them would grab the electric fence. The electric shock would slowly ripple from hand hold to hand hold until it surged out of the tips of the last child. Those of us that were younger were usually placed at the end--a sign of submissiveness to the older kids I suppose. It wasn't traumatizing because we were naive (or dumb enough) to believe that no matter what kind of pain was placed on us we were still cool enough to be in the presence of the older kids. Twenty years later, I can still feel the shock. 

Anyway my tangent does relate to Easter, I promise. 

My family, which includes a whole bundle of grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, and anyone who decides to marry into our brooding mess, is never satisfied who mediocre celebrations. If there is a party to be had, we hold it. If there is a celebration in order, we go above and beyond. If there is something completely ridiculous and almost life threatening to be tried, it has happened. Easter is no exception. Of course we do the typical things like Easter egg hunting and making enough food to feed a small country, but my family also enjoys a wide array of non-traditional events too. The before mentioned electric fence game being one of them. And have you heard of a cash calf. It's simple--tape gobs of money to a calf and left it go. Then send every kid (adult included) after said calf to retrieve the money. I presume we're just like every other God-fearing American family out there. There really is no end to the things my family will concoct in the name of celebratory fun.

I savored this Easter holiday a little bit more and it's low-key nature. Somewhere the roles switched from being the recipient of Easter tidings to becoming the giver of magic for my son. His eyes that morning were satisfaction enough of a job well done. How great is it as parents that some of our greatest joys resonate out of the excitement and complete wonder in our children's eyes. 

Here's some pictures of our weekend. 

//Sharpies were the medium of choice this year for egg decorating//

//The stickers were a "meh" idea. They kind of created a filmy residue on the eggs, but the design turned out neat//

//Clothes were optional while dying eggs--just for the kids of course//

//He was skeptical of this elusive Easter Bunny fella//

//This was the best shot I could get of the two of them together. When they get within two feet of each other they kind of go psychotic//

//And as luck would have it the Easter Bunny showed up during our Easter egg hunt--our skeptical little guy may be a believer// 

//And when we got back to Bozeman during the Bishop family Easter egg hunt John's nephew proposed to his girlfriend. He's a real Casanova. Let the ohh and ahh's begin//

 //Hopefully your Easter was amazing and (of course) electrocuting-free...//

We are alive.

Somewhere between my head is going to explode and my stomach is doing somersaults, John and I managed to pull ourselves from the depths of self-pity and still take care of the babes this past week. It was a sad state of affairs around here, we both sequestered ourselves to our respective rooms and spent most of the week consuming  7-up and an obscene amount of saltine crackers. Poor Addy caught the same nastiness and spent a good portion of her time crying the saddest and more defeated sobs her little body could muster. It was down-right pitiful to say the least. Brecken on the other hand somehow missed the sick train and learned early on that his wish could usually be granted without much of a fight.  Knowing he'd won the battle he took full advantage of the time to watch Blue Clues while simultaneously eating my house dry of Goldfish for a good portion of the week.  

By Friday we pulled ourselves out of a germ-infested cocoon and ventured south  for some much needed family time. It also provided an opportune time for us to shower and become productive citizens once again. If only being sick was my excuse all the time for not getting dressed or showering. ;) So we packed our bags and headed to Cody, Wyoming once again. While neither John or I felt completely well having family around was a welcomed blessing. They loved on Addy and Brecken  all day long which made fighting through the last round of our bug that much easier. 

Writing more would be too easy right now, but it is 60+ degrees in Montana without a stitch of wind or a cloud in sight! The kids or itching to run and their wish is my command. Tee-shirt weather is upon us my friends! 

I promise Easter shenanigans to follow...

Thanks for sticking with us--this bug was a real damper to my writing.

Instagram+Three Things

I've decided to quarantine this contaminated house of ours for the next 24 hours. Addison caught a flu-like bug and I suppose no great detail is required on how my night went down--I'll leave that to the imagination.  There is something to be said about sick babies, their constant neediness and  no direct way to communicate how they feel, it always seems to wear on me like no other form of torture. I've boasted for months how healthy I've kept my kids and myself (John, of course, is the exception) and little-by-little it finally caught up to us. A sniffle here, a runny nose there, a small ear ache, and then, WAH-Bam! a full blown explosion of sorts! This sickness came in with a vengeance, I might add. I'll venture to say that today will be chock-full of cuddling time, brothy chicken noodle soup, and a few misplaced placed hours watching Blues Clues.

And don't mind me, I just realized this post has a whole lot of selfies. I promise I'm really not that into myself. It's this whole new "no shampoo" experiment that I've been chronicling on Instagram.

 Three Things I'm Loving About Easter:

See Jane Blog//Easter Egg Coloring Party

The Alison Show//Painted Easter Eggs

World Market//Ceramic egg crate

*bought a few and they are love.ly!

Cheers.

I am your parent you are my child

The weekend is nigh my friends! Big plans are in store for the Bishop house--the annual purging of baby clothes and spring cleaning is upon us! It's not glamorous, but I relish the idea of one day having a house free of baby toys and all that jazz, they've become a worthy nemesis at three in the morning. 

Plugging away at the kids room is also on the agenda. And this little ditty will be added to their wall soon. If you've never read You Are My I Love You by Maryann Cusimano it's a must have for your child's collection. The book has been a hot topic as of recently when 14 photographers came together to document how they see they children in a new online project entitled You are my Wild. I love the book so much and I find that it speaks to the most simplistic yet amazing moments of parenthood.

If you would like a copy of the print you can find it here. To get a large (and inexpensive copy) simply upload it to Staples and print on their engineering paper. The file is large enough that I was able to make a 36x48"print, but my favorite size is the 24x36". The wording is perfect, but the triangles get a bit grainy the larger the print.

*Also, I know there is a typo on the picture (if you can find it "yay! for you"). The downloaded version is fixed.

Happy Weekend!

Print//Staples  Felt Balls//Maypole