Sunday Stroll

 Today I followed the advice from Hands free mama, I went for a walk with my husband and left my phone behind.  In the name of being authentic I will tell you it was a little weird and I did have the momentary panic of "what if someone needs me" but I ignored it and you know what it was amazing.  After ten minutes I felt so calm, in a way I haven't felt in years.  I looked at Stuart and said "my soul feels soothed".  

 Searching for beauty in every day life sometimes seems daunting, there can be times where you feel overwhelmed or blinded to beauty.  My goal is to show that it can be found anywhere, today I found mine on a lazy Sunday afternoon stroll with my husband.  

Break time breathrough

I have taken a really long break from blogging and I couldn't figure out what was stopping me from writing until yesterday.  I was reading a few posts on Hands free Mama and I was so inspired by her attempts to live honestly that it caused my own breakthrough. 

 I realised that what I had wanted to post was beautiful, inspiring house and craft posts, with gorgeous photos.  I took the fun out of blogging and created a work/fun imbalance.   Yesterday I realised that the reason I found it so hard and couldn't get motivated was because its not me.  I love all those things but I wasn't being authentic to me.  

When Jenny and I started this blog it was because we wanted to record the beauty we see in everyday life.  

Yet I was the one person who forgot to look at my life and see the beauty in the details, the tiny little things that make me smile in a day.  

So through all of that Ive decided to use this blog to be from authentic to me, to show the real me and all the tiny details that make my life beautiful.  

Halloween fun ideas!

As All Hallow's Eve approaches I wanted to do a quick round up of  all things halloweeny. 

I've been having a look around the internet and found a few fun games, songs and costumes for all ages so if you are stuck for ideas then read on!

Fun and Games

The queen of all things party-related, Martha Stewart has a round up of fab games, invites and crafts for everyone. I love the look of the 'pop goes the pumpkin' game!

Spoonful has a really great selection of games and a ton of printables and colouring pages to keep little ones entertained.

In case you are in need of some adult games, Punchbowl has a list of games for grownups which incudes 'shot in the dark', a drinking game which is sure to have everyone in good spirits ( get it...drinking, spirits, ghostys...you get it ..haha)

Costume Ideas

Jokers Masquerade is the place I always turn to for amazing costumes and great service, they do a gazillion costumes of all kinds for both adults and kids. My favourites...I love the steampunk costumes. So unbelievably cool. 

Amazingly talented Youtube beauty guru Nicole Guerriero has a ton of halloween makeup ideas. I really like her female mad hatter tutorial. Its beautiful and creepy at the same time. I definitely want to try it sometime.

For something simple both Lily Pebbles 'dead dolly' and  Anna from Vivianna Does Makeup's 'sugar skull-esque' tutorials are both easy and impressive. 

Playlist

Who are we to argue with Billboard? They have complied a list of the top 10 halloween songs and I think they are all awesome. Find it here. 

Movies

This is a toughie for me because I hate scary movies! So if you are looking for a list of horror movies then you are looking in the wrong place haha. However, there are a few kids movies that I absolutely adore so if you are looking for a not-so-scary show then these are my favourites. 

Hocus Pocus - Fun and trouble with Bette Midler and Sarah Jessica Parker circa 1993. This was one of my faves as a kid and I still love it. 

Labyrinth - One of my all time favourite movies, any time of the year. This is spellbinding stuff and David Bowie as the goblin king is just priceless. 

The Nightmare Before Christmas - An animated masterpiece with a brilliant soundtrack, I watch this at least two or thee times every year between halloween and christmas. 

So there you have it, a quick round up and run down of halloween things to do and see this week. 

Has anyone got any epic plans for halloween this year? We have a family party planned this year and I'm babysitting on Thursday so a movie marathon featuring all of the above is definitely on the cards. I may enjoy it even more than the kids haha!

The Life/Uni/Blog Balance

So it happened again. More days than I care to count since a blog post on here. Drat.

I started back at uni a few weeks ago and its the first time that I have had to balance studying and blogging at the same time, not to mention life and housework and all that fun stuff getting in the way. It's safe to say that I'm failing at the blogging part (though hopefully not at uni haha!).

I am a distance learning student with the Open University. I love to learn (total geek over here) and I actually love distance learning and going at my own pace. The OU is a great institution and I have never had a course I haven't like or a tutor I didn't get along with. 

It does however require a lot of discipline and it always takes me a little while to get into the swing of things with each new module. 

So I'm asking you to please bear with us here on Magpie and Hen. Fingers crossed that we will find our balance and our blogging mojo again soon.

I have a few posts planned out that I'm hoping to get photographed over the weekend so those should be up soon. 

Thanks for sticking with us!

Have a great weekend :)

Skin Woes - Coping With Couperose And Rosacea

Sidenote: Apologies for the naughty lack of blogging lately!!! Alas, life got the better of me last week.

 Back to our regularly scheduled programming now :)

Today I want to talk about skin, well, the skin on my face to be exact. 

I had pretty good skin as a teenager, it had the usual oily areas and the odd spot but on the whole it was generally well behaved. The only problem I had was that my fair skin was very prone to flushing. I had very rosy cheeks on a good day and looked like a bright red shiny beacon on a bad day (not so cute).

It started getting worse towards the end of my teenage years, my face would struggle to stay calm if I was even slightly to warm and then began to flush when I felt chilly too (which was often since I live in Northern Ireland).It also began to get very sensitive and reacted badly to all the products that my teenage and early twenties self kept piling on to try and hide it.

At twenty one I was doing a course in beauty and loving it. One day one of the teachers was demonstrating a facial on my skin and commented that my skin was great for showing how a facial should be done on someone with Rosacea. I remember thinking 'Wait. What? I have what on my face?'

Turns out she was right. We'll, almost. I do have Rosacea but it's really only developed in the last couple of years. What she saw on my skin ten years ago was the beginnings of Couperose. It's similar to Rosacea and has a lot of the same triggers such as excess heat and stress and can sometimes go hand in hand with Rosacea, as it does in my case.Basically my skin has a bunch of red patches, lots if little red prickly dots and broken capillaries and gets very flushed if I am too hot, too cold, under any kind if stress and is easily aggravated by rubbing of any kind. My chest also flushes very easily and when I'm too warm my entire upper body gets pretty pink to the point I look sunburnt but it disappears as soon as I cool down. 

So, lately my skin has gotten a lot worse, its very dry and easily irritated and all the products that I have been using for ages seem to be making it worse so I decided to go back to basics, a simple cleanse, tone and moisturise routine with a serum thrown in for good measure, all with products suitable for sensitive/dry/redness prone skin. I normally spend a fair bit on my skincare but since my skin is going through a rough patch and reacting to so many things I thought I would see if I could find some sensitive products that weren't too expensive in case my skin reacted badly to them and they ended up a waste of money. I thought I would share with you what I have been using in case it is helpful to anyone out there with similar issues. 

I have been using Liz Earle's Cleanse and Polish for about five years and although my skin tolerates it fairly well I can only use lukewarm water and have to be very gentle with it. In the past I have used Bioderma Micellar water to get rid of makeup and grime and it is fab, really good for sensitive skin as no rubbing is needed at all. It is however expensive and sometimes difficult to get in the uk. L'Oreal have totally upped their skincare game this past year and have released a Micellar water of their own and I think this might be every bit as good as Bioderma! I've been using it for a month now and my skin is smoother and less irritated. I still cleanse with the Liz Earle every other night as well but giving my skin a break from rinsing with water seems to have helped it a great deal. I'm also using a sensitive L'Oreal Eye Makeup Remover as I find the Micellar water doesn't always shift waterproof eye makeup without a little rubbing which I am trying to avoid as much as I can.

Following that I have been using a toner from Superdrug's Simply Pure range for sensitive skin. So far it seems to be doing the job and not irritating me in any way so that's a plus as so many toners really don't agree with me. Next I've been using this serum from Boots Botanics Ultra Calm range. It has been a lifesaver for me! My skin is protected and soothed and feels so soft since I started using this. It's not expensive, I got it on offer with one third off and it was just over a fiver. Bargain! 

The moisturiser is one that I found in Savers Chemist and I can't seem to find it anywhere else! It's this Garnier one for sensitive skin. It has a very light fragrance and seems to provide enough moisture to get me through the day without making my skin shiny and again is soothing enough to calm my redness down a bit.

So far so good, my skin has settled a bit and seems less angry. I do think I need more hydration though than these products are giving me though, especially coming into Autumn and Winter when my skin is at it's driest. A night cream and maybe a hydrating mask would definitely improve the levels of moisture in my skin but I don't want to overload it right now with too many different products. For now I'm just happy that my cheeks are less red/angry/sore and my skin feels a little bit softer and smoother than it did a month ago.

Does anyone have any other great products for sensitive skin? Leave a comment below and let me know, I would be forever grateful!

Carry on packing list

Hey guys....

I've been preparing for my trip to Lake Geneva, Wisconsin next weekend.  Since Im writing out my lists on what to pack and what I need for my carry on luggage, I thought I would share what I always take with me to help on the trip.

Carry on survival  kit.

1. Handbag - Its taken me years to find a handbag that I like to take on a plane, I prefer a messenger style bag so that I can sling it over my should, I don't have to hold it in long queues but it has lots of pockets for passport, ticket etc.

2.  Face wipes - I am probably quite strange in that I take my make up off when i get on the plan with a face wipe and moisturise and then again before I landing.

3.  Eyedrops - I always use eyedrops on a flight, it help to keep your eyes hydrated and bright.

4.  Toothbrush - This can make you feel human again after sitting for so many hours

5.  Hand sanitizer - Did you know most people are not made sick by what they breath in but by what they touch - you cant trust everyone to be as clean as you are.

6. Deodorant - its just necessary!

7. Kindle Fire - Its all my entertainment rolled into one little package.  

8.  Magazine - for when they tell you not to use you kindle even though its in airplane mode!

9. Noise cancelling earphones - even if you just want to sleep, they will make it so much easier

10. Clean top - just in case me or someone else spills something on me 

11. Snacks - plane food, even when it is available is gross, it always makes me feel bloated.  So now I just refuse it and enjoy some of my favourite snacks brought from home instead.  

Is there anything you think I've forgotten? Or anything that you think that would make my flight more enjoyable?

LovelyLinks...Autumn Fashion For Your Home

I've been on a little bit of an Autumn shopping bender lately. I've been stocking up on all of my favourite essentials, the things that make Autumn and Winter cosy and cheerful for me and I'll be posting about those on Monday. 

Today I wanted to show you some of the things that I am considering for our home this Autumn. 

I like to have neutral walls and furnishings so that we can update the room each season and keep things fresh and interesting.

Autumn for me is all about getting cosy so I've been on the lookout for new blankets, cushions and candles. 

The links below are a few of my favourites:

• I love a pretty candle, especially at this time of year, and this candle from Zara Home is one of my favourites. Its beautifully carved and intricate, a statement piece that will look great in any setting.

• I'm pretty crazy about scented candles too and Yankee Candles make my two favourites, this one, which is perfect for this time of year as its autumnal without being too festive, and this one, which is pretty much all out Christmas in a candle!

• We actually bought two of these cushion covers last Autumn and they are still available from Dunelm Mill. I love the tartan and they are back on our sofa again for this season. They look festive without being totally-all-out Christmassy. We are in the market for a few more to add to these two this year.

• I love this cushion also from H&M, it just looks so squishy and comfortable yet also very elegant. 

• I tend to go a little red crazy at this time of year and this blanket from H&M ticks all the boxes for me. Its a beautiful colour, a gorgeous knitted pattern and is big enough to fit two people under it for sofa cuddles ;)

• Last but not least I think that this decanter and matching glasses from Next are a great idea and since I'm a big lover of mulled wine this is at the top of my shopping list right now. 

So has anybody else been thinking of a few seasonal buys lately? 

Found any gems?

Leave a comment and let us know!