This is late...story of my life. Empties for the third quarter of this year are:

July

I bought the very first Spring edit of the Marie Claire The Parcel this time last year and was impressed with it but understandably sceptical as to whether they would keep it up or go the way of most other beauty boxes, ie fabulous start, crap offerings there after. So didn't get any other boxes until I saw there was going to be a special 20th Anniversary Special Edition version for this Spring's box.

I have to be honest, it hasn't been the best of starts. A few years back hubby and I gave up sugar and any products where sugar is listed as an ingredient and it worked really well. With little to no exercise I managed to lose 5kg over 2 months. Hubby lost close to 12kg.

I've been struggling to beat a nasty head cold lately and just as I started feeling human again a migraine hit. But life goes on and I had places to be and things to do and this face made me feel so much better... ah the power of makeup.

Even while using my MAC palette I knew that my NARS shadows would be next. I’d been looking forward to finally using the Earth Angel duo and it didn’t disappoint.

Here’s how I put these together:

Pregnancy messed with my hips and back quite alot and about 18 months after my first son was born, I was still suffering from sciatica. Finding that all the good intentions in the world did nothing to motivate me to exercise at home, I joined a gym as I figured that if I was paying for it, I would actually use it. I hate wasting money that could be spent elsewhere so thankfully this was the push I needed. I not only gained core strength which helped out my back but I also lost the majority of my pregnancy weight.

 

Skip forward a few more years and my third pregnancy saw my hips and pelvis so far out of whack that I couldn't walk without pain, a condition that didn't settle until bubs was almost 6 months old. Plus now my weight is back where I started. All of this I accept as a part of growing another beautiful little baby and while I know the numbers are bigger than they should be, I rarely look in a mirror so its been easy to ignore.

 

And then I tried to go shopping and none of the styles seem to suit and nothing fit right and I finally got to really look at my reflection and I don't know why I was so surprised but it brought me to tears standing there in that changeroom. There I was, 39 with three great kids and a hubby who loves me for all of me, and I hated what I saw.

I passed a stand of these lippy's at Priceline a few months ago when they first came out and though I'm not normally a fan of Revlon, I swatched one thinking that with the cheap looking packaging these will be crap. I'm not ashamed to admit I was wrong but at the time I couldn't justify buying another lipstick I really didn't need. Instead I made a mental note to keep an eye out for a sale and about a month later Chemist Warehouse had a 50% off all Revlon sale and these 4 came home with me.