Skincare Routine : Face

Bonjour! I have a coupe of recipe blog posts lined up and a couple of other ideas too. In other news it's my birthday next week (22nd March) and i'm kind of excited about it, naturally the closer it gets the more excited i get. Plus my grandmas are coming visiting for a week, then my parents in law and niece are coming for two weeks, so March is pretty busy and exciting! But on to today's article...

My face is a mixture extremely dry and slightly oily around the t-zone. I would also describe it as sensitive. There are several products i use to take care of my face. I was my face in the morning with Neutrogena Oil-Free Acne Pink Grapefruit face scrub. I love how it makes my skin feel but i'm not in love with the smell. It's got a very chemical or rather a fake smell and reminds me of a toilet freshener. I wouldn't repurchase it because of the smell, but i'm not going to waste it, as it leaves my skin smooth. 

Then before i put on any make up i use Labell Face and Body Skin Care Cream. I usually find a dual cream (body and face) to be too oily for my face so it makes my face greasy. So why would i buy this one? The answer is simple. I was in Paris staying at my parent-in-law's house for Christmas. I'd run out of face cream and with the freezing cold wind, my face was dry and peeling. We'd nipped to the shops on New Years Eve for a couple of things. You can imagine the crowds? So i grabbed the first cream i saw. It was only when i got home that i saw it was also for the body as well. As my face was dried out from the cold the extra moisture was needed and appreciated. Once my skin returned to normal, i thought my skin would turn greasy, like the other face and body creams had before, But it hasn't. It's smells wonderful and i'm completely in love with this cream. I use a pea size amount all over my face and neck. 

At the end of the day, i remove my make up with baby wipes. I find them to be cheaper than make up removal wipes and they work just fine. I rewash my face with the Neutrogena face wash. Then i use Diadermine Toning Lotion for Dry and Sensitive Skin. I love the smell, it smells clean. That is probably the worst adjective yet it makes total sense (to me anyhow!) It's nourishing to the skin, unlike a lot of toning lotion which i find to be drying on the skin. Once the toning lotion has sunk into the skin, i reuse my Labell cream to hydrate my skin throughout the night. 

Also once a week i have a relaxing bubble bath and put a mask on my face. I am currently using Byphasse Soothing Face Mask. It's super hydrating and as advertised, it's also very soothing. Once my bath is over i use a charcoal mask on my nose and sometimes chin. You probably have seen these types of masks all over Instagram and other social networking sites. Once it has dried on your skin you peel it off, pulling out any dirt from your pour. I'm not going to lie, when you are peeling it off it hurts enough to make your eyes water. But i definitely enjoy it! 

Until then Bisous!

Sugar Free Cupcakes

Bonjour! Long time no blogging. Without internet it's quite hard to keep up a blog, but that's all behind me now. Internet is here and working - and so am i! So for my first article back in a while i thought i'd share a recipe with you guys. Both my dad and my father in law are diabetic. We had a family meal the other day, so of course i had to have a play around with a diabetic cake. I found cupcakes work best because sugar free (diabetic) cakes don't rise like a normal cake. They look flat and i find they don't look very appetizing.

For those who have never baked with 'fake' sugar, you should know that it's extremely light! It's hard to adapt a recipe because of this. A tub of false sugar has around 250g but if you pour it into a bowl and weigh it you won't get 250g of sugar. I hope that made sense. Anyway this is why i love this recipe because there is no weighing. This recipe is adapted from a 'normal' cake called a yogurt cake. So instead of using grams and scales, we are going to use the yogurt pot to dose our ingredients. So lets get straight into it!

For this recipe you will need :

* 1 plain yogurt

* Three pots of flour
* Two pots of stevia (fake sugar)
* Half a pot of oil
* Three eggs
* One sachet of baking powder
* One block of chocolate (over 70% cocoa)

The best thing about this recipe is how easy it is. Pop all your ingredients in a bowl and mix them up. Take your block of chocolate, cut it up with a knife. Then place it in a bowl and sprinkle flour then mix (this will stop your chocolate from sinking to the bottom!) Then mix the chocolate and the cake mixture. Place in cup cake cases. Put in the oven for 20 minutes at 180°C. And there you have it : a sugar free chocolate cupcake.

Until then bisous!

My Insanely Emotional Journey - Part Two

Bonjour! Yesterday was Sophia's first birthday. I know I can't believe it either, my little girl is one year old! In celebration of my little bundle of joy, i thought i'd finally get around to telling part two of her story. Of course you can read the pregnancy side of the story here ; My Insanely Emotional Journey - Part One. Lets get right into part two!

I was finally back in Béziers hospital and near my family again. The routine followed ; blood tests, testing my blood pressure, checking my protein and monitoring Sophia. My blood results were worrying the doctors so they decided on Friday 7th August at 9 o'clock to induce me. They inserted a tampon-like tube with a special gel that would make my uterus contract, therefore starting contractions and eventually birth. The midwife that was taking care of me told me that I would be back in my room by 10 o'clock because I wasn't dilated so they would most likely have to reapply the gel the next morning.

While I was waiting for the gel to take action, I had to have my blood pressure and Sophia's heartbeat monitored. My boyfriend left for work and my mum came and took over. We sat talking until 10, when the midwife came back. I thought I would be sent to my room but she had other ideas, because Sophia was moving so much they didn't have a clear chart of her heartbeat - it had been the story of my life for the last month so I was used to it. The idea was to keep me in an hour longer in the hope of getting a clearer reading.

Within the next half an hour, I started to feel nauseous, had crippling back pain and was slowly adopting a fetal position. Having gone through child birth twice, my mum recognized the signs of contractions and called the midwife. They told me to call my boyfriend as Sophia would be on her way anytime soon. Since the beginning of my hospitalization, i had be warned i may have to have a cesarean. The midwifes decided to try a natural birth which i agreed with. As the contractions got stronger, Sophia's heartbeat began to disappear. Slowly a began to gain a high fever, my heartbeat was that same as Sophia's so the nurses could differentiate our heartbeats, and my blood pressure went dangerously high.

The decision was made to give me an emergency cesarean. At this point I was shivering, crying and being sick. Basically, exactly how I imagined giving birth would be! I was given an epidural and then a mask was placed over my nose and mouth and it was full of a sweet sickly scent. After what felt like an eternity I finally heard my sweet baby cry... So as you can guess, I cried too. The reason Sophia's heartbeat kept disappearing was she had the cord wrapped around her neck twice. Which means every time I had a contraction the cord would strangle Sophia.

Sophia was born on the 7th August 2015 at 2:23pm. She weighed 1800g and was around 30cm. She was a tiny dot of  a baby. They wanted to put her on assisted breathing but after taking a couple of huge gulps of air she was breathing perfectly. They placed her in an incubator because she was so small, she had trouble keeping her body at a correct temperature. For the first couple of days she had tubes in her nose to feed her, but the cheeky monkey that she is, she kept ripping them out. Eventually the nurses gave in and attempted other ways to feed her as she was too weak to fully breast feed. But each day she got stronger until one day she latched perfectly and was able to breast feed. This also meant she would be leaving the neonatal ward and she would be moving into a room with me. We stayed a week in the mother and baby unit, where I was taught how to bath and look after her. Just like any new mum at the maternity.

Most babies lose weight once they leave the womb as they are no longer receiving 24h feeding. The worry with Sophia was she was already so little. At 1800g she couldn't aford to loose any weight, but naturally she did. At her lowest she weighed a scary 1600g. But like I said, once she was breastfeeding correctly, she gained her weight back and some more. On the 29 of August, she weighed 1900g and I was able to leave the hospital and move back home. Also I just want to explain that even as a new born Sophia drank my breast milk. She was too small and weak to latch on at the beginning, so instead I expressed the milk and she drank it through a tube or syringe. So that is our amazing story of child birth, a follow up to the amazing one about pregnancy. Yes it was a crazy, scary time but I would relive it in a heartbeat for my daughter.  Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions or even share your pregnancy/childbirth stories.

Until then bisous!

July Favorites

Yes yes yes I've been MIA for a while but for the summer we have moved to the beach, so as you can guess the internet is pretty bad. But I've got a couple of posts lined up so there is a post ready whenever i'm able to. Anyway today I've got my July favorites! 

With it being summer I've got a great tan going on from days lounging at the beach and I've got a great cream. It's from a company called Galénic, and the product is called After-sun Enhancing Lotion. So as the name suggests it enhances your tan and has glitter in it to make your tan pop! I would recommend applying it with a glove (false tan glove) or something similar otherwise you end up with glitter on your hands and it's a nightmare to get off. It's sets beautifully not leaving you with that wet sticky feeling you get from putting cream on. It says you can put it on your face and body but honestly I wouldn't put this on my face due to the amount of glitter and it's quite a thick creamy lotion.


From the same brand I've been loving the All In One Beauty Perfection face cream. It's not called a BB cream, to me that's what it feels like. It's called a DD cream, although i'll be honest i'm not sure what the difference between a BB cream and a DD cream is... If you know the difference let me know in the comments, i'd love to know! It's light with minimal coverage ; It's got enough color to give me a little coverage – it's like my skin only better. It's not heavy on the skin and sets very quickly just like the tan cream. It's got SPF 25 in it which is an added bonus.

As it's hot I've hardly been wearing a full face of make up, besides there is no point working so hard on eye makeup just to hide it with sunglasses so I've not really bothered with it. But I have been loving my Kiko Milano lipstick in shade 801 – a beautiful subtle nude. It's got a great glossy shine to it and I love it. It makes my lips look amazing. I know mat is in right now but I feel it suits me better with a full make up look so i'm saving my new mat nude for when I actually put make up on again!

I've also been loving my W7 palette Cheeky. It's a bronzer, blush and highlighter palette. The first thing I have to rave about with W7 is the packaging! I own 4 palettes (including the face one) and the packing is gorgeous. They are in tin cases and I personally love them! The only let down in this palette is the hightlighter. It has no shimmer and is not very pigmented. If you love mat hightlighters then you'd probably like this palette, I just prefer my highlighter with a bit of shimmer! Oddly the bronzer and the blush are much more pigmented than the hightlighter but the bronzer has become my new favorite.

My favorite hair style this month (much like a lot of you) is two french braids. It's such a relief to have my hair off my face and tied back as the weather is incredibly hot, but it still looks cute. Especially considering my roots are coming through. I don't really know why but it looks way better in french braids than a ponytail or bun. My blonde hair and my dark roots just mix together and a french braid gives it a great effect.

This one isn't a beauty product, but I guess you could say it's beauty related as it's better for my health! This month I've been obsessed with drinking fizzy water. I've been drinking so much of it – possibly too much! I've been trying to avoid drinking soda so fizzy water has been the perfect replacement as one of the reason I love soda is the bubbles. Fizzy water provides that without the sugar!

Until then bisous!

Wish Haul

Bonjour! Just a quick post today to tell you about a little haul i've got. I did a little shopping on Wish.com. I only bought 4 products this time (and two of them are the same). I will leave links so you can check it out. Just a quick disclaimer ; the opinions given are my own, i'm not sponsored or anything. The prices given are what i paid and obviously that may vary!

The first thing I got is a mat liquid lipstick from NYX in the shade Tokyo. It's a funny feeling once applied and begins to dry. It feels very sticky but once it has completely dried, you forget your even wearing lipstick. It's a very vibrant pink (a hot pink i'd say) and it's not really the color I thought I was getting looking at the packaging (but that's the risk buying online). I thought it would be much more subtle like a natural nude pink (if that makes any sense!) I think it would look better with lip liner to help it set and not crack so much towards the inner lip. It cost 1€ and overall I like the product even if the color wasn't what I wanted. I would definitely buy another one maybe a red and a nude tone.

So this is the product I got twice. It's a highlighter from Sugarbox. I got the shade 001 and 002. The reason being 002 is pinky with a golden undertone and 001 is whitish with a silver undertone, meaning that 002 would be perfect for the summer (and while I have a tan) and 001 would be perfect for the winter when I no longer have a tan as i'm quite pale. Looking at the product in the packaging you can't really tell the difference but you can once you swatch it. I like the colors very much i'm just not sure how much I like stick hightlighters as opposed to a powder one. I feel like if they were a powder they would be perfect, at least the winter. My skin gets quite oily in the summer but dry in the winter so the stick creamy formula doesn't bother me for summer, but i'm afraid it's going to stick to my dry skin in the winter and make it look worse. I've used the 002 one and it looks great and shimmery. Even though I hadn't put foundation on and full my up it still looked great, I was just trying it out. I guess only time will tell for the winter look.

Last and not least, the reason I actually bought on Wish.com this time was for a Beauty Blender! It only cost 2€ (which considering elsewhere they cost around 20€) I've been using sponges to but on my foundation for a while and I mentioned in a previous post that with a contour palette I got a brush a tiny teardrop shaped sponge (much like the Beauty Blender) and I love it. The only problem is it's so small that it's quite hard to hold. So i'm super excited about this and I' can't wait to use it.

So that's it, although I have bought a couple more things! I know i'm bad, but i fell in love. I will let you know about it when i receive it! Thank you for reading.

Until then bisous!

Beauty Blender : no longer available - NYX liquid lipstick : 1€ - Sugarbox highlighter : 1€

My Insanely Emotional Journey - Part One

Bonjour! I find it incredible to have a blog called "From High Heels to High Chairs" and for me not to have told you my pregnancy story (especially considering how intense and crazy it really is!) So here it is : my insane, emotional journey called pregnancy!

I fell pregnant on the 14 December 2014 (according to my scans - I'm not some crazy person that had sex then said "Yup, i'm so pregnant" ...) I suffered with intense morning sickness but was too scared to take a test, I was 20 years old (nearly 21) and a student. Plus I hadn't been with my boyfriend that long. However I missed a big test and needed a doctor note to be excused. I asked my mum to book me an appointment but she told me to take a pregnancy test before going to see the doctor. On the 27 January 2016, my dad bought me a home pregnancy test and as a family (crazy huh?!) we gathered around the little white stick, I had just peed on - and to no one surprise it turned positive within seconds ... I was pregnant!

The first couple of months of my pregnancy were uneventful, except morning sickness nothing really happened, until my five month scan. Boy or girl?! We were finally going to find out. They slapped some whale snot on my bump, we held our breath as the ultrasound technician Benjamin clicked away, IT WAS A GIRL! Yes a little girl, our little Sophia. The technician continued his check up and thought Sophia looked a little small. I was supposed to have 3 scans during the pregnancy (at 3 months, 5 months and 8 months) but he decided to be on the safe side I should return in a month to have a check up.

By this time we were in June and I had to return for a check up. Apparently Sophia was growing but not enough because the blood wasn't getting through properly on the right side of the placenta. I got given another scan appointment 15 days later. Only it wasn't with Benjamin like usual but an older doctor, she gave it a through look at and decided Sophia was on the small side but nothing to worry about (considering i'm only 5ft3 or 1m60). My anxiety was over and I could finally relax and enjoy the rest of my pregnancy and summer. Or so I thought!

I had a monthly check up with a midwife to make sure the pregnancy was running smoothly. My appointment was on the 2 July 2015 and it changed everything. The midwife thought my blood pressure was slightly high, and she decided to keep me on a machine for an hour to check the results (was it just a coincidence because of the heat or something more...?) After an hour of pumping my arm, I had the pleasure of peeing into a little plastic cup. They found protein in my urine and my blood pressure was too high, so I had to stay in hospital for 24h observation. The 24h observation turned into 48h observation. 

On 4 July 2015, I was diagnosed with Pre-eclampsia. I was in hospital at Beziers but because I was only 30 weeks pregnant I wasn't allowed to stay as they weren't specialized in babies that premature (they took babies from 34 weeks). I had to go an hour away to Montpellier. Upon my arrival I was told that my illness was under control but could get worse within a blink of an eye - so basically I could give birth any day. They were betting I would give birth by the end of the week. 

A little about Pre-eclampsia : it is a complication characterized by high blood pressure and signs of damage to another organ system, often the kidneys. Left untreated, preeclampsia can lead to serious (even fatal) complications for both the mum and the baby. The only cure is to deliver the baby. The exact cause of the illness is unknown.  Experts believe it begins in the placenta. Early in pregnancy, new blood vessels develop and evolve to efficiently send blood to the placenta. In women with preeclampsia, these blood vessels don't seem to develop properly (which could explain Sophia's small size and why I had the extra scans. Although there was no way of knowing it was preeclampsia). 

I spent 4 long weeks in Montpellier hospital. I had to pee in a pot for them to check my protein level. I had to have my blood pressure took twice a day. I got blood tests (around 7 tubes) everyday. Once a day I had to monitor Sophia's heartbeat and every other day I had to have a scan to check Sophia was growing and the liquid in the placenta. Needless to say being hospitalized during four weeks, far from home was terrifying and long. The only thing that got me through was knowing that with each day passing Sophia got bigger and I got closer to returning to Beziers hospital. The magic day arrived. On 4 August - exactly one month after arriving - I left that hospital and returned to Beziers. I was so happy! My family were only 15 minutes away which meant the world to me. 

It would be beautiful if everything just stopped there and was perfect, but as you can guess that's not what happened but the wonderful experience called child birth is for another time. I hope you guys enjoyed learning a little more about Sophia and I. Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions or even share your pregnancy story and I will of course be back with My Insanely Emotional Journey - Part Two (child birth) very soon! 

Until then bisous!

Beauty Haul

Bonjour! I am finally settled in my new home and i can now get this blog up and running (plus Instagram and Tumblr). So for this first real post i thought i'd tell you about my little splurge. I've got a haul post for you guys today, including Amazon, Wish and Royal Extensions. I will leave links so you can check it out. Just a quick disclaimer ; the opinions given are my own, i'm not sponsored or anything. The prices given are what i paid and obviously that may vary!

Royal Extensions :

For years I had platinum blonde hair and loved it. When i fell pregnant i couldn't bleach my hair anymore. As i am a natural (light) brunette i chopped most of my hair off and dyed it brown to match my roots. For a year my hair was natural but this weekend i longed for old me. You know how it gets sometimes you yearn for a past self and after all the changes due to pregnancy, i found myself yearning for the old me ; old body, hair and everything. Anyway! This weekend I cracked and dyed my hair blonde again! So for my mothers day gift (come early), my boyfriend and daughter have got me a set of extensions. I have already bought some extensions from Royal Extensions a couple of years ago. I bought a pack of clip in synthetic ones because I didn't want to invest in something especially not knowing the site. But I loved the price, color range and rapid delivery. Even though the old ones were synthetic they served their purpose well as they were used for hairstyles such as fishtail braids instead of loose natural looking hair.

This time I have bought “Natural Classic Clip In” extensions in platinum blonde. The color is amazing and blends perfectly with mine. They are soft and feel amazing. I was slightly disappointed about the blending with my natural hair. I straightened my hair then added the extensions but my own hair was too visible for my liking, although i'll admit that I kind of rushed it and I guess if I took my time and did it properly they would blend great with my natural hair. I can't wait to try again and even try with curled hair. All in all, they cost 49€ (the pack included one 4 clip, two 3 clips, two 2 clips and two 1 clips.) so for the price they are perfect. I might buy another set to give a bit more volume to my hair. I will have a play around and definitely keep you updated!

Amazon :

My first purchase was a set of make up brushes. It's a set of 30 brushes with a pouch to store them in. They cost 11,99€ and that's what made me want to try them. They have a great selection and the brushes are super soft. I love the pouch they came in. For the price they are an amazing buy and i'm glad to have snapped up this offer. I think they go above and beyond considering the price. They are a perfect size and honestly I can't think of a single complaint.

Second purchase was a small sponge with handle. Believe it or not it cost 0.01€ which was the reason I bought it, I was thinking about swapping to a sponge to apply my make up but didn't really want to invest in a Beauty Blender as they cost 17€ so the idea was to buy this little sponge just to try out. I admit I love the sponge to put make up on so i'm pretty sure i'm going to get a Beauty Blender or something along those lines. For the price, it's a great little tool. On the negative side, when i apply my foundation i worry that the sponge is going to come off the handle. I feel like it's not stuck on properly. So far I have used it about 4 times and it's not come off. It's served it purpose i guess but I wouldn't recommend it. It's small and cute - it's a hard one because i can't say it's not worth 0.01€ but i'd rather have the sponge in my hand to get into the creases rather than hold a handle with a small sponge.

Finally I have decided to group these two purchases together because they go together. I bought a foundation and concealer : Wake Me Up by Rimmel London in True Ivory. I have heard people raving about this foundation and the concealer for so long. Now that my old foundation has nearly run out I've decided to try this one in it's place. I've not tried it yet but the color looks amazing! The packaging is simple but I love it - I love the orange lid, i'm not sure why I love it so much but every time I look at it, I just can't wait to try it! 

Wish :

I got a couple of things from Wish and i'm actually in love with this site. I was worried because I had heard bad things about it ; purchases not arriving or being broken and generally people were disappointed. But I decided to give it a go and i'm in love. I have used it again since my first purchase and I hope to be just as satisfied (the second time I bought a phone case for my mum, who finally bought an Iphone after years of wanting one).

For the first time ordering of this site I bought 4 items : a set of make up brushes for my mum for mothers day (I will keep you updated and let you know what she thinks of them - but they look beautiful and I love the color), I got something called a nail dotting pen, a contour/concealer palette and an eye shadow palette. I haven't received the contour palette nor the nail dotting pen but I have to rave about the eye shadow palette. I bought it because I fell in love with the color Mulberry and I was not disappointed - the color is absolutely beautiful as are the rest of the colors but I have to admit I have a big crush on that color.  

There you have it, a couple of pleasures for mummy and obviously I got Sophia a few things too (she got a Smoby push walker). Thank you for reading - don't forget to follow me on Instagram...

Until then bisous!

Hair extensions : 49€ - Make up brushes : 11.99€ - Sponge : 0.01€ - Foundation : 12.50€ - Concealer : 8.75€ - Make up brushes : 5€ - Nail dotting pen : 1€ - Contour palette : 5€ - Eye shadow palette : 12€