Living with Endometriosis

Living with Endometriosis

At the age of 21, I was diagnosed with a disease called Endometriosis. Now some of you may know what this is, most of you wont.

Endometriosis is a painful disorder which causes the tissue that usually lines the inside of your uterus grows outside of your uterus. Meaning these tissues cling to other organs in your body, commonly your ovaries, bowel & pelvis.

The tissue acts as it normally would inside the uterus - thickens, breaks down during your cycle & bleeds. However the broken down tissue has no where to go, causing scar tissue, adhesion's & endometriomas (cysts). These symptoms can cause organs to stick to one another, regular pain, infertility (you get the gyst). 

Now I have always suffered with severe periods since they began at the age of 11, they were often very heavy and painful causing me to have to go home from school. This went on for years until I went on the pill (contraceptive pill) - this helped my periods calm down a lot. 

When I was 19 I was diagnosed with under active thyroid - now I am not sure if these health issues are linked but my health seemed to go down hill from this point. Sex started to get painful, periods were heavy and I was often doubled over in pain ready to go to hospital.

My doctor finally referred me to the hospital for a scan, which revealed I had a chocolate cyst (a blood filled cyst) on my left ovary. I was then referred to surgery as this suggested I had endo. 

Waking up after my first laparoscopy wasn't particularly pleasant,my heart rate was high and the surgeon decided to talk to me when I was coming round, luckily my mum was with me.

The surgeon was a female and she looked very emotional - she told me I had severe endometriosis and my bowel, kidneys etc were covered, I was devastated and cried. Now she was not a specialist so I was then referred to Pool hospital where there is a surgeon who specialised in Endometriosis.

My second surgery involved the removal of the cyst so a little more painful, however most of my endo was on my bowel,causing my bowel and uterus to be stuck together hence the pain I was in. My last surgery was quite serious, involving a bowel surgeon in case i had to have any of my bowel removed along with my regular surgeon. 

This apparently went well, I found that i was given little information about the surgery, my bowel didn't have to have any part removed & they removed what they wanted to.

Do I feel better?

I really wish i could write this with a light heart and say my life has changed so much and I am pain free but sadly it isn't. My pain went for a few weeks but I feel I am in regular pain daily now, sex is something I dread - not because I don't love my partner but because of the pain and lack of self confidence I now have. I feel low on a daily basis, losing interest in my hobbies (like writing blog posts, doing make-up etc) 

This disorder is something woman have to live with on a daily basis, not knowing whether they will be able to make their own children or even carry them long enough to see them. Having people ask when you will be having kids is such a heartbreaking question that you get regularly. Pain causes you to miss out on social events, work & daily life activities. 

So little is known about this horrible disease and no support in the work place is causing others to lose their jobs. I am lucky to be in a job where they are understanding with my disease.

If you know anyone with this disorder or any other chronic illness please spread awareness and remember to take care of them as most will be suffering in silence!

Love Jess xx

Whats new in my makeup collection?

So there is nothing better in life (for me anyway) then buying new make-up. It's become a very bad and expensive addiction for me since the age of 18 and studying make-up in college. The only difference is now I like to splurge on what I would class as "normal" make-up opposed to the face paints and fake blood I used to buy back in the special effects days!

Anyway I'm starting to blab so lets get into my new purchases!

I picked up three of the NYX cosmetics Lip Lingerie Liquid lipsticks in the following shades:

(from left to right) Embellishment, Teddy and Exotic.

These were £6.50 each from Boots.

I have seen many Instagrammers showcasing these and I just had to get my hands on some of the shades.

I will be doing a swatch an review post on these so keep a look out!

Following my lipstick obsession I noticed Soap and Glory have released and repackaged an entire new range of the Sexy Mother Pucker Lipsticks so I decided to try one out and picked the colour Cinnamon Beige which is a brown nude. These are currently retailing at £9.00 in Boots which seems a little pricey for a drug store brand but they always have offers on!

To be honest I only purchased this because I am a sucker for packaging! 

So again for purely for packaging reasons which really pains me to admit! I purchased the Rimmel London Sculpting Palette by Kate in the shade #003 which is a combo of  highlighter, shading powder and a blush. The product is beautiful and well worth the price of £6.99 in Boots

Futhermore I was asked by Maybelline to be apart of the Maybelline Squad, of course I said yes and a few weeks later I was sent an amazing package filled with goodies such as the entire range of their Vivid Matte Lipsticks, the Baby Lips Moisturising lip gloss and a few other products which are yet to be released!

Let me know if you would like a blog post on all the products I received including swatches!

Love Jess xx

Urban Decay Through The Looking Glass Palette Review

 So it has been several months since my last blog post (sometimes life just gets in the way) and i thought what better way to bounce back with a new release from Urban Decay.

The above palette is the new Through The Looking Glass palette which is in collaboration with Disney's release of the new Alice in wonderland film: Alice Through The Looking Glass. It is also a sequel to the original palette Alice in Wonderland Book of Shadows.

 The eye shadow palette is current retailing at £43.00 on various sites including Selfridges (where i purchased mine) and Debenhams.

So lets first talk about the packaging which is what initially drew me in to wanting to buy this palette. The palette is covered with colorful, kaleidoscopic artwork woven out of flowers and butterflies and includes several quotes from the film. It has many textures varying from gloss and embossing which shows alot of work went into this. One thing that could be a slight downfall is the fact it is all cardboard and can damage easily but for me it's nice to see that Urban Decay have taken it back to their older products.

 The palette contains 20 ALL-NEW shades varying from soft matte shades to bold,bright shades which feature on the different characters such as the Mad Hatter. It also features the standard UD double ended brush for application.

 Each Eyeshadow features Urban Decay's Pigment Infusion Systemâ„¢, the proprietary blend of ingredients that gives every shade its velvety texture, rich color, serious staying power and blendability.

• Shades included:
• Alice shades: Looking Glass (pale pink demi-matte), Reflection (soft peach matte), Dormouse (warm brown matte w/floating gold micro-sparkle) and Metamorphosis (vibrant periwinkle blue w/micro-sparkle)
• Mad Hatter shades: Hatter (vibrant green w/tonal micro-sparkle), Gone Mad (aubergine w/pink iridescent pearl), Paradox (vibrant orange w/gold pearl) and Cake (saturated blue-pink w/silver micro-shimmer)
• Mirana shades: Lily (opal pink pearl), Duchess (peach w/pink shift and micro-sparkle), Kingdom (copper-bronze pearl) and Chessboard (medium brown matte)
• Iracebeth shades: Heads Will Roll (vibrant turquoise w/gold micro-sparkle), Bandersnatch (deep teal matte), Salazen Grum (metallic crimson) and Royal Flush (pale beige shimmer)
• Time shades: Time (black-navy satin w/soft iridescent micro-sparkle), Dream On (metallic purple-silver), Chronosphere (metallic deep bronze) and Mirror (gray-taupe satin)

I have to say I love every shade in this palette and i don't really own many other shadows which are like these. I found with this palette that the shades containing more glitter are a lot more sheer compared to the metallic like shades which are insanely pigmented.

Overall I am looking forward to creating some bold looks with this product and I am glad I have added it to my collection.

Please leave your thoughts below!

Jess xx

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La Roche-Posay Rosaliac Micellar Make-up Remover

 

Micellar water seems to be everywhere at the moment in the beauty world, every skin care brand is bringing out their own versions, which is great but can get a bit samey! So when i saw La Roche-Posay had a gel micellar remover i was very intrigued as i do love my gel products. For those that don't know much about La Roche-Posay, they are a skin care company which focus on problematic skin, and have particular range's to suit different skin types. Dermatologists world wide recommend this brand often.

So this particular product retails at £12.50 in boots, which seems pricey compared to the other micellar products out there but as a lover of La Roche-Posay products i knew it would be worth the price tag!

The Rosaliac range is aimed at those with a skin type that is prone to redness (bingo that's me).

The packaging is fairly nice, i like the fact you can see inside the bottle and how much you are using, i really like the fact is comes with a pump as you have more control over how much you use and also it's more hygienic!

La Roche-Posay claim the following:

 No parabens
Non-perfumed
La Roche-Posay follows strict formulations standards:
- 100% hypoallergenic skincare
- Non-comedogenic
- High concentration of selected ingredients with Thermal Spring Water
- Tested on sensitive skin

So what are my impressions after a couple of weeks?

 Well i really do love it! It's simple to use, either with a cotton pad or your finger tips make-up comes off so easily as it's designed as a no rub formula of course reducing redness!  My face is in fact not as red and not as dry which i love :) It contains the thermal spring water from their range which is naturally cooling and great in these summer months. Also i little goes a long way which i am very happy about!

What do you think of La Roche-Posay products?

Jess xx

Mac Warm Neutral Palette Review

 It's been a month since my last review as i wanted to really test something thoroughly and make sure i can give you guys my best opinion on something that everyone has mixed feelings about: The Mac Warm Neutrals Palette!

 This Palette retails at £65.00 & includes 15 eyeshadows - Seems pricey but you are actually saving a total of £100 compared to building your own Mac palette! So if you went out and purchased the Cool Neutral palette along with this your still saving!

 This palette is made up of lovely warm neutral tones with a mixture of mattes, shimmers and pearl shadows. From left to right: Hey, Warm Breeze, Gingersnap, Dark Brew, Dance in the Dark, Brule, Vanilla Extract, Honey Lust, Amber Lights, Saddle, Lemon Tart, Butterfudge, Creative Copper, Unwind and Divine Decadence.

 So what did i think of this product? Well honestly i love it! The colours are perfect and there is a great range from light to dark. The eyeshadows themselves are nice and pigmented maybe only needing a couple of layers to get maximum colour, the texture is nice and creamy not too loose and i didn't find there was much fall out with these shadows.

The packaging is also ideal as unlike old Mac palettes, this one has a clear lid and is also a lot easier to keep clean! (Heaven to Professional makeup artists). The only downfall is that you cannot take the eyeshadows out as they are glued in, maybe with some elbow grease you could but in my opinion you shouldn't need to change this palette at all. Finally the eye shadows last a really long time, and so they should considering they are still pricey! 

The idea of the warm and cool palettes is so the colours suit the correct skin tones, for example warm for warmed tone skin- this is one thing i like but also think it might limit people to buying what they think is right, meaning im a cooler toned skin but the colours look great on my skin tone and with my eye colour, so dont let that put you off buying it!

All in all a great investment!

What do you think of the Mac palettes?

Jess

xx

NYX Matte Lipstick's Review

As a massive NYX cosmetics fan i thought i would do a review on one of their products which fuel my love for the brand! Introducing the NYX Matte Lipsticks, retailing at around £6.00 which you can find here. 

As a make-up artist and collector for make-up i'm always on the lookout for things that are affordable and also of a decent quality, so when in need of a few shades to top up my kit i stumbled across these matte lipsticks on the NYX website. At £6.00 a pot i couldn't resist picking up a few of these and can i also say they have a great colour range to choose from! 

I picked up ( from left to right ) Shocking Pink, Maison, Nude & Pale Pink. On first impresson i thought the packaging was pretty good, i like the fact you can see the colours of the actual lipsticks in the centre.

(Shocking Pink, Pale Pink, Nude & Maison)

The formula of these lipsticks are matte which not everybody likes i know but for me i love how matte lipsticks look but there's always that risk of them being drying and not highly pigmented. These however are extremely pigmented, the above swatches are from one swipe only. Also they are in fact non-drying causing them to glide on the lips perfectly & they are pretty long lasting! The only down fall is that the colour may not come quite as it appears on the website but that's what reviews like these are for ;)

I highly recommend these lipsticks :)

Have you tried Nyx before? What do you think if so?

Nip + Fab Dragon's Blood Fix Plumping Mask Review.

When shopping the other day i ventured into boots as it was triple points & quite frankly it was rude to not take advantage! So i picked up the Nip + Fab Dragon's Blood Face Mask as i have heard a lot of good things about the serum seeing as its a favourite of Kylie Jenner's (Nip + Fab brand ambassador) & thought i would try the face mask! This was retailing at £14.95.

As far as packaging goes its pretty simple but as for the bold burnt orange tone i really like it, as i can associate it with the thought of dragons blood! Also i like Nip + Fab packaging as its pretty quirky and modern.

What Nip + Fab say:

An intensely hydrating gel mask combining multiple skin perfecting complexes to plump the look of wrinkles and refine the
skin's appearance for a brighter, more youthful looking complexion. Contains: Dragon's blood (from the Croton Lechleri tree):forms protective film on skin to protect against environmental aggressors Salicylic acid: cleanses pores + aids exfoliation Hyaluronic acid: hydrates + refines skin texture Glycerin: draws water to outer layer of the skin keeping it moisturised + helps restore skin suppleness TEGO Cosmo C 250: brightens skin + fades age spots

So when first trying the product it came out quite thick in a clear liquid form and the smell i would describe as a spa like smell fairly strong and not particularly appealing but something you can deal with. Nip + Fab instruct you to apply it in a thick layer for 10 minutes & then rinse with warm water but you can also leave it on overnight and rinse in the morning. 

When the mask was on it left your face shiny and the texture was sticky but it felt pleasant on the face, as someone with sensitive skin it didn't irritate me at all.

Afterwards my skin felt very soft and refreshed & also looked brighter. But the main thing i noticed was how it plumped up my skin and the laughter lines around my eyes ( not wrinkles ssh) were a lot less noticeable. Any masks which hydrate my skin are perfect in my eyes!

 

What do you think of Nip + Fab products? x

Rimmel Provocalips Review

So i picked up a couple of the Rimmel Provocalips because quite frankly i needed cheering up after a bad week and what better than a lipstick purchase! I picked up the shades "730 Make your move" (above right) & "310 Little Minx" (above left) These were £6.99 each in Tesco.

So here is what Rimmel say about the Provocalips:

• Kiss-Proof, Transfer Proof, Trouble Proof. Up to 16 hours of lip liberation. Weightless Non drying colour for endless comfort!

Now as a lipstick lover this sounded like music to my ears so i had to try them out and see if what they said was really true!

So above i have both shades on my lips! My favourite of the two is probably "Make your move" (Top) as its a neutral pink shade and something i would wear daily, so i decided to test this one first.

When applying you use step one which is the colour and then leave this for 60 seconds with your lips apart, then you apply step two which locks and shines the lip.

On first impressions i found the colour part quite liquidy so you have to apply it carefully otherwise you look like you have just come back in from a night out! But after applying the step two i was quite amazed at how it transformed the lip gloss, it felt soft and moisturizing but as if it wasn't going to budge!

• So firstly i tested the kiss proof! & yeap it really was kiss proof and did not budge!
  • After eating a sandwich and a roast dinner the lipstick was still there perfectly!
  •  12 hours later my lipstick was still on and looked pretty good, maybe not as shiny but i would say that's pretty good going, i didn't test it for 16 hours but i have no doubt in my mind it still would be there!

 Overall a fantastic product and i will be buying all the shades! what do you think if you have tried the Rimmel provocalips?

Nivea Cleansing Mousse Review

So i was wondering around Tesco after pay day and was looking down the skincare/make-up isle & stumbled across the Nivea Soothing Cleansing Mousse. This really peaked my interest as Ive personally never seen the concept of a cleansing mousse (I'm sorry if there's lots out there & Ive been hiding under a rock maybe) so i just had to buy it! I picked up the one for dry & sensitive skin for £4.50 which is a bargain for a cleanser.

The product comes with a pump which i love as pumps are so much more hygienic. When i first pumped out this product i was so surprised as to how it came out, it was literally like a mousse, i dont quite know what i was expecting but it wasn't that!

When rubbed into the skin it becomes foam like and is very light! When i was rubbing this onto my face it felt very nice, the smell is mild but also refreshing, i just rinse this off with water or a muslin clothe. I hardly use any product with each cleanse so that's also something i love.

So lets move on to the facts!

NIVEA® Daily Essentials Soothing Cleansing Mousse enriched with Natural Almond Oil & Hydra IQ::

• Cleanses the skin deeply but mildly
•  Moisturizes the skin to keep its natural moisture balance
• Provides a great cleansing experience thanks to its very soft foam formula and its pleasant scent
• The formula with Almond Oil is mildly caring
• The skin is deeply cleansed, soft and refreshed, looking healthy and beautiful

Overall i love this product! it really is great for dry sensitive skin and leaves it feeling fresh and nourished, in fact my skin is at its best after using it every day & night. I prefer this so much over any expensive cleansers i have used so far.

Let me know what you think if you try this product :)

Illamasqua Silhouette Gel Sculpt Review.

Introducing the new product which has revolutionized how we contour: Gel Sculpt Silhouette by Illamasqua.

A unique contouring gel creation that offers subtle definition to cheeks with ease. The hue of Silhouette creates a delicate shadow under cheekbones and along the jawline which can be blended with ease to achieve beautiful, natural contours - Illamasqua.

Okay so first things first this product retails at £22 which is an average price from Illamasqua's range. Three colours are available, Silhouette which is a contour shade, Charm and Fluster which are blusher shades. 

I purchased Silhouette as this was the product that intrigued me the most as it seemed such a unique way of contouring. I love Gel products so as soon as i saw this i thought YES PLEASE!

The product comes in a stick form with a plastic cap, you must keep this on when your not using the product as it keeps the make-up hydrated and stops it drying out!

When first opening the product i was a little hesitant as it seems so dark! But Illamasqua have designed this shade so it suits all skin types as the idea is to create a shadow where your natural contours lie and Silhouette is perfect for this. 

As you can see above the product comes up a lot lighter on the skin, i use the Heart of Your Hand technique which Alex Box uses with this product. The idea is to place the product on the palm of your thumb as above and then rub both of your hands together in the same place. You then place the palm of your thumbs underneath your cheekbones and push up to create that natural contour, you can see a video of this here: https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=10152644081551567&set=vb.32415626566&type=2&theater

I have the product on in this photo and as you can see it creates natural shadows where my contour is! The product is so easy to blend and doesn't come out orange or too muddy and is also very light so you can build it up to how you like it! Illamasqua really have made a game changer here! tell me what do you think if you've tried the product?

Jess xxx

Clinique Cheek Pop Review - Berry Pop

 Hi Guys, welcome to my blog & my first post! I thought i would kick start my blog with a review on the Clinique Cheek Pops!

I only have one shade from this range & that is Berry Pop which is a lovely vibrant "Berry" pink shade which goes perfectly with my fair skin tone and blonde hair!

The packaging is very elegant in a clear casing and the Clinique logo as you can see in the pictures, the blush it self is shaped in to a daisy which makes it very pretty & looks fantastic in your make-up collection.

 The texture of the blush it self is not to be expected! You expect your typical chalky texture for a powder but no this is between a hard and soft texture almost feeling satin like. When swatched the product shows its vibrant colour but in a lovely sheer way giving a "pinched" look to the skin.

These Blushes retail at £16.50 each & currently there are 4 shades available although I believe they will be releasing 8 new shades which are currently available on sephora for the rouge members.

So overall i love this blush and will be purchasing more as they are so gorgeous & a must have product!

I hope you enjoyed and let me know what you think of these blushes if you own them :)

Jess xx