Pampers Baby-Dry Pants Challenge | Ad

Hello again everyone, and happy Friday. 

Today, I am back with a baby post for all my mummy readers.

For the past week Harry has been wearing Pampers Baby-Dry Pants and taking part in their ultimate nappy challenge. Pampers Baby-Dry pants are a new, easy to change pull-up nappy which offers convenience and dryness without a compromise.

When I first saw them in the supermarket, I thought they were toilet training pants which Harry is not ready for yet, BUT when I picked them up I realised they are exactly like his regular nappies with the added bonus of being a super easy and extra convenient pull up pant nappy. 

We tested out Pampers new Baby-Dry pants and loved them for two reasons! 

Firstly, they have brought an end to Harry’s wriggle-wrestles on the changing mat. Anyone with a baby on the move knows how changing your little one's nappy can be an ordeal. Harry hates when I interrupt his precious play time or lie him down on the baby changing mat for nappy changes. Now with new Pampers Baby Dry pants it takes us seconds to change his nappy. I just pull them up while he stands (his new favourite thing to do now that he has discovered it!) or when it’s time to change them, tear them at the sides and then pull up a new, clean pant. Easy!

Secondly, I love how they keep Harry dry all through the night. This is the real test of a nappy performance for us as Harry is alover of his night time snooze unless of course he wakes up with a wet nappy. He has been going to sleep for the past week in Pampers Baby Dry Pants at 5.30pm and waking up at 6.30am the next morning … over 12 hours! We have had no interrupted sleep and importantly Harry has stayed dry and experienced no leaks. Success!!

Pampers Baby-Dry Pants come in sizes 3 ,4, 5 and 6 with prices starting from €6.99 at supermarkets nationwide. Containing unique Micro Pearls™ Pampers Baby Dry absorb up to 30 times their weight and lock wetness away to help keep your little one dry for up to 12 hours – no other pant is drier! Their all-aroundwaistband and leg cuffs adapt to all of your baby’s movements and they’re soft and breathable, keeping your little one giggling, no matter how much they’re wiggling! For more information you can also visit Pampers.ie

Lots of Love,

Rosie and Harry 

xx

What A Year : 2015 Round Up

There is something about the prospects of a new year that really makes me reflect on the highs and lows of the past 12 months. I always start out the year with goals and picture all the things I would love to happen over the coming year, but I had no idea just how incredible 2015 was going to turn out to be. 

This day last year, I was snuggled up in my parents house with my 13 day old baby son and my boyfriend. Fast forward 12 months, and I am sat in our new home with my beautiful, funny and chubby little one year old son and my fiancee! I honestly did not expect to be at this point in my life so quickly.

In the space of 12 months, I have managed to move out of my family home for the first time into our apartment, and then move on to our amazing new house!! I quit my job in May and decided to take the risky move of making my blog a full time career and devote my time to being at home as much as possible to raise our son Harry. When I took the plunge regarding my career, I had no idea things were going to blow up as much as they have.

I began 2015 with just under 15,000 followers on my Instagram account, and am now entering 2016 with nearly 76,000 followers....that number blows my mind! That is not including the rest of my social media channels or my blog itself.

I did things this year that I never in a million years thought would be possible. I signed with the biggest modelling agency in the country, Andrea Roche Modelling Agency, I began hosting my very own makeup and beauty masterclasses in front of hundreds of lovely followers. I have worked on many TV projects, worked with some HUGE brand names and have met so many incredible faces, some of whom I have looked up to for years. I have featured in newspapers and magazines that I grew up reading. It is only as I write this that I can truly sit back and take in all that I have achieved, and I can actually say that I am so proud of myself.

When we welcomed our son into the world, I was so terrified of whether I would be a good Mum, whether I would be able to give Harry the life he deserved and I put myself under so much pressure that I thought having my dream career was never going to be possible. I've finally found a balance (just about) between work and home life and I am so lucky that I get to be so hands on with my boy. 

I get so many messages from young girls who are pregnant or have just had a baby, sometimes out of wedlock (as dated as that sounds) and are scared as to how everything will work out. All I can say is to keep following your dreams. Instead of allowing the fact that I am a young mum put a stop to my dreams, I have used it to drive me forward, to create a better life for my family. Everything I do is for my son. He is the best motivation there is. 

I can't round off the year without talking about the one person who has stood by me every step of the way, cheering me on and pushing me forward on days when I doubted myself and the whole blogging world. In June of this year, the man of my dreams stood alongside our son and asked me to be his wife. I would not be where I am today without my fiancé Paul. He believes in me more than I believe in myself, and no matter how big my goals are, he convinces me that I can do it. I am so lucky to have such a supportive person in my life and cannot wait to say 'I Do'. I am blessed to be able to share my life with such an amazing partner and incredible father to our son.

Another high of 2015 is the amazing people I have met through my blog. I have made friends for life with women and men who have been nothing but supportive and encouraging. The Irish blogging industry has been an absolute pleasure to be involved with and I can put my hand on my heart and say I have not had one bad experience with any of the new network of people I have met this year. My blog has opened up so many doors for me both professionally and personally. I work alongside some of the most creative and inspiring people in our country who make me want to work harder and better myself in all aspects of my career.

Lastly, I couldn't finish my 2015 roundup without thanking you, the amazing face behind the username who continuously reads, comments, likes, snaps and emails me in your hundreds each week, with such kind and loving words. I feel like I know you all personally and nothing puts a bigger smile on my face than when I get to meet some of you in person. It is by far my favourite part of what I do. Without all of your support I wouldn't be living this amazing life, so I am forever grateful for every single one of you.

Thank you for coming on this incredible journey with me and hopefully 2016 will bring lots more opportunities to meet you all. 

I hope you all have an exciting New Years Eve and I will see you all for a shiny new year in 2016. 

Lots of Love, 

Rosie and the star of the show, Harry.

xx

Baby Series : Choosing a Car Seat

I am back today with a much requested post about how I chose Harry's new carseat. 

The scary thing is that it feels like yesterday that I was securing him into his tiny Cabriofix on the day we left the hospital. He was so tiny and the seat just swamped him. Fast forward 10 months and his legs were dangling off the end of the seat and he just looked miles to big for it. 

It was time to move him into his "big boy" seat so I headed to Bella Baby to chose the perfect one for him. I had my eye on the Maxi Cosi Axiss after trying it out at the Pregnancy and Baby Fair earlier in the year. At the Bella Baby stand we were shown all the features of the seat, the colour ranges available and also got to try Harry in a range of seats to see how he liked them! 

So we were happy to go with the Maxi Cosi Axiss. I loved the fact that it turns both left and right to make it easier to get your baby in and out of the car. It also helps to make sure that the straps are correctly fastened and tight enough.  There is a handle on each side which is so easy to navigate and quick to secure back into the front facing position.

When I picked up the car seat from Bella Baby, they installed the car seat into my car for me, but also showed me how to do it myself incase we needed to change cars etc. It is very straightforward, using the three point seatbelt in the car. There is also a self-locking seatbelt tensioner to make sure the seat is as secure as possible. 

We went for the River Blue seat cover which can be removed and machine washed. 

We picked up Harry's seat a few weeks ago now and he is loving it. He loves looking out the window and being able to see us in the front of the car. He also has some great sleeps in the carseat too so I am guessing he finds it very comfortable. 

You can find out more about all the carseats that Bella Baby have to offer HERE

Lots of Love,

Rosie

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Sunny Sundays

Happy Sunday everyone, and happy 1st November. Where has this year gone? Time to get cracking on the Christmas plans! 

Today was such a beautiful day in Dublin, so myself and Paul had a little break from Mom and Dad duties and headed in to the Marker Hotel in Dublin City to try out their Le Drunch menu. 

All I can say is that you HAVE to check this out for the best brunch and cocktails. From 2-5pm they have an amazing DJ playing chilled out music and the most stunning menu on offer. 

After seeing the pics below, you will most definitely be a little but hungrier and craving a feed from Le Drunch at The Marker. 

Salt and chilli squid

Belgian waffles with buttermilk chicken and honey sauce

Beetroot, honeycomb and goats cheese salad

Chocolate Brownie with white chocolate sauce 

Banoffee Pie 

Outfit Details - 

Top - Warehouse

Faux Fur Gilet - Oasis (here)

Jeans - Zara 

Boots - Oasis (Old Stock)

Bag - Reiss (here)

Sunglasses - Celine Shadow glasses

Camera - Canon 450D 

Have a great week everyone,

Lots of Love,

Rosie 

X

Renew Clinic : Image Skincare Peel

Hi ladies. I hope you've made it through Monday in one piece!! 

Following on from my "Acne Story" which I posted last week, I am continuing my journey to getting my skin into the best condition possible for our wedding. 

Having cleared up my acne, the mission is now to heal my skin and tackle the dreaded scarring left behind. 

I chose to put my skin in the capable hands of Renew Clinic, based in Dublin 2 and now in Naas. Renew clinic is run by qualified nurses and doctors with years of experience behind them. There are so many local salons offering treatment for your skin, but when it comes to my face, I personally feel safest in the hands of healthcare professionals with the experience of nursing etc. behind them. 

Having met with Sinead, co-owner of Renew clinic, we decided to map out a plan for the next 12 weeks. I will be having Image skin peels performed every 2 weeks with 6 treatments in total. 

Today I popped along for my first one. 

I was a little apprehensive as when you think of a 'peel', you think of walking out with a really red face, and having your skin flake off over the next few days. This is not the case with the peel I had.  It is gentle enough on the skin that you can walk away feeling fresh faced and continue with your day, with very little down time in between. 

The peel I had was the Wrinkle Lift Peel. This ultra-resurfacing glycolic & retinol treatment exfoliates dead surface skin cells, leaving skin firmer and healthier.  The skin benefits of Glycolic Acid are well proven. This treatment promotes exfoliation, helps reduce surface skin oil, helps bleach unwanted skin discoloration, stimulates collagen production and visibly reduces the appearance of fine lines. This 40% Glycolic/Retinol treatment is especially made for skin that is aging, rough and uneven in skin tone, tired and dull, oily and acneic skin and acne scaring. The treatment is classed as a “Lunchtime” peel as there is no redness or downtime straight after the treatment and you can go back to work as normal.

Sinead explained everything to me as she did it. She said that the peel may sting when applied, and asked me on a scale of one to ten, how stingy it was. It never went above a 5 and was removed after 4 minutes, so it was completely bearable. I had anticipated a lot more burning and stinging. 

She then applied a mask once all of the peel was removed, to calm my skin and that was it. We were done in 30 minutes, and I was able to walk out of the clinic bare faced with no redness or irritation. 

I kept my skin make up and product free all day, except for some lip balm, mascara and of course my brows! 

Before bed tonight, I will be using my 'Post Treatment Healing Kit' 

This contains all the skincare I need for the next week, for both morning and evening. It is very important not to use anything other than what is advised by the clinic, as your skin really needs to heal in the right way. 

I am beyond impressed with how my skin feels today. It should dry out a little over the next few days as it heals and repairs, but I have everything I need to keep my skin hydrated and comfortable over the next two weeks, until my next peel. 

The treatment is €85 and includes your post-treatment kit. Renew clinic offer FREE consultations so be sure to check them out if you are interested. 

I hope I have given you as much info as possible, but if there is anything I haven't covered please let me know and I can answer any other questions you may have.

Thanks for reading, 

Lots of Love,

Rosie 

x

Acne : My Story

Since talking openly about suffering from acne a few years ago, I have been asked multiple times a week to do a blog post about how I managed to clear up my acne, and how I deal with the dreaded scarring that many people are left with. Today, I am going yo tackle my acne story and will follow up with more skincare posts about my scarring and how I am treating that. The photo above is make up vs bare face...something I could never have posted a few years ago.

I had pretty normal skin as a young teenager, getting the odd breakout here and there from hormones or bad eating, but generally my skin was fine. It was only in my late teens that I began to suffer badly from acne.

What began as a hormonal breakout evolved into full blown acne in a matter of weeks. It was only ever on my face, never spreading to my neck or body, but as a young girl, it bothered me terribly.

Luckily, I was a makeup fan from a young age so was able to begin covering up my acne, but that wasn't helping the situation, and it began to get worse and worse over time. My skin used to be aching, feeling bruised and sensitive to touch. I went to my GP who firstly put me on Dianette, the hormonal contraceptive pill which was meant to be good for clearing up bad skin. Although this did help temporarily, it sent my moods into a crazy spin. I was angry, short tempered and very emotional all the time and knew I couldn't continue the treatment as it just wasn't agreeing with me.

I went back to my GP and was prescribed Minocin tablets to treat my skin. I stayed on them for about a year and I did see an improvement, but like before, it didn't clear it completely. Eventually they stopped working altogether.

In the mean time I had been trying every topical treatment recommended, including Zyneryt and many other cleansers and creams, all of which did nothing but irritate my skin further.
I got to the point where I felt like nothing was every going to work for me, and that I would just have to live with itnand learn to cover it as best I could.

And thats what I did for a few months. I mastered the art of disguise and spent hours carefully applying camouflaging make up, in hopes of the problem just going away.

It was actually my mum who eventually sat me down and said enough was enough, and that I needed to see a skin specialist. My GP referred me to an amazing Dermatologist who was based in the Beacon Clinic, Dr. Sharareh Ahmadi.

I was given an appointment to see Dr. Ahmadi and went along hoping she had the answer. When I met her, my confidence was on the floor. I was fine when I had my 'mask' on, but once she asked me to remove my make up I broke down in tears. I felt so vulnerable, so ashamed that anyone had to look at my skin that way, and so down. We had a chat about what I had already tried and what treatments were left.

She then spoke to me about Roacutane. I heard so many horror stories about this drug and initially said no to ever trying it. The link to depression and suicide was all too much for me, and I just felt that it wasn't worth the risk just to get my skin clear.
However, after going home and researching everything there was to know about the drug and talking it through with my family, I decided that as long as I was in the safe care of Dr. Ahmadi, I would give it a go.

There are so many criteria that your doctor has to consider before they will prescribe you with Roacutane, but luckily I was the right candidate for it so we began the course of treatment. I had to return to my Dermatologist every 4 weeks to do a pregnancy test, have my bloods taken and to have an assessment on how I was feeling mentally. The reason or the pregnancy test was because if you were to fall pregnant while taking the drug, it would cause severe and life threatening complications for the baby. It was drilled into my head from my Dermatologist and also from the chemist every time I went to pick up my medicine.

The blood tests were to determine wether your liver was being affected or damaged as Roacutane is such a strong drug. Also, you are not allowed to drink alcohol whilst taking this drug for the same reason.

I was on a dose of 10mg for 6 months and by the end of the 3rd month I started to see a huge improvement to my skin. By the end of the sixth month I had totally clear skin or the first time in years.. I couldn't believe I was looking in the mirror at my bare face and not totally disgusted or horrified. My skin was flawless, bar the odd scar left on my cheeks.

People talk a lot about the side effects of talking Roacutane, but I am lucky to say I didn't experience any. The only thing I noticed was my skin was a lot drier which was totally expected, and I was given lots of Image Skincare products to help me out.

Everyone's skin is different, and what has worked for me may not work for others. If you are suffering from acne right now, please talk to your GP before trying anything that I have mentioned above.

I have had clear skin ever since my treatment finished, and only every get the odd breakout from alcohol, bad food or hormones. These tend to last 2/3 days and are not painful at all.
I was not sponsored to talk about any products or services mentioned in this post, but if it helps even one person who is suffering then it was worth sharing my story.

Lots of Love,

Rosie

x

Image Skincare Review

I am back with a skincare review for you all. Some of you may have seen from my Snapchat a few months ago, that I popped into Renew Aesthetic Clinic in Dublin for a consultation about my skin. 

As I am in the process of planning our wedding, one of my main aims was to spend the next year getting my skin into the best condition possible, especially as we plan on getting married abroad, so a heavy foundation just won't cut it.

Renew Clinic has been running for 10 years in Dublin and for the past 2 years in Naas. It is run by highly qualified doctors and nurses with years of experience, so you are guaranteed to be in safe hands. 

As some of you know, I suffered from acne for a few years in my late teens, so have been left with some scarring on my cheeks. I had a meeting with the amazing staff at Renew and discussed what would be the best course of treatments to repair my skin and have it looking its best. 

When I was attending my Dermatologist for acne treatments, she recommended the Image skincare range, and had me using the Salicylic acid products to dry out my skin and clear up the active acne. 

As Image was recommended by a qualified dermatologist, I knew it must be good. 

After having a consultation with Sinead Gallagher, co owner of Renew, we mapped out a treatment plan for the next few months. Of course, I will be taking you all on the journey with me, from start to finish. 

The first step was to start prepping my skin with some "at home" treatments, before trying any stronger treatments. 

The first product is the Image Ageless Glycolic Cleanser. The glycolic acid in this cleanser gentley exfoliates and helps to resurface the skin. I began using this every second day for the first week, then moving to every day, and I am now using it twice a day. It takes a little while for your skin to adapt to it as there is a high level of glycolic acid in it, but over time your skin will get used to it. I tend to remove my make up first using micellar water, and just use this cleanser to clean and exfoliate the skin. 

The next product that was recommended for me was the Image MD Reconstructive Repair Cream. This is a very string cream, containing high levels of retinol, glycolic acid and oil soluble Vitamin C to resurface and rejuvenate the skin. I had to use this very sparingly as it is so much stronger than anything you get in your local pharmacy. It smells lovely, and is light on the skin. This is like having a professional treatment done in the comfort of your own home. Again, I used this every third day to begin with and built it up. 

The last product is the Image Prevention Daily Matte Oil Free Moisturiser SPF 32. I am sure you all know how important sun protection is. Even in cloudy Ireland, the rays are still present and can cause serious skin damage and ageing. This one is perfect to wear every day, under your make up. When using the strong products that I have mentioned, your skin is even more sensitive to the sun's rays, so being vigilant with sun protection is key. 

I have been using these products for nearly two months now, as I wanted to really test them out and see if they were worth it. I have really noticed a difference in my skin texture, and the surface of my skin is becoming a lot smoother to touch. One thing I will say is that when I began using them, my skin broke out just a little as it adapted to the new products being used. This settled down after the first week. 

If you are looking for top quality products that will change the appearance of your skin, then Image is definitely a brand I would look into.

You can head to www.RenewClinic.ie to find out more information about the range, and be sure to keep up to date with my upcoming treatments on my blog. 

Happy Monday, 

Lots of Love,

Rosie 

x