Category: uncategorized

Brows on Fleek

On By Christina VIn Beauty, FEMME, uncategorizedLeave a comment

If I am going to be completely honest, I have never really taken care of my eye brows. I had very dull and boring brows, they had no real shape and were fairly light in colour. I think I may have coloured them in a handful of times but I really didn’t know what I was doing. Then I was introduced to microblading.

Antonietta, founder and owner of Lavender Brow & Beauty Bar, introduced me to microblading and has completely changed the way I think of eye brows. After seeing the dramatic difference between my before and after pictures, I can’t believe that I didn’t have my eyebrows done sooner. My new brows look amazing, my face looks brighter, and I finally have a shape to my brow that opens up my eyes.

After posting my microblading journey on instagram I received many questions about the procedure, the process, and the aftercare.

FAQ

Q: Does it hurt? A: It doesn’t necessarily hurt, feels more like an annoying sensation.

Q: How long does it take? A: Takes about an hour and a half to two hours. The actually process is quick, the shaping of the brow takes majority of the time.

Q: Do you need a touch up? A: Yes, after on month you will go for a touch up and after one year.

Q: Can you go in the sun? A:You should not go in the sun for a least 30 days after having your brows done, and always be sure to wear sunscreen on your brows or else you risk fading and colour change.

Q: Will your eyebrows scab? A: They may scab or feel dry at times but if you do the proper after care there should be hardly any scabbing.

Q: How do you know what colour is right for you? A: You will decide together and find the best colour the match. Remember that your brows will lighten 40% by time they are healed. Day 1 ad 2 your brows will look the darkest.

Q: Do you need to prepare in anyway for microblading? A: Yes you do. A day before the procedure be sure not to have any alcohol, aspirin or ibuprofen. On the day of NO COFFEE ( yes thats right) These are all blood thinners and may cause bleeding during the procedure. There are some other pre microblading tips but each technician may have their own procedures they follow.

Thenakedmama

My Breastfeeding Confession

On By Christina VIn MOMMY, uncategorizedLeave a comment

So here is my confession, I only breastfed my son for one month and then called it quits. For the longest time I felt ashamed about admitting it when people asked. I used to cringe when someone would say “so are you breastfeeding”? And I still get somewhat awkward now when people ask me how long I breastfeed for.  

Is this really a confession? A confession would mean that I did something wrong. For the longest time I did feel this way, but now I am ok with my decision and know it was the best thing for me.  I decided that if I am going to be open and honest for my readers and support moms, I need to be honest about this topic and discuss my beliefs on it. So here we go.

Prior to giving birth to my son I didn’t have much thought around breastfeeding. I guess I just assumed it was expected. I packed my nipple cream and off we went to the hospital. In that crazy and amazing moment after giving birth, all I can remember was the nurse coming towards me with my son and pushing my sons head on my nipple. I was so caught off guard. In that moment I felt a sense of confusion. I was confused because no one actually asked me if I was breastfeeding. What if I wasn’t planning on breastfeeding? Why wasn’t the option to give formula offered? Yes, my plan was to breastfeed but I did not like how it was forced upon me in that moment.

My son ate like a champ the first night and I produced milk very fast.  That night my nipples got the workout of a lifetime. While my nurse was teaching me the different breastfeeding techniques, I told her that I was thinking of breastfeeding and offering formula so he would get used of both, you should have seen the way she looked at me. She made me feel so ashamed for suggesting formula and basically said that it was my job as a mom to breastfeed.

So why did I only breastfeed for one month? I overproduced milk and no matter how much my son ate and how much I pumped I was in severe pain all the time. My son ate non-stop and I was pumping which caused more milk to be produced. For a month my breasts were rock hard, you couldn’t even fit a pin between them. My chest was burning hot and I couldn’t lift my arms to put a shirt on. I also developed a condition called mastitis. I really did try to keep going but the breast pain was so severe. I was feeling emotional, feeling disconnecting from my son, suffering from some postpartum depression, and felt lost.

During my first few months as a new mom, my own mother was my rock. She was by my side in the labour room where she literally helped me give birth and she continues to guide and support me as I raise my son. I remember a specific moment when she looked at me and said, “I think you should stop breastfeeding”. She could see I was suffering and it was affecting me physically, mentally and emotionally. All I needed was for my mom to give me her advice and that is when I decided to stop breastfeeding. My doctor also supported my decision to stop and reassured me that the formula that is made today provides excellent nutrition.

Did I feel ashamed at first? Of course. Family and friends would ask why I stopped and some even tried to convince me to keep going. I felt like I wasn’t a good mom, like I was letting people down, and that I wasn’t strong. I found myself, like I think we all do, comparing myself to others. When I saw other women enjoying breastfeeding I felt guilty because it was never really something I enjoyed.

Over the past year I have learned so much about myself and one thing that I truly believe is being allowed to make choices and decisions without being made to feel ashamed or guilty. The expectations surrounding breastfeeding puts an enormous amount of pressure on a new mom, especially first- time moms like myself. I am not denying that breastfeeding is beneficial and let’s face it it’s a hell of a lot cheaper, all I am saying is that it may not be for everyone.  My hope is that new and expecting moms will read this and know that sometimes things don’t work out as planned and that everyone has the right to decide what they feel is best for their body. If you decide not to breastfeed or if it doesn’t work out for you, find comfort in knowing that it is ok and you are not alone.

Spring Into Self-care

On By Christina VIn uncategorized, WellnessLeave a comment

Spring is here and it’s time to start spring cleaning, decluttering, and getting rid of all things that are unnecessary in our lives. In order for everything in your life to be balanced, you need to start with self-love and self-care.

Self-care sounds like an easy task right? Well the truth is that so many of us are busy taking care of everyone else that we forget about ourselves. Washing your hair and making it out the front door is NOT self-care. Does this type of day sound familiar: Wake up, still feel tired, throw yourself together (mom bun is easiest), get your little one ready, out the door for daycare, rush to work, work all day, pick up, make dinner, try to spend time with your little one, bath and bed, and prepare for the next day. Then when the weekend comes, you try to squeeze in as much as you can while cleaning and trying to organize your life. This is the average day for the majority of working moms and it is beyond exhausting. With the craziness of life we forget about taking care of ourselves. Self-care is for everyone and everyone should be doing it.

Self-care has definitely changed my life and I can honestly say it has made me a different person. In the past few months I have implemented some changes in my life that I am excited to share with you all and I hope you can add these to your daily routine too. S

How self-care changed my life – My top 6 self-care tips

1.Lose the negativity – this is my number ONE. For years I have been hanging on to negative energies all around me without even realizing it. You know those types of relationships were you are the one always putting in the effort and trying to keep it going – end them. If you have people in your life that you can’t be yourself around – get rid of them. This was HUGE for me. Until I started really paying attention to the energy I felt around people, I wasn’t noticing that some of my so called “friendships” were toxic and that I was putting in so much energy when the other side wasn’t. Once I started eliminating this from my life, I found I had so much more positive energy for other things and I felt less drained. Along with getting rid of negative energy, get rid of things that do not make you happy. Items, clothes, whatever it is, you will feel such a sense of relief when you start letting things go.

How I got rid of negativity – literally stopped putting in effort and trying to maintain friendships and let me tell you, what a weight off my shoulders. I also do a spring clean regularly 🙂

2.Slow down – from my own experience and speaking with others, life becomes a mad rush. It is extremely important to take time out of the day to just sit and be with yourself. Wether it’s having a bath, journaling, watching a show, or taking a 15 minute nap, take the time to stop and slow down. This busy life we all live is not good for our stress and anxiety levels and its important to have that quite time.

How I slow down – I take time to work on my blog, for me this is relaxing. I also make sure to face mask and have a warm bath with lavender oil at least a few times a week.

3.Do something you love – we all have something we love to do but the excuse is always that we don’t have the time to do it. How about this, yes you do. I am not saying do everything at once because that is not realistic but pick one thing you find joy in and make it apart of your weekly routine.

My self love activity – I take private dance classes once a week and am planning to incorporate yoga very soon.

4.Learn to say no – this was one of the hardest tasks for me. Saying no is something most of us feel guilty about. The thought of saying no for me was something I was so uncomfortable with. I always worried about letting people down, or making someone feel bad. Learning to say no to things you don’t want to do or to things you don’t want in your life takes a lot of strength and when you can learn how to say no you will regain so much control and happiness over your life. Only say yes to things that bring positivity and value to your life.

How I say no – this was the hardest thing to start doing for myself. I have learned how to say no to events or plans I can’t or don’t want to attend, I have learned to say no to favours that are asked where I am always the one giving. I still catch myself saying yes to things and then after realizing I should have said no, but this whole self-care, thing like anything, is a work in progress.

5.Nails done, hair done, everything did – ya thats right go get yourself feeling good again. Take some time to love yourself and take care of yourself. Taking the time to do these little things will make you feel better and confident with yourself.

My favourite things to do for myself – getting my hair done, monthly facials and peels, pedicures are a must. To be honest with you, I love being pampered but after having my son I stopped taking care of myself. Recently I started doing these things for myself again and it truly makes a difference in how I feel.

6.Journaling – writing thoughts and intentions down will help guide you and set you on the path for success. Making a to do list is something most of us do but we really don’t think to make a list of the goals for our life and what we want to set out and accomplish. Writing your thoughts and intentions can help you with your goals and provide clarity to your thoughts.

How I journal – I recently started journaling good old pen and paper style. For each month I set my intentions, what I hope happens and what goals I hope to achieve. I also journal daily. In my daily journal I write down important things that happened in the day, things that brought me happiness and positivity, and things that made me feel anxious or brought negative feelings on. This is a way for me to keep track of things I want to keep in my life and things I want to get rid of.

Take care of yourself, love yourself, you are worth more than you know.