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Apparently My Problem is Not Limited to Beauty Products

Mar17
After having lunch with some of my mommy frienImageds last week and discussing my blog, one of them told me that I should disclose that I am addicted to shopping and amazon. As it turns out, as soon as someone tells me about a product for my baby, my response is something along the lines of,“I’ll go home and order it off Amazon tonight!”J
So, my friend told me that I should share with all of you that when it comes to baby products I will try and review almost anything! So, if you have something you love, or want to know if it’s worth buying, please suggest it to me. There’s a possibility that I have already tried it, if it makes my life, easier, doing something faster or more convenient, or if it makes my little man’s life better. “Buzzy” anyone (stay tuned for that review)?
Also, if you have a baby product you endorse, make, produce, etc. and would like it reviewed on Fancy Pants Mom, please by all means contact me on how you can send it for review.
Needless to say I will be reviewing baby products to make busy mom’s lives easier included but not always limited to beauty products. Infant hair gel anyone?

Prime Time!

Mar15

Who has heard about primers and thought it was a wasted step, time, or money? I’ll be honest, I did, that was until I started using them. Now I am obsessed because it’s the difference between having to touch up my make up later in the day and not having to, and in pictures, forget about! It makes you look so much better. Do you want your pores to look smaller? Primer can do that! Do you want your lashes to look longer? Primer can do that! Do you want your crème shadow to stay put? Primer can do that too!primers 2

My absolute favorite is eyelash primer! They take your lashes from looking ordinary to extraordinary! This one extra easy set makes a huge difference! The trick is to let the primer dry completely before you apply your mascara. Do this and you will see a major difference. My favorite is Lash Food’s primer and then I put the matching mascara over top.
Next, you need an eye shadow primer; this makes your lid all one color before you start applying your shadow. This also helps when you apply crème shadow, it keeps it from creasing. Not to mention that it holds your shadow in place all day long, making touch-ups unnecessary.

Lastly, is the face primer, which gives you an even, pore-less canvas on which to apply your foundation. This gives you a smooth surface and again helps to hold your make-up in place all day.

Also, in a pinch you can rub a little extra foundation on your lids and lips as primer.

Now, I have used expensive primers, but personally this is not where I want to spend my money. No one even knows you’re wearing it! I do splurge slightly on my lash primer at about $20 a tube, but I have found fantastic eye shadow primer that works as well as the more expensive brands by E.L.F. ($3-6) and face primer by NYX High HD Studio Primer ($12ish). These are fabulous primers for a great price. Try primer today and you’ll save time on touch ups. Cause ain’t nobody got time for that! 

http://www.lashfood.com/r/products.php

http://www.amazon.com/l-f-Mineral-Eyeshadow-Primer-NATURAL/dp/B00853EYZQ/ref=sr_1_3?s=beauty&ie=UTF8&qid=1391547452&sr=1-3&keywords=elf+eyeshadow+primer

Cream Eye Shadow… so under rated!

Mar12

My secret for looking fabulously put together in a small amount of time is cream eye shadow. You can use your fingers!!!!!! You can use a brush!!!!!! You can look amazing in 3 minutes!

14k gold, provoke, runway

14k gold, provoke, runway

I totally get the whole running out the door to activities with your kids, or work, or errands and not wanting to look like a total hot mess! This is my secret for looking put together without all the layers of eye shadow and brushes and clean up! You can use 2-3 crème eye shadows and look amazing, you could use a traditional powder eye shadow and add a crème and look great. It’s all so easy!

I know some of you may be thinking about the creasing. I can take care of that too! It’s called eye shadow primer and you don’t have to break the bank to get a great one! It eliminates creasing sometimes caused by cream eye and helps your eye makeup stay put all day long!

My favorite cream eye shadows are from Fonda Lee’s exclusive makeup line that you can find atcropped creme shadow the Fonda Lee Beauty Bar in Mid-Town in Palm Beach Gardens FL, and if you aren’t local, check out her website at http://fondaleebeauty.com/ . The picture features two of my favorite looks: the right side uses all cream eye shadows that I applied with my fingers- 14k gold on the brow bone, provoke in the crease, and runway on the lower lid. The left eye shows Fonda Lee’s powder shadow crème de la crème with cream shadow provoke in the crease, one of my absolute favorite easy, but together, classic looks!

Stay tuned for my next post to see how to make a big difference in your make up staying power with one easy step.

Happy finger painting! 

I admit I have a problem…

Mar10

photoHi my name is Jenna and I’m a junkie. I’m a beauty product, procedure, make-up, anything beauty related junkie. I have a seriously problem… I instantly want to try anything new and exciting! If you tell me about a new product to make me look better, a facial procedure that entails scraping, exfoliating, perming, dying, lightening, brightening, peeling, etc. I will try it.

Needless to say the loss of money on my husband’s credit card bill will be your gain because I will tell the truth. If something rocks, I’ll tell you, if something sucks, I will tell you. If you have something you want reviewed tell me, or if you promote a product and want it reviewed, send it to me and I’ll try it out and write all about it.

I have a line, it’s a procedure where you have blood taken spun and re- injected back into your face, short of that you will probably read about something I tried or am going to try.  My main goal with all of this is to find ways to look and feel great in the least amount of time possible.

Stay tuned, subscribe, and enjoy!

As always your questions and comments are welcomed!

Your Hospital Must Have

Mar10

I will finish out my pregnancy blogs with what you must have for the hospital and this will be my last blog about what you need for pregnancy and delivery, at least until I remember something else I wanted to write about. 😉 Next I’ll be dispensing my favorite beauty tips and secrets for looking great, especially when you are low on time.

So what must you have for your hospital delivery? Your own hospital gown! I know I may sound like a lunatic, but trust me… you want your own gown. You may, like my husband, think that they give you a new gown when you check in, let me assure you that this is not the case, at least not at the hospital where I delivered. There a few things happening here, 1) someone else has given birth in this gown before, 2) someone had surgery in the gown previously 3) someone was sick in this gown.  There are varying levels of grossness here depending on how squeamish you are, but the common denominator… blood and dottily fluids, yuck!

The nurses will try to talk you out of wearing your own when you get to the hospital. They will tell you that you are going to ruin your gown; this is a great opportunity to practice non-attachment and go in knowing that you will be throwing it away when you’re done. Or maybe you won’t, I only had one small dot of blood on mine and was able to wash it and not have to throw it away, but either way I was ok knowing it was a one-time thing.

I purchased mine from a local baby store that carried maternity items. I got the gown and a matching robe. It was a great investment because I knew no one had worn it before and I looked much cuter in my pink and green Lilly Pulitzer-esk  gown than the ugly blue one provided by the hospital. I suggest ordering online, getting it at a local medical supply store, or looking at boutique children’s/maternity stores. You’ll be happy you did!

P.S. – If you want to make your husband happy, a foam mattress cover or egg crate on his cot or fold out bed will make his hospital stay after baby 100xbetter!

Please feel free to comment below with your must have hospital stay items.

Tips and Tricks For Your Pregnancy Wardrobe

Mar8

There are a few things maternity that you will inevitable have to buy; mainly jeans, if you want to wear them, you have to buy maternity jeans. If you are going to spend money on one item my suggestion would be this one. Pick out a pair or two of really stylish well-fitting jeans you love and buy them because you will wear them a lot.  You can pair different tops with them and get a lot of use out of a pair or two.

I personally live in sunny South Florida so the weather was hot for most of my pregnancy. I wore a ton of dresses; I found them to be the most comfortable. I would buy maxi dresses and empire waist dresses. I found Old Navy and Gap to carry a ton of non-maternity style dresses that were inexpensive, comfortable, and functional. I will tell you that if you wear them as much as I did, they will have to be thrown away after your pregnancy, because they won’t look so good anymore. However, they serve their purpose and won’t break the bank. I personally found small boutiques that carried these types of dresses that were not only super cute, but affordable and easy to wear.

I highly recommend drawstring anything. I wore a lot of drawstring pants, my favorites were the Lilly Pulitzer Beach Pant and Beach Short, but there are a lot more affordable pants out there.  I loved linen drawstring pants and shorts; they were comfortable and gave the ability to dress up or down.

I used to work for lululemon, so I happen to have 4 pairs of Still Pants. They were wonderful during my pregnancy. I’ll tell you a secret; I always wore these pants to work.  If you wore a longer shirt that covered the pockets, they totally passed as dress pants! The only problem is the logo on the back of the leg. People will stop you all day long to tell you that you have something stuck to your pants. It’s actually their reflective logo in case you are jogging at night, so no one runs you over, great idea in theory, not so much in practice when you are trying to wear workout clothes as work clothes. 🙂 But, regardless these pants are awesome because you can fold them over; pull the drawstring through and feel and look great. Pair these pants with the Portofino shirt from my last post and you are ready to go. The down side of these pants is the price, at $98 they are crazy expensive for “workout” wear.

Also, while we are talking about pants, let’s talk about those bands that go over your pants. The purpose is to be able to continue to wear your normal pants by leaving them unbuttoned or unzipped with this band over top. It was a total waste of money for me. However, I have friends who swear by them. My understanding is that it depends on the person and pregnancy. It could work great for one pregnancy and not at all for the next one for the same person! I don’t know, I bought one, spent about $25 bucks and it didn’t work at all. I suggest trying a hair band first. Simply loop the band through the button hole and then attach both loops to the button. Wah-La you can now leave your pants unbutton/unzipped with more room. If that doesn’t work maybe try an old tube top you have laying around, and if all else fails, try the bands they sell for this purpose, but eventually you’ll have to break down and buy new pants or elastic/drawstring waist pants. But in the interim this should help.

I highly suggest long tank tops, maternity or non- maternity. They are awesome for layering or wearing alone. I personally like Liz Lange for Target cotton shirts and tanks. They were affordable, stylish, and comfortable. I like them for before and after pregnancy also because I love long tops.

Belts and necklaces are your friends. I wore tons of longer necklaces when I pregnant, I don’t know what it was about them, but I felt they pulled outfits together when you have a belly. Belts were my friends also, especially wide ones. I used them with empire waist maxi dresses to break up the color or pattern and look really pulled together.

The last tip I have is for bras. I had to buy new bras at least three times during my pregnancy. What a pain. I don’t care who you are, what size you are, or how much or how little weight you gain. Your rib cage will expand! I bought a bra extender, this helped to eliminate having to constantly buy larger bras. I highly suggest investing in one of these, you won’t regret it! I personally got mine at Nordstrom, but I’m sure amazon has a plethora of options to choose from.

I hope you find my tips and tricks helpful! Several of my suggestions can be wore before and after pregnancy as well. I am all about spending money on things you can continue to use after your pregnancy and sometimes that means spending a little bit more for quality products.

Please feel free to comment with your tips and tricks and any questions you may have. Happy Shopping! 🙂

www.gap.com

www.oldnavy.com

http://www.lillypulitzer.com/catalog/search.cmd?form_state=searchForm&keyword=beach+pants

lilly pants

http://search.lululemon.com/search?region=us&asug=&w=Still%20Pants

lulu pants

http://www.express.com/clothing/Apparel/Portofino+Shirts/cat/cat1040025

http://www.target.com/p/liz-lange-reg-for-target-reg-maternity-long-lean-basic-tank-top-assorted-colors/-/A-14592209#prodSlot=large_1_6&term=Liz+Lange

Target tank

http://shop.nordstrom.com/sr?origin=keywordsearch&contextualcategoryid=2375500&keyword=bra+extender

bra extender

The Must Have Shirt for Before, During, and After Pregnancy

Mar7

I have a friend who posted her weekly bump pictures on Facebook and had the cutest outfits, so when I got pregnant I went to her first for tips on my pregnancy wardrobe. My first problem was with the word “MATERNITY” no one was allowed to use it around me, for some reason it made me very angry. 

So on a search I went to look for regular clothes I could wear throughout my pregnancy.  This solved many problems, for starters, it was way less expensive. I think that’s because when you are pregnant and at the mercy of the clothing retailers, maternity clothing manufacturers feel like they can charge you an arm and a leg for clothing. However, you can buy regular larger than your “normal” size clothes on sale, and not on sale for a lot less.  You also have more options, and personally, it made me feel a lot better to know I was wearing regular clothes.

On my quest for clothes I found the Portofino shirt. I bought it in 3 different colors during my pregnancy and an extra new color since I have had my son. I love these shirts! They work with so much! You can wear them with skinny jeans, shorts, skirts, leggings and they look fabulous! They are super easy, wash and wear, no ironing required! What more could you ask for! I get compliments every time I wear them and have suggested them to pregnant and non-pregnant friends.

What is so great about these shirts you may ask? Well for starters a story… I work as a teacher with children 5- 9 years old. I didn’t want to be asked every day when, or if I had the baby. (I tell you children have no concept of time when it comes to pregnancy, if you have or work with children you understand this, if you don’t, I kid you not, they will ask you every single day!) So… I waited till I was 7 months pregnant to tell my older ones and about 4 weeks from my due date to tell the younger ones. When I wore this shirt, my kids had no idea I was pregnant. One teacher who I rarely saw didn’t even realize I was pregnant a month out from my due date!

Other reasons I love these shirts…

-They come in a million colors and patterns, ok not a million but close.

– They wash and wear soooo easily; you never have to iron them!

– Easily accessorizable, (if that’s a word) dress them up or down.

-They look great pregnant and even better not pregnant!

– You can wear them buttoned up or open with a cami underneath.

– The possibilities are endless by wearing them with jeans, leggings, skirts, shorts….

You can find the Portofino shirt at Express stores or www.express.com  they range from 49.50 – $59.50 depending on color and pattern, but they periodically run specials for buy one and get a discount on the second as well as major deals for $$$$ off depending on how much you spend.  Do not miss out on this fabulous top, it will not disappoint.

http://www.express.com/clothing/Apparel/Portofino+Shirts/cat/cat1040025

Who wants to be told they look skinny in the hospital after giving birth?

Mar4

I got the trick! Belly Bandits! It totally worked!

I ordered my Belly Bandits about a month before my due date. They give instructions on the website for how to measure in your 8th or 9th month to determine what size you will need.  I had seen the Belly Bandit in various magazines well before ever becoming pregnant and kept the idea in the back of my mind for when the time came. Well when I became pregnant they even sold them in my OB’s office, where someone suggested waiting until I came back for my post-partum appointment to get one. Don’t do that!

Use the tips and if you can remember to measure at 8 months and then measure again at 9 months to see what size to buy  to wear in the hospital immediately after giving birth. I can tell you it makes all the difference. You’re stomach starts to flatten out almost instantly.  It’s totally worth rit.

It kind of stinks that you will have to buy multiple sized Belly Bandits to change out as you shrink down, but you will be happy you did. Additionally, they provide much needed back support and I have heard they are extremely beneficial for mommy’s who have C-sections. Hang on to your Belly Bandit, because I have another post coming soon on my favorite wraps that work even better with your recycled Belly Bandit! 🙂

http://bellybandit.com/

Couture Belly Bandit

The Dreaded Stretch Marks!

Mar2

It only seems fitting to have my inaugural blog post start the same way my journey as a mom startetummy butterd with a casualty of pregnancy…the dreaded stretch mark! I have to be honest, I was not a big fan of the idea of gaining weight and getting bigger during pregnancy. I was the girl in the gym the day before my due date squatting furiously in an effort to get the party started. I was in the gym my whole pregnancy, we are talking doing push-ups from the floor at 9 months pregnant! I know I am a nut case! 🙂

So having stretch marks was not an option! I had read about a product that guarded against stretch marks and even helped the ones you already had. I figured let’s give it a shot, and at least I tried something. I gotta tell ya, I made it out with NO STRETCH MARKS!!!!!!! I was religious in my application and started early, like before anyone knew I was pregnant(maybe 10 weeks), and used two products every time I showered, morning, night, and anytime in-between. oil

Now, The Spoiled Mama products are a little on the pricey side, but I tell you they are worth every red cent! Plus, they do have a rewards program so they hook you up with a discount when you re-order plus a sample of their other products with each order.

I used both the Bump Gloss and Tummy Butter from my knee up to my neck! I’m telling you, NO STRETCH MARKS! The stretch marks I had on my outer thighs from puberty started to disappear too! I couldn’t ask for anything more. We are talking scars more than 15 years old fading away.

I think the trick is that you need to start early, and keep using after you give birth while your skin is shrinking back to its original size! These are the keys to success! Definitely give these products a try.

Check out The Spoiled Mama products at http://www.thespoiledmama.com/