Wednesday, 2 March 2016

5 Beauty Hacks For Glasses Wearers

You’ve probably seen the videos. YouTube is awash with so-called Beauty Gurus who claim to be able to solve your every facial “fault” with makeup.

But recently a new trend has emerged.

Many major beauty writers, bloggers, and makeup artists have begun discussing makeup techniques relating specifically to glasses wearers.

If you wear glasses yourself, you probably don’t have to ask why. Glasses can smudge mascara, move foundation on the bridge of the nose, hide beautiful eyeshadow and more.

Image Credit

Glasses can be a beautiful, eye catching accessory but it’s easy to see how they can become frustrating.

If you love your glasses but hate what they do to your makeup, I have a few quick hacks to try.

1) Setting Spray

Many people have a bit of extra redness around the nose area and choose to cover it with foundation or concealer. This can become a problem when glasses leave streaks or marks in all your hard work.

It’s common knowledge to apply powder over problem areas in the hope that it will fix the makeup in place. Sadly, this heavy powder can become cakey and look ageing.

Why not try a setting spray instead?

Not only do setting sprays fix your makeup in place, but they do so without adding another layer of makeup.

The effect of the vast majority of setting sprays is completely invisible, and they’re a great way to freshen up on the go.

2) Waterproof Mascara

This is perhaps the most obvious solution. If we wear glasses or contact lenses, our eyes can sometimes become irritated. As a result, it’s natural for them to water occasionally but this can have disastrous results for our makeup.

Investing in a waterproof mascara and eyeliner can be a lifesaver.

Many women also find that emphasising the upper lashline is enough to make their eyes stand out.

Products added to the lower lashline are more likely to run and smudge. Add a feline flick on the upper lashline instead, or a few individual lashes for a special occasion.

3) Fix Your Eyebrows

Make sure that your eyebrows are well-groomed and suit your face.

This is particularly important for glasses wearers. Glasses draw more attention to our eyes in some ways but can also swamp them in others.

Polished, flattering brows will frame the face and make sure our eyes remain a feature.

4) Eye Health

Okay, so this isn’t strictly a makeup hack but it does still affect your makeup.

Chances are, if you can read this article you’re not struggling too much with your eye health. But don’t get complacent.

Make sure to get regular check ups and invest in eye drops if your eyes feel dry and irritated. Makeup will sit better on eyes that are fresh and healthy.

Image Source

5.) Bright lips

If you feel your glasses already draw enough attention to your eyes, why not balance it with a brighter lip?

Not only will you feel more polished and confident, but it can be a great way to step into Spring.

Why Is It Cooler To Learn Coding Than Poetry Writing?

Now this might be a very obvious question and, since the Husband makes a living from computer coding, I'm probably on a sticky wicket flying the flag for poetry.

Dylan Thomas - The Great Welsh Poet & Writer

But whilst I understand that we are an economy reliant to a huge degree on technology and scientific advancement, it's a bit of a shame that we can't muster up a little more enthusiasm for the verbal artistry required to write a good poem.

Particularly on St. David's Day as I sit with the daffodils being blown about in the wind and rain here in Dinas Powys, I find myself thinking of the great Welsh poet and writer, Dylan Thomas (I named my daughter after his wife, Caitlin) and his well loved play for voices "Under Milk Wood".

"To begin at the beginning: It is spring, moonless night in the small town, starless and bible-black, the cobblestreets silent and the hunched, courters'-and-rabbits' wood limping invisible down to the sloeblack, slow, black, crowblack, fishingboatbobbing sea".

His love of language shines through every thing he writes and to me "Under Milk Wood" is closer to a poem even though it is technically a play. Thomas truly paints pictures with words.

Poetry connects us to our feelings in ways that prose does not. You could argue that poetry is form of coding which talks straight to our hearts and accesses reservoirs of feeling never quite touched by other forms of fiction.

Poetry is a more challenging form of literature-writing because you have to condense your thoughts and feelings in to images which speak large to your readers. Not only this, but the construction and rhythm of your poem adds to the meaning.

Poetry is meant to be read out loud.

In the same way that, to me, a true appreciation of a Shakespeare play can only be achieved when the text is performed, or at the very least read aloud.

How can you not love this?

"If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son".

(If, by Rudyard Kipling)

or

I wander'd lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

(Daffodils by William Wordsworth)

or

Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherized upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question….
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

(The Lovesong of J. Alfred Prufrock by T. S. Eliot)

Before we had the written word, we had songs and sagas. Ancient themes of love, loss, survival - the keystones of the human experience, are all captured in poems across the ages.

I hope that we continue to teach poetry in our schools and to give it as much importance in the curriculum as no doubt coding and all things IT will come to have.

My old secondary school loans all its pupils iPads, whilst I remember English lessons on sunny afternoons watching the motes of chalk dust swirl in the light as we took turns to read poems and stories out loud.

Our challenge, as I see it, is to preserve our literary past whilst embracing the technological future.

Growing youngsters often struggle with their feelings and literature can provide a safe, enjoyable safety valve.

Good poetry is almost a form of hypnosis. You could argue the same about playing games on an iPad.

But whereas one is often soulless, the other can sometimes connect you to your soul.

Easter Extravaganza Giveaway - £200 Amazon Vouchers / Paypal Cash

So what is it you can win?

Would you believe it one lucky winner will be walking away with a fantastic £200 worth of Amazon vouchers, while one runner up will get £20, to spend on whatever they want - though chocolate seems like a good idea at this time of year. (If the winner is from a country other than the UK the prize will be delivered via PayPal cash).

So who's helped put together this wonderful prize?

Being Tilly's Mummy | Chilling With Lucas | Alice-Megan | Rambling Through Parenthood | Angel Eden Blog | The Not So Secret Diary of a Wannabe Princess | Petit Moi - Big World | Precious Little Worlds | Dizzy Miss James | Ickle Pickle's Life and Travels | Cookies and Cwtches | Sally Akins | Odd Socks and Lollipops | Life in a Break Down | UK Bloggers

To enter all you need to do is answer the following question in the comments below: What is the best thing about Easter?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

*Please note that all entry options other than the question are optional, however it would be lovely if you could take a few minutes and support some of the bloggers who have helped make this giveaway possible.

Good Luck!

Does Swearing Have A Place In Blog Posts?

The other day on Facebook, there was much discussion about the aged chestnut that is the "should bloggers write for free" question.

One response in particular caught my eye. It was basically a wall of expletives. Brands and PRs could 'do one', the blogger said (completely in phrases beginning with F).

I have to say that whenever I come across swear words in blog posts, I find myself clicking away pretty quickly.

This is not because I am a delicate flower. It's more because I feel vaguely let down.

Great Bloggers Are Wordsmiths

There are millions of fantastic words in the English language. Millions.

As bloggers, shouldn't we be wordsmiths? Shouldn't we use language to paint amazing verbal pictures?

Don't we have standards to uphold (or even create)?

Some of the sweary posts I have read have been written by parenting bloggers.

Is A Post Full Of Expletives Really Going To Engage A Brand?

That must go down very well with brands and PRs seeking to engage with a family audience.

I'm sure the "it's our blog and we write what we like" brigade will be sticking a pin in my effigy but, as they used to say in school, "it's not big and it's not clever".

There is a type of 'bitter blogger' who specialises in venting spleen in a wry, vaguely comedic way, using language that would make a trucker blush.

And it's funny for a while.

Among the ascerbic comments, there are usually a few kernels of truth, a few good take-away points.

There's another saying which comes to mind from the old music hall days - "they're funny but they're on too long".

Do You Know Your Readers?

Now swearing might be completely appropriate for your blogging niche. I can't for the life of me think what that niche might be but if that's what your audience enjoys then fine.

But the question is, do you really know who's reading you?

As bloggers we rely on stats, social media likes and comments. These can paint a partial picture of what our readers think.

Except that in many cases, blogs are read by other bloggers in a kind of "you scratch my back and I'll scratch yours" way.

I think, particularly if you are a parenting blogger, you should assume that you could be read by anyone of any age.

And that's where the swearing habit is risky if you want to build an engaged audience.

It may be a stereotype but I think an older, more mature audience won't welcome a blog post full of expletives.

If you're writing about family matters, your comment posts should surely reflect that. (You wouldn't be daft enough to swear in a review post, would you?)

Listen, I fully understand the "mummy's had a bad day, the kids are little sods and where's the corkscrew" sentiment.

But giving full verbal vent to your frustrations in purple prose makes you look a bit, well, out of control.

Have The Perfect Lifestyle Parenting Blogs Had Their Day?

I read recently that there is a backlash against parent blogs which create a perfect lifestyle - you know the kind of thing - instagram pictures curated to the last pantone, cutesy shots of the family dancing through autumnal leaves and posts about how to make your home Martha Stewart worthy.

Frankly I love these kind of posts. And I'm not sure that the antidote to these is the bitter, sweary mummy blog focusing on how awful it is to be blessed with children especially when they will insist on behaving like children.

Still, the great appeal of blogging is that it is a platform for expression available to all.

I'm not suggesting censorship. I am saying that blogging is a craft which deserves respect, and care, and consideration for the feelings of the reader, whoever they may be.

And you won't find any expletives in my posts. That much I will swear.

Celebrating Our Older Kids - Do We Need A "Slightly Bigger Fierce Ones" Hashtag?

As a sometime parenting blogger with kids aged 8 and 6, I find that I am occasionally disheartened by the fact that there are pictures of cute babies and toddlers everywhere.

Baby Caitlin Hobbis - motherdistracted.co.uk

Caitlin in 2007

Instagram is awash with them.

There they are in cute wellies encountering trees and flowers. They are jumping in puddles. They are prodding kittens and walking backwards up slides.

They are staring at clouds with an expression to rival that of the most earnest nuclear physicist.

Their every breath is instagrammed to the 'nth' degree.

And understandably so.

Because what parent wouldn't want to celebrate the wonder unfolding in front of them and, better yet, create a living, breathing, archive of those moments to last for eternity?

But my point is when kids get over a certain age, and the development of their personalities is in full throttle, it's easy to miss those 'cute days'.

Ieuan in 2015

Referring to them with your chosen nickname may no longer be appropriate either - "little man" (which I hate), "sausage", "cupcake" or any other term guaranteed to cause maximum embarrassment with their school friends. You are quite likely to be greeted with "muuuummm!"

I said to Ieuan only this morning that he was my "cute little Jedi". "I'm not a little Jedi", he said hotly, "I'm a medium Jedi".

As they change, your relationship to them changes and the type of parent you are also changes.

I think many of us must feel a sense of loss.

They're still cute, we tell ourselves defensively. And they are but our photograph albums now capture fledgling teens, even adults.

"Give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man", as the Jesuit motto goes.

Our pictures capture their moods, both good and bad.

You have to wonder if they sometimes get sick of being constantly photographed.

Their lives are documented in ways ours never were. For a start, when I was growing up, cameras still came with actual 'film' you stuck in the back and wound on.

Nobody took a selfie unless they got confused and had the camera turned the wrong way around.

So my plea is, please can we have a new hashtag which helps us to focus on the challenges and triumphs of our slightly older children?

Caitlin & Ieuan Hobbis - motherdistracted.co.uk

Caitlin & Ieuan - Double Trouble

Can we remember to celebrate the beauty of their new discoveries now that they have the language to discuss them?

Can we carve our own little corner of Instagram just for them?

How about using a couple of the other instagram hashtags? #Soproudofyou or #Stroppy.

That should just about cover it.

Why Blogging About Your Job Is Not Your Best Career Move

Just lately, there have been several instances on Facebook where bloggers have questioned whether it is wise to blog about your job.

My answer to this is a categorical NO.

I have also come across instances where an employer has caught a blogger writing sponsored posts for a competitor and demanded that the posts be removed.

Cue much "how very dare they" in tones which imply the Human Rights Act should be referred to immediately.

An Employment Contract Is Legally Binding

I am beginning to wonder whether people understand that an employment contract is, well a contract - and a legally binding one at that.

When you agree to work for a company, you agree to abide by a set of rules (theirs) in exchange for pay and benefits.

The company has a duty of care towards its employees to treat them fairly and equitably. But, you know what? It's a two way street.

I've read posts which seem to imply that the blogger / employee is actually doing the employer a favour just by turning up.

You cannot justify criticizing your employer on your blog because you hate the job, they don't pay you enough or you haven't been promoted.

That will get you out of the door quicker than you'd like.

Nobody Is Irreplaceable

And if you feel that you're irreplaceable - well, have you seen the UK unemployment figures lately?

I don't mean to be harsh.

I think if you work with your employer, blogging can be an extremely valuable addition to the marketing mix.

But I think we need a reality check here.

Employers DO Check You Out On Social Media

Employers and recruitment agencies will check you out on social media. Yes they will - whether or not they are supposed to.

If you let it be known that you write a blog in your spare time, it is just human nature for your co-workers to want to check it out.

If you have written anything negative, it is also, sadly, human nature for some 'helpful' co-worker to bring it to the attention of the management.

And if you are being negative, therefore, future employers might take a dim view - particularly if you are staying in the same industry.

In Law, where I worked for 13 years, most of the partners had worked in numerous other law firms and all knew each other.

Until you reach a certain age, you don't always have the political 'smarts' either.

Let me give you an example of what I mean.

Let's say there's a particular manager you just can't get on with. They seem to have it in for you. You get the crappiest assignments. Your suggestions are routinely ignored in meetings.

It would be very easy to vent your spleen in a blog post and think that you were fully justified in doing so - heck, you could even convince yourself that you are being a noble "whistleblower" and bringing the manager to book.

You Never Know Who Is Friends With Whom

What you probably don't realise is that, even if that manager seems to be deeply unpopular, they may be best buddies with the rest of the managers, or even the CEO.

I remember a couple of senior partners in one of the law firms I worked for who, on the face of it, hated each other.

It later transpired that not only did they regularly dine together, they even went on holiday together.

The same thing with college lecturers. You never know what goes on in the staff room, or what is said and I think there is a tendency for senior staff to stick together to protect each other's positions.

So, after another downbeat, unmotivating, dreary day, it would be so easy to come home and blog about it, wouldn't it?

Anything you write is on the internet for ever. Things you say now could bite you years later.

I'm assuming you've worked long and hard to get where you are.

You've probably fought off lots of competition to get your foot in the door.

But you signed a contract.

The honorable thing to do if you hate it, is find another job.

Yes it's difficult - but that's rather my point.

The RIGHT Way To Blog About Your Job

If you want to blog about your job, why not undertake some technical research or write a paper about a particular aspect of your role. Let your manager see it and then publish with their blessing.

That way, bloggers, promotion lies.

If you want to run your employer down on your blog, so that senior management, co-workers, competitors and, even worse, clients see it, then you may find you are blogging full time quicker than you think.

Life isn't fair. Speech may be free, but sometimes there's a rather hefty price to pay all the same.

Have You Got The Welcome Mat Out For Anxiety?

It dawned on me the other day that the reason for my (comparative) inertia when it comes to grabbing the bull by the horns (or indeed any other colloquialism for getting off your backside and acting), is that I have probably been suffering from anxiety for most of my life.

cat in a basket - dealing with anxiety - motherdistracted.co.uk

I carry a vague sense of unease around with me most of the time. I've even given it a name - "The Fear". It is a shapeless, amorphous blob which lurks behind doors and curtains and casts a shadow on the gloomiest day.

I could write a list of things that could have triggered it. But, you know, nobody lives to the age of 50 without having had something unpleasant happen to them, a loss, a scare, a disappointment. That is, to quote one of my mother's more annoying truisms, "all part of life's rich pattern".

I carry "The Fear" around with me most of the time and it makes itself known in strange symptoms like my "glasses thing" (or OCD), my inability to leave fluff on the carpet (whilst being completely able to ignore dusting), my requirement for absolute darkness and silence at night.

Anyone who leaves the empty cardboard tube from the toilet roll on the floor of the toilet feels my wrath. I cannot bear wet towels on beds, shoes on in the house, toothpaste lids left off.

It's all about control.

And, more specifically, controlling "The Fear".

Lots of us, of course, would medicate it away somehow. Or read endless self-help tomes ("When I loved myself enough to knit my own yoghurt"). Or seek therapy. (And how does that make you feel? Well, crap, actually).

I'm not entirely convinced acknowledging "The Fear" helps.

We are all battling the human condition and (to quote mum again), we all have our cross to bear.

There's one of those motivational postcards I often see on Facebook which says something like "be kind because everyone is fighting a battle we know nothing about".

I suspect that is entirely true.

Which means, some of us have developed more effective strategies for dealing with "The Fear".

Or are we so far in denial we think we can get to Narnia through the wardrobe. (You can't, I've tried).

Perhaps this is why there are so many videos of cats doing, well, cat things.

I love that quote about cats by the French Renaissance write Michel de Montaigne (1533-1592) who said:

"Quand je me joue à ma chatte, qui sçait si elle passe son temps de moy plus que je ne fay d'elle?

(When I play with my cat, who knows if I am not a pastime to her more than she is to me?)

Cats really don't, to use the vernacular, give a stuff. They do what they want and bugger the consequences. In fact, most cats would sniff, scag your tights with their claws and then say"what consequences" whilst yawning.

Montaigne also said "There is no passion so contagious as that of fear" and "The thing I fear most is fear".

And that's the thing about anxiety too. You get anxious about whether you're anxious. And then you are.

I often theorise that lots of 'odd' behaviours are simply displacement activities to avoid looking within and admitting that you are anxious.

Lots of us simply hide away. Or leave parties early. Or 'forget' to turn up at all. That old saying about "always finding me in the kitchen at parties" is a neat metaphor for social anxiety.

You'll always spot the anxious at children's parties because they'll be the ones clearing up the remnants of sausage rolls and half eaten pizza armed with black bags and an air of determination not seen since the Blitz.

The anxious will always give themselves away by hating things that everyone else likes - just in case they have to join in. Christmas? Too commercial. Ditto Valentines Day. Any major sporting tournament, big event in the social calendar, spontaneous knees-up.... "I can't be bothered with all that", they'll say. " All that fuss and unnecessary expense".

Hell would be joining the Parent Teachers Association. Or being invited up on stage during a live show. (I'm seeing Derren Brown in April so fingers' crossed he doesn't spot me!).

We anxious ones always stand apart like statues. We avoid eye contact. If someone speaks to us, sometimes it's so surprising we actually jump.

At conferences we anxious avoid eye contact. We take urgent phone calls. We write notes.

We anxious ones like to end even the most terse email or text with a row of kisses. "I hate you, you bastard" xxxx

The thought of upsetting someone and having to deal with the consequences is always far scarier than standing up for ourselves, claiming what's ours, demanding to count.

It's a shame there's no secret handshake to announce you are suffering from "The Fear".

Social Media is very fond of urging you to find your "tribe".

My tribe would be named (and this is one of my dad's favourite jokes), the "Elawi". Ask them where they are and they say "we're the Elawi" (where the hell are we)?

Since I've had "The Fear" for well over 40 years, I guess I had better get used to it.

And as a parent, the last thing I want to do is pass it on to the kids.

Kids have superheroes to help them synthesize their fear, to give them role models for, to quote Percy in Blackadder "putting ice cubes down the vest of fear".

Perhaps in later life we just need to say "sod it - The Fear is part of me. It is who I am". Perhaps acknowledging the intruder will take away a little of the horrid antsy, unsettled feeling. Perhaps after all we just need to put the welcome mat out for anxiety and some days, just some days, it may go and visit someone else for a change.

The late Helen Gurley Brown said that when she was upset she would lie on her sofa with her cat and talk it out, a bit like a court hearing. I did this, he said that and so forth. She would do this until she felt better.

I think I want to get another cat.

Mother Distracted

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