Review| glam glow super clearing mud mask

It may have come to your attention, the thing I crave the most in the world, and probably the main reason I'm so into beauty and skincare is because I have bad skin. It started in high school with white heads and blackheads that I doused in clearasil and witch hazel. 

Progressing to college and full blown acne was in situ on my poor face. I'd wear three foundations at a time and always wear a scarf so I could tuck my face in and feel less ashamed. 

Fast forward a few years and my breakouts aren't half as bad, however the scars and breakouts I do have still knock my confidence in exactly the same way. It's trivial in the grand scheme of things but it's all I see when I look in the mirror, fellow acne sufferers will vouch for me here. 

The point I'm trying to make is, I'll try absolutely anything once to try and improve my skin. I dread to think how much I've spent on products that do nothing, or worse, encourage the blemishes. However when a well written blog post (I've forgotten who's, I'm so sorry!) rolled into my bloglovin screen regarding the glam glow super clearing mud mask, I was feeling impulsive. I clicked purchase and a few days later a tiny pot of expensive grey goop turned up on my doorstep promising instant results. 

I slapped it on using a real techniques foundation brush I don't like for foundation and waited. It dried pretty quickly to a satisfyingly crispy (gross!) layer but that's not the best bit. You can actually see where this mask draws out the grease and gunk from your pores. The longer you leave it the better it is. 

The real magic comes when you flannel this off. My face instantly feels clearer, redness in many blemishes is reduced and the overall tone is smoothed and soft. 

It's an expensive little jar of grey mud but it bloody works and I'll definitely be repurchasing this when it runs out!  

Have you ever tried anything else from Glam Glow? Anything else I need to put on my to buy list!? 

Review| La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo +. A second chance.

A while ago I got sent, by the kind people at Escentual the La Roche Posay Effaclar Duo + (product name and a half?!) I excitedly slathered it on and awaited amazing results. Unfortunately, for reasons still unclear, I then broke our massively with large, painful, cystic under the skin acne. Mmhmm such a treat. As the LRPED+ (does that work?!) was the only new product I had used, I but the blame solely on it's shiny white and blue packaging and put it in the draw to be forgotten about. 

However, when asking on twitter and around my beauty minded friends I got recommendations for the effaclar duo again and again. No body else had had such a reaction! 

One particularly desperate day, as I was looking at my terrible skin in despair I dug out the effaclar duo and figured it couldn't get any worse. After using my glam glow super clearing mud mask (post to come) I massaged this in and waited. 

A few weeks on now and I have to say, I'm impressed. My skin appears clearer and I haven't had any break outs as yet! My scars are fading, slowly, and any blemishes that do dare to pop up are gone in half the time. 

I realise I'm pretty late to the party on this one but I think it goes to show first impressions aren't always the ones you should go on! Now I'm off to try on those jeans I thought didn't suit me last week! 

Life | my job; a day in the life of a Midwife!

So maybe you know, and more than likely you don't, but I'm a newly qualified (6 months!) Midwife working in an NHS trust. I have to be really careful what I write about my job on the internet but I thought it might make an interesting post and after a little research on twitter (@_tuesdaysgirl) I decided to give it a go!

I went straight to University from college with average A-Levels. I'd always known what I wanted to do, since about year 10 in high school, so I was overjoyed when I got in on my first application as Midwifery is notoriously hard to get on to. I think for 33 places at my uni there where 200 applicants!
If you want to know more about the application process and the course itself I'll do a separate post on that, I've got a lot to say! It's definitely not your normal course and if you're really wanting the student lifestyle I'd recommend reconsidering Midwifery. Our 'freshers' week consisted of mon-fri lectures 9-5 and we worked 37.5 hours a week 45 weeks of the year. Most of the course is placement based with essays, exams and lectures on top so essentially it feels like a degree on top of a full time job...it's tough!

An average day on labour ward starts at 7am. My trust does long days from 7am-7.30pm but others do short shifts like 'earlies' from 7-1 and 'lates' from 12-8. You turn up a bit before 7am as you have to be prepared to deliver a baby at 7.01am if you need to! Handover takes place where the senior midwife from the night shift gives everyone coming on to the day a quick run down of all the clients on labour ward at that time. Midwives are then allocated to a client whom you'll care for until they deliver and can be transferred to the postnatal ward, or home.
Midwifery deals with a very intimate part of a family's life- you're there when a woman transforms into a mother, you're the first person to touch and see a new born baby take it's first breath. It's such a magical time and you've got to be totally respectful of all that woman's choices whether you agree with them or not.
Delivering a baby is relatively simple, the woman does all the hard work. However there are lots of things that quickly turn from normal to abnormal and you have to rely on your training to prepare you for this! If women bleed or babies don't breath your training completely takes over and it's only afterwards when the adrenaline has worn off that you get time to swear and sweat a bit!

Like any job, midwifery has its ups and downs. A day on labour ward can go from utter elation at the most perfect waterbirth to tragedy pretty quickly. Saying that, it's the only area of healthcare that is 99% happy and I love that. It's amazing to watch women as they progress through labour and turn into these magical beings that suddenly become two seperate people. Honestly there's nothing more magical in this world than watching a woman make her family one bigger.

My favourite part of delivering babies, apart from the obvious happy bit, is the watching the Dad's face as they observe their partner bring their baby into the world. Some look pretty confused, some look grossed out but the majority literally beam from ear to ear and some even cry. This always chokes me up! It's hard, hard work but I wouldn't change it for the world.

Life | International day of the Midwife!

Happy international day of the Midwife! It might mean nothing to you, but as a Midwife it's a day to appreciate the hard work that goes into my profession from midwives around the world. I'm very proud to do what I do! 

If you think you'd like a more in depth post about my job then I'd love to do one! I just don't know if people would find that a bit boring? Do let me know on here or on twitter (@_tuesdaysgirl) I'm always up for chatting about the job I love.

" Being a midwife means being an honoured witness to a woman giving birth...and sometimes being the lucky one who gets to catch the baby." 

It's not just the making of babies but the making of mothers that is the true miracle of birth!  Whether you're pregnant, had a baby or have babies in mind for the future you will need and meet lovely midwives. Nobody is a midwife for the glamour or the money and that is evident in the care we give. If you know a Midwife, hug one.