beauty Archives - The Vintage Modern Wife

Blue Bikini Wax Blend

June 9, 2017

Have you ever had a bikini wax? What about waxed your upper lip, brows, or arm pits? It’s not a pleasant feeling one bit. I don’t know about you, but my body is super sensitive to any kind of hair removal process, and I found my saving grace- the Blue Bikini Wax Blend using Young Living Essential Oils from Lucy Libido (author of “Lucy Libido Says…There’s an Oil For That!“) and I couldn’t help but share it with my Young Living team members and all of you! It helped my face feel soft, soothed, and took the redness away, and now I’ll never be without it.

The Blue Bikini Wax Blend is definitely something you’ll want to have on hand at a waxing or after a good threading! Make it ahead of time so you can put it on immediately and not be embarrassed with redness or bumps!

Products mentioned in the Blue Bikini Wax Blend: Vegetable Glycerin
Fractionated Coconut Oil
Glass Pump Bottle
Plastic Dropper Bottle
Blue Cypress Essential Oil
Valor Essential Oil Young Living is such an integral part of our lives and it would bring me such joy to have you as a member on our team. I would love to chat one on one with you about your health goals so we can get you started with Young Living as well. Just leave a comment and I’ll email you back and we can schedule some time to talk and answer any questions you may have. Want a good starting place to learn more about essential oils? Check out the Young Living tab at the top of my blog to get a glimpse into the amazing benefits of Young Living. You’ll find more on why I began using Young Living, info on Seed to Seal, how to join my team, and more great ways to use Young Living essential oils!

Filed Under: beauty, DIY, YLEO ·

Our Goldilocks and the Three Bears Family Costumes

October 29, 2016

Every time Halloween rolls around I just get so excited! There are always so many fun family costumes to choose from, and I love picking out a theme. This year, after lots of thinking, we decided on Goldilocks and the Three Bears for our family costumes. It was unique, easy to put together, and we got so many compliments at a local Fall Festival about them!

What we wore for our Goldilocks and the Three Bears family costumes:

Mathew- Hoodie, basketball shorts, brown fur

Stephanie- Dress, fur vest, booties (similar), multistrand necklace

Stephanie’s Makeup- lashes, lipstick, foundation, concealer, brown eyeliner, white eyeliner, eyeshadows, brows

Addie- Black onesie, leg warmers, fur vest, and similar bear socks

Ears- Black fur, brown fur, hair clips, sewing kit, ribbon, hot glue gun

Pearl- skirt, hat, doll hair, elastic

I had such a blast creating these family costumes, I can’t say that enough. Addie had a onesie with a vest, leg warmers, little bear socks, and I completed her costume with homemade bear ears and a tiny fur tail on her butt. If you’re wondering how I made her ears and Mathew’s, I used this pattern, cut the brown and black fur, hand sewed them inside out (except for the bottom), turned them right side out, and sewed the bottom together. Then, I had hair clips that I wrapped with ribbon, and hot glued the ears onto. I cut Addie’s little ears smaller than the pattern since she’s so little. I put her hair in two little buns and clipped the ears in front!

For Mathew’s portion of our Goldilocks and the Three Bears family costumes, I hot glued a piece of fur onto a black hoodie (I may have forgotten to lint roll him here, oops!) and hot glued on ears for him! He got a little bear nose on his face and a little tail on the bottom of his hoodie. Mathew is such a good sport. We have been dressing in a theme for Halloween for 4 Halloweens now. It took me a few years to convince him (we’ve been together 8 years!), but he does it because he loves his girl. Plus, come on, who can’t resist some good ole family costumes?

When I thought about Goldilocks and the Three Bears for our family costumes, I knew I could always be Goldilocks, but let’s be honest- that’s BORING! I had this hilarious idea to make Pearl into Goldilocks and just ran with the idea. I bought her a little skirt, a doll hat and some curly, blonde doll hair, and grabbed some elastic out of my sewing kit. I laughed SO hard when I glued the hair to her hat for her wig. SO HARD. Pearl wasn’t too keen on the idea of the hat and wig, but she tolerated enough for a couple pictures.

Also, did anyone notice she stole the porridge from the bears? How rude, Pearl Goldilocks, how rude!

As for my look, I applied foundation a little darker than my normal shade, and lightened up my under eye area, chin, and upper lip with light concealer. Then, I applied some blush (I really loved this darker shade!), added a mild smoky eye and filled in my brows, threw on some lashes and lipstick, and grabbed my brown and white eyeliner pencils. For the bear fur on my face, I took white and brown eyeliner pencils and just went from my eyebrows down my face to my chin. I wore a black dress and fur vest with a necklace too! To complete my look, I put my hair into mini buns and fanned out the hair to make it look like ears. I secured them with bobby pins and hairspray so they’d stay in place. You guys- this Goldilocks and the Three Bears idea was just so fun for me to do. One of my favorite family costumes by far!

Although it’s not quite Halloween yet, we went to a Fall Festival at a local church to show off our cute costumes. EVERYONE couldn’t get enough of Addie, and it was so sweet to see so many people wanting to love on her. She was smiling at everyone who said hi! She got to play several games, won some prizes, and even got a little temporary tattoo! It was so nice to get out and just enjoy ourselves. The church had an earlier time for activities for special needs children, so we thankfully go to go enjoy the activities before things got too crazy. It was perfect for Addie and we were thankful she wasn’t exposed to the hundreds of people that would be coming after us. As we were leaving, we saw a huge line out the door and around the church! Wow!

As for Halloween night itself? I’m not really sure yet what we plan to do. There are several events around town but they’ll have a TON of people and we just aren’t into that (in fact, for the Fall Festival we got early access because Addie has special needs, so we got to do stuff before the crowd!) I also don’t anticipate a lot of trick-or-treaters in our area because last year I only bought 2 bags of candy, and I had 1 left over at the end of the night. We even were giving 4-6 candies per child too! Seems like everyone here generally enjoys going to church events anyway since they’re a lot safer.

I’m so thankful for another amazing Halloween with our sweet girl. Who would have known that we would’ve gone from a Hunter and Deer in the NICU to a Scarecrow family just a couple months after she got out of PICU, to a fun Goldilocks and the Three Bears family for Halloween? I’m not sure how we’ll top next year, but you better believe we’ll be trying!

What are you and your family dressing up for this Halloween?

Filed Under: Baby VMW, beauty, DIY, dogs, family, holidays, Mathew ·

5 Small Ways to Spring into Self Care in 5 Minutes or Less

April 25, 2016

5 Small Ways to Spring into Self Care in 5 Minutes or Less was sponsored by Amopé™ as part of an influencer activation for the #AmopeCrowd and Socialstars™. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review, but all opinions are my own.

You know how the New Year rolls around and everyone picks a word or phrase to stick by? They usually last until the end of January or the beginning of February, and then by Springtime people never really think about them again. I usually hate resolutions and words to stick by, but for some reason, this year I decided I was going to do it and truly stick by it. My phrase? “Self care.”

After spending 10 long months in the NICU and PICU with Addie throughout August 2014 til June 2015, I was ready for a new start when the New Year rolled around. Addie had been home 6 months by December, and January was the perfect time to try to get small pieces of me back. Being the parent of a medically fragile child isn’t easy. In fact, when we were in the hospital, Mathew and I were encouraged many times to leave early, go on a date night, or just take time for ourselves. I don’t think I’d even heard of the words “self care” before until a social worker or nurse had uttered them to me. I’m in several groups for trach moms or special needs moms, and the ones that are the healthiest are the ones that take time for self care. The moms that never take time for themselves or never get out of the house are the ones that are the most stressed and downtrodden. I always want to be the best mother I can possibly be, and self care is one way I can be everything that Addie needs. Besides, what good am I to her if I’m constantly stressed, unhappy, and haggard?

I have done some pretty large things this year in regards to my self care. It started out easy like getting a new pair of glasses, getting a couples massage with Mathew (our Christmas gifts to each other), completing Whole30, getting my hair cut and colored, and I even got Blade-Free HD IntraLASIK. I attempted to go to a Young Living Raindrop Technique class (and had to leave because Addie was having breathing problems and was admitted to the hospital for 2 days), and I went to Young Living Spring Symposium for a day. Although I love doing fun events where there are lots of people since I always see the same handful of people that come to our house for therapy or nursing, I don’t do it often because we simply don’t have the time. It’s been incredibly helpful to find small ways to spring into self care in 5 minutes or less that I can do at home to better myself and I want to share them with you!

Ground yourself with essential oils. You all know how much our family loves our Young Living essential oils. When I’m feeling particularly stressed and just need a little self care, I grab my Grounding essential oil and Orange essential oil. I add 1 drop of each to the palm of my hand, rub 3 times clockwise, then cup my hands to my nose to inhale them and reset my limbic system. Then, I “wash” my hands over my body by putting them on my head and rubbing down my neck, shoulders, chest, legs, and feet in one slow, relaxed motion. Then I cup my hands to the back of my neck and let the tension release. It takes me about 1 minute to do this and I always feel a million times better doing this. It helps relax me and recharges me to finish whatever is stressing me out.

Throw on some makeup. I don’t know about you but I feel SO much better when I put some makeup on. I usually just sweep on some eye shadow, throw on some mascara, and I instantly feel better with my appearance. A little mascara goes a long way and boosts my confidence. Sometimes I even just throw on some contouring powder to at least give my face some shape and brighten up my complexion. Just doing part of my makeup helps me look better and I feel more like myself again. This self care in 5 minutes or less is one you can do as you head out the door!

Give yourself a quick pedicure. I always feel so much better about myself whenever I get a chance to do a quick pedicure since I’m on my feet a lot. I turn the tub on, sit on the edge, do a foot soak and put on a foot mask, then turn on my Amopé™ Pedi Perfect Wet & Dry Rechargeable Foot File to smooth my feet. If I really have extra time, I grab some polish and paint my toes. It’s a great way that I like to put a little pep in my step for the day and is self care in 5 minutes! That’s super fast!

I love using the Amopé™ Pedi Perfect Wet & Dry Electronic Foot File because it’s incredibly quick and I can make myself feel better in a matter of minutes.. It has 2 different speeds, the ability to change the file when it’s dull , and you can use it wet or dry. It also has a little recharging dock that comes with it which is really nice because I hate messing with batteries! The Amopé™ Pedi Perfect Wet & Dry Electronic Foot File also features an ergonomically designed soft touch handle for a better grip when wet, which is especially nice because I prefer to soak my feet in the tub to give myself extra pampering. It’s the first foot file I’ve used that gently and effectively buffs away rough, dry feet and hard calloused skin effortlessly.

Get in some prayer time. Saying a quick prayer or spending 5 minutes in prayer really can change my whole day and helps me to be in a better in body, soul, and mind. I love that I can wipe my worries away during prayer. I love reading Jesus Calling for a quick paragraph or two to help me reflect on the day.

Getting dressed for the day. I know this sounds self explanatory, but being a work from home mom means that I have the luxury of staying in my pjs if I want. It can become a nasty habit that I get into on days when we don’t have appointments out of the house and I know I don’t have to go anywhere. I’ve been making it a point to get dressed every single day even if I know I’m not leaving my house. I feel better knowing I look nice and I’m so much more confident too. Getting dressed for the day gives me energy to clean the house more, want to cook dinner, and play until Addie can’t play anymore. If I can get a bit of self care in 5 minutes by throwing on a nice outfit, then I absolutely do it so I can feel my best.

I plan on taking more time for myself throughout the year. In fact, I’ll be going to Young Living convention in June, celebrating my 30th birthday in July, and planning lots of fun activities for Mathew, Addie, Pearl, and me. There are endless ways to have self care in 5 minutes with your family and without and it’s my hope that by the end of this year I’ll be a little bit closer to being the mom I want to be.

What are your favorite ways to spring into self care in 5 minutes or less this Spring? Comment below and then grab your Amopé™ Pedi Perfect Wet & Dry Rechargeable Foot File at Amope.com!

Filed Under: beauty ·