Foundation Match

After I started my venture into make-up I got lucky and found a foundation that I really loved.  It's Loreal true match lumi and the main reason I loved it was because they make it somewhat easy to match your color.  You have to decide if you have yellow or pink undertones and then choose a shade based on that.  Their system at least narrows down the choices.  I decided I had neutral undertones because I can see both blue veins (typically means pink undertones) and green veins (typically means yellow undertones) in my arms.  I also decided that I don't burn easily (pink undertones) and while I can get tan (yellow undertones), I still burn sometimes.  You can google all kinds of things to help you decide if your skin is more pink or yellow based.  This is the first tip to picking the right foundation.  

While I was happy with my choice I kept reading reviews and watching youtube videos of all these other great foundation brands so I tried some others...and returned some others...this just taught me that reviews are a good place to start but it always comes down to what works for YOU! I tried revlon color stay mousse in the shade sand beige and I think it may have oxidized on my skin because after a few minutes of wearing it, it looked more pink/orangey than I thought.  This may have been the result of adding my bronzer and illuminator as well and the colors just didn't blend well.  

I also tried (and returned) revlon photo ready in the color nude.  I totally thought this was going to work based on some google searching to match my color but again it was too orange for me.  My friend suggested I go to MAC or Sephora and get matched for my foundation color to stop this madness.  That's tip number 2: go to the MAC store and ask them to match you to a foundation!  I found this to be super helpful and found I was the color NC25 in MAC Studio tech foundation.  One day when I leave my cheap drugstore ways behind, I'm buying that!  The big thing we noticed at MAC is my face has some redness and that can make it look pink but my body is clearly more yellow so we went with a yellow based foundation because it's important that your face matches your body.  That's tip number 3, match your body.  Side note: NC 25 may very likely be my summer shade as I'm a little tan so I may go and get re-matched in the winter to see what happens.  

Ok so now you know what color you are in MAC...how does that help with buying other brands?  Apparently the internet is full of people who wear MAC and has lots of information about if you wear this color in MAC, then you may be this color in another brand!  Cool eh?  Here's a fun website that I can't guarantee results but it's worth a try. 

Foundation matching website

I used this website to see what color I was in the Loreal true match lumi that I already knew I loved and it just put me one shade darker from what I picked originally still in the neutral category (the name is natural buff).  Here I am wearing it and look how it matches my body as I hold up my arm. (note: don't actually match your foundation to your arm...the photo was just to show you how it looks against my body.  I have heard matching to your chest is good but I'm still figuring it out...this is why I went to MAC and let them find my match.)

I do still like this foundation in the lighter shade that I have and will likely be wearing that in the winter as my small tan fades. I think the name is classic ivory or something like that but it's the lightest in the neutral series. Here are my two shades...at least I hope I am doing it right now!  (I guess I should add that there are also people all over the internet who say MAC did not match them correctly but the person I had tried multiple shades on me and asked what I thought as well as her opinion so hopefully you get someone good!)

Toddler Busy Bag Exchange

Today some friends of mine were so nice participate in a busy bag exchange with me!  I must have seen the idea on Pinterest a while back and couldn't wait to try it.  We simply exchanged our (previously made at home) busy bags at the park with a potluck of snacks while the little ones ate and played. We all felt like our first exchange (assuming we will have more) was a success. Here's hoping all of our little ones enjoy what we made!

I made a car-track out of felt that the kids can puzzle piece together and then push their little car around.

Selena bought us all little doctor kits.

Katy made two busy bags.  The first is popsicle stick puzzles with a picture cut apart then a piece is stuck to each stick. The second is a felt maze with a little marble inside to move through the felt (that one even involved a little sewing).

Melanie made us magnets (by sticking magnets on the back of erasers) on a white board with a dry erase marker.

Anjela also made two busy bags.  The first is matching the color on the clothespin with the color of the paint swatch.  The second is the numbers 1- 10 with the corresponding number of dots on each card and the child can put the corresponding number of beans on the dots.

 

Anna made popsicle sticks in the colors of the rainbow with velcro on the ends so the child can create shapes, letters and learn their colors.

An emotional rant on my decision to be a SAHM

With the school year fast approaching and numerous teaching job posts popping up in my life, I find myself struggling with my decision to be a stay at home mom (SAHM).  I get so excited thinking about the possibility to interview for a new teaching position and being able to share my years of experience from teaching inner city to the beautiful Somali population in Minneapolis, to teaching online, to teaching ESL in the Dominican Republic.  I just want to share it all and nail an interview or two!  You can barely get an interview in Minnesota without connections and after over 6 years of teaching in the state, I finally have some connections and just want to use them.  I went to school for another 6 years and got my Masters degree and feel like I want to put it to use for longer than the 6-7 years I taught.  (I heard a statistic once that most people with a teaching degree don’t last past 5 years in the field so maybe I shouldn’t complain about my 6-7).  Tonight I am feeling nostalgic for my old life…well, just my old career.  With so many teacher friends returning to work and the back to school sales and job postings, I can’t help but miss it.

I know that being able to stay at home with Joaquin is such a blessing and there is so much good I can do. I know that my education will be useful in teaching my children and it has already proven useful in other areas of my life.  This isn’t to say I won’t go back ever, I just don’t plan to full time while I have small children.  Even when I write that, I question it.  Sure it’s great to be a stay at home mom but I’m sure daycare could also teach Joaquin just fine…not to mention maybe he wouldn’t have the separation anxiety, or whatever it’s called, that he’s facing right now.  I could say that my teacher salary wouldn’t cover the cost of daycare but it would, maybe not for multiple children but at this point there are not multiple children.  That’s another thing; sometimes I feel like a mom with more than 1 kid is more justified to be a stay at home mom than me and thinking that too is terrible because I know that’s not true. 

It’s 1:30am and I can’t sleep.  I have this rant going through my mind and I need to get it out in a public forum so you can help me.  I need help remembering why it is good to be a stay at home mom even for one small, one and a half year old boy. There’s even this guilt I feel asking for that help because deep down I know I am lucky to have such an important calling to be a mother and I know of the significance I can do.  But sometimes, like tonight, I need help remembering.  Maybe you can share with me some great talk or quotes on motherhood or maybe you can tell me my feelings are justified or that you have felt something similar.  As much as I miss my career, I just can’t trade it for being able to be home with Joaquin.  If I could, I think I would have done it by now but this stay at home mom thing has me wrapped around its' little finger.  Thank you for your thoughts.