In my hand luggage

August 4, 2015

I have been on the road so often lately that my suitcase is just sitting open on the floor and gets emptied and refilled again on a regular basis. I also never have the patience for waiting for suitcases at airports, so I have been honing my talents of traveling not only with a capsule wardrobe but also with a little transparent bag instead of a sponge bag.

I thought it could be fun to share with you my little “capsule” transparent bag, so here is a list of some of my favourite things I always travel with:

Uriage facial wipes because they are the best: efficient, great for sensitive skin and one wipe is enough to get your face squeaky clean.
I actually am now French enough that I feel like I am missing something if I leave the house without perfume. Esther gave me this perfume stick recently and I am addicted, it is teeny and is not classified as a fluid and it also smells heavenly.
Klorane Dry Shampoo: This stuff is genius, especially if you have to get up early, jump on plane and then go straight to a meeting.
I actually often do not take a foundation when I travel but only a tinted moisturizer. This Caudalie one is great, as it makes my skin look fresh and natural and also moisturises very well which basically makes it a two-in-one.
This Burt’s Bees lip balm is actually not available in France so I scoop it up every time I am in the UK or the US. I get very dry lips when I travel, so I love the fact that it moisturises and also adds a little colour to my lips.
I always have an eye mask with me as I like to sleep in the dark and I never know where I might pitch up for the night. Especially in Northern European countries in the summer I hate getting woken up when the sun is rising! This eye mask from Muji is super soft and machine washable.

Do let me know if you have any tips, I would love to hear!

– Emilie

Dr Hauschka Sage and Mint Deodorant

July 6, 2015

For years I have been testing organic, non-toxic deodorants as I, like a lot of you, have been reading about how bad normal deodorants are for us. The problem is: I have never found one that actually works! And I do like smelling good, so that was a bit too much of a stumbling block for me. I have been testing and trying but ultimately have always returned to my unhealthy but very effective commercial deodorants.

But yesterday Esther, who was in Paris this weekend, and I might have found the solution: Dr Hauschka’s Sage Mint Deodorant. You have to understand that we are having a massive heatwave here in Paris, with temperatures going up to 41 degrees and no air conditioning, so it was the perfect time to put a deodorant to the test. And it worked! I am happy to report back that not only do we not smell, we even totally forgot that we were not wearing super strengh deodorant. So a bit thumbs up to Dr Hauschka for finally coming up with a natural deodorant that actually works!

– Emilie

Pregnancy Yoga DVD by Nadia Narain

April 24, 2015

I’ve mentioned Nadia before (here), and in that post I wrote a little bit about how she supported me through my pregnancy with Marlow and how she transformed the way I view childbirth. I am certain it is because of her yoga classes and support that I was able to give birth in a way I had always dreamed about doing. Nadia’s classes are both empowering and beautiful, offering both the emotional tools as well as physical endurance to feel strong, grounded and capable of giving birth.

I’m actually just about to head over to one of her (non pregnancy) classes this evening (!), but I wanted to quickly write to let you know that her new pregnancy dvd is finally out and I’m so excited to share about it with all of you lucky pregnant mamas. Her Everyday Yoga dvd is awesome (my husband does 20 minutes of yoga with her dvd nearly every morning before work!), and is such an easy way to squeeze in yoga from your home whenever it is convenient. How wonderful for pregnant mothers to be able to practice yoga in the same way, from the comfort of your home and without having to pay for each class.

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!
Courtney x

A quick morning make-up solution

January 29, 2015

With four children to get ready in the morning for their school and daycare, lunch boxes to prepare, gym bags to collect, my mornings are a bit hectic to say the very least. Most of the time my husband drops the kids off to school on his way to work (all of them piled up on the bakfiets!), but when I do the school run, there’s not much time (like none) to apply any make-up before we run out the door. Enter Estée Lauder Daywear Sheer Tint Release Moisturiser, a one step morning solution I swear by. If there’s no time for anything else, this cream will make my skin look smoother and more radiant. It works a little like magic — it goes on without colour, but when you apply it the tint and glow will magically appear on your skin! That, and some lip balm, leaves me feeling just that little bit more pulled together. In less than ten seconds.

As always, I’m very curious to find out about great, easy-to-use beauty products that have a nice, natural effect. Please share your favourites?

xxx Esther

Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery

November 4, 2014

When it comes to the world of beauty products, I’ve been living on planet Mars. If you read my beauty uniform post on A Cup of Jo, you’ll already know that most of the beauty products I use are ones that I’ve used since I was a teenager. I hardly ever try anything new. So boring, I know.

But when I was staying at Esther’s house last week, I discovered this pretty blue glass bottle of Kiehl’s Midnight Recovery sitting on her bathroom counter and I decided to test it out. The bottle promises ‘younger looking skin by morning’. I mean, even a Martian alien would be intrigued by that. Right?

I loved the feeling of the essential oils on my skin (a bit oily, but not greasy or heavy) and the smell was so soothing and calming for bedtime. I’m sure it’s a bit of a placebo effect, but I woke up feeling like my skin was happier and healthier looking. I’m ordering my own bottle right now!

Courtney x

Wearing lipstick!

July 8, 2014

Apart from playing dress-up with my mom’s lipstick when I was little, I have never been a lipstick girl. I tried lip gloss when I was in college, but I could never figure out how to keep my hair from getting stuck in my lips, especially in windy Chicago! (Is there a trick I’m not aware of?) And I’ve always felt that a bold coloured lipstick made my lips look even bigger, making me look a bit clown-like.

So when my friend Joanna from A Cup of Jo asked me to test out some lipsticks for a beauty tutorial on her blog, I laughed her off and told her I don’t look good in lipstick. But she persuaded me to try, and I must say I was pleasantly surprised when I tested them out. There is something about lipstick that makes you feel flirty and fun and can make you look instantly more put-together, even with messy hair and sleepy eyes. : )

The lipstick feature is up on A Cup of Jo. We tested out three different orangey colours. Which one is your favourite? Do you have others to recommend? (I still haven’t bought a lipstick yet so any suggestions you have are welcomed!)

x Courtney

p.s. How pretty is this dress by Ace & Jig?! The dress definitely steals the show.

Gorgeous jewellery by Tiny-Om

April 14, 2014

We’ve known the talented French designer Virginie Dreyer for a while now. She has set up a few wonderful creative initiatives, for instance the charity project Tiny-Us, where you can download a selection of darling stationary. Virginie’s newest adventure is her most ambitious and wonderful to date : Tiny-Om, a gorgeous and meaningful line of precious jewellery.

Virginie’s unique designs, available in 18 carat rose or white gold, are all designed around her love for yoga. In her first Tiny-Om collection, she’s interpreting the lotus flower, which represents the seven chakras (the energy points within each person), aiming to create a link between worldly matters and the poetry of the soul. This results in a collection of fine designs, ranging from necklaces to earrings, in which each piece is provided with a protective nature.

The collection is made by hand with the utmost detail and care in the workshops of one of the most famous and celebrated jewellers of the Middle East, the Al Zain jewellery house in Virginie’s adoptive country, Bahrain. The level of craftsmanship of the pieces is remarkable — Virginie very kindly sent me a necklace to see by myself and I can witness — it is just so beautifully made. The level of detail is impressive! The presentation of the necklace is also admirable — it came in a specially made wooden box, amazing!

With Tiny-Om, Virginie is again giving a helping hand to ‘Présence’, a French charity helping handicapped adults and children, with varying degrees of developmental disabilities.

xxx Esther

Organic children’s shampoo and conditioner

January 22, 2014

My oldest daughter Sara was pretty much bald when she was born, and didn’t have much hair until she was two. But now that she’s eight, she has a head full of it — there is so, so much of it. (So don’t despair, mamas of bald baby girls!) Because detangling all of that hair after washing it is no fun, I have been on the lookout for an organic conditioner that is made especially for children, and I have finally found a great one.

Organic Children makes conditioner with smoothing plant oils and proteins which leaves hair silky soft and shiny and easy to detangle. It is gentle on delicate children’s skin (it is even suitable for children with eczema and psoriasis) and there are no nasty parabens, phthalates etc. I also love the Organic Children shampoo, with natural bubbles from Yucca. There are different natural fragrances available — we love ‘Berry Smoothie‘ which is perfect for fine and straight hair and smells so good you want to eat it up.

xxx Esther

Klorane Dry Shampoo

January 13, 2014

I have been travelling a lot lately in planes, trains and automobiles… which has been a lot of fun, but the one thing that has suffered a little bit is my hair. Waking up in the early hours and getting my girls ready and out of the door to catch a train does not leave much time for styling and by the end of the day my hair looked distinctly lacklustre.

I read about Klorane Extra Gentle Dry Shampoo on a Cup of Jo a while ago and decided to give it a go without much conviction, but, seriously, it works! Now, my hair did not feel any cleaner, but it looked great, clean and with a bit of a bounce. This, in turn, made me feel a little bit less travel weary!

If you are in France you can pick up the dry shampoo in most Pharmacies, but you can also order it off Amazon.

– Emilie

Baby Bear Shop organic bath!

December 10, 2013

Marlow still fits in our laundry room deep sink and it’s my favourite way to bathe her. No crouching over, no wasting water, and having her up at my level makes it easier to wash and rinse her. (I think it’s her favourite way to be bathed too – she always points at the sink asking to get in it!)

We have recently discovered the Baby Bear Shop range of organic bath products and love the Wishy Wash baby wash/shampoo and the natural Baby Bird bar soap. It has a very delicate, natural smell and a gentle sudsy-ness. Perfect for sensitive baby skin. I also love their gorgeous packaging (made from recycled paper!) and that they plant a tree with every order placed.

xx Courtney

An Interview on Chic Little Baby (and some photos from the summer!)

October 15, 2013

The lovely Maggie from Chic Little Baby recently asked me over to her blog for a little interview as part of her Chic Mum series. We spoke about beauty and fashion (for kids and for mamas!) and I share my very few beauty and health tips. Hop on over to her blog to read my answers!

Also, I shared some photos from this past summer, and it made me so nostalgic looking at them all. Oooh how I already miss those sunny, lazy days, the green green grass, and the tanned barefoot little kiddos! I hope you don’t mind me sharing them with you here (sorry for the photo overload!). (Photos were taken by Sara Welch when we were in the Seattle area this summer. )

xx Courtney

Susanne Kaufmann: Heaven for Your Skin

July 31, 2013

I’ve been on the lookout for good organic cosmetic products for a while now and up to this day I have found quite a few great ones which is not really easy to do to be quite honest. Most of them just don’t do anything for me. But what I noticed is the older I get the pickier I am and I also want it to come in nice containers. There is nothing nicer than a bunch of pretty bottles on the bathroom shelf, don’t you think? Of course the content is what counts the most but it doesn’t hurt if it also looks nice.

So I recently got to try out a few products from Susanne Kaufmann, a holistic natural organic line of products for the whole body. I love the fact they produce everything in their own manufacturing facility in Bregenzer Forest in the Austrian Alps and they actually even fill, seal and pack every single product by hand in glass jars – the pretty kinds.

I have tried this Skin Smoothing Concentrate and it is absolutely amazing – I have never tried anything like it before, pure liquid gold I tell you. I have also tried the Eye Cream, Day and Night Cream from the Anti-Aging Line and loved them all. I am also currently using their Arnica Oil with vitamin E on my growing tummy in order to avoid getting stretch marks (fingers crossed) and you can only guess my thoughts on it. The thing I love the most about it is its fragrance – you can smell there’s nothing artificial about it, only good old mix of plants.

You can get all the products from their own online boutique and if you’re up for it you can also visit their Spa Centre in Bregenz Forest – I’d be more than happy to join you!

-Polona

Recipe: Home-Made Deodorant! (Yes, you’ve Read it Right!)

July 11, 2013

I’ve already shared this recipe on my blog but it’s so amazing I just have to post it here as well. I’ve tested it during the hot summer days and it works like a charm. It’s natural, organic and like I said – it’s a recipe but it’s not food, in fact it’s deodorant! Yes, organic and home made from things you probably already have at home and it really, trully works. That’s something I had problems finding – a natural deodorant that actually does its job.

But if you’re skeptical you can simply try the baking soda first, since coconut oil is an ingredient that only makes it easier to apply and to help moisturize the skin and the essential oil is optional and you can easily skip it – it only makes it smell nicer.

You’ll need:

About two empty deodorant containers or small glass jars
6 tbs coconut oil
4 tbs baking soda
4 tbs of arrowroot or cornstarch?a few drops of essential oil (if you’d like to add a little fragrance)

Melt the coconut oil on a small fire and add the rest of the ingredients, mix well, wait so it cools down a bit pour into jars or containers and wait for it to cool down completely (you can put them into a fridge).

Voilà! That is all!

-Polona

Mum & Baby yoga

May 8, 2013

As I mentioned in this post, I took my first yoga class when I was pregnant with Marlow and after just one class I knew it would become an important part of my life from then on. I don’t know what took me so long to start up yoga, but I am so thankful I finally did. I loved taking pregnancy yoga classes when I was pregnant, and I am so convinced it helped prepare me mentally and physically for the birthing experience I had always longed for.

When Marlow was 8 weeks old we started taking yoga classes together. Once a week the two of us hop on a bus and head over to Triyoga in Primrose Hill for the Mummy & Me yoga class with Nadia Narain. It is always a highlight of the week for both of us! I love that I get to practice yoga even though I have a little baby who still can’t be left with a sitter, I love that every Wednesday I wake up and my muscles are slightly sore from the previous day’s work out, I love being surrounded by other mums with young babies and chatting to them about motherhood and baby stages, and I love ending the class with a little dance with Marlow – a special time for the two of us to share with each other. Marlow loves the bit at the end when we sing songs (Incy Wincy Spider is her favourite!), and she loves checking out all the other sweet babies in the room — I’m certain that she loves our yoga class as much as I do.

x Courtney

p.s. Marlow’s romper in the photo above is from Marie Puce.

Glitter tattoos!

March 5, 2013

These Glisten Up! glitter tattoos have been a huge success in our house lately. We got them for Pim’s recent disco party, and the entire family — grandmothers included! — now is adorned with these glitter designs. They work a bit different than the usual tattoos: first you transfer the sticky design on to the skin, then brush on the glitter (three colours are provided) with the brush that comes in the package. It’s very, very easy to do, and the results are super cool!
Available through Amazon (UK or US).

xxx Esther

Pregnancy Yoga with Nadia

February 4, 2013

I had never done yoga before… until I found myself at 32 weeks pregnant with a breech baby. A good friend (and fellow pregnant mama) recommended I try yoga, both for the physical benefit as well as to calm my mind and find a sense of peace with my pregnancy and baby. I figured I would give it a go… if, for nothing else, just to have the quiet time to myself and to dedicate a small portion of my busy day to the baby inside me.

Anyone who’s ever taken a pregnancy yoga class at Triyoga will, no doubt, be familiar with Nadia Narain. Her name is practically synonymous with yoga. I can’t tell you how many people recommended Nadia’s pregnancy yoga classes to me before I even took my first step into her class. ‘You want yoga? Oh you must speak to Nadia’.

One pregnancy yoga class with Nadia and I was a changed woman. I felt so empowered by her words, so comforted by her support, and, for the first time in my life, so prepared for my impending labour. I really believe it is thanks to her (and this book !) that I was able to achieve the labour and delivery I had always wished for. I still remember hearing her words in my head as I entered the final stages of labour. ‘Relax your body, relax your mouth, slow down your breathing…’.

It is a subject I almost find difficult to write about. You know the feeling where you have so much to say, you don’t know where to begin? Where your thoughts get so jumbled up in a rush to be spoken?! I feel this way when I think about the transformation that took place in the final weeks before Marlow was born. I just want to stand on a big soapbox and preach the benefits of yoga, to sing the praises of Nadia, and to tell every pregnant woman to read this book .

Instead, I will simply say that if you live in London, you should definitely take one of Nadia’s classes. If you don’t live in London, you can buy her pregnancy yoga CD which is awesome (and nearly as good as the real deal!) as well as her gorgeous aromatherapy candles… so that, no matter where you live or how busy you are, you can still benefit from her yoga and her teachings.

Jumping down from my soapbox now. : )

xx Courtney

Titlee, and Little Titlee

February 1, 2013

One of the exciting new discoveries we made at Playtime last weekend, is the Parisian jewellery brand Titlee (for adults) and Little Titlee (for kids). We instantly fell in love with the simple and fun designs! The strong graphics combined with the delicate chains result in very cool, contemporary and urban pieces, which are great for adults and children alike. I really love everything in the collection, and am tempted, sooo tempted…

xxx Esther

Childs Farm toiletries

January 15, 2013

We have recently discovered the Childs Farm range of children’s toiletries, and the kids and I are both happy we did. Ivy thinks the shampoo smells like lollipops and that the conditioner has magical powers because it makes the tangles go away (we’ve never used conditioner before, so she’s especially impressed). The Childs Farm products are paraben-free and all made in the UK with natural and organic ingredients, and they really do smell good. You can buy the products directly from their shop, or you can see here for stockists.

Update: Joanna from Childs Farm just wrote to say that any of our readers can receive a 20% discount on the Childs Farm products from now until the end of January. Just enter code BABYKIDS at check-out.

x Courtney

Nuxe cleansing water

September 3, 2012

Emilie introduced me to this all-in-one cleansing lotion from Nuxe, a fixed staple in her beauty routine, and I’ve become a fan too. In one single step, this alcohol-free cleansing water cleanses your face AND removes make-up, leaving your face all clean and fresh. And it smells nice too! I love doing more in less time, so this product is definitely a winner. Available through Amazon UK or US , or at French pharmacies.

xxx Esther

Aesop

July 17, 2012

The Australian skincare company, Aesop, seems to be taking over the world! There are now six Aesop stores in London, not counting the numerous stockists across the city… and I was just in Paris a few weeks ago and couldn’t help but stumble into several of their gorgeous stores. I am certainly hooked, and so it seems is the rest of the world. (I remember when Sara blogged about Aesop years ago… and how it seemed, at the time, like a small Australian novelty. Not so anymore!)

I have recently picked up their hand soap and hand cream, along with the facial cleansing masque and exfoliant paste. I am so happy with everything — I have to keep myself from going back anytime soon for fear of spending all our savings on everything in store!

x Courtney

ps – I wonder if/when they’ll launch a baby & children’s line? It must be only a matter of time…