Essential Oil Diaper Rash Cream

I have found a few uses for essential oils that I do believe have helped. Hopefully I'll get around to the details of all that, but today I'm here to share about a DIY diaper rash cream.

Sometimes, my little bug just very suddenly breaks out with a terrible diaper rash. Maybe it was a really intense poo, that just didn't get changed fast enough. But... yikes.

I always feel so terrible for him, too. It must be an extremely annoying and painful thing to overcome for little ones in diapers.

I'm not lying when I say, that I've put this concoction on him at bedtime and he has woken up with the diaper rash nearly gone. Still faint, but people, nearly gone!

The recipe is simple:

◼︎1/4 cup Coconut Oil
◼︎10 drops of Lavender (essential oil)

I fractionated the coconut oil (meaning I put it in a ziplock bag and ran it under warm water until it was melted. I added it to a small bowl, added 10 drops of lavender, put the lid on and gave it a few good shakes. It would eventually solidify again on it's own, but I did stick mine in the refrigerator to speed it up.
Coconut oil in general has odd characteristics. It's sort of a chunky solid, but becomes very runny when warmed up. So, applying to a baby's bum is probably nothing less of comical. Especially a wiggly child.

I just grab a little chunk of it and start rubbing it around until it melts enough to spread over the area.

Now, to be fair, I sometimes also apply a diaper rash cream over the oil - because diaper rash creams act as seals, right? So, you're sealing in the oil, while hopefully creating one against diaper moisture. But, I don't always use a store purchased ointment on top of the DIY one. It's your choice.

The success or lack thereof is most likely dependent on skin types and severity of the rash.

My personal list of brands for this recipe are below:

Coconut Oil (much cheaper from my local Trader Joes, but this is for the same brand on Amazon for $14.99)

Essential Oil: Lavender (from my personally trusted Edens Garden for $7.25)

Calmoseptine Ointment (store purchased cream that I sometimes use over the DIY oil for $7.99 - it's really great stuff)

Hope it works for your little one if they're in need of some relief!

Bathtub Toy Basket

I've been utilizing this handy KidCo Toy Organizer for quite some time now:

I paid $15.29 for it from Amazon (get it here).

It's been a wonderful item to have, in my opinion. For one, I've yet to buy a spout cover for the bathtub. Mostly because this handy organizer, can easily be pushed in front of it, effectively blocking it off. 

It's not an enormous storage basket by any means. But, it holds plenty of things for a single bath time, and has nice separating pieces that can be adjusted to whichever slot you'd like them to be in.

The item as a whole is easily adjustable to different bathtub widths, and it stays at the adjustment you push it to pretty successfully. 

All in all, I feel it was a great purchase and would definitely recommend it to others.

Airbrush Makeup - Belletto Studio

I'm the faithful follower of a few youtube girls that are constantly giving me great ideas for hair and makeup. One of them reviewed a few different airbrush makeup kits, and that's when my obsession with airbrush makeup started.

I decided to go with Belletto, because of the brands said youtuber reviewed it came out on top in a lot of areas - and because she had a 50% off (!!) coupon for them. I'm not sure how long it will be valid for, but as of September 2014 it was still working. Coupon code: nicolexo

Initially the order process was smooth and quick. My anticipated package arrived just 4 days after placing my order.

Excitedly, I opened the package, carefully pulled out my products and was crushed with disappointment when I realized they'd sent the wrong foundation colors! I emailed them right away about the flaw. Within an hour someone called me, apologized and told me the correct items would be overnight shipped, and a few extras thrown in for me.

I was very impressed with this degree of customer service. The timing was such that an overnight shipment on Friday still wasn't going to make it to me until Monday though. So that sucked.

What sucked more was when Monday rolled around and no product showed up. Tuesday, and no product. Wednesday... and no product.

My faith in the company fell a bit. Because, in my opinion, if a package error occurs the best a company can do is overnight ship the correct items. So I was very satisfied with that being the case. Although it ended up not being the case. I finally got in touch with a customer service representative, and explained my frustrations. She told me that for (whatever reason) overnight shipping of things couldn't be done anymore. This just frustrated me more. For one, why not? Especially in the event that you're to blame for the mistake. Secondly, why the heck was I told it would be overnight shipped then?

Anyway... my correct items ended up arriving on Thursday - a week after receiving my initial product.

Onward to actual product:

It was very well packaged in a nice, visually appealing, white box.

Inside was a really nice, leather case holding the compressor, cords, airbrush gun, and educational dvd. I really love the case itself. Very convenient for travel and storing.  

Hooking it all up was very simple. It was merely three attachments. Attaching air hose to the compressor.

Attaching power cord to compressor. 

And, attaching air hose to the airgun. 

The airgun holder slid effortlessly onto the side of the compressor and is another convenient feature.

The mesh top of the case can hold several foundation/makeup bottles. 

I did watch the educational video and some other youtube videos before my first attempt. Applying this makeup is so easy though. 

Just choose your color(s). I found that mixing 7 drops of F2p and 2 drops of F2y were my perfect shade (the foundations pictured ended up being too pale for me). I'm sure a lot of people can get away using a single color. I probably would be fine with just F2p. I just ended up liking the F2y addition with my undertones. That's another thing I love about this makeup - it's so easy to mix for a perfect shade. 

Just squeeze your drops into the liquid foundation compartment and you're ready to go. If mixing different colors, I always hold the tip while slightly pulling back the trigger to let it back bubble a bit for mixing. 

I also found that I basically never need to go higher than a low medium setting on the compressor. 

Though it may look awkward at first (I thought so), it's actually quite comfortable in your hand. It's very light and the trigger is very easy and giving to use. 

It usually takes a few passes over my entire face before I've used the amount of foundation in the airgun. I've found that 8-10 drops is really good coverage for me. I cannot stress how quick it is to apply this, or how light it feels on my face. I barely feel like I'm wearing any makeup at all! Most of the time, I don't apply anything else to my face (no concealer, no powder!). Just blush and eye makeup. 

However, if beneath my eyes are particularly dark or I have some more extreme blemishes, I will dab on some of my Nyx concealer first.

Cleanup is simple. Just add in drops of water, plug the tip with your finger, and pull the trigger to let some back bubbling wash out any remaining foundation. Spray it into a cup or cloth and repeat until your backwash is clear. It takes less than a minute. 

Below are some before and after pictures. Unfortunately they weren't taken on the same day. The first day I forgot to take the after photos and on Day 2 I forgot to take before pics. Ah, what ya gonna do? They're also not so great quality as they are cell phone pictures and crappy lighting, etc. Nonetheless, it does provide a comparison. I definitely had some blemishes/imperfections that I think the airbursh makeup did an excellent job covering. The makeup lasted all day too - like 10 hours later it still looked great. And, keep in mind, I didn't wear any concealer or any powder in these photos. Seriously. 

Overall, I'm pleased with the ease of use and quality of this product, and I have already recommended it to others. If you're considering airbrush makeup, I do believe Belletto is a great choice at a very reasonable price (comparatively).