When I first noticed the dark circles under my eyes, I was convinced it was left over mascara from the night before. As I grabbed my cotton pad and wiped, the darkness remained. I seriously thought to myself – ‘What is going on? Why isn’t this make up coming off?’

I had never dealt with dark under eye circles before having a baby, and even though I was waking up throughout the night to nurse, I still felt relatively rested {I probably sound crazy when I say that, but I’ve always been a solid sleeper and just napped during the day when the baby napped {which felt like a lot TBH!} Anyways! The thought that these circles were caused from Henning didn’t even cross my mind, which honestly feels silly now, but maybe I was still in that delirious newborn stage to really think things through. Who knows.

All I know now is that these little purple circles are for sure from my sweet little baby, and they probably aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Although he’s worth every last bit of it, I’m not against trying to find a solution either. Enter in: you guys. If you’ve been following me for a while, you know I’m not much of a make up girl. I don’t know that much about it, and I also don’t wear that much of it. So I polled you guys – I asked what your favorite concealers were – which ones you couldn’t live without, and which were the best of the best. And guess what? Over 85% of you recommended this one from Cle De Peau.

At $70 a pop, I wasn’t too thrilled about this recommendation. But a quick google search will tell you, that you guys are onto something. I know I’m not the only woman out there desperate for a fix that could make me look a little more human after another long night of no sleep, but I also know that spending $70 on a 5 gram stick of concealer is crazy. Or so I thought.

Let’s first start with a before photo. I actually had a before photo taken by my photographer but it turned out too well {bless her – her job is to make me look good after all} but I wanted to show y’all the real, unedited, version of my under eye circles. They are below :-/

Ok, phew, now that that is over with, let’s get on to the solution part. I ordered the concealer and this little brush as soon as I could. I was excited to see what all the hype was about. I had tried a few other popular concealers before polling you guys, and didn’t find any success with those, so I was anxious to find a solution that actually worked for me.

Can I just go ahead and say I really like this stuff? Y’all weren’t kidding. It’s good. At first I wasn’t sure because it was a bit creamy. I’m used to a more liquid concealer. Something that glides on really easily. This isn’t that. And you know what? Maybe that’s why it actually worked for once? It made my skin look like my skin, but better.  It didn’t cake up, or look too heavy. It honestly gave me that Instagram worthy finish that looks really good. Almost too good….Almost.

Even though the stick was creamier than I was used to, it was still super easy to apply. I am still figuring out my favorite method, but so far I swipe the stick under the eye and then blend it in first, with my brush and then with a damp beauty blender. It gives a super soft, almost airbrush finish without settling into my fine lines.

As for the color, I chose the shade as close to my natural skin tone as possible. I’m not trying to ‘lift’ or ‘brighten’ here, I just want to conceal. There are six Cle De Peau shades available and I chose Beige.

Ok, so there you have it! I’m two weeks into using this little miracle product and I can {begrudgingly?} say that it is worth every penny. I no longer look like I’ve stayed out all night partying {or let’s be real – breastfeeding} all night and if I have to pay a premium for that, then it’s worth it to me. The only thing I might add is a color corrector which will help cover the under eye circles even more. You apply this before the concealer to help even or ‘cancel’ out the darkness. I’ve never done it before {like I said, I’m a novice} but I’ve heard it’s an important step before applying under eye concealer if your darkness is really bad {*raises hand*}.

I’m new to Cle De Peau, but after this win, I’m now excited to check out more of their products. If you want to see more, head to Nordstrom where you can find a huge assortment of beauty items. With free shipping + returns, and an incredible return policy, I never buy my make up items anywhere else!

Let me know in the comments if you’ve tried this concealer and what your thoughts are! Do you think it’s worth the $$? Have you found others that work better? I’d love to know!

photos: The Retro Penguin

thank you to Nordstrom for sponsoring this post

After having seen the Sio Beauty anti-wrinkle pads on Instagram for months, I finally bit the bullet and ordered the chest pad about a month ago. Having been pretty flat-chested my entire life, I have recently noticed wrinkles forming in the décolletage area of my chest since becoming pregnant and wanted to do something about it. What is that saying? That your neck, chest and hands are more likely to give away your age than your face – and I think that is probably 100% true! We spend so much time and energy trying to make sure our faces look great that we neglect other areas on our body that often need help in the aging department too. I wanted to try and nip these wrinkles in the bud before the lines became deep and set in place for forever.

WHAT IT IS: A silicone pad that is worn overnight to prevent the formation of wrinkles. Doctors have previously recommended similar pads to be worn for the purpose of healing scars and burns. To quote Sio Beauty: “When medical grade silicone is placed on the skin, it creates a micro-climate between the skin and the silicone. This unique environment helps the skin heal itself as two things happen. First, moisture is drawn up from skin’s lower layers to the outside layers, allowing the skin to plump, fill in and smooth itself. Second, the production of collagen, the protein that holds the skin together, is activated and normalized. The result is the diminished appearance of wrinkles.”

WHAT’S INCLUDED: 1 SiO SkinPad (15 uses per pad) 

PRICE: $29.95 for 1 pad

MY REVIEW: Like I said, I had been wanting to try this chest pad for ages, but didn’t have a real need until recently when I started seeing lines forming after long nights of rest {I blame hormones and major pregnancy boobs! ;)} The instructions say to cleanse the skin thoroughly before applying, so I waited until right after I showered to use. It was super easy to apply and although it felt a little odd at first, I got used to it pretty quickly. I was a little worried how it would feel once I laid down on my side though – as I mentioned before, I’m pregnant so side sleeping is my only option! Honestly, it wasn’t that bad either. The silicone makes the pad pretty comfortable and I didn’t feel like it was peeling off or coming unstuck at all which was good. Waking up, I definitely noticed a difference – my skin was wrinkle free where there were normally lines.

Overall, I liked this product, and I would use again but probably only the night before a shoot, or a big event. Otherwise, it is $2 per wear, and you would need to spend $60 a month to be able to wear one every night and I just don’t think that it the best long-term solution. I think I will apply my serums and creams to my décolletée and hope that that works in between Sio pad uses!

Shop all the Sio Beauty silicone pad options below and let me know what you think in the comments!

Y’all know I can’t live without my truffle clarity case clutch – I use them for everything.  For travel, for cord organization, for keeping things organized in my purse….the list goes on. But recently, I’ve been getting a lot of requests for the less expensive version {something I also own and love!} so I wanted to share that with you here.

The original case is amazing because it is high quality and will last. But sometimes you just need the same sort of thing, and don’t need it to last for forever. Case in point: a lot of my mom friends swear by the dupe version for their kids diaper bags. They hold a few diapers, a cream and other essentials and are great for handing off to teachers at school. Also perfect for holding wet swimsuits after a lesson, or collecting trash in the car. I mean really, for $2 a bag, you don’t have to feel bad about these wearing out after a few good months of use.

The dupes also come in a stand up version if you’re looking for a travel cosmetic bag – I don’t own these but they look great and super easy. Can’t beat the price point either.

Hope this is helpful! x