My life with Endometriosis

Ok so its after taking me the guts of a week to sit and write this since I spoke about Endometriosis on Snapchat.

 
Have you heard of Endometriosis before?

Well I'm about to tell you what it is, why and my life with it....

Endometriosis is often painful disorder in which tissue that normally lines the inside of your uterus - the endometrium - grows outside your uterus. Endometriosis most commonly involves your ovaries, fallopian tubes and tissue lining your pelvis. Rarely, endometrial tissue may spread beyond pelvic organs. ( this is what google says)

So basically every time you get a period this is what happens. In some cases it can happen at any stage throughout the month.
The reason I'm doing this today is to raise awareness on Endometriosis and to know the signs if you have it.

Endometriosis (endo for short) is a non visable disease that's sadly their is no cure for as of yet and can affect your fertility if left un treated.
If you find every month when you get your period that you are in horrible pain and the over the counter pain killers aren't taking away the pain. If you find yourself reaching for prescription pain killers to make it through the day then that's not normal period behaviour.

If you find that each month they become more and more painful, stuck in bed, not being able to go to work or school, feeling pain in your stomach or back, bleeding is heavier or they are becoming irregular then you need to see your GP.

There are treatments available to help with Endo and surgery available just make sure you persist with your GP and make sure they listen.
The reason I'm saying this is because here's my story and why I want everyone to be aware and not go down the road I did.....

I first got my period when I was 9 (this is also another sign of endo) and they where fairly normal ish until I was 11. Things became worse, my periods where so bad with pain I wouldn't be able to go to school. I was always sick. I used to and still do catch anything that's going.
I was brought to my GP and told to just take prescribed pain killers that it was just "bad periods".
     As time went on I wouldn't be able to go to school or go to friends parties because the pain would be so bad even with the pain killers.
From the age of maybe 14 or so things got really bad I was always sick. Always in agony with pain and absolutely dreaded getting my period. I never done a full week of school and when I would get my period I rarely made one day of that week. I would vomit, pass out because the pain would be so intense and bad. Trips to A&E that would be pointless. I would gain weight. I'd have constipation and extreme diarrhoea. When I did make it to school I would pass out in school and would have to be sent home.

 
As this was on going the doctor would always say the same its just "bad periods" nobody would listen. This isn't normal I don't believe there is such a thing as a bad period!
     I reached 17 and at this point I was in pain everyday both my stomach and back and my stomach was always bloated, swolling and hard to the touch. I had bad pain down my right leg and was very painful to walk. Trips to A&E always happened throughout the years but became more frequent around that age... I don't know how many times they where going to remove my appendix! Once I was filled with pain killers I would always be sent on my merry way.
I was then put on the pill as a trial to see if that would help  at all and it didn't tired taking it each month and then taking the weeks break and straight back onto it. That didn't work so then they tried taking it continuesly without the weeks break and still no improvement.

A specialist then done a laprascopy which is when they put a camera in through your belly button ( this is the only way you can tell if you have endo ) and they found endo. I was then put on a hormone tablet which left me with very bad depression and sent to see another specialist for treatment.
They made me walk across a room and said I had pulled a muscle in my leg to just go swimming and how many times a day would I be happy... No joke that's what I was asked. I was then told to continue taking the medication for another 6 months and to come back and see them. Even though the medication was making me feel so down and depressed. 

My parents then decided they would take me to see a doctor in New York. I was in college at the time studying to become a Beauty Therapist and Makeup Artist. I'd always wanted to do it so I was trying my best to her through it even though it was really tough. 

I went to see the doctor on a mid term break and we spent four hours in his office with him. He asked had I pain down my leg and finding it hard to walk that that was a sign of endo (in some cases). 

That day we decided on a treatment plan to get me though the rest of college and help treat the endo until I returned for surgery. 

He put me into a medically induced menopause along with other medication on top. This would shut everything down preventing the endo for spreading even more and shrink it a little. 

I was never skinny as a kid or teenager but never over weight... That changed when I was put on the medication. I gained a lot of weight and I was in a full blown menopause... Mood swings, hot flashes, cravings, crying, was just a few. I was still in a lot of pain but I knew it wouldn't spread anymore. 

I returned to NewYork 9 months layer mad had surgery. What should have been an hour max turned into 4 hours of surgery to remove the endo. To remove it they can go in by lapraoscapy through the belly button and small incisions around the belly. They then lazer off the endo and burn it off. I had more or less every where on my womb etc. 

It was a tough recovery but the doctor was amazing. I was put on the pill continuesely without a break. If I had a period it would grow again more. 

Even though I stayed on the pill all the time it did grow back and I had it removed another 2 times since then. 

I tried every pill, medication, hormone, you and isn't I've tried it! 

I still suffer to this day with it but I know now what I'm capable of doing and what I can and can't do. 

My weight does fluctuate a lot and it can be hard to shift weight at times. 

I've now decided and started on a gluten, dairy, caffeine and refined sugar free diet to help manage and hopefully improve things. As these food can trigger symptoms or make them worse if you are suffering at that time. 

I'm taking a step in going down the alternative route and holistic treatments. 

I've tried everything else I may as well give this a try!! 

That's basically my story and this is why I want everyone to be endo aware. If you know someone who suffers with any of these symptoms please get them to speak to their GP and if they don't feel like they are being listened to persist and make sure someone listens. We all know our own bodies and we know when something is wrong. Don't let anyone fob you off. 

It took 7 years for someone to listen to me and help me don't let that be you. 

I don't want anyone to go through what I've gone through and if by me telling my story and what symptoms I have or had help someone I'll be happy. 

If anyone has any questions or has Endometriosis and want to tell me what they do to help them feel free to message me. The more we know the better!! 

Thanks for reading this and please feel free to share it if you found helpful or helpful to someone else. 

I'll pop up a part two to this soon regarding the diet and lifestyle change and what products o use if anyone would like to know more. 

Rebecca xxx 

3 Ingredients gluten free cookies

I think it was late last week that I seen the 3 ingredient cookies being made on Tv3's Ireland Am. 

I thought wow their super quick and easy to make and would make a healthy snack. 

I changed one of the ingredients to gluten free porraige oats instead of regular and here's how they turned out 

The ingredients: 

2 bananas

125g gluten free porridge oats 

         ( you can use regular if you want ) 

50g of desiccated coconut 

Method: 

Preheat oven to 180 degrees 

Mash bananas until becomes a paste. 

Add the rest of ingredients into the bowl and mix all together. 

 

Place spoonful onto grease proof paper on baking tray and press down until becomes flat. 

Make sure to leave space between each cookie. 

 

Cook for 10 mins until golden brown in colour. 

Eat while warm or store in and air tight container. 

I added some mixed nuts on top to add a bit more flavour 

 

This is a personal preference. Some fruits or chocolate chips added to the mix before cooking would also be nice. 

Surya Brasil Henna Cream

So I got the Surya Brasil Henna Cream Semi - Permanent hair colour in the shade Reddish Dark Blonde €13.80 

 

I'd never tried a henna hair colour before but was very intrigued to try one. This Surya Brasil range doesn't contain Ammonia, Gluten, Hydrogen Peroxide, Parabens, Sodium  Chloride, Mineral Oil. 

Which means it's great on your hair and conditions at the same time because it contains 

Vitamin A, B, C, E, Aloe Vera, Arnica, Brasil Nut, Hazelnut, Malva. 

It's a safer more natural way to colour your hair, cover greys and change your hair colour. 

It comes in 15 shades - black, dark brown, golden brown, light brown, burgundy, mahogany, red, reddish dark blonde, copper, ash blonde, golden blonde, Swedish blonde, light blonde, silver fox. 

Priced at €13.80 

Now my own hair is quite dry and damaged from bleaching it to make it lighter. It's a copper shade so I chose the reddish dark blonde to give my own hair more of a vibrant colour. I wanted a deep conditioning colour so this was definitely the one. 

In the box you get the henna cream, gloves, plastic cap, clean up shampoo, reviving conditioner. 

So the henna cream cones in a bottle like this 

 

This bottle is great because you can re use the product unlike most you have to bin what's left.

So what you do is : 

Wash your hair first with the Clean - up shampoo 

 

Then you towel dry your hair leaving it damp (I brushed my hair through so as their was no knots) 

Then I applied the henna to my hair from the roots to the mid sections. 

I sectioned my hair making sure it was all covered. You can use a brush for applicator or your fingers... I found using my hands fairly easy. Then I basically massaged it into my hair I didn't brush it because this would pull the cream away from the hair. 

For my hair colour the chart said to leave for 60 mins so I did. The plastic cap is ment to go on over the colour and left until ready to rinse. 

I rinsed it off without using shampoo basically letting the water run clear. 

Then using the conditioner 

 

And left it in for about 5 minutes. 

Once it was washed my hair smelled lovely but not too over powering. 

It brushed it very easily some times it can be hard to brush after colouring. 

When dried it was lovely and had a lovely shine to it making it look and feel super healthy. 

The colour itself was more of a copped red which fab but I'm thinking that was because of my hair being copped to start with. It was so vibrant. 

It did was out and fade a little quicker than other hair colours but that's to be expected giving their is no chemicals or peroxide in it. 

The only other thing is it contains nuts products so if you have an allergy make sure you can use it first before applying to your hair. 

Over all I really liked it and I will definitely be picking up another box. It covered my roots and greys. I might try the Copper colour next to see what that's like over my copper colour. 

The Health Store stock it both online and in selected stores. Liffey Valley stocks the Surya Brasil range. 

Let me know if you have tried it or plan on trying it :)

Rebecca xxx 

Shiseido Synchro Skin Foundation

I was recently sent the Shiseido Synchro Skin Foundation from the lovely Fiona from TheWorksPR

 

If you have been following my blog, Snapchat and Facebook you will know I've been loving the Shiseido Range, so much so that I will be adding it to my makeup kit! 

So let's talk about this foundation that everyone has been raving about across all social media. 

The foundation itself is suitable for ALL skin types... Yeah all skin types. Now when I hear that I think... Ah this isn't going to work great or last because certain skin types need to have certain ingredients and some skins need less of  said ingredients for a product to really last. So I will be honest I was very sceptical about it. 

The foundation improves kind complexion and is a buildable coverage. 

Now I tried and tested this foundation almost every day since I got it in many different ways.... Which you would have seen on my Snapchat - lipstickglitz 

I tried it without any skin prep, primer, or powder to set and it lasted all day with very little shine to the face which I was very suprised by. It was a warm humid day and I honestly thought it would melt off my face and it didn't!! 

I tried the foundation with skin prep ie. Cleanse, toning and moistursing and no primer just set it with powder and it worked great.. Again very little shine on the face. 

I then tried the foundation with my normal routine of makeup. Prep, primer and set and there was a big difference it was literally fresh looking all day long, again no shine. 

Finally I tried it for a night out which would really test its durability. I applied the makeup earlier in the day doing the same routine as previous and it glided onto the skin and was flawless looking. I built it up a bit more in areas that needed a bit more coverage and didn't apply and concealer to cover areas only to highlight. 

Here's a pic of the makeup on the day/night 

 

Here you can see it's like a second skin. It's not thick or 'cakey' looking and sits lovely on the skin. 

Now this foundation held up great all trough the evening right up to 6am the following morning when I went to remove it. 

There is no orange tone off the foundation which is great because some can oxidise as time goes on and colour can change. 

Again there was no shine or oil on the skin. 

Over all I really loved it and will continue to use it and stock it for my kit. 

This would be a perfect foundation for a Bridal Party, Bride or anyone looking for their makeup to last all day/night long for a function. 

The only thing I would suggest is applying a primer before putting it on. It will just make the application easier and blend and look better on the skin. 

The foundation is €48 and available from Arnotts, Harvey Nichols Dundrum and good pharmacys Nationwide. 

Let me know if you have tried it or plan on picking it up :)

Rebecca xxx 

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BBold Flawless Legs Medium Tan

Now as you all know I'm a tan aholic so I love a good tan and one thing I never talk about much is instant tans. 

So bBold Flawless Legs in Medium €6.99 from Dolledup.ie plus many pharmacys nationwide 

 

I've used this tan a few times and have been loving it. I apply it over tan on my legs because like most tans they don't always take as dark on my legs. It evens out the skin tone so it hides brushes and veins that we don't like to expose when wearing skirts, or shorts. 

I apply mine with a Glove Your Body Tanning Mitt and it literally glides onto the legs and dries in nice and quick so you're not waiting long to pop clothes on. It won't rub off onto your clothes either which is great and come off in the rain!!! 

 

Warm soapy water, shower or bath removes it so don't worry spiller drink on a night out isn't as much of a worry as you think when wearing the Flawless Legs. 

You don't have to just apply to the legs it's great on your arms or chest to which is handy for fixing up any tan lines. 

If you want a dark tan on the legs though I'd go for the darker version if you don't have any other tan on before applying. 

If you have tried it what did you think? 

Rebecca xxx 

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Shiseido Meet-Up Event

On Wednesday evening I was kindly invited to a Shiseido Meet-up event to show some bloggers about the range of products and the brand itself.  

When I got there I arrived to a lovely training room layed out really lovely and greeted with such a warm welcome. The lovely Fiona couldn't have been any nicer and organised such a great event. 

There where canapés on arrival along with prosecco. What a spread it was!! 

 

 

 

 

Shiseido is over 145 years old and was founded in 1872 in Japan. 

They are in Ireland since 1992, I have heard of the brand and to be quite honest I never really knew too much about them so I was intrigued to hear more about them. 

They are a skincare, makeup and fragrance company and own many other well know brands such as Nars and Issey Miyake plus many more. 

The event itself was amazing and very informative which is safe to say I NEED SHISEIDO in my life!! 

They where the first to bring out a 24 hr moisturiser which is sold ever 15 seconds. They are also the first brand to bring out Bio-hyalauronic acid which plumps the skin along with moistursing the skin and leave it looking radiant. 

My favourite of all is the Ultimune product which is a serum that treat any imperfection or blemishes on the skin along with leaving it look radiant!! These are the most awarded cosmetic on the market with over 54 global awards. 

 

 

Everyone was shown a couple of clips about the brand, where it came from and the founder along with a couple of videos showing the powder of makeup and your take on things about cosmetics along with a brief over view of the brand. 

I found it all very informative. 

We where then shown a makeup demo from the lovely Danielle Mahon who is a brand ambassador for Shiseido. Here's the link to her site Danielle Mahon

Danielle talked us through the brand and some of her favourite products. 

It's always great to see other MUA's in action :) 

I went mad about the new foundation and I am only dying to get my hands on it. 

 

It's Synchro Skin €48 

The foundation is suitable for all skin types because it adapts you your skin when you apply it. It's abuildable coverage and inhances the skins natural vitality and complection. 

I tested it out on the back of my hand and it dried in so nice. I left it on my hand for a good few hours and it didn't transfer onto my clothes. I rubbed it quite a few times and it didn't budge. Now if you are like me and want a foundation that doesn't look cakey, improves skin and doesn't rub off easy this seems to be the one. I love the fact that it suits every skin type and tone so there's no worrying what type or under tone is needed it suits everyone! 

I will definitely be stocking up on this for myself as well as my kit. 

The evening itself was great I met some lovely new bloggers that I'd never met before and caught up with some I'd not seen in awhile. All in all it was a great evening.  

When leaving we were all giving an amazing goody bag to take home 

 

Containing all these goodys and it's safe to say I've tried the cleanser and loving it. I'll have all info and reviews on the products we received up very soon. 

In the mean time if you have Snapchat follow mine lipstickglitz and you will see all info about the products when I use them. 

Thanks again to the lovely and fab Fiona from  

The Works PR for inviting me and everyone at Shiseido Ireland. 

Rebecca xxx 

The Body Shop - Oils Of Life

A little while ago I picked up The Body Shop Oils Of Life Intensely Revitalising Facial Oil at the Elite Munster Blogger event in Limerick. 

One of the lovely ladies from The Body Shop talked me through the range and was so informative on the products so I just knew I had to have the facial oil. 

 

I'm a big fan of oils for my skin as I'm super dry and dehydrated at the best of times so the oils really work their way into the skin. 

This oil is so natural and had three natural ingredients which work wonders on the skin. Black Cumin Oil from Egypt, Rosehip Oil from Chile, and Camella Oil from China. 

These three ingredients are antioxidants, omega 3 and 6, oleic acid which all leave the skin looking revitalised and reduce signs of aging along with leaving the skin looking smoother and radiant and deeply nourished. 

You apply 1-2 drops onto the face and becky and gently massage into the skin morning and night before applying your cream. 

I've been doing this for quite awhile now to really test out the product and I have noticed a massive difference on my face. 

It's much more radiant and healthy looking along with reducing the dryness on my skin. In fact if I don't use it for a day or two the difference in dryness is crazy. 

The oil itself smells lovely and when you apply it it literally absorbs into the skin without leaving your skin tacky or oily. 

With this product being so good I decided to apply it to my hands which do be really dry and to my elbows and any other parts of my body that are really dry. They have all gradually improved and are not as dry. 

By apply the oil to my hands it will also reduce the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The first sign of aging is on your hands so make sure you start treating your hands along with your face and neck :) you won't regret it.... Trust me!!! 

A 30ML bottle is €48 from the It's quite expensive but a very little goes a long way so you will get ages out of this bottle. 

The Body Shop

Have you got this or plan on picking it up? 

Rebecca xxx 

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