babyurbeautiful

Today I turned 36. I don't mind, but I'm suddenly more aware lately of looking old, especially working in an office with a lot of twenty-somethings.

So in honour of the downward slide to 40, I've compiled a gallery of celebrities who were also born in 1978. I've tried to find pics that are unlikely to have been airbrushed and where they aren't wearing a shedload of make-up, but in the spirit of fairness I've also avoided those hideous no make-up shots.

I was originally going to make this just women but there are some hot guys my age out there so why not share the love? Though I admit I haven't been as discriminating with the men's photos and chose ones where they look as hot as possible. Hey, it is my birthday!

January Jones. Born January 5, 1978













Joanna Page. Born March 23, 1978


Myleene Klass. Born April 6, 1978













Rachel Stevens. Born April 9, 1978

















Stana Katic. Born April 16, 1978













Katie Price. Born May 22, 1978













Zoe Saldana. Born June 19, 1978













Erica Durance. Born June 21, 1978













Nicole Scherzinger. Born June 29, 1978













Suranne Jones. Born August 27, 1978













Alesha Dixon. Born October 7, 1978


















Rachel McAdams. Born November 17, 1978













Katherine Heigl. Born November 24, 1978













Nelly Furtado, Born December 7, 1978













Katie Holmes. Born December 18, 1978













And now for the men. What are the chances that they are looking great as they near 40? Damn them!
Also be warned, this section is very gratuitous ...

Ashton Kutcher. Born February 7, 1978













Jensen Ackles. Born March 1, 1978
















Alessandro Juliani. Born April 3, 1978
(Not your traditional hottie, but have to give him props for being in Battlestar Galactica and Smallville)













Santiago Cabrera. Born May 5, 1978
















Matthew Davis. Born May 8, 1978











Joshua Jackson. Born June 11, 1978















Frank Lampard. Born June 20, 1978
(ok not quite as hot as the others, but threw him in here for the benefit of my Chelsea fan husband)












Ben McKenzie. Born September 12, 1978

















Anthony Mackie. Born September 23, 1978












Matthew Morrison. Born October 30, 1978
(Obviously Glee ruined his sex appeal somewhat. That hair and those cardis - uurgh. But apparently there was a time when he was quite hot!)















Sisqo. Born November 9, 1978
(That thong thong-thong-thong thong. Ha ha. Even so, man's got some abs under that mankini)














Ian Somerhalder. Born December 8 1978















Jesse Metcalfe. Born December 9, 1978
















Rhys Thomas. Born December 12 1978

















Now I feel much better about being 36! I'm in pretty good company.

It's not often I'll post about a wipe. But I was tempted to try new ones from an Ocado flash sale.

As you may have read on a previous blog, a while back I decided to have my hair highlighted as I want to go back to blonde. But unfortunately and admittedly lazily, I haven't been back to the hairdresser since and I now have some serious roots.

The problem with roots when you've had highlights is that they are generally much oilier than the blonder ends and so it can be hard to find a shampoo and conditioner that doesn't make the situation worse, let alone make it better. And I have to wash my hair daily as otherwise it gets greasy.

I did find a good one before I got pregnant. I think it was called Herbal Essences Balance, but they changed it at some point and it stopped being as good. But on a recent shop I discovered a good one.

There is a new range called Garnier Ultimate Blends, and I took a punt on the one called the Marvellous Transformer (I originally wanted the Shine Revitaliser but Boots had sold out).
















Turns out it's really good. Not only does it balance out my hair but it makes it feel lovely and healthy too. My hair hasn't felt this good since I was pregnant!

Why not try one of the range? The shampoo and conditioners are £2.79 each on Boots.com but look out for deals in store, as I think I got mine on a 2-4-1 deal.

Are you very sun safe and savvy when it comes to your own sun care? 

That's me. Lazy whenever it comes to anything to do with removing makeup (oh, and general housework).

NEW: Pampers Fresh Clean Baby Wipes
The claim is “Bath like clean for a fresh feeling”

Fresh...Fresh...Exciting, it’s so inviting to me...(ok, I'll stop singing now).

Could these NEW wipes really allow us to skip the morning bath (post play-dough porridge) for a quick and easy exit out of the house?

Baby Led Weaning (BLW) - the practice where your little lovely feeds themselves, rather than the traditional purée route (see http://www.rapleyweaning.com/ if you’re interested) can be a VERY messy business.

My 8 month old has been at it for about 8-10 weeks, and without the assistance of a good old baby wipe, he could be in and out of the bath like a violinists elbow and/or requiring a hose down in public after lunch.

Given we’ve been going through baby wipes like a dose of salts since we started BLW - we have had the pleasure of sampling a whole host of wipes. Water ones, natural ones, cocoa ones, old skool ones and cheap and cheerful ones...

Strictly a water wipe mumma for the first few months - we’ve branched out and found these:




New on the market and on introductory offer, we have given these fresh and exciting new wipes a go.

Let’s get the basics out of the way first; packaging - simple (easy re-seal wouldn’t go a miss though), pricing - comparative (competitive on offer or in bulk), usability - easy to get out of the pack, consistency - good (not to thin or thick) and quantity the norm at 64.

In comparison to other wipes out there - these new Pampers certainly pass the sniff test (mine and the other half) a really very pleasant fragrance on the nose in our opinion (I’m getting cotton fresh baby).

Handy when you want to leave your bubba smelling sweet after a salmon and spinach omelette for lunch or a particularly interesting nappy. From an absorbency perspective these wipes clear the mess quickly and easily. They are effective without being harsh on the skin.

Having suffered with the normal baby dry skin, these wipes leave his skin moist and “fresh” without being too wet and without drying his skin out.

All round in our opinion a good product and definitely a 'bath-like' freshness that would encourage us to buy again.

Currently on offer at Superdrug at a bargainous -  98p

Pampers Fresh Clean Wipes Offer

SK (guest blogette)

For those mums who didn't know, there's a Tesco baby event on until 5 August. If, like me, you're a fan of the Tesco Loves Baby nappies and wipes, it's a great time to stock up (although I got my daughter to do her first potty poo today so maybe I won't need them for much longer!)

There's also Aptimil for age 1-2 at £7.49 and a bunch of other useful stuff like baby gates, high chairs, potties, etc. Also there are some good deals on toys like this V-Tech bus that Lucy loves.

Check it out online

It's hot. And with the best of intentions even those of us with high standards of hygiene can get sweaty and, yes, even a bit stinky at times. (Though not as stinky as some people on the tube .. you know who you are!)

I suppose I should just be topping up on deodorant, but have you seen the price of it these days? It would cost a fortune to use it more than a couple of times a day. The girls in my office use body spray to freshen up and the one they have actually smells nice. I think it's called Soap and Glory Mist you Madly which costs £6.50 for a £250ml can.  It probably doesn't last that long - not like real perfume - but maybe just long enough to get you home or to the pub with a waft of sweet scent instead of a waft of BO.

Soap & Glory Mist you Madly

I've avoided body spray pretty much since my teenage years, but I thought maybe it's worth giving it  another try. After all, these products have come a long way since the 1990s.  So I popped to Boots at lunchtime and bought a few to try.

It's always annoyed me how hard it is to try out scents in a shop. For one thing I feel guilty about trying them out which is annoying in itself, but the only way to find out what they smell like is to spray them. If you spray it on yourself you're taking a gamble that you won't smell horrible for the rest of the day but if you spray it in the air or on a stick you don't get to find out what it really smells like on your skin. And if you want to try more than one, the smells just merge and then you're no wiser than before.

So of course I make the mistake of spraying the first body spray on my wrist. And it smells like air freshener. I think that one was called Vanilla and Peach so really I should have guessed.

After that I tried spraying a few into the air and took a chance and bought three. One from the Impulse range, one Boots own brand, and one I've never heard of before called Q.  I decided to avoid 'Charlie' and 'So..' as these are just too reminiscent of being a teenager.

The first one I've tried is the Impulse spray, juvenilely titled 'Into Glamour'. Actually it smells ok. The top note is kind of floral, and then you get a fruity smell underneath, and the lingering scent is kind of musky. It was only £1.99 so good for an emergency cover-up.

Impulse 'Into Glamour' body spray

Next I tried Q spray in Balance. To be honest I'm not a massive fan. The first impression is definitely a bit air freshenery and the residual smell is more like deodorant than anything.

Finally, I've tried Boot's own body spray in 'Bergamot and Berries'. I think I like this one best out of the three, although I might be walking round smelling like a scented candle all day!

In conclusion I think that I'll steer clear of these cheaper body sprays and invest a little bit more in the Soap and Glory one which smells yummy. Although at £1 a pop, the Boots sprays would actually make handy air fresheners to keep around the house!

If you haven't heard of Sock ons, they are an essential must-have item for any new Mum's shopping list.

Babies just can't keep their little socks on with all the constant wriggling about, and Sock ons are the perfect solution.

Just bung them over the top of any sock and they won't budge a millimetre! Amaze!

They come in tons of lovely colours too.

For more info go to:

www.sockons.co.uk

While you're there do check out other gorgeous items from their range such as funky stylish Dribble Ons bandana bibs, Mocc Ons moccasin baby shoes and Plod Ons- their funky crawling knee pads. All really good quality products. 

You can buy from major retailers such as Mothercare, JoJoMamanBebe, BabiesrUs and Asda as well as many others.

CB

Writing this blog means I have to try and stay current by reading all kinds of nonsense on the internet, which includes the Daily Mail among other rags. Today I happened across this old article in the DM about what first attracts a man to a woman. Apparently, according to unspecified research, it's our eyes.

You can read the article here.

Now, I don't know about you ladies but I don't believe for a second that our eyes are what first attracts a man. I mean, setting aside the fact that it's totally unrealistic, in most cases it would also be practically impossible. If a man spots you across a bar, or even if he's standing next to you at the bar, how good a look is he really getting at your eyes? Or if he sets his sights on you sashaying past his desk at work, how big an impact are your eyes really making?

That said, I do believe that once we get the opportunity to actually see a person face-to-face, their eyes are definitely a deciding factor on whether there is an initial attraction worth pursuing.

We can't all be beautiful in the true sense of the word, however I don't believe I've ever met someone with ugly eyes. It's a cliché, but for most people eyes really are the windows to our souls. They show humour and happiness, intelligence and idiocy, our emotions and our state of mind.

So it's definitely worth dressing them up to show them off, whether you're looking for a new love interest or keeping the love alive with your current partner. Here are some tips from Smashbox on how to apply eyeshadow for your eye shape and type.

RL x

There gets a point in baby's life, when nothing entertains him for long.

Just recently I started letting the little man stay with both nannies. Now 7 months, I finally felt brave enough to hand him over. But having got him into some kind of sleep routine in his big boys cot, I was petrified to break this. After all, a well rested baby is a happy baby, right?

I'd recently been made aware of a fab infographic by Kiddicare, showing all the different sleep stages of little ones and the sleeping options you can choose.
Using a bed timeline, they look at all the different type of beds a baby can go through in the first 5 years of life...a lot! And how many different alternatives there are, which is why I guess we spend so much money - thankfully their prices are affordable.
We did the moses basket, and Mr long-legs was out within a couple of months, we're now onto the cot, and he snoozes happily in a sleeping bag (Gro bag) every night.
But because I have now relented and am happy to hand him over - we need to choose another sleep service. The travel cot.

Sleep Solutions Kiddicare

(click on the link to see all the sleep options)

If you're overwhelmed with what to get your expectant chum for her baby shower, we've found an inspired gift - the Almondella baby boxes.



Launched 2 years ago, they've become a huge success across most of Europe and have now arrived in the UK.

Cherry-picking the hottest and virtually unknown European brands, you can guarantee that you'll discover inspirational, practical and stylish new products.
The Almondella box also gives a great saving of up to 50 per cent off the retail prices.

So, the concept is: You choose a box for your baby's age, and leave the rest to the team. They'll thoughtfully put together a box (or boxes) tailored to your baby's developmental milestones, with five key items all delivered in a beautifully wrapped gift box.

Albie, my 7-month old received a box, and our favourite items were: A Lilliputiens eco hand-puppet usually £20, and a deliciously scented Pitta Patta calm and content moisturising lotion with organic chamomile and shea nut butter, £10.
But our favourite was the 'I Love to Sleep' (oh, the irony) interactive touch and feel book with items objects like a pacifier and crib, and even up-to-date sleeping bag, but best of all, each is identified in English, Spanish and French, £6. Absolutely wonderful finds.




There are 36 baby boxes to choose from, and make the perfect gift for yourself or a loved one - especially if they are living abroad.
Conveniently, the boxes can be delivered anywhere in Europe - completely free of charge. 

You simply need to choose the subscription of 1, 3 or 6 months, tell Almondella the baby’s gender and age, or mother’s due date, and then sit back and wait for your bespoke box to be delivered.

Subscriptions start from £37 a month. You can even do a trial box for just £12. Either way you'll guaranteed to discover great European brands at a snip of the price. Love, love, love.

Go to:
www.almondella.com

LN