Most parents are relatively familiar with Pokemon Go, an augmented reality (AR) mobile game that uses GPS to locate, capture, battle, and train virtual creatures which appear as if they are in the player’s real-world location.  While the game touts itself on promoting physical activity, it has also contributed to accidents and even death leading to concerns over security issues and costing parks and other public facilities to spend millions of extra dollars on resources to curb accidents and vandalism.  As parents, it’s hard to escape that technology is a part of our children’s day-to-day world.  And while many parents feel they’ve lost their children to this augmented world, one new gaming platform called Agents of Discovery has found a way to provide a positive alternative to Pokemon Go with an educational element that engages both children and adults and builds family bonding.

Agents of Discovery is an educational mobile gaming platform that, like Pokemon Go, uses augmented reality to get youth active.  They employ educators like schools, parks, museums, etc., to create fun and engaging learning environments.  Each Mission is free and easy to follow.  All that is required is downloading the FREE app.

As a mom, I am continually looking to find new ways to explore and educate my 4 ½-year-old twin girls.  It’s not always easy.  Even at their young age, I already feel like I’ve lost them to their iPads and favorite movies.  Don’t get me wrong; limited iPad use can be beneficial as there are many educational apps and even many movies have great moral themes.  However, there are mornings my girls wake up, and the first thing they ask is to watch a video.  When I say no, it often ends with toddler tantrums on the floor.  These are mornings I wonder what kind of monsters we’re creating with all this visual stimulation.  But when I learned about Agents of Discovery, it made me realize the positive benefits technology can have of stimulating a child’s mind and body.   

With Agents of Discovery, I’m able to get them motivated to get dressed and out the door to explore local parks to learn about wildlife, nature, and landmarks.  We’ve been fortunate to do a lot of that lately around Los Angeles.  

Our first adventure with Agents of Discovery took us to Griffith Park.  We began our experience as a whole family by downloading the Mission.  My husband read our first task, and we were off!  The girls were so excited to discover new things and to answer the challenges that are also a part of each Mission.  I will admit, that even my husband and I learned things we didn’t know as we answered some questions incorrectly.  You’re never too old to learn, and I think that’s what makes this an equally fun game for adults as well.  Not only were the girls excited to learn new things, but we were too.

We ended our day by also exploring another Mission at Echo Park.  And can you believe that in the 20 years I’ve lived in Los Angeles, that I had never been there? Wow, what a cool new park I discovered from exploring the Mission list in the Agents of Discovery app.  What we loved the most about the Mission at Echo Park was learning about birds and ducks.  We were told to look for Mallard Ducks, and sure enough, we saw quite a few.  The girls got so excited about seeing an image on the app and then being able to scan the park to locate one.  The girls also got tested on their knowledge of the colors of a Mallard Duck.  It took a couple of tries to get it right, but they figured it out.

The mobile game also provides extra incentives to explore Southern California by allowing kids to earn digital rewards and real-world embroidered badges when they complete Missions. My girls want to complete all the Missions so they can show the badges to their friends.

Simply put, this type of family exploration and bonding is such a rarity in this day and age. We all had so much fun that even my husband wants to go on more Missions! If we’re going to lose our children to technology, we might as well join them on a gaming platform like Agents of Discovery that encourages the whole family to get outside and learn more about nature and our cities’ landmarks. So make sure to visit all the SoCal Explorer Campaigns. It’s a win-win for everyone!

The post As We Lose Our Children to Technology, This is the One Game That Builds Family Bonding and Educates appeared first on Shameless Mama.

As a mom, I rarely get a night out for myself, but this weekend afforded me a night of laughter, tears, and deep reflection as I watched THE CAKE currently playing at the Geffen Playhouse.

Bekah Brunstetter’s beautifully written play centers around Jen (Shannon Lucio) who comes back home to North Carolina from New York to ask her deceased mother’s best friend, Della (Debra Jo Rupp), a bakery owner, to make her wedding cake. Della is so excited to make Jen’s wedding cake because Jen has always been the daughter she never had. But once she learns that Jen’s fiancé is a woman named Macy (Carolyn Ratteray), Della struggles with her religious beliefs.

Della discusses her dilemma with her husband Tim (Rod McLachlan) who unequivocally states that Della can’t make the wedding cake. But Della, for the first time in her life, has to think for herself as she struggles with the disconnect her heart has with her head while questioning aspects of her own relationship.

As a liberal who was born in the Deep South, it struck me how authentic Brunstetter’s characters are written. Some of the dialogue had me gasping with its sincerity- most notably when Della tells her husband that she “DIDN’T vote for that man!” There is often an understanding in the South that women are supposed to vote for whomever their husband’s vote for at the ballot box. Many wives will say that they did, but behind the curtain will vote with their hearts. And I was moved by Jen’s compassion at respecting Della’s decision not make her wedding cake, and by her torment with what she was taught is a proper relationship versus what her heart told her was her truth.

Without giving too much more away, what I love about THE CAKE is that no matter what your political beliefs, you are forced to feel moments of equal sympathy for both sides. And as this topic seems to be a heated debate in our current political climate, I left this play wishing our politicians could find the mutual respect, despite differences, that these four characters have with each other.

THE CAKE is currently playing at The Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles now through October 21, 2018. Don’t miss out!

The post Review: THE CAKE at the Geffen Playhouse appeared first on Shameless Mama.

When it comes to design and detail nothing surpasses India Hicks. While there are a lot of brands out there trying to sell their wares online, only a few stand out and India Hicks is certainly one of them. India Hicks isn’t just selling product that looks pretty in a picture, it actually looks amazing in person. We all know the e-commerce community is diverse and exponentially expanding, but finding incredible quality and design doesn’t often translate. This is not the case when it comes to India Hicks, an ambassador program, which allows women to be independent sales reps for their beautiful designs. With high-quality luxurious style products, hosting a party is all the more exclusive.

My Dougal fringe purse in color Deep Sea Blue is simply gorgeous. The quality goes beyond its price tag with buttery suede and gold metal trim. The double fringe layers give it depth, and I love the matching tassel zipper puller. This is the perfect purse to wear with jeans and a t-shirt or to pair with the perfect dress. Its size is ideal too. It holds just the right amount of essentials without being too big to clutch under the arm. I consider this purse an heirloom piece because the style and quality are timeless. This is typical of nearly all items on the India Hicks site. Their jewelry is classic with some stand out showstoppers. The Disco Volante earrings that dust the shoulders are a stunner and perfect for the holidays!

Don’t worry, if you don’t know an ambassador or a party to attend nearby. You can be assured that the items purchased not only look like what you see online, but they’re actually even more exquisite in person. My ambassador is Jennifer Horton, and she can help with anything!

India Hicks surpasses expectations and is worth every penny. Seriously!

The post India Hicks is Classic Luxury appeared first on Shameless Mama.

When my twin girls, Remy and Charly, turned two-years-old, my husband I realized that they had spent virtually every second of their existence together.   Certainly, we have had plenty of play dates and been involved with activities outside the home, but even those activities had them together. They share a room, share clothes, eat together, play together, bath together, go to sleep at the same time, and are often in my lap at the same time much to each other’s chagrin. Our twins are very different just like most siblings. But the difference with twins versus a home with kids of different ages is that they are discovering the world together, hitting relatively the same milestones together, and experiencing their relationship with mom and dad at the same time as well.

Even before they turned two, we noticed them struggling to have individual time with us. If one was in my lap, the other would come over and try and push her sister away, usually resulting in a screaming match where I would try to put them both in my lap in a way that provided some space in between them. But trying to read a book with 2 girls in my petite lap was a struggle to say the least. And if I could manage a book that I could flip the pages, undoubtedly one twin would throw a fit because that wasn’t the book she wanted read.

My girls are so different from one another that they may as well have come from different families. One girl loves her blanky, stuffed animals, figurines, and drawing. The other loves balls, blocks, beating on a real drum kit, and dancing. Of course there are things they both love like singing but even some of the song choices are debated between the two. Charly will start a song and Remy will say, “No No!” Then Remy will start a song and Charly will start screaming. And I am not kidding when I tell you that when we sit down to have a snack and watch a movie and I ask, “What do you want to watch girls?” Charly will start shouting like a broken record over and over again saying, “Frozen, Frozen, Frozen, Frozen!” and Remy will start flailing her arms in protest shouting, “No! Wall-E! Wall-E! No Frozen! No Frozen!” Listen, if anything, I have strong opinionated little girls. However, when I have to make a decision on which of those two movies they are shouting, I know that the first few minutes of that movie, one girl is disappointed. And while I absolutely love those differences in opinion my little girls have, I was struggling with how my husband and I might nurture those differences since they are always together.

As a parent of multiples, we are constantly refereeing our kids. Whether they are fighting over the same toy or fighting over which one gets to be picked up by mommy first. We try so hard to be fair, but it’s not so easy. I work really hard to remember which girl I took out of their bed first yesterday, so that I make sure to pick up the other twin today. If one girl comes to me and asks for a hug, I make sure I give a hug to the other one. If I’ve prepared snacks, I try and hand them out at the exact same time. If I spend time coloring with one girl, I try and throw a ball with the other soon after. If both are coloring, I make sure to praise both their accomplishments simultaneously. To be perfectly honest, it can be exhausting. I often feel like I’m at a tennis match with my eyes moving from one player to the other. I worry that one daughter will think I like the other better, and so I try very hard to be fair in my attention to each of them. However, I never truly feel like I’m “present” with either one of them. I imagine if there was a video camera capturing my moves, I may look like a hyperactive child myself with my inability to sit still for more than a minute darting back and forth between one kid and the next. I can be in mid conversation with one over an activity that we are doing and then get distracted by the other one showing me something they want me to see. That stillness and eye contact that parents have when interacting with their kid, is often not a luxury for parents of multiples. At some point every single day one of my girls will have one of my hands pulling me in one direction to do something with her, and her sister will be pulling my other hand in the opposite direction to do something else. I am a human tug rope. In my head, I toss a coin and then explain to the disappointed one that we will do what she wants in 3 minutes. But in truth, this is not sustainable, and this is what led me to decide that I was going to take some serious one on one time with each girl.

The first time I took Charly out for a “date,” she was confused why her sister wasn’t with her. After all, they’ve never been apart from each other so she was right to wonder why her sister wasn’t in the car seat next to her. She kept asking, “Where’s Remy?” I tried to explain to her that Remy was with Dada, and she and I were going to go have some fun just the two of us. It was; however, truly wonderful to hear that she was asking about her sister – that despite the sibling arguments, they clearly love each other. As we continued our short drive, I loved being able to chat with Charly. There was something so easy about conversing with one child and not trying to banter back and forth between two talking heads. Likewise, Jason was enjoying his one on one time with Remy- enjoying the fact that there was no refereeing to do. No feuding over toys or which book to read. Things just seemed much calmer. Charly and I arrived at a restaurant for lunch. My girls love going to restaurants! We ordered her favorite- sweet potato fries. We acted silly and goofy. We made faces and laughed at each other. I’m sure people around us found it strange, but I didn’t care. I could smother her with as many kisses as I wanted, and our eye contact lingered in a way it doesn’t get to when her sister is around. Soon, she wasn’t asking about Remy. It was all about her. All mommy’s attention was on her. In fact, she behaved better because she didn’t need to compete for my attention. And for me, it was bliss! “Wow,” I thought to myself, “how relaxing and less stressful this is only having one kid with me! Is this what it’s like for my friends with singletons? I’m kind of jealous.” I could have stayed out with Charly for hours if truth were told. But alas, all good things must come to an end.

For Jason and me our ability to go to playgrounds is limited by which ones are enclosed. Our girls are wild! They are little explorers and adventurers. No one believes us when we say that until they’ve spent a couple of hours with us. Keeping up with them is like having your own live-in personal trainer. On the handful of occasions we have gone to playgrounds that are not enclosed, they run in different directions as we feverishly chase after them so they don’t run in the street. Once we were at a playground, and I was swinging Remy. In an instant, I couldn’t see Jason or Charly. When they finally appeared 15 minutes later, Jason told me that he chased Charly all the way around the library- that she ran around the whole darn building! This is one example of why we can’t go to an open playground. This limitation has narrowed the playgrounds in our city to only a couple enclosed places, making us feel like bad parents because we can’t take them to the “cool” playgrounds yet without worrying. In truth, Charly is less interested in the objects on the playground and more interested in how far she can run, and she is FAST.

My next date was with Remy, but instead of going to a restaurant, we went to a playground. She not only loves all the objects on a playground, but she’s the twin who walks up to any kid and starts chatting. This seemed like the perfect place for our date. Like her sister, she too was wondering where was Cha Cha? (We also call Charly, Cha Cha.) This made me smile to know that she also missed her sister. But the empty car seat next to her was soon forgotten when we arrived at one of the cool parks we never go to. I went up and down with her on the slides. We swung as long as she wanted. She didn’t have to take turns with her sister like we usually have to. If she wanted to explore a part of the playground, we could go there without wrangling her sister to the same area. We sat together and had a snack, feeding each other pretzels. We acted silly together. And like her sister, she was well behaved since she didn’t have to compete for my attention. At home, Jason was able to bang on the drums with Charly for as long as she wanted- something that makes my head spin when done for long. They rocked out on the Martin guitar. Charly didn’t have to share the instrument with her sister, which usually ends in a screaming match and tug of war. Both girls were in bliss with this one on one time with each of us, and so were we!

The take away for both Jason and me is that while they shared a womb together and pretty much everything since then, it is so important for one on one time with each little individual personality. As the oldest of four kids, my mom has often reminded me how different each one of us is. The difference though is that when siblings ages are spread out, there’s simply more room to nurture those differences.   I absolutely adore the distinct differences that each one of my girls already has for themselves. I also know that they are constantly changing especially in the activities and things they like. I always want to make sure that I can nurture those differences rather than constantly lumping them together into one. I don’t ever want one to feel resentful or feel less understood than her sister. I know that if I can continue this one on one time, as they grow older, I may have a better shot at having an equally close relationship with each of my girls. And at the end of the day, I think that’s all we ever want for our kids- to make sure they know they’re heard, understood, that we respect their differences, and that we see them as distinctly beautiful individuals when they leave our nest.

The post The Importance of One on One Time appeared first on Shameless Mama.

Is your kid like so many other kids that would rather eat pizza over your steamed veggies?  Is having a debate over what to eat each day making you nuts?  We get it!  We’ve been there!  Getting your child to eat healthy while maintaining “peace” is a challenge for most parents at some point during their kid’s development.  After battling our own kids over this exact issue, we discovered a sneaky way to get our kids to eat those veggies under the guise of a dessert.

As infants our kids ate every conceivable vegetable we steamed and pureed.  They ate things that we wouldn’t even eat like pureed beets with curry spice, and they really loved it.  The smell made us wince, but hey we thought we were raising kids that would have an appetite for all things.  Wrong!

As soon as they turned two-years-old, meals became a nightmare.  If we made a meal they refused, we would prepare something else.  After a while, we got so frustrated and burnt out that we gave into every request they asked.  But a diet of carbohydrates and no vegetables, leads to constipation for them and a sudden since of parenting failure for us.  How were we going to get them to eat vegetables again?

On our occasional weekend outings, we’d often find ourselves stopping in local Los Angeles shops selling delicious smoothies.  Our kids loved them.  For some reason, they thought they were having a treat or dessert.  One smoothie was so cold that one of our girls thought it was ice cream.  While we typically favored those smoothies that were less healthy, we knew that there were healthier ones that tasted just as good but have more nutritional value.  As I watched our kids inhale these delicious treats, it gave me an idea: why don’t we make a smoothie with all those veggies they won’t eat?

It took a bit of time to figure out how to disguise the raw veggie taste from the smoothie, but now our kids ask for it daily thinking they are getting dessert.  You should feel free to play around with your own ideas or adjust this recipe to your kid’s liking.  As soon as our kids started having these, their digestion took a huge turn, AND we also felt like better and/or sneakier parents.

Veggie/ Fruit Smoothie

(This recipe is for 2 kids. Adjust for more or less.)

One banana

1 cup frozen blueberries1

1/4 cups Suja Essentials Organic Mighty Greens

½ cup Good Belly Probiotic Blueberry Acai

2 scoops of Sun Warrior vegan protein powder or any protein powder

2 tbsp of sunflower butter

Drizzle some honey

Blend until smooth and creamy

The post Eating Veggies Under the Guise of a Dessert appeared first on Shameless Mama.

I didn’t always feel so lucky. Not unlike many parents, our parenting struggles began the first week we brought our girls home. Jason and I had never talked before about our parenting styles or experience. We took two breast-feeding classes together, but there wasn’t a note taking class to compare who was more qualified to be a parent. To add to it, the sheer exhaustion of having two newborns in our life was a recipe, in itself, for disaster. So the disagreements began and continued, and sometimes still do. But here are some things I’ve learned about letting go that I hope may be helpful. Even in the moments when I want to take the reigns or criticize, I’ve come to appreciate the fact that I have a partner so involved in caring for our girls and is the ultimate partner.

The Struggle Over Control

Let’s be honest, most women like to be in control of their kids or at least think they should be. I had had years of experience rearing children as the oldest of four kids as well as being a nanny in New York City and Los Angeles. That, I thought, gave me all the credentials I needed to be in charge. From scheduling naps and feedings, I was relentless in my order. If Jason broke from the routines, I would go bonkers. But to be fair, he wasn’t just some bonbon eating dada. He was changing diapers, doing dishes, doing laundry, prepping meals, and helping any way he could. But even that was making me crazy because I wanted to control all those awesome things he was doing- from the way he swaddled the girls or how he washed a dish but missed a crumb or the way he cleaned the baby bottles with less soap.

My Way Isn’t The Only Way

I’ll admit; I can be a control freak. I even like the dishwasher loaded a certain way. As I tried to rationalize why I preferred the way I loaded the dishes, he described the reasons he preferred to load them his way. I like to clean as I cook, leaving a few dishes to do after a meal is prepared. The last thing I want after our girls go to bed is to spend 30 minutes cleaning the kitchen. Jason, on the other hand, likes to let the dishes pile high throughout the day and then do them all after the girls go to bed. When he dresses the girls for school, he likes to keep their hair down and wild. I like to put their hair back in a rubber band so that it stays out of their face and out of their food at lunchtime. I prefer our girls to have healthier snacks that may require more prep time, and Jason likes to make things easy by just giving them whatever is readily available. When I want nighttime to be a hard “lights out” time, he’d rather let them stay up longer in the hopes that they’ll sleep in longer. These things seem trivial, but we each had our reasoning’s behind our styles. A court of law would have a hard time deciding which one of us was right in our techniques. The question for me became, “Does it really matter that the whites and darks are washed together on cold as long as they’re being cleaned?” (Ok, some of you moms may still think this is a big no no!) At some point though, you have to pick your battles and some are just not worth the fight.

Establishing the Important Rules

If it were up to me, I’d have a home full of rules to create some sort of control. But in reality, I would be left feeling disappointed with the lack of follow-through. After all, I’m the uptight one, and Jason is the laid back one. So we had to figure out a way to establish what rules were important to both of us in rearing our girls. Some of these rules were easy, and others were more challenging to decipher. We could agree on how to discipline but to determine which behavior warranted discipline had kinks to iron out. Adhering to a particular bedtime routine, we agreed, was paramount. A good bath, brushing teeth, reading books, and light play are all essential things to establishing a good nighttime routine. We also firmly agreed that limiting the amount of TV our two-year-olds watch made good parenting sense. We have had to change some other rules, as the girls have gotten older. As parents, we are acutely aware that we will need to adjust rules as our girls grow continually, and we remain committed to handling those issues as they arise.

Learning to Let Go

I know it’s cliché, but I think letting go is probably the hardest thing to do. When I know I’m going out of town, my impulse is to try and prepare meals ahead of time or do the grocery shopping in an attempt to make sure the girls are eating healthier foods. But I know no matter how much prepping I do, Jason will end up taking them to dinner most nights. And yes, they will eat pizza and French fries mostly. They love going to restaurants, so why would I spoil that fun for them? I also know that while the nighttime routine will go on as planned, he will keep them up past their bedtime, and he’ll probably drop them off to school late in the morning. He’ll pack their lunches but probably not with the items I’d choose. He’ll remember to pack an extra set of clothes for school but not the ones I’d want. I try and limit their sugar intake, but he’ll certainly take them for ice cream and cupcakes. As we FaceTime goodnight, it’s tempting to ask what they’ve been eating or doing so that I can come back with a terse reply.

The truth is criticizing, a hands-on hubby, only backfires. Instead of praising a man who truly loves being involved in every aspect of his girls’ lives with nitpicking only makes him want to retreat or doubt himself as a father. That is the last thing I want for my girls or our family. It’s important to remember that husbands want to feel valued and supported too. They need the praise as much as moms do. If you can appreciate the imperfections, you will get even more out of your hands-on hubby. It may not be the perfectly folded laundry you dream of, but it’s perfectly awesome to have someone happy and willing to share the incredible journey of parenting, and that’s a win-win in my book!

The post While We May Not Have the Same Parenting Styles, I’m Lucky to Have a Hands-On Husband appeared first on Shameless Mama.

So Easter’s here, and if you need some fun, easy, out-of-the-box DIY ideas, I’ve got some for you!

For those out there that use Wilton food coloring to make beautiful frosting colors, you can use your leftover color gel to dye your eggs.  All you need are clear plastic cups, water, and white vinegar.

• Simply fill your plastic cup with water.
• Add Wilton food coloring gel using a toothpick until you mix the desired color. (I recommend making it darker than the desired color.)
• Add 1 1/2 tablespoons of vinegar.
• Leave eggs in dye for at least 5 minutes.

For simply dyed eggs, see below.  If you don’t completely mix the color in the water, you will get some interesting patterns on your eggs.  I actually love that they look like art.

These DIY marbled eggs were a ton of fun to make because I had no idea how they’d turn out.

• You’ll need rubber cement.
• Drizzle on the egg and let dry.
• Place egg in your first color.
• Gently rub off the rubber cement and repeat in as many colors as you like.

For mine, I dipped in 3 total colors.  If you want a monochromatic look, use similar colors.

I also used the rubber cement to make dots, a heart, and a star.  They don’t look great, but sometimes when you have 2-year-old twins pulling on you, it’s the best you can do.  

Glitter eggs are easy and fun.  I could have used so many more colors, but I wanted to try other DIY ideas.

• Glue
• Glitter
• Your imagination for design

I loved making these DIY decoupaged Easter eggs!  I seem to never throw away tissue paper, so I had plenty in my craft drawer to choose from.  However, I limited the paper colors.

• Tissue Paper.
• Hole punch or any shaped punches.
• Glue stick.

In sections, rub glue stick on your egg and then place decorative tissue.  Also, when punching out shapes on your punch, make sure to fold tissue paper to make it thick enough to cut.  If you try and punch a single layer of tissue paper, it won’t work.

Lastly, DIY Easter eggs using metallic artist pens.  You can use any color pens, but I chose only 2 colors.  I loved how these turned out.  I didn’t think much about it and just started drawing.  I think they look a bit hieroglyphic.

• Metallic artist pens or any colors.
• Your imagination

The post DIY Easter Egg Ideas appeared first on Shameless Mama.

Have you ever traveled from one climate to an entirely different climate only to notice that your skin reacted in an unpleasant way? Climate affects the skin as much as genetics and overall skin health.  Pour Moi is the only skin care line with unique formulas for every conceivable climate and perfect for those who travel.

While traveling from New York, to Los Angeles and Europe, Pour- Moi founder, Ulli Haslacher, discovered that her skin reacted differently in each climate.  Frustrated that there wasn’t a skincare solution for different climates, Ulli teamed up with scientists, dermatologists, and beauty experts around the world to create Pour Moi (For Me).

I live in Los Angeles which is dry most of the year, and my skin constantly needs moisture because it is already dry.  But I traveled to Mexico in December, which was humid, and Paris in February, which was cold. Each of these three climates required a different type of skin care regime.  I was blown away at how using the right face cream for each climate kept my skin flawless and looking its best. For Los Angeles, I use the Desert Climate moisturizer.  I find it works best as we are typically dry all year especially in the summer.  When I was in Mexico, I used the Tropical Moisturizer since my skin was getting more than its usual share of humidity, and I didn’t want my skin to break out. And when I was in Paris in February, it was a no-brainer to use the Polar Climate moisturizer since it was incredibly cold.  Not only do I love the moisturizers, but the serums are a must as well. Depending on your skin type, the Black Serum is for overall dry skin, and the White Serum is for naturally oily skin.  I start with the Black Serum and then use the moisturizer that fits the climate I’m in.

I’m not sure why no one thought of this concept before because it just seems to make so much sense.  I spent years traveling down to the South to visit family only to have the humid climate there cause my skin to breakout because I was using a heavy moisturizer living in Los Angeles. It never occurred to me that my thick moisturizer for Los Angeles climate was causing my skin to breakout when I reached a humid climate.   Now, I never have to worry again.

So what’s your skin type?  Do you travel? Do you want a moisturizer that works with the environment you live in?  Made in France, Pour Moi is free of commonly used irritators. It’s 100% fragrance free/(bad) alcohol-free, 100% mineral oil free, 100% paraben free, and 100% gluten free.

Get 40% OFF your entire purchase using coupon code: MAMA10 which will be good through April 10th! Wow, that’s a great deal so go give Pour Moi a try!  Your skin won’t be disappointed.

The post Pour Moi. The Only Climate Skin Care appeared first on Shameless Mama.

I love when I discover a new brand that excites my soul.  Believe me, it’s rare.  I’m super picky.  As a fashion consumer, I’m constantly looking for new brands that have a unique point of view, and Lime & Vine has a brand voice that deserves a big “shout out.”

Lime & Vine‘s entire philosophy understands that women wear many hats throughout their busy days and deserve a modern attire that seamlessly crosses from work life, to mom life,  and to nights out on the town.   Their contemporary line of knitwear is fashion-forward, eye-catching, and super comfy.   And if their clothing isn’t already incredible, their handbags are phenomenal.

I recently took a trip to Paris and brought my brand new black with rose gold chain TAI- MESH handbag.  It can be worn two ways- as a fanny bag or as a cross-body bag.  I cannot even begin to tell you how amazing this bag is!  First of all, it’s very soft, but my favorite thing about this bag is how many compartments it has.  Usually, small handbags have a tiny zipper pocket where all you can separate, from the other crap in your purse, is your ID and a few credit cards.  Not with Lime & Vine’s TAI- MESH bag.  It has dividers inside to separate your makeup items from your tissues or receipts as well as two zipper pockets- one inside and one outside.  The one outside not only is practical, but it is a lovely design detail. I found that I was able to store excess coins for the Paris subway and my lip balm.

It’s also important to mention how unique the rose gold chain and zipper details are in this handbag.  People have stopped me on the street just to say how much they love the rose gold.  With modern fabric features and overall multi design functionality, this is a must-have for every busy woman.  It holds just enough important things every woman needs in a purse without the big bulky mess like other handbags.  Plus, as a mom of twins, I’m so busy holding their hands and lugging around their bag of essential toddler stuff that I need a purse that’s fashionably cool, can strap across my body, and not feel like an extra burden.

I highly recommend checking out Lime & Vine.  I promise you won’t be disappointed.  From their modern, comfortable, contemporary attire to their incredible unique handbags, you’ll feel sophisticated yet practical.  And that’s a rare combination we all dream of having!

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Ok, ok let’s face it, there are a lot of leggings out in the world from so many brands.  But let’s also be honest, not all leggings are created equal.  When it comes to texture, stretch, and overall flattery, Comm-Ci leggings are in a category all on their own making them your dream legging.

I recently took a trip to Paris and made sure to pack my new pair of Comm-Ci low- waist black leggings because I knew they would go perfectly with a variety of tops allowing me to transition from day to night effortlessly.  First of all, unlike so many other leggings, Comm- Ci leggings are made with European cotton, Dupont lycra, and modal which gives them the perfect amount of softness, stretch, and opacity.  This incredible combination helps slim and smooth the body making for perfect curves.  Now, who doesn’t like that?!  Also, they were thick enough to withstand the cold of Paris yet breathable enough to handle my mild Los Angeles climate.  And lastly, I hate when people can see my lady parts.  (You know what I mean!) Because Comm- Ci leggings have the right amount of fabric and hug the body in all the right ways, I felt my lady parts weren’t on display for the rest of the world.

These fade resistant leggings come in several styles to fit anyone’s needs and will probably be something you want in every color after you buy your first pair.  If I’m out for a meeting, I like to pair mine with a longer top, but if I’m out for dinner, I like to pair mine with something a little flirty and lots of accessories.  With sizes xs- xl, these were made for women in all our beautiful forms. So go check out Comm-Ci and gets yours today! 20% OFF all their leggings using coupon code: SheaCurry20 and will be good through the end of 2017!!

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