What plans do you have for 2014? Whether it’s a new job, a new home, a new hair-do or even a new baby, we’re here to help you along the way.
Pick your planned event for the year from the list below, and discover how Big Green Smile can help make it happen in style!
I’m having a baby!
Congratulations! If this is your first baby, there will be no more momentous year in your life than this one. Get ready for the heart-melting highs and the noisy, mucky, sleep-deprived lows of parenthood. Hurrah!
Useful things to do, to prepare for your arrival, include sleeping lots, lining up family and friends to help you in the first three months, and stocking the nursery with at least six weeks’ worth of essentials to get you through the early bewildering phase. Anything to save a new dad the trial of tracking down emergency nipple cream at 3am has to be worth it, right?
Fab five for your shopping basket:
1. Naty By Nature Babycare Nappies: Size 1 Newborn
2. Simply Gentle Organic Cotton Wool Balls
3. Green People Organic Babies Baby Wash & Shampoo – Lavender
4. Essential Care Organic Nipple Balm
5. Natracare Natural Maternity Pads and Nursing Pads
I’m turning 40!
Whatever your “big birthday”, whether it’s 30, 40, 50 or 29 (again), switching decades is a great time to give yourself a full body M.O.T.
On the health checklist, for both women and men, should be factors such as achieving a healthy BMI, especially keeping waistlines trim to help reduce the chance of heart disease and diabetes, measuring cholesterol and blood pressure, checking regularly for unusual lumps and bumps, monitoring moles or changes in skin pigmentation (ask a friend to help check the hard-to-see areas), and of course attacking nose, ear and grey hairs with a verve.
It’s also an ideal time to review your skincare routine, as skin needs different things in different decades. Older skin needs more moisture, pigmentation may become less even and it can be much more delicate, especially around the eyes. You’ll want to treat it sensitively.
Fab five for your shopping basket:
1. Jason 25,000 IU Vitamin E Age Renewal Moisturising Crème
2. Korres Evening Primrose Eye Cream For Fine Lines & Dark Circles SPF6
3. Dr. Hauschka Regenerating Neck And Décolleté Cream
4. Weleda Wild Rose Smoothing Facial Oil Capsules
5. Green People Sensitive Scent Free Cleanser
I’m packing the eldest off to university
You no doubt feel a combination of fear, sadness and sheer relief about sending your first child off to university later this year. Infact, it’s just like their first day at school, right?
If you haven’t started already, now is the time to teach your teenager how to cook a few simple meals, do a laundry load (from sorting loads to hanging out socks), and the benefits of more than four hours sleep a night.
It’s also worth putting together a starter pack of household and personal care items; that’s if you want to ward off the festering stench of a large boy-man who’s forgotten to buy deodorant or wash his bedding for a whole term because mum’s not there to remind him.
Fab five for your shopping basket:
1. Jason Natural Deodorant Stick - Tea Tree
2. Dr. Bronner's Body Tattoo Balm - Orange Lavender
3. Australian Organics Aroma Spa, Shower and Bath
4. Ecover Delicate Laundry Liquid 1L
5. Alma Win Household Cleaner Concentrate
I’m moving house
Noted as one of life’s most stressful events, moving house can be as exhausting as it is exhilarating. One thing is for sure; there is a lot of cleaning to be done in a house-moving year.
When selling your home, a tip worthy of Kirsty and Phil is to make sure your home smells fresh and is, basically, clean. It’s amazing how many people forget to do that! Don’t choose overpowering synthetic products, though, because buyers will think you’re trying to mask sinister smells like dodgy drains or next-door’s dog.
Also, a great tip when moving into a new place is to plan to have a few hours in the house before the removal vans turn up, so that you can clean it from top to bottom before the boxes fill the space.
Absolutely the best things to pack in your own car, and not bury in the van, is a cleaning kit, the kettle and everyone’s pyjamas. Take any help you can to clean the place from top to toe in those vital hours, or even to brew the tea. Make the beds the first thing you sort, so you have somewhere to flop when you’re all exhausted!
Fab five for your shopping basket:
1. Method Multi Surface Cleaner
2. Attitude Air Purifier - Lavender & Eucalyptus
3. E-Cloth General Purpose E Cloth
4. Fair Trade Rubber Gloves
5. Bio-D Eucalyptus Disinfectant - Home & Garden Sanitiser
I’m reinventing myself!
Along with a New Year, why not enjoy a New You? Revamping your wardrobe, hairstyle and make-up can be fun and give you a whole new energy and lease of life. It can even help put the spark back into your love life, or win that new job.
If you’re stuck in a make-up rut, or bored with your hair, a great thing to do is buy yourself a stack of glossy magazines for inspiration, invite a few friends around, get a few bottles of wine in, and play at making each other up. Believe us, you are never too old.
Chuck out anything in your make-up bag that is past its Use By date, or that you haven’t used for a year - it’s a pretty good sign that you won’t ever use it. Now treat yourself to a few new pieces; you don’t need to spend a fortune. Start by experimenting with eye shadows, lipsticks and nail varnish, as they can quickly change your entire look and don't need to cost a lot.
As for updating your hair, a new hairstyle or colour can work wonders for your confidence, and even take years off you (if that’s your goal). Start with a non-permanent colour if you are changing your shade, as you won’t have to wait for it to grow out if you don’t like it. If colouring sounds too bold, experimenting with styling or investing in restoring shine and condition can be fun and transforming too.
Fab five for your shopping basket:
1. Lavera Beautiful Lips Lipstick – Various shades
2. Dr. Hauschka Eyeshadow Solo – Various shades
3. NaturTint Reflex Non-Permanent Colour Rinse – Various shades
4. Giovanni Natural Mousse Hair Styling Foam
5. Natural nail varnishes by Korres, Zoya and Kure Bazaar – Various shades
[Photo credit: Sleeping baby by Lisa Rosario Photography]