Wednesday 30 September 2015

My Current Skin Care Routine

In this video I am talking about my current skin care routine. I have over 7 years experience working in the beauty industry and am very familiar with addressing skin concerns with the appropriate products. I am always switching up my routine and trying new things but this is what I have going on right now. I would love to hear from you about your favourite skin care products or if you have any questions about skin care. Comment below, send me a tweet @HeatherAudreyL, comment on my Facebook page, or on my Instagram posts I would love to chat with you wherever you are!

This video is extra special because Luke makes an appearance!



Thank you for watching!

Monday 28 September 2015

Work From Home Mom



Work from home/stay at home mom is my most favourite title yet!

I am so excited to team up with WeWork to talk about my current work space and what my future dream work space would be. WeWork is a coworking company that offers shared office space all over the world, and there're interested in learning more about what goes into the ideal work space. 

My role has many facets but the most important piece is mom, so for me, the fact that my little office is in my home is a dream come true for this point in my life. 

I work when it works for my family. This normally means, early mornings, evenings and nap times and it's kind of perfectly imperfect. There are days when I am playing on the floor with Luke and my mind is racing with creative ideas for my business as a makeup artist, blogger and YouTuber, and it's hard to just play when my computer is right there. I try to keep everything in order by always having a note pad and pen in the kitchen, ready to jot down ideas and my phone is never very far either. I have my computer at my desk but the amazing things we can do on our phones these days means that my office really is wherever I am. 

My desk area is special to me though, it's designated as my space, I have it decorated as I like it with items that are meaningful to me. I have one plant in my whole home that was recently gifted to me by my mom. It sits in the window in my work space as a reminder that she is my number one fan always supporting me in what I do.

My pictures are mostly of Tyler, Luke and I, they are my motivation, I want to make them proud. There are also a few old pictures. One of me with my sister Sara and our two friends Melinda and Holly when we were kids. I like this picture because it reminds me of my childhood self, a wild, free little girl, a piece of myself I try to stay in touch with regularly. Then there is a picture of my Grandma Glenna, she is no longer with us but I love her beauty in this photo and it reminds me that I am part of a history and a story that is so much bigger than just me.

As you can tell, this current work space I am in is very personal. One day I would like to expand my little corner into an entire room or studio space for Heather Audrey Lapier Industries to expand and grow but for now I want to be in my home, in my little corner and often simply on the floor with my son.

I hope your work week is filled with productivity and accomplished in a space that fuels your creativity and allows you to be who you are.

To learn more about my work please check out my YouTube channel and website.

xoxo
Audrey






Wednesday 23 September 2015

Fall Inspired Makeup Tutorial by H.A.L. Makeup Artistry

I am so excited to be sharing this video with you, I filmed it at the beginning of September. We are fully into fall now and I am in my element in this season. I hope you enjoy this video, learn some new techniques and have a few laughs with me. Grab a cup of coffee and lets talk makeup for a little bit.



If you liked this video, please subscribe to my channel! And THANK YOU for watching!

Friday 18 September 2015

Tending To The Garden



Its harvest season! I have been keeping an especially close watch on our garden lately, being sure to get veggies out as soon as they are ripe for the picking. A few weeks ago I spent a bunch of time weeding the garden (things were getting out of control in there).

Side step for a moment - This particular week I had been praying a lot that God come into the areas of my life that are holding me back from moving forward. I asked for His guidance in releasing things that were not good for me and help me to see what those things are. Sometimes the things that are blocking our growth, are things we think are harmless. God quickly showed me the areas I needed to work on and I was grateful.

Back to the garden - While in the garden pulling weeds, I couldn't help but see the parallels of my current action, to the work God was doing in my life. We weed the gardens so that our plants can produce good fruit. Removing the weeds allows the plants to get optimal nutrients and sunlight so they can thrive. It takes constant work to keep the plants in this state though, as garden tenders we need to go back to the garden regularly to review the soil and remove anything that will not benefit the plants.

Once the plants do produce fruit, all the tending seems worthwhile. The fruit is nourishing and allows gardeners to share their bounty with others. There is often so much fruit that it must be given away.

God is constantly tending to our lives, lovingly reviewing all the pieces of our lives and trying to help us remove the things in our lives that are preventing us from bearing good fruit. Some of the not so great things, have deep roots and take time to remove, or repeated tries to remove, and if we feed the bad things, they will continue to grow back. But if we persistently give those things to the Lord, they will be removed from our lives and allow new branches of life to grow, branches that will bear amazing fruit, enough to share and fruit that will nourish our soul.

As I weeded the garden, I tore out some weeds in my life. I talked to God and let Him know I was ready to lay some things at His feet. As I stepped out of gate and looked back at my refreshed clean garden, I was so pleased with what was left. The garden looked stronger, like it could breath easier with all the bad stuff removed. I thanked God for my time with Him in the garden and for showing me what I needed to remove from my life so I could be stronger, breath easier and bear good fruit.







Monday 14 September 2015

Mature Skin Makeup Tips by H.A.L. Makeup Artistry



In this video I outline some techniques that are specifically useful for enhancing the beauty of mature skin. When I looked up the word 'mature' in the dictionary I found this definition: "Fully developed in body or mind as a person." I don't know about you, but thats what I am striving for everyday and if I get some wrinkles along the way, I am ok with it. I hope I can always embrace my natural beauty wherever I am at in my life and I want my clients to do the same.

I often have people ask me how they can apply makeup to look younger. I can not apply makeup that will make your wrinkles disappear but I can apply makeup that will draw people into your features, like sparkling eyes, pouty lips and supple cheeks.

Lets wear makeup that makes us feel good and enhances our natural beauty!!!

Thank you for taking the time to hang out with me and watch this makeup tutorial.




Friday 11 September 2015

I Love Autumn





I am so glad to live in a place where I get to experience all four seasons. By the time a new season rolls around, I am ready for the change and freshness it brings with it. My favourite season of all is fall!

It is ingrained from my school years that autumn means routine, fresh starts and new goals, it is such an exciting time. The cool breeze of fall is like a refreshing drink of water after a hot summer. The start of cooler weather and shorter days, makes me feel like its ok to rest and recharge inside. I start to go into nesting mode, cooking and cleaning and wondering what area of my house needs to be redecorated or spruced up.

I love the holidays that come with fall too! If you are a foodie like me, it doesn't get better than a Thanksgiving feast with your family and friends. As a child I loved getting dressed up for Halloween and I hope Luke will too. I just got his costume for this year and he is going to be a monkey.

All the little things that come with the autumn season just make me happy, like pumpkin spice everything, pumpkins, the colours of the leaves and the fashions trends.

I be will sharing all of my autumn adventures here and on my fav social media platform Instagram, so come along for the ride and be sure to follow me over there too @HEATHERAUDREYL

Happy weekend friends, I hope its a great one!


Tuesday 8 September 2015

An Honest Effort



As a mom, I often wonder what else I can do to help my child thrive, live healthfully and have the best opportunities to develop well. Recently I have been focusing on making my home more healthy for my family. I started this effort a few months ago, after realizing my concern for a healthier home.



I would clean my tub with my grocery store cleaner and then proceed to rinse it many times before giving Luke a bath, I was concerned that the chemicals in my cleaner would bother his skin. After doing this a few times, I decided I needed to start making small changes. As I ran out of my cleaning products, I replaced them with more healthful options from Honest.com



I signed up to test some Honest products with the Honest Essentials Bundle as well as the Diaper and Wipes Bundle. I was drawn to shop from this company after reading the article about Jessica Alba, Co Founder and CEO of the Honest Company in Forbes.  I was inspired by her story for starting the company and her desire to make her home a healthy place for her family. I also love this brands marketing and if you know me, you know I am a sucker for great packaging.




I was impressed with my Free Diaper Trial and have been purchasing Honest.com products ever since. One product in particular that I am really impressed with is the Organic Healing Balm. Luke started to develop some very dry skin on the tops of his feet and in the crease of his elbows during the summer. After regulary applying the healing balm for a week, I started to see an improvement in his skin. It makes me feel good when I can care for him with more natural products.




All us moms are always trying to do the best we can for our families and sometimes we wonder if we are doing enough. We can't do everything all at once, sometimes we just need to take one step at a time but we are always moving in the right direction when our families best interest is at heart.



Step by step, I am working on making my home a more healthy place with products that are safe and I am really excited about it! Autumn is a time for me to refresh, recharge and take on new challenges. Its not perfect and never will be but I feel good about the honest effort I make to care for my family.



I am an affiliate for The Honest Company and the links found on my site are affiliate links. I have tested many of the Honest products prior to writing this post and have not been paid to write this content. If you have any questions about my experience with The Honest Company, please comment below, I would love to hear from you.

xoxo
Audrey

Thursday 3 September 2015

Luke 12 months

Happy first birthday Luke! I would have to say, the last year has been the best year of mine and your dads life, we think you are the coolest guy ever. You are fun to be with and teach us so much about life. I am excited for your birthday weekend, celebrating with your family and friends. Just so you know Luke, I love parties and especially birthday parties so be prepared for me to be overly excited around your birthday and holidays and pretty much any big life moments. I like to think of myself as the female Clark Griswold.

The last month has been a big one, you are taking a bunch of steps from time to time, so you can walk! Now you just need to believe that you can and you will be off. I love watching you walk because you are so proud of yourself. I hope you are always humbly proud of your big and small accomplishments in life.

You still love waving, and it really brings so much joy to everyone you wave to. I think this is one of your God given gifts, bringing joy to others and even as a young child, God is using your gift to make others smile.

You have begun to test limits, your dad and I are learning to create boundaries.

You love to feed the fish in the garage. Every time we put your stroller away, you smack your lips and point at the fish food, so cute.

Your dad is your everything and is makes my heart explode! I love watching you two play and interact. I totally understand why you love him so much because he is super fun. This past week he built you a ramp off the deck to go down in your FisherPrice car.

You love cars, trucks, motorcycles and making the vroom noise. I have even seen you sliding a book across the floor making the vroom noise pretending to drive the book.

You have a great imagination.

While you love vehicles, you are still a little timid of them when you get up close. Despite your little bit of fear, you will ride the quad around the back field with your dad.

Your favourite food is cheese!

You love to play with your friends and being outside, I would say you are most content when you are outside.

You are fearless in the water.

You are awesome!

Happy first year of life! You did a lot of cool stuff in those 12 months, I can't wait to see whats coming up next for you Goose.

Love always,
mom

PS Here is a fun video of your first year.










Wednesday 2 September 2015

Contributor - LambtonShield.com



I am so excited to be a contributor for lambtonshield.com, an online news paper for Lambton County.  I love everything Sarnia and Lambton County and will be sharing my love for my home town on this news site.

This week I am talking about my favourite things to do around Sarnia Lambton in the summer. I know summer is coming to a close but there is still time left to enjoy a few of these activities.

Check out the full article here.

I would love to know what you love to do in the summer, please comment below!

Tuesday 1 September 2015

Sometimes God Has Other Plans

When I was a child I wanted to grow up and be a famous actress, God had other plans.

I wanted to live in a big city far from my family, God had other plans.

I didn't think I wanted children, God had other plans.

As a young adult in the career world I enjoyed my career and wanted to climb the corporate ladder, God had other plans.

I wanted to be a leader and trainer, God had other plans.

God's path for my life has not always been one that I have seen as clear but he has used all of my life experiences, good and bad, for His glory.

If I could tell my younger self something (or anyone who is searching in life for the "right path"), I would tell them to get to know God and find out what He wants for your life. It may look a little different than the ideas you had for your life, but once you start living for Him first, everything else will come together. That doesn't mean it will be easy but you will be filled with a peace that gives you the strength to stay the course.

I am excited to see what else God has in store for me and I am so glad He has plans for my life!

xoxo
Audrey