I thought I understood advertising as a teenager but then I took a semester module in advertising as part of my business degree; my mind was blown a just how much goes into how a brand communicates with both its target market and audience. As with everything, practices evolve and it’s great to see how some big brands and developing new ways to support and engage teens.

Teens and tweens are a sizeable and important segment of the market, with more disposable income than ever but also with a greater voice on essentials, they’re now part of the purchase decision-making process.

One essential for girls and young women is sanitary products. Starting your period is an important time in your life, and should be celebrated but one that can bring worry and social pressure to fit in. I started my periods when I was ten years old – I was the first in my year and remember spending so much time trying to work out what products were best for me (they all looked SO BIG!) and trying to find a way of the products sticking out like a sore thumb in my desk or bag. These things may now seem really inconsequential but at the time they were a big deal.

Lil-Lets is a brand that is demonstrating that they’re not only listening but responding to young teens views and needs. They’ve created their own teen range which is perfect for breaking the stigma around periods.

The introduction of Lil-Lets period starter kits is a great offering, from pastel colours to love-heart style sketches on their packaging it’s designed to appeal to many young girls. whilst it would be great for no girl/young women to feel any embarrassment associated with periods until that time comes the discreet packaging allows individuals to carry around their products without any stigma or extra attention.

The teen pads in the Lil-Lets period starter kits are designed to be smaller and narrower, to reflect the size of their users (remember me saying just how big sanitary products were – this would have been brilliant). However, the smaller size is in no way a compromise when it comes to absorbency, great to know when the reliability of sanitary products is key.

I absolutely love this idea of supporting girls and young women as they approach menstruation. It’s all about reinforcing the message that periods are both natural and empowering, from the beginning, for every single woman regardless of their age.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.

For many young people, prom, or school ball, seems like the biggest evening of their lives. A culmination of their achievements at high school and a last celebration with friends. It is an evening when dreams can come true and their handsome prince could arrive. For parents, however, your child’s prom night can be a stressful time: from preparing early to the cost.

The Dress

The dress is the major cause of agony for many young girls going to prom. From long, frilly ballgowns to clinging lace dresses, there are as many options as a wedding dress for your child to pick from. However, many gowns labelled as prom dresses have steep prices.

In many cases, you can find beautiful alternative outfits and dresses, and maybe even more beautiful dresses, in many shops’ normal range. This will enable your child to have a wide range to choose from while also sticking to whatever budget you set.

Additionally, do not discount charity shops for the perfect dress. Many people dispose of their prom dress after the night, leaving charity shops flooded with perfect, and almost brand-new products that will look just as good as any designer dress.

The Hair and Make-Up

When it comes to the night itself, their hair and makeup will be at the top of their priority list. Many young people decide that they would like their hair and make-up done professionally, in mermaid plaits and smoky eyes. If this is the case, it is best to encourage your child to go for a simpler and more subtle option such as neutral eyeshadow and loose hair with a few silver hair slides or a tiara. Adding lots of fake tan and eyelashes may detract from the overall look and ensure that your child looks back at their pictures with horror. Not only will this stop disasters on the night, but it will stop your child being caked in make-up.

Additionally, you may want to think about doing a practice run with the hair and make-up- if you are styling their hair at home, you should also run through before the night. Even if you choose to go for a simple hairstyle like a bun or high ponytail, this will prevent problems on the night or your child changing their mind at the last minute.

Tip: If you want to take this chance to teach your child about how to apply makeup properly, book an appointment with a professional makeup artist. Have the artist teach them their proper foundation colour, how to apply it properly, and how they can accentuate their natural beauty, rather than hide it.

School Ball Transportation

The cause of a lot of discussion within friendship circles is the prom transport: who will go with you, is it worth hiring a vehicle, and what type of vehicle would they like? If your child wishes to go for a traditional option, stretch limousines are an excellent option to make your child’s evening a night to remember and can fit many people inside, enabling you to split the cost with other parents. Companies such as Allure Limousines provide luxury transport for all manner of events and evenings out, making their service perfect for giving school balls that extra sparkle. Allure also offer a return school ball package so that parents don’t have to worry about picking up their children at midnight. They are safely dropped home at the end of the night.

Your child’s school ball should be a night to remember, and potential ball disasters should be keptto the movies. With these tips, you should be able to have a role in making your child’s night as special as possible while also staying within your budget.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.

How many hours do you spend looking in the mirror in the morning? If you’re spending more than 30 minutes on your morning beauty routine, you might be wondering you can complete it quicker. You might also be a little curious about the beauty routines of other women around the world, and whether there are any tips worth remembering. If you’d like to learn some beauty tricks that will change your life forever, below are eight which will change your life forever and are worth remembering.

1. How to Wake up Without a Bed Head: If you’d rather not worry about how your hair looks when you head out of the door in the morning, try fixing it into a handful of buns using hair grips before you go to bed. When you wake up in the morning, apply dry shampoo, take out the hair grips and untwist the buns. You’ll be left with a hairstyle for almost any occasion.
2. Achieve Fuller Looking Lips: For this effect, you’ll require a white lip pencil and a coloured lip liner. Apply the white pencil to the middle of your lips and the coloured liner to the corners. Blend together, then apply lip gloss for instant fuller looking lips.
3. How to Keep Hair Grips in Place: Hairgrips are not as popular as they used to be, but they are still great ways to keep your hair in place as long as you can get them to stay where they are. If you spray them with hairspray before you use them, they’ll stay where they are for most of the day.
4. Updo Hairstyles can be Flattering: You might think it requires a certain shape of face to look good with an updo hairstyle. It’s possible for it to flatter all face shapes if you follow the lines of your jawline and keep the hair moving in an upward direction.
5. How to Apply Lower Lid Liner: If you struggle to apply lower lid liner perfectly, you might be doing it all wrong. Rather than tugging it across your lower lid, pull your skin taut at the outer corner of your eye. You’ll be surprised how much easier this makes it.
6. Easy to Apply Nail Art: If you’re tired of waiting for your nails to dry, imPRESS Manicure can supply you with a range of different style nail art. Simply peel off the clear backing, line them up and press them on. Your stylish nails are ready in just a few minutes!
7. How to Get Natural Looking Brows: If your eyebrows look drawn on, people are going to spot them from a mile away. Create a more natural looking brow by using a pressed powder eyeshadow rather than an eyebrow pencil. Choose a colour that’s one shade lighter than your eyebrows.
8. How to Prevent Acne: If you’re prone to outbreaks of acne, you might be interested in learning that it could be your washing routine that’s causing the problem. To avoid skin irritation, which is often the cause of acne, wash your face gently. Avoid rubbing it as much as possible. Wash your face in the shower, and you won’t have to touch it at all, just let the flow of water do the washing for you. Try this twice a day, and you’ll be amazed at the results!

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.

Becoming a parent is such a joyous occasion that can’t possibly be described in words. It’s one of those things that you have to experience to understand how amazing it feels. Parenting isn’t all fun and games, however. In reality, you kind of live your life full of fear! That doesn’t sound very good, but it’s somewhat true. Parents have so many things to worry about – but that’s all because we love our children more than anything in the world. 

Amongst all your ongoing fears, parents – particularly mothers – experience one key fear in the first few weeks/months after giving birth. What if my baby doesn’t like me? What if we don’t connect? It’s a horrible feeling, and it’s made worse if your baby cries a lot. 

Thankfully, the majority of babies may go through a crying phase, but they eventually warm to you. Also, you can do plenty of little things to strengthen the bond between you. Here are some ways to bond with them:

Skin-to-skin contact

Speaking of close contact, you should look to achieve it as much as possible. Outside of breastfeeding, you’ll rarely have skin-to-skin contact with your baby. So, change this! Spend time just carrying them against your naked chest or lying with them on you. They feel your skin and develop a strong connection to you. It feels amazing for you as well, babies just feel warm and soft – it’s unbelievably cute!

Make eye contact when bottle-feeding

However you choose to feed your baby be it breast, bottle or a combination of the two it’s your decision and one you should make without any sway/judgement from others. A newborn formula is an option if you choose with lots of options available. If you’re worried about losing some of your bond because you don’t get the benefits of close contact breastfeeding, then there’s nothing to fear! Instead, make eye contact the whole time. Stare into their eyes, so they know who’s feeding them. This does wonders for your bond as they develop an attachment to you and recognise you as the person that looks after them and feeds them when they’re hungry.

Massage your baby

Giving your baby a little massage is proven to do much more than strengthen your bond. Again, you get the skin-to-skin contact that every baby craves. But, you also help them feel relaxed and calm. Again, your baby starts to associate you with these feelings. This will sound like a bizarre comparison, but it’s like stroking a cat. If you give your cat belly rubs and stroke them, they start to love you more and more. 

Don’t worry if your baby seems to cry a lot and not like being in your presence. This is just a phase, and you can help the situation by trying the three things listed above. And remember the most important rule of all – there are no rules, trust your intuition.

This is a collaborative post. 

While rhinoplasty is a relatively complex medical procedure, the recovery process is actually quite brief and not too uncomfortable for most people. Minor pain, swelling, bruising, soreness and congestion is common. These are usually the only post-op discomforts that most people experience. Recovery times vary and depend on the individual’s ability to heal and the level of pain tolerance.

The complexity of the surgery and adherence to the after-care instructions are also factors that contribute to how quickly you can expect to heal from a rhinoplasty. Dr. Andrew Jacono, MD is a dual-board-certified facial surgeon; he specializes in reconstruction and plastic surgery and is a worldwide industry leader in his respective field. He has patented a Quick Recovery Rhinoplasty that minimizes incision lines and does not require the nose to be broken during the surgery. He does not pack the nose after surgery, and he prescribes a holistic home-healing routine that aids in speeding up the recovery process. Here is an expected timeline for your healing phase following traditional rhinoplasty surgery.

Immediately Following Surgery

It is important not to worry or stress when you see your face immediately after surgery. Your overall appearance is not an indication of what you will look like. Immediately after the procedure, you can expect to have a very swollen face with a wide-looking nose. Additionally, the space between the tip of your nose and your mouth will look considerably longer than before the operation. Your nose may also look unnaturally lifted.

Weeks 1 And 2 After Surgery

You should expect to be out of work or school for a week or two after having rhinoplasty. To help aid in the healing process, you should follow your plastic surgeon’s orders for post-op care. You will need to relax and get plenty of rest in the week or two after surgery. Ice your nose regularly, per your doctor’s orders, and sleep in a propped-up position in bed or in your favourite recliner. After a week or two, your doctor will want to see you in the office for a post-op appointment. During this appointment, the healing process will be assessed. You will likely be able to have the splint removed, and you will be able to see your nose for the first time since before the surgery.

Weeks 2 To 4 Following Surgery

During this phase of the recovery, you can really begin to see your new nose taking shape. As you get closer to the one-month mark after surgery, most of the swelling and bruising should have subsided. Your nose will begin to appear as if it is shrinking in overall size; the post-op wideness is diminishing day by day. You may begin to develop some bumps and hard surfaces. This is completely normal and happens as a result of your cartilage and tissue repairing, regenerating and taking on its new shape. The tip of your nose will continue to descend into its natural new position. Your normal breathing will be restored, and you may even notice a significant improvement in sinus breathing. It is important to note that your nose may still feel a bit numb a month after surgery.

3 Months After Surgery

By this phase of the healing process, almost all of the swelling is gone. The tip of the nose is the very last area to decrease in size and swelling. The tip should be the only part of the nose that is still slightly enlarged. The tip of the nose has also dropped by this point, and you can now see the new size and shape of your new nose and its new position on your face. At this phase, you will most likely get your doctor’s approval to resume your normal activities, including exercise. To continue to prevent trauma to the nose, you will want to refrain from being involved with high-impact or risky activities that may damage the nose and require corrective surgery. Your nose will take an additional three to six months to fully heal, so you may want to refrain from doing any strenuous or high-risk activities until the one-year mark has passed.

The overall healing time for rhinoplasty is generally fast. The pain and discomfort are also typically minimal compared to other medical procedures and plastic surgery operations. With all of this in mind, it is important to remember that it is still a complex surgery. It is critical to adhere to your plastic surgeon’s specific instructions before and after the surgery for the best results, to speed up your recovery and to reduce the possibility of experiencing complications.

Dr. Andrew Jacono, MDis considered to be one of the best rhinoplasty surgeons in the world by his colleagues and patients. He is honoured to be one of only 139 elite members of the International Rhinoplasty Society. This prestigious society is reserved for surgeons who have proven to be industry leaders in producing top-notch results, are creating innovative ways of performing rhinoplasty and have an elite and extensive list of satisfied patients.

During your consultation, Dr. Jacono will perform a thorough examination of your nose. He will take into consideration your desired results, age, ethnicity and skin type, and he will notate any structural damage or deformities. Digital photography with computer imaging technology is combined to give you a unique morphing of your current nose with the anticipated results using Dr. Jacono’s unique surgical procedure. Every rhinoplasty patient gets their own unique result that is not a cookie-cutter outcome. You can find out more about a world-renowned plastic surgeon, Dr. Andrew Jacono, here: www.newyorkfacialplasticsurgery.com.

Disclosure: This is a collaborative post.