Behind The Scenes 01 October 2021

With the first week of the school holidays behind us we end with Behind The Scenes 01 October 2021 and we begin the month of October. Watch the video above to see a run down of what’s been happening with me and Kaboutjie this week, as well as other mom bloggers in South Africa.

October 1st is a special date for me – it is my mother’s birthday and it is the 6th anniversary milestone of me quitting smoking which is something I am incredibly proud of. Today is also the day I get to see my parents for the first time in 18 months due to the pandemic. My kids and I leaving as soon as I publish this post! I spent three months with them last year to wait out the lockdown on their farm and to keep them safe we have not visited since.

Now that every adult in our family is fully vaccinated and the third wave is dying down it is certainly time to connect again. While it is going to be an amazing reunion I am sad thinking about all the time they have missed, how much my kids have grown and developed over the last 18 months.

This week has been fun, exciting and tiring all at the same time! Judy from Fun Mamma SA went back home on Sunday and it was certainly time for that to happen. While I love her and Hamish very much and really enjoy spending time with them I find being with other people so much intensely exhausting.

Live Giveaways

I just love competitions and giving away awesome prizes – in the video this morning the following prizes were given out, check my page for competitions in South Africa for the winners!

• R250 Checkers voucher sponsored by Kaboutjie
• R150 Krazi Awsum voucher sponsored by Fun Mamma SA
• Life Anon workbook sponsored by author and counselor Freddy van Rensburg
• Ditch The Mom Guilt course by Cheryl Schwartz
• Happy Event hamper
• Virtual Fertility Show Africa tickets

Do you want to see loads more giveaways during my weekly live videos and on my blog?

The number one way to do that right now is to follow me on Instagram and like and comment on my posts! Instagram is where brands are focused on finding bloggers to collaborate with them so building my Instagram channel is a big focus of mine right now.

Playing with Fire

Fire dancing is something that I love doing but have not done in many years. For a special treat for Hamish on his birthday I decided to give him a little show and it was so much fun. I’m going to definitely be doing this more often moving forward. It is so sad how we become moms and lose sight of some of the things that gave us joy. Click here to watch me playing my fire ropes on Instagram.

Going Lighter

I dyed my hair again and I am much happier with the results this time. Check out my Instagram post about the first home dye attempt I made in years, sharing what went wrong. This time I made sure to be quicker about getting the job done and it made a huge difference. I used Clairol nice’n easy 9B Light Beige Blonde which I bought from Takealot.

My hair is far from the blonde colour on the box but it is lighter and I quite like the look. Doing my hair again has resulted in a more even blend of colour than last week.

I’m a big fan of Clairol nice’n easy since it covers my grey nicely, it is easy to use and I find it quite gentle on my hair.

Catching Up On Work

The last few months feels like I’m behind on everything and it feels like all I’ve done is scramble to catch up on things, but this week I’ve managed to tick off a few things that I’ve really wanted to get done, including finally getting up my blog post from my live interview with Shelley Tonkin Smith from The Playful Mompreneur Podcast.

I still have another few videos that I need to write the corresponding blog post for and a number of posts that are sitting in drafts partly written that I have to complete and send out.

It actually takes a lot of time and effort to write blog posts, from brainstorming ideas to keyword research, researching the topic, writing, editing and proof reading, formatting and SEO, adding images, publishing, sharing to social media…. and many more little bits and pieces.

Currently Working On

I am so excited about the things I am currently working on.

I did a live video yesterday with Freddy van Resnburg on Why Everyone Should Be Doing The 12 Steps – a topic that is so close to my heart. Mental health is so important and while the 12 steps are notorious for those that are battling alcoholism and addiction, the 12 steps will benefit every person that does them. Freddy’s latest book is Life Anon – a 12 step workbook for anyone. I highly recommend everyone to give it a go whether you are finding your life unmanageable or not – only good things can come of it.

Last week I published my review of the Bareskin laser hair removal device along with a giveaway to win one for yourself. The response to that review and giveaway has been overwhelming. I am so happy to see that you are all as excited about that device as I am.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Lynne Huysamen • Blogger (@lynnehuysamen)

This week I published my review of the Miracle One beauty serum and Inner-G One supplements along with a giveaway to win a 30ml Miracle One serum. It has been a pleasure reviewing this brand and so exciting to see the results. I am looking and feeling younger and fresh.

I’m busy working with the Smoby Flextreme racing track set and my son is driving me crazy – he plays with it too much resulting in dead batteries almost daily. Then I want to take a video and there is no power left. Note to self – I must buy rechargeable batteries! This track is one of a kind – the car fits onto the track and it can drive upwards and upside down without falling off. I am still working with this and will write the review during the course of next week and there will be a giveaway to win a great Smoby Flextreme prize. So keep your eyes open.

I am also running a giveaway to win a one year subscription to SAFER – a fantastic safety app for women. I was also gifted this app and so far it looks great but thankfully I have had no real life dangerous situation to put it to the test yet. I did test it live during the video and the response was fantastic! I am super impressed.

Make sure to also enter the giveaway to win a Rookie USA hamper – I’m quite jello that I can’t win this. With the kids eating so much and the new season my kids are in desperate need of new clothing right now. I know that anyone would be blessed to win such a fantastic prize right now.

The R500 Superbalist voucher competition came to an end this week and the winner was announced on my competitions page.

I was so excited that my Luna Primrose period pack from Luna Angeli arrived this week for me to unbox live. I will be writing a review on my blog in the near future so keep your eyes open for that.