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Posted on May 10, 2014

Energising carrot juice

Not so guilty pleasure/ recipes

energising

Carrots are full of vitamins and minerals. They contain vitamins A, C and E, all needed for good eyesight, a better immune system and maintaining healthy cells – but it doesn’t end there.

Since they’re also loaded with antioxidants, a regular consumption of carrots (or this energising carrot juice) can help promote glowing skin.

You ready to get started?  Here’s what you need:

2 large carrots
Thumb-size piece of ginger
Zest of lemon
Honey (optional)

1.Throw everything into a blender with water and process it until it gets frothy.
2.Filter the mixture into a glass using a sieve or a cheese cloth.
3.Put the remainder back in the blender with more water and repeat.
4.Serve right away or keep in the fridge.

Note: Carrots are naturally sweet so you don’t need to add any honey to it. For extra hydration, you can add some celery to the juice!

Let me know how you get on with this!

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Posted on April 10, 2014

Mavala Nail Hardener & Nuritive nail Cream

product review

mavala hardener

I planned to do a review on these products much earlier. But, I also wanted to see whether or not Mavala Nail Hardener & Nuritive nail Cream were really the reason behind my nails growing so healthy and so strong.

I can finally say that both of these products have influenced the length and strength of my nail (in a positive way that is) and I’m very thankful that Deborah from puprepr sent these products to me.

I started using both the nail hardener and the nutritive cream about 6 months ago. I’ve used the nail hardener before that so I knew what to expect from it. The nutritive nail cream on the other hand was completely new to me so I wasn’t sure what to make of it at the start. It comes in a 15mlcontainer and you have to apply the cream on your cubicles every day. After getting into the habit of using it, I found that it added moisture to my dry and brittle nails so which helped them grow in a healthy way.

I don’t think I’ve ever met someone who had a bad word to say about the Mavala Nail Hardener. Unlike other nail hardeners, it isn’t a polish that stays on the surface of your nails. Instead, it penetrates right into your nails so all it’s liquid goods are absorbed. I’m guessing the chemicals in them are pretty strong since you only have to apply it once a week. But, it smells amazing and lasts for ages!

mavala nuritive nail cream

If you’re someone who doesn’t have good growth in their nails then you should give either one of these products a try. Of course you will get better results if you use them at the same time, but it’s up to you really to get the one you think you need.

This is how much my nails grew when I used to use the nail hardener on it’s own. So my aim is to get them back to this length! I’d say I need a few more moths,but I’ll get there eventually!(the trick is to file the sides of your nails three times a week  to prevent them from chipping).

Warning: Don’t over do it with the Mavala nail hardener because if you use if more than you should, it might turn your nails yellow (I had to learn the hard way!) 

nails before nails after

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Posted on March 26, 2014

8 essential makeup brushes

Eyes/ product review

brushes essentials

When it comes to achieving a flawless makeup look, the quality of your makeup brushes is just as important as the quality of the products you use. Too often, people underestimate the power of a good makeup brush. They think any old makeup brush could do the trick when in reality, the most expensive makeup products won’t look as nice as they could if you don’t have the right brushes.

That’s not to say that we should all spend an arm and a leg on makeup brushes, you can still find good quality ones at a reasonable price. Once you have the essentials, you can take your time to build up your makeup brush collection.

Here are the brushes I think every woman needs to start off with.

Foundation brush
Whether it’s a flat sided foundation brush or a stippling brush, a quality foundation brush will ensure you don’t end up with a streaky finish or that dreaded painted look.

Concealer brush
A good concealer brush hides even the most sinful beauty problems. One of these could make you forget you ever had dark circles!

Angled eye brush
If it weren’t for this brush I would probably have bad eyebrows! This multi-purpose brush can be used to fill in your brows and give it the definition that it deserves and it can also be used on your lash line for eye liner.

Eye shadow brush
You may be tempted to use your fingers to apply eye shadow, but a flat eye shadow brush nicely gets the eye shadow onto your lid.

Eye shadow blending brush
Anyone who loves a good smokey eye, needs a good blending brush. Without one, you will be left with streaks and lines and that kind of defeats the purpose of ‘smokey’

Blusher brush
Angled blusher brushworks really well because you can also use it for contouring.

Powder brush
I like to set my makeup with a face powder brush so that everything stays intact. Primer is good, but when it’s used with setting powder your makeup lasts even longer.

Lip brush
A good lip brush helps your lip color penetrate deeply into your lips so that your lipstick lasts a lot longer.

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Posted on March 24, 2014

The benefits of exfoliating

Skincare/ Youthful Skin

If you don’t exfoliate your face on a regular basis, then your skin probably isn’t as healthy as it could be. Yes, you cleanse twice a day and yes, you do up a face mask once a week. But, since those don’t give you the same benefits as exfoliating, you’ll probably always wonder why your skin can sometimes look dull.

Well, that’s where exfoliation comes into play…….

When you exfoliate, you get rid of the dead skin cells that lie on the surface of your skin. This means, fresh and new skin cells get a chance to expose themselves and give you a smoother and brighter appearance. But wait, it doesn’t end there. Exfoliating has a lot more benefits than that (as if smoother skin isn’t enough right?)

  • It gets rid of greasiness and impurities on your skin
  • Beauty products penetrate better when you exfoliate so you get the most out of them
  • It increases blood circulation which improves the color of your skin – farewell to dull skin
  • It keeps your pores clean which helps prevent breakouts
  • It helps you maintain an even skin tone
  • It helps you get a better tan (not that I need it)

The benefits of exfoliating may have you rushing to your local chemist to buy an exfoliator. But, excessive exfoliating thins out your skin, so it’s important that you don’t do it more than twice a week.

Remember to buy an exfoliator that tailors to the needs of your skin. People with oily skin have a thicker epidermis layer which means they can handle an exfoliator with a mild astringent effect, unlike people with dry skin, who require something more gentle.

Also, your lips are just as important as your face so remember to use a lip scrub. Here’s a recipe for a D.I.Y lip exfoliator for softer and smoother lips.

I hope you’ll begin to embrace one of the things I enjoy the most when it comes to my beauty routine!

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Posted on March 18, 2014

Top 3 mascaras for longer lashes

product review/ Top products

As you might or might not know, I am crazy about eyes. A strong brow and long lashes always get the job done. Especially when you’re going for the ‘natural’ look.

Here my top 3 picks for mascaras that really make your eyes stand out:

top_3_mascaras

1. BareMinerals Lash Domination,  €21.00 in Debenhams (see full review here).

2. Rimmel Scandal Eyes, €8.65 in Boots (see full review here).

3. Benefit They’re Real, €26.00 in Brown Thomas

Unlike the first two, They’re Real mascara by Benefit doesn’t give you that spider eye look. They do make your lashes longer, but I just find that Lash Domination and Scandal Eyes make my lashes look much thicker than they are (a bit of deception never killed anyone!)

Let me know if you use any of these mascaras and what you think of them!

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scandel

Posted on March 3, 2014

Almond butter pancakes

recipes

almond butter

With only one more sleep until Pancake Tuesday, it comes as no surprise that I’m sharing a healthy pancake recipe with you this evening.

This almond butter pancake is pretty straight forward and you will most likely have all the ingredients at home (a part from the almond butter which isn’t too pricey).

The best part about it is, it doesn’t take flour or milk to make!

So what do you need:

120g almond butter
250g apple sauce
2 whole eggs, beaten
1 tbs baking powder
1 tbs vanilla essence
1 tbs cinnamon

What to do:

Mix the almond butter and apple sauce in a bowl and then add the beaten eggs. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix well. To make the pancakes you can either fry as you normally would or you can line grease proof paper and bake them in the oven at 260ºC for 10 mins or until cooked.

This batter makes about 7 pancakes so if you want more you will have to use more ingredients! Let me know whether or not you decide to give these a try 🙂

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Posted on February 27, 2014

5 natural ways to whiten teeth

How To

Beyonce-white-teeth

Apparently, one of the first thing people notice about me is my teeth – I know, weird! who notices teeth right?

Those were my initial thoughts, but then I though about it. They have good reason to notice my teeth because in fairness I do a lot to maintain the whiteness.

As much as I love coffee I don’t drink it because I’m afraid it will stain my teeth, I don’t drink fizzy drinks because I don’t like the feeling it leaves on my teeth and I don’t smoke…. well you know where this is going!

So for those of you who are looking to get pearly whites yourself, then you don’t need to spend an arm and a leg to get your teeth whitened. If you want, you can use natural methods to whiten your teeth at home:

Baking soda and lemon

Before you brush your teeth, mix a teaspoon of baking soda with a few drops of lemon until you have a paste. Brush your teeth with the paste for a minute and then spit it out. Don’t leave this in your mouth for too long because the baking powder is quite abrasive.

Oil pull

Put a spoonful of coconut oil in your mouth and swish it around your mouth for a couple of minutes. This will get rid of all the bad bacteria in your mouth and leave your teeth feeling fresh and shiny.

Banana peel

Use the inside of a ripe banana peel and rub it on your teeth for no more than two minutes. The potassium and magnesium from the banana will absorb into your teeth and whiten them.

Strawberries

Mash a few strawberries to make a paste and leave it on your teeth for no more than two minutes. Rinse out your mouth with clean water and then floss out any seeds between your teeth. The malic acid in the strawberries help get rid of any surface discoloration on your teeth.

Charcoal

Dip a damp toothbrush into powdered charcoal and brush your teeth for 2 minutes. Spit it out and then rise your mouth thoroughly. Charcoal helps get ride of bacteria that cause cavities so if you do this a couple of times a week you won’t have to go to the dentist as soon as you thought!

At the moment I’m using the first method. I only do it three times a week, but if you’re new to whitening your teeth at home then you can start off by doing it every second day. I love strawberries far too much to try that out and the idea of putting charcoal on my teeth is a bit scary! Let me know if you have any favorite methods yourself 🙂

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Posted on February 23, 2014

Oat bran muffins

recipes

2014-02-22 14.02.59

I love porridge. I have it every morning and it wouldn’t be the worse thing to have in the evening (if need be!). So you can only imagine my disappointment when I opened a packet of what I thought was porridge and found oat bran instead – not the best feeling in the world.

Thankfully, I found a few healthy recipes that include oat bran in them. I decided to give oat bran muffins a try and being the rebel that I am, I also added a few of my own ingredients to it:

300g oat bran
100g brown sugar
50g honey
2 tbs baking soda
2 tbs oil
2 eggs
250ml milk
vanilla essence
cinnamon

2014-02-22 14.04.41

The mixture is pretty easy to make. Put all the dry ingredients in a bowl and then mix the milk, oil and eggs until well combined. Put spoonfuls of the mixture into muffin cases and cook at 220°C for 15 minutes.

A mini oat bran muffin has no more than 170 calories, which, might sound like a lot for some, but I think it’s perfect. It’s also much better than your average chocolate bar. But if you’re a calorie counter, then I wouldn’t advise you have one of these everyday. Like anything, moderation is key!

Since I managed not to throw in some avocados into this recipe, I believe congratulations are in order 🙂

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2014-02-22 14.08.05

Note: This recipe makes up to 28 mini muffins but with medium-sized muffin cases I’d imagine you’d get about 14 out of it

Posted on February 17, 2014

Dry skin VS dehydrated skin

Natural beauty
derma
I recently went to The Buff Day Spa to get a mini facial and somewhere between the time that I arrived and the time that I left, I found out that my skin is dehydrated – I know right, how could a person who is prone to oiliness ever suffer from dehydrated skin right?
Those were my thoughts exactly.
Up until now, I was part of the confused group of people who thought dry skin is caused by a lack of water and moisture in the skin and that a person prone to oiliness could never suffer from skin dehydration, but boy have I been wrong….
Although one part of this misconception is true, the other part couldn’t be further from the truth and here’s why:
Dry skin is a skin type so if you’re born with it, chances are you’ll die with it too –sorry but it’s the truth. It usually occurs when someone has under active oil glands. This means that the skin doesn’t produce as much oil that it needs to stay moisturised, leaving them with a rough and flaky appearance.
Dehydrated skin on the other hand is a skin condition, meaning it’s easier to treat than dry skin. Often caused by external factors like the weather or harsh cleansers, dehydrated skin lacks water content but is still able to produce oils – which is why someone with oil skin can also have dehydrated skin.
The underlying  difference between the two if that one is a skin TYPE and the other is a skin CONDITION. The only way to treat either one is to use products recommended for your skin.
I’m currently using Dermalogica Dermal Clay Cleanser and I’m quite liking it at the moment. I’ll wait until I finish the whole bottle before doing a review, but so far so good.
If you’re unsure of your skin type,you can find out here.

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derma

Posted on February 11, 2014

Chocolate avocado mousse

food

avocado chocolate mousee

I know I know, at this stage I’m pushing it with my avocado recipes. But, this one is really tasty! It’s almost hard to believe that something like this could even be a healthy dessert! You only need a few ingredients and it doesn’t take more than 5 minutes – perfect for those who want a quick sugar fix.

So what do you need?

avchoc

2 ripe avocados
2 tbs 100% cocoa powder
2 tbs honey
1 tbs almond milk 

Note: Make sure the avocados are ripe. I made the mistake of using a not so ripe avocados and let’s just say my mousse  didn’t turn out quite ‘moussy’.

What to do:

Peel and pit the avocados before you put them into a blender. Add in the rest of the ingredients and blend. If you don’t like your mousse too thick you can add some more milk. I like mine thick and creamy so I try not to put too much liquid. After a couple of seconds your chocolate avocado mousse should begin to look something like this:

avvv

Once it has the consistency you’re looking form you can serve it right away!

It’s a great way to get some avocado’s into your diet, especially if you’re not a huge fan. I’m going to calm it down with the avocado recipes now, but do give this one a go, it tastes amazing!

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Posted on February 10, 2014

3 ways to make your eyes look bigger using makeup

Eyes/ How To

cara-delevingne-profile

A lot of people forget that the eyes are the first thing a person sees when they look at you. Okay, so there’s the occasional eye drop down to your twins – yes there are some pervy people out there…..

But in general, the eyes are what a person first sees, so why not make the most of it and make your eyes bigger and brighter with these simple tricks.

1. Calm it down a few notches with the liner

Steer clear of black liner. The only thing black does for your eyes in make them look smaller. If you have pale skin stick to white liner on your water line and if you have dark skin go for a brown liner.

2. Brighten your inner corners

This is the oldest trick in the book, and possibly my favorite. My ‘go to’ makeup consists of a simple winged eye and gold shadow/ highlighter in the inner corners of my eyes to open them up. If you have fair skin then you should opt for a silver in your inner corners rather than a gold.

3. A good mascara

Nothing like a good mascara to get the job done! It makes all the difference in the world, believe me. With a good few coats of  a lengthening mascara, you will make your eyes look instantly bigger without using false lashes at all.

If you have any eye enhancing tips feel free to share them with me!

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Posted on February 4, 2014

Why you should eat more avocados

food/ Not so guilty pleasure

avocado-half

I’m a huge fan of avocados. I love how you can have them with something sweet or you could enjoy them with something savory. Something hot or something cold. As a side dip or a main…..they’re just so versatile!

Lately, I’ve been trying to get a lot more of these into my meals. Since the average avocado has over 200 calories as well as healthy fats, it’s the perfect fruit – yes it’s a fruit, to build muscle tissue and gain weight. Not to mention how good it tastes…..
Now you know why I like my avocados, but why should you get more of these into your diet?
Healthy skin
Of course, anything that’s good for your skin doesn’t get past me. Not only do the antioxidants in this fruit help get rid of the toxins that promote early aging and wrinkles but, they’re also high in vitamin E which is well known for protecting the skin- clearly you’re in good hands!
Good fat
Again, healthy fat. The ones your body actually needs. People with a low-fat diet usually find themselves with sugar cravings (that won’t sit well in the belly!)
Filling
Since avocados contain fiber, you will find only one of these will keep you full for a while. You won’t feel hungry again until long after you’ve had a full avocado – sounds like a lot for some, but believe me, after a work out I could eat a horse – no joke!
Healthy oils
This means it can help restore your healthy body weight. So even if you aren’t trying to gain weight, you could still do with a bit of avocados every now and again,
Versatile
Use it to make a salad or a smoothie. It works well as a replacement for butter or to make ice cream  (yeah that’s a new one, but it’s actually nice!)
Hope I’ve convinced you to eat some more avocados, if not,  check out my avocado ice cream recipe below (not the time of year for it I know, but I guess you can say I’m a bit contrary!)

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avic

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