DIY: Make Your Own Natural Nose Strips to Remove Blackheads

I'm sure we all have used or heard of nose strips, one being "Biore Nose strips".  After buying them over and over they can get quite costly, why not just make your own at home using natural ingredients, below I will tell you how you can make strips at home both naturally and on a budget. The only downside to this is that you will have to bare a not so great smell.

What you will need:

• 1 egg
• small cut out piece of cotton to fit over your nose

It's easy! 

Step 1:  Wash your face, normally.  Be sure to wash off all oil residues with your facial cleanser.  Pat dry and allow skin to air dry for s short while. Meanwhile you can do the following...

Step 2:  Separate the egg white from the yolk and discard the egg yolk.  Beat the egg white with a fork for a minute.  

Step 3:  Soak the cotton piece in the egg white and smooth the cotton piece onto your skin.  Make sure not to leave any bubbles so that the strip you have cut out is bound to your skin.

Step 4: Wait until it is dry and you can feel that tightness from the strip.  This may take approximately 10-15 minutes.  Peel off slowly and you will see and feel the difference!

Hope this Natural DIY nose strip for blackheads works for you!

How to Naturally Lighten Your Hair

Sometimes it doesn't take that extra money and time at the hair dresser to get your hair coloured.

Based on all my blogs, I love natural and money saving tips to create the same affect that you may get at a hair dresser or spa etc.

You can get either highlights or a full head of lightened hair.  All you need is lemon and a comb.

For highlights:

Take lemon juice and use a comb to dip in the lemon juice.  It is easier if you put the juice in a cup and dip in the comb every so often.  Dip the comb and keep the lines as neat as possible. Keep your hair out and head into the sun for 20 minutes. Shampoo your hair right after.  You will be left with natural highlights! You will be left with a slightly lighter tone in your hair colour without touching your wallet.

All over colour:

For all over colour, simply pour the lemon juice right over your hair and sit outside in the sun for 20 minutes.  Keep a mirror with you to see the progress, if you want to stay out longer, you can do so but don't stay too long as you will dry out the hair too much.

Doesn't matter which of the above you decide to do, make sure you use a moisturizing shampoo afterwards.  Yes, it is natural, but it does slightly dry out your hair.  To make you feel better, real hair colour is much worse and dries out your hair even more than using lemon and sun.

Hope this secret to lightening your hair colour helps your wallet! Till' next time!  Let me know how it goes!

5 Healthy Skin Foods

A few of these essential healthy skin foods may be surprising to us, but when we think about other skin care products, they will make much more sense.

1) Chocolate (Hydrate and Glow): 

Chocolate, as we know is made from Cocoa, Cocoa which has been seen in many moisturizing products is for added firmness, it hydrates, and makes skin supple.  Cocoa is also an antioxidant which is great for skin recovery. When used as a product to apply on skin, the caffeine in cocoa helps to bring down any swelling. Sometimes, turn to products that have Cocoa in it that will cut those hefty calories out!

2) Yogurt (Wrinkle Fighter):

Yogurt is a type of protein, not always looked at one for protein support, but definitely does the trick. Yogurt is beneficial to us because it helps our skin become firm.  The main thing that Yogurt provides for our skin is less wrinkles! If you can shy away wrinkles by eating Yogurt daily, why not! Maybe those wrinkle products may not be as necessary anymore.  Like always, I love giving tips to help your health and your wallet.  This is definitely one of them.  In terms of protein, Greek yogurt is known to have double the protein, check the labels while shopping.  This also helps with dry and sensitive skin.

3) Sunflower Seeds (Skin Brightener):

These are a great source of Vitamin E; this is our protection from the sun's harmful rays.  In fact, it helps us from burning quickly.  If you feel that your skin burns quickly in the sun, try eating sunflower seeds or get more Vitamin E in your body and compare it to the past.  You will definitely see a difference in time.  This does not mean you can bake in the sun and you will be okay, Vitamin E is just a fighter to combat the after effects of sun damage and help reduce the amount of damage that can be done.  The main thing that Sunflower seeds will do for you, is brighten the look of your skin.  This is why Vitamin E oils are usually used to help reduce scars and blemishes.

4) Kidney Beans (Blemish Fighter):

 Kidney Beans are high in zinc; zinc is added in some topical body and face lotions in order to combat blemishes.  Blemishes are usually greater in those with deficiencies in zinc.  Try to have four ounces of kidney beans a day in order to keep that acne away.

5) Walnuts (Skin Softener):

Here, this one should help you easily get your boyfriend/husband to soften his hands and feet without telling him.  A lotion with Walnuts is probably what you or he needs.  It contains copper, which helps increase the amount of collagen in your skin. A handful a day will keep your skin's elasticity without drying and softens your skin simultaneously.

From now on, these 5 healthy skin foods will come into mind more often when you read labels of skin products.  Till' next time!  Let me know how it goes by leaving comments below!

4 Ways to Get Rid of Under Eye Bags or Dark Circles

Low on sleep and have to get up for work or school? Try to take out 5-10 minutes and help yourself in the following ways, see what works best for you. Find out what can cause dark circles and get rid of them naturally.

1) Cucumber Treatment (to reduce puffiness):

Freshly slice two pieces of cucumber and place it on eye lid while laying down.  Cucumber helps with dark circles, the nutrients from the cucumber will help reduce the swelling.  Refrigerated cucumbers are usually better to use because something cold always help with swelling.

2) Retinol and Vitamin K (to reduce dark circles):

We may have heard of these two ingredients in eye creams and sometimes eye creams do not have these ingredients.  Try to find one that does have these two ingredients as it is essential to keep dark circles from getting worse.  Most people with dark circles have a deficiency in Vitamin K.  From my personal experience, because I am a vegetarian, it is slightly harder to have a good Iron count and therefore need supplements.

3) Take your Multivitamins:

Deficiencies are the main causes of dark circles, improving skin and other skin problems are usually connected with a deficiency or genetics. So make sure to take your Vitamins daily and keep checking with the doctor to know when to do your next blood test, make sure to tell the doctor to check all aspects of your blood report.

4) Cool Tea Bags:

Tea bags help with puffy eyes, it helps to cool them and bring down swelling, it will also help reduce discoloration.

Hope these 4 ways to get rid of under eye bags or dark circles help you relax in the future both with that puffiness as well as in your wallet! Till' next time! 

How to Fix Broken Pressed Powder (Your Money Saver)

Ever dropped your MAC Studio Fix and thought, oh my gosh now I need to invest another 30 plus bucks! If it's just broken don't throw it out! There is a resolution for you!

What you will need to fix your broken pressed powder:

• Rubbing Alcohol
• Small Stir Stick

 Step 1: Depending on how much make-up you have left, pour a generous amount of alcohol in your makeup container.

Step 2: Stir the alcohol with the pieces of makeup until all pieces are dissolved.

Step 3: Leave open and let it dry for 24 hours.  Let dry in room temperature and not in strong lighting, as it can discolour your powder.  Think of it as hand sanitizer, it dries fast when we apply it to our hands.  The alcohol will allow the pieces to dissolve and dry together.

Step 4:  Enjoy your fixed pressed powder again, without spending more money on a brand new one!

I hope this Broken pressed powder fix helps you save money in the future!

Health & Beauty: 10 Uses of Vaseline

Vaseline has become one of my favourites as I have touched on it a bit before.  Beauty wise, it can be used in so many different ways.  Below is 10 Vaseline uses that can help your budgets and bring out that natural beautiful you.

Your very own Homemade Body Scrub:
Mix Vaseline with some Epsom salt and scrub body.  Do this before you shower so you can wash that Vaseline off.  Before showering, take a towel and wipe off the excess Vaseline.  This will make it easier for you in the shower.

Lip Plumper on a budget:

Think you need an expensive lip plumper? The answer is no.  A very small amount of Cinnamon powder mixed with Vaseline will do the trick!

Preventing Stains from Hair Colour on your skin:

Simply apply a moderate layer of Vaseline around your hairline, you can than proceed with the application of your hair colour.  You will notice that the hair colour will not go through the Vaseline, leaving no hair colour on your skin. 

Foot and hand Softener:

I learned this the hard way but Vaseline does the same as any other Foot cream.  The best way to get softer feet and hands is to moisturize your hands and feet with Vaseline before bed and put on socks and gloves to lock in the moisture.  You will feel the difference in the morning.

Eye Makeup Remover:

Take a small cotton pad and apply Vaseline on it (a moderate amount), than swipe through your eye makeup and you will notice that it easily comes off with a few strokes.  You also will not encounter that dryness since Vaseline is an amazing product that locks in moisture.

Natural Mascara:

Using a clean mascara brush, brush on some Vaseline through your eyelashes.  This will give you that natural look and give them a good enough lift.  It also makes your eye lashes healthier at the same time, as mentioned above.

Control "fly aways":

Ever have those baby hairs that just won't stay back? You don't need to use much, just take a very little amount of Vaseline and stroke it back and you’re all set!

Cuticle Miracle on a budget:

Do you encounter hangnails often? Or Dry skin around the nail bed? You don't need to spend that extra money on cuticle oil or a special cuticle cream, just apply Vaseline twice a day around your nails and you won't need to waste any unnecessary money.

Great Facial Moisturizer:

Because Vaseline is non-comedogenic it makes a great face moisturizer, it does not allow breakouts to happen and locks in moisture at the same time.  The best time to use this is before bed, as it can look a little shiny during the day.

Keep Your Eyebrows Tamed:


We ladies have all encountered a time when it’s closer to the time for you to do your eyebrows and your eyebrows just don't stay up! Frustrating as it is, a very small amount of Vaseline brushed on with a mascara brush does the trick. Don’t put on too much, as it will make your eyebrows look a little too shiny.

I hope these tips help!
Till' next time! 

Again, please don't forget to leave comments!
Thank you for reading!

Do it Yourself : "Arabic Eyes"

Ever wonder how make-up artists and other professionals get that sharp look with eyes, often called "Arabic eyes". Many professionals can use different techniques in creating such a look, but as someone who likes to do things myself, I figured out two techniques that some professionals may use as well.

The few essentials that you would need to start off are:

-eye shadow primer
-eye shadow brush (what you are already comfortable with) (not too small)
-crease eyeshadow brush
-blending brush
-2 eyeshadow colours, one being a bit darker than the other one in order for you to create the look
-1 black eyeshadow or a dark brown (if you want a more softer look)
-a tissue (preferably a soft one)

Follow these steps for this look:

Step 1: Apply the eye shadow primer to the lid, make sure to keep the application as even as possible, not making it too thick or too thin and spread out.

Step 2: take the lighter of the two shades that you had picked out and apply it to the full lid but applying less at the outside corners of your lid.

Step 3: take the darker of the two shades that you had picked out and you will be using this with the tissue.

• fold the tissue in half, the folded side will be the side that you will be using, line up the folded side to your outer corner of you eyebrow, hold it flat on the corner of your eye so no unnecessary eyeshadow will go past it

• take the darker of the two shades, using the crease brush and slowly apply working the eyeshadow inwards with soft short strokes

For a best look, complete the look off with a bit of eyeliner and mascara.

3 Secret Tips for the Ladies

Hello ladies, as promised a post for us ladies, I want to share some little secrets for things we want and want to get rid of!  From thicker, stronger eye lashes to getting rid of those breakouts with toothpaste!

Secret Tip#1: 

First off, we all want long, thick and strong eye lashes; I've heard two tricks and have done them both.  All you need is either Vaseline or castor oil.  If you get annoyed of strong smells, stick to Vaseline, but I feel that castor oil is more effective. 

Here is what to do:

• When going to bed, after all makeup is removed, apply some Vaseline or Castor oil to your lash line and eye lashes, if possible use a clean mascara brush and dip it in the castor oil or lightly graze some Vaseline on the brush and brush it on the lashes just like a mascara (do this everyday and you will see the difference) 

Secret Tip#2:

I am sure most of us ladies have gone through this situation, I sure have!  It's that time when you go to get your eyebrows done and  notice that they have thinned them out too much or left an unwanted gap and its just so hard to get that hair to grow back in the same place! Frustrating right? Try putting Vicks Vaporub on your eyebrows where necessary, it will help to wake up those cells that were present before in those hair follicles.  

Secret Tip#3:

Pimples, breakouts and a big day tomorrow! This secret tip should help you out:

Sometimes it may take two days but toothpaste comes very handy to kill that bacteria in a breakout, just look what it does for our teeth! It will definitely decrease the size of the breakout in two days. (I find the minty ones to work the best)

Apply just a thin layer to cover the breakout before bed, make sure to let it dry before you sleep.

Hope you get to try these! Let me know how it goes!

6 Daily Ways to Improve Your Skin

1) After showering moisturize all over right away, don't let the air dry your skin before applying a moisturizer (I'm sure all of you have encountered a time where you have waited too long and then moisturized, yes it will help but you will notice the difference, skin will feel a bit tighter and you will feel your skin pulling.)

2) Hopefully we are getting more sun soon, it may be still cold outside but you still need to use that sun block, it will keep you from not losing that moisture which will help protect our skin from harmful bacteria

3) Ladies, put on a primer under your makeup that's good for your skin, perhaps one that has a SPF, this will prevent from your makeup going into your skin (think of it as a base coat on nails, base coats are used to prevent your nails from yellowing from the harsh chemicals in nail polish) (my recommendation, “Face Protect” by MAC Cosmetics with SPF 50)

4) When applying a moisturizer or toner tap your cheeks and forehead lightly for blood circulation (you have seen people do this when you get a facial done; now you know why)

5) NEVER use body lotion on your face, our skin on our face is so much thinner and more delicate than our body; make sure to get a separate moisturizer for your face

6) Consume enough vitamin C; it fights bacteria that can cause skin problems, plus more beautiful and supple skin!

Next time I will share little secrets for the ladies that want thicker eye lashes, thicker eyebrows, and some other little things us girls would want to know.