Thursday 25 February 2016

Try it Thursdays: How to get rid of uneven skin tone/discolouration/hyper-pigmentation and sunburn

Hyper-pigmentation is something that I have, so I am always trying to find ways to combat it. The hard thing is you need to be consistent with your regimen and treatments for it to really be effective. Discolouration can be natural or something that develops as a result of the environment that we live in. For example, over exposure to the sun or extreme weather conditions can all contribute. Post- inflammatory hyper-pigmentation (acne scars) can also leave dark marks on the skin. Changes in the body such as pregnancy or hormonal imbalance can also contribute or trigger discolouration and hyper-pigmentation. The good news is that a good skincare routine can combat it.

You will need:

Rice flour & milk

Rice flour- It is a natural skin lightening agent that not only improves discolouration but also helps in soothing sunburnt skin as it has lots of acids in it that act as sun screen and prevents sunburn. It is also a great anti-inflammatory!

Milk- Milk contains lactic acid which is a great aid in removing dead skin cells sticking to the surface of your skin, which helps in restoring an even-toned look.

Instructions:

Add a heaped teaspoon of rice flour and an equal amount of milk and mix until you have a thick consistency that will stay and can be applied to your face without dripping off. Take a clean brush and apply to a clean face. You can also use this all over your body as a scrub.

Leave on your face for 10-15 minutes and then wash off. Once you're ready to wash it off, it can be used as an exfoliator!

Pat dry your face and follow with a moisturiser and natural organic oil of choice.

Note: Please conduct a patch test before you put this mask all over your face, if
you notice irritation or redness, please do not use it.





Happy DIY-ing



XO Verified Beauty 

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Tuesday 23 February 2016

Tuesday Ten: 10 ways to cultivate real change in your life:

     




     2016 was supposed to be a new year and a new you, right? So why do you seem to be returning back to old habits and old ways like it’s some sort of default setting? It’s great that you have identified something in your life that you need to change, now what’s next…

1.    First of all you need to go deeper than that, you need to analyse and take time to reflect, figure out and really get to know yourself and the habits that you’re working with. For example, if you are eating unhealthily and you want to transition to a healthy lifestyle, then you need to identify what is causing you to eat that way- are those the kinds of foods you‘ve been eating since childhood? Do you get cravings for those sorts of foods? Are there any triggers that cause you to eat unhealthily? In order to progress forward you need to identify your bad ingrained habits and what causes them to occur.

2.    Re-wire your thinking, now when I say re-wire your thinking this isn’t just a quick decision to think more positively or optimistically, this needs to be intentional. I refer to it as a fight. Remember that your thoughts control everything! Thoughts become things; therefore it’s literally going to take mental strength and good old time to get to you to a place where you can see change. You are going to be undoing possibly years of bad habits therefore it’s going to take a lot of focus and everything you have in you. In order to change you need to apply yourself to what you are doing mentally, if you leave your thoughts and focus to go unchecked then it’s not going to work.

3.    Change your standards: I remember that for a long time what I thought was my “best” wasn't really my “best,” I just had low standards for myself. A lot of the time we don’t even realise that we have set this low standard for ourselves until we really dig deep and reflect. This is why I absolutely love reflection. I remember I used to tell myself not to go for certain things because they were slightly beyond me until one day I realised “Why not me?” I had to then go through a process of setting my standards much higher, to the best.

4.    One of my favourite quotes is: “you can’t keep doing the same things and expect different results. “ This is 100% truth. Therefore if you want to see results, you need to make a complete 180 degrees turn from those bad habits because a culmination of bad habits is what results in stagnancy and low performance. Comfort, fear and a lack of knowledge is what keeps us stationary. Whatever is keeping us from where we need to be we need to get up and move from it otherwise it will keep us in chains forever. Old methods and old ideas need to become out of date!

5.   Force change: Whenever I have a motivation to change I do something quick and practical to shift my brain, so I will force myself to do something different like read a new thought provoking book or get up earlier just to demonstrate to my brain and to myself that real change is coming. It’s not going to come naturally to you if it’s not a habit so you have to force it at first, but it will get easier.

6.   Regular small steps daily: Success is the culmination of regularly executed habits day in day out, it doesn't happen overnight. Consistency and patience is key.

7.    Constantly renew your energy: Energy is renewable! Yay! This means that we can always get back to our optimum performance level after some recovery (rest, regaining energy). There are 4 aspects of us as humans that we need to renew consistently: our physical bodies, mental capacities, spiritual (purpose) capacities and social interactions. You need to find out what personally renews your energy. Lots of articles on successful and productive people have really put this down to having a great morning routine. For me reading my scriptures in the bible, reflection and exercise is what I use in the mornings to really renew my energy and make the most of the day ahead.

8.    Develop resilience, this means being able to work at a maximum performance level but also realising that life isn't always going to be plain sailing there’s going to be a few bumps along the road and challenges that you will encounter. However, your ability to thrive in the midst of those challenges, adapt, respond and move forward is the main thing. This is why it will all come down to your re-wired thinking and mental strength. Sometimes things can be so strong to knock us down temporarily and that’s okay, take some time, cry it out but get back up and start again.

9.   You’re fighting for your destiny: I've mentioned fight quite a few times but that is because I actually believe that it is a fight! A famous quote that I often find myself reading is that your thoughts become actions, your actions become habits, your habits become your character and your character becomes your destiny. I truly believe this because if you’re not fighting for your destiny then who else is going to? You will just end up being a product of what you are given and not what is inside you. I believe that every single person on this earth is born with a purpose and with talents and gifts to go with that purpose. If you don’t fight to be the best version of you possible then you’ll be settling with a survival version of you and the world would have never been able to see your full potential and that upsets me L

10.   Lastly becoming the best version of yourself will take time, you need to grow at your own pace and fix your eyes on your own grass. The way I see it I can’t be spending energy looking at other people’s lives if I’m not happy with where I am. The easy thing to do would be to be jealous of their lives and never make a change in your own life but that’s not wise! So let’s really give this ALL we’ve got, it’s the least you can do (yes standards)! 

     Here is a great list of 15 things highly productive people do differently (I know there are so many of these floating around but this is the best I've seen: click here



XO Verified Beauty


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Tuesday 9 February 2016

Tuesday 10: The 10 best beauty facial oils!




The rise of beauty oils has really caused a stir in the beauty world with top beauty experts ranting and raving about them we just had to find out the top 10! Oils are great for nurturing and rejuvenating the skin. Although companies claim that the latest face oil formulations are so advanced that they really are suited to all skin types, I have learnt from experience that you NEED to try before you INVEST and find the beauty oil that works best for your individual face. Having said that, there is this one oil that I have found to be the most universal so far! I have not heard a bad review about someone using coconut oil on their face and it going wrong! Please let me know if you have had a bad experience with coconut oil. Remember to make sure that all the oils you are buying are organic, raw and cold pressed!

  1.  Coconut oil
  2. Argan Oil
  3. Vitamin E
  4. Tamanu Oil
  5. Rosehip Oil
So now onto the blended oils:
  1. Kiehl's Midnight Recovery Concentrate face oil
  2. RMS beauty Oil
  3. The Sanctuary Spa Therapist's Secret Facial Oil
  4. Origins Plantscription Youth-Renewing Face Oil
  5. Darphin- The revitalizing oil

XO Verified Beauty

Photo credits: Google
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Wednesday 3 February 2016

Water Detox: Quick and easy antioxidant drink


So we are ending our water detox series on instagram with this great antioxidant  recipe:

For the prep you will need:

Fresh fruit of your choice (All types of berries are antioxidant rich)
Some water
Something to mash the fresh fruit with
Ice Tray
Lemon or lime


Wash your desired fruit thoroughly and prepare to mash.

Mash the fruit until it becomes a paste.

Mix up the mashed fruit with water and pour into an ice tray and then freeze it.

Remove a few blocks from the ice tray and add to a glass of water.

Enjoy with lemon or lime!

How convenient, give it a try and let me know how it goes!


XO Verified Beauty 

Photo Credits: Pinterest


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