Alpha-H Liquid Gold Smoothing and Perfecting Mask

It's certainly not easy to pick a favourite skincare item, but I'm in love with masks. I have been known to even indulge in a tri-fecta mask experience in just a short hour. These concentrated treatments are so pampering, and in my humble opinion, almost always give you the results you want in a short time. 

My very handsome boyfriend got me one of my favourite masks for my birthday (and I'm very glad he did considering the price tag!). The Alpha-H Liquid Gold Smoothing and Perfecting Mask with lavender is a real treat. I use this sparingly and love it more and more every time I use it. I've been using the Alpha-H Liquid Gold (check out my post here) for coming up on a year now and still really enjoy the product. The issue I have with it is that its active ingredient is Glycolic Acid. I love this stuff for its ability to resurface the skin in a gentle way that means waking up to a brighter and smoother face. What also tends to happen with active ingredients, is your skin will get used to them and over time they aren't as effective. I find when I use the Liquid Gold today, I don't even feel a tingling sensation anymore. I wish they offered a stronger product to transition into. The mask, and hero of this post, is that very solution!

A thin layer on a clean face for no more than 10 minutes will leave my skin in the same state it used to after a whole night's application of the original Liquid Gold! I would suggest that those with no history of using Glycolic might want to work their way up to this product, its pretty strong. The product doesn't dry and listen carefully when I say to NOT leave it on longer than the 10 minutes! The result is a beautifully brighter, smoother more polished appearance in a very short time! I love to use this after a clarifying mask like the GlamGlow Mud Mask (You can check out this awesome mask's post here). I pull all those impurities to the surface then exfoliate them with my Liquid Gold Mask!

I highly recommend this stuff and love love love using it before heading out for a night out. I am confident you'll love it too! 

Thanks for Reading! 

XOXOX

My New Healthy Lifestyle!

So I thought I’d share with my lovely readers today my newest lifestyle change. Now I’ve contemplated for a while now whether this was something I wanted to share. I am by no means whatsoever an expert on anything health wise. I still am not sure I’ve got it right and I’m always looking for new and informative ways for me to stay healthy. However, I have been fairly successful this new year at loosing some weight and have seen some great results elsewhere. I decided to do this post when I went to write my skincare routine update and I thought to myself – none of this topical stuff would really matter if it wasn’t for my healthy lifestyle. It is the stuff I put into my body that is making the most dramatic difference in my skin’s complexion.

Here are some pictures of my skin last year. Although this is no where near how bad it got. I literally stopped taking pictures I was so embarrassed! 

Here are some pictures from the last couple weeks:

So while in Australia I got into some not so great eating habits and really became quite lazy. This resulted in some unwanted weight gain and an overall body image I wasn’t pleased with. I was low on funds in Australia, which meant I was eating a lot of carbs; carbs are cheap, filling, & delicious! Before heading home I said to myself that I really wanted to clean up my act. My parents have in the last 6 months dropped 35-40 each and I knew that adopting their eating habits was going to be a great thing for me. They went on the Dukan Diet and I thought I might as well go along with it. It is a French diet/eating plan that in a nutshell is a low to no carb high protein eating plan. Along with sticking to this diet pretty religiously, drinking a ton of water and actually exercising, I’ve dropped 15 pounds without much work.

Now by not much work I mean just sticking to what foods I’m allowed and trying to work out at least once a day. BUT it hasn’t been easy either. I have really craved carbs and a lot of the “bad” foods I ate whenever I felt like it last year. That being said, I have enjoyed everything I have been eating and I am really happy with the way I look and that I am still loosing weight and coming closer to my goal weight and my overall goal of being strong and healthy again. As a plus, my skin is a lot better! I owe most of that to cutting down on my milk intake. I was drinking lots of milk and my skin was a mess. Since I stopped drinking glasses of milk I only have minor hormonal breakouts and it only took about three weeks to see a dramatic change.

So here are my suggestions broken down into point form: (these are really in order either!)

•  Drink lots of water 
• Exercise as much as you can and when you do, push yourself. You should want to be strong and able to get better and better at various workouts. 
• Try and eat better. You don’t have to go as extreme as I have. Be strong physically and mentally too! You can have the will power to eat healthy! 
• Stay away from processed foods. I will not have skim milk anymore. It is proven to cause reactions in your body because it is heavily processed and contains extra hormones and for me that meant bad skin. Cut it out and drink water instead! (or almond milk! Delic!)
• Stay positive! When you get down you can really mess things up for yourself. You are the person who benefits the most from having a positive outlook in everything you do. It will help you in everything including your healthy lifestyle.

I’ll leave you with a quote:

“every girl is expected to have Caucasian blue eyes, full Spanish lips, a classic button nose, hairless Asian skin with a California tan, a Jamaican dance hall ass, long Swedish legs, small Japanese feet, the abs of a lesbian gym owner, the hips of a nine-year-old boy, the arms of Michelle Obama, and doll tits.” – Tina Fey

I think this says that its not about what we look like but rather what we feel like that really matters. We cannot be all the things that society tells us to be and really that's not what its all about anyway. Be health conscience not body conscience and your whole life can change for the better.

Thanks for reading and please follow my blog!

XOXOX

The Body Shop & Tea Tree Line

I thought I'd share with my readers a product line that I've been using a while. I tend to talk about new products I've found and feel like I leave out some of the products that I've used for so long that I forget that you might not know about their greatness. For someone who is constantly trying and excited to try new products, something that still holds my attention must be good!

I love The Body Shop for many many reasons. The are completely cruelty free and were that way, way before it became trendy. They strive to have as much fair trade as possible, starting their own fair trade program, "Community Trade", over TWENTY years ago. They believe in being completely transparent in all that they do, as well as promoting this philosophy with the great corporate community. And if you aren't yet convinced that this company is all round awesome they also have their own charity "The Body Shop Foundation" launched in 1990 and focusing on the assistance of those working in areas of human and civil rights, environmental and animal protection. Seriously a company after my own heart! 

(animal love evidence below)

I have used tones of various The Body Shop products! Not only are they all of which I mentioned above, they also make quality products that are often far superior then their competition that cannot come close to The Body Shop's reputation as a respectable company. Some of my all time favourites are their Body Butter's of which I always (always) have at least one on the go (although its winter right now and I have 5 on the go!). But for today's post I want to give an honourable mention to their Tea Tree line.

This line has everything you'd need for your blemish prone skin. Washes, Cleansers, Toners, Exfoliators, Wipes, Blotting Paper and Concealer, etc. and of course Tea Tree Oil. I love the use of this natural oil to clear up skin. I find this line really hydrating too! Tea Tree Oil on its own can be drying but the Face Mask and Exfoliator are really hydrating, cooling and effective. I have an issue with a lot of lines for blemished skin is they are striping and drying (ahem proavtiv ahem), which in turn promotes the natural oil in your skin to overact and create even MORE oil- the last thing you want when suffering from breakouts!

I've used many products from this line over the years and find it always seems to calm my skin down. It really means something to me to use a brand that is doing whatever it can for its community, the greater world and animals. I can feel good using their products in an industry that can be self absorbed and a luxury. 

Have a look in your nearest Body Shop next time you walk by!

 (by the way, this post is not sponsored and I have no affiliation with The Body Shop whatsoever)

Thank you so much for reading & Please follow my blog and check out my contact page for other ways to follow me!

XOXOX