DIY: Green Tea Scrub

I feel that it's such a waste to jsut throw the green tea bags that I use after just steeping it once.  I thought that the leaves are not too big and not too small (and wouldn't be too harsh) to use as scrub so I searched for a DIY recipe and found what I'm looking for at Bubz youtube channel.

I wanted to make mine a bit more pastey so it can also act like a mask.  Here's my version of Green Tea Scrub and Mask that I use all over my body.

Ingredients:
2-3 bags of used green tea, remove excess water (which acts as the scrub)
1 tbsp honey (for softening the skin)
1 and 1/2 tbsp rice flour (for skin brightening)

How to:
1.  Mix the tea leaves and honey in a clean small container.
2.  Add the rice flour until everything is smooth.

Just scrub the mixture on your face and all over the body and let it set for at least 5 minutes.  This will gently remove dead skin cells and will soften the skin instantly.  The brightening part is only noticeable after like a month of constant use (twice a week).

If you plan to use unused green tea bag, I suggest to add 1/2 teaspoon of milk to moisten the leaves or just add more honey to the mixture.

Enjoy!

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!

DIY: Kid~dish Recipe Notebook

I wanted my recipe book/notebook to be cool like all the pages are in black then I'll use a silver to write the ingredients and procedures.  But I also want it to be practical like even if it splattered with water or oil, there will be significant evidence that will impair the condition of the book.

I hope you are following Estee vlog's at and watched the "episode" where she featured HAM because that's where I got the idea of the cover of my recipe notebooks although mine is unprofessionally done and very childish (I was not rained with a drawing skill, so please understand and just laugh to yourself if you find my pot and whisk very "unbelievable".

back to basic

The pot represent cooking while the whisk baking, it's as simple as that.  To make it more obvious I wrote the words "cook" and "bake" although I argued to myself for days if I should just use the words "make" and "create" and the third notebook (that I'll make in the future) "celebrate".

And to make the notebooks more durable I covered them with adhesive book cover.

very simple but reliable, next recipe on my blog:  beef with broccoli

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!

DIY: Can and Scratch Pad

Just sharing these simple DIYs that I did this January.

The first one is a money container for the 52 Week Money Challenge that's been popular lately.  I modified the amount though because it's too "high" for my budget.

Materials needed:  Empty potato chips container, washi tape/s of your choice and I also used double sided tape.

Just cover the "can" with the washi tape of your choice.  I use double sided tape because I thought one roll of washi tape is not enough to cover the whole can.  Anyway, in time maybe I'll peel off the plastic that is covering the sticky tape and put a paper and write anything I want around it.

tada!!!

Next, is my "scratch notebook" where I put any idea or lists like wishlist and booklist and anything and everything under the sun that I wanted to write.

Material needed:  Kraft notes scratch pad, old stamps, adhesive book cover and I also cut a "Shower!" word from a magazine.

I just put the stamps all over the cover of the Kraft Pad and stick the Shower! word at the center then used and adhesive book cover to cover the pad so that it can lasts a whole year and done!

using an adhesive book cover for the first time

Got a little hard time putting the book cover because it's my first time using it.  It's best to lay down the thing to cover on a flat and clean surface and slowly but surely fold the edges.

tada!!!

Another tada! Here's my scratch notebook chill-in with our furry and well behaved pet (hehehe).

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!

2 More Days

I'm finally feeling the holiday spirit and can't stop munching peppermint candy canes.  I also already hanged the 3D snowflakes that I made on our window (the other one though flew and never to be seen, sad it's my favorite because it's golden).  If you're curious how to make one then head over to WikiHow.

I've been slacking on my reviews posts (sorry) but I'm trying to be productive by baking cookies to be given as presents to some friends and been browsing the net on how to package them since I'm kinda on a budget.  For the next couple of days I'll definitely be "income-less" for quitting my job ahahaha what a nice way to end the year right?  But seriously, don't do harsh decision like what I did but I'm really hoping that 2014 will be nice to me and I will end up in a really nice and fitting job on January 2014.  For the meantime let's just all enjoy the holidays by filling up our tummies and gaining 2 kilos without guilt and opening and giving those presents in a jolly and merry way.

Oh I'm eating red velvet right now, I bake it myself!

Going back to the main reason of this post,  here are some fun-tastic ideas that I found.  Enjoy!

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Unfortunately, I didn't capture the final "packaging" that I made but here are the raw form of what I did:

I got A+ for all my efforts and everyone is surprised with the name stamps.

Thanks for reading. Till then. Bye!

For A Clear, Moisturize and Glowing Face

Last Christmas, a friend of mine gave me a box full of DIY from Papemerolti and tried last weekend three  beauty recipes.

Stimulating Skin Scrub
To cleanse, clear and stimulate skin, wash face with your cleanser and bit by bit add brown sugar (up to 1 teaspoon) lathering and massaging gently (or else it will hurt) into your skin.

This recipe made and feel my skin fresh and also cleared some of my blackheads on my nose (there are still some that are poking)

From livestrong.com

Brown sugar is the texture of wet sand, but is abrasive enough to remove old skin cells without causing your skin harm or irritation. The moisture in brown sugar won't dry out your skin as you exfoliate. Exfoliation removes not only dead cells from your skin but other impurities that may be clogging your pores. In effect, exfoliation prepares your body for moisturizers and other products that will keep your skin looking supple and fresh. Brown sugar is a source of B vitamins due to its molasses content, and could be beneficial to your skin. A July 2008 article in the Journal of Drugs in Dermatology reports that vitamin B is an antioxidant that can prevent and reverse signs of photoaging of your skin. Photoaging is the skin damage you encounter from the sun's harmful UV rays.

Moisturizing Mask
The recipe calls for 2 tablespoons of honey and 2 teaspoons of milk but 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon is enough to cover the face and the neck.

The combination of honey and milk smells really sweet like caramel.  The texture becomes sticky after 5 minutes that I decided to wash the dishes (no drippings hooray!).  I leave the mask on my face for 15 minutes though the direction said 10 minutes but who cares? As long as there are no ants or bees swarming in my face I think I could leave it on for 30 minute (the mixture makes my face hot)  Rinse with warm water (I used tap water).  What's achieved?  Soft and well moisturize face!

From livestrong.com

Honey can be used as part of a dry skin regimen because its composition is described as s humectant. A humectant is an item or substance that attracts moisture and keeps in locked inside. Using a honey-based facial mask proves beneficial to areas of skin that tend to become dry or itchy because it lends moisture to these areas. People have oily skin can benefit from honey as well; the sweetener can help your skin retain moisture and elasticity without drying it out, as some conventional facial washes may do.

From livetrong.com
Natural beauty author Dina Falconi suggests using milk in homemade beauty products for dry or damaged skin. An oatmeal face or body scrub, for example, becomes additionally moisturizing and vitamin-rich when it contains milk rather than water, according to Falconi. Nonfat powdered milk blends well with bath salts or face scrubs for long-keeping treatments. Alternatively, mix liquid milk with an equal amount of honey to form a humectant -- a substance that promotes moisture retention -- nutrient-rich mask for your face, neck and chest.

Fair Face Maker
Last but not least, a fruit that will give an instant glow: Papaya! (I think papaya when used regularly can help diminish the appearance of freckles...well that's what I heard from one of my sisters).

Mash ripe papaya and apply all over face and neck.  This is a bit messy so I only leave the papaya for 2 minutes and well, my cheeks are a bit glowing though I think I need to do this mask everyday for the glow to stay.

From alive.com

Perk up your skin and eliminate the day’s worries with papaya. It’s beneficial for skin care and repair. You can use papaya to treat or eliminate old dead skin cells, dandruff and other skin disorders and even to reduce the signs of premature aging. The following recipes will show you how. 

Enjoy making beauty recipes DIY.

Thanks for reading.  Till then.  Bye!

Crafty Hands!

I don't know why or how I got into this but I'm tying, knotting, crocheting some threads to make bracelets. Honestly, I don't wear most of my "creation" (ahahaha) but just in case you are interested in making your own accessories, here's some sites that I find really helpful in making diys.

ISPYDIY have lots of DIY accessories.  I made a bracelet with the inspiration below but have to improvise for lack of materials.  Too bad our neiborhood is not craft friendly.


photo from ISPYDIY

photo from ISPYDIY

And have to use safety pins to almost all the bracelets that I make.  Some may find it silly but it's quite cute if you ask me :)

photo from Life After breakfast

Life After Breakfast is another site with lots of craft inspiration.  The picture above specifically attracted my attention and have to research on how to do it which leads me to Lebenslustiger.com


photo from Lebenlustiger.com

Be inspired!  Enjoy crafting.

Thanks for reading.  Till then.  Bye!

DIY Green Tea Mask

Here's a refreshing mask that I tried this week.  I derived this DIY green tea mask from lifeandbows.com and made some modification to suite my taste and the ingredients that are present in our kitchen.

half cup of green tea, a tablespoon of brown sugar, half tablespoon calamansi and six cotton pads

Mix green tea, brown sugar and calamansi.  Stir until the sugar dissolve then soak the cotton pads to tea mixture then stretch and apply all over the face.  Leave it on for 15 minutes.  Rinse then moisturize.

Why Green Tea?
Because green tea is good for the skin.  It has polyphenols; an anti-oxidant that possess anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic effect which is beneficial in treating inflammatory skin conditions such as acne and eczema.  Polyphenols can also reverse the signs of environmental damage, such as exposure to the sun and cigarette smoke and can  protect the skkin against free radicals-source: livestrong.com

Thanks for reading.  Till then.  Bye!

DIY Moringa Mask - a succesfull experiment

moringa grass

No you don't need a trunk of moringa to make a mask, just the leaves hahaha and sorry for the quality of the pictures I,m just using a vga camera.  So while in the province, I decided to experiment on this grass because one I remembered my friend's idea, two is that we have a lot of this grass in our backyard and three is that we also have lots of stones to pound the leaves (we do not have mortar and pestle) so running out of materials to use is not a problem.

1/2 cup of moringa leaves + 1 teaspoon of clamansi juice or lemon juice

Pound first the leaves then add the juice.  That's it! So easy right?
Apply the mask all over the face and neck and leave it around 5 to 10 minutes. It doesn't matter if the leaves fall off as long as the extract is in your face.  Then rinse with water.

the end product~moringa mask

My mom was suprised to see that my face looked whiter and smoother and laughed when I said that I applied moringa grass on my face.  But really, this mask made my skin instantly brighter and smoother and squeaky clean yet still a little moisturize too.  Maybe I'll use olive or sunflower oil next time for full moisturization effect.

Let me know the result if you happen to try this mask.

Thanks for reading.  till then.  Bye!

DIY Cotton Mask

Last week while reading and watching Etude House Philippines website and Michelle Phan's vblog, I decided to recreate their DIY masks.

Mask 1: 2 ingredients

a freshner + at least 6 cotton pads

peel and place the soaked cottons pads all over the face

Soak the cotton pads in freshner (a kind of toner that is a little thick than normal).  Here, I used my Etude House' Skin Mal:gum in Deep Moist.

Mask 2: 3 ingredients

toner + emulsion + at least 6 cotton pads

combined the toner and emulsion

Unfortunately I don't have a skin conditioner so I improvised.  I mixed 1 part of toner and 1 part emulsion.  Mixed well then soak the cotton pads then stretch, peel and apply all over the face.  Here, I'm using my Etude House's Skin Mal:gum in Smooth and Nature Republic's Aloe Emulsion.

The result is lovable as it made my skin soft, smooth, bright and refresh.  If you have been given with different kinds of toner and emulsion samples from your purchases, then I think it's the perfect time to use them with this DIY masks.  I'm going to use The FaceShop freebies next time.

Thanks for reading.  Till then.  Bye!

Nail Experiment

So I am supposed to recreate the nail art from Etude House Philippines' Nail Art Tutorial featured in their latest Princess Talk.

check their facebook page here for clearer view.  image from Etude House Philippines

As a newbie, I know it will not be an easy success.  Once is okay but twice???  I got frustrated so I went to my room, grab a pen and wrote in my nail "A" for Arya.  The result is this...

horrible!!!!!

I know the result is terrible :( I'll practice and try my luck next time :)

Thanks for reading this lousy post.  Till then.  Bye!

Happy White Heels

Wouldn't it be nice to have a weekly spa to pamper the tired body specially our feet?  On a budget like me?Why not try a DIY foot spa at the comfort of your home with Snoe's Happy Heels Foot Whitening Therapy Set.

Pamper yourself with Snoe Happy Heels Foot Soak for tired, aching feet. This therapeutic soak contains the antiseptic, deodorizing, and healing properties of natural Tea Tree Oil to condition feet. Wild mint stimulates blood circulation to refresh and revive and calamansi to whiten skin. Feet look and feel soft, clean and healthy.

front

steps and ingredients

Step 1: Happy Heels Therapy Foot Soak

Pamper yourself with Snoe Happy HeelsFoot Soakfor tired, aching feet. This therapeutic soak contains the antiseptic, deodorizing, and healing properties of natural Tea Tree Oil to condition feet. Wild mint stimulates blood circulation to refresh and revive and calamansi to whiten skin. Feet look and feel soft, clean and healthy.

I use around 1 tbsp. of this into a basin of water and soak my feet for 30 minutes.  While soaking my feet, I usually put either a face mask or hair treatment to maximize the time.  After 30 minutes; using a pumice stone, I scrub my feet and small white particles which is the dead skin cells are easily sloughed off.  I also clean my cuticles in this step which saves me from using a cuticle remover.

Step 2: Happy Heels Therapy Foot Scrub

Whiten, smoothen, cool, and soothe your dry and tired feet with Snoe Happy Heels FootScrub. This invigorating scrub micro beads to buff away calluses and dead skin cells, mint oil and menthol to cool and moisturize the feet, and calamansi to whiten skin.

To completely remove and soothe my feet, I use the foot scrub included in the set.  It does not only pamper my feet but also my legs.  The beads gives my feet and legs a light a massage especially if I spread the scrub in a circular motion.  Next step is...

Step 3: Happy Heels Therapy Foot Lotion

Happy Heels Therapy Foot Lotion noticeably whitens, soothes and softens dry cracked skin , significantly improving the look and feel of dry feet and cracked heels. It helps build a 24-hour hydration barrier. Infused with cooling peppermint and anti-bacterial Tea Tree Oil to help revitalize rough, dry, and tired feet and calamansi to whiten skin.

To bring back the moisture on my feet I use the lotion not just only after after the step 1 and 2 but on a daily basis.  It's a little watery that gives it the advantage of the skin absorbing it more quickly.  The peppermint gives a cooling sensation that refreshes my feet even without massaging it.

Step 4: Happy Heels Therapy Foot Spray

Refresh and revive your tired feet with an instant pick-me-up of cooling, deodorizing & whitening SnoeHappy Heels Foot Spray. It promotes a cooling sensation to leave feet feeling refreshed and helps to combat odor. Menthol cools skin to leave it feeling refreshed and calamansi to whiten the skin.

To be honest, I rarely use this spray.  But if you want your feet to feel instantly cool and deodorize, then this will be very helpful to you.  This is included in the set and I don't want to waste things so I'm starting a habit to spray it first on my feet before putting on my shoes.

Indeed, Snoe Happy Heels Theraphy set will give you whiter, smoother and more relax and refresh feet like never before!

Thanks for reading.  Till then.  Bye!

DIY Body Scrub

What you Need:

2  parts Sugar (I prefer brown sugar)
1  part Oil (can be Baby Oil or Olive Oil, I usually use Baby oil as my skin absorbs it more quickly)

Optional

 1/2  part Lemon or Calamansi Juice (for skin whitening and smoothening though the effect is not instant)

In a clean container, mix sugar and oil.  Add in the juice then mix again.  Use once a week.  Cover the remaining scrub and store in a cool dry place.  100 grams can cost around P40 (more or less $1) good for 2 to 4 applications.

A little FYI
-sources: benefitof.net and wikipedia

Sugar
Sugar acts as a natural exfoliator.  It contains glycolic acid which is important in maintaining healthy skin as it assists in conditioning, moisturizing and guarding the skin from harmful toxins.

Baby Oil/Olive Oil
Baby Oil moisturizes and helps in preventing the water evaporating from the skin.
Olive Oil contains Vitamin E which has an anti-oxidant function and Oleic Acid which keeps the skin soft.

Calamansi

Aside from the whitening and smoothening effect, Calamansi can also be use as a natural acne medication.   It bleaches freckles and helps to clear up acne vulgaris and pruritus vulvae.