Grape and Champagne Sorbet

This is a must make!

You’ll need:

• 550g black seedless grapes (Well I guess you can do with seeds but the seeds do taste pretty bad)
•  1 glass of champagne 
• 1/2 Cup Sugar

1. Place the grapes, champagne and sugar in a saucepan and place it on medium heat. Wait for it to boil then let the mix simmer on low heat for around 10 minutes. During this time the skins of the grapes should be floating off.

2. Now drain the mix with a sieve and then press all the grapes with a spoon or fork to so all the juice inside is squeezed out.

3. At this point, you can either leave the mixture to cool in the fridge and then pour into an ice cream maker if you have one

or

You can place the mix directly into the freezer and take it out for a stir every 30 minutes. Similar to my recipe of making Vanilla Strawberry Ice Cream

Now you can serve! 

Just got back from my Porfolio Photoshoot and I love the make up the lady did on me! Lol I took a lot of pictures because I know I’ll never be able to do this make up for myself since I’m so lazy and never use much make up if I don’t have to.

Honey and Sugar Lip Exfoliator and Moisturizer 

Here’s a really simple way to make your own lip exfoliator and moisturizer from home with cheap household ingredients! It’s absolutely great for dry weather in Winter.
Why honey? Because it contains anti-oxidants and anti-microbial properties that protect your skin and lips from the UV rays and helps support the skins natural ability to refresh and rejuvenate depleted skin.
Olive oil also helps to rejuvenate your skin and lips and lock in moisture so you don’t lose it.

All you will need is

• Honey - Whatever honey is okay, manuka or normal etc. Take your pic
• Olive Oil
• Sugar

So I advise that the first time you make this you don’t overuse the ingredients. Just because it’s always nicer to use the ingredients freshly mixed but you can definitely store it in a container providing it’s sealed.

For the Exfoliator:

Usually I go about this with 1 teaspoon of honey, scooped into a small bowl or container then add 1 teaspoon of olive oil and 2 generous tablespoons of sugar. Mix the concoction well and then just scoop some of it up with your finger and apply to your lips and exfoliate away. Rinse it off with warm water.

Simple right?

For the Lip Moisturizer

This you may want to keep in a small sealed container to use often or even for when going out. Any miniature container will do or if you have screw top lip balm container those work great.

Again you want 1 tablespoon of honey, 1 teaspoon of olive oil but no sugar this time. Mix the ingredients together and if it’s still a bit too sticky for your liking, drop in a tiny bit more olive oil.
You can now just apply this straight to your lips like any other lip moisturizer.

You lips should feel clean, healthy and moisturized! Keep this routine up and you’ll never have dry lips for winter. 

My favorite photos of my day at Underwater World, Lion Fish
I think I actually stood around for 20 minutes taking endless photos of these guys. It took me ages to decide which photos to keep.

A beautiful display of coral at Underwater World - Auckland. Managed to take some lovely photos there!

Make your own strawberry face mask and exfoliant!

Face masks and exfoliants are great for getting rid of the leftover dead skin that linger on your face and moisturizing your skin with fantastic vitamins, but don’t you hate how expensive it is? Sometimes there’s no guarantee it’s a good quality face mask and you would have wasted 40+ dollars. And sometimes you’re just not a keen spender like me. Usually it’s not that I’m low on funds or anything but rather I like saving more than spending.

A good way to achieve the same results as using a face mask and spending considerably less is to make your own. Here’s how you can make your own strawberry face mask and exfoliant. Usually a punnet of strawberries from the store is only going to cost you around $3-4 and a pottle of bio yoghurt around $6. Sugar you’ll find in any pantry so you’re really only going to be spending around $10 on a face mask!

Strawberries are great for your skin as it can sooth burns and skin irritations because it’s high in astringent and anti-inflammatory properties. They we commonly used by Egyptians back in the day to treat acne with so they’re going to help with that too if you have trouble with acne sometimes. A few strawberries also contains more Vitamin C than citrus fruit surprisingly.

Yoghurt contains anti-fungal and antibacterial properties so using it on a regular basis will clear your skin right up and unblock clogged pores while you’re at it. It’s has a moisturizing effect on skin similar to milk. Low-fat or whole-milk yoghurt also contain lactic acid, which helps soften skin thus reducing wrinkles and hydrating the skin. If you’re sunburnt, yoghurt’s going to be a tremendous help in soothing the burn. If you’re going to be using yoghurt on your skin, you want bio yoghurt as opposed to common yoghurt. Unlike the normal yoghurt we usually eat these days, bio yoghurt has non of the unhealthy artificial coloring or flavoring. It’s just pure yoghurt.

So here’s what you need: (All ingredients should be refrigerated beforehand)

-Some strawberries - 8 (depending on size) should be plenty for a face mask and exfoliant so that only a small portion of a punnet from the fruit store or supermarket

-Bio yoghurt

-Sugar 

 Alright so let’s start with the exfoliant:

Get 3-4 (3 will be enough if they’re pretty big) of those lovely strawberries you have and mash them up good with a fork. Keep mashing them till you get all the little chucks into a smooth thick texture.

Now you want to get around 2 tablespoons of bio yoghurt and add both the mashed strawberries and yoghurt into a small bowl then add 4-5 generous tablespoons of sugar to your bowl and mix thoroughly.

And, that’s it! Your exfoliant is already done, now just take some of the mix and start massaging it into your pores gently as you work around your entire face. Don’t go over your eyes but instead, around it as the eye area is delicate. Be alert to make sure you massage your nose area well as that’s where a lot of bacteria tends to build up and it has a habit of staying there until all the bacteria merges and become multiple tiny blackheads that will need squeezing out. Not only did that sound disgusting but it’s also painful. You should feel the soothing effects of the yoghurt and strawberries and the sugar should be gentle enough to not irritate your skin but rough enough to remove all the dead skin.

After you’re done exfoliating, rinse off with some warm water and pat your skin dry. Now let’s make our face mask!

So same as before. Grab the remaining strawberries and mash them up good, once you’re done add 3 tablespoons of bio yoghurt and skip the sugar. Mix well and you’re done. Now grab a brush, something like a foundation brush will do nicely but make certain it’s clean and free of oily foundation before you dip it into your yummy concoction.

Dip the brush into your mix and spread it evenly across your face while once again avoiding the eye area. Be generous with the amount you put on your face but don’t over do it. Caking it won’t really have any added effects as it’s not actually going to be touching your skin.

So now just leave for 15-20 minutes and again rinse off with warm water when you’re done. For all your leftover face mask and exfoliant, you can preserve them inside small containers with lid on them or glad wrap them well and store them in the fridge. They’ll last you a few days but it’s best to make them fresh every time so don’t overuse the ingredients when making the mask and scrub. The strawberries and yoghurt leftover in their original containers however can be stored for quite a while so you’ll find that you can milk a few beauty products out of these three ingredients before you’ll have to go buy more.

Enjoy your cheap but effective face masks and exfoliants ^^

Ever wondered about the quote, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”?

Well I can already tell you now that it’s very true indeed.

Apples or Malus Domestica contain fantastic healthy beneficial nutrients that are not only essential for growth healthy lifestyle but also prevent diseases! So here are some reasons why we should be eating at least one apple a day.

Apple are extremely low in calories, 100g of the sliced fruit will only consume your daily calorie intake by 50 and most of that will be used up during digestion anyways! None of those 50 calories contain any saturated fats or cholesterol. In fact, it’s all dietary fibre that actually helps the absorption of dietary LDL cholesterol in the gut. So for those of you who have high cholesterol, apples are your best food buddy.
Dietary fibres will also help the mucous membrane of the colon from exposure to toxic substances, which bind to cancer.

The fruit contains large natural amounts of Vitamin C and beta-carotene (Vitamin A). Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that helps fight infections in the body and heals it. It also chases away pro-inflammatory free radicals from the body.
Apples are also rich in antioxidant phyto-nutrients flavonoids and polyphenols. The total antioxidant strength found in 100g of apples estimated at approximately 5900 TE. That’s a big number!
Tartaric acid gives the apple that yummy flavor but also helps the body protect itself from harmful free radicals that can cause cell destruction. This can lead to disruption and/or death of the cell and apples will help you prevent that from happening!

Another plus is apples are thriving in B-Complex vitamins such as riboflavin, thiamin and pyridoxine (Vitamin B-6). These vitamins help as important co-factors for enzymes during metabolism and other synthetic functions in the body.

Lastly, apples contain potassium, calcium and phosphorus, although in small doses. Potassium is important in cells and body fluids as it helps control heart rate and blood pressure, countering the bad effects of sodium.

Anyone else ever tried cutting the top off strawberries and using it for their skin? Just massage the moisture from the tops onto your face and squeeze the juice out and leave it on your face as a mask for about 30 minutes then rinse off with warm water. Works wonders for your skin because of the Vitamin C. If you have bad skin Vitamin C can sting it a little but it’s one of the most efficient ways to heal skin. Try it sometime! Don’t worry, although while you have the mask one your face will feel all sticky and sugary, you won’t actually get bad skin from the natural sugar in the strawberries.

I know strawberries are a little on the expensive side so it seems like a waste but what you can also do is mash about 4 strawberries up with 100% organic/-bio yoghurt and mix it together along with 2 tablespoons of sugar to create an exfoliating face mask. Note though, make sure the ingredients have all been refrigerated beforehand because then that gives you a cool and refreshing fast mask. Once you massage it on and into your face for a good 2 minutes, leave it on there for another 30 mins - 1 hour then rise off with hot water.
Your face should feel incredibly refreshed after from the yoghurt and vitalized from the strawberries and exfoliating.

Anyone looking for new skin care should try this method. It’s healthy, organic and cheap!

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