Go casual!!!

Ok so, it's September I know i haven't posted in a  while, but with the approach of the end of summer, i got to thinking about something... Fashion, and style.. So all of us women, and some men are literary obsessed with fashion and style, but the majority, like 80% can't distinguish them. So let me enlighten you my friends, by the way, this is is a  bit of a rant on certain people, but I'll try to keep it as respectful and professional as possible.

 So back to topic, you may or may not be wondering what I'm talking about, what difference between fashion and style, isn't it the same.. am... NO!!! There is a huge difference, there is a  saying I learned from a   teacher at school, Fashion is fake, but style is eternal. And i totally agree, i mean, sure I love watching all the fashion shows, the pretty colorful masterpieces on the runways in Paris and NY, but I don't think that in order to be stylish, you must wear named brands, and follow blindly what the top fashion designers tell you is "trendy".

 Fashion, in my opinion is for people who are too awkward and insecure to express themselves, and the truly stylish people are the ones who wear what they like and they feel flatters their features. And i am not trying to say that labels suck, not true I love labels, I have an undying love for Chanel ;)... but I just think that people need to realize that buying the most expensive labels won't make you stylish, clothes, and not just clothes, hair make up, accessories should be all about expressing yourself as a person. Imagine yourself as an empty canvas which you turn into a masterpiece by adding certain clothes, accessories, make up... etc.

 Why follow other people like sheep when you can create your own style, be unique, and inspire others, be a role model. To me that's what fashion should be about, expressing yourself, without being afraid you won't follow the latest trend. In the final sentences i just want to tell you guys this, stop being like sheep, you are a unique person, rely on your own judgement and instinct, present yourself in a way that will show your inner beauty and character, DO NOT BE A LABEL WHORE. 

7 Hair myths that ruin your hair

• It's good to wash your hair daily: This one is a popular one, almost all of us know it's wrong, except when you have straight, thin and oily hair. I won't spend much time discussing this one, but lets give a brief explanation. Hair is fibber, like wool for example, and just like wool, the more you wash it the worse it looks, with the difference that hair is a live-fibber, which means it regenerates. For normal hair, it's best to wash it 3-4 times a  week, and for long, curly, or dry hair, 2 times a  week is enough.
• Brushing your hair a lot will make it shinier: All of us have heard about the 100 strokes before bed, right? Well I'm pretty sure quite a lot of you have also heard the reason why this is actually bad. Multiple strokes, especially on wet hair can brake it, disturb the roots and make the scalp produce  a lot more oil. Brushing has it's good sides though, 10-20 gentle strokes (for people with curly or wavy hair like me, might need more) will help disturb the oil from the roots to the ends, in result making your hair shinier and softer.
• Cutting your hair often will make it grow faster: Cutting your hair contributes in no way whatsoever  it may only improve the condition of your hair, in case you have had split ends, but other than that it doesn't affect the hair in any other way.
• If you have oily hair you shouldn't use conditioner: Conditioner has nothing to do with the level of oil in your hair. Conditioners only provide vitamins and minerals to your hair that improve the way it looks and feels. Oiliness is only influenced by hormones, diet, and stress levels. Though, if you do have oily hair, apply the conditioner in your ends, because generally, oily hair tends to be dry and easily damaged in the ends, the roots are being protected by the oil, but remember, oil does not provide nutrition to your hair, so don't skip the conditioner.
• Changing your hair shampoo and conditioner is good for the hair: It is true that in time, if you keep using the same shampoo it will stop having a big impact on your hair, but changing it every week is not good either. Different shampoos contain different chemical makeup and changing it too often can disturb your hair a lot. It's best to change your brand of shampoo and conditioner every time you run out of the current bottles.
• If you pluck a gray hair, two will grow in its place: Plucking gray hair won't cause you to grow two more, but it will irritate the scalp, a better solution would be to use a  small amount of dye on it, or just dye your whole hair. If you don't want to do that, you could just get one of these colouring shampoos, it would be enough if you don't have that many gray hairs.
• Rinse and repeat: That will only dry out your hair, deprive it of it's natural flexibility, shine and softness. For oily and straight hair, it could be a  good thing, but for any other type, it's more destructive than you can imagine. I had this problem, I was washing my hair 2-3 times with shampoo under the shower, and it was always frizzy and way too big. nothing would make it better, but once I started washing it only once with shampoo, my life became so much easier. A simple trick for finding out if you should wash again is to run your fingers through your hair after you've rinsed it, if it squeaks a little bit, then it's clean enough.

6 tips that will make you look great without any effort

Getting gorgeous doesn't have to take hours. We know it can, but really, who has time to pile on makeup when there’s coffee to drink, outfits to put together and things to get done? Save time and look fab in a snap with these tricks.

•  Drink more water. Keep a reusable bottle at your desk so you remember to sip regularly, and trade one of your daily coffees or sodas for herbal tea. Water is your skin's best friend, because it supplies it with oxygen, and gives your face a glamorous glow. Remember, if you feel thirsty, you’re likely already dehydrated. 
• Use a highlighting product to the inner corners of your eyes, cheekbones and brow bone can do wonders to give you a quick beauty boost. The slight shimmer has an almost-optical illusion effect that helps hide the stress of the day.                                                                                                                                
• Refresh your makeup or just wake up your skin in an instant with a mist of spray toner. They come in a wide variety of formulations, hydrating, antioxidant, youth formula .etc. A little spritz can go a long way in breathing new life into your face and make up.
• I know, it’s easier said than done, but if you feel tired you likely look tired, too. Aim to get to bed 30 minutes earlier each night, and avoid doing anything stressful before you hit the sack. That means no video games, horror movies, or fights with the partner, or the kids (if you have any). They don’t call it beauty sleep for nothing — it’s restorative to your whole body and being well-rested means a much healthier complexion.
• I remember how much i hated it when my mum was telling me not to slouch, and how she made me walk around with books on my head... but she was dead right. By standing up straight you’ll not only look more confident, your clothes will hang better and your circulation will be improved, meaning an all-over body and face improvement. Don't worry even if you don't have the best posture there are plenty of exercises that will improve it, if you're still young, all you need is to force yourself to stand up straight, and after a few days it will become natural.
• Mascara is a girl’s best friend when it comes to looking better in a snap. Seriously, if every other product was taken from our makeup bag, we’d survive with only mascara to enhance our look. Curl your lashes to further lengthen them and do a double coat of mascara to really make your eyes pop.

Tea- the facts and the myths

Tea, one of the most healthy drinks known to man. There is tons of information about it, but, there are as many myths as truths. In this article I'll cover some of them, so lets not keep you all waiting here we go:                  


  
   Herbal tea is real tea:
Real tea are only black, white, and the traditional Chinese oolong tea. Only they are made from the plant tea. The other types which we mix with hot water, like herbal, fruit leaves... etc should be called herbal infusion.

   Fact, the green tea contains caffeine:
That's right, in fact it contains about 10 milligrams  caffeine! But it's not as much as the black tea, which contains twice as much, and makes it the highest natural caffeine drink. If you've decided to give up on caffeine, don't worry, the herbal teas don't contain any, or even if they do it's a minimal amount.

   Myth, consummation of herbal teas is harmless during pregnancy:
Many women give up on coffee and certain types of tea due to their pregnancy and start drinking herbal teas. But what you may not know is that there are some substances that are still not studied and may be dangerous for your baby.

  Fact, tea is not just for drinking:
That's 100% truth, and I'm not talking just about beauty procedures... The newest trend in cooking is to cook with tea. You could find all sort of receppies for rice, fish and vegetables with tea.

  Myth, tea doesn't have an expiration date:
The expiration period for most kinds of teas is 6 months. Because with time the substances in them lose concentration, if you want to keep them in good condition, keep them in a  dark and dry place.

 So these were few of the many facts and myths about tea. Don't forget to like us on Facebook and follow us on twitter for more articles about beauty and health.

Winter skin care

  It's snowing, it's cold, there are beautiful decorations on the showcases of our favorite stores... yup, you guessed it, it's winter. And with Christmas just around the corner we are too occupied  to think about presents, ski trips, the sweet crispy treats your grandma makes, and we forget about something... OUR HANDS.

  Ladies, you should never EVER forget about them, your hands are the first thing that starts to age, and no one likes the sight of old lady's hands, so you need to protect  and take very good care of them.

 As I was working, i decided to take a small brake, to walk around and get some water... I saw this newspaper and I thought 10 minutes of reading wont hurt... So anyway, I read this really nice article about skin care, I know who knew newspapers could have good skin care advice, it's a ''cream'' that would supposedly fix the damage of the cold weather. I was quite skeptical  but decided to give it a shot. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised, as it wasn't like magic, but it had a  very nice effect on me. Before I decided to give this little tip to you guys, I thought i'd ask a few of my friends to try it, and guess what they were happy as well, so I am recommitting this strongly...




Here is the recipe:
What you need:

1. A few apples (mashed 3tbs)
2. A bit of honey 1tbs
3. Brown sugar 2tbs
4.  Some olive oil 1tbs

The apples need to be mashed, like baby food. After that you put 3tbs into a bowl and add the honey, olive oil and the sugar. The sugar will be like a peel session for the skin. You mix everything and then gently rub it on your hands for a few minutes then rinse with warm water. Do it every few days and you'll see the difference

How to have smooth and beautiful hair

This is for the person who requested some hair tips.

 When I was  a little girl, I hated my hair, it was frizzy, dry and it had too much volume. But as I entered my teen years, I found some ways to make it look presentable and healthy, and I thought that with this request I will get to share them with you.

• Wash hair with tea once in a week.

• Soak a handful of gooseberries in a cup of milk for two hours. Make a paste and apply on the hair.

• Apply the mixture of an egg white, 2 spoons of castor oil, 1 spoon glycerin, in the scalp and hair. Wash it after some time.

• Do a 'steam-towel-wrap' once in a while, if your cuticles are damaged, as this steaming opens out the pores and absorbs the oil.

• Soak 1 teaspoon fenugreek in curd and keep it for a night. Apply it in the next morning.

• Take a cup each coconut and mustard oil. Soak half a cup of curry leaves in the oil mixture and keep it for a night. Next morning, heat on a slow fire till the curry leaves turn crisp. Remove from heat and add two to three camphor balls. Allow oil to cool and then strain. Apply oil to hair roots using cotton wool along the parting and massage in circular movements. Leave the oil overnight and shampoo the next morning. Repeat twice a week. 

And some natural conditioners, they work even better than the ones from the store.

• Henna is a herbal treatment with good conditioning abilities.
• Egg white is a good conditioner for hair. 
• Deep condition with curd, beer and egg. 
• Mix a little vinegar in warm water and rinse your hair with this solution. This will add bounce to dull and lifeless hair.

Shopping sprees

 So, with the changing of seasons, new school year I started buying some things. At first it was just maybe a few sweaters for the winter, shoes, maybe some beauty products... and i noticed that for just a little over a week I actually renewed my closet and beauty products  My friends started calling me a  total shopaholic  and at some point i thought i might be one. So i studied up on it, and i found some things. I'm writing this because i am sure lots of the girls who read this blog have this problem, when they have a  bit more money they go crazy in the store. And since this blog is all about affordable ways to be fabulous, I thought it would be a good idea to do this article. So here we go.....

 Contrary to popular belief, shopping is not a random, thoughtless act, nor is it emotional — instead the urge to spend is brought on by a primitive area of the brain that makes us seek new experiences. Not only does this help explain why people go on shopping sprees, but it also explains why consumers routinely fall for "new" products. British researchers, using brain scans to measure blood flow, found that a part of the brain known as the ventral stratum was more active when people selected unusual objects. This area releases neurotransmitters like dopamine  which process rewards in the brain.

 It is this age-old reward mechanism of the brain that has scientists believing humans have been giving in to the desire to sample the unknown for generations — so much so, scientists even believe it provides us with an evolutionary advantage. "Seeking new and unfamiliar experiences is a fundamental behavioural tendency in humans and animals. It makes sense to try new options as they may prove advantageous in the long run," says Bianca Wittman from the Welcome Trust Center for Neuroimaging at the University College, London.

 Before you start charging up your credit card, it's important to know that there are also risks involved in adventurous spending. In today's competitive world, big spenders can be easily swayed by big brands and mass marketing hype.

On top of the fact that shoppers may be tricked into buying goods they don't really need by clever advertising campaigns and masterful branding, some may also fall victim to common vices, like gambling, in the search of adventure.

"In humans, increased novelty-seeking may play a role in gambling and drug addiction," says Nathaniel Daw from New York University, "both of which are mediated by malfunctions in dopamine release."

What could you do to stop going over the top when you go shopping?...

1. Write lists. Write down the things you really do need a few days before you go shopping, or the day before. And just before you leave, review it, you will most likely put off a few things that you realize are not that important.
2. Before you buy anything, ask yourself ''Do i really need this''... And if you don't find the answer convincing, don't buy it, and be honest with yourself with this one. Trust me it will save  you a lot of money, I've been doing it for a few days, and it helps, I calculated i saved myself about 60$, just for 3 days.
3. Set a limit. When you go shopping take only the money you won't regret spending. Like if you have 200$, take only 100$ or 80$, depending on what you will buy.
4. Always use cash. It's easy to lose track on what you spend when you use a credit card. With cash, you will see how it fades away from your wallet, and the guilt will make you think twice before you buy some expensive bag or boots.
5. Give your wallet to a friend. My best friend is a total maniac, so when we go out, she gives me her wallet, and when she wants to buy something she uses step number two, and before i give her her wallet, she needs to come up with a convincing reason of why she needs it.
6. Go trough your closet. Look in the back, you'll be surprised with all the cool stuff you have in there and just forgot about. It will give you the same rush as shopping, it will save you money, and bonus, if you're  a teen, your mum will be happy you finally cleaned that place. 

So these are my tips on how to overcome the urges you get when you enter a mall. Good luck!!!