Back to Co-washing: Baking soda, Apple cider vinegar and Tresemme Naturals Conditioners

Long time readers may remember that I went on a no-shampoo, curly hair fling 3 years ago (click here if you need to refresh your memory). It worked really well and my hair was sporting really pretty waves. I ended up giving it up once I got back to Malaysia as I couldn't find the right silicone-free products and it was too hard to maintain as I was on the go all the time.

I wasn't planning to jump back on the conditioner-cleansing bandwagon but my scalp has been all kinds of funny after coming to Australia. Maybe its the dry weather or the water, but my scalp started itching really badly and it was even worse after washing my hair. My roots suddenly turned oily and I started seeing dandruff flakes on my clothes as well. 

Never had dandruff before in my life. I freaked out.

I tried different shampoo brands. Washed my hair more frequently. Washed less frequently.

It got to the point where I had scabs all over my scalp and was scratching in my sleep. It was really just that bad. I will never join a "Shave your head for Cancer" drive because I have scars all over my head.

Desperate, I tried washing my hair with baking soda and apple cider vinegar.

Using a paint brush as an eyeliner brush

I was prowling around Cziplee+ and came across some high-quality paint brushes. As I was looking for a good eyeliner brush I decided to give this one a try. It only cost RM8.50 but the handle is so ridiculously long I had to use a pair of garden shears to chop off a length (just after the words).

DIY: Clear Pink Nailpolish

There's a shade of clear pink nail polish - you know, the blue-based kind that almost looks like a french manicure but not quite. Like healthy glossy nails.... but not quite. And without swatching on every single shade around they really are hard to find!

So when I came across a tip online (which for the life of me I cannot find now, so sorry lovely DIY person whoever you are), to mix a pink polish with a clear nail polish, I filed it away in my "must try someday" database. Well I was cleaning out my nailpolish stash when I came across this failed top coat by Revlon and a cheapie RM5 hot pink nail polish by Elianto I bought for a Eurotrash party that never happened.

Thinking, "Well, what do I have to lose," I mixed a tiny amount of pink in with the top coat, gave it a hard shake and.... magic.

It's the PERFECT shade of clear nail polish. I may even buy a nicer top coat / clear nail polish to mix the pink in with because all the defects in the Revlon top coat are still present. It takes forever to dry (but not as long as when it's over several layers of another polish) and even when dry to touch can be soft enough to gain hatchmarks when I'm asleep. A topcoat of Sally Hansen Dries Instantly definitely helps though!

This is with two coats of polish, it's a hard colour to photograph and looks much pinker in real life. But you can still see the whites of the nails - and they look whiter! Being natural-ish it takes chips well, but being almost entirely top coats, it lasts forever. Whee!

So instead of chucking that lurid pink shade you never wear and that top coat that turned out meh, give this a go!

Beauty Experiment: On Pressing Mineral Eyeshadows with Aloe Vera and Throwing them into the Mail

About half a year ago, I tried pressing my Silk Naturals eyeshadows with a mixture of rubbing alcohol and FOTE Aloe Vera. It took a while to get the mixture right -- I figured out that shimmery eyeshadows need a little more aloe vera gel for better hold -- but the end result was this.

One week and a few hokey pokeys later (I tried shaking the pans, dropping them on the floor, tossing them into the air... everything short of throwing them at the wall), the pigments were still holding together. I even popped a palette of them into my bag to carry around campus and the pigments emerged intact.

Last month, I decided to put them to the ultimate test and popped 3 palettes into a box I was sending back home.

If regular post isn't a test for eyeshadows, I don't know what is it.

The result? Two palettes survived but one did not. The pigment in the top right hand corner pan shattered and spat out a poof of pink sparkles when I popped the lid open.

Thank goodness it's a colour I don't use often.

After careful inspection, I realised that the Silk Naturals matte, satin and dark shimmer eyeshadows press and hold together better than the lighter hue shimmer eyeshadows. The lighter shimmer eyeshadows showed some flaking while the rest were holding up well after their bumpy journey. Perhaps the shimmer particles don't hold together well or the aloe vera + rubbing alcohol isn't the right mixing medium for these eyeshadows.

If you want to give this mixing medium a go, the ratio is 1/3 of aloe vera gel to 2/3 rubbing alcohol for matte eyeshadows. You need a little more aloe vera gel for pressing the other eyeshadows so 3/7 aloe vera to 4/7 rubbing alcohol (i.e. the aloe vera should be a little less than half of rubbing alcohol) should do.

Another tip: Cover your finger or coin in plastic instead of tissue or a paper napkin before gently pressing the loose eyeshadows into place. There is good reason for this as (1) Tissue gets stuck to the wet eyeshadow, and (2), any red pigments will get soaked up by the paper napkin, making your eyeshadow incredibly hard (it's like working with a brick once it has dried). Plus, the colour is never the same again.

On a random note, all of my loose mineral eyeshadows which I carried in my luggage home ended up exploding all over the place. I have no idea how 10+ lids managed to loosen themselves during an 8 hour flight and make such a mess, especially after I screwed all the lids tight before packaging them. Thank goodness I put them in tupperware. This is goes beyond reason, I swear.

DIY Beauty: Artichoke Tea Face Mask

I wasn't planning to put up another DIY post this week but I have to rave about this mask created by yours truly.

See, I am having my period and am feeling absolutely miserable due a mixture of hormones and the blues (I am returning to Malaysia to work next week so Mr. A. and I are going to be separated for quite a while). On top of that, I spent most of last week having late nights drinking and talking with ex-university mates. I fully expected my skin to be shot to hell this week. It was already showing signs of a nightmare: dry patches, pimples, clogged pores and, worse yet, the beginnings of cystic acne.

But my skin has never looked better (except for a few scars, that is).

Thank goodness for artichoke tea.

After examining my face and sighing for the 100th time last Friday, I pottered into the kitchen to see what I had on hand.

Yoghurt? Ooh, great. I always had great results with yoghurt. What next? Honey! Honey isn't bad too. I like honey. Bee pollen? I have been experimenting with it off and on but it doesn't seem to do much. Green tea? Hmm... Wait, that's too drying so forget it.

Then my eyes lit on a packet of artichoke tea.

A couple of months ago, my parents sent me several boxes of Vietnamese artichoke tea (picture of brand on left. It comes from the Dalat region) with a note that the tea was great for strengthening the liver and the gall bladder. I ended up keeping it for the days when I had indigestion, constipation or felt sluggish. A cup of artichoke tea usually put me back on track after a few hours.

It was easy. All I did was to tear open the packet, shake out the loose tea into a bowl and pour about a tablespoon or two of hot water into the bowl. While the tea was brewing, I went to wash my face.

Once I was done, I added a teaspoon of yoghurt into the bowl and mixed it all up. The mixture was a bit runny though so I shook some bee pollen into the mix to thicken it (omit the bee pollen if you don't have it. Some corn flour would work too, I think). Then I applied it on my face, concentrating on the areas with congested pores and existing scars. As the mixture was still a bit drippy, I layered some tissue paper on top just to keep everything on.

I washed my face 15 minutes later and was surprised. My skin looked brighter and the red areas seemed calmer. I have never had such obvious results from a DIY mask before.

After 4 days of daily use, my skin looks great. The dreaded cystic acne has disappeared, my dry patches are gone and my scars have healed rapidly. I don't even have to use a moisturiser afterwards unless it's night time.

There are only a few drawbacks to this mask though. First, it's rather messy and looks like shit (no other way to describe it. Mr. A told me to go sit in a corner until I washed it off). Second, artichoke tea isn't easy to come by. Third, it takes quite a while to wash off if you add bee pollen to this. I use up quite a bit of toner and cotton wiping the yellow residue off.

Give this a shot if you can get your hands on some artichoke tea. The results are well worth the mess and the trouble.

Now, excuse me while I take another look in mirror.

Stories from my Grandmother: DIY Hibiscus Leaf Face Mask

Now, I have never tried this DIY mask before though my grandmother, her friends and my mother have given it a shot. My grandmother liked it so much; she used to use it once every few weeks (I think she has stopped) while my mother felt that it was a bit too strong for her skin.

“It’s like a DIY acid peel,” Mum said as I examined at her face carefully. “I think it takes off the top layer of skin cells because my skin feels thinner.”

Mum’s skin did look brighter and her pigmentation scars seemed a little lighter but her skin did seem a little “thin”.

“Hmm…. Think you are right,” I paused. “Eh, didn’t Popo (Hakka for maternal grandmother) say she’s going to do this again today or something?”

“She did? That’ll be the third time this week. I better call her while she still has a face left.”

If you are intrigued enough to try this, all you have to do is:

1. Collect 3-5 hibiscus leaves (not the flower) from your garden/ your neighbour’s bush/ side of the highway. Don’t get caught, of course.
2. Wash them and pound them with a good ol’ fashioned mortar and pestle ‘til they are mashed up.
3. Spread green stuff on already cleansed face and leave for 10-15 minutes before washing off.

As this mask sounds quite strong, I strongly recommend doing a patch test first. People with sensitive skin or acne should definitely stay away or wait until existing pimples subside.

Does anyone else have stories from their grandmother?

DIY Beauty: Blotter Case

Remember this blotter case?

Well thanks to a terribly fun night out in Singapore involving a few too many cocktail and two unconnected wardrobe malfunctions (my shoe strap broke AND my clutch bag burst open) it's now like this:

I find I've gotten used to a little mirror handy when I blot my nose and I love that it's never powdery (unlike the ones in power compacts) so I hit up 2 Guardians and a Watsons trying to replace it when I got home. No dice. They're goooonee... what's a shiny-nosed vainpot to do?

Well for one thing go to Daiso and for RM5 buy a pretty and slim metal card case:

Get it home, pry mirror out of NYX trio eyeshadow palette and stick it mirror in the card case with glue (it had to be narrow, it couldn't overlap the white bit that's holding the blotters in.
Et Voila! I actually added tiny magnets to help keep it closed because it's not a very well made card case and has trouble staying closed even when empty.

What do you think? Are blotter cases a necessity or a frivolity?

DIY Beauty: Baking Soda & Apple Cider Vinegar Clarifying Rinse

Yet another DIY post! You can tell that I have been on a roll in my kitchen lately.

After jumping into a friend's swimming pool recently, I came out with the worst godawful build up on my roots which no amount of shampooing could remove. My hair was flat and with all that shampoo, my hair frizzed and I went around looking like a triangular shaped poodle for a while.

When I first went Curly Girl last year, I read a couple of things about using baking soda as a clarifying wash and using apple cider vinegar (ACV) rinses right after.

"Euw," I thought, "no way am I going to use something that abrasive on my hair." I use baking soda and vinegar to clean my kitchen and the way it cuts through grease! And, the fizzling noise! Do you think I am really going to do THAT to my hair?

Or so I thought at the time.

After glaring at my lifeless roots for the n-th time (n representing an unknown quantity, I used to be a calculus geek), I marched over to the computer, yanked out every bit of information I could get on using baking soda + ACV, got what I needed from the kitchen and went into the shower stall.

Result? Squeaky clean hair with volume. All the build up was gone, my hair was shiny from the ACV rinse and one quick hair mask later, my hair was nicely moisturised, bouncy and showed signs of pretty waves.

I like.

If your itchy fingers have been activated and itching to try this, you need:

For the baking soda wash:
1 tablespoon of baking soda mixed with 3 tablespoons of conditioner (I have fairly long hair which needs a LOT of product but if you have short or fine hair, 1 teaspoon of baking soda to 3 teaspoons of conditioner should suffice. Just remember that the ratio is 1:3)

For the ACV rinse:
1 tablespoon of ACV to about 1 litre of flitered water. (Some people prefer using 2 tablespoons but my hair seemed happy with 1)

Now, hop into the shower and wet your hair throughly. Gloop the baking soda + condish mix all over your hair (don't dump everything on your hair in one shot, apply it over your hair in parts). Concentrate on covering your roots first and let whatever is leftover slide to your ends. Then massage the concoction into your scalp for about 3 minutes as if you are washing your hair with ordinary shampoo and concentrate on your roots as that's where the build up is.

Rinse everything out of your hair with normal water and then pour the ACV rinse over your hair. This will seal your hair cuticles shut, balance your hair ph and leave your hair looking shiny.

Your hair will be feeling really squeaky clean to the touch by now. You can either give your hair a final rinse to get rid of the ACV smell and hop out of the shower or quickly run some conditioner through your ends to provide some moisture, rinse and then hop out of the shower. My hair is pretty dry so I apply a hair mask (it really sinks in because everything was cleaned out by the baking soda) followed up with some conditioner before doing a final rinse and stepping out of the shower.

Using baking soda as a clarifying wash works well but because it is pretty abrasive, I would probably only use this once every 3 weeks or whenever pretty bad build up happens on my hair. I think people with sensitive skin should avoid this too.

The ACV rinse leaves your hair looking unbelievably shiny. I am tempted to use this after every hair wash (lots of people do it) but I don't think my boyfriend can put up with the smell of ACV. He looked ready to keel over when at the smell and I had to rinse my hair pretty thoroughly to get rid of any lingering scent of ACV.

Which brave souls are willing give this a go?

DIY Beauty: Green Tea Toner

As I'll be leaving Australia for good come March, I have been dabbling in kitchen skincare so I don't have to lug so many cosmetic products back to Malaysia. Run out of hydrating masks? Look in the kitchen. Run out of hair masks? Look in the kitchen.

Cue really weird looks from my boyfriend. He has given up on asking and decided to live in ignorant bliss instead.

I ran out of toner a few weeks back and stumbled upon a box of green tea in the kitchen. I looked at it, shrugged and put the kettle on to boil. Then I left the teabag to steep while I hopped off for a shower. Having read quite a bit about green tea toners, I figured that now was a good time to try.

My verdict after a month? Well, the stuff kind of works. My skin seems a little clearer and using this in the morning helps to cut down on oil. In fact, it works so well in the oil control department, my skin turned dry and flaky. I only use this at night and once every two or three days in the morning.

Used as a mask (I soaked a facial sheet in the cup), green tea works pretty great in soothing angry red pimples.

I guess that there is something in green tea after all.

Go ahead and give this a shot the next time you run out of toner or have a large box of green tea waiting to be used. It doesn't have to be expensive Japanese green tea -- I originally started out with some really cheap arse brand from India and am now using Vietnamese lotus tea -- just as long as it is freshly brewed and steeped for about 5 - 10 minutes, longer than normal drinking tea.

Just a tidbit: I personally avoid drinking green tea unless it has been brewed with a slice of ginger (Vietnamese style). It isn't because of the taste (I love the taste of green tea) but because it tends to give the women in my family tummy aches and leave us feeling bloated. My sister has cut it out completely because it triggers her gastritis and after talking to a cousin, we realised that green tea might be the culprit for her frequent stomach aches and water retention.

Unless I have ginger, I stick to drinking fully fermented tea.

Beauty DIY: Pretty Brush Rolls (Part 2)

Another shot of my brush rolls all tied up. The mini one was empty at the time and I actually ran out of ribbon so I held it closed with a hair pin from Laos for this shot.

You can't see it clearly but there's a picture of Pegasus etched on the hair pin. I love fairy tales and flying horses.

Anyway, lets get back to making those brush rolls, shall we? Where did I leave you hanging?5. Sew the cover to the lining. Okay. Here comes the fun part so look at the pics carefully as my fuzzy explanation might throw you for a loop. Fold the edge of the cover into half so it meets the edge of the lining. Press or iron this down all along the edge. Once you are done with this, fold the cloth over again on top of the lining. Iron or pin this down.Secure the hem to the lining with either a whip stitch or a slip stitch. I have tried to show these 2 stitches are done in the pictures. They are both variations of the same thing, really. I personally prefer the slip stitch as it looks tidier.Now, because you are bound to hit a corner sooner or later, this is what you do: Use the corner to first fold a triangle down towards the edge of the lining before continuing to fold down like before. This creates a tidy little edge without any raw ends sticking out. Fine, maybe not so tidy in the picture but try it out and you'll see what i am trying to get at.

6. Many pricked fingers later, you should end up with something which looks like the above. Don’t worry; we are nearing the end soon.Now, flip the cloth the other way around and fold along the running stitch you made earlier in attaching the backing and the felt (I didn't take a pic of this step while I was sewing the pink roll so you will have to make do with the blue; sorry for the confusion).

What you have is an inside-out pocket for your brushes. Whip stitch the edges together (try to keep this set of stitches as close to the hem as possible), tie off and then turn the pocket inside out.Most of you will be smiling by now. =) The end is close in sight!

7: Creating individual pockets. With your tailor’s chalk, mark off at regular 1.5 inch intervals. Or, you can slip your brush into the case to estimate the pocket size.Then, pick up your needle and thread again and make running stitches down the lines you just marked. I used a modified overhand stitch which can be a bit fiddly for some people and has a higher chance of creating pricked fingers.

As you stitch, try not poke your needle all the way through the backing and through the other side. Your running stitches will be seen on the cover which doesn’t look very nice. Try to just pick up the lining over the backing with your needle. Don’t worry, the stitches will still stay secure.
8: Just sew the ribbon on one end of the case and you are set! If you are too lazy at this point of time, a pretty hair tie will do in keeping your brush roll together.

Now, show it off to your friends and let them ooh and aah over how crafty you are!

Leave any questions in the comments section. This half of the tutorial is a heck more confusing than yesterday's so I am expecting lots of puzzled faces. Does anyone think that this is Etsy-worthy?

*Looks around furtively to whisper behind Kahani and Syen's backs* Does anyone here want to pay me for one?

Beauty DIY: Pretty Brush Rolls (Part 1)

This was originally supposed to be a single post but there were so many pictures and steps, I decided it would be less mind-boggling if I divided it into 2 separate posts instead. Even I got confused after a while.

I had the picture tute for my brushroll lying in my HD for ages but completely forgot about it until Plue blogged about the brushroll her mother made for her here.

You don't need a sewing machine or superb sewing skills to make this. The only stitches you really need to know are the whip stitch and the running stitch. It only takes a day to make (about 15 minutes if you have a machine) and you can use any piece of cloth for this - from an old t-shirt to a bedsheet.

As you can see, I made 2. The pink one holds my big brushes while the little one carries my mini brushes, eyeliners, mascara and lippies for when I go a-travelin'. Tiny and compact - I just love it.

What you need: 2 pieces of cloth, a length of felt(I am wondering how did the felt go missing in the picture), ribbon, a pair of scissors, a ruler, some tailor's chalk, thread and a needle.

I used the black fabric for the lining and the pink for the outside. Felt was used as backing. You don't HAVE to back the brush roll but I feel that it gives more protection and makes the finished product less floppy. I know that felt is hard to find in Malaysia (think I stumbled across some in Daiso though) so you can use a stiff piece of material instead.

If you are doing this by hand or are a newbie to working with cloth, I highly recommend using cotton for this project. Silks may look lush but they are much more slippery to work with. Cotton is easy to cut, iron, pin and sew. You will get on much faster with cotton.

1. Cut the backing. Estimate how large you want your brush roll to be and cut it out. I winged the measurements by picking up my longest makeup brush and laying it out against the felt before drawing the outline with a ruler. For my baby brush roll, I used an A4 sized paper, snipped it to size and pinned it to the felt. My big one is about 11" by 20" while the little one is 7.5" by 10.5"

If you are wondering about the excess cloth on top, it's for folding over your brushes later so they don't slip out of their pockets.

2. Cut the lining. Lay out your backing against the lining then place your makeup brush against the backing again. You want the length of the lining to be longer than the backing as you need the excess for your brush pockets. Pin the backing and lining together then cut.

3. Sew the backing and lining together. The reason for doing this is so that the backing doesn't slip out of place when you are sewing later or get crumpled inside when you toss your brush roll into the washing machine. You don't want to unpick this thing apart after your first wash, trust me.

You can either do a simple running stitch along the sides of the cloth or whip stitch the edges together. For me, I whip stitched the three raw edges together and did a running stitch where the backing met the excess lining. (I don't have a pic showing what I am trying to explain so you will have to make do with this one where the cloth has been partially flipped. *groan*)

If you have a machine, just run close along the edges. Try to keep your stitches as close to the side as possible.

4. Cut the cover. First, pin the lining + backing to the cloth. You can even baste it (i.e. use BEEEG BEEEEG running stitches to hold the cloths together) like I did. Trace out an excess of 2 cm all around with your tailor's chalk and then cut the cloth.

Now, LEAVE EVERYTHING PINNED/ BASTED TOGETHER. I notice that immediately after cutting, people have a tendency to pull everything apart before asking "What's next?". So leave everything as it is for now.

The last bit is coming tomorrow. ;)

Monday's beauty bits: Clarins Hydration From Madagascar Facial Review + Kahani's DIY at home facial

I have a confession to make, my review of the Clarins facial isn't as thorough as I'd like because 5 min into the relaxing facial I was in the zone and my brain was happily purring to itself instead of taking note. So I thought I'd bundle the quick review of the facial with my quick and easy DIY weekly facial.

Clarins Hydration From Madagascar Facial
Why Madagascar? Because the power ingredient in the hydrating products used is katafray bark extract from Madagascar. The extract is meant to increase the hydrating factor.

I've been into hydrating treatments since discovering ~H2O Face Oasis would actually decrease my skin's oiliness. I reason it's because less dehydrated skin feels less of an urge to overproduce oil. So I was delighted with Clarins managed to organise a facial session for me and give me three products from their new Hydration Range to try. They were super sweet and organised it on my day off!

Before the facial Clarins measured my hydration level. At first go, I registered as 'highly dehydrated' (18) to their delight. Then I convinced them to clean off some of my powder foundation and try again. To their dismay, my skin was well hydrated at (40) - the higher end of 'normal'.

Clarins facials are legendarily relaxing - incorporating massage and eschewing painful things like physicial extraction. So after the initial tense-and-relax excercises and bried foot massage I was happily tuned out.

My impression of the facial was - slather on mask/serum/oil/cleanser, wipe off, massage, and repeat for an hour! The facialist was quiet, gentle and professional.
The result of the facial was hydrated happy skin. Measured by the machine I registered as 'hydrated' with a score of 45.

in conclusion, the facial would be a god-send for dry skinned gals. Myself, although I had no breakouts, felt it was a bit rich for my oily skin. I would love to try their cleansing facials though!

At RM198 a session it is pricey. But it's cheaper (if shorter) at smaller Clarins outlets, and packages exist.

My DIY facial for oily acne-prone skin
This is not particularly relaxing or even pampering, but it is great for my skin. After a hard week my skin looks dull and clogged. This routine leaves it glowing, pores clear and closed, and absolutely no breakouts after. It also helps clear existing breakouts. And it's breathtakingly quick and easy.

1. Scrub & deep cleanse - 5-10 min
Cleanse skin of all makeup and then use an exfoliating mask. The aspirin mask is great for this. I use Soap & Glory's Scrub Your Nose In It. Rinse off with gentle scrubbing motions, use a toner (I use Clinique's Clarifying Lotion 2), and then...

2. Detox with clay mask - 15-20 mins
Suck out that excess oil and toxins with a great clay mask. My fave is, of course, Himalaya Herbals Neem Mask but any cleansing clay mask is great. Rinse off massaging the wet mask gently into skin, use toner and then...

3. Hydrating mask - 10-15 min
Slap on a hydrating mask of your choice. Right now I'm in love with Clinique's Derma White Brightening Moisture Mask (review coming up). Other great options are Neutrogena's hydrating mask, Clarins hydrating mask, or a thicker application of ~H2O+ Face Oasis / Clinique Moisture Surge Extra (review also on its way). Massage into skin, tissue off, or cleanse with water when done, and...

4. Finish
Apply a light moisturiser and use light makeup or try and give your skin a break from makeup for the day. Or as long as possible.

DONE!

Easy yes? And if you don't use sheet masks, you can potter around doing laundry and housework. Weekends are precious after all and I won't waste a minute of it.

What's your fave facial routine?

*Edited! Beauty Mistake: Pressing Silk Naturals Mineral Eyeshadows with Fyrinnae Powder Modifier

I had such high hopes for this pressing medium.wonderfully affordable, and sold in an eye-drop bottle it was perfect, shipping and quantity-wise.
As you can see I had everything all laid out neatly, ready to boast about my perfect, lovely eyeshadow palette with my four favourite Silk Naturals colours - Honey, Velvet, Vogue, and Olive You.

And just LOOK isn't it absolutely lovely? I got the magnetic compact from Coastal Scents for $4.99 sometime back with a project like this in mind. It's solid and professional looking and magnetised so you can well worth the price. But...

Edit: ladies I'm so sorry - I seem to be having some problems with using blogger on the blackberry. In this case half my post disappeared! Ish.

Anyway, this gorgeous palette was a beauty mistake because as soon as I touched it with a brush the next morning it crumbled to bits!

I tried mixing one with water, another with alcohol, a third with a bit of both, and one more with a lot of alcohol - none of them worked! All fell apart. Boo!

Fortunately I was able to carefully scrape out the shadow and save most of it in jars so they aren't wasted. But oh I was so sad!

Anyone know of a way to press SN shadows?

DIY Beauty/ Beauty Disaster: Carrot Face Mask

This isn’t so much of a tutorial than a warning. Always, always, ALWAYS do a patch test first before you decide to try anything, especially when it comes to DIY kitchen stuff. Your brilliant guinea pig here went all gung ho, decided not to patch test and owie, I ended up with rashes all over my face.

But you are still willing to give this a try and want to follow in the footsteps of Sung Hye-Kyo,* the recipe is... 3 portions grated carrot, 2 portions yogurt and 1 portion flour to bind it all up. If you have forgotten your ratios from school, think of it as 3 teaspoons carrot, 2 teaspoons yogurt and 1 teaspoon flour.

Of course, you don’t have to follow these proportions strictly. I used very much less and still ended up with rashes. *sigh*

Leave it on for 15 to 20 minutes and then wash off to hopefully clearer skin.

Anyway, what this mask is supposed to do – if it doesn't give you rashes, that is – is help clear up acne and brighten up your complexion. It seems that Song Hye-Kyo attributes her perfect skin to this face mask and does it a few times every week.

Takers, anyone?

* For non-Korean drama fanatics, she’s a Korean actress who shot to fame after acting opposite Rain in Full House.

DIY Beauty: My Guilt Free Chocolate Fix

Kahani refuses to post the cockroach facial video I sent her so I am forced to settle for something a little more mundane. *sigh*

We all like chocolate, yes? Milk, white, dark… I am partial to dark chocolate myself. A bit of chocolate keeps me happy and since cocoa contains anti-oxidants, it alleviates the guilt a leeetle bit. However, eating too much of it does make my tummy feel a little sick and unhealthy. So when I found a DIY recipe for a chocolate face mask, I jumped for joy. A guilt free chocolate fix!

And there is something terribly indulgent in the idea of slathering chocolate all over one's self.

I have been using this mask for the past few months. It works a treat during summer, leaving my skin is dewy all day, but not so well during winter as the dry and cold air is zapping moisture out of me. This is definitely a HG summer mask for me.

I decided to post this recipe in the form of a collage. It makes uploading so much easier and you can just copy the image to your desktop for easy reference. Here goes:

You can substitute the milk with yogurt instead. It's easier to mix with the cocoa powder and the lactic acid in the yogurt leaves my skin feeling softer compared to using milk.

Tip: One of the things I do while using a DIY mask is to cover my face with cling wrap. After I poke eye and breathing holes in it first, of course. Dying for the cause of beauty is not the way I want to go.

Using cling wrap means that the mask doesn't dry up, it sinks in better and I can shower with a face mask on. I get added oomph as the heat from the hot water and the cling wrap creates a sauna like effect which means I step out of the shower with baby soft skin. And I don't have to wait out the full 15 minutes before washing the mask off.

Do not let your neighbours, family members or significant other see you wearing cling wrap though. My sister once screamed the place down and told me to sleep with garlic and a crucifix in case Chucky came to claim me for a bride.

DIY Beauty: Making lipglosses from SN Mineral Blush

Many of you have heard me banging on about how much I love mixing Silk Naturals' Mineral Blushes with clear gloss to use on my lips. I find there's an added prettiness when the blush and gloss match exactly. This little secret is partly behind the pretty-factor for lip & cheek products like Posietint, Stila Convertibles, and Nars the Multiple.

The only thing I didn't like about mixing the blush with gloss was the inconvenience and mess factor. If I dipped the brush in it, I'd contaminate the blush. If I tipped it out, there'd be waste. If I used my finger, I'd have to wash my hands. Plus it was impossible to top-up the gloss during the day.

So WHY it took me so long to pre-mix my blushes I don't know. I chose my three favourite gloss - blush combinations, Climax (Orgasm dupe), Babydoll (MAC Dollymix dupe), and Forbidden (Nars Outlaw dupe).

And just LOOK at the pretty-pretty colours!

(Please pardon the messy swatches)

(L-R) Babydoll, Climax & Forbidden

As you can see, the glosses are darker than their blush counterparts. And you slap on gloss, and dust on the blush so don't worry, your cheeks and lips will never be identical!

How to
As instructions go, this is going to be mighty useless I'm afraid as I don't have exact measurements for ANYTHING. I can only tell you that everything worked first go, and here's what I did.

First off, I know SN blushes are safe for lip-use as I have checked this with Karen. Please don't try this with any blush you're not sure about.

I used 5g jars that SN blush samples used to come in. I transfered the sifters into the newer SN sample jars (they are sifterless and can result in a poof of pink powder if you're in a rush). And I gave the jars a wash and dry first.

Next I shook the blush tubs about a bit so there was a goodly amount above the sifter before unscrewing the cap.

Then I used the little spatula to spoon a small amount of blush into the jar. Start small, as you can always add more.

Squirt a small amount of clear gloss in, and keep adding as needed.

I cut cotton-buds in two, and used the non-cottony bit to stir.

Keep stirring and adding one thing or another until you have the desired amount and consistency.

So how do they look?

Judge for yourself. =)

Climax (from a previous review)

Forbidden
(Yes trying out new too-pink foundy here - Bleh! Luckily it was free)

And my personal fave:

Babydoll

So will this be your next DIY Beauty project?