How green tea, honey and olive oil can help benefit your skin! (with face mask tutorial)

Homemade face masks are a great way of saving money, as well as allowing you to experiment with a number of different ingredients. Keep reading if you want to find out how to make this green tea and honey face mask!

Green tea: can help to prevent acne, protect skin against sun damage, tones the skin and reduces redness.
Did you know that many make up products, lotions and creams contain chemical antioxidants, or vitamin A, C and E which are used as preservatives. Clinical studies suggest that green tea has greater antioxidant properties than these vitamins

Honey: a natural moisturiser which can do wonders on dry skin. Honey is also a powerful antiseptic, making it the perfect ingredient for homemade fask masks and scrubs.

Olive oil: can help to prevent acne, moisturises and exfoliates. It was also a main ingredient in many Egyptian skin remedies!

 

Green tea and honey face mask

 What you will need:
- 2 bags of green tea (it doesn't matter what type, I just happened to have decafe)
- 1/2 (half) tbsp of olive oil (as you can see I used extra virgin oil)
-1 tbsp of honey

What you will need to make your green tea and honey face mask

 Step 1: Take your bowl and add 1 tbsp of honey, to 1/2 (half) a tbsp of olive olive. Then microwave for 15 seconds.

Step 2: Empty the contents of your tea bags into the mixture.
Step 3: Stir the honey, olive oil and green tea leaves until they form a thick paste (if your mixture is not thick enough add more honey until it reaches the right consistency. Do not add more olive oil, this will only make it more watery. Reheat the mixture for another 10 seconds.
Step 4: Remove the mixture from the microwave and stir once again, carefully test the temperature of the mixture on the back of your hand, you want it to be warm NOT hot. Once you have done this apply the mixture to your face in a circular motion and then leave it for 10-15 minutes
Step 5: After 10 or 15 minutes wash your face with warm water, if you're finding it hard to remove all traces of green tea leaves you may want to use little face wash.
Step 6: Pick a moisturiser of your choice and apply all over the face, and that's it you have just experimented with green tea!

However this is one con to this fabulous skin remedy...it can become VERY messy!
I suggest that you apply the mixture over the sink and be prepared to do some sink scrubbing once you are finished ;)
Don't let this put you off though, as you'll be left with beautifully soft skin!

Do you have any homemade remedies that you can share? Let me know!

Much Love
Amber x

NYX soft matte lip cream review (with swatches)

If you havent already tried the NYX soft matte lip creams, you really should! I can't compare these lip products to anything else, as they really are quite unique.

 

On the packing is the statement 'It's not a lipstick, nor is it gloss. It's like nothing you've experienced before. It's lipstick cream that goes on silky and looks soft matte.' I definitely agree with this statement, as I already said they are completely different to any other lip product that I have tried- and believe me I've tried a lot!  

L-R: Antwerp, Istanbul, Milan

Before I buy any kind of lip product I always have a browse online to see if I can find any swatches of how the product looks on the lips (as its always hard to tell the true colour once applied on the lips). Below are some photos that I have taken of each of the lip creams, with and without flash.

 

I first purchased Antwerp from the NYX website (as I live in the UK). Although there were a number of shades which I was keen to try, I decided it would be best to only buy one just incase I didn't like the product. However, I was amazed with how good these lip creams are. I'm a matte lipstick girl, so for me these are the perfect product. They are SO easy to apply and so I always have one in my bag whenever I go out, just incase I feel the need for a pop of colour on my lips.

 

There are currently 13 different shades, all priced at £5.00- which I think is an excellent price for the quality of the product (the only downside was paying for postage and packing, which is around £4.00 I believe).

 

The doe-foot applicator allows a quick and even application (as you can tell from the photo below these lip creams have had a lot of use), making these lip creams the perfect lip product if you need to apply and go!

 

Tip: if I'm not feeling going all out and only want a little bit of colour on my lips, I dab some of the product onto my finger and swipe across my lips for an even but subtle colour.

 

Matte lip products tend to be a little drying on the lips, but I haven't found this to be a problem with these lip products. In fact I think they are quite moisturising! As for how long they last on the lips, I find this varies between colours. Milan and Antwerp are great and tend to last quite a long time, where as Istanbul tends to fade a little quicker (I think this is perhaps the result of being a lighter shade). 

 Overall I have found these to be great lip products which are affordable as well as delivering great quality. 

 If you're interested in trying out NYX soft matte lip creams here's a direct link to the website: 

 http://www.nyxcosmeticsstore.co.uk/acatalog/SMLC_-_Soft_Matte_Lip_Cream.html

Have you tried NYX soft matte lip creams, or any of NYX lip products? If so let me know what you think!

 

Much love,

 

Amber x

 

 

There's a first time for everything...including blogging!

Well...where to start?

 

My name is Amber and I'm a 19 year old student. My interest in blogging really began around Christmas last year. Ever since I've been toying with the idea of starting up my own blog, but its not been until now that I've decided to bite the bullet and go for it!

 

What do I want to write about? Everything and anything! Beauty, fashion, lifestyle, recipes..anything that takes my interest- and maybe interest you too.

 

Now it won't be perfect, and it's going to be a while until I really get the hang of writing my own blog, but I hope that what I have to say may be of interest to you and maybe even become a place for advice on a number of things.

 

I think that will do for an introduction, lets keep it short and sweet!

 

Much love,

Amber x