38- The secret to smooth, unchapped lips!

As a child, I had horridly chapped lips.

As a teenager, I still had horribly chapped lips and I couldn't work out what I was doing wrong.

I used lip balm liberally when I remembered but the flakiness never went away.

I would always look at other girl's lips and wonder...

And it's so simple! What you need to do is easy and I do this everyday.

I shower

Stay in the shower for more than 5 or 10 minutes and you will notice your dead skin on your lips absorbing the water.

When you see (my shower in Korea is right in front of a mirror) or feel your dead skin raised and plumped, rub your lips with your finger!

Yes, you can use lip scrubs or your old toothbrush but your finger (I use my finger closest to my thumb) is right there!

Rub your finger across your lips back and forth till you notice the rubbery layer is gone and what left is smooth skin.

If not all your dead skin is gone, stay in the shower for longer and do the same again.

Be careful is you have cracked lips...being vigorous isn't pleasant.

After stepping out of the shower, put lip balm on your lips to seal in the moisture and keep them soft!

I do this everyday and it keeps my chapped lips on bay.

Enjoy the very quick and simple method and get brilliant results!

37- Belated Merry Christmas and Happy New year!

A new year, comes a new beginning!
This year my resolution is to lose 2kg, so I will weigh 50kg!
I have already lost 2.5kg by going to the gym so I am well on my way but I am still eating a lot of snacks..totally not denying this part!

When I was in university, weight seemed to stay down because I was always doing something, doing work, chilling with friends, shopping, baking or having all nighters talking!
After the life of university, there comes a different story..I worked in restaurants, takeaways and cafes which led to major weight gain.
Nearly 10 months after graduation, I gained a stone! Uh oh.

So be healthy, be wise and loose those snacks and necessary sugar drinks is the aim!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year 2013!

Lets all make realistic resolutions and keep them!

36- The Moon cup!

In Korea , most women use sanitary towels. Tampons are very much rare and expensive for something so disposable.

When my friend from England was going to post a parcel to me, I took a chance with the Moon cup.
I have been thinking about getting one for years but I never thought I'd be buying one so soon.
At the moment I am teaching in Korea and my tampon supply is going to last, I always wondered what I would do after when I go travelling around the world.
Not only is the Moon cup the perfect solution to buying and carrying tampons, it is also much environmentally friendly, cost effective and LEAK FREE!

The Moon cup is a grade A silicone cup which is inserted into the vagina to collect your menstrual flow. The cup placement is much lower in the vagina which makes the product very easy to use, especially younger ladies being scared of pulling out their tampon by the string, or losing tampons inside of them.

I have used the Moon cup now for 3 months now and so far it is becoming more normal to me.
I know over time, this product will be very normal to me that I don't have to spend a little more time in the morning to prepare my day ahead.

The first time of using it, there were a few things which needed to hurdle over.

The placement of the product, how to put it in and get it out and finally the stem length.
The stem length is very important to get it right, otherwise it will jab you basically..it can be uncomfortable.
Over time, just like sanitary towel and tampons, you get used to it and you won't have to think twice.

The product overall is very easy to use, especially if you have graduated in the art of using tampons. Its not a big leap from that but cutting the stem length was a bit nerve wrecking.

The whole cup is made from silicone, so if you cut too much, your  £20 worth of product isn't going to give you its optimal experience.
So be wise and cut a little bit at a time and insert it to check it is just right.
You will know when it is right, trust me. Also wetting the Moon cup first with water is very effective and makes insertion a lot lot easier!
The disposable of your flow may disgust some of you but it is totally normal...in fact quite interesting to see how much you actually dispel.
The product is comfortable and user friendly. The leaflets that came with the Moon cup were full of useful information and that makes using the Moon cup a less daunting task.
If you are thinking about getting one, just go and do it, there are so many benefits!

http://www.mooncup.co.uk/

35- Ealy Grey tea yoghurt cakes

I love baking and this recipe was perfect for the day in which I had no butter but pots of nearly out of date yoghurt!
If you like cake and earl grey tea, this is something you should definitely try and it's very simple to make!
The cakes ended up slightly zesty from the lemon, lightly fragrant from the earl grey tea and overall not a very sweet cake. Ideal with the company of some milky tea.

Early grey tea yoghurt cake

3 tea bags (6/7 grams, it doesn't matter too much)

60 mls milk

150g self raising flour

100g ground almonds

215g caster sugar

1 tsp salt

1tsp baking powder

1 zest and juice of a lemon (lazy lemon if you don't have the real thing)

60ml vegetable oil

1/2 tsp vanilla essence

2 eggs

Optional: Some flaked almonds and chocolate chips sprinkled on top for decoration.

Instructions

1. Empty the tea leaves from the tea bags and place the milk into a microwaveable bowl. Heat up the milk on a low heat and stir the tea leaves for the flavour to brew into the milk. Leave aside.
2. Measure out the ground almonds, flour, sugar and salt, baking powder and sift through a sieve into a bowl. 
3. In another bowl, whisk the yoghurt,  oil , lemon juice, zest and vanilla essence until combined. Stir in th earl grey tea leaves and milk and mix.
4. In a small bowl, crack the egg and give it a little whisk to aerate the eggs for a light texture.
5. Combine the whisked eggs into the other wet ingredients bowl and combine until smooth.
6. Pour the wet mixture into the dry ingredients and fold the ingredients delicately, don't over mix it.
7. Place the mixture into the desired cake tins or cupcake cups.
8. Sprinkle crushed flaked almonds and chocolate chips onto the top if desired
9. Bake for 25 mins for cupcakes and around 45 mins for a cake, skewer the middle of the cake time to time to see it is cooked. A clean skewer is ideal, if it isn't it will need to be in the oven for longer.

Lastly, enjoy eating your scrumptious cake!

34- Skinfood Argan oil silk hair mask

My hair isn't and hasn't been in a good condition in years.
My friends often recall my hair as being a rat's tail or hay, which I don't blame them for.
My hair is brittle, dry and prone to being fluffy and having split ends but I think it is all due to my every day hair washing.
I just can't stop myself though, I don't know how to style unwashed, freshly out of bed hair!
My hair is everywhere, tangly and even sometimes slightly greased

So I bought this hair mask for about £5 for 200g and I use this just about every week.

Skinfood claims:
A hair mask with argan oil and silk that transforms dry damaged hair into healthy shiny tresses.
Argan oil nourishes hair and increases the moisture content.
18 amino acids, proteins and peptides in silk replenish lost nutrients.

My boyfriend likes to call the silky sensation felt on the hair as 'feeling like seaweed'.
You can decide for yourself whether this is good or not but I can definitely tell the difference when it is used.
The silky feeling on the hair isn't like any other conditioner or mask I have ever used and it is so hard to describe.
After washing my hair, I wring my hair so most of the excess water has gone. I place a whole generous dollop into my hair and start off rubbing the product into the ends of my hair, where it is most needed.
Around 5 minutes or sometimes more, depending on how long you stay in the shower for, I rinse all the product out and I'm left with soft, smooth, fly aways free hair!
I would say the results lasts for 2 days with my hair and it wears off...so maybe I need something better?
The mask smells nice, nothing special and isn't very strong.
The consistency is quite thick in appearance and looks opaque like mayonnaise.
I am yet to try using this mask more than once a week to see optimal results, but I will post an edit.

Overall this product is nice and isn't overly expensive but if you have extremely damaged hair then maybe it is best to use it more than once a week on top of your normal conditioner.
I would recommend this product to normal /slightly damaged haired girls and boys but maybe something more intensive is needed for the very damaged and dried type.

33- Etude House Wonder Pore Freshner

I have had this Pore Wonder Freshner for quite a while now, maybe just over 4 months.
I don't actually have large pores but it was just the 7 benefits in 1 product that sold it to me.
I like multi-fuctional products so this was something I was very drawn to.

The Pore Wonder claims:

Deep pore cleansing

Maintains a good pH balance

Controls sebum

Minimises the appearance of pores

Refines skin tone

Keeps the elasticity of pores

Moisturises the inside and outside of skin

After using this countless time, I don't prefer this what is essentially a toner to my Missha First Treatment Essence Toner (It is apparently very similar to SKII's facial treatment essence toner, I will do a review later).
I find that the toner is generic, maybe I need to have larger pores to really appreciate the difference!
Yes the toner leaves my skin soft and hydrates, it gets rid of excess makeup but there is nothing special about it. I have not noticed any other effects on my skin.
The scent of the toner isn't very strong, just a slight clean smell.
At the moment I am trying to use up this product by using it day and night.
In the morning I spray this onto my face before I apply on any makeup and at night I use it before moisturising and serums.
I think this product is also called a freshner because if you store it in a spray bottle, it would revitalise your makeup through the day while doing the things it claims.

Overall, try this product if you have larger pores. Maybe you need to get the cleansing foam and clay mask in junction with toner to get the best results.
The toner isn't particularly pricey, just under £5 so if you want to try it, it's not going to break your bank.
I will not be repurchasing however..I'm sure there is something better for me out there, I'm not too sure if this product was best aimed for me.

32- Spiced apple cake!

I have literally just made this cake now and thought, considering I have a photo I should share with you the recipe!

Baking in Korea is quite expensive, especially if you are using butter!
When we go to larger supermarkets like Lotte Marts or Homeplus, the butter there varies in price of course according to what you get.
A decent wad of butter costs near £4 for 450g! And that's the best deal I've seen so far!

This cake was very easy to make as well as quick and delicious!
The original recipe states using cooking apples but I used normal eating apples for mine.
I can't find cooking apples here..I don't think Korea has any or imports any in.

Overall this cake was nice and moist, slightly chewy and sticky at the edges.
The balance of spices were very nice against the sweet apples. The cake is definitely moreish as this cake is over half gone and there's only the 2 of us!
I placed thin apple slices on the top of the cake with cinnamon sugar to make it look prettier.
I stupidly forgot to reduce the amount of sugar though...but that's okay, it was sweet but bearable!

Cake ingredients
220g self raising flour
220g cooking apples (use eating apples if you prefer but lower your sugar to 200g)
275g sugar (or 200g)
1 egg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp all spice
A pinch of salt

Topping
Optional cinnamon sugar- 3:1 ratio of sugar to cinnamon. Mix the 2 ingredients together and you're done!

1. Cream the butter and sugar together.
2. Sift the flour, salt, spices into the same bowl.
3. Chop up your apples in small dices or into small dices and enough thin apple slices to cover your cake tin. (A round cake tin is what I used, 20 inches)
4. Place the egg and stir everything together (at this point everything looks a bit dry but it's okay, you need to wait for a few minutes for the apple juices to seep into the mixture)
5. Butter up your cake in and pour in mixture
6. 180 c and 25-30 minutes later- viola!