Extreme Brush Cleaning

Hello Beautifuls!  Hope you are all having a fabulous week so far.  Today I decided it was finally time to give my make up brushes a really good clean.  When I say a really good clean I mean attempting to clean brushes that I have given up on due to really bad face paint. ( Let's just say I won't be putting my poor brushes through that again.)

Whilst doing this I decided to find out for you guys which facial cleaners will leave your brushes good as new.  I chose facial cleaners rather than anything else, because I know I can trust that they won't be left with anything nasty that could be potentially bad for my skin.  

Excuse the Clearasil bottle it still has black eye shadow on it.  My top two were definitely Palmer's Coco Butter Formula with Vitamin E Gentle Daily Cleanser and Clearasil Ultra Pimples + Marks Wash and Masks.     

Palmer's and Clearasil both came out completely clear in these tests.  I also found this whilst washing my brushes.  However Clearasil cleaned the brushes faster than Palmer's.

            Clearasil $10.99                                                     Palmer's Coco Butter Formula

                                                                                                           $8.39

Berry Cheesecake

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups of shortbread biscuits

80g melted butter

500g philadelphia cheese

3/4 cup caster sugar

3 teaspoons gelatine

1/4 cup water

1 cup whipped cream

1 1/5 cups of mixed berries. (blue berries, strawberries, raspberries, etc).

Method:

1. Crush biscuits and mix with butter.

2. Place in tin and press down to form base.

3. Beat philadephia cheese and sugar until smooth.

4. Dissolve gelatine in water.

5.  Mix in dissolved gelatine.

6. Mix in whipped cream and mixed berries.

7.  Leave to set in fridge for 3 hours.

Monochrome Checks

Dress similar 

Blouse similar

Bag 

Shoes

Sunglasses 

Healthy Holiday Tips

In Australia it is currently Summer therefore it is our main time of year to venture out on lovely holidays.  This will include me very soon :D  When you are on holidays it sometimes becomes very hard to maintain a healthy lifestyle.  Therefore I thought I would give you a couple of ideas of how to be healthy on holidays.

1. Pack the clothes that you would normally exercise in at home.  This is an incredibly simple idea, but trying to do squats in skinny jeans in never comfortable.  This will also help you feel as is if nothing has changed and you are simply exercising in your normal space. 
2. Use a yoga mat.  A yoga mat may take may take a bit of extra space, but the comfort will be worth it.
3. Make sure you bring headphones.  I am one of those people that always seems to lose their headphone around the time they travel.  Being able to listen to music will ensure once again this will also help you feel as is if nothing has changed and you are simply exercising in your normal space. 
4. Exercise at the start of the day.  Holidays can be incredibly busy or incredibly relaxing.  Either way exercising at the start of the day will ensure that you get it out of the way and you have time to complete all of your other exciting holiday activities.  This will also give your body a metabolism boost.
5. Track the food that you are eating.  You probably just read that thinking, you can’t be serious.  I am completely serious.  This will honestly help you stick to your healthy holiday regime.  A really simple way that I do this is by using the free app MyNewDiary.  You can track the food that you’ve eaten simply by a barcode or searching the listed foods, track your exercise, how much water you’ve had and your weight.  Trying this tip may take a few extra minutes out of your day, but it will be worth it. 
6. Bring a skipping rope.  Using a skipping rope is an excellent form of cardio and it’s just a small item to fit in your suitcase.
7. Bring dumbbells.  If you can’t pack these fill up water bottles and use them.  If you need some ideas of ways you can use them take a look at this video. 
8. Always have a healthy snack food with you.  For example banana chips, almonds, dried apple, whatever takes your fancy.  Make sure that it is something that you will actually eat so you aren’t running off to buy an ice-cream instead.
9. Drink heaps of water.  Simple.
10. Start the day off with a healthy breakfast.  Starting the day off healthy will help you metabolism and give you the best chance to continue being healthy throughout the day.
11. Bring vitamins.  When on holidays you can become rather tired and therefore you immune system does not always cope as well.  Taking vitamins will help you immune system and let you enjoy your holiday.

~V xx