An Inherited Asset

Tags

Beauty, hair, Hair care, Hairstyle, healthy hair, Kérastase, Kérastase Initialiste, Long hair, shiny hair

I truly believe that all women (& men!) must always take care of their hair. In my case, I think it’s my biggest asset. I come from a family that has healthy, thick and nice hair! Even at their age, my dad still retains all of his hair and my mom’s braid is super healthy and shiny!

Since my signature hair look was short stylish cuts ever since childhood, I am now trying to keep a long-hair style, and I’m loving it! I always get questions on how I maintain healthy hair, even at this length.

My secret is not only genetics though. I never dyed my hair (yet!), not even highlights. I apply sun protection spray all over it whenever I’m tanning (which is a lot during summertime). I often go for the hairdresser to trim the ends. But most importantly, I apply various masks at least thrice a week, such as here and here.

Now even though I always recommend my ‘At Home Remedies’ -and you know how amazing they are- I do tend to reside to my favorite synthetic product, whenever my hair is extra-dry due to the sun or the cold, and that is none other than Kérastase. My hair-dresser recommended the most recent new Kérastase product, called Initialiste.

Derived from the same stem-cell technology that’s used for skin-care, according to Kérastase, this serum should make your hair feel thicker, softer, and up to %93 more resistant, since breakage is unavoidable if you have long hair.

So here’s how to use it:

1. After washing your hair and gently drying it with a towel, apply Initialiste in the form of drops directly on your scalp
2. Massage your scalp with your fingertips to spread the product, increase blood circulation, and enhance its absorption
3. Apply no more than four to five pipettes if you have thick hair
4. Style as usual

It was so easy, my hair felt amazingly soft and radiated with a healthy shine afterwards! So yes, that was one of my most recent hair beauty secrets!

Tell me what are your hair secrets? I’d love to know!

At-Home Remedies: Clarifying Almond Scrub

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Almond, almond scrub, at-home remedies, Beauty, facials, home made scrub, home-made, home-made facials, Honey, Milk, skin care, skin scrub, smooth skin

One of the best things about my beauty advisor is that she always has beautifying home-made recipes… While applying my make-up for a friend’s wedding, I was sharing with her my honey and chocolate scrubs, when she asked me: “Why don’t you use Almonds?!”

It was a brilliant idea! I tried it the next day, with some modifications, of course 😉

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons of dried almonds, grounded in a mixer

1 tablespoon of honey

2 tablespoons of milk

Method: First mix the almond with milk, and then slowly add honey, and stir well. Prep your face and neck by wetting with warm water to open your pores, and then scrub the mix into your skin using gentle circular motion. You can leave the mixture for up to 10 minutes (gently stroking your skin every now and then to ensure maximum absorption and exfoliation), then rinse well with warm water. Follow with your favorite moisturizer.

Tip: Always avoid the eye area when scrubbing. You can use Almond Oil found at most grocery stores to moisturize the tired skin around your eyes 🙂

I found this recipe magical! Almonds, milk & honey made wonders to the softness of my tired skin, after a long week of work and a long day with heavy make-up and almost no sleep. Let me know what you think! 🙂

At-Home Remedies: Chocolate Facial

Tags

Beauty, Chocolate, chocolate facial, Cocoa butter, DIY, facials

I LOVE (eating) chocolate, especially dark one… On the other hand, I was always tempted to try out that luxurious chocolate body wrap at Lifestyles Health Club & Spa… & It was amazing I wanted to have more & more of it!

So I decided to do it myself at home (after several failed attempts, since I kept on eating the chocolate portions :p), and here’s how I formulated the recipe for a facial, which could also be used to the entire body:

1/3 cup of dark chocolate

1/4 cup pf honey

3 tbsp of heavy cream

2 tbsp powdered oatmeal (You can substitute it with brown sugar)

Mix the ingredients very well, then apply to your cleaned face for around 15-20 minutes. Smudge/massage every now & then to move the ingredients around for your face to absorb as much nutrients as possible. Then wash gently with lukewarm water, & tap to dry your face with a soft cotton towel.

The Result: Chocolate is well known for its antioxidant properties, in addition to moisturizing, revitalizing and anti-inflammatory properties from its Shea and cacao butter ingredients. The mask made my face silky soft, & was totally yummy…. Relaxing 😉

18 Beauty Uses of… Vaseline!

Tags

Beauty, beauty routine, beauty tips, Skin, skin care, Vaseline

We tend to spend too much money on different beauty products, which may easily be substituted by simple combinations of ingredients that are already present at home!

I never thought that the uses of Vaseline can go beyond healing dry skin, however, here’s a list of how it can be incorporated into our beauty regimen:

1. Use as lip gloss for a pretty and therapeutic effect! Those small Vaseline tubes that come in flavors are available at any drugstore or grocery shop.
2. Soften dry and cracked elbows and heels: Apply over dry areas before going to sleep, wear socks when applied to heels, and wake up with the softest spots ever!
3. If you’re messy at this like me, apply to the skin around your nails while doing at-home manicure, to prevent and easily remove color stains around them.
4. For dry cuticles: Store a mini vaseline container or tube in your purse, and utilize it for the times of emergency.
5. For your perfume to last longer: Apply a small amount all over your perfumed points, i.e., behind ears, base of the neck, cleavage and wrists.
6. To remove lipstick smudges over teeth: Spread over the smudge and then remove with cotton or wipes.
7. Make-up remover: Apply over a cotton pad, and then easily remove your make up. To remove last night’s fine mascara smudges, apply over a Q-tip and have a pretty fresh face!
8. Blush-booster: Mix with red or rosy lipstick and apply as a cream blusher!
9. Glossy eyeshadow: Mix a small amount with your eyeshadow to use as glossy make-up, however, be careful not to use too much Vaseline, or your eye make up will smudge!
10. To soothe eyebrows plucking: Apply to moisturize the skin and the hairs before plucking.
11. Prevent hair-dye from sweeping into your forehead: By applying a generous layer all around your hairline.
12. Use a small dab to add a fast shiny finishing touch to your shoes right before you go out.
13. Not ready or just too busy to have a trimming session? To hide split ends, apply a small amount on your damaged hair ends after styling.
14. To get those nail polish bottles to open next time you decide to do your nails at home, rub a small amount under the cap.
15. Exfoliating body wash: Mix with rough sea salt, or brown sugar, and come out of the shower feeling soft and glowing!
16. Lip exfoliant: Mix with white sugar and apply for a few minutes. Then scrub your lips using a toothbrush.
17. It helps remove false-lashes glue from your lash line.
18. Jennifer Aniston swears by Vaseline’s effectiveness in preventing wrinkles and keeping the skin around her eyes fresh and hydrated! Use alone or mix with your serum, and apply to eye area daily before bed time… Who knew!

I’ve already started applying most of these (well I didn’t dye my hair-yet), and the results are amazing! If you have some more beauty tips on how you use Vaseline, please share them with me.

Until next time,

Hiba

At-Home Remedies: Honey Bliss

Tags

at-home remedies, Beauty, Bee, Beehive, Beirut, body scrub, hair mask, Home remedy, home-made, Honey, honey hair mask, honey mask, natural, Olive oil, Royal Jelly, skin care

I’ve had the chance to take an amazing elective course during the summer of my senior year at university, called ‘The Art of Honey-Making.’ From its title, you could only imagine how interesting that might be! 😀

We studied everything about the life of bees, their hives, their Queen, her most precious Royal Jelly, swarming, bees’ incredibly intelligent division of labor and sense of belonging…. And of course, honey! We had weekly lab sessions for us to observe and take part in taking care of several bee hives placed at a special place, on campus 🙂

We also had fun field trips, during which I got bitten 3 times in my right hand alone! We  even participated once in a local farmers’ fair, that takes place in down town Beirut every Saturday, where farmers and local villagers would sell their home-made products, like: several kinds of cheese, labne, bread, jam, fruits’ compote, fresh-from-the-garden fruits and vegetables… etc…

We extracted honey right out of honey combs on the spot, right in front of the spectators, poured them into glass Jars of 1Kg capacity each, & sold them for around $27 (which was a discounted price by the way). We also sold Royal Jelly, and home-made honey cookies…

Enough with reminiscing… It was not only this course, but also Lebanese grandmas’ recipes, that tought me the importance of Honey. Be it incorporated into our diet, or hair and skin care! I’ve got plenty of skin care honey recipes, but will keep some for later.. So here are a couple of them, just for you… 😉

For the hair: Mix equal amounts of honey with olive oil. Add a spoon of Vinegar, and place on your hair for at least 30 minutes. The result?? A naturally moisturized and shiny hair!

– If you dislike the smell of olive oil, you can use jojoba oil instead, but I’d definitely recommend olive oil. Rinse well with warm water, then with rose-water extract, to get a heavenly smell 😉

For the body: Mix honey, baby oil (or even olive oil!), lemon juice and rough brown sugar. Massage/scrub into your skin in circular motion. The result?? A super softening body scrub, that leaves your skin hydrated, clean, healthy, and glowing!

– You might feel a slight tingling… It’s ok! The lemon juice is getting into & clearing your pores.

– The legendary Cleopatra used to bathe in a mixture of milk and honey! Purely! Can you imagine the bliss?? It is believed that she not only was a charming beauty, but also had the fairest complexion.

Hope you liked my Honey at-home remedies! Don’t forget to let me know what you think please.

Enjoy!

– Image via.

At-Home Remedies: Skin Dermabrasion

Tags

baking soda, Beauty, Face mask, Health, home made face mask, Home remedy, home-made, Skin, skin care, smooth skin

If you haven’t tried at home remedies, then you are missing a lot on so many beneficial treatments that you can formulate using products found in your kitchen cupboard!

At my part of the world, thousands of home-made beauty recipes have been transferred from a generation to another. Originating from the former societies that relied most on agriculture, herbs and other food products were widely used by women (& men) to maintain and/or enhance their looks.

It is true that not all of these remedies are as universally successful as my grandmas swear them to be, and that they can’t replace some products we use, but seriously, many surprisingly magical results that would normally cost a lot using high-end beauty labels, can be achieved by mixing simple ingredients at home! For this reason, I have decided to post, weekly (fingers crossed), some of these tried on remedies, hoping for you to try them out as well, thus, help reinforcing a natural and organic way of living.

Skin Dermabrasion Mask:

Simply mix 2 tablespoons of baking soda with a bit of warm water, until you have a watery paste. Massage your face with this paste using circular motion, for about 2-3 minutes. Relax and enjoy while doing so! Then rinse with warm water, and follow with your favorite moisturizer while your pores are still open. Repeat weekly, as needed.

Result: Baby soft skin that will most probably be less wrinkled than most people out there, after repeated use. This is achieved by brushing off the outer layer of dead skin cells that causes dry/oily (or both, depending on your skin type), rough appearance, and consequently showing off a healthier, more radiant layer.

Note, this baking soda paste could also be used on your body! Just be careful not to go around eyes and sensitive areas. For the body, after rinsing the paste off, use baby oil. Results are heavenly smooth skin, that you’ll definitely thank me for 😀

Try it out, and let me know what you think!

— Image via.

Tags

Beauty, earth colors, Fady Kataya, make up, make up types, makeup, natural makeup, nude makeup

Loved this blog Post by a leading Lebanese make-up artist Fady Kataya.

Pastels and Nudes for Nails

Tags

Beauty, Cosmetics, Essie, Lebanon, Nail Care, nailpolish

I remember one day I was at my beautician a few months back, viewing the first editions of catalogues about the latest nail polish trends for the winter of 2011-2012, when I was thrilled to find out it was all about nudes and pastels. Finally, such elegant, classy and feminine colors, that are great with almost every skin color!

I have been obsessed, ever since, with O.P.I‘s nudes, pinks and pastels.

What’s good about these shades is that they fit every occasion, everyday. From work to your casual evening outings, to the most formal ones.

I’m also in love with Essie. So glad this brand has finally made it to Lebanon, & it’s getting so popular!

What’s your favorite shade for nails?