My Thoughts Corner

                                                         

Hi My Ladies,

I’m sure that everyone of us, know or heard about someone who was or is touched by the breast cancer. I know how devastating it could be and unfortunately it happens more often than we would like. 

I’m with deep sadness typing these words; breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among women and the second cause of death for women around the world. However from the bright side, scientists have been able to discover different methods of catching cancer at an early stage.

Take a little time and get yourself checked. It’s super stressful to head for a mammogram, I personally was literally shaking,  I thought of grabbing my handbag and run out of the hospital, all kind of gloomy ideas came into my mind, I started even to cry before meeting the doctor; just by anticipating how the conversation will be, all this happened during the minutes I waited for my turn to go in…. Yes it is though! 

But, our health, ourselves, families, friends and all our surroundings deserve that effort to be done. In fact, early detection saves lives and while most of us women are aware of the breast cancer, many forget to take steps to detect it in its early stages. Let’s then bring awareness to the powerful impact of prevention and early detection as well as honouring and supporting the women who have lost their lives or those currently fighting breast cancer. 

Be sure to schedule an annual mammogram with your doctor and perform self great exams.

Hi Everyone,

Great News I have for you all, a £10 voucher to use at http://www.naturalbliss.co.uk. Use the code XZS10FREE. 

Natural Bliss is a UK Based company creating affordable and natural teeth whitening kits. Their products are made of 100% natural ingredients.

Big THANKS to Lisa Kelly from Natural Bliss and you can follow her on twitter @LisaKelly0108.  

Get yourself the smile you deserve.

Hi Ladies,

This post is especially for those ones suffering with their curly or simply frizzy hair (like mine). For quite a long time I hated it. I had all kind of thoughts on how to fix this freaking thing to have it under control instead of that electrified hair. By the way, let me give you a hint of the background; I’ve got fine wavy hair and frizzy on top… Not that bad however years back it was seriously like s*#@. How I fixed it? That’s a long story that I will talk about later. 

Every time I went to the beauty salon, I wished and prayed that my hair would remain for the rest of my life as beautiful as it looks when the beautician was finished. And of course that  never happened. The worst thing was my total conviction that I will never be able to do something about it, and will never afford all these sprays, creams and whatever it is which anyway will be wash out the next day… Gosh that was a complete nightmare until I finally found my ass savers; The John Frieda Frizz Ease Secret Weapon Finishing Crème and the Frizz Ease Heat Defeat Styling Spray, which I picked just because of the countless reviews in the bloggers community raving about how awesome their products are.

I’ll start off with the Heat Defeat Styling Spray, as per my order of application. The reason why I picked this was to make sure that my hair doesn’t fry after straightening. Again, my hair was a big mess, you wouldn’t want to see it. I normally spray it all over my dry hair, just before blow drying and since I started using it, the dry ends are completely gone, my hair looks healthier and straightens with total ease and also helps it remain smooth and shiny throughout the day.

Coming up to the secret weapon finishing crème, which I think is discontinued, I have to say that I’m kicking myself for not using this wonder earlier. It is a smoothing crème meant to be used after styling your hair with a concentration on the ends. As it’s called, it’s indeed a  secret weapon, to a healthy, silky and shiny hair, giving it that salon look.. Believe me, definitely the same look§.

This crème works beautifully on immediately calming the hair, excluding that greasy feeling thanks to its lightweight formula and let’s not forget to mention the cute scent it has.  

Being so amazed about these 2 beauties, you wouldn’t believe that I never had a look at their ingredients. And to my big surprise, it contains paraben ….. What the hell??? It’s no secret I’m in love with this John Frieda combo; certainly they secured their spot in my hair care routine. However I should start looking for a ‘healthier’ products to replace it. 

I’ve had this stuff for ages now and I think I’m just beginning the second half of it. It’s dirt cheap for what you can achieve with. If it’s not for the paraben, I would highly recommend them but for those who don’t care about this part, both products are worth trying!

Hope you enjoyed! Thanks again for your reading!

Hi everyone,

With its tremendous fame, a number of people are confused if the Argan Oil/product they have is a pure one or falsie. It is indeed a huge pile of brands out there that would make anyone confused. This is why I've decided to share this guide to help you distinguish the pure and organic Argan Oil. 

It might be a long read but believe me it's worth it. Luckily, I have at home both versions of the Argan oil to give you a proof at some points of what I’m talking about.

1- Origin

100% Argan oil is produced only from the Argan tree in Morocco, specifically in the south west part. Therefore, when purchasing this oil just make sure that it’s moroccan and the only ingredient in the list is 100% Argan oil.

For those having the chance to take the extra mile, need to be careful as getting it from Morocco doesn’t guarantee its authenticity. Nor those big brands assure that the oil used is organic, just keep in mind that any chemicals added reduce its efficiency. Personally, I prefer to use this magical oil in its most natural state. 

2- Scent

There are different ways to find out if you’ve been duped by a culinary Argan oil, and the smell is one of those ways. A strong delicious nut scent that you would want to eat, has big probabilities that the oil is for culinary use just because the nuts have been roasted first. This being said, this version of Argan oil will not provide you any results on your skin or hair but it could do a great job on the top of your salad or bread.

One the other side the pure cosmetic Argan oil has a light nutty smell that some don’t like and never get used to it but anyway it fades away shortly after application. 

What smells like nothing could also be skeptical, as it might be fake, diluted or simply put through deodorisation mechanism. 

3- Texture

In another way, the soft and velvety texture defines the pure Argan oil. It’s not supposed to be in any of the ways muggy, watery or even could have a reaction on those having skin issues.  

4- Look

The other factor that helps characterising the 100% Argan oil is the colour.  The cosmetic version has a pale yellow golden colour whilst the culinary goes more into the red/orange shade that obviously results from the roasting process of the Argan seeds.

Don’t be scared to find some “dirt” in the bottom of your bottle, that is simply a sediment that would guarantee the authenticity of your Argan oil. 

5- Price

Every time I seem to find new Argan oil brands that seem to be a great bargain for those unable to identify the pure one… But what if it’s just culinary oil inside that packaging??? What bargain is it then???  The Argan oil is very difficult to extract and takes hours of manual work thus there is no cheap Argan oil…. Yet, an over priced one isn’t necessarily genuine. 

To sum up, for your next Argan Oil purchase, keep these factors in mind to get the most of your buck. Please note that this is just my simple and native way of recognising the 100% pure Argan oil however that’s not the only one. 

Hope you find this helpful and as always thanks for dropping by. 

Hello helloo,

After being impressed by their BB cream (here) and concealer (here), I couldn’t resist trying some other product of the Rimmel London brand. I decided then to give the all new waterproof Wonder’lash Mascara with Argan Oil a try. 

The wonder’lash mascara with Argan oil was the first one I picked and tried, among other products that I’ll review in future posts, and that’s for the first obvious reason that it’s infused with this magical oil and honestly who wouldn’t???? The second reason is the so beautiful packaging that is hard to resist; a blue metallic finished tube. 

It’s a waterproof mascara that helps the lashes to look full, as mentioned in Rimmel website,  and smooths them to not clump. Its ultra flexible brush hugs the lashes to define them from root to tip. However when applying this mascara there is no drama noticeable. Instead it’s giving the lashes definition and a natural soft look that you will certainely say “Did I really just apply any mascara???”. From the other side, stiff and crunchy lashes have no place here, just feathery ones thanks to its light oil based formula. And for a waterproof formula, it still comes easily off at the end of the day. 

Even though this mascara does not give that false lash effect, I nevertheless think it’s a great one to have for a no-makeup look or simply for everyday use. 

This should do for today! Thank you so much for stopping by. 

Hi Beauties,

Now that finally Wet n Wild cosmetics is here in Dubai I thought of sharing another product review.  For almost a month or maybe more, I honestly can’t remember, I’ve testing out some of the Wet n Wild CoverAll Line; the cream foundation and the primer, which I picked randomly just to find out the quality offered by this very affordable brand. 

Coverall Cream Foundation 

I got this tube a while ago, and thinking of its cheap price I didn’t raise my expectations until I decided to try it just out of curiosity. According to Wet n Wild, it’s a long day wear  that provides moderate to full coverage, it has a lightweight texture with satin-matte finish and contains the VisiBright complex which reduces the appearance of wrinkles and rejuvenates the skin. 

Coverall Primer 

I’m really stunned at how this little beauty pick feels on the skin, it actually performs as any  high end primer would. It provides an amazing moisture which prepped the skin well giving my makeup a smooth base to adhere to. 

Overall, the coverall primer coupled with the cream foundation makes me in heaven despite their cheap prices. There is in fact plenty of quality here nevertheless there are few minuses to note… Well you can’t have it all. As I mentioned earlier, the packaging is not the perfect  one and I wish Wet n Wild would work on it just because the quality provided is amazing.  The second hiccup is the fact that it has no SPF, which makes them not convenient in hot summer days.

Apart from that, I definitely recommend these beauty gems and I deeply hope that they  would get the respect they deserve. 

Hope you enjoyed and thank you for reading!

Hi Y'all,

Makeup and skin care creams and serums are not the backbones of beauty. In facts it’s much simple than this but unfortunately it is nowadays less noticeable thanks to the million/billion dollars spent on marketing campaigns to promote a huge list of lotions and potions supposingly natural and effective. Well, if you roll back the years, you’ll find out that the things able to beautify your skin are: Exercise, get enough sleep, drink plenty water and good and healthy food. Today, I’ll focus only on the last point and will briefly flag the impact of some foods in the health of our skin. 

Berries

Berries are ranked #1 antioxidant which protect from premature aging. Rich in vitamin C, berries should be added to our daily diet and eating them in raw form provides more antioxidant than when cooked. 

Salmon

Especially the wild salmon, not the farm raised, is a great source for omega 3 which keeps the skin suppled and moisturised. The selenium in salmon is responsible for protecting the skin from sun damage.

Sweet Potato:

Sweet potatoes are packed with vitamin A and beta-carotene which help reducing wrinkles and other signs of aging. 

Red and green vegetables

Orange-red vegetables are full of beta-carotene which is converted by our bodies to vitamin A that is preventing cell damage and skin aging. Tomatoes in particular are rich in lycopene, an anti-aging antioxidant. 

The darker in colour the green vegetables are the greater they are. Broccoli provides vitamins A and C responsible to fight fine lines and wrinkles. The leafy green food is loaded with lutein, vitamins B, C and E, potassium, calcium, iron, magnesium and omega-3 fatty acids which help produce new cells and get rid of the old ones, reduce dryness and provide the skin that bright and young look.

Packed with fiber, the whole grains promote healthy digestion with is often reflected in healthy skin. They are a good source for the antioxidant rutin, responsible to combat inflammation related to skin damage. The wheat germ food provides the B-vitamin biotin to assists cells in processing fats. 

Nuts

A handful of nuts is enough as a daily dose of nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin E to enjoy their benefits: smoother skin, healthy hair, brighter eyes and strong bones. Almonds, pistachios and walnuts in particular are high in vitamin E that protect the skin from the sun damage, combats skin aging and helps skin revitalising. 

Yogurt

Yogurt contains protein which keeps skin firm and fights the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. The fruity versions are packed with sugar, therefore stay away from them. 

Dark chocolate

Great news for all chocolate lovers, dark chocolate does not cause acne. It is in fact good for the skin to help it stay hydrated and protected from the sun. Before you run to the nearest chocolate store, make sure to pick the one having a high flavanol of at least 60%.

This list is a great reason to stop by the supermarket. These foods have powerhouse ingredients that keep skin supple and smooth and reduce age related damage. 

Hope that was helpful.