Botox- Before and After photos

So D- day or B-day as I refer to it in my head arrived I was beside myself with excitement hopping from foot to foot.

The procedure itself was much less painful than I expected and really quick.

The slight swelling went down within an hour.It took about 8 days to reach it's full potential the after shots were taken 10 days after my Botox injections.

See before and after shots (yikes no make up) I'm really happy with it. 

Before -crows feet

after- crows feet

before forehead

after forehead - this shot doesn't do it justice the results in real life are better

Self conscious of all the no make up shots I had to add one with make up :)

The Big B Botox Baby

So as my 40th creeps nearer and nearer as my present to myself I am getting Botox for the first time!!

I know that there are going to be people say negative things like "ageing graciously blah blah". However I disagree I think that using cosmetic techniques and surgery to your advantage is in the same league as wearing make up. Both are to enhance your looks and confidence.
Obviously if you use too much of either you are going to look silly which defeats the whole purpose entirely.

So wish me luck!!!! Here's to ageing graciously using all beauty technology and tricks to ones advantage :)

Stay tuned I plan to post before and after shots ........

Face Peels - Home Chemical Peel

One of my winter beauty routines is to use a hard core astringent for one month every winter. 

The Astringent I use is not for the faint hearted it will actually peel your skin off and for a month you will have various levels of face peeling, redness and stinging. You need to make sure you use great moisturisers and sunblock religiously for the whole month or you will do more damage and defeat the purpose of the month of peeling and pain.

I use a brand called 'extraderm' which you can get in all Filipino grocery stores - before you write it off as no good think about all the Asians you know and how great their skin is and how young looking they stay. Also its cheap as chips the last bottle I got (which is enough for just over a month) cost $4.50AU

They have 3 different strengths 1 being the weakest and 3 being the strongest. For first timers try a level 1 its lighter and of course so will be the results. This one contains Tretinoin which is the acid form of vitamin A and hydroquinone which is the skin lightening agent.

Its a 3 fold plan 

To peel away all my dead skin helping reduce fine lines

Clean out all my blackheads and reduce the size of pours - I have giant ones due to very oily skin

And finally to fade freckles sun and age spots.

I've used this every winter for one month for the past 19 years and love it within days although my skin is feeling sensitive all my blackheads practically fall out of my face. 

I recommend that you use it nightly after you have cleaned your face in place of a toner - check out the cotton wool when you've wiped your face it will come away dirty. Slather on a moisturiser try something with a skin lightener. I'm using Loreal Luminize this year and Lucus Papaw ointment on any sensitive areas. Before bed I use my usual night cream on top of all that. I also try to take a skin helping vitamin for the month I do my peel. There are many 'hair skin and nail' blends on the market at the moment anything with E and B in it is wonderful for the skin. This year i have chosen Silicea and I could bang on about it for hours its ah-mazing!!

Remember its not for the fragile skinned or pregnant women

Good Luck if you dare!

Korean Bath Houses

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Exfoliation- Go Hard or Go Home

It occurs to me that a big part of me is my love for beauty stuff. 

I love all things beauty the products, the technology, the colour, the techniques, the creativity, the make up and on and on. 

So a part of this blog has to be given to my feelings thoughts and advice on all things beauty. 

In my long and various career I once dabbled at being a beautician and  although I loved many many parts of being a beautician I also got to a point where a vast majority of my time was spent on hair removal. It was at the beginning of the Brazilian xxx wax craze and I just thought to my self one day this is someones vagina! I'm tired of spending my days looking at vagina's. Hence a career change was imminent. 

So my first little piece is all about Exfoliation. 

In western culture Exfoliation is vastly under done and under valued. 

My time in Japan has taught me that they don't all look younger and have beautiful skin for nothing. Although there is an element of diet, weather and culture it is also true that they exfoliate everyday. 

So I have taken much of my own routine from Japan and and hopefully will reap the rewards as I get older with fresh younger looking skin. I can comment that I do have pretty soft skin and have landed a toy boy 10 years younger ;)

My number one tip is don't be afraid to go hard, use a hard scratchy glove or sponge equivalent and use it everyday. I get mine from Asian supermarkets because I find the ones sold in the normal supermarket too soft. 

Its simple to make an amazing homemade scrub by mixing a cup of either raw sugar or rock salt with a bit of baby oil (use a few drops of your favourite essential oil as well to make it smell special) and about a teaspoon of warmed honey (honey can be left out I just like it to help bind the scrub and its a natural astringent so helps with body pimples, abrasions and ingrown hair - actually I changed my mind honey is compulsory). Use this once a week what I do is after I've washed myself  I turn off the shower and scrub all over especially my feet and hard areas and let it sit for a few minutes - just keep scrubbing then rinse. I promise this will rock your world! 

Best Body Scrub Recipe

1-2 cups raw sugar or rock salt

1 spoonful of melted honey

2 spoonfuls of baby oil

A few drops of essential oil

Face Scrubs - well I use the above one even on my face -I can imagine it being too much for newbies though. I love the Aapri face scrub its really cheap will last a long time and is tough not like some of the really wussy so called scrubs out there. 

If you have some money to burn and want to have a facial and don't know what to try, why not try microdermabrasion. Microdermabrasion is basically a machine with a diamond tip they rub all over your face to remove the top layer of dead skin.

So what are you waiting for go get scrubbing!!