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!

Slow Cooker - YUM

Don't you just love winter?
Snuggling under a warm blanket, the fire place, jackets, scarves boots, uggs, gloves the list goes on and on.

Well even if you aren't like me and in love with winter there is one thing that surely everyone loves about winter and that is the food! Am I right? Hearty Soul Food.
All those homemade chunky soups and stews.

Here is a recipe that a friend of mine put on her facebook recently and it combined two of my loves the slow cooker and Mexican so I was excited to try it and can confirm it is awesome! She also has a great BLOG here with lots of recipes & mummy tips
So to share the warm yummy Mexican slow cooked love here it is; 

Mexican Rice Bowl

Ingredients;
500g of chuck steak or stewing steak any cheap cut that is marbled is perfect for the slow cooker. Cut into palm size chunks
1/2 cup water
I jar of salsa - as spicy as you like
1 satchel of taco or burrito spice mix - I used 'old el paso'

To Serve;
Sour Cream
Grated Cheese
Chopped Tomatoes
Chopped Lettuce
A few Corn Chips Crushed
Cooked Rice

Toss the meat in the spice mix and chuck it all (meat, water, jar of salsa) into the slow cooker on low for 4~5 Hours give it an occasional stir.
When cooked stir through some sour cream.

Assemble on a bed of rice with grated cheese, another dollop of sour cream, small sprinkle of corn chips for crunch, and lettuce and tomato. 

Melt in your mouth slow cooked mexican beef rice bowl

Bon Appetite