A Mini Ritual : Sodashi Clay Lime Cleanser & Brightening Face Drops.

I’ve long been a fan of Sodashi, everything about the brand sings to me. From their lack of animal testing & animal ingredients, 100% recyclable packaging, deluxe products and the fact that a little company based in North Freo has made it big the world over – being housed in some of the top spas in New York, Paris & beyond.

A treasure-box of Sodashi goodies made its way to me many months ago and I haven’t stopped using the products since, so today I’m going to share the tiniest of rituals I like to indulge in and also quickly chat about the other bits I received.

Cleanse & Rejuvenate

Sodashi Clay Lime Cleanser

Start with one pump worth of this creamy white cleanser in the palm of your hand, massage into the face with a bit of warm water and focus on any trouble spots as this is a great cleanser for those with acne prone-combination skin (like me!)

Use a muslin cloth or face washer to help get rid of any impurities / gently exfoliate the skin & rinse with warm water. I generally tend to do this step in the shower, but just make sure the water isn’t too hot or it will dry out your skin and irritate any pimples.

Sodashi Brightening Face Drops (RRP $89)

Next up, fill a basin / bowl with warm water and add 10 drops of Brightening Face Drops, this stuff is magic for imparting radiance to the skin & it also helps with scarring and pigmentation! Zoe Foster is also a huge fan, can’t go wrong.

Soak a fresh muslin cloth / face cloth with the solution, squeeze out and apply to the skin. Repeat this step again & you’re ready to go!

So that’s my little ritual 🙂 Depending on your skins current needs, you can then apply moisturiser if you wish, the one that is suitable for me (combination / acne prone skin) is the Balancing Face & Neck Moisturiser (RRP $147) and I really like it, not too heavy, not too sticky. Very nice for day time use!

The last of my goodies is the Blemish Treatment (RRP $105), this stuff is a bit sticky and squirts out of the bottle in a rush, so take care! I find it very calming for my pimples and it’s suitable for use under makeup as well, but I prefer to use it at night before bed so it can do its thing while I rest 🙂

I hope you enjoyed my little write-up! Do let me know if you have any questions about these products & I’ll do my best to help you out!

Be well,

xoxo

Restaurant Review: Breakfast at Crumpet, Vic Park.

Having heard good reviews & keen for a stomach-rumbling-reducing Sunday morning brunch-date, one of my besties and I made our way down to Crumpet in Vic Park.

When we got there it was PACKED and we were very lucky to snare a table outside as a couple were leaving. Unfortunately their dirty dishes were left there for a good 20 minutes before we had to ask for them to be removed.

There is also no queue system for getting a table and we were told they couldn’t keep track of who got there first, which is understandable but disappointing – perhaps they didn’t realise how popular their little cafe was going to be as there were lots of people turning up only to leave due to no available seating.

So grumpy stuff out of the way! I ordered the ‘Omnomlette‘ ($12) – hands down the best named breakfast food I’ve eaten to date – which was free range eggs, mushrooms, spinach & brie omelette drizzled with EVOO, as well as a decent-sized freshly squeezed orange juice ($6). My counterpart had the Mushies on Toast ($11) & an OJ as well.

It was a hard decision given the many healthy sounding choices, including a vegan brekky (although unfortunately it was more expensive than any of the dishes with meat, which was surprising as it didn’t contain any out of this world ingredients). There were also various smoothies to choose from and some delicious sounding porridge.

My meal was amazing, a perfect breakfast and kept me going through the afternoon of window shopping! My girl thoroughly enjoyed her mushies as well 🙂

Despite the few negatives, I’d definitely return to Crumpet, there are a few really cute cafes opening up in Vic Park, it seems to be turning into the hip new spot!

Location: 8/885 Albany Hwy, Victoria Park

Phone: 9355 0901

Tues – Fri: 7:30 am – 3:00 pm
Sat & Sun:8:00 am – 2:00 pm

Crumpet on Urbanspoon

I’ve also planned to introduce more free-range eggs into my life, I feel I may not be getting enough protein and this could be a good way to go about it! I’ll keep you posted 🙂

Be well,

xoxo

What do you do to get motivated?!

So I thought it was time for a bit more of a ‘personal’ type post on here, just to remind you that there are actual people just like you working hard behind the scenes to make this blog run!

Since the weather is cooling down I’m finding it -really- hard to get motivated to get out of bed (let alone exercise!), I figure some of you might be in the same boat so I pose the question – What do you do to get motivated?

I found this great post on one of my favourite blogs, How to get and stay motivated and her tips are really helpful, so I recommend you check them out 🙂

Personally, the following things help keep me motivated:

Green Smoothies – I know I go on and on about these, but they give me so much energy and vitality that I am always shocked to remember how good I feel when I haven’t had one for a while, which is now, so I really need to get back into it! (Just haven’t been able to find any good spinach lately)

Exercise Classes – I always find I’m pretty motivated the day after a class, especially if it was a bit more of a cardio workout. This is no good if you’re trying to get motivated to go somewhere, but just try and think how good you’ll feel the next day!

Hot showers – this is definitely a motivator for me to get out of bed! Another great thing I’ve done recently is acquiring a dressing gown, so there’s no running around in towels to be done. Also I’m lucky enough to live somewhere with a bathroom heater, without this I don’t know how I will do it!

Social Motivation – If I know a friend is going to an exercise class then I am 72% more likely to attend! If they pull out, then often I will as well. This is something I need to work on 🙂

Please share your tips on being / staying motivated with me!

Be well,

xoxo

Product Nostalgia – Where to find those old gems!

Do you ever have moments walking along the street, conversations with people or dreams where you are reminded of a product that you used to use ages ago, or your Mum used to use it, or you had heard about it’s release in America/Europe but it never came to Australia, and you are suddenly gripped with the very capitalist urge to own it either for the first time in your life or to own it once again and again and AGAIN? I do.

So what do you do if that product is nowhere to be found in Perth…if it’s discontinued or it was never here in the first place? Should you cut your losses? Should you say to yourself “well it’s JUST makeup” and move on to obsessing over more important things like boys and clothes, politics and world peace?

Hell.

No.

The answer is so simple you may even already know it, but just in case you don’t, why aren’t you using the INTERNET to achieve these dreams? Now websites such as StrawberryNET http://www.strawberrynet.com and the like are pretty common knowledge to get good deals on current products from popular brands so let’s just assume the humble reader has this knowledge and move on to the discussion of your harder to find/discontinued product.

L’Oreal – Blush Delice in Strawberry Tart ♥

About two years ago (approx) L’Oreal stopped production on a few colors of their Blush Delice range. Anyone out there remember Strawberry Tart that perfect mix of baby pink and luminous wonderment? It was the best for a pale complexion and I really had a love affair with it from the moment of its release up until the dark, dark day that they stopped making it (for some stupid reason).

I went through the normal sort of feelings you go through after a relationship ends, sadness, rage, depression but goddamnit I was just not ready to give up on this little guy! So in a moment of desperation I typed into the google machine ‘shine+delice+blush+strawberry+tart+buy’ and guess what the first result was, ebay.com. OF COURSE! EBAY!

And guess what? I got two compacts of Strawberry Tart for $6 (plus $6 post and handling). I was hooked, I started looking up everything I had ever once loved, liked a lot, had a fling with- but for some reason or another had been taken away from me- and it was ALL there.

Clinique – Almost in Black Honey ♥

Remember that shade of Clinique ’s Almost Lipstick that was re-released here a little while ago, sold out almost immediately and then was never added to their permanent roster of products, a little shade called Black Honey? Hm? Yep. It’s there. And it’s way cheap.

Now, sometimes going to the Australian version of eBay (ebay.com.au) is not going to cut it, so you need to go American and go to just plain old ebay.com – but it’s worth it; obviously they have far more options for the nostalgic shopper. However, shopping on the American website does have it’s downfalls. Namely- sometimes sellers will not ship to Australia. I have found in a couple of instances if you just ask them really nicely they will have no problem with it but sometimes they just flat out refuse.

Barry M Kohl Pencil

I encountered this when I was trying to buy a Barry M kohl eyeliner in black. I had owned one when I was living in London and had never used such a good eyeliner (never hard and scratchy on the eye, so soft, so glideable, so smudgeable) but I couldn’t get it in Australia. So I just stopped using eyeliner (it really was that good). Anyway, I found one on ebay.com but the seller wouldn’t ship it to me (seriously you cant put a pencil in an envelope and send it to me even when I’M PAYING FOR THE SHIPPING?!!!?!??!) So I just went back to the old google search and came across this website http://www.crushcosmetics.com.au which is actually an Australian website but stocks Barry M. Take that lazy eBay seller who wouldn’t ship to me. Take that indeed.

In summary, I guess I’m not telling any of you anything new here but I do hope that all of this might make you think about a product that you used to own and love so dearly and maybe will encourage you to go to the internet buy it, and reignite that love.

Article by dream make-up internet babe Adriane Daff.

Be well,

xoxo

Store Review: Loose Produce Wholefoods, Como.

I love wholefoods and the opportunity to buy in bulk! I’d long known my Northie friends were being well serviced by Angry Almond in Nedlands but I yearned for something a little closer to home… it’s hard living South of the River in Perth y’know!

The discovery of Loose Produce in Como therefore was like a birthday, Christmas, Easter & any other gift-receiving holiday that exists, all thrown at me in one glorious “HURRAH!”

The great thing about Loose Produce is the attention to detail that goes into presenting their many, many wares.

Nutritional information, origin & a detailed list of ingredients are presented on the majority of their products, so if you’re like me and read more backs of packets than books – you’ll be right at home.

Those with a naughty sweet tooth will be thrilled with over 50 choices of bulk lollies, while the slightly healthier sweet lovers among us will be happy with the wide range of dried fruits including blueberries & goji berries. Our baking friends will marvel at the loose cake mixtures, sprinkles and bread mixes available for sale!

Gluten-free products are well-signed as are organic options, with an “I’m organic!” sticker to help you navigate your way to chemical free wonderland.

A really novel setup they have going is the “Jar Exchange Program” whereby people with jars they no longer need can bring them down to the store and those who would like to use them to fill with produce can do so!

There’s a dedicated Asian section, pasta, herbs & spices, organic fruit & veg, organic meat and so much more… you’ll just have to go down there to check it all out!

The only thing I would change is quite nit-picky; as I’m a vegetarian I’d prefer that the cold meat (which is spread out across two fridges) be contained to one fridge so the other products that are sharing space with them have less chance of being contaminated by the meat. Aside from that, I love the whole place!

Loose Produce is a pantry organisers dream, little jars to pick up and fill with all manner of tasty delights.

When you take your presumably many choices to the counter, you’re met with Larabars, vegan cookies and more snacks than you can poke an organic stick at. Just try saying no.

LP also run a variety of workshops which you can browse on their website and often have reflexology and kinesiology experts visiting the store.

Loose Produce

2 Hobbs Avenue, Como
Western Australia 6152

Ph: 08 9474 9100
Fax
: 08 9474 9100

Email: keryn@looseproduce.com

Be well,

xoxo