Posts belonging to Category 'Wellness Tips'

Seasonal Delights: The Fruits of Autumn.

I don’t know about you, but I’m the kind of person that doesn’t have any trouble eating my two portions of fruit per day. In fact, if there was some kind of disease you got from eating too much fruit I’d probably be riddled with it. Very little makes me happier than an overflowing fruit bowl of colourful delights!

As we head into the cooler months, it’s easy to forget about beautiful sweet fruit and replace our portions with stodgy (READ: UNHEALTHY!) snacks. As a pescetarian and lover of fresh food, I’ve recently begun embracing the yearly food calendar. A website that is truly wonderful, if you enjoy fresh food, is http://www.seasonalfoodguide.com. It’s even categorised by states so you can specifically select the freshest food grown in WA. Could it be any easier?

Stewed yumminess!

Pears, while not very exotic, are my first example of delish autumn fruit to enjoy regularly. They’re versatile as they fit perfectly in my handbag for uni and also taste INCREDIBLE stewed for dessert with a little bit of cane sugar and cinnamon, YUM!

♥ The glistening rubies of the fruit world! ♥

Pomegranates are another beauty. Similar to passionfruits, these fruits have the most spectacular colour (perfect for aforementioned fruit bowl) and the little juicy red seeds almost explode in your mouth. Pomegranates are delightful on their own, or in fruit salad or juice. They are also is incredibly good for you!

The unique looking custard apple!

While at a recent dinner with a couple of girlfriends, I was introduced to the soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture of the custard apple. While I’d heard about this fruit from the apple family, I wasn’t aware of how amazing it tasted, nor did I realise that it would become my current addiction (I go through food phases faster than Paris Hilton goes through BFF’s). While it can be a bit pricey at around $5, it’s better for you than a block of chocolate and will leave you feeling just as warm inside. Depending on where you live, you can purchase these babies from the Herdsman, Fresh Provisions and the Boatshed.
As someone who reaches for comfort food as the nights become chillier, I have vowed to remember that Summer is not the only time of year to indulge in fresh fruit and veg. If you haven’t already, add one or all three of these Autumn gems to your fruit bowl for a little extra zest. Your body will love you for it!

Written by Ellie, a lover of all things fresh and soon to eat her way around Europe!

Be well,

xoxo

Beauty & Wellbeing Crushes: Megan Larsen, Natural Bloom Blush, Kale & Autumn.

1. Kale

I’m currently having a love affair with kale that I’m very pleased about, after my misadventures in the past. A vegan kitchen whiz pal of mine made us a stunning kale, beetroot, pepita, lemon juice & olive oil salad a few weeks ago. It was DELISH. And you can’t help but feel good after injecting all those vitamins into your body.

Last night I bought a giant bunch of organic kale from Farmer Jacks Subiaco (a fantastic place to buy produce – although their fresh organic stuff is a lot more expensive than the delivered organic fruit n veg I get).

My salad was a variation on the original: kale leaves washed and torn into little pieces, pepitas, dried cranberries and an olive oil + lemon dressing. It was really good, and one bunch of kale should cost you between $3-$5 which is super cheap. Plus you can make them into CHIPPIES and the bunches are always huge. If you’re into gardening, kale is said to grow like weeds – plenty to eat!

2. Megan Larsen

The founder of Sodashi, and all round inspiring woman Megan has recently done an interview about the North Freo based skincare and body range that has made it big the world over. Find out how this natural, organic company has taken everyone by storm in this interview with Megan Larsen:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMEp_mWqAuY

3. Bloom Sheer Colour Cream in Natural

I’ve been a long time fan of this product in the shade Rosie (perfect for pale skinned brunettes like myself), so when the opportunity to try a new shade came about I was very excited.

This is a really versatile product, you can use it on lips, cheeks and eyes. I found that I love using it to create the highly sought after nude lip. For the cheeks, you only need the tiniest amount, I like to smile, then dab a tiny bit on the apple of each cheek with my fingers and then blend.

I prefer a pinker based blush, so am going to stick with Rosie for the cheeks for now, or maybe try Shy or Coy next as I think the pink undertones suit my pale n proud face best. I’ll still be using Natural as my go-to for a nude lip, but make no mistake, if you have the slightest hint of a tan and want a gorgeous light glow to your cheeks, Natural is going to be your new bestie!

4. Autumn

I have such a crush on Autumn, don’t tell my boyfriend! To me there’s not much better than getting about in snuggly clothes, drinking copious amounts of tea, taking long steamy baths, eating piping hot home-made pear crumble with vanilla icecream and sleeping as much as possible. Absolute bliss.

Link Love!

Take a little inspiration from nature this autumn – very pertinent given my last crush!

Food Label Quick Check – an excellent addition to your purse, this is a pdf which you can use when you go shopping to check against nutrition labels on food, to see how it stacks up in the healthy-for-you stakes! Very handy.

Are you a sucker or a booster? – Mysterious? Find out here… I try and be a booster as much as possible, though I think when I’ve had too little sleep I might be a bit of a sucker, eek!

Coconut and Basil Brown Rice – a delish recipe, if you’d like to make a huge batch and bring it over to me – please do!

Staying green and healthy when time is running short – lots of handy tips.

Brainpower brekkies – If you need to be on your A-game, these breakfast will have your neurons firing with deadly accuracy.

That’s all for this week. Hope you enjoyed! If you have any comments or questions I’d be happy to answer them 🙂

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Beauty & Wellbeing Crushes: Sunflower seeds, Bobbi Brown, Omnilux and more!

1. Australian Grown Sunflower Seeds

I recently became interested in how I could get more Vitamin E in my diet as it’s said to be fantastique for the skin, brain and overall wellbeing. Sounds good to me, I thought, and went on my merry way to buy some sunflower seeds, which are little treasure chests of vit-e (along with lots of other nutrients)!

Unfortunately I was disappointed at how hard it was to find Australian grown and produced sunflower seeds – they were all imported from overseas. I decided to check with Organic ‘n Green, the place I buy my organic veggies from and lo and behold they stock certified organic Australian grown sunflower seeds as well – this company never ceases to impress me!!

I’m now the proud owner of some sunflower seeds that were grown within our shores, and I’m loving adding them to my salads and trail mixes 🙂

2. The tastiest drink!

Today I had this smoothie, and it was totally delicious, I call it the Double Whammy Banana & Blueberry Smoothie:

♥ 1 x cup of Vitasoy vanilla soy milk
♥ 2 medium sized ripe / just overripe bananas (decadent in these times!)
♥ 1 x cup of frozen blueberries (or more if you prefer)
♥ 1 x cup of baby spinach
♥ 1-2 tsp wheatgerm

Whiz it all up and you are left with a tasty dream treat. Vanilla soy milk is SO much more palatable than regular soy milk, in my opinion. The vanilla Vitasoy can be hard to come by but if you see it, pick some up, I bet you’ll like it!

3. Omnilux

I’m still going with my Omnilux sessions! For best results you need to have at least 2 sessions a week over a 4 week period. I just had my third treatment today. I can definitely tell the difference in my skin the day after! The other interesting thing to note is that the red light is about 40x brighter than the blue light! For me, the red takes me about 5-10 minutes after the session is completed to re-adjust to normal vision (with goggles and cotton wool) but with the blue or white light it’s no problem at all! I’m currently having my sessions at Skin Deep in the city and I always look forward to my next sesh :)!

Eyeliner – & Brush

4. Bobbi Brown Long-Wear Gel Eyeliner & Brush

For the ‘makeup skills challenged’ among us, and I firmly plant myself within that group, this little duo from Bobbi Brown is a lifesaver. It is SO EASY to create a great eyeliner look with these two products, that it’s almost ridiculous. It lasts a long time too and comes in 10+ classic & quirky shades. There’s a reason why this pair have earned cult status worldwide and consistently make it into the top tens of industry experts… but if you’re like me, and still traversing the lower slopes of the makeup mountain (where do I come up with this!) then these are solid beginners companions. Highly recommend. Available online at the official Bobbi Brown online store.

Hans Bruechle..!

5. Date my Mate

Here’s something fun that’s a little bit different! Local fella and man of various infamy, Hans Bruechle, and a friend have teamed up to do ‘Date my Mate’ which is a web series dedicated to reviewing ‘everything in Perth’ as well as getting in a few sneaky dates here and there. The catch? They choose each others dates! Makes for some good giggles.

In the latest episode, Hans heads to the day spa and his mate takes on a brutal personal training session. All while trying to woo a ‘lady’ of the other ones choosing!

Date my Mate: Episode 3

That’s all for now my darlings! Please feel free to share your current beauty & wellbeing crushes with me!

Be well,

xoxo

Talkin Cherries – Health & Beauty Benefits!

♥ Cherry lurve! ♥

I’ve been wanting to write this post for ages and have now missed most of the Summer cherry season – noooo! Thankfully, these little red nutrient filled gems are also available in many local supermarkets in the freezer section if you can’t find them in the fresh produce area!

Frozen cherries ahoy!

So why have I been so keen to chat about cherries? Well let me enlighten you a little…

♥ Cherries are chockas full of antioxidants, which if you haven’t heard, are SUPER DOOPER little guys that cruise around your body, kickin’ bad stuffs ass, reducing inflammation and stopping cell damage, which in turn lower our risk of cancer and diseases of the brain and heart (+ much more).

♥ Antioxidants are also super heroes for the skin. Eating lots of antioxidant rich food, such as cherries and blueberries, can increase your bodies defense against sunburn. FACT!

♥ Great to have after workouts, as apparently they contain an anti-inflammatory compound that helps soothe sore muscles. WINNERS!!!

♥ Possible benefits in the fight against ageing. Free radicals contribute to wrinkles, antioxidants neutralise wrinkles, cherries contain antioxidants. I’m no mathematician, but it looks like it adds up 😀

♥ And possibly most importantly, the great thing about cherries is that they are delicious and contribute to your overall wellbeing!

This photo makes me go om nom nom

So now we need some mouth-watering recipes for you to try! Do let me know if you end up testing out any of these 🙂

Healthy Cherry Muffins! YUM!

Cherry Smoothie – I would personally have this without the yoghurt, there are lots of variations that could be made.

CHERRY BRUSCHETTA – !!!!!!!!!!!!!! Conor over at Hold the Beef tried this and loved it.

So there’s a few options to get you drooling, let me know how you go.

Do you have a fave cherry recipe you’d like to share?

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

Weekly Wellness Wrap-Up!

Kit nails! ♥

Today I’d like to share with you the beauty and wellbeing bits n pieces that have made my week – hopefully you like them, please share your wellness wrap-up too if you like!

1. Got ma nails did for FREE at the Kit event in Enex100.

And I swear it’s one of the best manicures I’ve ever had! The new season free spirits edition colour is called ‘Play Down‘ (shown above). The girls at this event were the sweetest things and I hope that Kit run something like this again soon, it was great!


2. Raw Comedy State Final @ His Majesty’s Theatre.

16 comedians did battle last night with words and wit as their weapons, the winner (Tien Tran) is headed off to the Melbourne International Comedy Festival to vie for the national title! Let me tell you, this event was fantastic. There were so many highlights I can’t even remember some of them, but I would go again in a heartbeat, laughing is also AMAZING for your wellbeing, didyaknow?

3. Super mild sunscreen for the face in the form of QV Moisturising Day Cream with SPF 30+.

I’m having a bit of a love affair with this guy, after being told off by my beauty therapist for not wearing sunscreen on my face each day. My skin is a bit sensitive and prone to breaking out, so I needed something mild, non-clogging but effective, I also didn’t want that whole white-mask business that some sunscreens try and get away with.

This stuff RULZ! It has almost no smell, is non-greasy, non-sticky, is a great base for make up and ticks all of the above boxes as well. Best of all it is only $15.99 from pharmacies/Priceline!!! It has moved swiftly up the ranks to must have product in my bathroom.

4. Retreat for one at Bodhi J Day Spa.

Last Monday I treated myself to a spa day. It was fantastic. Review to come in the next few days!

5. T2 Spi Chai Tea!

I avoid caffeine where I can (but I do love my choccy!) and as a huge lover of chai tea have been searching for a decaff alternative for a while now. In T2 the other day, I stumbled upon Spi Chai, which is exactly what I’ve been wishing for!

Ingredients: Star anise, cardamon seeds/pods, liquorice root, cinnamon, ginger, jasmine, cloves, rose petals.

It’s a beautiful blend which is soothing & mildly warming, perfect as we’re waving goodbye to Summer (finally). I have mine with Vitasoy soy milk & a squeeze ‘o honey. It doesn’t make the water really dark (coz there’s no actual tea in it unlike regular chai) but the flavour is still strong and delicious. Do try it!

What have you been doing this week to up your wellness quotient?

Be well,

Annette

xoxo