Care for some venom?

If you asked me to make a list of things I would never consider putting on my face, snake venom would feature in the top ten. Probably top five.

I have no interest in doing such a thing even if you told me it was going to instantly lift my face and plump fine lines and wrinkles. So the real stuff is o-u-t, but what if it was Syn-ake, a synthetic ‘venom’ that mimics the effects of the Temple Viper’s potent venom? …Yeah I’m still not that interested. It all sounds a little…full on. Therefore I guess it’s fitting that the people behind this fake venom, the crew over at Rodial, have decided that the question they want you and I to answer is:

(Like snake venom far?)

I mean it’s all a bit extreme isn’t it? Going in to review the Rodial products (Rodial Glamoxy Snake Serum, Rodial Glamtox Night and Rodial Glamtox Active Daily Moisturizer) I was thinking a lot about how anti ageing products are all around us, constantly getting in our faces, telling us to look harder at those faces and suggesting maybe its time to start thinking about anti ageing at a point in your 20s where you shouldn’t really be giving a care. BUT social issues aside, maybe it can help to start using a product with anti ageing qualities as a preventative measure, IF you want to.

So back to Rodial.

I didn’t want this to work. I didn’t want to like it. I wanted to write it off as some crack pot way (I mean snake venom REALLY?) to get money off of people…but. Well. It’s like this. We got along really well. And I think it’s really great. Fake venom and all. I actually think this works. I would like to point out though- this did not instantly, miraculous freeze my face in a way that meant I couldn’t move it, it didn’t give me an instant face lift and it didn’t do anything that sounds like it is breaking the boundaries of science. But what it did do, moisturizing, fading fine lines and imperfections and best of all beginning to even out my skin tone was enough to have me hooked. Absolutely hooked. I also give massive, massive thumbs up to a company that puts an SPF in their daily moisturizer (that sun guy is the one that’s going to prematurely age you) and puts antioxidant protection in their products.

In short the Glamtox Night (above) has a really nice thick, but not oily, texture and is designed to work on re-surfacing your skin (again working on hyper pigmentation) and even in the short amount of time I used it I could see this beginning to already happen. It also is meant to reduce the size of your pores, maybe with extended use I would’ve seen that, but I didn’t over the 2 weeks I used it.

The Snake Serum is probably intended for someone who wants a more concentrated product to work on deep-set wrinkles, but I really liked the way that it made my skin feel. Kind of soft but very firm at the same time. It’s a really difficult feeling to try and describe (must be that venom huh?) And the feeling is addictive. The downer on this one is the price tag. The only way I think I will be able to add this to my daily routine is if Santa delivers it to me.

My favourite though was the Glamtox Active Daily Moisturizer. Holy Groceries this was good. The SPF! The non-greasy texture! The ability it had to make my skin feel hydrated all day! The fading of fine lines! I’ve always been pretty skeptical about anti ageing products on the basis that they just seemed to go against common sense but if you cut through all the snake venom/freeze your face/miracle cream/turn back the hands of time hype surrounding this you will hopefully see the Rodial products for what they really are, well made, nicely packaged, of a very high quality and certainly helping you and your skin out to look as healthy and youthful as it can possibly be.

Also, I guess with the venom being synthetic that means no snakes were harmed in the making of these products, so that’s good to know too.

Buy it online from Australia’s number one online beauty retailer, Adore Beauty!

Adriane Daff, faux snake venom convert.

Be well,

xoxo

I, Annette, take you, Potential Beauty Therapist, to be my expert waxer, my vigilant tweezer, my faithful non-burning friend and my go-to girl for beautiful, pain free eyebrows from this day forward.

In the presence of the God of waxing, this treatment room and the products that surround us, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful client, in monobrows and in perfectly tweezed arches, in good economic times and in bad, and in joy as well as in the sorrow of not getting my preferred treatment time.

I promise to come to you unconditionally, to support you in your goals to be the salon manager, to honor and respect your need to ask what I’m doing this weekend, to laugh with you when you tell me about that boring thing your boyfriend did and cry with you when he runs off with your distant relative, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall understand that hot wax applied more than one time to any facial area will almost certainly result in a burn.

You may now wax my brows.

*** For relevance, I had a burny, ouchy eyebrow waxing experience today. Sub-optimal, so I created this vow in the hopes that the waxing God’s smile upon me next time.

Amen.

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

This glorious sunny Saturday just past marked the first of hopefully many Cruelty Free Festivals’ held at the Earthwise centre in Subiaco.

As you can see from the photo above, vegan cakes & sweets were out in full force, as were helpful advocates giving out informative flyers & pamphlets about cruelty free living.

The main focus though was the food, proving what most already knew – it is possible to eat delicious food without the use of animal products.

Lunch in the form of mock meats, vegetable curries, spring rolls and rice dishes (I also spied mango flavoured sweets just out of this picture!)

Peach muffins & custard fruit tarts (these were both GREAT!), chocolate + green tea cheesecake, melting moments plus a couple other things I wasn’t sure of… keep in mind there are no animal products in any of these, which is pretty amazing / awesome!

Here’s a photo of the wood-fired pizza magic happening, I didn’t get a chance to test these out but there were some winning combinations happening and I’m kicking myself for filling up on chocolate cupcakes before I saw this.

There were many wares to be found including heaps of books, stickers, shoes, tees & hoodies, vegan dog treats (!!!), snacks and so much more.

One well known healthy living company that made the trip up from down South was Samudra.

Here are some of the goodies that they had on display:

As you can see, these snacks look great and they are all amazingly good for you! Aside from selling these treats, Samudra also run yoga and surfing getaways in Dunsborough, well worth a look.

The bands playing kept the spirit lively outside and if you ventured into the back corner there were vegan cooking demonstrations being held inside if you could tear yourself away from the cakes for long enough.

All in all it was a lovely way to spend an afternoon, a fantastic new event and one I will be wholeheartedly supporting next year!

Many thanks to Animal Rights Advocates for organising it!

Did you go to the Cruelty Free Festival?

Ever tried a vegan cupcake?

Be well,

xoxo

♥

Healthy Living Blogs is a new resource for the health blogging community. HLB is a site designed to enhance the positive community of the healthy living blog world. Bloggers and readers can explore the site and find more blogs to love, bloggers in their area, and forums to deepen healthy discussion and support. If you’re interested in having your site listed on HLB, simply send the following information to healthylivingblogs@gmail.com and
check the site out for yourself!

Email subject line: MEMBERS
Your name (please share if you prefer to go by first name, first and last, or however you prefer to be known on the Internet)
Blog Name
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This is such a neat idea. If you’re looking for more wellness / health related blogs to get stuck into then have a squiz!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo

It’s been two weeks since we ran the Al’chemy Competition and it’s time to announce the wonderful winners…!

Now you see, there is only one main prize (a bumper hair care pack worth $90), but two of the answers thrilled me so much that I will be giving away a tube of the Alchemy Gingko and Jojoba Intensive Moisture Vitamin Masque to the lucky runner up!

Drum roll please…

Winner!

Mia, aka starletskye, for her adorable recount of stealing dollops of shampoo & condish from Mum and this amazing set of words…

“Waking up every morning to the sight of those familiar black tubes and bottles with the endearing little botanical pictures and then squeezing a portion into my hand, to then massage through my depressed locks, my shower stall steaming up and filling my senses with the beautiful out-of this world scents…!!! That is heaven to me!
This prize would make my hair happy for that reason and If my hair had the ability to smile it would be walking around all day with a 10,000 mega watt smile, bursting with happiness.”

Just wow Mia! Please e-mail me your postal details and we’ll get your shower heaven started ASAP!

Runner Up!

Ghabby, for her ‘Unfinished Fairytale’ poem! Seriously check it out, the last comment here, very creative! Please e-mail me your contact details and I’ll send out the Masque to get your hair all fixed from Prince Charming and his wayward hair climbing maneuvers!

Thank you so much for entering everyone! It was a real joy to read them all.

We’ve got a new comp coming up next week to stay tuned!

Be well,

Annette

xoxo