Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA on January 25, 2012
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I love trying new skincare and when the chance to try something that claims to be “Nature’s Botox Alternative” I got a little excited. Since turning the big 30 last year I’ve been more attentive to products with anti-ageing ingredients to keep me looking as young as possible!
The Lapurete range is said to target all signs of ageing including; expression lines, sagging skin, age spots, dryness, eye bags, dark circles, enlarged pores and UVA damage. Whilst I certainly don’t have all these skin concerns I figure prevention is better than a cure!
Okuru plant being harvested
The magic ingredient that Lapurete use is Okuru, a plant grown in Africa that has been used for centuries for it’s nutritional and healing benefits. Lapurete’s research has found that the peptides contained in the seeds can minimise expression lines in a similar way to Botox, without the need for injections!
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The Protective Day Crème that I trialed contains the Okuru plus Sweet Pea and Marine extracts to increase firmness and elasticity of the skin. The crème itself is light and pleasantly fragranced. It seemed to moisturise and hydrate my skin well without making me too oily. I would say it’s suitable for most skin types, except really oily. Whilst I don’t have any major skincare concerns such as fine lines and sagging I did find that after using daily it did seem to brighten my complexion, freshen and smooth my skin. The two bonuses for me were that it contained UVA defense (if you’re outside for long periods I would still wear a broad spectrum sunscreen!) and it had no nasty ingredients such as parabens, sodium lauryl sulfate, and petrochemicals (a super plus for me!).
The full set of Lapurete prodz
Whether it lived up to it’s claim of being “Natures Botox” I’m still not sure yet. Maybe I need to use it a little longer, or fingers crossed it’s because I don’t need botox yet. But I know that I would rather try a topical cream that costs way less than expensive and invasive needles first.
What would you rather do?
Check out the full Okuru range at www.lapurete.com.au and at major pharmacies.
RRP is $59.95.
Review by Hannah L, smoothie-ing her way to good health!
Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA on January 24, 2012
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When Annette first contacted me to tell me about Pure Poppet, a range of play make-up for children, I must admit I nearly jumped for joy.
With two young girls under the age of 8, make-up and face-painting are huge in my house and even though I know there are so many harmful chemicals in most over-the-counter cosmetics there are more times than I’d like to admit that I just give in to the “just let them have fun” …
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My girls’ eyes lit up from the moment they unwrapped the parcel, which I must say arrived in record time, especially considering it was the week of Christmas, the packaging is bright, colourful and everything a little girl could want for.
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Obviously they wanted to play around with it straight away and I needed little convincing, so armed with their make-up kit and a room full of dress ups they went to work on turning themselves into beautiful princesses.
The colours included in the kit were 5 little pots of powdered colour, purple, pink, blue, green and yellow – all bright and shimmery, application sponges, 2 lip balms and a floral water spray.
Being mineral make-up the powder was slightly messier than the traditional block make-up but nothing a dustpan and a broom couldn’t take care of.
The best thing about it (from a mum’s point of view) was how easy it was to remove that night, warm water and a facecloth and it was taken care of in less than a minute.
My only regret is that I forgot to take photos of the little princesses.
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A week later we decided it was time for the face-painting test. As seasoned face-paintees I was slightly apprehensive that my skills would be mocked, or at the very least elicit looks of disappointment, so I spent the first five minutes explaining to my darling daughters that mummy is NOT a professional face-painter and it’s NOT going to look the way it does when they have their faces done by the proper face-painters. I was also very clear that only simple designs would be accepted.
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Thankfully my 8 year old requested suns and a flower and my four year old a caterpillar on one cheek and the butterfly it turns into on the other.
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With a little bit of water mixed with the powder the face-painting was much easier than I expected and smiles were experienced by all, my husband even asked if I was expanding into a new line of work!
It did wear off a little quicker than traditional face-paint, which in my opinion is actually a good thing. And again, the best part to me was the ease of removal.
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I also really like that the emphasis is on play and fun, rather than needing make-up to be pretty.
Price: The cost for the kit is $39.95 plus postage, which is great as these pots will last for ages. Available from the Pure Poppet website.
I’d love to know how you feel about the chemicals in your child’s play make-up, is it a big concern to you? Or do you think it’s not that big a deal?
Review by Chizelle S Salter, Mother of 3 beautiful girls, Writer and Hostess of Chizelle TV
Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA on January 23, 2012
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For someone who runs a website like this one, I really am quite abysmal at getting my hair cut and maintained to a pleasing standard. Massages, exercise classes, buying my lunch and restaurant dinners seem to drain the majority of my “extra money”, while my hair gets left being swooped up in a simple high pony tail day after day, only occasionally being privy to a hair straightener.
This year, I’m determined to make an extra effort to have “babe hair” more often than not, so with that in mind I headed down to Element Aveda Concept Salon in Subiaco for a cut, colour, blowdry & style AKA a complete overhaul. I had a 60’s themed night out planned too, so I was especially excited to have my hair styled.
When I phoned up to book the appointment I was a bit nervous, as I always am with hairdressers, but the guy who answered the phone was great and managed to book me in with Bree, the Creative Director for my whole sesh. Note to the uninitiated: seeing the Creative Director usually costs a bit of extra moolah, luckily for me it was worth it in this case!
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With my long scraggly mop in tow, I was greeted with cups of Aveda tea (so yummy once you get used to the unique taste!), hand massages and the signature “blue oil massage”. Bree and I decided to go with a chestnut colour, which has the gentlest of red tints to it, similar to my own hair colour but just a bit more oomph. Love the colour, but next time I think I will be a little more daring!
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For the cut, I wanted quite a bit off, but still a longish side fringe and the ability to make it a lil wavy. Check, check, check. Bree delivered all this and more and was fun to talk to. I ended up with an Alexa Chung-esque long bob with waves which I digged, and she even gave me a mini lesson on how to create GHD waves on my own… which I’ll try soon!
The whole experience was about 2 & 1/2 hours, and everyone was super friendly, I was kept hydrated and…THERE WAS A PUG IN THE SALON!
This certainly was a plus for me as I am wild about pups.
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I purchased the Aveda Brilliant Hair Spray ($39.95) which makes hair super shiny, gives a medium hold & contains black tea, certified organic chamomile, aloe and more! I found it kept my waves in well throughout a night of 60’s dancing!
So without further words…
Tah dah. New hair.
The total cost for my wash, cut, colour, blowdry/style & Brilliant Shine Hairspray was $265.
Posted by Annette @ Wellness WA on January 19, 2012
♥ YUM!
At age 19, I can honestly say I’ve started to find balance in what I eat. I never weigh myself or count calories, but focus on eating fresh, wholesome food. I love going to Farmers Markets and buying produce that’s in season, and creating simple and delicious recipes. Lately, I love recipes which taste indulgent but are really super healthy and packed full of nutrients. These Superfood Raw Fudge Balls are a perfect example.
Why not take these bite sized delights to your next party to share, or wrap up & give as a gift 🙂
Recipe:
Ingredients–
♥ 1 cup dates (medjool work best)
♥ 1 cup walnuts
♥ 1/2 cup shredded or desiccated coconut, plus extra
♥ 1/4 cup raw cacao
♥ handful of goji berries (use dried cranberries for a cheaper alternative)
♥ handful of chia seeds
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Method–
1. Blend all ingredients together
2. Form into balls. If they fall apart, simply add more blended dates to the mixture
3. Roll in shredded/desiccated coconut
Ta-daaa!
This recipe can be altered according to taste or what you already have. Feel free to swap the walnuts for almonds or the dates for prunes. I decided to wrap about 10 of these for my ballet teacher the other day. Here’s how to wrap them up…
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Simply take 1 sheet of baking paper and 1 sheet of cellophane, as well as a longish piece of string
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Place about 10 fudge balls in the centre
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Wrap the baking paper around the fudge balls first, then the cellophane. Tie the string around to secure.
Gift complete! How easy was that? Does this look like something you’d like to make/scoff down?
Recipe by Hannah, a full-time nutrition student and blogger at Dear Asparagus!
“If someone doesn’t comment within two weeks on how great you’re looking – then you’re cheating.” – Dr Joshi.
I picked this up randomly when a lovely little bookstore near me was having a 50% off closing down sale. Never one to say no to the possibility of a bargain, I dashed in and came across Dr Joshi’s book which I’d been intrigued by previously but never bought.
While I don’t need to be slimmer, healthier I can always go for. Basically Dr Joshi draws on Ayurvedic wisdom, as well as the principles of alkaline eating to help you feel your best. You will go without a few much loved things for 21 days, incorporating plenty of fresh fruit and veggies (some are out though), gluten-free products, herbal teas, supplements and other good-for-you treats. It’s a really well designed program and leads you through everything with LOADS of information and reviews/testimonials from many of his well known clients, including Gwyneth Paltrow.
The only thing that is personally detrimental is that the majority of recipes call for chicken stock (even the veggie ones), so as a vegetarian it would be hard to follow the supplied detox menu. That said there ARE options, and I’m sure you could use veggie stock, but there’s a lotta chicken in this book – organic, free-range naturally! Which reminds me of THIS wonderful Youtube…
Despite the chicken qualms, I’d totally recommend this book if you’re game for a detox, but want to know all the little details behind how/what/where/why, in an accessible and interesting format. I really enjoyed it, go Joshi! Available on Amazon for about $21 USD.
Have you ever tried a detox or wanted to? If so let us know your experience / reason for wanting to try!
Posted in Alternative Therapy, Products, Reviews | 
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