Missha- check out this Korean cosmetic brand!

I went on holiday to Hong Kong for 2 weeks and of course I did lots of shopping. This time I made sure, I did  something useful when I was out there. I applied for a basic level make-up course with Missha ( a popular Korean comestic brand). I had to take a test in order to get a certificate! I can't show you the certificate yet because they spelt my name wrong so I have to wait for a new one. I hope my mum won't forget to pick it up or crease it!

After this make-up course, I decided I wanted to buy my very first full make-up collection with those make-up brushes! Yes, I'm a newbie! :) I've always wanted a set of brushes and a big collection of make-up in those cosmetic box because it feels so professional and cool. lol

I bought almost everything we used in class from Missha; Primer, BB Cream (a type of liquid foundation), loose powder, pencil eyeliner, liquid eyeliner, eye shadow base pen, foundation brush, eye shadow brush and loose powder brush. (It's not a full make-up set but I wanted to buy other stuff from other brands)

Image Above: This is a BB Boomer which is a Primer (acts as a foundation base). It's very light, feels like lotion when you're applying it on. It says it boost the adherence and duration of BB cream ( a type of liquid foundation) and makes your skin look brighter when applied before the BB Cream. When you put this on, you can see it makes your skin glow instantly.

I bought two different tones of BB Cream; one is a natural yellow beige (left) and the other is a golden beige(right). Both has the effect of UV blocking, one with SPF 25 and the other SPF 42.

I tried the golden beige to see if it would give me a tanned look. It did, it didn't make me look orange or fake, it looked very natural. As for the natural yellow beige, it just made my skin look flawless.

When you first apply BB Cream to your skin, it will look a shade darker but it will gradually blend into your natural skin colour and evens out your skin tone. You don't need to apply lots, a thin layer is enough. It also has a concealer effect, so there's no need to put concealer on after unless you really need to.

Some of you may not know what BB Cream is. It is a type of liquid foundation from Korea. It is very popular around Asia. It has a multi-function of high UV blocking effect, whitening and wrinkle care.

For those who like to be tanned may avoid high SPF however you need to know  there's a hole in the ozone layer and so UV rays are lot stronger giving us skin cancer,dark spots, skin ageing quicker. High SPF means you will be protected from getting those or at least reducing them.

This loose powder also has UV blocking effect with SPF 15. It is very light and makes your skin look flawless and smooth. This is a natural beige colour. I tried to use it on top of the Golden beige BB Cream to see if it would lighten the tan look. No, it didn't! It made my look even better, flawless and smooth. Just like those airbrush effect.

Shining stick eye, this extends the duration of the eye shadow and gives your eye make up a more 3D effect.

Black and brown water-proof eye liner. They are really good and lasts very long and very easy to apply on.

This liquid eyeliner is like a felt tip pen so makes it easier to apply on to your eye, very easy to control and it dries quick! If you're a beginner with liquid eyeliner like myself, this is the one for you. However, practice is still needed.

Safe Block- this is to be applied after you've applied lotion/moisturizer.

Like it says on the package, its a sun block cream for the face with SPF 50. Obviously, this is more suitable for when you're in hot countries (ideally you should be wearing sun block with SPF 30 in the UK).*Edit* Some may think its wierd that I said SPF 30 in UK because we don't get sun a lot. But UV rays are not visible remember lol. They are getting stronger now. Some celebrities are wearing moisturiser with SPF 30 you see!

The sun block cream is waterproof so it is ideal for when your doing sports. Get yourself protected! Not just ladies, but guys too. So tell your dad, partner, brother, friend, etc.

This eye gel mask, is quite good. I would rate it 4 out 5. Apparently, it is supposed to get rid of your dark circles IF you do it everyday. I haven't done it everyday because I've only got one pack and you can't get this product here. So, I'm not sure if it does but I can say it does make your bags less visible and gets rid of puffiness underneath the eye. Its affordable, $230 for 15 eye masks which is approx. £21.

I didn't buy alot from Missha because I was trying to save money for the rest of my holiday lol. Anyways, stayed tuned for more goodies stuff about my holiday in Hong Kong.

Part 5: Get those sexy fine legs and bootay!

Hey guys, previous blog was on upper body workout, this blog is obviously on your lower body. Enjoy!

Get those fine toned legs!

We all know squats and lunges are a must for our legs and bum.

Squat- 15-20 reps

• Stand shoulder width apart
• Slowly squat down as if you're sitting down on an invisible chair
• Hold for a few seconds and go back to starting position 

Lunges- 20 rep

• Put one leg slightly in front of you and the other leg behind you.
• In this position slowly bend your back leg and go down towards the floor with knee almost touching the floor.
• Your front leg should be bent but do allow the knee to go further than your toes, keep it bent in a 90 angle.
• Slowly come back up and repeat.
• Swap legs and do the same thing.

If you find it easy you can hold some weights in your hands.

Tone your legs with weights
Leg curl machine- you find this in most gym where you sit down and place your leg out straight on a bar in front of you and push it down with your leg and then release it back up- see below.


  

Image from keywesttanningandfitness.com

Leg extension machine where you do the opposite, you place your legs behind the bar and push the bar up with your legs. see below 

Image from squidoo.com

Start off with light weights, I usually do 10kg- high reps (35-40 reps)
2nd set move to a little more heavier- 15 kg or 20 kg (25 reps)
3rd set heavy weight, I usually do 30kg -something that you can manage (15 reps)

The weights obviously depends on your own ability, if you have weak legs or a beginner start off with very light weights and just work your way up.

Other exercises that will give you those sexy toned legs are running, cycling and cross trainer.  

To get lean and long looking muscles on your leg, stretching them often will be good. Therefore, exercises like yoga and pilates will be a good idea.

Get a J-Lo bum... or is it a Kim Kardashian bum that people want now, because I do. Lol!

Running, cross trainer, stepping machine, squats and lunges are great for toning and lifting your bum.
  

Weight exercises

Most gym would have the hip abductor. You sit down and you will have to push out with your legs. Not only will it work your bum muscles but also your outer thigh muscles. So tones both parts.

Image from health-act.net

Leg Press machine- This is one of my favourites!
It works both your leg and butt.

Image from homegymcentral.com

Butt Bridge

• Sit in front of a bench (I don’t have a bench at home so I usually use my bed), lean your back against it.
• Bend your knees slightly so your feet are flat on the floor.
• Lean back so your head and neck are touching the bed/bench. Lift your mid-section and butt upward until your body forms an arch/bridge. Keep your feet below your butt.
• Squeeze your butt as hard as you can for 5 seconds and release it.
• Slowly place your butt down to the ground and lift your stomach up again and squeeze.

Repeat 15 times.

Bulgarian split- will lift and tone your butt.

Image from yourpartnerforchange.com

• You will need a chair or bench. Stand in front of it but with your back to it.
• Place the front of your foot on the bench/chair. It’s a bit like doing the lunges but your back leg is lifted up.
• Bend your front leg but do not let your knee go past your toes, so make sure when bending your front leg, its 90 degrees. The back leg, the knee should be almost touching the floor but not touching. You should feel one side of your butt squeezing.
• Do about 10-15 rep and swap legs. After a while if you find it too easy, you can make it harder by holding weights in your hands while you’re doing it.

So that's it! Of course there are a lot more workout for each body parts, and depends on which ones you prefer and works best for you. 

Part 4: Upper body workout!

Sorry guys, was meant to post this earlier but I have been on holiday and was too lazy to write a new blog when I got back. But like I said in my previous blog, this one is about the workout for women. I’ll probably do a blog on men’s workout next time; I’ll get my boyfriend to help me with that. I'll blog about lower body workout  next time.

To get rid of fat/ lose weight, cardio is the best full body workout. So you will need to hit the treadmill, cross-trainer and cycling. To get your body in shape quicker, you need to involve some weight in your workout. Ladies, I know some of you may be thinking that you will get bulky arms and body if you touch the weights. That’s what I used to think until my boyfriend told me that it won’t happen unless I start lifting really heavy weights and eat lots. Since then I’ve been using weights for most parts of my body and has helped me get into a better shape and quicker. So it's light weights remember!

Arms- To get some nice sculpt arms you need to be working both triceps and biceps but we girls tend to concentrate more on our triceps -bingo wings!

Rowing machine is good for the arms and when you use the cross-trainer move it with your arms.

To get rid of BINGO WINGS or just to tighten your triceps, weights are really good.

 Method 1.

• Hold one dumbbell (if you don't have dumbbells use a filled bottle of water and higher reps) in one arm (if you have weak arms start off with 2kg)
• Lay down on a bench or somewhere flat and firm.
• Lift the arm that is holding the dumbbell up straight from your body and the other hand laying across your body underneath your other arm.
• Keeping your elbow up and arm straight, move the dumbbell down across to your shoulder (so you’re moving your forearm down)
• Lift it back up straight and repeat for 15 times and swap arms.

 I would say do 2 sets of 15 on each arm.

 Method 2.

• Hold a dumbbell in one hand and place it behind your back- so your elbow should be facing upwards.
• Lift the dumbbell in the direction towards the sky slowly and slowly back down to your back.
• Repeat 15 times and switch hands. Do 2 sets of 15 on each arm.

Chair push up (something that you can do at home)

• Place both arms on the side of the seat, so you’re pressing down on the chair.
• Keep back and legs straight, so it’s like a straight line (Plank). 
• Slowly press down and then back up. 15-20 reps

Pull ups and dips are great too!

Waist
Running machine or cross trainer will help you lose fat around your waist.

Tone your waist with weights

• Take one dumbbell in one hand and put the other hand behind your back.
• Stand shoulder width apart.  
• Lean to the side where the dumbbell is, the dumbbell should go as far down as your knee 
• Lean back up and lean to the other side but not as low.
• Do 15 rep and swap the dumbbell to the other hand. I usually do 3 sets.

You should feel pains when you first do it, so don’t go too far down the first time as you may not be that flexible around your waist. You would also feel pains the following day, its ok it means its toning up, just stretch the muscle around your waist.

Another way is doing the side sit ups or whatever they're called.

• Lie on your side with your legs curled up but face your upper body upwards.
• Move your upper body body like your doing the sit ups.
• Do 30 reps and lie on your other side to work the other side of your waist

Stomach

We all know crunches and sit ups will give you that tone stomach but make sure you lose those fat in your belly before trying to those killer abs otherwise your stomach will look even if its toned. Cardio like running and spinning is a good for your stomach.

The hula hoop! That works your waist and stomach, tones them both really well. When I was 13/14, I used to do the hula hoop and my waist was hard, stomach was hard! Lol. Maybe that didn’t sound too nice, they were really toned basically! But I stopped doing it when I got to 16 because my mum threw it away, maybe I should get a new one thinking about it now.

That's it for now, next blog on lower body workout will be out very soon. I won't be long it.

Part 3: Should you eat this or not?

This blog entry will be about what to eat and what you should avoid if you’re on a diet. Most people usually reduce the size of their meal, or skip meals. Ok, if you've read my previous blog, I mentioned that skipping meals or starving yourself is a no no! Anyways, I won't go over it again. 

First, you should know that we gain weight because we are consuming more calories than we burn. In other words, the excess energy from food is stored as fat. Therefore, this means we need to burn more than what we eat in order to lose weight and do an intensive workout. We also need the three macro-nutrients; carbohydrates, proteins and fat.

Carbohydrates

Having too much carbohydrate will make you gain weight, so many nutritionists and fitness trainer advice to cut down on carbs. But do not take it the wrong way and have very little amount of it or even totally cut out carbs- actually that’s impossible because everything has carbs in it but just in different portions.  Why? Well, have you heard of the Atkin diet? It’s a low carbohydrate diet. I don’t know too much about it but have read a few things about it and in my opinion that one is not very realistic. I would say it only works if you’re an extremely lazy person, that doesn’t exercise or move around a lot. I say this because carbs is a source of fuel for our body, and if you do some intensive workout or move a lot, you won’t have the energy to do so. No carbs no energy.

Have the following:

Replace white bread (refined) with wholemeal bread

Replace white rice (refined) with  brown rice/ wild rice

Replace refined pasta with wheat ones, you find them brownish.  

Basically, change everything to whole grain if you can.

Proteins

Protein will help your body burn fat, it helps repair damaged cells and build new cells.

When you do an intensive workout, you are actually damaging cells in your muscle. Ok, it may sound bad BUT it’s not as bad as it sounds. PROTEIN comes to the rescue! Protein repairs damaged cell and build new cells, so if you have more protein the quicker the cells will be repaired which means you’ll get toned quicker! Oh! Don’t be thinking ‘I’m not going to be doing hardcore exercise because I don’t want to be damaging my cells’. That’s a mistake because you’re damaging your cells every day from your daily routines; lifting shopping bags, running for bus, basically anything that requires more force and muscles (that’s almost everything). So up your proteins!

Have the following:

Have lean chicken and turkey breast- avoid red meat and processed meat e.g. sausages.( I love my hotdogs and bangers & Mash! A little won’t hurt sometimes. lol!!)

Have 2 eggs in the morning as part of the breakfast (If you have high cholesterol, avoid the yolk and just have the egg white. People aged 30+ should really avoid or cut down egg yolks)

Have whole grain products, fish, nuts, soy foods like tofu, vegetables and fruits.

By the way, do be careful with some food product. It says it’s has high protein but has HIGH saturated fat!

Fat

There are 2 types of fat; one is yucky fat(saturated) from those greasy chicken and chips and another is essential fats like Omega-3 from fish. 

Protects and supports your organs (good for the heart- prevent heart disease), keeps you warm and it is also important for the cell structure.  Fat and carbs together conserves protein.

Have the following:

Fish- Salmon and Mackerel are high Omega-3, if you don’t like fish take fish oil pills.

Nuts, avocado. 

What else?

Have more fibre, that's more vegetables and fruits. Helps wash your body system, get rid of waste.

Porridge/ oatmeal, weetabix and muesli are high in fibre and protein. Great for breakfast, also helps lower cholesterol. I remember my mum's friend (she's a beautician) said that porridge is good for your skin because porridge washes your body system which goes back to what I just mentioned. That means you look better when you eat healthy!

I better stop here, wrote another long blog lol. Next blog the WORKOUT!

Part 2: Many think starving is an express way of losing weight

Please note that the information in this blog are from reading numerous fitness magazines and other fitness sources and taught by fitness instructors. The diet and fitness methods that I mention work really well for me. Therefore, please do not feel offended if your knowledge varies or contradict my knowledge since many nutritionist and fitness instructors give different diet advise.


When you put on weight is because you eat too much and so many think by skipping meals (starving themselves) will help and speed up the process of losing weight.
I've got a friend that used to starve himself (don't know if he still do) until it was time for his dinner, and sometimes he would skip that too! He said he lost weight very quick that way. I thought he was crazy to have done that because I could never do that as I love food too much.

Yes it does work, but it is not healthy at all! It can cause some serious damage to your health and even permanent ones! Side effects include head ache, weakness, women having irregular period, damages to your muscles in your heart area (cardiac muscles) and brain. There may be only two organs that is affected (i'm sure other organs are affected) but the brain and the heart are major parts of our body and of course without them we won't be alive. Also, we all know it could lead to anorexic if you starve yourself for too long.  

Let me explain how starving causes damage to your health.

In my previous blog, I mentioned that skipping breakfast will affect your activity during the day. Not even that if you skip all other meals you would be even more tired because you have not absorbed any energy into your body. The body gets tired because our body have switched the metabolism down to save the remaining energy in order to survive. Due to lack of energy, our body will transform the sugar that is stored in our body into glucose to use as extra energy. Once that is used up, our body will move on to the protein in our muscles for survival (Hence, why you see those anorexics being extremely skinny and bony); using the protein to support out breathing, heart pumping and other basic activities. If our brain lacks sugar for a long period of time, it would cause permanent damages to the cerebrum- the larger and upper part of the brain. If you try to eat normal again to repair those damages to the brain, it won't help much because those damages are PERMANENT. So it's best NOT to starve yourself in the first place.

How can you loose weight without skipping meals?

In my previous blog, I said that it's not good to have a massive meal after starving yourself. In general you should eat until you're content NOT until you're full. Also, don't wait till your hungry to eat, you should try to have a set time for each meal.

So if you're on a diet, still have breakfast, lunch and dinner. But reduce the size of the meals. Also, split 3 meals into 5-6 SMALL meals a day, I know it doesn't sound like a diet plan sounds more like the opposite. But I did say SMALL meals. If you eat more often, your body won't feel hungry and so you won't have the urge to have a massive meal. See the example below:

9am Breakfast: Porridge* with a banana./ weetabix with tbs of honey (they really fill you up and are high in fibre)
11am Snack**: apple, banana, glass of water- the water will fill you up. ( a tip from my boyfriend)
12pm Lunch: Nando's (1/4 chicken with salad)
2-3pm Snack: a sandwich (wholemeal bread)
6pm Dinner: Something high in protein and fibre e.g. fish, vegetables.
8pm Snack: If you do get hungry have fruits and water.

The food are just suggestions but your meal schedule should be similar to that. Eat every 3 hours to stop yourself from being hungry.
Some nutritionist say that you shouldn't in between your 3 meals because you should give your body time to digest the food, burn the fat etc. To be honest, both method works but if you're the kind of person that gets hungry quick then its best to do the one I mentioned. I get hungry very often so I got to eat all the time lol!

* Recently, I've been making my own smoothie/cold porridge. I blend some oat (about half a cup), a banana, 5 strawberries, a little bit of milk (about half a glass), 3-4 tbs of natural yoghurt and 1 tbs of honey together. All that makes 2.5 cups of smoothie. I have all of it as breakfast and it really fills me up. If you want to do this, at first you would get hungry like in 30 mins but just ignore it because your body is probably used to taking solid food rather than liquid food. If you heat the mixture may last you longer because the mixture is thicker. I'm used to it now and it lasts me a good while unless I go gym.

** I love snacking on nuts sometimes. Almond, peanut, pistachio (they also contain healthy fat that you need for your body)

That's it for now, I've spoken about the schedule of your meals. So in my next blog I will talk about what you should eat and what you should avoid eating when you're on a diet.

Part 1: If you want to diet then EAT YOUR BREAKFAST!

This blog and next few blogs will be about dieting/fitness; which is something everyone is doing now for the summer.

Many people think by loosing weight you have to skip meal and many choose to skip breakfast. That is a no no no no! It really annoys me when someone skips breakfast or any meal especially when they say they are on a diet (for those who know me may say 'not everyone loves or think about food like you do' lol) Many don't know the importance of breakfast whether you're dieting or not.

Let's just talk about in general of not having breakfast.

Nutritionist say that our concentration and energy for the day all depends on the BREAKFAST! A third of the energy is produced from the BREAKFAST. For those who don't usually eat breakfast their sugar level will be low and therefore their performance at work and awareness/concentration during the day is not very good. A good balance of sugar level will make you feel charged up.

Also think about that you've been sleeping a whole night and so all those hours you basically starved yourself. This means your metabolism has slowed down and so if you don't eat the next morning to charge your metabolism back to full it will of course stay functioning slow.And so when it comes to lunch, your metabolism cannot catch up with the food your consuming (in other words not being able to burn the food quick enough), it will allow the fat to be formed in your body.

Moving on to how you will gain weight if you skip breakfast. When you don't eat in the morning you would become really hungry later on in the day, right? And so you will want to have BIG meal to feel satisfied. If you're at work, before going on lunch break you will probably be snacking on biscuits, chocolates, etc. All those are high in calories, therefore your weight will increase.

Back to the big meal. Since you starved yourself since breakfast (actually since the last meal you had before going bed), your body will absorb as much as it can from the food because it doesn't know when it will be starve again. Its like your body is making sure it has enough stock for later on when your hungry because you may not eat. It sounds like its a good thing that the body is doing that but read on.

All those sugar your body has consumed from that massive meal will stay in your blood. Your body needs a certain amount of sugar but when it stays in your blood it is treated as excess and so your body will transform it into fat. Gradually, you will gain weight and become fat!

Ok, some of you may know some people who don't eat breakfast but are still skinny. I know people who are like that too, I guess they are just naturally skinny lol. But just know its not good for the health anyway, like I said earlier the concentration and energy level are not as good compared to someone who does have breakfast.

So, if you want to go on a diet. Make sure if you have a good break fast! Its ok to have a big breakfast but not too much calories. Also when I say have breakfast, its not just having a toast but more than that. An ideal diet breakfast would be a meal high in fibre. Porridge and weetabix are my favourite! And add a fruit with your breakfast.

That's it for now, my next blog will be about your eating patterns!

How to wear your stilettos comfortably?

Stilettos are girls' best friend, us girls would spend lots and lots of money on a pair of stilettos and probably have a wardrobe of them. It looks sexy but it hurts our toes and feet by the end of the day right? A lot of the times you would see girls holding their stilettos in their hands and walking bare footed after coming out of the club. Sometimes you get heels that are suppose to be your size but somehow its loose at the back, annoying!  So what are the solutions to all those stilettos problems?

I was watching a video where Tyra Banks was giving tips on how to wear those stilettos comfortably and wanted to share it with you girls.

1. Get stilettos with PLATFORMS!

Pic from Office.co.uk

I knew about this one already, I think most people do too. Basically you should get a pair with at least 1" platform. Like the one on the left. If you saw a pair of stilettos that were 5" and it had 1.5" of platform that means the heel is only 3.5".  So meaning you are only walking in a 3.5" stiletto, sounds better right? For extra comfort you could put those cushion for the ball of foot but it wouldn't look very nice if it was a pair of sandals.

2. Scratch the bottom of your shoes.

Sometimes when you buy a new pair of stilettos is always slippery because the bottom of the shoe is smooth it doesn't have those lines for grip. But you have to wear them out to get grip on the bottom and when you first wear them you would walk funny because you're trying not to slip right? Get a pair of scissors, keeping them closed and scratch the bottom of those shoes.

3. Put hairspray inside your shoes

Your stilettos is slippery inside or a little too big for you so you go buy those gel cushion and those heel shields to stop your foot from losing the shoe or slipping. (The most embarassing thing is when your shoes slips off  and you buckle while you walk in a busy street!) But sometimes, you're too busy or too lazy to go to the shops just to buy those gel slip-ins for your shoes so another solution is use HAIRSPRAY! (If you don't have that either then maybe you need to make an effort and go to the shops and get them lol.) Spray the inside of your shoes, let it dry and slip your foot in!

4. Practice walking in heels

You love those 5" stilettos but you just can't walk in them what can you do? Start from the bottom and work your way up! If you've never walked in heels before start with 1", just practice and work your way up. Always keep your body and legs straight, it makes your posture look more attractive. If you keep your legs straight, your butt will be moving like a see-saw which is what you want! SEXYYY!!