February Favourites

Better late than never!, is what I always say. With that said, I'm jumping aboard the monthly favourites bandwagon all the beauty bloggers seem to be riding.

My selection is small, but there are the ones that have stood out most for me *cough*didn'thaveenoughroomforotherthings*cough*.

Pompadour Peppermint Tea: A favourite tea of mine no matter what the time of year, but was even more of a treat during the cold winter. Warms me up, and keeps the discomforts of gluten-filled food eating slightly at bay. Unfortunately, tea is on the expensive side here so this cost me a horrifying ¥600!
Burt's Bees Lip Balm with Pomegranate Oil: This lip balm has lived in my right jacket pocket for the last couple of months, and I don't go anywhere without. It smells delicious, tastes sweet, and has helped relieve my poor lips of their chapped pain.
Rausch Moisturizing Body Butter: A gift from my aunty's friend who used to work for Rausch. This body butter smells amazing, clean and refreshing. The scent just reminds me of Greece now because I used it constantly on my poor sunburned body. It's perfect because it deeply nourishes, and absorbs into the skin straight away. Will definitely be doing a review on this.
Bioderma Sensibio H20 Micellar Water: Has been my saviour for those lazy winter nights when I can't be assed waddling over to my sub-zero temperature bathroom to take off my makeup. I can hear the tsk-tsk's from over here...But review is over yonder.
Fake Pearl Stud Earrings in 8mm:  To make myself look (and feel) more classy, I bought myself these stunners from this eBay seller for 2 buck. Sweet as.
Flowerbomb by Viktor&Rolf EDP: One of my favourite all-time perfumes. Bought this LE gorgeous perfume for myself 2 Christmas' ago, and it feels like I'm indulging in something very luxurious whenever I wear it. It's a scent I would describe as heavy, and is perfect for cooler weather. Very sweet, very beautiful, and I think a favourite of many other women.
It's a 10 Miracle Leave-in Product: My hair and I are in constant war with each other, but I feel like my techniques of pacification have been helping me with a peace treaty. I have been using a few other new hair products, but I feel like this has been helping with the split ends and hair breaking off. Unfortunately, have naturally fine and curly hair that's been dyed blonde for the last couple of years, means that I have an array of hair problems.

I have kept it short and sweet my lovelies, but what has been your favourite of the short month of February?

Fitness Friday: BodyRock.tv

So I know I've missed out on my FF the last couple of weeks, but I've been struggling with motivation for working out, and my meals haven't been exciting enough to share with you. But I think I've definitely something that could help alleviate my problem with workout motivation, and I thought I'd share it with you.

I discovered BodyRock a few years ago when I was hitting up YouTube for some at-home fitness inspiration. After watching a couple of videos I was immediately drawn to the concept. Unlike the popular belief that you have to work out for hours on end every day to get the fitness level you want, BodyRock's basis is that through fast, high-intensity workouts, split into intervals (usually a minute, or two, followed by a quick rest interval of 10-20 seconds) is enough to give you your fitness boost for the day. Each workout is only around 10-20 minutes in length, and there are videos targeting different areas of the body, as well as a breakdown of the workout, with varying levels of difficulty offered. I think that the workouts are great, I'm usually dead after a 20 minute one.

They regularly hold 30-day challenges, and I've decided to give the January one a go. The 30-day challenge is where they challenge you to workout from Monday-Friday with their provided workouts for 30 days, measuring your fitness on the first day of the month, and then the last day of the challenge, so you can see how far you've come. I think this is great because people nowadays are drawn to immediate results, and this is a sure fire way to get people interested. Of course, as with anyone wishing to lose weight or tone up, you have to be eating clean as well as exercising. No point working your butt off if you're still eating chips and cookies every day!

The fantastic thing about BodyRock is that it's free! And they're constantly uploading new workouts, plus they have a huge archive of older ones, so there's no chance you'll get bored. The biggest thing to do is to just get started and keep going with it.

What is your favourite type of workout? Have you tried anything from BodyRock? Please tell me I'm not the only one struggling to exercise this winter! 

Bitten by the Love Bug - Valentine's Day

My Bloglovin' has been heavily saturated with Valentine's Day related posts, and I imagine there's quite a few others who are also experiencing the same thing. I'm a big romantic at heart, and as much as I hate how the companies exploit us through commercialisation of Valentine's Day, I refuse to not celebrate a day where love is celebrated.

I imagine the amount of people who are getting proposed to on this day, and the general feeling of love that must be wafting around the whole word on February 14th. Of course, not everyone's going to be feeling the vibe, I'm guilty of having been bitten by the love buy myself, but my beau won't be here on that day to celebrate with me, so I'm going to make do with a date with myself!

So I'm going to do a teeny list of things you can do on your own, and things you can surprise your S.O. with!

Things You Can Totally Do By Yourself on Valentine's Day

1. Treat yourself and your sister/mother/BFF to a fun day together

Show some love to your other loves! I spent one of my Valentine's Days with my sister - we went to the movies, got some yummy snacks, and we watched the crap out of that romantic comedy. Other suggestions: spend the day baking and eating delicious things with your other bitter single friends and watching your favourite movies whilst throwing food at the happy couples whenever they pop up in a movie. If it's a nice day, go somewhere you've been wanting to go for a while, or go shopping!

2. Have a day completely to yourself

I will take any excuse to pamper myself slash justify spending money on that dress/pair of shoes/Chanel perfume you-know-is-out-of-your-budget-right-now. I would actually recommend starting the day off with a good workout. Ensures you're gearing your body up to burn all those lovely treats you'll be eating today. Who loves and knows you the best? You, of course! So acknowledge all that you are, love yourself! Love yourself like you've never been loved before! Buy that Gucci bag and cashmere sweater, and don't regret it.

3. Go to a cafe cafe because...Japan

This is only for those of us who are unfortunate enough not to own our own pet right now, but would dearly love to be able to spend some quality time with one who is available. Cue cat cafe! If it's got too many loved up couples who are getting on your nerves because: a) you're lonely b) they don't know how to handle the cats and c) they're taking up your precious time with cute cats, just throw one at their face and they'll run faster than your mascara when watching The Notebook.

Things You Can Do With Your Loverman/Loverwoman

1. Make dinner for them

But this isn't just your normal, oh look honey, surprise romantic dinner for you where I've strewn rose petals on our dining room table! I think it'd be fun if you agreed on making a different meals of the dinner. One person does the appetizers and main meal, the other person does the dessert and drinks. Don't let each other know what you're intending to make, and see what happens!

2. Take them somewhere beautiful and tell them something beautiful

You don't need to get that 3 carat diamond ring that'll be paid off by the time the dinosaurs rise again (because they will!). The most memorable things in life are ones that you remember because they were something you felt. So if it's something that's spectacularly beautiful, you're going to remember it because you were in awe of its beauty. Taking someone where there's a certain beauty to it, whether it's the beach at night, or on top of a hill with a breath-taking view, to a beautiful cobbled old street with picturesque cafes, or to a park with a beautiful tree, it's not hard finding it if you're looking for it. And to really cement the moment, even if you're not that good with words, something from the heart means so much more than a cute teddy bear (but bring him along too!), or a dozen roses with a box of chocolates (nothing wrong with sweetening a kiss with some choccies!). A beautiful surrounding with something from the heart will definitely imprint this moment in the mind and heart of your loved one.

3. Take them to a Love hotel because...Japan

S&M Hello Kitty ftw! If you're in Japan, might as well experience the awesomeness that is a Love hotel. You know what's going to happen there so I'm not going to walk you through it...but there's a large variety of Love hotels, especially in Tokyo, and you can get all sorts of different themed rooms and well...I imagine it could get a little crazy in them. But something worth experiencing with your S.O., right?

Hope you enjoyed my little guide, I'm feeling quite inspired by all this love talk (must be the bug thing!), so I'm going to whip up a Valentine's Day gift suggestion list too!

Share and care, what's the most romantic/strangest Valentine's Day you've had? What are you planning on doing?

Fitness Friday: Fruit Punch

Following on from the Christmas Detox post, I know how hard it is to eat healthy during the colder days, or to get out and about, we all just want to return our caves beds, snuggle up into our blankets, and hibernate our way into spring.

When you are running low on energy, you're hungry and you just want something that's warm and tasty, the colder days make it all to easy to make comfort food. Or, if you really can't be bothered, ordering takeaways, or eating out. I know I have been guilty of my fair share of butter chickens and Turkish kebab takeaways. And don't get me started on the snacks! And because I think snack food is usually peoples biggest weakness, let's talk a little bit about that.

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The best way to overcome the hibernation syndrome is to make sure that you're eating regularly throughout the day. I know that the supermarkets are lacking in the abundance of tropical fruits, but there are still many fruits readily available that should be your main go-to snack foods.

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Fresh apples, pears, oranges, kiwifruits, grapes, bananas and persimmons, these are the winter fruit that are usually readily available.

So opt out the packet of chips, or mince pie, and toss in a beautiful red skin apple, or a firm green pear in your lunchbox, and instead of that hot chocolate mashed full of marshmallows, buy a box of herbal fruit tea to keep you warm throughout those cold hours.

If you're wanting to get your daily hit of Vitamin C, a couple of kiwifruits pack a good punch. These little brown furries contain almost one-and-a-half times the minimal daily requirement for Vitamin C, so a fruit juice containing these bad boys will do the trick.

Another great snack is muesli bars -- not those that are completely dipped in chocolate with chocolate chips inside, I'm talking about the super grain-y ones that are mixed with nuts and dried fruit (a little dark chocolate on there won't hurt).

So hopefully this will give you a bit more motivation to swap in an extra fruit, or two, every day, and to keep that snacking healthy.

What are your favourite winter snacks?

Fitness Friday: Christmas Version

I know that everyone cuts loose around Christmas, as they should, but sometimes we tend to over-indulge and that creates a problem for the following year. I’m talking having too many Christmas treats starting a month before Christmas, attending too many parties accompanied by too much vino and your favourite choice of alcoholic beverages, using the excuse that ‘Hey! it’s almost Christmas, why not buy it for myself slash that other special person in my life’.

I won’t be there to smack that extra gingerbread man out of your hand, or make you nurse just that one drink for the entire party, and I certainly won’t be there to gently guide your hand away from your wallet containing your credit card, but I can hopefully give you some tips which will hopefully help your waistline, and the waistline of your credit card!

 The Super Duper Christmas Guide to Looking After Yourself this Christmas!

1.    When you are expecting a work function, a party, any kind of gathering involve enough food to feed an army of elephants, prepare for it by making sure you eat regularly the day beforehand AND on the day. That means, have a decent meal (breakfast, lunch and dinner), and in between, follow up with healthy snacks such as a handful of walnuts and almonds, a crisp apple, protein shake or some yoghurt drizzled with honey and topped with nuts of choice.

2.    At said work function/party/gathering of small elephants, don’t stop yourself from eating your favourite food, even if it is an almost only mayonnaise creation topped with gummy bears. Load half your plate with healthy things such as salads sans the gummy bears and mayonnaise, and then section off another quarter for food full of protein, such as meat (no fatty bits!), and then the other quarter use for your other not-so-good-for you favourites. No seconds. Only salad seconds are allowed.

3.    If you’re going to drink, have a maximum of 2 glasses of whatever you’re drinking. Just keep in mind that those are liquid calories and they add up a lot easier than whatever you’re eating. There’ll be more parties in the future, plenty of chances to drink then too.

4.    When buying presents for others, or for yourself!, really think about whether the person would appreciate it, or whether they would prefer something actually made by you. For your best friend, why not search up a DIY recipe for a sugar scrub? Inexpensive, yet easy to make, and a great personal touch. Who doesn’t need a good scrub during these winter months? And for the gentlemen in your life? Promise them a completely home cooked meal of their choice, and a week of no rom-com’s.

5.    If you’re forgoing exercising for quality time with friends and family, sneak in exercising WITH friends and family. Go outside and make snowmen, have a snowball fight, go skiing, take a walk around the park (I’m sure it’ll look like a winter wonderland if you’re living somewhere where there’s snow during Christmas time!), go ice-skating, walk your dog three times in one day, making each walk a little longer.

6.    Save your Christmas chocolate, spread it out over the months, re-gift it, even! Saves you the temptation of eating it yourself.

7.    If you've ever wanted to join a gym, Christmas time is usually a great time to join up as gym's are trying to reach their targets and will have great deals going. If you know you're not going to be able to make the gym during December, ask to delay your start date.

8.    Again, think about those really in need, and consider donating money to charities, instead of buying presents for others. Engage the present-receiver and ask them whom they would like for you to donate money to. (Also, talk about it first with the person, this is a slightly touchy thing, especially if they got you what you really wanted this Christmas!).

9.    Do the 100 workout every morning to start up your metabolism for the day.

10.  And best tip of all…just relax, enjoy the holidays, do everything in moderation (apart from having fun, that should be done in the EXTREME), and stay safe.

Keeping the Cold at Bay

Winter Clothes Wants by mali-konj featuring faux leather pants

Winter is undeniably here in Kanazawa and trying to keep warm is currently my obsession. I have finally purchased an oil radiator heater for my poorly insulated apartment and I have been living in my bedroom coming out only to eat, shower and use the toilet. I sound like a bit of a crazy person...but I swear I went out a couple of times throughout the weekend! 

So here's a few things which I would like to be wearing right now, and that I have my beady little eye on. You have to excuse my sudden love for Ugg boots. I have forever detested them because of their ugly look, and my hatred for them grew especially after seeing girls wearing them outside with their PJ bottoms, or short denim shorts (even though it's minus a bajillion degrees outside!). But after having been gifted a pair, I have to say, winter is definitely easier to bear with them on. I have a knock-off pair at home, but my real pair of Uggs still reside in NZ, so I'm going to have to plead to someone to ship them over to me. They're warm, comfy and I feel like a bit of a cave woman when I wear them, but I think they're here to stay.

Sweaters I can't get enough of, and I wear at least 3 other things underneath mine, and it hasn't even started snowing yet!

I am currently freaking out because I still do not own a proper winter jacket, and have been living in my leather one, the poor thing has gotten wet one too many time in this horrid constant rainy weather. So I have been scouring eBay and TradeMe for The North Face and Kathmandu jackets. Dear gods of winter, please be kind to me! I am yet also to purchase a pair of proper boots for winter.

And I have been living in my one scarf for the last month and a half. That sounds filthy. I really need to buy more scarfs.

Dear friends of the hellishly cold atmosphere, how do you keep yourself warm, and what winter warmers are you desiring? Any tips for keeping warm in a badly insulated apartment?