Five ways to use lip balm

As far as we know, lip balm is just that little chapstick in our handbags we use whenever we have dry or cracked lips. However, this little guy could be your best friend when you're in need! 

Here are five ways you can use lip balm to fire up your beauty routine: 

1. Dry nails?

Try rubbing over some lip balm over your cuticles to revive them. Cuticles help to keep bacteria away from your nails such as fungal infections so it's worth protecting them and keeping them in tip top shape! 

2. Cream eyeshadow

If you want your eyeshadow to last all day without re-applying it why not just mix it with your lip balm? This saves you money on expensive primers so you get a real bang for your buck. Just make sure you don't irritate your eyes with flavours like mint or citrus.

3. Blowing your nose too much?

We all get that dry spot under our noses when we have a cold and blow our noses like there's no tomorrow. Rub that miracle juice on and try not to rub the area to avoid it getting worse. Again do not use mint or citrus flavours as it may irritate the skin.  

4. Blusher

Got tinted lip balm? Add a dash to your cheeks or mix some with a red or pink shade of lipstick. The same goes for lipgloss if you have any on hand. 

5. Dry skin 

In cold weather the most common place dry skin occurs is on the knuckles of the hands and sometimes our fingers. Luckily lip balm will do the trick if you don't have any hand cream. 

Body conscious

This topic is quite a sensitive one for me because ever since I was 13 I've always been body conscious. I used to care about what other people think of me e.g. the way I look and behave. 

I thought I was ugly because I didn't look like the girls in the magazines, adverts on TV, or actresses in movies. I knew they were fake but still couldn't help comparing myself to them. Luckily for me I've never had an eating disorder before but I've even been bullied in the past because of the way I look and that is what made me feel more self conscious till this day.  

My teen years were my worst and best years in my opinion. When I hit 16 I learned how to love myself and started losing weight (in a good way) because I used to be chubby but not overweight. I still thought I could have made some minor improvements along the way. 

When I was 17 I remember being 55kg at 4"11. When I turned 18 I became 47kg at 5" and right now at 22 I'm 51kg at 5"1. I lost weight because I followed Paul Mckenna's fool proof system. Anyone can do it and if you want to know more I'll make a video explaining the system. 

The way it worked for me was that I was 13 and sitting in front of the TV when all of a sudden I saw Paul Mckenna hosting a show called "I can make you thin". I didn't believe my eyes when he went through the techniques as they were all shockingly simple! I decided to get a piece of paper and write down the techniques he was describing then slowly applied each rule one at a time. I didn't even feel like I was losing weight but it was a natural, gradual process which worked out well in the end. 

I then decided to buy his book explaining the system as a reference to go back to just in case I feel like I'm going off the rails again. Here is a link for it if you want to see where I bought mine from and I would recommend it to anyone because it's easy to follow, anyone can do it, and it has a high success rate.

My feelings about my weight have constantly been the centre of attention in my life because I sometimes feel like I look too big in photos where I can see a bit of bulge from my tummy or maybe a double chin. I always thought I didn't look right in comparison to my friends who I really thought were thinner than me when in reality, we were just about the same.

I also watched a programme where a stylist called Gok Wan looked at the way children of our generation think about their bodies and it made me feel like I wasn't the only one. I can't quite remember the name but when I do I'll post a link. What I like the most about this was that he used to have weight problems and got bullied when he was younger which made me feel like I can relate to him on a personal level. 

Another interesting programme I watched is called Super Sized vs Super Skinny where an overweight and underweight person are put together in a feeding clinic for a couple of days and swap diets. In my opinion it's quite different from a normal weight loss show where someone is given a diet after looking at their bad habits. They instead try to see the world from the other person's point of view and experience their daily life which allows them to put themselves in each other's shoes. 

Right now I'm happy to say that I'm comfortable in my own skin after years of thinking I'm not good enough for any aspect of life simply because of the way I see myself in comparison to everyone else. 

However I do take interest in things that benefit my life instead of punishing myself and the same can be done for anyone looking to improve their quality of life and weight loss. Things I do are:

• Doing a type of sport which helps to boost my confidence and also become a new hobby to pursue.
• Making the way I see my progress more realistically and less harshly by remembering that you can only ever keep moving forward. Don't worry if you ever do slip up because it depends on your attitude towards it rather than what you actually did.  
• And watching motivational speakers which can be emotionally uplifting for the days I'm feeling down. 

So I hope you guys got more of an insight to one of the things I thought I would never talk about in a million years! Please be sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel as I might talk about this topic in a video and I'll be seeing you guys later!  

Love Nina xXx

Temporary tattoos that look real - Jagua

A couple of months ago I went to the Pier for an evening out and I saw this place that does temporary tattoos. My first thought was that henna would be a given but then I came across something called jagua. I asked what it was and the sales assistant told me it's a type of ink that works in the same way as henna but isn't black henna as a lot of people mistake it for because there's no such thing as black henna. Jagua is a different plant altogether and the difference between them is that henna stains the skin dark brown whereas jagua turns almost black although the ink is a dark navy blue.

After a lot of thought, I bought some jagua because I liked the dark stain on my skin and seeing as I'm tanned I didn't personally find henna that appealing as it fades quick on my skin due to the lack of my desired darkness.

The place I bought my ink is from a place called jaguatattoo.co.uk and they also sell henna as well so if you want that too they're a great place to buy from. The delivery was decent as I got it within a week of purchasing. 

I bought the jagua starter kit which came with: 

• A 5ml tube of jagua ink
• A book about jagua

I like how in the begging they explain what jagua is and where it comes from just to make you more familiar with the ink. 

They also talk about the history of the tattoos which helps you get a little bit of background knowledge.

My favourite page in the book is where they talk about the symbols and meanings of the tattoos so you can make the best choice when you're deciding what to draw.   

• A sheet of paper with some designs for inspiration or ideas - There are two sides to this and my favourite is the tribal designs which you can see below. 

• Two application cones 
• A hectograph pencil (used with the transfer paper)
• And a sheet of transfer paper

I haven't tried it out just yet but come back soon for my next post and I'll be sure to tell you how it went! 

Just in case you were thinking about buying any henna or jagua here are a couple of questions you might want to take into consideration before choosing the type of ink you want to buy. 

What type of ink should I use? 

Henna is ideal for people who like a medium to dark stain on their skin and want a temporary tattoo that doesn't last more than a week. The lighter the ink looks on the skin, the faster it will fade. 

Jagua is more for the people who want a dark stain that looks like a real tattoo and lasts for up to two weeks. It's also ideal for people who want to see how a tattoo design looks  on them before committing to a real tattoo. 

How do I prepare my skin before applying any ink? 

When I last had my jagua tattoo drawn on me, I had my skin wiped with witch hazel which they told me removes any excess lint or dirt on the surface of the skin so that the ink can adhere better. 

Another thing that can be done is to exfoliate the area that you want to draw on and don't apply any moisturisers or creams before applying the ink because as it creates a barrier on the skin making it harder for the ink to stain properly . 

How can I make my tattoo last longer? 

Some may say that a plaster would work but I was advised and personally prefer to use a layer of vaseline (or any type of skin friendly petroleum jelly you can find). 

You may also use oils such as olive or coconut before coming into contact with any water such as a shower or jacuzzi.