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All Natural Pink Lemonade

Lemon, oranges, and strawberries are loaded with Vitamin C and chuck full of antioxidants. They are also very yummy and can make a very refreshing lemonade, perfect for the summer time!

Keep your immune system on track and skin looking radiant with this magic recipe.

Ingredients:

 2 oranges (peeled and sliced)

2 Lemons (peeled and sliced)

A cup of strawberries

A half of cup of brown sugar (optional)

A quart of boiling water

Put all ingredients into boiling water and cook for 2 minutes.

Let sit in fridge overnight.

Best served extremely chilled with ice.

Enjoy :)

Just One of Those Days

Which one is Best for You? Shave, Wax, or Epilate

Shaving

• Pain: 0

• Cost: Fairly Cheap

• Quality/ Results: 5-8 out of 10 depending on the quality of your razor. Shaving can be a very effective way of getting rid of unwanted hair quickly for almost no cost, but the results are only short term. For those of us who are of a lighter skin tone and have darker hair, since the hair is cut from the surface instead of being extracted from the root, the remaining stubs beneath the skin are visible to the eye.

 Quick Tip:

 If you ever run out of shaving cream, hair conditioner is a great replacement. As Conditioner does for the hair on your head, it softens the hair creating an easier slicker cut when shaving. I personally prefer using a cheap hair conditioner (can also be used for co-washing) rather than shaving cream. It’s inexpensive, effective and can serve more than one purpose!

Waxing

• Pain: 8

• Cost: Can be pricey depending on the area being waxed.

• Quality/ Results: 10. Super smooth and long lasting results. Waxing can be expensive but the results last longer than shaving. It is a painful process, but unlike epilating, the pain is more numbing than consistent.

Epilation

A handheld machine made up of 21- 72 spinning tweezers (depending on the epilator you buy) that extracts your hair out from the root resulting in longer lasting, smooth arms, legs and under arms. (I personally would not recommend using this on your bikini area prior to firstly waxing).

• Pain: 10

• Cost: Your own personal epilator (of good quality) ranges from $20- $100+  *should last you a fairly long time. (I’ve had mine for about 2 years now).

• Quality/ Results: 9. Super smooth and long lasting. This is a cheaper alternative to waxing. You will get almost identical results to waxing, but WARNING … for those of you who are sensitive to pain, you should probably shy away from this option.

Quick Tip:

Before epilation, exfoliate the area to get rid of oil and dead skin cells. It is also best to epilate after showering. This way, your pores are open making the process less painful.

images:
http://www.ladiesgadgets.com/panasonic-es-wd51p-epilator/
http://www.executive-shaving.co.uk/shaving/womens-shaving-razors/womens-shaving-razors.php
http://www.newbeauty.com/hottopic/blogpost/6241-waxing-actually-does-cause-ingrown-hairs/

DIY: Lip Scrub

Want your lipstick and lipgloss to go on even smoother? Exfoliate your lips to make them smoother and softer than ever!

Try our oh so sweet lip scrub

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon of sugar

1 tablespoon of honey

1 tablespoon of olive oil

 Mix these three ingredients together and gently rub onto your lips for 30 seconds.

Rinse.

And Pat Dry.

Health & Beauty Tips: H2O

Drop that bottle of soda and replace it with a refreshing glass of water. Trust me, both your hair and body will thank you.

Hydrate your hair from the inside out! Hydration has a direct impact on the quality of your hair and its growth. Satisfying your body’s daily need of H20 (6-8 8oz glasses per day), you are promoting the cell reproduction that is necessary for your hair to thrive and grow!

Spritz your hair with water daily for instant hydration before applying your favorite moisturizer and sealant. 

Kiki’s Hair Spritz Mix:

1/3 cup of Trader Joe’s Tea Tree Conditioner

3-4 drops of peppermint oil

2-3 drops of Tea Tree oil

4 table spoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO) and 1-½ cups of water

Pour these ingredients into an empty spray bottle and you’ve got a easy hair spritz.

After washing your hair, end your wash with a final cold water rinse. This will add a natural glossy sheen and help to real your hair’s cuticle for a smooth finish.

Quick Tip:

Having trouble with your weight? Try drinking 1-2 glasses of water before  each of your meals. This will help you feel fuller so that you won’t over eat and it will help you reach your daily 8-glass goal!

The ELITE Water Challenge:

 For the Month of April try replacing juice and soda with a tall glass of water.

Three Healthy Snacks From Trader Joe's

• Protein Power Banana Chocolate Chunk Muffins feature mild, sweet banana flavor and are studded with chocolate chunks, yet have only two grams of fat in each two ounce mini muffin

• White Cheddar Puffs are an healthy alternative to cheese doodles. These delicious puffs only have 140 calories per serving

• Yogurt covered raisins gives you the benefits of satisfying your sweet tooth without feeling guilty! In fact it has nutritional value such as fiber and calcium

Embrace your Natural Hair!

 Kiki

Months Post Relaxer: 11 

Months 100% Natural: 2 

Big Chop Date: 01/2013

Favorite Natural Hair Product: Home Made Whipped Shea Butter Mix

[ Made with: Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO), Coconut Oil, 100% Shea Butter, Glycerin & Jamaican Black Castor Oil (JBCO)]

Crissy

Last Relaxer: Summer of 2010

Months 100% Natural: 12

Big Chop Date: 3/ 2012

Favorite Natural Hair Product: Miss Jessies Curly Pudding

A Few of Our Favorite Things

(From left to right)

Mac Rebel Lipstick-$15

Bobbi Brown Illuminating Bronzing Powder in Bali Brown 5 - $38

Mac Fluidline Eye Liner Gel in Blacktrack- $16

Kera Care Oil Moisturizer with Jojoba Oil- $7

Be a Bombshell Onyx Eyeliner-$7

Loreal Voluminous Million Lashes- $8

Flora by Gucci in Gorgeous Gardenia- $100

Revlon Color Stay in Blackberry- $8

Loreal Go 360 Clean- $7

Maybelline Great Lash Mascara- $6

Covergirl Outlast Lipstain- $7

The Original Flora by Gucci- $85

Bold Eye, Nude Lip VS Nude Eye, Bold Lip

A recent trend in makeup has been a bold eye accompanied by a nude lip or a bold lip accompanied by a nude eye. Elite Girl Crissy tried out both trends and preferred the bold lip with a neutral eye.

CAUTION!!!

Meet Crissy!

Crissy is one of our best friends who will be helping out with the blog

Name: Crystal

Zodiac sign: Taurus

Nationality: Guyanese

Favorites:

• Hair Product: I am a product junkie, but EVOO

• Makeup Product: MAC Cyber lipstick

• Product: Simple hydrating light moisturizer

• Color: Pink

Fun fact:

I am a very random person and probably the funnest person you’ll ever meet! I love to have fun and hate negative people.

Fun and Easy Nail Design!

• Essie: Plumberry • Essie: Fun in Gondola • Essie: Go Overboard 

1. Start off with a base coat to protect your nails from the damaging effects of polish and to help your colors stick better.
2. Once completely dried, place tape on your nails horizontally, diagonally, or vertically. This acts as a guard for your starter polish.
3. Choose a color and fill in a portion of your nail on each nail.
4. Then remove the tape (if the tape wraps around your finger, carefully cut it with scissors in the back)
5. After that coat has completely dried, repeat step 2 and 3 using another color.
6. Repeat these steps until nails are completely covered. 
7. Finish off with a topcoat and WaLa! A easy and fun manicure.

    

    

    

   

                            

Fresh Pomegranate Juice

Pomegranate is a very potent antioxidant with amazing benefits for your health. I personally find pomegranates to be very difficult to eat because of the many seeds that always get in the way! In order to still receive the nutritious benefits of this wonderful fruit without the hassle of worrying about the seeds, I decided to make a drink, so that it could be easier to intake.

• First, pit a pomegranate of all the seeds and pour them into a blender.

• Second, add a half a cup of coconut water and blend.

• Now take then contents and place it in a strainer lined with a paper towel.

• The straining process will take some patience because it will take some time for the juices to seep through.

Once drained you will be left with one cup of pomegranate goodness. Enjoy!

Product Review: Nail Magic

During this past summer, I was introduced to one of the most amazing nail products that promote strong and healthy nails. Nail Magic Nail Hardener and Conditioner, it treats weak damaged nails, resulting in rapid nail growth. Within only one month of use, my nails went from being brittle and stubby to long, strong and healthy.

Before and After

Here are a few pros and cons about this product (my own personal observation).

PROS: 

This product is effective in producing the results stated on the packaging, which are treatmeant of: • Weak Nails • Thin Nails • Damaged Nails & Splitting Nails. This product is easy to use (just as a normal polish) and can be worn alone without any color (optional). Nail Magic leaves a glossy sheen that creates a vibrant, neat and clean appearance.

CONS:

Once I ran out of the product, causing me to not use for approximately four weeks, my nails began to braeak and chip again. I found that in order to see continuous results with this product, you MUST use this as a base and topcoat at all times. 

As with any product that you are considering to use, you MUST read the ingredients to make sure that you are not allergic to any of its content, especially if you are someone who is allergic to almost everything in the book as I am. lol. 

Overall, Nail Magic is a wonderful product that I would highly recommend to anyone!

 (www.nailmagic.com)