Winged Eyeliner

If you've ever attempted winged eyeliner for the first time, you'll know.

This is me, every time I'm in a rush to get ready. 

*This is not my picture and I've seen it all over the internet so I don't know where it originally came from.

Blogstagrams

That's a word, right? It has to be a word. And if it wasn't, it is now. 

Today I thought I would share some of my recent instagram posts with you, just for something a little different. 

My new textbooks which arrived today! I'm not a law student anymore! 

Fairly old actually, this picture of my cousins is from April, but says so much more about them than I ever could. I love it. 

Rhino poaching is such a big problem in Africa.

If you haven't already tried cherry flavoured Jelly Bellies dipped in chocolate, you should go out and get some now. RIGHT NOW. GO.

Our old house. It's already been a month since we moved, time flies when you're having fun.

Let's blog some shit.

Because who doesn't love photos of Labradors?

And beaches? Labradors and beaches. 

The two birds that were born just after we moved in and flew away last Monday! 

Leave your Instagram name in the comments below and I'll have a sneaky follow-spree!

xxx

New Goodies

Hello everyone!


The title of today's post may be slightly misleading as not everything that I'm about to show you is 100% brand new. *gasp* I have had some of these products for a while now but still wanted to share them with you. Having said that, let's not waste any more time...

The first thing I want to share with you is this AMAZING body butter from The Body Shop. This one has a passion fruit scent and I cannot begin to tell you how wonderful it smells! My mom and sister have got blueberry and raspberry respectively and they all have such a strong fruity scent. I just love it. And my skin just loves it too, it's super moisturising and absorbs pretty quickly so there's no need to sit around waiting for it to dry. PERFECT. 

Next up are these two face products: the Rimmel Match Perfection Foundation, which I have already spoken about HERE, and the Avon Ideal Flawless BB Cream. This cream does such a good job of hiding my pores, I've taken to using it on problem areas with a little powder to set and nothing else. This is in the shade ivory which is a tad too light for me if I wear it on its own, but nothing that a little powder and bronzer can't fix! Order it HERE.

Third is this little gem. I cannot tell you what this brand is - yes, it says Amuse USA on the packaging but I googled it and found NOTHING similar - I simply stumbled upon this in one of those "bargain bin" type things in Dischem. Don't know where it comes from, don't know how it got here, don't know where you can find it, but it cost me R30 and is the perfect highlighter for someone who doesn't wear it all that often, like me.

These two items are really just because they were on sale and I needed another one at the time. Both items are from Avon, and I really do like them both. The eyeliner is super pigmented and soft so it's a total breeze to apply; and the eyelid primer is a wonderful creamy texture and prolonged my eyeshadow wear by a good 6 hours. Two great investments!

This may seem boring to some people but I have an absolute ADDICTION to makeup brushes. I don't own all that many high-end makeup brushes, but if we go into a cosmetics store I inevitably end up buying a brush. Whether I need it or not. So, a blending brush from a random cosmetics store and a kabuki brush from Avon.

An eyelash curler. Because every girl in the whole world should own one. I bought a new one because the old one was starting to pull my eyelashes out - OUCH. This one came from Clicks.

What good would curled eyelashes be without some intense mascara, and so I also stocked up on these! The Avon mascara is amazing and gives my lashes some wonderful length, while also separating my lashes so that they're not too clumpy. The Falsies... Well, by now it really does not need an introduction. UHHMAYYZIIING.

Oh, you think I have too many lipsticks? WRONG. A girl can never ever have enough lipsticks. I'm really loving the reds at the moment and embracing the dark, mysterious edge they add to my look considering my dark hair, dark eyes, and fairly light complexion. The colour on the right, 11 by Kate (Rimmel), could possibly be my all-time favourite lipstick colour. The other two are number 10 by Rimmel and Rich Ruby by Avon.

Sneakily, I have left my favourite purchase until last. My sister and I were in 3D Cosmetics and saw that they stock the sleek palettes! We both immediately reached for this one, and although I haven't used it yet, I just know that I'm going to love it! This is the Au Naturel palette and if you want to know more about it, LOOK HERE! i just know that I'll be treating myself to more of these palettes soon!

Emma Pickles on YouTube did a GORGEOUS smokey eye look using this palette, so if you do have this in your collection and need a little inspiration, LOOK AT THIS! This girl is so so talented and I just love everything about her and her channel!

That's everything that I've picked up recently, I hope this has inspired you or wasted just enough time for you that you can now go home/stop working/write your own blog post or whatever else it is that you may be doing now...

If you like this kind of post please let me know in the comments section and I'll be sure to do more of these!
Also, if you're in the mood to chat, follow me on TWITTER and INSTAGRAM!

Happy Middle Of The Week!
xxx

I Owe You An Explanation

Hey Everyone!


As you guys have probably noticed, it's been about two months since my previous post. Which SUCKS, I know. Thus, here I am to apologise and explain why it's been such a long time since I spoke to you.


Firstly, we have just moved house. We've moved about 8kms closer to the school that my sister is at and where my mom works. It may seem like not much, but it makes such a difference to traffic that I can now fetch my sister after school instead of her having to wait for my mom to lock up at 16h30.
Most normal families hire a truck and move house on a single day and then it's over and done; not my family. For the last 6 weeks we have been loading the car FULL of furniture and boxes, and trekking it to the new house. (Look it up). It's taken ages and we are all so exhausted, physically and emotionally, that I just have not been able to sit down for long enough to write this post.
At the moment, the whole house looks like a disaster area with boxes EVERYWHERE and random furniture standing around all over the place. As soon as it looks somewhat tidier I will post a picture of my room and the house itself. For now you can have a picture of my gorgeous puppy:

No, she's not really a puppy any more, she is nearly 6 but she's still MY puppy. 

Secondly, studying via correspondence is not at all easy while you're moving house; so in the evenings I've been working on assignments and doing my reading instead of keeping you guys updated. 

We handed over the keys to the new owners yesterday so hopefully some sanity and routine will return to our lives. As for me and this blog, I will DEFINITELY be posting more frequently from now on again and I do hope you understand why I haven't spoken to you in such a long time.

Happy Friday! Have a wonderful weekend, and I will chat to you soon!

xxx

P.S. Give these links some love!

TWITTER  

INSTAGRAM

FACEBOOK

Guess What?!

Hey guys


I have some great news...

I am officially a BSc student!

I got my letter of acceptance this morning and now just need to finish the registration process and then I'm on my way. I'm so so excited, I can't wait to start this new part of my life. Being a law student does have its special quirks which I will miss, but this is definitely what I want to do with my life.

Have a wonderful week everyone!

xoxo

My Current Foundation

Hey again!


Lately I've been feeling very down and out and although I know the reasons behind it, I just can't seem to lift myself out of this horrible state. Hence, I've really been battling to write something good enough to post so I'm sorry in advance.


We all have difficulty finding the perfect foundation... right? Please tell me that it's not just me?
Anyway, since the beginning of the year I've tried a couple of different foundations to find one that works for me and my skin. A very kind sales assistant at a drugstore gave me a couple of samples to try since I wanted to try lots of different kinds of foundation before picking my favourite.

Let's start with the foundations that I tried but didn't love (FOR MY SKIN) but may work for people with different skin types! (Note: I have really oily skin.)

5. REVLON AGE DEFYING FOUNDATION

This foundation was in my mom's makeup bag which is kinda really the only reason I tried it. My reason for not loving it as much as my mom does: it's too moisturising. Since I have oily skin, that's a bad thing because it practically disappears on my skin, it's so sheer; and it makes my skin even shinier - NOT GOOD. 

4. ALMAY SMART SHADE FOUNDATION

I was so intrigued by this product's claims that I just had to try it. This foundation comes out of the tube as a white cream, like a moisturiser, and actually changes colour as you massage it into your skin to match your skin tone. It's SO cool! I really like this product and I wish that it worked for my skin but it also leaves my skin so shiny that I can't wear it for very long without having to touch up. If you have normal skin, you have to try this!

3. RIMMEL STAY MATTE FOUNDATION

I'm sure you can all guess why I would be drawn to this foundation. The name of this product literally calls to me. Having only used this product once, I probably don't have the authority to give much of an opinion. But I'm going to tell you what I can anyway. The only time I used this product was on a day when I didn't have time to touch up but it did stay put for a good 4 hours before it started to slide off my face. 

2.  ESSENCE STAY ALL DAY FOUNDATION

Well. Well, well, well. What a product. It actually does STAY ALL DAY. I've worn this product so often and it stays for hours and hours. Perhaps not exactly 16 hours, but it certainly stays for practically the whole day. I put this on before 7am and only have to touch it up by 3pm. Plus, it's such full coverage and really, really buildable. The reason it's only my second favourite is because the colour range is fairly limited. 

So finally, the foundation that I am currently using:

1. RIMMEL MATCH PERFECTION FOUNDATION

At the moment this is my favourite foundation because it has everything that I'm looking for right now. I would say that the coverage is light to medium but so extremely buildable that it could be full coverage if you really needed it to be. The finish is very natural-looking, not too matte and not too dewy and works wonderfully for my skin. I really would recommend this to anybody who has a similar skin type to me. 

I would really love to try the RIMMEL WAKE ME UP FOUNDATION because of all the beauty bloggers that rave about that, but unfortunately I haven't been able to find it anywhere yet. I don't think it's available in South Africa.

What is your current favourite foundation? Let me know on twitter or in the comments down below.
Chat soon!
xoxo

From Cracked To Kissable

Happy Tuesday!


Possibly the worst part about winter where I live (other than the FREEZINGNESS obviously) is the fact that we have a dry climate during the cold months.
In other words: dry, brittle, static hair; dry skin; dry, brittle nails; dry mouths and noses; and dry lips.
I just cannot stand waking up during the night and the back of my throat feels like sandpaper when I inhale or my lips are so dry that they start to crack.


Let me repeat that: I HATE HAVING DRY LIPS. The obsessive trait in me means that when I was in high school, I actually became addicted to lip balm. Yes, that is possible. Although one does not really become addicted to the balm itself, it's possible to become addicted to the feeling of moisturised, soft lips and thus you apply it more often which in turn causes your lips to stop producing their own moisture and so you apply more and the cycle continues.

http://www.lifemartini.com/simple-home-remedies-for-chapped-lips/

Dry lips means that your lipstick will sink into fine lines on your lips and even flake off in extreme cases. Not sexy. Also, no one wants to kiss dry, cracked lips - yuck!!
So here's how you can prevent it...
There are hundreds of lip-exfoliating products for sale (just google it) but it's SO much easier and cheaper than that!

I found this wonderful DIY post on this blog to make your own lip exfoliator in less than three simple steps:

http://blog.modcloth.com/2011/10/28/hey-sugar-a-diy-lip-exfoliator-sweet-enough-to-eat/

If that is still not easy enough for you or you forgot about your big date tonight and need a quick fix then I can't make it any easier than this ONE STEP. 

Before you brush your teeth, run your soft, dry toothbrush over your lips a couple of times to get rid of the dry skin. Don't scrub your lips to pieces, 3 or 4 gentle brushes should do it!

Always be sure to apply a lip balm or Vaseline to exfoliated lips to keep them mosturised and soft throughout the day!

Don't let the winter get to your lips!

I hope the rest of your week is fabulous

Chat soon, xxx

Deep Conditioning Masks

Hi again!


It's been about a week and I'm already so over winter, I'm trying not to wish my life away but can summer come back now please??

I miss the 8pm sunsets in Langebaan - December 2012

I was going to say something about the seasons affecting your hair, but honestly our hair always needs a little bit of TLC because whether it's the summer sun and chlorine or the dry winter, it's damaging your hair anyway...

So if you want to treat your hair and protect it from whichever season it's about to endure, THIS IS FOR YOU!

(So far it has taken me more than an hour to write those few sentences because I keep getting caught up stalking celebrities on twitter, if you're wondering about how functional I am.) 

(And there was just loads of thunder and it's not supposed to rain here in winter. Weird.)

Anyway. I am REALLY lazy when it comes to looking after my hair; I hardly ever straighten or curl it and I NEVER blow dry it so it is naturally quite healthy - my quick disclaimer - so keeping it in good condition is not difficult for me and I only have one tip that I swear by:

DEEP CONDITIONING HAIR MASKS. 

I don't use them all that often because I don't want my hair to become dependent on them and only lock moisture in when I've used the mask so once every two or three weeks is sufficient for me. If your hair is really dry and brittle, you may want to start out using it once a week and use it less frequently as your hair regains its strength. 

This is the mask that I use: Sunsilk Damage Reconstruction

I had a look on the Sunsilk website, however to enter the site you need to select your country and South Africa wasn't on the drop down list but I definitely bought it in South Africa so I'm not sure how to evaluate where you can and can't buy it. I swear by this stuff. I wash my hair in the shower like I normally would and then I towel dry my hair and apply this mostly to the ends of my hair and sort-of just 'wipe' the excess product over the roots. After five minutes I rinse it off and leave my hair to air dry. One of these tubs lasts about three months (granted, I do have fairly short-medium length hair) and is really not too pricey.

I would seriously recommend this product to anybody with hair. Dry and damaged or if you just want to maintain strong and healthy hair, try it!

That is literally all I do to maintain my hair and it works like a charm for me. 

Have a fabulous weekend!

xoxo

The Beginning Of An Obsession

Welcome to the last day of April 2013!

I guess this means that we can officially call it Autumn (Fall) down here. That, and the fact that there are more acorns and leaves on the ground than there is ground! I hope everyone up in the Northern Hemisphere is enjoying and appreciating the warm weather! I miss it already. Sigh. 

I am so SO excited; last night I ordered the Urban Decay Naked 2 Palette off Bid or Buy and it's supposed to arrive here in 15-21 working days! This is the cheapest I could find it anywhere in South Africa, other sites were close to the actual price from the Urban Decay website including shipping. Except that I couldn't see whether UD ship to us. (If you know, leave me a comment telling me, pretty please?)  If you're living in South Africa and are interested, follow this link to check it out and order one for yourself, but hurry - there's not many left!

I've watched so many tutorials and reviews on this palette that I am starting to feel like I can't go on without it. Obviously as soon  as it arrives I will let you all know how I feel about it. 

Despite having not received this palette yet, I'm starting to obsess over Urban Decay products - ESPECIALLY THE NAKED RANGE. I'm on a student budget and this is a bad thing! But just look at how beautiful they are...

The original Naked Palette

The Naked Basics Palette

The Naked Flushed Palette

It's going to take me years to try and save up for all of those (remember STUDENT BUDGET!) and I will only start once I know whether I'm impressed with the second palette. Well, the first in my case because I'm buying them in the wrong order. I can't wait to let you know what it's like!

Comment below with all things Urban Decay! I'd love to know if you use it (especially anyone in South Africa), where you buy it from, which is your favourite and so on.

CLICK HERE to follow me on twitter and we can chat! Also follow me on instagram (lynxvzyl).

For business enquiries, leave a comment down below and I will gladly get back to you ASAP!

Have a beautiful week everyone!

Chat soon, xxx

Not My Favourite TV Program

Hey hey!


I am currently lying in bed after having just watched the first episode of season one of The Walking Dead, and I'm really not too sure how I feel about it yet. At this point I don't really feel compelled to make a special effort to watch episode two. Obviously that could change if I do see another episode and become totally hooked, but I'm not really one for watching too many TV series because I find them to become a bit repetitive. I also cannot claim to be a zombie fan and there were just too many "walkers" in one episode for it to have held any kind of interest from me. We'll see where it goes, but at this stage I'm not going to recommend it to anyone like me!

Having said all of that, I did really enjoy the series Life with Damien Lewis (who is one of the coolest people on the planet in my opinion), about a detective who was arrested and sentenced for a crime that he didn't commit and who then tries to find the person who framed him. It was sadly very short (one, maybe two seasons) but I was completely addicted! I wouldn't know where to tell you to look for it if you're interested unfortunately though as I've never downloaded anything other than music. You probably don't believe that, but I promise!


I plan to have a new beauty related post up by the end of the weekend - I'll do my best!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!
Follow me on twitter @lynxvzyl if you want to know what I get up to when I'm not blogging!
Chat soon
xxx

PS I apologize for the short post, I just didn't want to keep you waiting any longer for something new.

50 Facts About Me

Hey there everyone!


I hope you have all been having a fabulous Easter weekend and that your chocolate coma was exactly as you had hoped it would be!

http://www.moyeamedia.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/easter-egg-6.jpg

Today's post is a list of things that you may or may not know about me, but that will hopefully help you to get to know me a little bit better! It's actually surprisingly difficult to think of 50 different facts that you would find interesting! In fact, I challenge anyone reading this to make a similar list and post it in the comments or leave a link to it in the comments for me and anyone else to read to get to know you better too! And, I really need to stop using exclamation points!

Here we go:

1. I don't have a middle name

2. My favourite song of all time is Shine On You Crazy Diamond by Pink Floyd (listen to it here)

3. I have a black labrador named Lady

4. I am four years older than my sister

5. I don't have a favourite colour

6. We have two other dogs, one blonde and one chocolate labrador

7. I don't know what to do with my life

8. My pet peeve is people constantly touching me

9. I wash my hands a lot

10. My favourite flower is a frangipani

11. I've never met a celebrity

12. I ADORE margaritas (the drink, not the pizza)

13. I cry when I'm really REALLY angry

14. I'm addicted to LipIce

15. I've lived in three different houses

16. My birthday is on the 2nd of November

17. I have a black belt in karate

18. I've never broken a bone (despite the previous fact)

19. I have three piercings in each ear and a belly ring

20. My bedroom is various shades of brown and gold

21. I am too loyal (yes, that is a thing)

22. I don't have any tattoos

23. I only learnt how to do winged eyeliner a month ago

24. I love tea

25. I'm addicted to popcorn

26. I have OCD tendencies

27. I have brown eyes and brown hair

28. I am so addicted to twitter (follow me!)

29. My sister also has a blog (go read it!)

30. My favourite place on earth is Langebaan Lagoon

31. I just lost the game

32. I'm terrified of spiders

33. I love swimming

34. I would live on the beach if I could

35. I've never been on a motorbike

36. I'm not a directioner or a belieber

37. My favourite movie is Van Helsing

38. I've read all the Harry Potter books more than once

39. I don't wear glasses or contacts

40. My dad's in a wheelchair

41. I have no intention of ever using math in real life

42. I used to have a cat named KitKat

43. I'm totally against rhino poaching

44. I wore a back brace for two years in high school because I have severe scholiosis

45. I've never had any braces or plates in my mouth

46. My dad never stops talking

47. I could never ever be a vegetarian

48. I speak English and Afrikaans fluently

49. I've been to two other countries: England and France

50. I would swap my sister for ice cream

Thanks for reading, please don't be shy: leave comments or follow me on Twitter and Instagram - LYNXVZYL!
Be good, xxx

PS. I tried to fix the spacing between the photographs, but it just would not work!

http://www.bhmpics.com/view-white_frangipani_flowers-wide.html

Lash Rehab

Hey everyone!


This post won't be too long, as it is just a quick little nugget of information that you may find useful.

About 6 weeks ago I was doing a little research on how to make my eyelashes appear longer than they really are because, unluckily for me, my lashes are pretty full but not very long AT ALL. While I was finding tips for mascara application and for curling your lashes, I also found a suggestion that claimed to make your lashes grow longer and thicker. I didn't post about it immediately because I wanted to find out whether it really worked before I went about giving you the wrong information.

The suggestion is that you rub a small amount of Vaseline (petroleum jelly) on to your eyelashes just before you go to sleep at night. I took it one step further and used an old, but VERY CLEAN, mascara wand covered in Vaseline to apply it to my lashes like you would mascara. For the first two weeks I did this every night, and thereafter two or three times a week would suffice. Lo and behold, it really works! After a week I was already starting to notice a dramatic improvement in the flexibility and durability of my lashes and after 6 weeks they do appear to be longer, healthier and fuller than before.
It is important to only apply the Vaseline to clean eyelashes though! Obviously, it works so much better, and you won't wake up looking like a panda from all the blackened Vaseline that has rubbed off during the night and landed underneath your eyes.

All of us want beautifully long, thick eyelashes and while we're trying to achieve this, we actually do a lot of damage to our lashes that in turn prevents them from looking their absolute best. If you've ever looked at a guy's eyelashes and wished that yours could look like that too, there's a reason for that! Generally, men don't wear mascara or curl their eyelashes, which means they don't do anything to damage them, hence they are so much longer and thicker than ours. By applying Vaseline to your lashes, you are replacing some of the moisture that the mascara sucked out of your lashes during the day. In the same way that your hair looks its best when it is soft, supple and strong, so will your lashes!

I have definitely seen an improvement in my eyelashes and would highly recommend that you try this out too if your lashes need that little bit of help!


I really hope that this helps!
Feel free to leave me a comment or follow and chat to me on Twitter or Instagram (lynxvzyl). I promise to get back to you!
Have a wonderful week! xxx

White Friday

Hello again ladies! And gents, who am I to discriminate?


I hope you've all had the most wonderful week and that you're already winding down to relax and enjoy the weekend! Those of you in Cape Town who are on your way to RAMfest, I am extremely jealous but still hope that your weekend is out of this world!


Recently, I've been trying out all these little, what may seem silly, tricks that I've found all over the internet in my explorations in the hope of fine-tuning some aspects of myself. Little beauty tips that each person has claimed to be their number one beauty secret. My plan is to share them all with you over time, but only after I've tested each one so that I can report back to you on whether it actually works.


I wanted to find out how to whiten teeth at home without the great expense of having it professionally done and also something that won't take as long or be as tedious as whitening strips.

http://www.treehousedental.com/services/teeth_whitening

I came across a suggestion to use baking soda mixed with water to create a paste which you use to brush your teeth AFTER your normal 'toothbrushing-routine'. The article that I read suggested that you use this paste once a day (preferably at night) for two weeks to notice an improvement in the whiteness of your teeth. However, I was concerned about what affect it may have on my teeth and upon further investigation found that copious amounts of baking soda paste can eat away the enamel on your teeth.
So, I did what any normal person would have done and tested it out once anyway. I can honestly say that the next day my teeth were the slightest bit brighter (I'm not sure about WHITER after just one use) and thus, here is my suggestion:

No more than twice a week, use this baking soda paste to brush your teeth after you have brushed and flossed like normal. Make sure to rinse your mouth out with mouthwash afterwards so as not to leave any residue that may sit on your teeth overnight and do damage to them; and clean your toothbrush thoroughly with clean water too.
To make the paste, simply mix approximately half a teaspoon of baking soda (bicarbonate of soda or "koek soda" if you're Afrikaans) with slightly less water. If you use too much water, your paste will turn into less of a paste and more of a liquid which will be very difficult to use on a toothbrush.

If you know that you're going out the following day, to an interview or party for example, use this trick the night before to make your smile brighter and whiter the next day!

I should warn you though that this paste tastes AWFUL. You will WANT to rinse with mouthwash, just to get rid of the taste. And trust me, you absolutely DO NOT want to swallow any of this. Just trust me. You don't need to find out for yourself.

http://www.colourbox.com/vector/cartoon-tooth-brushing-itself-vector-3440905

I will have another sworn-by secret for you soon: how to ensure you have the best possible lashes!
Hopefully I can post that before the end of the weekend, go and have a look!


Feel free to leave as many comments as you like and follow me on Twitter and Instagram (@lynxvzyl) and I will follow back and chat to anybody!
Have the greatest Friday EVER and a fantastic (and safe) weekend!
Be good or be good at it, xxx

PS. Did you know that if you Google "brushing teeth cartoon" most of the toothbrushes are red? Try it, it's weird... My toothbrush isn't red, it's white and blue!

Grow Dammit, Grow!

Hy everyone!


It has been quite a while since I last posted because I've actually been really busy! I haven't even had time to choose what course I'm going to start in June!

My sister is taking part in the Debs and Squires fundraising campaign for her school which requires that she raises a certain amount of money before she is allowed to attend the dance; so the last two weeks I have been up to my elbows in flour and cocoa and other baking essentials. It was fun for the first day or two but gets rather tedious when you're doing the same thing over and over every day. I'm usually so tired that I'm in bed by 22h00 - I know you're thinking that it sounds idillic, but it really isn't!

Also this week I managed to get struck by a nasty bout of bronchitis which my sister brought home from school. Karen, my dad and myself spent the greater part of last week taking handfuls of tablets, coughing and sleeping. All in all, I just haven't had the time or the energy to post much.


In December, I cut my hair REALLY short. All off. Gone. For a while it was great, especially since I did it in the spirit of starting my life over, new beginnings and change, but now I miss my long hair! I'm very fortunate to have healthy, shiny hair that doesn't require much work. In fact, most mornings I could just wash and brush it and not worry about it again for the rest of the day. Basically, I just want it back!

Thus, I did a little research. I Googled how to make your hair grow longer and faster, I watched videos, I read magazines and I even asked my stylist. And eater all that, the answer was: nothing. Every body has tips and tricks to make your hair grow HEALTHIER, but alas it is not possible to speed up the growth of your hair without spending excessive amounts of money on "products".

The tips that I did take notice of are:
1. Massage your scalp gently two/three times a week to increase the blood flow which will in turn bring more nutrients to the roots of your hair.
2. Don't wash your hair every day.
3. Don't style your hair every day.
4. Don't blow dry your hair, leave it to dry naturally.
5. Deep condition your hair once a month.
6. Brush your hair upside down, this will also increase blood flow and ensure that your hair's natural oils are spread over your hair to protect it. (No, it does not make your hair oily and greasy).
7. Vitamin B and biotin are essential for hair growth, taking supplements will actually help!
8. Last but not least, a healthy diet is super important to keep hair (and nails and skin etc.) healthy!

I'm trying all of these tips as of this week, and I'll let you know whether it worked and how well it worked.


I will post more frequently again as from now, I promise!
Please follow me on Twitter and Instagram (@lynxvzyl) and send me messages and comments and stuff, I'd love to hear what you have to say and how you make your hair grow long and healthy?

Chat soon, xxx

Odds and Ends

Hey guys!


Today's post is just a quick update about what's going on at the moment.


Firstly, I went to see a guidance counsellor about what to study. She made some very helpful suggestions and I would definitely recommend the idea to any body who may be stuck and doesn't know where to go from here. It seems that I will be looking at something sciencey, but more towards the natural and environmental sciences than medical sciences for example.


There was a bit of a storm here last night and we woke up this morning to find that this had happened literally meters from our gate!...

The last few days I've been reading a book that one of the teachers at my sister's school gave to me, it's called "Cause of Death" and was written by Patricia Cornwall. I love her books so much, they're exactly the kind that I enjoy! This one is a mystery/suspense novel, the seventh in a series about Dr Kay Scarpetta who is a medical examiner. I have yet to read the others, but I most definitely will as soon as I can find them!

On Sunday afternoon I was in the mood for something sweet, and just last week a friend gave me a recipe for cinnamon buns so I just had to try them! They turned out to be the most divine things I have ever made! Thank you to Taryn for suggesting them and sending the recipe to me! This is a tried and tested recipe but if you want to have a go, there are hundreds of recipes for different kinds of cinnamon buns available on the Internet! These didn't have yeast in them so they were really quick and fairly simple to make.

And while we're on the topic of baking, my dad and I made bread today! It had risen this much in just an hour...

That's all for now, I just thought I would tell you guys what I've been up to recently and maybe inspire you to do something yummy and different on the weekend!
Comment below if you would like the recipe for either the bread or the cinnamon buns or with ideas that I should try next time!
If you enjoyed this post, please be so kind as to FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER; I will follow back and chat to any- and everybody!
You can also follow me on Instagram, my username is lynxvzyl, but I have no idea how to link that in a post yet.


Thank you so much for reading, xxx

Prime Time

Hi guys!


I hope you're all doing really well and enjoying the heat or the cold depending on which hemisphere you're in right now. It's been crazy hot here the last couple of weeks, but this is South Africa so it's not something that we aren't used to. I love the heat and much prefer summer to winter; probably because I'm more of an outdoorsy person and get really bored if I'm stuck inside for too long. Leave me a comment or tweet me your favourite season and why?

http://ww2.valdosta.edu/~drcollins/fourseasonsnexticon8.jpg

As you may have guessed, thanx to the title, this post is all about primers. Face/skin primers, eyelid primers and lip primers. What's the deal? Why are they suddenly so popular? Are they really necessary? When are they necessary? Do I have to go and buy one today? ... Actually, I don't even know what a primer is? HELP!
So, I went and did a little research for you guys. I know, you're welcome. Here's what I learnt...:


What Is Face/Skin Primer?

Face primer is a gel or a lotion which you apply after moisturiser and before foundation, like a second coat of moisturiser except it is deemed to have some other "magical" abilities. The whole idea behind primer is that it evens out your skin tone (that is if you're using a tinted primer) and hides fine lines and wrinkles by filling them out. Some primers are said to have collagen in them to 'lift' your skin before applying foundation.
Face primer's most important function is that it acts as a defence-mechanism for your skin. During the day, your skin breathes and if you are wearing any sort of foundation, powder, blush, bronzer or concealer, your skin is going to slowly absorb it over the course of the day. A primer's main function is to prevent that from happening and thus keep the impurities out of your skin and pores despite your extended wear of make up.
It's other function is to act as a base coat for any other make up that you may apply. Just like a base coat on your nails, primer gives the make up something to cling to during the day and prevents your make up from running or smudging or just disappearing in its totality. Primer is applied just like moisturiser or foundation with a brush or with your fingers.


Fair enough. So, What Is The RIGHT Primer For My Skin?

The type or primer that you should use really depends on your skin type; in other words normal, oily, dry or combination skin.

1. Normal Skin. If you have normal skin, you are one in a million and all other girls are jealous of you. You don't require a heavy primer since your skin will probably be pretty flawless and your foundation won't be a full coverage foundation either. In your case, primer will only be used to keep your skin clean and act as a base coat so a light, creamy formula will work best for you. Also, try to go for a colourless primer since you probably don't have much redness or blotchy patches. Lucky you!

2. Oily Skin. If you are a teenage girl then unfortunately this is the type that probably applies to you. Your most important task is to find a mattifying primer that will keep your skin matte (duh) for a longer period of time. It's essential that your primer does not feel heavy and cakey on your skin because that inevitably means that it's blocking your pores from breathing which will only lead to more oil! And trust me, if you already have oily skin that is the LAST thing you want.

3. Dry Skin. Quite simply you have to, I repeat, HAVE to find a primer that is plenty moisturising without any silicone. Silicone lifts your skin to make you look younger so it may seem tempting to give your skin more life, but it will simply rub off (along with any other make up that you apply afterwards) because your skin cannot absorb it without the help of a little oil.

4. Combination Skin. I'm afraid every article that I came across simply said that combination skin types will have to find a primer that works for each individual personally. It's best to stay away from silicone but mattifying isn't a great idea either. Make use of a light, creamy formula primer to keep both areas of skin happy.

Last but not least, 5. Sensitive Skin. If you have skin that becomes inflamed or irritated easily, your best bet is to use a water-based primer that does not contain silicone, oil or fragrance.

I looked through plenty of pictures of face primers to find one to post here but there are so many different types that I thought it best not to post one so that I didn't appear to be favouring one type if I haven't even tried it myself. Once I have tried a few brands, I will post pictures of my favourite.


Now I know which one I should use, but Is It Really Necessary?

So far, the research that has been done into face/skin primers suggests that a primer is not necessary for every day wear. Having said that, it is however going to vary depending on what your "every day" consists of; for example if you spend a lot of time in front of people or on camera, a primer is a very good idea to keep your make up from running. If you live in a very hot and humid climate or are very active throughout the day but have to (or want to) wear make up regardless, a primer might be necessary every day once again to keep your make up from running during the day. Lastly, a primer is a must for special occasions like weddings or matric farewells since you don't really have time to reapply or do touch-ups to your make up once the event is in full swing, but you want to keep looking your best right until the last moment.


I feel like I've been doing a lot of talking now and you guys have had to do a lot of reading so I'll keep this bit short and simple.
As with face/skin primers, eyelid and lip primers are used to keep the make up firmly in place all day. Personally, I feel eyelid primer is only necessary on special occasions when lots of photographs are going to be taken and you want to look your best the entire time. For every day use, simply applying a small amount of concealer on to your eyelid can achieve the same effect for a smaller budget. Even better, the exact same principles apply to lip primer. Concealer works really well as long as you've blended it in to your skin fairly well so that it doesn't begin to smudge after a couple of hours.
Some times I think that lipstick actually sticks to bare lips better than it does to concealer or primer, because both can make your lips very "wet" causing the lipstick to rub off easily when you eat or drink anything.


As with all my posts, this is merely my opinion after having done some research on the topic and I am by no means an expert, nor am I claiming to be one. If you feel differently about primers, leave me a comment so that we can all learn from each other. I appreciate all of your opinions and will take them in to account when leaving a reply.


On the personal side of things, tomorrow I'm going to a guidance counsellor to talk about my future. I'm actually pretty nervous so please think of me in the morning! Also, I know this was way too much reading, so if you are seeing this thank you for sticking around!

I photographed this little van in the minute town of Williston on our way down to Langebaan last year:

I thought it was just too cute and it is now my wallpaper on my iPad.


Thank you for reading all of that, I really hope that it helped to inform you a little more on primers! Comment anything you like and I promise to reply as soon as I can!
Also, TWEET ME! I follow back and reply to everything. (Yes, I do spend more than half my life on Twitter.)
Aaannnd, follow me on Instagram @lynxvzyl! The same applies to comments and following back.

Have a smashing Tuesday! Chat soon
xxx