DIY: Face and Body Exfoliating Scrub

For quite a long time I was trying different exfoliators and some would work for me,some not. So I got tired of spending my money and decided to try something with products I have in my own house.
I don't know if you have seen this home remedy online but this is actually something that my grandmother used to use to exfoliate from time to time.
You only will need 3 ingredients, that most of you probably already have at your house and those are:

• sugar
• extra virgin olive oil
• cocoa powder

What benefits this has?:

Sugar: In the past sugar was known as “white gold,” because it was a rare and expensive commodity. Sugar is a popular ingredient in skin care products today because it:

• acts as a natural exfoliator

• does not clog pores

• helps eliminate blemishes

• restores balance to skin’s oils

Sugar contains glycolic acid, an alpha-hydroxy acid that is crucial for maintaining healthy skin.  The natural glycolic acid in sugar not only helps condition and moisturize skin, but protect it from toxins.(source)

Olive Oil: 

Anti-inflammatory Properties

There are a variety of antioxidants in olive oil including Vitamin A and E but the most potent compound is
hydroxytyrosol. Hydroxytyrosol is a very rare but potent antioxidant found in olive oil that prevents free radical damage on skin cells. 

Moisturizing Properties

One of the main reasons why olive oil works really well as a moisturizer is the hydrophilic properties of these antioxidants which allow it to form a protective barrier trapping moisture on your skin. Lots of skin products used various synthetic chemical that do moisturizer but they clog your pores and are carcinogenic in some cases. For this reason, olive oil can be applied on your face. In addition to that, its deep penetrating properties not only moisturize your skin but also help brighten your skin.

Skin Exfoliator

Exfoliating skin helps remove clogged pores and dead skin cells. But why use olive oil? One of the main reasons is because it does not clog pores. The other reason is because it smoothens your skin texture and softens your skin due to its intrinsic antioxidant properties.(source)

Cocoa Powder: Is what chocolate is made of, is a wonderful and powerful antioxidant. It protects and frees the skin from free radicals, that cause significant damage to skin layers.

1. On a plate put 1 or 2 tea spoons of sugar
2. For 1 tea spoon of sugar add half tea spoon of cocoa, for 2 of sugar 1 tea spoon of cocoa etc.
3. Add 2 tea spoons of olive oil ( that's for 2 tea spoons of sugar ). Generally add the amount of olive oil that is needed to get a nice,not too thick nor too thin, paste
4. Finally mix those together 

Here's how it looks on the skin

I use this exfoliator about 1-2 times a week. I have combination skin,not sensitive so if you have sensitive skin, use this exfoliator only once a week and don't massage it on your skin too fast or harsh.

After this my skin is very smooth and soft.I never had any problems with this exfoliator, like break outs, nor did my mom.

One little tip, after you rinse it off use small amount of soap or whatever you want to remove any extra oil left on the skin so you won't feel you skin kinda greasy.

Of course if you are allergic to any of these ingredients you probably should Not try this!

Will you try this? If so let me know what you think :)

Sigma Cleansing and Polishing Tool Review

Several months ago I entered a giveaway on handamadereviews for the Sigma Cleansing & Polishing Tool . Surprise,surprise I won that giveaway (that was the first time I ever won a giveaway). As you can understand when I recieved it I was super excited to try it and I did. As a matter of fact I've been using this for a long time,probably close to a year now. Now I finally decided to review it,eventhough probably many of you might have already  tried it.

This tool works with two AA batteries and it's water resistant but not waterproof so keep that in mind.

It comes with 3 brush heads,soft,medium and firm:

Soft (pink): good for everyday fecial cleansing

Medium (pink & white) : good for everyday body exfoliation

Firm (white) : good for deeper body exfoliation

Here's a closer look to the brush heads

I use this tool,probably,around 2-3 times a week and that's only because I'm a bit lazy :P. I have used both soft and medium on my face but bare in mind that my skin isn't very sensitive. The firm one I only use it on

my body... Now on the site, I see that they changed the firm head but I don't know if it is any different from mine over than coloring.

They also came up with 3 extra heads,spa solution kit, that you can buy for this cleansing and polishing tool. Of course in case you need a replacment for any of the 3 original heads,they have replacements for each head.

Usually I use this with some kind of cleanser but if I feel like my skin really need a good exfoliation I will use some kind of exfoliator with this tool but this might be too harsh for someone with sensitive skin.( soon i'll post a home remedy that i usually use to exfoliate my face and body) .

It has 2 speeds though I would say it would be better if it had 3 with 1 even slower speed for people with sensitive skin. For me the 1st speed works great for my face and the 2nd for my body.

This tool almost has never broke me out,only few times and that's because I used the medium head on high speed on my face so basically it was my fault.

One drawback is that pretty much whenever I use it splashing will occur so I usually use in shower or over the bath  but because it isn't waterproof I have to make sure my hand isn't too wet.

Something that would be nice is if Sigma would sell it separately so you could buy with the heads and the amount you want since some might be only interesting in one head.
Conclusion
If you are looking for a tool that will help you with your daily cleansing routine then this is definitely a tool that you should try. Specially with the extra 3 heads they have it's like your own mini spa at home. 
I believe this won't irritate your skin if you use it correctly. Generally it's a good cleansing tool for you to use if you are on a budget and/or don't want to spend more that $40
This retails for $39.00 
The exta spa solution kit for $29,00
Both together for $59.00
You can buy it from Sigma

Also if you are planning to buy anything from Sigma don't forget the discount coupon( look at the top left side of the page) that gives you 10% plus a mini eyeshadow palette.

Have you tried this?Do you like it? What cleansing tool do you use?

( This is my honest opinion)

MUA 24 Shade Immaculate Collection Palette Photos,Review,Swatches

In my recent drugstore haul I featured the MUA(Makeup Academy) 24 Shade Immaculate Collection eyeshadow palette. It retails for £8 plus shipping and you can buy it online here

This palette contains 24 shades.You get a good variety of colors from warm tones to cold tones,from matte to shimmery,glittery finishes.It also comes with double ended sponge brush which is pretty useless if you have brushes.

As you can imagine some shades are definitely more pigmented than other,mostly the matte shades are those that aren't very pigmented. I would definitely suggest to wear an eyeshadow primer or/and eyeshadow base with these eyeshadows to get the maximum pigment out of them. Because of the variety of colors you could achieve lots of different looks,from a simple day look to a smoky look for nights out.

The packaging is plastic with clear top and it's very light and thin. I really love the fact that the top is clear as you can easily see what shades are inside without the need to open it.

Now lets take a look at some swatches

L-R Shades 1-11

*in shade*

 *direct sunlight*

 L-R Shades 11-21

*in shade*

 *direct sunlight*

L-R Shades 22-24 

*in shade*

 *direct sunlight*

( I used some amount of elf eyelid primer for the swatches)

For the amount of money you pay you definitely get a great quality( you pay about 0.33 for each eyeshadow).This palette is great for someone who is on budget or just started getting into makeup or just wanna play around with other colors to see which suit them.

You will see some fallouts so bare that in mind.

On the negative side I would  mantion 2 things, the first is that I would love the matte shades to be more pigmented because the colors are very pretty ( I love the matte black ). The second is that pretty much all of their cosmetics do contain parabens.

Overall rating: 4/5

Would I buy again?: I will buy more palettes from MUA for sure but I don't know if I ever use up all the shades in the 24 shade palette

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La Femme Nail Polishes Review and Swatches

I wasn't aware of this brand since I live in Greece and here we don't have La Femme.But once that i was searching throughout Amazon for nail supplies I came across a seller who was selling some sets of La Femme polishes and decided to buy one.I got them and I was really happy with the colors as some of them I didnt have.
The set that I bought came with 12 polishes,9 normal and 3 crackle.The cost was around £11 

I'm not sure but they are probably form a collection,Prime collocetion,cuz that what it says on the bottle.There aren't any names on the bottle but I searched and found a site that sales those polishes and they have names so I'll try to match the polishes as best as I can :)

Here are some swatches

                                             Silverado...........................................Iris

                                        White..................................................Ebony,Black

                                            Mojo..................................................Emerald?

                                         Damsen?.......................................................Passion

                                                                      Electric Blue

* All swatches were made with 2 coats of polish*

The 3 crackle polishes are in black,hot pink and silver

The a,b,c,d are some effect options you can get depending on how thick and the 

way you apply the polsih

I was quite impress with how much pigmented the polishes are for less than £1 for each.As a matter of fact the white one was the best white polish that I have tried so far,it applies evenly so easily.Generally all of them are very good and with a good top coat they won't chip for at least a week.

Conclusion?They defenatly worth of checking and I'd say give them a try cuz you might love them too :)

Where to buy: Amazon and here