[Guest Post] 5 Things About Wrinkles That Are Actually True

As we age, wrinkles become the bane of us all. Sure, they’re a totally natural part of the aging process and can add a little character to our face, but with time, they take over our face, making us look weathered and tired. Not a pretty sight, indeed!

The best way to eliminate your wrinkles is by learning more about them so you understand what they actually are. Did you know these 5 things about wrinkles that are actually true?

1. Wrinkles are lines and creases in the skin that result form the effects of aging and damaging environmental factors (i.e. sun exposure, aridity). Over time, the skin thins and weakens as collagen, elastin and moisture levels deplete. Your skin becomes more fragile, and eventually starts to sag, forming wrinkles and bags. Prevention is the best way to stop development, although some treatments can help treat existing problems.

2. There are two types of wrinkles: dynamic and static. While both look the same, it’s how they’re formed that is different. Dynamic wrinkles are created from repeatedly using your facial muscles, such as when you smile, squint and frown – in fact, relaxing the muscles is how BOTOX treats dynamic wrinkles. Static wrinkles are created by either the effect of dynamic wrinkles or other factors.

3. While you may faithfully follow a skincare regimen and take care of your skin, certain lifestyle habits can still contribute to their formation. Smoking is one habit that accelerates the development of wrinkles, particularly around your eyes and mouth. Suntanning is another habit that contributes directly to wrinkles, as UV exposure has been scientifically linked to the destruction of healthy and elastic skin.

4. People with dry skin get wrinkles faster than people with oily skin. The natural oils in your skin, known as sebum, protect the skin from the environment and keep it hydrated. But when there aren’t enough oils being produced, your skin is more prone to damage and consequently, wrinkles. If you’ve got dry skin, make sure you apply moisturizer regularly to keep your skin supple.

5. Your beauty sleep may be giving you wrinkles, not helping you prevent them – but only if you’re a front sleeper. Imagine how long your face is pressed into the pillow every night, squishing up your skin around your eyes. This habit contributes to wrinkles because the creases created around your eyes eventually become permanent as skin continues to weaken with age and becomes less elastic. Your skin can no longer bounce back as nicely as when you’re young, which is why any wrinkles you form through all hours of the night become permanent over time.

Cindy Clark is a medical aesthetic consultant who specializes in beauty treatments that require no surgery. She writes for Skin Vitality, one of Canada’s largest beauty clinics.

--

Sincerely,

Cindy Clark

Patient Care Specialist

Skin Vitality Medical Clinic

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank you Cindy for the informative tips. I certainly did not know some of the above things. I am sure the readers will also benefit from this post :)

Christmas gift suggestions...

To your enemy, forgiveness.
To an opponent, tolerance.
To a friend, your heart.
To a customer, service.
To all, charity.
To every child, a good example.
To yourself, respect.
~Oren Arnold

Flormar facial cleansing gel

Hi Beauties!

How are you all doing? Hope you are all pepped up for the winters :) I am posting another face care post today hope you will like it.  So a month or so back I went to Hyperstar shopping mall and they have RIOS outlet there which sells Flormar and Rivaaj UK products. They have other imported products as well but they do not have a huge variety of other brands. I saw Flormar personal care products every time I went there and decided to get myself one this time. They have scrubs, body creams, hand creams but I got myself a face wash in Chamomile.

Its a purple pink colored 255ml face wash tube. Squeeze the bottle a little to take the product out. The face wash is enriched with Vitamin E and daisy extracts to cleanse the skin perfectly.

Its a transparent colored liquid and the consistency is runny sort. So you need to keep the tube tightly lidded otherwise it may leak and run out. 

I have used it for quite sometime now and I am not greatly impressed by this product. Its like any other average face wash and would not be doing any wonders for you. Although it does make the skin clean, fresh and smooth. The skin also feels hydrated and after towel drying skin remains soft. My skin is dry so I do not know how it will work for an oily skin since I do not have any acne issues so I am not sure if it will be suitable for oily and acne prone skin. It has a mild fragrance of chamomile flower but I do not like it. I think Flormar really needs to work out on their fragrances in body and face products.However I do have noticed that as the weather is changing, my skin is becoming dry. After using this face wash my face does not go all dry and crackly. This face wash is priced at Rs. 450 which I think is expensive for an average face wash.

Overall I would rate the product 3/5. It can be used as a daily face wash if you do not have any skin issues because it does make the skin clean, smooth and soft. But I do not like the fragrance, its runny consistency and its price. I do not think I would be buying this product again.

Hope you liked my review. Stay healthy and beautiful. Take care!

Boots cucumber whitening facial mask

Hi Beauties!

Hope you are doing good and taming your skin for winters. Well sometime back I went to VIP Liberty Markets Lahore and while browsing through cosmetics my eyes fell upon this facial mask. I thought about giving it a try.

Its a cucumber whitening facial mask by Boots and claims to be suitable for all skin types. It isn't a liquid or powdery mask but is a facial pack that is its a face shaped skin dripping in the solution. You just need to open the layers of the face pack and place it on your face adjusting according to the nose and eye slots.  

Although the packing is a plain white plastic wrapper and looks quite unappealing but yet I thought why not give it a try, after all its a Boots product. My experience of this face mask was nothing extra ordinary. I opened the wrapper, took out the face film and opened the layers to place it over my face. I kept it on my face for about 20 minutes and rinsed my face with tap water. My face definitely felt refreshed and hydrated. I felt as if each pore of my face is able to breathe. The skin felt smooth, soft and bright. However the effect fades in a day or two. So it is not long lasting. But its a good treatment for your skin if you are short of time and want something quick to hydrate and nourish your skin. 

My overall rating for the product would be 2.5/5 for its performance and packaging. Although it cost me Rs. 145 only but I do not think I would be buying this product again as the results are quite temporary and would not recommend you buying it either. 

Share your views with me girls if anyone of you has tried this product before. Stay healthy and beautiful. Take care!

Shopping online at Stay Stylish

Hi Beauties!

Today I'll be sharing with you a dire experience of online shopping that has made me learn new aspects to shopping while online. On September 15th I placed an order with Stay Stylish through her Facebook page. Whatever order I placed at that time I was informed that the products are available except AVON since that shipment will be arriving in December. Well I finally got my order on November 2nd and that too only half of it. So lets start with the post and see what I got in the much awaited courier. 

This is the nicely gift wrapped package that arrived on my official address. Sorry for the crappy quality of images  I was too excited and could not wait to open it, therefore, took the pictures from my mobile phone.

Tearing off the wrapper, the order was neatly organized in this plastic container.

 Here let me tell you first what I had originally ordered. 

1. Luscious twilight palette (yes, I did not have it till now. I always found it to be expensive)

2. NYX lip gloss in baby doll

3. AVON face brightening foundation

4. AVON mini lipsticks in 3 different shades

5. Oriflame Kajal from their last month promotional price of Rs. 298 (originally priced at Rs. 429)

6. 3 eye shimmers made by Sanam herself

7. 3 creamy blush ons made by Sanam

8. 3 anklets

9. A bracelet

So lets get on further with what I got after much await. 

The Luscious twilight palette which was neatly bubble wrapped in the package. It cost me Rs. 650.

An anklet made by herself as a gift. It was inside this nice small plastic pot.

Its a beaded anklet with glittery beads of copper, jade and purple colors.

This is another nice anklet sent by her as a gift to me which has been made by Saman herself.

Its a very delicate pearly anklet and looks really pretty and decent when worn and I am sure Sanam worked really hard on it since its such a delicate fine chain.

The only problem I found with this anklet is that its too delicate and can not sustain a slight jerk even and the silver chain might lose its color after sometime. 

Next are the 3 eye shimmers I ordered hand made by Sanam. These are mineral shimmers as told by her. To be honest I do not remember the shades I ordered other than aquamarine (you can see in the image below that I have taken from her page which she also has taken from some other website) since I placed my order way back but you may match the shades for yourself and see if they resemble the image uploaded by her or not!

I do not possess any eye shimmers  so I am not aware of the quantity they are usually available in. If anyone of you has purchased lose eye shimmers before let me know if this is the appropriate quantity for Rs. 100 each. 

This so called Aquamarine shade is finely ground and is quite pigmented but I have reservations with the amount of the product. You can see the swatches below for the product.

As for the next two shades, they sure are highly pigmented but they are not so finely ground as is the above Aquamarine shade. 

Another reservation I have about these shimmers is that they are not in the same packaging as shown in the picture. The applicator catches alot of product and I have to be super careful while applying it. Also the product keeps on falling out of the pots and creats a mess wherever they are placed. 

This is the lovely NYX lip gloss in baby doll which cost me Rs. 650. You can see the swatch below. Its a lovely bright pink color and looks really pretty on lips.

Here I would like to show you the images of the jewellery which I ordered but never got and there was a new reason to it everytime.

The above four are the images of the jewellery items that I had ordered. The images have been taken from her page to show you people. 

After placing the order every time I inquired I was asked the color of beads, any changes I want, or either I was informed that she is working on them and would be ready within a week, after a week and so on. Yesterday I was finally told that some eye primer had leaked over the jewellery items and she can not get new beads so they are no longer available. Imagine two months after commitment! and what she tells me further is that its not a big deal since I had not paid for them.... So verbal commitment is of no value these days guys! 

This is another set of bracelets that I got. Now I am not sure whether they are some part of my order or are gift since they do not look like the bracelet I ordered.

I had paid Rs. 1550 in advance for the order I had placed in which only two items exactly happen to be the same. I was told that my Oriflame kajal has been purchased and yesterday she informs me that I have to pay the full price for the kajal since she had not purchased it then. The shipping cost of Rs. 50 was told to me for any city other than Karachi and yesterday it was quoted Rs. 130 to me. In order to get the rest of my order I was asked to pay Rs. 1500 and upon asking how, I came to know that I would not be getting any jewellery items, the 3 creamy blush ons amount to Rs. 600, pay more the price of Oriflame kajal and I still fail to understand how the rest of the total amounts to Rs. 1500. Just imagine if I had made the payment I would not have left any leverage to make claims. I must say I am thoroughly disappointed with the unprofessional behavior and non committal behavior of Stay Stylish. There have been instances of she forgetting what exactly I had ordered and what colors. This was a very bad shopping experience for me. 

If you guys are aware of her page you must have seen her updating statuses that people complain and criticize her. I was one of the supporters of her at that time but with this terrible experience I have been forced to change my opinions about her professionalism. In case of any criticism she asks several members of her page personally to support her so my post might get a lot of negative comments but just to prove my point I'll show you a snapshot of a conversation of another person who had placed an order with her and she too was having a bad time. Click on the image to get a larger view of the conversation. In case you have any doubts, I can show you the snapshots of conversations for her commitment and denial of them.

So here is what I learnt from my experience:

1. Always ask to see the original images of the product before buying any item.

2. Keep friendship and business separate.

3. Be sure to ask about all the details so there is no confusion left.

4. Do not be fooled by the sweet talk.

I do not intend to be hateful, all I want is your support for the torment I have been through for two months with all the false promises. This is one of the reasons people fear placing orders over the internet for such fraudulent happenings. How is any misfortune a fault of the customer that he/she has to suffer. I ask Sanam directly that if she is reading this post, can she make it upto me for the two months? 

Sorry for the long post people. Stay healthy and beautiful. Take care!

Oriflame nourishing hand cream for dry hands

Hi Beauties!

So I had been requested quite alot of times to do reviews on Oriflame products I had purchased so finally Im going to do my first Oriflame review. My skin is really really dry sort and in winters it wants me to take butter and lotion baths so you can imagine how much I need to keep my skin hydrated. Winters are just around the corner and with the beginning of cool breezes my skin starts getting dry especially my hands. Whenever I wash my hands I need to apply a lotion or a cream but I don't like oily creams like astral. I had been reading alot about Oriflame products on different blogs plus there was so many publicity being done about oriflame so I thought about giving the hand cream a try.

There is a complete range of hand care products by Oriflame. For starters I got myself the nourishing hand cream for dry hands. Its a matte plastic tube with 100ml contents of the cream.

This is the back view of the tube. Click on the picture to enlarge and view the ingredients.

This is how the product comes out. Squueze the tube a little and use small amount of the cream.

I have taken out this much to clearly make you girls visible what the cream is like but trust me one requires smaller amount of the cream.The cream is thick in consistency unlike a lotion. You might need to aqueeze the tube with some pressure to make the cream come out but thats not much a trouble. Plus you can keep it in your hand bags as its quite portable and no fear of leakage in the bag.

I have been using this cream for a month or so on regular basis. I have put this cream in my office drawer and apply pea sized amount whenever I wash my hands or feel that my hands are dry. The best thing I like about this cream is that it instanty absorbs into the skin after application and nourishes the hands. Hands feel really smooth, supple and hydrated after its application. It leaves no oily residue over the skin and there is no trace left of cream application on your hands. It smells really nice (I like smelling my hands after applying this cream) :p Well there is no doubt about the nourishing properties of this cream over dry hands but what I feel is it doesn't stay that long on the hands. I need to apply it again after I wash my handsor after a few hours when my hands feel dry again. It maybe due to the fact that my skin is really dry and I do not mind applying it again. The cream I think would be equally suitable for people having oily skin as it absorbs completely into the skin.

All in all I am really happy with this product and yes I would definitely be buying it over and over since I am finding this product to be the best hand cream so far. I got mine from Oriflame office in Liberty Main Boulevard, Lahore for Rs. 238. I'd say for the quality and benefits this cream is providing me it is reasonably priced. I would rate this product a 5/5 because quite frankly I can't seem to find anything wrong with it. I hope my review was helpful for you girls. Share your views with me if anyone of you has tried this product. Stay healthy and beautiful. Take care!

Handbag by Haroon's Part I

Hi Beauties!

Well I got a little crazy this month when I went to Haroon's and saw their bags collection. They have got such awesomely amazing collection again, be it handbags, clutches; formal or casual. I just could not resist and got myself 4 handbags and a casual carry around pouch. Would be sharing them with you one by one.

So this is what I got this time.

This is the front view of the bag. Its a leather bag made up of very fine material and is smooth and shiny.

The back view of the bag. Although both the sides are exactly the same, the only difference is of the heart shaped tags tied to one of the handles of the bag. It helps in differentiating what side is the front.

This is the top view of the bag. It has a zipper top. Contents will remain safe in the bag and wont fall or slip out.

And finally the inner view of the bag. It has Two zipper pockets. One mobile pocket and another pocket adjacent to the mobile pocket. There are two middle pockets as well.

My Experience:

My experience with this has been really great. I really like carrying out this bag  with me. The material of this bag is really smooth and shiny. I wont say its really soft because the bag is not really that soft. In terms of softness I would say it falls somewhere between hard and soft but thats also a good thing because it helps in retaining the shape of the bag. The handles I would say are a little hard on the arms, not vary comfortable for hanging for a lengthy span of time. The zip is really smooth. The best part I find about this bag is that it has quite alot of pockets which means I dont have to put a separate organizer in my handbag to keep all the things organized. I  usually employ this bag for office use and I am really happy with it.

I purchased this bag from Haroon's Qaddaffi Stadium outlet for Rs. 1895. Majority of their handbags are priced the same. You can check out Harron's facebook fan page here or visit their Qaddaffi Stadium or Defence Y Block outlet.

Hope you liked my handbag. This is only the first one from the lot. There are yet more to come :) Share your views with me. Stay healthy and beautiful. Take care!

Accessorize for the head

Hi Beauties!

So I made another trip to Accessorize and got my hair some cute stuff.

I got 2 headbands and a bow clip. They are from the Monsoon line of Accessorize.

The bow clip is of dark blue color more like navy blue I guess with pink yellow flowers and green leaves.... really cute!

The 2 matching headbands I got. One is of similar Navy blue color like the bow clip, other one has a white base.

I have been using these headbands for a few days and what I have noticed is that unlike other headbands they dont cause any pain or pressure at the back of your ears. They are made up of some very nice soft plastic and are very light in weight as well. No matter I wear them for the whole day my are behind the ears doesnt hurt at all. The bow clip is for Rs. 550 or Rs. 650 while the headbands cost Rs. 950. This collection is available at Mall of Lahore outlet and not the Xinhua Mall outlet.

I would rate them 5/5 for the style, cuteness and comfort. Share your views by commenting if you liked my purchase. Stay healthy and beautiful. Take care!