Waist training with corsets: The Facts and the Myths.

For ages, women have been using corsets for waist training. A smaller waist being mostly the ultimate goal. It is becoming popular among ladies in Lagos and corsets and waist cinchers are being sold with promises of a thinner waistline. Now, I found out that quite a number of people do not read up about stuff that they are about to do. Don't always take a salesman's word for it. Of course he/she might be telling you the truth but you can go online to read reviews and articles about the product to make an informed choice and to know what exactly to expect. Maybe not to the 'T' but at least you will have some useful information.

Here are a few pointers about training your waist.

* No bae, a corset isn't the same as 'body magic' or the popular brand Ardyss. It is not the regular girdle either. So it won't do the same thing.

* Waist training takes a while to see results. Several months of wearing the right corset for at least 19hrs a day. So you will need two corsets so when one is hanging on the line, you are still doing your thing.

* Your corset must be steel boned to make an impact. Not plastic boned. Some ladies are sold corsets with no bones at all with promises. Won't work. And experienced women say for you to get good results, your corset must be custom made. Made exactly for you. In fact, they say buying a corset off the rack won't do much. But if you must, make sure you get one that suits your waist measurement. Get a fitting. Walk into a shop, test it, learn how to tie it before you part with your hard earned cash.

* Know when to stop. Or calm down so you don't do internal damage. Read here to see women who take waist training to the extreme.

Read here and here for more information about waist training.

Have a lovely week.

Lily Johnson.
  

  

   

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Natural beauty products Vs Chemical based beauty products. Which do you prefer?

More and more companies are manufacturing products based on plant oils and extracts and using little or no synthetic contents. This is because it’s been made known that all these chemicals used in products eventually find their way to our liver and are capable of doing extensive damage. Some consumers are now very sceptical about using some cosmetics that contain these synthetic elements. Some of these chemicals like Hydroquinone, found in blemish control and skin lightening products have even been banned in some countries.

Now while natural products pose no risk to your health, some of them can take a while to address a skin problem. Why? They first begin to repair the damage done to the skin by chemical based products. At this period, you might feel they are not doing anything for you but the reality is that it would take a while to see results if you have been using any chemical based product before. It also depends on your skin too. On the other hand, most chemical based products work faster. 

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And example here is lime juice and Hydroquinone in the treatment of spots caused by acne or pregnancy. The after effect of the use of the latter however might make it rather undesirable although when using lime juice to treat spots, you will have to wait at least 6 weeks to start seeing results depending on the severity of the spots. In most cases with Hydroquinone, you start seeing results in a week.

Natural beauty products or products made with organic materials are often more expensive than chemical based products. Some are affordable but known brands are usually expensive. The companies go the extra mile to get natural materials that might not be readily available to them. Oils like Argan oil which is used in the treatment of wrinkles and Aloe Vera, which has over 300 species but only Aloe Barbadensis Miller and other 3 species can be used to treat skin problems, are expensive and hard to find. Yes, I hate to break it to you but the Aloe Vera plant in your backyard might not be one of the 4 useful species.

 

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Chemical based beauty products tend to disrupt the normal pH level of the skin while most natural products tend to function together at a balance with the skin’s normal pH level. 

Jumia/Sleek Fashion Fair

Nigeria’s no. 1 online retailer JUMIA and renowned make-up brand Sleek present to you it’s one of a kind Jumia/Sleek Fashion Fair, talk about the best online shopping experience meeting the best in fashion and beauty.  

This one of a kind red carpet event will be a combination of a runway show and sales fair. This runway show will see models strut their stuff down the runway in male and female apparel from the stable of the worlds most renowned international and local designers only available on jumia.com.ng; it only gets better as attendees will have the opportunity to make on the spot online purchases of this eye-catching apparel as well as shoes, accessories, and wide selection of makeup from Sleek. It promises to be an electrifying atmosphere that will see guests treated to Jumia/Sleek goody bags with Jumia online shopping vouchers/ redeemable Sleek makeup vouchers, fun, good music and refreshments; also first 30 people at the event to get free Sleek studio skin care pack.

5 items you MUST have in your purse this season.

The dry/harmattan season is here! So it's time to arm ourselves with a few things to battle whatever the dry winds and scorching sun throw at us on the go people. If these aint already in your purse, consider this a quick reminder.

#1. A good lip balm: You don’t want to be going around with dry looking lips. Get a good lip balm and use it before you go to bed and under your lip colour in the morning.

#2. A small tub of a good moisturizing lotion or cream: The skin needs lots of moisture this season. Moisturize on the go if you must.

#3. Sunshades: The sun rays and hot wind isn’t good for your eye area. Cover up to avoid dark patches and sun burn.

Trends that rocked 2012 [Fashion and Beauty]

Now this is my own opinion and what I saw which I am sure most of us did. Ladies went ‘gaga’ on these trends and I wonder if they would continue next year. Anyway, we know how these things work. New year, new trends.

#1. Pink lips [plus or minus the pout]: All of a sudden, pink lipstick, lip stain and lip gloss became essential commodity. 90 percent of the ladies you saw on the streets had a generous amount of ‘pink’ on their lips. Girls even got permanent pink lips. I am still not sure how that works but someone told me about it in a market. The pink lip thingy does look good when properly done. Really pretty actually. I have a couple of pink lips things myself. But when a sister is walking down the road with a tub of pink lip gloss on her lips, errr no. But we do see this sometimes anyway.

  #2. Stylish head wraps: I loved seeing this. Some ladies just know how to get it right. Various colours and styles of head wraps were worn with almost anything. Bad hair days were hidden stylishly. 

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#3.  Colour blocking/ Neon Colours: No, it didn’t go away. In fact, it came back strong and doesn’t seem like it’s going anywhere. Who knows though.

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Dear Woman: The real reasons why some skin care and anti-aging products are all ‘hype’ and no results.

Tracy Blatter of Raisin Face did me the honor of sharing this valuable information about skin care and anti-aging products on my blog. Some of the information I got from her piece are quite revealing. Women spend a lot of money on cosmetics and most times, we are clueless about what we are buying. Now you can at least, know what you are paying for.

Here is her piece…

Skincare is a multi-billion dollar business.  There are thousands of companies producing tens of thousands of products so it’s no surprise that women are undecided regarding what to buy.  The larger companies work to entice you through expensive ad campaigns also known as 'hype'.These campaigns often use airbrushed pictures of supermodels in their late 20’s to sell anti-wrinkle creams to women in their late 30’s and 40’s

However, a list of ingredients is the first thing you should look for in a product if you plan on applying it to your face.  If a list is not available, there’s a reason why it’s missing.  Usually, it means the manufacturer doesn’t want you to see what goes into the product.  Be a wise consumer and put the item back on the shelf.  If the next product has a list of ingredients, note the order in which they are listed.  

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration requires that ingredients be listed in descending order. The component which weighs the most is listed first, and the ingredient weighing the least is listed last. Therefore, nine times out of ten, water will be number one on the list and a healthy antioxidant or peptide will be close to last.  Although this is helpful, note that the  percentage of the ingredient being used is NOT required.  This is unfortunate, because some very expensive creams contain more than 50 percent water and just a few drops of “something beneficial”.