A Must Have Beauty Oil

Cactus oil - also known as Prickly Pear Seed Oil and Barbary Fig Oil - is not really a popular product among us. Infact, I didn't even know it existed, until last week when I came across it in the supermarket. 

The benefits of the oil were still unknown to me, but I liked how it smelled so I bought it. After coming home I did some research on it, turns out it is alot like Argan oil. Cactus oil contains the natural antioxidant Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Omega 6, Omega 9 and amino acids.
Vitamin E helps repair and build tissue. It helps in reducing inflammation and repair damage to the follicles which encourages hair growth. Omega 6 stimulates skin cell turnover. Amino acids stimulates collagen production, prevent hair loss,  boost up the hair growth, maintains a healthyj pH balance and hydrates your scalp. This saves you from having a dry flaky scalp. Where as Omega 9 balances sebum production. 

Cactus oil is not only good for your hair but your skin too! Using it regularly on your face will tighten your pores, get rid of acne & acne scars, prevent breakouts & wrinkles as it is anti-aging. The oil also evens out uneven skin pigmentation. Vitamin K will brighten your under-eye circles & dark spots.

Prickly Pear seed oil is a great alternative for Argan Oil, a must have beauty oil for your nightstand.

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Korean Beauty Mini Haul + Review

Hi guyyysssss *Dina Tokio style*
Hope everyone's in good health and enjoying winters as much as I am. Its been so long since I've reviewed or posted anything :O feels like I've abandoned the blog.
Nywayz this post is going to be about Korean Beauty Products YAAAS.

A month or two back, I came across this YouTuber who had ahmazing skin! I then did what every other person would do,  started going through her videos and I found out that she uses Korean Skincare Products. And that's how, my friends, the obsession started and I got to work. I learnt everything I could about Korean products in an hour, found the products for my skin type, checked if they are available in my city and if its in my budget and what not. All this was done in about 3 hours 
So my skin-type basically is dry and acne prone, which is literally the worst skin-type out there. Finding products for this in Riyadh is very hard & even if you do find it, they're super expensive. You can't use the dry skin products either because they are really oily and end up clogging your pores, and any acne treatments and creams available are for oily/combination skin, which makes your face dryer than it already is. So yeah it was quiet a bit of a challenge to find a suitable product, and thankfully my effort wasn't wasted and I ended up finding quiet a lot of them.

Time to show y'all my mini haul!

Let's begin with the Skin Food's Egg White Pore Mask and Toner.

$15

As you can tell by the name, this product is made for minimizing the look of pores. The  ingredients are given in Korean so I can't really understand anything except that the main one is egg white. Egg whites are known for minimization of pores. Their Peel off masks are one of the best DIY masks out there.

The packaging is so cute. The box contains a peel off mask and a pore cooling toner. The mask removes all the dirt and blackheads, leaving your pores clean. Applying the toner cools your pores and minimizes them. The texture of the mask is quite thick and you need a lot of product to cover your nose or any other area. Hence, it can only be used 5 or 6 times. 

Pros:

Mask: Removes all the black and white heads
Makes nose soft and clean
Smells amazing
Toner: large quantity

Cons:

Mask: Pricey

Doesnt last very long 

Takes ages to dry 

Hard to peel off
Very thick
Toner: None

$8

The next product, probably the most well known among all the ones that I bought is the Nature Republic Aloe Vera gel.

It comes in a sizable round plastic jar. The ingredients consist of 92% Aloe Vera as stated on the lid itself.

 Alcohol is the second main ingredient which would explain why its soo drying on the skin.

The gel makes your skin super soft and is a perfect moisturizer for the summer, with a very light feel to it. Only problem is that it didn't really help with my acne as many of the reviewers only claimed which was frankly quite disappointing as it was the feature I was most excited about.

Pros:
Makes your skin soft
Light
Pleasant Scent
Affordable

Cons:

High percentage of alcohol

Drying

No significant effect on acne

$8

To start of the packaging for this Nature Republic Friends Hand Cream in Fruity is to die for. It is the most adorable packaging I personally have ever seen. The jar doesn't have a cheap plastic feel and does have some weight to it.

I don't have much to say about this considering its only a hand cream. I haven't tried many hand creams before so I cant honestly make a good comparison, but as far as hand creams go it is a pretty good one. It sinks well into the skin right after use and doesn't just sit on the surface like some I have previously used. It is very moisturizing without being oily or leaving a sticky feeling or any residue on the skin. The price is also pretty decent and you get a fair amount of product for it.

Pros:

Cute packaging

moisturizing

no residue/oily feel

Cons:

NONE

$18

This last item is by far by favorite of all that i purchased.The Innisfree Green Tea Sleeping Pack is designed to be used in the very last steps of your nighttime routine right after any serums or masks. It comes in a sturdy green plastic container.

The texture of the product is very gel like and thin with little white beads in it that dissolve when you rub them around. The mask, when applied on the skin, gives a cooling sensation which is very relaxing especially after spending the day in a full face of makeup.

If you have dry skin then I would definitely recommended purchasing this mask as it works wonders and holds to all of its claims. I myself have incorporated it in my daily night time routine.
Trust me when I say that you'll be blown away with how it can help change your skin from dry and flaky to soft as a baby's butt.

Pros:
Affordable
Great quantity 

Not Sticky

Smells good
Brightens your skin

Cons:
NONE


Final Verdict: I wouldn't really recommend the pore set or the Aloe Vera gel as the Pore set is pricey and you don't really get much product for the price you pay. Aloe Vera gel didn't really show any difference on my face so, I don't think it's worth it either. While the other 2 products are something you should definitely own. 

That's it for this post, happy reading :D 

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DIY Makeup Organizer

                                         

The clock strikes 2, my brain goes numb; bore-o-clock. And that's usually when it begins; my unending quest of inspiration and creativity. It's already been 6 to 7 weeks since the end of high-school which I attended in Karachi and i've been back home here in Riyadh. Since then my life has been mundane and excruciatingly dull. I'm aimless and going out of my mind with nothing to do, Outing with friends is not an option since most of my friends are off to study at universities abroad. This is why DIY projects are my holy grail, keeping me sane (borderline).

 When depressed it is best to push yourself to do something productive. It gives you a sense of satisfaction, the 'good day's hard work' feel. So the other day i decided to clean out piles and piles of junk, i tend to collect. The first step of any project-unintentionally so- is when you collect random crap you'll never use over a period of time. So there I was, sorting through and some if the things I found were: fake cheap lashes, old glasses, candle holders, tin cans, scraps of fabric, yarn etc.

 Creative juices flowing in my system, i sat there for a solid amount of time, staring and thinking hard. After trying multiple (decidedly weird) ideas I finallly settled on something; makeup organizer. Okay so it's no billion dollar idea but what I had in mind was a bit different from the conventional ones. It looks good, it does the job and it's very simple top make. What more could you want? 

Without further ado, let's get started folks!  

Here's a list of all the stuff you'll need:
1. Tin can
2. Small glass
3. Fake lashes (I don't think this could be any more obvious but for those of us on the slower side: DO NOT USE YOUR HUDA BEAUTY LASHES or any other expensive brand)
4. Lash glue
5. Any paint to colour your tin can that won't wash off in two colours, one for the base and other for the lips.

I used and old tin of cream commonly found here (locals call it 'gishta'). The size is very adorable and the top peels off which gives the inner rim a clean finish. (also I really hate using can openers; they leave the edges frayed and messy). Make sure you wash it thoroughly before use. You don't want any nasty remnants or smells clinging to your precious makeup ESPECIALLY if the tin in question was previously full of something like tuna. Flawless skin with essence of fish? I don't think so.
As for the glass, it can be any tiny mason jar. We get small glass jars of cheese at every convenience store here so that's what i used. You can easily find one at the dollar store or clean up and old jar of anything really!

Moving on to the instructions:

1. So the first thing you're going to do is paint your can in the colour of you choice. I used a spray paint but you can use any paint you have, anything that will stay on the can and will look good. We will leave the glass as is, just clean it up to make it nice and shiny.
2. After the can's all dried up, position and apply the false lashes, first to you can and then on the glass. Use the images I put up as reference. You can estimate how it'll look by drawing on a sketch with the lash glue on both containers. This way you can wipe off any errors without permanently destroying your project.
3. Lastly, paint on a set of simple cutesy lips on both the containers and let them dry. Again use my picture as reference. As you can see they are very easy to make, but if painting proves difficult you can use a sharpie or a permanent marker just for ease. Just keep in mind that the material you use needs to be well pigmented so that it shows up properly on top of the painted can as well as the glass.

And that's it! Pretty simple right? Now throw in your makeup brushes, lipsticks and pencils lying around messily on your dressing table, and admire your handiwork. Hey you invested your time and effort into this, no shame in pride here. You can change it up and try different things too such as bottles, boxes, bowls. Use your imagination, be creative and most importantly enjoy what you do!

That's all for this easy peasy project, do try it out and be sure to share your lovely creations with me by tagging me on Instagram. My IG id is - @amna.sayeed 

baibai xx

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