A Glimpse of Glam

Hey everyone!

One thing that always will ring true is that beauty starts from within. That being said, no matter how much makeup you pile on your face, you will look your best if you start instead by taking care of your skin. One product that has fascinated me immensely, and has become quite trendy lately, is activated charcoal as a beauty product.

Today I've got a guest post to share with you all by Zara, a writer who I've featured here on my blog in the past with a guest post other skincare tips. Keep on reading to gain more tips on how to integrate activated charcoal into your beauty routine!

Is Activated Charcoal the New Black in Beauty?

Chances are you’ve heard of or even used activated charcoal in some form or another. Famous for its detoxifying properties, it has been prescribed for ages as a go-to dietary supplement to “trap” and prevent toxins from entering your bloodstream. It has also been used for cleansing in everything from water filters, soaps and gas masks to toothpaste and exfoliating facial scrubs.

This strange, all-around substance definitely has its perks as a beauty-enhancing tool, but has it earned the reputation of being the latest trend to take over the beauty world, much like the coconut oil craze before it? Let’s take a look at some of the useful applications of activated charcoal as a beauty ingredient, and why it might soon become the new black in beauty trends!

Youthful radiance

What country first comes to mind when you think of sun-kissed women of untamed beauty and their absolute devotion to a holistic, healthy lifestyle? Australia, of course! Absolute goddesses of DIY, all-natural beauty tricks, these ladies know a healthy ingredient when they see one. No matter if you opt for a pure home-made solution such as a facemask of nothing but water and activated charcoal, or a store-bought product such as Buddy Scrub, you’ll reap the rewards in no time.

As Australian women know well, caring for your skin requires nothing more than a simple touch of nature to nourish your complexion. So for best results, introduce a facemask or a scrub with activated charcoal, and you will be able to simplify your routine while increasing its impact. It will cleanse your pores, keep away that pesky acne, pimples, and other imperfections, while at the same time detoxing it from daily exposure to harmful elements.

A dashing smile

Charcoal as a teeth-whitening tool? As contradictory as it may sound, activated charcoal can do wonders for your dental hygiene, and not just from a cleansing point of view, but also in terms of beautifying your smile. Add a pinch of powdered activated charcoal to your regular toothpaste and voila! You have a healthy, whitening paste to cleanse your teeth and protect your wonderful inner flora.

However, since some people have exceptionally sensitive gums and enamel, we once again turn to the experts from Down Under for health advice. According to some eminent dental specialists, a safe, effective alternative to this is a technique called internal bleaching, which takes about two weeks to show results and keeps your teeth healthy. This is why lots of Aussies turn to Australian Dental Specialists and some other clinics to get the best possible results. Also, it would be wise to consult your dentist if it is okay to use an activated charcoal toothpaste after the treatment, to maintain the desired results.

Lush hair

Instead of shampoos with harmful chemicals or heavy oils that supposedly nourish your hair and scalp, you can actually find hair products that are based on this wonder-substance, combined with other natural minerals and ingredients that will give you a deep cleanse, detox your hair, rid you of dandruff and restore your skin’s natural pH value.

When used regularly, activated charcoal can help your hair regain its volume and lush look, without excessive use of styling products. As opposed to other all-natural DIY shampoos and masks that tend to be time-consuming and easy to spend quickly, you can browse through a selection of shampoo bars and soaps that are designed to thoroughly cleanse your hair and scalp without depriving it of natural oils.

Eliminate toxins

Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!

Selfies are all the rage these days. When you pose for a picture, do you smile with your teeth showing or with your mouth closed? I personally use Snapchat so much that it really depends on the filter I’m using. But, for most pictures I generally like to go for a toothy grin, as a closed-mouth smile can sometimes come off looking a bit forced and constipated. Which is your go-to way of smiling?

Do you like showing your teeth when you smile in photos, or in general? Because...

It’s getting to be that time of year again when we relax a bit on our healthy diet rules, and indulge more on rich, warm foods. Coffee, hot chocolate, chai lattes, apple pie, maple pecan bars, pumpkin pie... I don’t know, I’m starting to ramble on food now. Point is, all this food will scare your dentist the next time you go in for a cleaning. Because, to be honest, how often do you guys actually brush your teeth, or even just drink some clear water after eating these teeth-staining goodies?

(Okay, I do, but it’s because I can get pretty anal about preventing cavities and tooth decay and yellowing. But anyways…)

Would you guys like to know how to get whiter teeth? I hope the answer is yes, otherwise I will assume you like a set resembling candy corn rather than pearly whites.

Today, I wanted to share with you all a way to rid your teeth of those disgusting stains and discolorations through a home teeth whitening kit by Smile Brilliant. This will help remove stains from your teeth using a professional teeth whitening kit! But you don’t have to actually get dressed and go to the dentist. You can do it at home in your pajamas with Netflix running in the background. Such a great option for lazy hermits like me.

Smile Brilliant kindly offered to send me a kit to try out and review! I actually had one of my good friends try it out because she can be pretty brutally honest when it comes to her likes and dislikes. It was quite fun doing this little project with my friend because it gave her a second opinion on whether or not this product actually made a difference. It can be hard to tell if your teeth actually got whiter if you are staring at your teeth every day. Unlike other at home teeth-whitening products, you can get these custom-fit trays for your teeth with the Smile Brilliant teeth whitening kit. My friend has complained in the past about her crooked teeth, as she still hasn’t gotten braces yet. So having her try out this product definitely gave me a better idea of how this product was.

Okay, as all beauty gurus on YouTube say “Let’s get into it!”

Ugh that was so cringe-worthy. Forget I said that.

Photo of all the stuff the kit includes

When she first received the kit, she had to create a dental impression of her teeth. It was really easy to do. There’s really no way for you to mess it up. Unless you remove it from your mouth and then crush it with your foot, but why would you?

Anyways, after making the dental impressions, she sent it back to the company. They then made teeth whitening trays that fit her mouth perfectly, using the dental impressions to make them custom-fit. As I said before, her teeth aren’t perfectly positioned and straight, BUT with the whole dental impressions thing, this ensured that her teeth whitening trays actually fit her teeth!

The teeth whitening kit we got had four syringes each of whitening and desensitizing gel. What’s great about this kit is that it also works for people with sensitive teeth. The desensitizing gel actually came in really handy for most of the teeth whitening process. With every new product you try, there’s a chance that you will experience sensitivity. Different products use different ingredients, so it’s really great that Smile Brilliant took into account that a lot of people have sensitive teeth.

To use this kit, all she had to do was apply the desensitizing gel before using the whitening stuff. This helps prep her teeth for the whole thing. The directions that came with the kit were very clear and easy to follow. It wasn’t too difficult for her to do the whole process.

When it comes to using the whitening product, you apply it on the tray, and you keep it in for 1-3 hours. 3 hours. It sounds crazy but that’s actually how long you can leave it in for. Then you follow that up with the desensitizing gel for about a half hour.

The kit came with enough for about 18-24 treatments. It comes with that much so that you can do it consistently for a couple weeks. With 6 syringes it has enough for 18-24 because each syringe is good for about 3-4 sessions of whitening. It’s totally fine to skip a few days here and there, but the results will take a bit longer! With this teeth whitening kit, the treatments create a gradual whitening so that you don't go blinding people with your unnaturally white teeth. It ends up with a more subtle transition to whiter teeth, that ends up looking more natural and flattering too.

That’s pretty much it! It’s super easy and there are actual noticeable results.

Before Photo

Because I had my friend do the treatments, I didn’t see her every single day after every treatment. I saw her for the first several and then the last ones. But there were a couple days here and there that I didn’t see. Despite the desensitizing gel, my friend did experience some sensitivity. Because of that, she ended up skipping a few days, and spreading out her sessions a bit to recover first. HOWEVER, that was easily fixed! She ended up using more desensitizing gel per session, and did not floss prior to the sessions. Flossing can sometimes cut your gums and cause open wounds, which makes your gums and teeth more sensitive to the whitening stuff. But, without flossing before it really helped cut down on the sensitivity. Another tip to reduce teeth sensitivity is to line your gums with Vaseline prior to the treatment, but make sure to not get it on your teeth or else those teeth would be covered and not whitened.

My friend did the treatments for an hour at a time because it can be a bit time consuming. Up to three hours of your mouth being occupied. But even with only one hour sessions, her teeth looked really different from before!

Results after 1/3 of the treatments (this was when she was consistently doing the treatments every couple days)

Results after 2/3 of treatments (she started taking longer pauses between treatments because of the slight sensitivity experienced. But later on with a few adjustments they went away)

Here’s some feedback from my friend on the overall teeth whitening kit:



I didn’t change anything that she said, only a few grammar bits here and there because I was literally typing it up as she talked. So if there are run-on sentences ignore them. You aren’t an English teacher, and this isn’t a term paper.

Check out the photos to compare the results! She even asked her mom if she saw a difference, and her mom agreed that her teeth did look whiter.

Final results! Ignore the awkward and weird face here. My friend thought this would help get a better view of her teeth. Like at the dentist.

After ALL treatments!!

After reading the title, this is probably the part you are all waiting for. I HAVE A GIVEAWAY FOR YOU GUYS!! (cue the applause to fill the awkward silence and accompany those jazz hands)

The winner of this Smile Brilliant giveaway will receive $139.95 in credit. This equates to 1 tray creation kit + 6 gel syringes of your choice (meaning like 3 whitening and 3 desensitizing OR 6 whitening)

If you want to enter the giveaway to win this awesome deal so that you can try it out yourself, click on the link below and enter your name and email!


I’ve ALSO got for you a 5% discount coupon code using the code:

Check out the Smile Brilliant website for more information on the teeth whitening trays, or their products in general! Here’s also more information on sensitive teeth, if that’s the one thing holding you back. I have a tendency to experience sensitivity to new products too, so I get that fear. But they’ve actually found some ways to prevent sensitivity; so don’t let that hold you back! Check out more info on teeth sensitivity here!

Here’s a YouTube video as well about someone else’s experience with Smile Brilliant. It might provide more info on how to use the kit, if what I said was a bit confusing. Check it out here!

This is great timing because I bet you will all be or have already been feasting on a bunch of delectable yet teeth staining goodies. So here’s a chance for you all to get your teeth whitened! Now you can go to holiday parties and not worry about your nosy relative asking if you’ve got leftover Halloween makeup on your teeth or if that’s just your teeth looking stained and yellow.

Please do lemme know in the comments below what you thought!! Have you tried out Smile Brilliant before? How do you prevent your teeth from getting stained and yellow?

Don’t forget to enter the giveaway! It closes after TWO WEEKS!!

By the way... I recently made a Twitter so go follow me! You can find me here, or scroll up to the top bar and click on the link too. Just letting you guys know because I'm finally joining in on this social media thing. So yeah...

Thank you very much for reading! I wish you all a fantastic week!!


Til next time,
~A

Professional Teeth Whitening

Hey everyone!

Happy Thanksgiving!! I hope everyone is having a wonderful day today, to those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving.

As I mentioned in my previous post, I made some apple pie. Homemade apple pie with a crumble topping. Apparently, this is a Dutch style apple pie because of the top. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Oh, and did I mention that it is also gluten free?

Why does the crumble topping end up looking like ground beef before it is baked? WHY?

Tomorrow morning I am planning on going Black Friday shopping. I used to go almost every year, but I didn't the last two years. I usually spend Black Friday looking for new shoes. This year, I am also looking for some new shoes, but also a good winter coat. Hopefully I will be able to fight my way through aggressive shoppers. I swear I am getting old or something. I used to not be this vulnerable to the cold. I used to be almost immune, wearing a thin shirt and feeling fine. It's weird.

Anyways, just wanted to share a quick post with you guys. I hope you are all doing well.

Lemme know in the comments below what you are thankful for! I would love to hear what you guys have to say! 

I wish you all a wonderful Thanksgiving, and thanks for reading!


Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!
There are always those days where you get super busy and stressed out. During those times, you tend to crave comfort foods like junk food or sweets. I know that for me, when I am all stressed and cramming for a test, I tend to reach for that chocolate bar that's sitting there begging to be eaten. But, before you reach for those empty caloric foods, try making your own froyo!

My container of frozen Activia Light yogurt

It is super easy to make. It only requires two steps: purchase your favorite yogurt and put it in the fridge for a couple hours. Voila! It is done! Afterwards, thaw it for several minutes and you can eat this delicious frozen treat.

This helps satisfy your cravings for sweets, such as ice cream. But, it is yogurt so it is a better substitute. Although this will not create an exact replica to the frozen yogurt that you can get at your local grocery store (as in it is not as creamy, so the consistency is different), it is still a great treat you should try!

I find that when I eat normal yogurt, I can go through the container pretty quick. It is so easy to eat, you know? But by freezing it, it takes more time and effort to consume. It also gives you the feeling of satiety way faster. So you can feel full quicker, and you aren't even eating more calories. That's a pretty good deal!

Give it a try! Let me know how it turns out for you! And what types of yogurt do you like best?


Til next time,
~A

Hey everyone!

One of my favorite beauty tricks is super cheap and affordable. It barely makes a dent in your wallet. I love using coconut oil in my daily beauty routine. It is so moisturizing and the delicious smell makes it all the more better!

Dr. Bronner's Magic All-One fresh pressed unrefined virgin coconut oil

The type of coconut oil I use is unrefined virgin coconut oil. It only cost around $9-10 for 14 oz. Unrefined virgin coconut oil is one of the best forms because the oil had undergone the least amount of processing, so it still holds most of its nutrients. Coconut oil mainly is made up of lauric acid, which gives it its antibacterial health benefits. There are also many antioxidants in coconut oil that can really nourish your skin.

Hey everyone!

What is your number one go-to beverage that you reach for every day? For me it's green tea. I drink it all the time! It's quite funny because most people my age tend to go for coffee, preferable Starbucks. Confession: I don't think I have actually bought a cup of coffee at Starbucks before. I prefer to drink tea, for the taste is refreshing and there are so many health benefits from this cup of brewed leaves!

One of my favorite types of green tea

Green tea has many great benefits. Since it is the least processed type of tea leaves, it contains an abundant amount of flavonoids - which are essentially, antioxidants. This provides the tea with its anti-inflammatory benefits and anti-carcinogenic effects. This delicious tea is also proven to stimulate your immune system, boost your metabolism and help you burn fat.

I like to just drink it straight up because I like the taste. But, if you are not a tea-drinker, there are other ways to get these benefits. You can always apply this directly to your skin to still obtain all of the good components of the tea and most importantly, get rid of acne!

Brew some green tea in hot water for about 2-3 minutes and then let it cool. You can soak a cotton pad in this liquid and apply it on your face as a toner. All you need to do is soak a cotton pad and then rub it on your face.

You know those mornings when you are super tired and it's just a bad skin day? No problem! Well, I guess as long as you do this beforehand. Make some green tea and freeze it in the fridge overnight. Rather than using plain ol' ice cubes on your face to reduce puffiness and redness, you can use these green tea ice cubes. It gives you all the beneficial antioxidants, while still providing you with some relief and satisfaction from the coolness. Of course, I suggest holding this for no longer than several seconds at a time because having a frostbite is wayyy more painful and unattractive!

Rinsing your hair in green tea also helps boost shine! Leave it on your hair for about 10-15 minutes then shampoo and condition as normal.

I hope you find these helpful! These are just small ways you can add green tea into your daily beauty routine. You can always just drink it too, which is what I do. But, then again, DIY beauty products are way more fun to do! Green tea is all natural, so applying this to your skin is a way better option than relying on those synthetic chemicals that are in commercial face cleansers. Let me know how this works out!

Til next time,
~A