Lixie Love

So... how does one start a blog after so long without an update? With excuses? No... that’s been done before. Lets start it like this:

Hey there!

After five hundred years without writing, I bring a yummy apology that is going to make you love me so much, you’ll forget I haven’t been updating the blog.

Let me introduce: the healthy nutella! YEEEEEEY!!!! FINALLY! A nutella that isn’t going to make your face explode with pimples. It has so much goodness going on! I dare to say it’s even more delicious than actual nutella and nutritious.

What you need to get:

200 grams of hazelnut

1/3 cup of agave nectar (or any other sweetener you choose)

3 tablespoons of raw cacao powder

What you need to do:

Roast the hazelnut for 5 minutes in the oven. Move them around and put them in the oven for 5 more minutes. Once they are ready you have two options: you can either peel them or leave them like that. 

Put the hazelnuts in a food processor and graind them ..

Add the agave nectar and the raw cacao powder and turn the food processor on until you recognize the beautiful nutella consistency. Be patient! It takes time to get there.

EXTRA TIPS: 

- If you want to achieve a softer consistency, add a little bit of water. However, I noticed that it lasts longer if you have it without the water. - You can use any other sweetener (like stevia, syrup, honey, etc) but bare in mind this will change the flavor. 

So there you have it! Now we can all munch on some nutella and forget all about not having an updated blog.

Check the blog as there will be more recipes coming soon! Don’t forget to leave your comments here!

Yeah, I know, I’ve been terrible at keeping the blog updated. I’m not going to waste this post writing excuses so… as a way to apologize to you, lovely people, I’ve come up with something AWESOME.

Why do this? I try to treat my skin with the best products I can find. But when I check the labels of the products on the store, most creams contain mineral oil (it can also be found under the name of petrolatum or paraffinum liquidum. The use of this oil, however, has most to do with its cheap price than the benefits you can get from it. It aggravates acne and has a bad impact on how skin looks, making it age prematurely. Maybe you tried on a cream overnight and the following day your skin looked radiant! But after several times using that cream you notice that it’s getting drier instead of healthier. That's beacause the mineral oil doesn’t allow your skin to breath.

So WOOOOW- shocking news if you didn’t know anything about that, right? And it can be found on skin care products, hair masks, make-up, etc.

Now you can use this as hair mask or a body cream. It’s super hydrating and nourishing and it’s way easier to use than just applying the liquid oil.  

You’ll need: ♥ ½ Cup of Coconut Oil ♥ 1 tablespoon of Sweet Almond Oil ♥ 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil Alternative: ♥ 1 tablespoon of Glycerin ♥ 2 capsules of Vitamin E (Make sure it’s natural! Not synthetic.) ♥ Essential oil or natural fragrance.

Preparation: ♥ Combine all ingredients in a bowl. (The coconut oil has to be solid). ♥ Whip together using a mixer for about 5 to 10 minutes. Check the sides of the bowl so everything is well mixed. ♥ Remember coconut oil liquefies on the hotter days. Store it in the fridge so it stays with that frosting looking consistency.

Don't forget to leave your comments here! Let me know if you tried it :)

for further information and the list of ingredients go to: http://lixiebeauty.tumblr.com/ hope you like it! Thumbs up if you liked it!

Almost every girl in the planet has cellulite and almost every girl in the planet is talking about the Frank body scrub. I so badly wanted to try it out, but my country has some serious rules about importing creams, scrubs, make up, etc. so there was no way I could get it online.

It has been known for a long time that caffeine is the number one ingredient to diminish the appearance of cellulite. So I went online and started researching the other most common ingredients that anti-cellulite creams had. After a lot of reading and testing, I came up with a power scrub that combines extra caffeine, antioxidants and hydrating ingredients.

What you’ll need:

2 table spoons of Coffee

2 table spoons of Brown Sugar

1 teabag of White tea

1 teabag of Green tea

1 table spoon of Lemon and Orange peel

1 or 2 table spoon of (Sweet) Almond Oil.

1 and ½ table spoons of Coconut Oil.

Empty container

EXTRA: you can add a capsule of Vitamin E and/or Sea Salt.

Watch the video for further guidance. 

It’s a very light scrub that you can use every day while you shower. I highly recommend you wash your skin with warm water first, then do the scrub for 5 to 10 minutes and then rinse off. Remember to apply moisturizer after the shower for a healthy and radiant skin.

If you feel like it smells too much like coffee you can add some drops of your favorite perfume, natural fragrance or essential oil, but usually the lemon and orange peel do the trick. You can also add more Oil. And if you don’t have brown sugar, you can use the regular one.

So there you have it, a cheap and natural way to get rid of cellulite with stuff you can find at home. Try this out and let me know what you think here! Also, give the video thumbs up if you’d like me to do more videos!

Hope you all have a lovely week!

Hello Lovely! Did you start the week eating healthier? Well if you didn’t, here’s the second part of my view on how to have a healthier diet.

♥ People eat way more than they are supposed to. We already know there is a certain amount of calories we need to consume each day and we are free to chose how to. We also know our body needs carbohydrates, protein, vitamins, etc. So let me help you figure this thing out... The secret is eating in moderation. I know this is hard. Especially when that chocolate cake is seducing you right there…

♥ Reduce the size of your plate. Eating in a smaller plate tricks your brain into thinking that you are eating a larger meal, because it looks as if the plate had more food. This combined with the point below makes a HUGE difference!

♥ Take your time to chew the food. Enjoy the flavor, taste every bite! Studies have proven that food is better assimilated when you take your time to eat and you focus on the mere act of eating. Turn off the TV, close your laptop, leave your tablet, and put away your phone! Enjoy the fact that you are going to eat.

♥ Stay active and move, move, move! No matter where you are or what you are doing, try to give some extra movement to your day. I, for instance, like to move my legs while I'm sitting at work. I also try to stand up every hour and a half, and to use the stairs. More movement means more callories burned! 

♥ Have a glass of water 15 minutes before your meals and when you feel hungry, sometimes we confuse thirst with hunger, if when you satisfy your thirst the feeling of hunger goes away you were only dehydrated. This is something I didn’t know a few years ago, and when I started doing it, it changed everything! Just take the 8 glasses of water a day and problem solved!

♥ Go for chicken, turkey and fish, instead of red meat. If you are a vegetarian or vegan don’t forget to eat your daily protein portion. Taking protein out of a diet would be the stupidest mistake you could ever make.

♥ Add Chia seeds to your drink or food. Chia seeds not only have great properties. It combats diabetes, provides fiber, Omega-3, Calcium, Manganese, Phosphorus, Protein, improves blood pressure and last but not least, it fights belly fat and helps you feel fuller. How does it make you feel fuller? Well, when the seeds are in contact with humidity (say, some water) they create a gelatinous layer around. Want another plus? They don’t really have a taste, so you can add them to anything! I like to add them in my food but also in fruit smoothies and tea.

♥ Switch to Olive Oil and/or Coconut Oil and add apple vinegar to your diet. I feel like in most of my posts I include the first two ingredients, but there are so many properties these oils have, that they are extremely good for you!

♥ Eat half a pink grapefruit in the morning or before lunch. This amazing fruit helps boosts your metabolism. It will not only help you lose weight, but it will also provide you with Vitamin C, perfect to fight the flu and wrinkles! 

BE INSPIRED: 

Grab a picture of yourself with your perfect weight, or a picture of someone else and set it as your goal. Having an aim makes you work two times harder, you just have to know exactly what the result will be- you with THAT perfect body. Trust you will get there and results will show faster! Just belive you will get there, and you WILL.

We’ve all been through a period where we tried a million and two diets, drinking magic tea, taking weight loss pills, going for extremely long walks and other things that never really work, just to lose the extra fat in our body that we just can't seem to accept.

A few years ago I had a car accident. I was very very lucky as the damage it made was only emotional, my legs, back, arms, everything was almost perfect. I say almost because my knees hurt really bad and were swollen, for about 2 months I couldn’t walk without limping from the pain so I couldn’t work out. I just ate my feelings away -specially as friends and family would come to visit and spoiled me bring the most delicious food EVER.

One day I saw a picture of myself and realized my chubbiness was getting too much. I am a tiny person, so the kilos I gained really showed.  When I went to the doctor and they told me I had really high cholesterol I freaked out.

I decided to take action and make extreme changes in my life. Below I’ll name and explain some changes that I made to lose weight effortlessly! Note that I’ll submit more tips to help you. I don’t believe in diets, but I do believe in healthy eating or making little changes in our diets.

On the left 46 kg, on the right 54 kg

LET'S START REDUCING BLOATING:

♥ DETOX: before switching to healthy eating you need to start with a detoxifying plan.

   a)  Lemons- Every morning start drinking the juice of half a lemon with warm water. The first week have another cup of those before lunch or dinner. After that first week you can take the lemon water every morning. 

   b)  Green juice- Take a glass of green juice in the morning and another before lunch or dinner. Find a recipe below!

the lemons from my lemon tree are HUGE!

♥ Drink more water (8 glasses a day or more). Air bubbles on sodas cause swelling in your belly area. Switch that coca-cola for water, iced tea (try peppermint or green tea), fruit juice or smoothies. Not taking enough water causes cellulite.

♥ Include green tea in your diet. This tea is diuretic, it helps fight water retention, which not only causes bloating but it also cause cellulite. As I find green tea too bitter, I like to add a bit of strawberry, raspberry and acaí tea, more antioxidants, less wrinkles!

♥ Avoid adding too much salt, or just avoid salt all together. Try to find the perfect flavor using other ingredients, like olive oil, garlic, onion, bell, oregano, parsley, etc. Also take into account that canned foods are packed with salt, try buying the ones that are low in sodium.

♥ Avoid indulging in fried foods like chips, or sugary foods like chocolate or candies every day. If you are craving chocolate, try dark chocolate, it’s yummy and really good for you! Instead of sugar, try using honey or stevia.

♥ Reduce your portion when it comes to potatoes, regular flour and white rice. Instead try eating sweet potatoes, brown rice and almond/cassava/chickpea flour, you can also try oatmeal.

this picture was taken from google images.

GREEN JUICE RECIPES:

♥  6 large leaves of spenach, 1 lemon without zest and pith, 1 green apple, just a tiny bit of fresh ginger or cucumber.

♥  5 kale leaves, 1 tbsp of coconut oil, 230 ml of unsweetened almond milk, 1 tbsp of raw almonds.

♥  1 cucumber, 2 celery stalks, 1 lemon, 6 leaves of spinach, 1 pear.

♥  1 avocado, 1 orange, 1 cup of strawberries, 1 kiwi, 1 cup of spenach.

To either recipe you can add almond milk, coconut water or aloe vera juice.

There are several things you can do to grow out your hair. A few years ago I was unlucky enough to get almost ALL my hair chopped off on January 2010. There was a misunderstanding between my back then hairdresser and myself, and I ended up having layers on my hair (the shortest one was 3 cm away from my roots).

 I was desperate to grow out my hair, but I needed to straighten it almost every day to make it look longer and good. Obviously exposing it to heat wasn’t really wise of me.

 I WAS NOT HAPPY

 My wise and beautiful mother and the forever useful internet, provided a bunch of things to do when you desperately need to grow out your hair. The picture below, shows the hair growth that I had in almost a year. And I’m telling you guys, once I got my hair as long as I wanted it, I started cutting it every two or three months, or every month just a little, and I’ve kept it long and healthy as the picture above.

  1-   Trimming your hair every once in a while is IDEAL. I had no idea how to cut my own hair at first,  but after that horrible haircut I didn’t trust hairdressers AT ALL. There are several ways you can do this, depending on how you want the ends to look, etc. Let me know in the comments if you’d like a tutorial on that.

2-   Aloe vera. And I KNOW, every post I make includes this plant in one way or another. Aloe vera regenerates cells, it has tons of vitamins and it’s extremely good for your hair!

3-   Use an oil treatment. To repair your ends from damage, so that you can go longer without having to chop off half your hair, you can use olive, coconut or almond oil to repair the ends of your hair. Find tutorials in the hair section.

4-   Avoid hot water. Us girls, tend to shower with extremely hot water (or is it just me?). That is really harmful for our hair, especially if you also use hot styling tools on it.

5-   Stay hydrated. Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day. Our body is mostly water, you NEED to drink more of it to have healthy, shiny, strong hair, beautiful skin and it is also really important if you need to lose weight. Should I say more?

6-   Brushing. There are ways and ways to brushing hair. You should always start by the ends, to get rid of all knots better.

7-   Styling. Try to avoid styling your hair while it’s wet. Wait until it is at least 70% dry, as it is really easy to damage hair while it is still wet. Oh, and try not to strangle it with a towel. Be really really gentle when your hair is wet.

8-   Massage your scalp, this aims to blood circulation.

9-   Smash birth control pills into your shampoo. This helps give more shine and strength to your hair because of the type of hormones it has.

10-  Say goodbye to harsh chemicals. Avoid using shampoos with too much sodium (which tends to over dry hair, leave dandruff and damage). Also, say bye bye to perms and peroxide! Try a natural option to dye your hair, like henna, I also leave you my heatless hair tutorials.

11-  Be careful with your ponytails. Make sure you leave them loose, trust me, you don’t wand bald patches!

12-  Use hair masks for deep conditioning.

13-  Eat healthy.

 FIND MORE TIPS HERE! from my previous post.

Always remember, when it comes to beauty treatments, it’s always better to go natural!

Nobody likes dry lips and the worst part is we can't hide them! They hurt when you smile, you tend to bite them and take the skin out of them... they end up looking like a mess. There are many things you can do to improve the way your lips look, especially on the horrible winter month.

Exfoliation:

Exfoliating you lips will help you get rid of the dead skin, it will also improve blood circulation in the area. There are three different ways of doing this: you can either use a wet towel or a soft toothbrush, but the fastest way to get them soft and hydrated is using a lip scrub. Mix any type of sugar and olive oil. If you don’t have olive oil you can use honey. Stir up the ingredients till they form a paste. Apply as if it were lip balm and gently scrub. Do this every other day and you will see awesome results!

Hydrate:

After scrubbing your lips use your favorite lip balm and you’re ready! If you are doing this before going to bed just dab a little bit of olive oil and leave it through the night. Always make sure you hydrate after exfoliating or your skin will only get drier.

Apart from trying these things out, always make sure you are taking enough water. Drink at least 8 glasses of water every day (just water… tea, juice, etc. doesn’t count!). Let me know if you try it out and if it helps you out as it helped me!

If you have further questions or suggestions leave them here!

So a lot of things happened while I was gone.

I met someone who changed my life for good, I turned 22 :) yeeey! and I spent a whole month traveling around England and Paris, among other things.

Needless to say that my trip was eye opening and completely different from anything I’ve ever done before, beauty related I can say I fell IN LOVE with three brands that marked me F O R E V E R! And I’m not even exaggerating, it’s the best alternative I found for when I’m lazy and I can’t bring myself to prepare one of my DIY to put on. Those brands were Soap and Glory (OMG the smell on the Righteous Butte!) The Body Shop and Yves Rocher.

I also found my favorite fragrance in the whole whole world, Such a Flirt from Victoria’s Secret. I also got another mist in the scent Sheer Love. I love splashing either of them when I start my day as I feel it puts me in a good mood it has a really refreshing smell.

I also got two Lip Balms by Burt’s Bees, one with pomegranate oil and the other with açaí berry.  Both extremely hydrating and nourishing.

I have to be honest with you- I’ve been like crazy planning my trip to London! (that sounds like a pretty good excuse, doesn’t it?). That’s the main reason why I haven’t start my youtube channel and why I haven’t post anything you could find useful. I’ve been fighting my inner demons lately, having some rough couple of months, but everything will be okey, promise.

I am currently trying out a new cream with rosehip oil, which is really good for people that suffer from acne, dryness or wrinkles. I don’t really have acne, but I’ll let you know if it really makes your skin look extremely hydrated as I was told. (It also contains whitch hazel and sesame oil). So far my skin looks nice, though I smell like an old lady :)

I had a few break outs the last couple of weeks, mostly because of how poorly I was feeling and because I ate like a pig things I shouldn’t have eaten. I thought it was a great time to pick up lemons again!

(Here is the basic way to do and rock leopard print nails)

Every morning I wake up and drink a glass with the juice of half a lemon and warm water, and before I go to bed I do the lemon-sugar scrub or wash my face with a gentle cleanser that has lemon oil. It’s AMAZING how different your skin looks once you introduce (or in my case use again) lemons! It gives you a special glow that I haven’t been able to achieve with any other ingredient. (That’s not true… I got similar results with honey and apple vinegar).

Try some of the posts I have with lemons! But be careful. Don’t try that out if your skin is dry, or if you do try any of the things, make sure you moisturize your skin afterwards!

(Here is how I gave movement and body to my hair)

This is my friend Gabi. Her hair- yeah, IK goooorgeous! and it is so straight!

She had a party on Saturday, and she wanted me to help her with hair and make-up. Gabi told me she wanted some loose curls, and natural-looking make-up.

I tried making her curls with my flat iron, it was IMPOSSIBLE. Her hair fell straight again, every time! I tried all the different techniques you can imagine for doing curls with a flat iron and it just wasn’t working…

I manage to grab the right products and tools, this was the complete look:

If you have really straight hair like her and you want long-lasting curls this is what you need to do:

 Apply some heat protection spray on your hair.

Use a curling iron (I used a 1” curling iron).

Do one curl and when you let it loose pin it with a bobby pin and spay it with your favourite hairspray.

Once you are done doing all your curls, let them cool and then loose them.

Take some hair wax, warm up the product by rubbing your hands together, then gently run your hands through your curls.

The wax and the hairspray will help them stay in place and you’ll be able to enjoy your night out, just like Gabi did, with curls that really last! You will even have them in the morning.

  For her make-up I used Maybelline’s fit me foundation (it’s really light and it just gives that healthy skin look, it doesn’t look cakey or anything). I used some bronzer too, highlighted her cheeks and the inner corner of her eyes, and used some bright pink blush.

For the eyes, I used liquid eyeliner and made a classic cat eye look. I applied black eye shadow on top of the liquid liner so that it would stay longer. I also curled her long lashes and used little mascara.

Then I used the Maybelline 14 hour lipstick in Eternal Rose on her lips.

Let me know if you’d like to see a video tutorial for that look by hearting or reblogging! 

thank you!! That means a lot to me!

I'm about to start a youtube account also, I have some big things planned for the blog! I'm glad you like it! :)

I love Gossip Girl, and I was a little too depressed when it came to an end. At least in my country girls went through a major “Before and After” transformation: before GG was on we used to wear plain, boring clothes, but once the show aired on Warner it was bye bye plain clothes, hello Manhattan glamour!

I also love Leighton and Blake, and I love her loose waves, even more. So when I bump into one of Blake’s interviews were she revealed how she got her amazing loose waves I knew I had to share this!

Twisting her almost dry, after-shower hair, she makes a low ballerina bun close to her neck. She lets her hair dry completely (most of the time using a hairdryer) and then takes the bun off, running gently her fingers through her hair. Et voila!

My twist at the Blake Lively loose waves (no heat):

Part your hair in two sections at the front and do another section with the hair that falls on your back.  

Then twist each section away from the face (tightly if you want more wave definition).   

Secre the ends of the two first sections together, so that the twist stays there.  

Secure the last one in a bun and leave.  

Extra tips for better and long lasting effects (using heat):

Use your flat iron and go through your hair while it’s twisted and then do your bun and secure together the front part.  

Use a hairdryer and blow your for about 30 seconds on each section of your hair.  

Apply hairspray to your twists and bun and leave them there until your hair is cool again.  

Loose them and run your fingers, gently, through your hair. Apply hairspray again.

  And you're done! Now you’re ready for a night out, or in my case my nan’s 80th birthday! 

  Want ever looser waves?

Follow the same directions but part your hair into two sections and twist them into two low Princess Leia buns but when you twist do it on the other direction, not away from your face.

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I was really worried about my eyelashes a few months ago. They keept falling down  easily. They became more and more thin it almost made me look like I had none!

I started doing my research on what natural products I could use to make my eyelashes grow and stay in their place.

(Second day using Olive Oil- I do have a little bit of mascara on the ends)

I decided to try Olive Oil, and the results I’m seeing are AMAZING.

I started with very short and thin eyelashes, gradually they started looking fuller and longer, and who doesn’t want that?!

(longer and thicker eyelashes! 4 days later)

Here’s what you need to do: with your face (and eyelashes) completely clean, apply olive oil with your fingers to the upper lash line (this should be on the eyelid, try to avoid getting olive oil on your eyes as it will make your view a bit blurry). Then apply a bit of the oil to your lower lashes, and slowly add some more and “brush” your lashes between your fingers.

Be very careful when you do so! Don't pull them out! This also works with your eyebrows, if you're trying to grow them.. (try aloe vera and olive oil together for better results)

I also saw a video of a girl that takes care of her eyelashes with vaseline! Watch it here.

Wash your face the following day and wait for the results. What happened to me was amazing! The first day I woke up with healthy looking eyelashes, the second day they looked thicker and the third day I had more volume (and more eyelashes growing!)

-Sorry about the bad quality of the second picture! I just took it before going to bed, so the light of the room is quite poor.

Will you try this? I'll try to update this post next week so you can see how they look!