Homemade Smoothie Fridays: Strawberries & Banana

This is a classic smoothie that everyone can make at home with your friends or kids. It's so easy!

Servings: 1 to 2

Ingredients:

• 1/2 to 1 organic banana (depending on how you like your consistency)
• Frozen or fresh strawberries
• 1 cup of milk (I chose soymilk)

You can adjust accordingly to your tastes!

Equipment:

• Blender
• Cups

Strawberries are a great source of fiber and vitamin C. It's a low fat and cholesterol food. It's delicious and full of other vitamins and minerals. What's not to love~

How to Get Rid Of Pimples Naturally

Don't you just hate those nasty buggers that pop up on your face. Pimples and acne galore! Those days we absolutely dread and for me it's almost every other day. I still have scars that are pretty bad but it's gotten a lot better since I'm on a better diet, drinking more water, and using tea tree oil and vitamin E oil. I propose natural solutions without using stuff from the drugstore. Those yucky chemicals can do more harm than good.


NATURAL SOLUTIONS OF GETTING RID OF ACNE

• Wash your face and neck on a regular basis

This is really important as this keeps your face clean and free from dirty building up on your skin. Don't overdo as this can be irritating to the skin.

• Baking soda and water

If  you already have pimples then you can use this natural remedy. Make a small paste of baking soda and a little bit of water and apply with a Q-tip over those problem areas and leave on for about 10 to 15 minutes.

• Tea Tree Oil

This is a natural antibacterial that you can apply to prevent and treat. I mix a half a tablespoon of organic coconut oil and 2 drops of tea tree oil and dap with a Q-tip and then rub it all over my face. This is my favorite go to! I do this once a day.

• Sleep

Try to get 7 to 8 hours a sleep a night. This is self-explanatory. Your body needs rest and sleep to heal those pimples as these are infections so take care of yourself!

• De-stress, de-stress, de-stress

Find ways to relax and have fun. Stress can lead to breakouts so find ways to cope with your stress without having to think too much about it. Do what I do and think happy thoughts or keep yourself occupied with activites you love to do.

• Staying Hydrated

This is important in flushing out toxins from your body. Try to drink two liters of water a day. Moisturize with a natural moisturizer every morning and night to keep your skin from drying out.

• Exercise

Try to do a light exercise like jogging three times a week for 30 minutes a day to start off if you're not used to working out.

• Spa/Sauna

This is a natural detox and a way to destress. You can knock two birds with one stone.

• Avoid over the counter products

These products contain chemicals that can be very damaging to the skin especially if you start off having sensitive skin like I do!

• Hot/Cold (Face washing)

Most of us wash our faces with warm or hot water. I suggest adding cold water wash after this for about a few minutes. Even better if you have ice cubes to run over your face. This will help tighten those pores and help prevent those large pores to collect bacteria, oil, dirt, and other things that will get stuck in your pores increasing your chances of getting breakouts.

• Good Foods

This is especially important to keep those nasty pimples away. If you eat a diet full of grease than this would make sense. Eat more raw vegetables and fruits will help keep those pimples away.

• Scar Treatment

Already have those existing acne scars? Mix vitamin E oil in your moisturizer. I've seen a decrease in my scarring pigmentation. It takes time but you'll see it getting lighter over time.

• Exfoliate (Don't Over Do It)

Some say exfoliate three times a week and some say do it once a week. If you're prone to breakouts, exfoliating is not recommended since you can spread the bacteria from the pimples to other parts of your face and this creates more pimples! I have sensitive skin and when I exfoliate my face this caused my face to overreact and break out even more. If you do the facial massage like I do with some coconut oil, vitamin E oil, and tea tree oil that is more than enough to exfoliate and get rid of dead skin cells. Sometimes it's better to do something soothing to the face then to be abrasive even if it's gentle.

Homemade Smoothie Fridays: Beets and Raspberries

Gather your ingredients:

• 1/2 of beet, chopped

• 1/3 cup of frozen or fresh raspberries

• 1 cup of orange juice

• 1 tbsp of goji berries or powder

• 1 tbsp of acai powder

I like frozen fruit since I can keep them in the fridge longer as I tend to get busy throughout the week.

I use the Navitas brand. Looking forward to trying out different ones. :)

The dirt looking stuff on top is the acai powder. 

Goji berries are great anti-oxidants and rich in vitamin A.

 Look at this rich and beautiful color. This is so yummy. It's healthy and nutritious and gives me an energy boost throughout the day! I love beets!

Benefits of beets: detox, vitamins A, B, & C, beta-carotene, beta-cyanine, folic acid, potassium, magnesium, fiber, phosphorus, and iron. Beets are great for everybody and pregnant women as well. (Please consult with your doctor before starting any diet regimen)

Say NO to BOTOX - All Natural Facelift

I got a comment today on how I look like I lost a lot of weight and that my face got a lot thinner. LOLZ.  I don't think I lost that much weight but I am eating healthier of course. My face looks thinner and lifted because I've been doing this lovely face massage that I learned about a year ago. I'll list my tips below and share with you all. <3

DO NOTS:

• sugary and alcoholic drinks
• Ditch the salty foods and snacks!

•  Heavy cosmetics

• Eating late at night. This can give you that bloated look in the mornings. 

DO:

• Drink 2 to 3 liters of water a day.
• Face massage 2x day with natural vitamin E oil. I've been doing it for 15 minutes each time just because I don't have all the time in the world. Sometimes I go longer but that's usually on the weekends or my days off. :) Vitamin E is a natural anti-oxidant and fights those free radicals that cause those wrinkles and saggy skin. This will keep your skin smooth and youthful longer. If you want to know how to do the massage  >Click here for my very popular post<

Here's my all time favorite face product. 11 bucks on amazon.com. 

• Healthy [detox] diet consisting of fruits and vegetables. I like to make fruit and veggie smoothies. All time favorite vegetable right now are beets! nom nom nom~
• Do some walking or just keep moving!!!

• Little makeup so your skin can breathe. Make sure to take off your makeup at night.

Let me know if you want any more tips or need more details by commenting below. Don't be shy, I'll be happy to help! :-)

I'll be doing my next post on how to make your face "look" thinner by using certain makeup products. If you want to stay current with my newest and latest post, please subscribe or add me to your circles. Thank you guys so much for reading my post. See you soon my lovely bonbons. Kisses~ Shon

Thought For The Day

Follow what you love. You can never go wrong.

Have a great weekend! I have to do some errands today so I'll be back for my homemade smoothie Fridays post.

Love you all,
Shon

How To Lose Weight Without Exercising

This may seem like a dream come true for some people or it might sound like a bogos post. Let me tell you something. You don't have to spend butt loads of money to get fit. That's the point. I'm sure Lady Gaga and Beyonce look great because they have personal trainers or what not but they have the money and resources. We don't! Lol, so for most of you guys out there we don't have that kind of money to dish out and spend like crazy. And let me ask you another question, how many of you guys actually go to the gym on a regular basis? It's hard to do if you have kids and work full time. That doesn't mean I haven't seen people do this.

I propose a kind of exercise that seems less like working. I don't go to a gym. I do walk everywhere as I don't own a car. If you try adding simple things like walking or jogging then it makes it easier. I also clean and move things around the house a lot which keeps me active and moving. The key is to keep moving and not to sit at your computer and TV all day.

Another factor into losing weight is my diet. I do eat healthy. This part you cannot cop out on. Now I don't mean to starve yourself because that is not a diet. I still eat the same amount of calories or more sometimes but I eat a lot of fruits and vegetables. This causes my metabolism to increase. This doesn't sound yummy to most people I know but it'll get better. Just incorporate a few at a time. I remember my brother starting off and it was hard for him because he never ate fruits or vegetables. He incorporates one fruit and one vegetable a day now and trust me it was hard to even get to that point. This is a great improvement though! Every little bit counts and this is a gradual process and won't happen overnight.

Homemade Smoothie Fridays: Mango & Peach Smoothie

Here are my frozen fruits. I rather get real fresh fruits but sometimes with my busy schedule it's hard to keep up with. This way I can have my fruit any day without worrying about the spoiling! :)

I added banana, frozen mango, and peaches~ Nom, nom, nom

The end~ I used organic orange juice as my base. How easy was that~?!

Making Cement Using Bacteria?

You can't help but to love the fact that people everyday are finding more efficient and eco-friendly ways to create items that we need. Bricks and cement for example require over 4000 degrees F of energy to make and emits billions of tons of CO2 emissions every year.  Biomason is one company that produces bricks with environmentally friendly ways that are grown in ambient temperatures with the help of microorganisms. Bacteria can be proven to be quite effective when using them to our advantage.

They use a few items that include bacteria, urea, sand...and there are a few more

Check out their official website here.

http://www.biomason.com/

I thought I would share this interesting article with you guys. This is really inspirational!


Reference:
http://www.archdaily.com/472905/bricks-grown-from-bacteria/

How To Be Energetic And Focused

It is Monday morning. I got up dreaming about a Will & Grace episode. I can't remember exactly what it was about because I can never remember my dreams ever! Does anybody remember that show? That show was awesooooooommmmeeee!

I'm so excited because in today's blog I thought I share my ways of getting up in the mornings being energetic and focused. There's no secret or magical item I eat or drink or use to do this. Sorry, folks! I don't drink Mike Chang's Afterburn Fuel. No diss Mike, lol.  0_O

Property of Mike Chang's sixpackshortcuts

Be concerned about what you put into your body or do to it:

What I mean by this is that don't be partying the night before or pigging out on a midnight fast food meal. As this may seem obvious you would be surprised how many people do this and many don't realize that this is really damaging to the body. Our body is capable of many things but when we smoke, drink, eat unhealthy meals, or stay up late, this gives our body a small amount of time to heal. It's like doing an intense workout and not resting in between. Any kind of trauma whether it be physical or mental requires our body long rest and detox. That's why when we get sick we need time to heal. Your body needs all the resources it needs to fight bacteria and keep your body in a balanced state.

What to do to get energy for long term:

This is not an overnight mission. This takes time which can be months and years. I can tell you that it has mainly do to with major factors such as:

• your activity level
• how hydrated you are
• if you are eating a healthy diet
• if you're getting enough sleep.

Stress can play a big part in your health too. This is another trauma to your mind which then affect all your body organs and systems. The hard part is not just getting onto a healthier track but being consistent. We'll have bad days and good days. We're human! The important thing is if you fall off then you gotta quickly as possible get yourself back on.

First step and how to feel great as soon as possible:

Write down your schedule to see where you can incorporate you packing healthy meals and fruits as snacks for work or school. I created lists all the time and wrote out my own schedules. I am horrible at time management. There are many of you guys out there too! Why do you think there are several books about it! You can also create time to workout and start your goals off small. Once a week is better than none. I promise and don't be like me in the early days, "oh, I'll stay at the gym for an hour." This will never work because you'll run out of exercises to do and will quickly burn out. Start off 10 to 15 minutes which doesn't include stretching and warming up. I used to go to the gym 6 times a week (when my parents used to pay for my membership then) for only 15 to 30 minutes at a time. I told myself at least 15 minutes and then I can go home. I was super fit! Consistency is more important then how long you stay at the gym. Unless you plan to look like Henry Cavill from Man Of Steel. I can't help you there. HAHA!

*wipes mouth* love you hunkie poooooo~ 

source: digitalspy.com

This doesn't mean you have to spend tons of money. I don't have a gym and I walk miles a day some days and I usually just watch youtube videos to get stretching and my cardio in. Trust me, I was in your shoes and it was so hard at first and I am the laziest person I know. After the hump I promise it will get easier just focus on being consistent.

Detox. There are tons of information about it online and in books. I'll write more on this in another post but this is really important to feeling great quickly as a week. Drinking at least 2 L of water a day. Eating raw fruits and vegetables throughout the day. Packing your own healthy meals. Don't go out to eat because that stuff is bad for you!

What do I do personally now:

I try to be as natural as I can. Of course, I'm not perfect and I don't claim to be. I still struggle with certain things as being healthy can be quite expensive. Nowadays, I drink a cup of coffee some mornings. I just drink water, fruit juices or smoothies, coffee, and teas. I sweeten with honey or organic pure cane sugar but I hardly ever do that.

I eat lots of fruits in the morning. My go to fruits are bananas and mango because they have the good kind of carbs. The sugar will give me the quick energy and the carbs will give me longer energy for the day. This is fuel for me as it's a quick energy sugar and carbs in fruits are broken down by our body easily than other types of foods.

I workout because that's what keeps my energy up everyday. If I don't do so then I feel sluggish. When I don't eat fruits and vegetables I feel sluggish. My body is used to this. I get hypoglycemic and start blacking out because of the lack of energy. I eat a lot good healthy calories. People are amazed on how much I can eat. I eat healthy fats such as from vegetables. I use coconut oil for most of my cooking.

I take showers in hot first and then very cold after. That usually gets me focused in the mornings and it's good for your pores on your skin. If you feel this is too much for you then you can start off small by washing your face like this. This can still wake you up in the mornings. 

I go to the sauna time to time as it is expensive to go but I do my best to save up and do so. It's important to release toxins through your pores. You can also do this by exercising first and then added benefit is to go right after to release even more toxins. 

In conclusion:

To sum everyyyyyything up. Consistency and health are the two most important things. It will not be an overnight result although if you keep it up everyday at first you may feel some results. Overall, cut back on those addictions whether it be fast food, smoking, and drinking a little less and this will go a long way. I hoped this helped some of you out...

Please don't forget to subscribe -----------------------------> on the right side here or add me on google +

Don't forget to comment below and share us your tips and ideas on getting more energy and feeling great! I love to hear other people's thoughts and ideas~

Shon's Photobook: These Are A Few Of My Favorite Things

 I thought I might share my photos with you...

Cute tiny plants I bought.

Gotta have a cactus.

MMMM green tea ice cream!

tofu and veggie pho is mah favorite~~ nom nom nom

My other favorite is seafood pho

Green tea cake with tad sweetness. Just perfect ^_^

My mom ordered herself salmon when we went on a dinner date together. I love the tomato rose. They're so creative!

I got the seafood pad thai. It was scrumptious. My mom was definitely jealous.

Healthy salads are my ultimate weakness. This is the way to my heart. <3

Hoped you guys enjoyed!

Love,

Shon XOXOXO

Homemade Smoothie Fridays: Peach & Mango

Seriously gotta love mango and peach. It's funny back in the day I hated mango and peaches and now I love them so much. Pineapple would be a great addition to this. YUM

1. 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh mango

2. 1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peaches

3. 1/2 of a banana

4. 1 cup of orange juice (organic or freshly squeezed)

5. ***optional*** 1 tbsp of freeze dried pomegranate powder by Navitas brand

6. A few baby carrots. I like a mixture of veggie and fruit smoothie.

2-3 servings or if you're like me drink all of it for yourself. *maniacal laughter* FRUITS ALL MINE!!! MINE I TELL YA!!!!

Tada! Here you go. It's sooooo yummy. Well actually try it out for yourself. The taste is indescribable. I am going to have another one of these. SOOO GOOD, DROOLS. 0_O

Hope you liked this simple smoothie recipe that I made. I hope to make more in the future. I am so excited!

Love you all my bonbon sweeties,

Shon

100 Percent Pure Beauty Splurge

Here is recent beauty splurge with 100 Percent Pure. You guys know me well by now and I LOVE to use 100% Pure cosmetics. There are still more out there to try and will promise to do more reviews. 

If you don't know too much about this brand or want to learn more about the brand. Click here for the link to my blog post introducing the company.  That way for some of you lovely followers it won't be a repeat as this company is already soooooo huge now. They have about a quarter of a million followers on facebook. Kudos to 100 PERCENT PURE!

I thought I start off my new year fresh and new so I thought to invest in a few cosmetic items for myself. I don't have too many as I like to keep my look clean and simple. My recent buy is nothing too fancy as they are items I need to use them everyday. I got the deal from last week's special. They have weekly specials and they're accessible to everybody. You can save about 30 to 40 percent on normal items that they sell which is super duper great! All you have to do is to go to their website. Click here for the link 100%Pure official website.  Move your cursor over the Gifts tab and you will click the first drop down called "weekly special value."

So I got the set of their tinted moisturizer, powder, primer, and kabuki brush all for 68 US dollars. I used a 10% promo code which you can just google. It was such a great deal with free shipping. It came in so fast. Like 2 days! I'm still waiting on some orders I put in on Amazon which I put in weeks ago. Thank you 100% Pure.

Here are some photos I took the first day I got them. I was super excited!

 Here are some samples they sent me. They were so adorably packaged. mew~~ =^-^=

 I seriously can't wait to try these! I'll let you guys know in another post.

 Don't you just want it allllllll~

100% Pure Luminous Primer   //   1oz   //   $28.00 US

100% Pure Fruit Pigmented Tinted Moisturizer   //   1.7oz   //   $35.00 US

100% Pure Healthy Flawless Skin Foundation Powder   //   0.316 oz   //   $28.00 US

100% Pure Cruelty Free Kabuki Brush   //   $21.00 US

Total of $112.00. I saved over 44 dollars on everything. I love weekly special. Who doesn't love saving.

I have reviews of the tinted moisturizer and the powder which I will include below. I haven't done one about the primer, the kabuki brush, and the samples. I will do that in another post. So far I've tried it for 2 days and the primer feels wonderful.

100% Pure Tinted Moisturizer and Powder review blog

Extra note:
New weekly special and don't miss out on this fantastic buy~

and....

I am wayyyyyy too excited about their new makeup blender or a*k*a beauty blender. I want to get my hands on one of these soon. Maybe my next buy???? I know it's been out for a while on the market and yes the price on these has gone up. They used to be 4 dollars a pop in beauty stores but oh well they work like a miracle is what I see and hear from beauty gurus online.

$13.00 US

Don't forget to add me on google + to subscribe to my blog!

Love you always,

Shon

Raw Vegans Look Half Their Age

All them are RAW vegans. Can you guess their ages?

Credit to thriftcore.com

1. Ani Phyo 45
2. Annette Larkins 70
3. Mimi Kirk 72

I seriously can't believe how beautiful they look. Such inspiration! This just proves that the raw plant food play a major part in sustaining beauty, youth, a clear mind, and a full spirit. It makes sense as plants have been around for millions of years. They outlasted every disease, bacteria, virus, and disaster and still managed to survive.

I actually stumbled on Annette Larkin's story first. I couldn't believe that she was at the time 67 or so in the video. She is so active and is up by 530 every morning and has her own garden and collects rain water to drink and feed to her plants. She can speak three languages, exercises an hour a day, and had her own broadcast talking about plant recipes and life. It doesn't matter how old you are, you are capable of anything!

You don't necessarily have to be a raw vegan to reap the benefits. The important thing is to start incorporating more raw fruits and vegetables into your diet and it'll get easier and easier from there.

Homemade Smoothie Fridays: Berry Medley

Good morning bonbon beautiful people~
I'm feeling so great today maybe because it's FRIDAY! I wanted to share with you my smoothie recipe today. I stumbled upon the frozen berry medley at my local market and I can't believe I've never gotten these before. I am in love~~ The great thing is that if you're busy you don't have to worry about them spoiling. So I'm going to call it Shon's fantastic berry-licious orange smoothie! Jk. That's a bit much. It's so sweet and yummy. I did not put any additional sweeteners or anything as the orange juice and the berries did the job.

RAW Ingredients:
1 cup of orange juice
1 cup of frozen berry medley (Whole foods)
1/2 of an organic apple
A few slices of red cabbage
A few carrots
A few slices of banana    ***Optional
Tbsp of freeze dried organic pomegranate powder   //   Navitas brand     ***Optional

This can make 2 servings
Tip: Try to get organic and non-GMO if they are available to you. Or if you grow your own that's even better!

It was sooooooo good. It's packed with vitamins and antioxidants. Who could resist?? I drank 2 of these by myself. >.< The funny thing is that I feel hungrier and tempted to make more. I guess I can snack on some bananas before I make another one. What are your favorite homemade recipes??? Feel free to share with everybody below!

Love Shon

My Favorite Tool For Shaping Eyebrows

Hey my bonbon cuties,

I want to start off my saying good morning! I'm eating my leftover pasta for breakfast. YUMMM I love leftovers, don't you?? It's 41 degrees and partly cloudy. *as it says on my iphone hehe ^-^* It's slighty cold but it's nothing too bad as we don't get any snow.

So today's topic I wanted to go over is eyebrows. I think it's because I've been watching all these videos about makeup and I don't wear heavy makeup myself. I like to watch other people do theirs. It's much more fun. Well, that got me thinking is that me and many other girlfriends that I have, have sparse eyebrows especially when we don't have our makeup on. I want to tell everyone out there, please don't over tweeze! I think a lot of girls make this mistake but that's just because we don't know how to do it properly. Thank you youtube! I started tweezing at the age of 11 but of course I didn't know what I was doing. I just kept tweezing away for years. Now I don't have very much left but I fill them in so I can have fuller looking brows.

Natural brows

Filled in brows

Now I'm not saying tweezing is bad. It's just not done properly so please watch some videos. There are tons of makeup gurus out there that know what they're talking about. Just youtube it!

I have this handy dandy tool that I use that looks like this:

I actually found this item at a local asian market but if you don't have one close by you can order on Amazon for really cheap. Type in brow shaper and there should be a good list of them. I'm so glad I got these. They're amazing because I can shape my brows instantly. It definitely does not take as long as tweezing and also you won't get sparse looking brows as it grows back.

Good Morning! I Finally Got A Break From Clinicals

So I got up and took a shower like I usually do in the mornings. I would make coffee right after but unfortunately I ran out of coffee! :-( So I ordered some more on Amazon.com yesterday. I might have to buy a small box to hold me over. I miss my coffee~

I'm eating my unfancy breakfast.

I don't have very much in my house. The whole grain bread with nuts and raisins are sooooo delish! I can eat a million of these.

So I'm so glad I'm on a one week break before I start school. Like the good girl I am, I have bought all my books and paid off my tuition. Now I'm officially broke! My main focus today is to clean, workout, and play my piano today.

I hope everyone is having a great winter break so far. I know I am! I'll be doing a post real soon about my new cosmetic buys in the upcoming weeks.

JuiceBeauty Defining Eyeliner Review

So I've been needing an eyeliner recently and wanted to get the gel liner from 100% Pure which is one of my adored natural brand of cosmetics. They were sold out! It's really popular because this happens often. Anyways I decided to get a black eyeliner from Juicebeauty and they had free shipping deal going on so I decided to get their eyeliner.



Brand: Juicebeauty
Product: Defining Eyeliner
Size: 0.08 oz
Cost: 16 US dollars
Color: Black

Shon's thoughts: The product arrived in a green box and it was really nicely packaged. The shipping was really fast like a few days time. Thumbs up Juicebeauty! I got my two free samples of a sachet and Green Apple Peel for sensitive skin. I didn't include the sachet in the photo as I already used it within the first 10 minutes I got it, lol.

Let me start off by saying this eyeliner is a pencil liner. As seen in the photo it is dual ended with the other end containing the smudge applicator for those smoky eye looks. It's not a fancy retractable liner or sharpie liner that we are all used to. You're expectations of a pencil liner is about the same with this. It nothing too special or out of the ordinary but I got it because it's definitely a lot better for you than the drugstore brands with yucky chemicals. This is not waterproof. It can come off easily when you rub your eye by accident like I do all the time. I don't mind it though! =P

Here is a picture of drawing lines on my hand. The lines come out thick but that is expected with a pencil liner. It does have a slight waxy texture compared to drugstore liners. If you want a dark line you'll have to go over and over the same spot again but I like that so that way you can build it up. 

I'll list their ingredients below and you'll see why it's worth it.

Overall, I love the liner. I would recommend to anyone who prefers a pencil liner. Click here for eyeliner link.