Last Saturday, 2 November, was Beauty Night Society’s With Dignity Masquerade Ball (sponsored by Smell This! Aromatherapy & Derma Bright Clinic) at the Heritage Hall. We don’t get very many opportunities to dress up in costume at our age, nor do … Continue reading
Today I am dressed up as Belle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast and Once Upon a Time. I’m surprised I never dressed up as one of my favourite princesses in the last 20 something years. I’ve been Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, and countless of princesses and fairies.
I didn’t want to spend on a new costume this year though I had considered dressing up as a duck this year (one day, I will and you’ll know why). Thanks to @Duch29_9, @DuchessofBanana, and @SassSthrn, I decided to dress up as Belle this year. During the past month, I’ve been observing the Disney and OUAT’s Belles’ costumes to see if I had anything at home that would work. Here’s what I came up with:
Dress: I’m going with Belle’s day dress. In Disney’s B&B, Belle’s dress is medium blue and her blouse is elbow-length whereas OUAT’s Belle has puffy/buttercup sleeves and a light blue dress. Since I already had a light blue dirndl with a puffy-sleeved blouse, I decided to go with OUAT’s Belle’s costume. My dirndl, by the way, is from C&A and cost less than 35 Euros when I bought it 5 years ago. You can’t find a new dirndl this cheap or in good quality with embroidery and rhinestones anymore. The going price is 60 something euros and up. My dirndl would probably cost 80-100 euros now.
(Disney Belle is wears a white apron but I have a green one. Not wanting to look like I’m going to Oktoberfest, I used my apron as a covering for my basket.)
Shoes: In OUAT, Belle wears John Fluevog’s Everest heels in silver. I happened to have a pair of silver ballerinas from Aldo that I’d worn to my aunt’s wedding a few years ago. Disney’s Belle wears a pair of brown ballerinas but I have only black so the silver ballerinas seemed to be a good cross of the two. I wore faded pink ballet tights (from ballet class) just as OUAT Belle wore white in the TV series.
Cape: Disney’s Belle wears a blue cape as she rides off to find her father and in OUAT S3, the ‘imaginary’ Belle wears what appears to be a black cape (http://images.kpopstarz.com/data/images/full/2013/09/13/102024-1.jpg). Quite conveniently, I happened to find a vintage black/blue (it’s either very dark blue or black) velvet opera cape at Ivan Sayers’ garage sale. This is my first time wearing it out!
(I wore my H&M grey knit cape under the cape for warmth. It’s chilly out there!)
The opera cloak was only $20 CAD!
Hair: This morning, I’d wanted to wear it the way Disney Belle wears it: twisted into an inverted ponytail. Unfortunately, my hair’s not as long as I’d like it to be to hold it well so I changed it to OUAT Belle’s hairstyle which is a half-ponytail. I’m using two brown clips instead of a hair elastic.
Props: In the opening scene after the prologue in Disney’s B&B, we see Belle carrying a basket with a book inside. My plan was to find a basket and to borrow a book from the library (after all, her book was from the ‘library’ though she called it a ‘book shop’). I had just about given up finding a basket when the Saucy Milliner (aka the real Mad Hatter) made my day by lending me her beautiful basket for Halloween. I checked out Max Eilenberg’s Beauty and the Beast because I liked the illustrations by Angela Barrett.
Cover of Beauty and the Beast
My OUAT friends (the three whom I mentioned above) suggested I bring a chipped cup and include a photo of Rumple[stiltskin]. I didn’t want to bring one of my fine bone tea cups nor did I want to spend on a dollar store teacup only to chip it for Halloween. Another friend @EkatiSoleil suggested I bring a candlestick holder and call him Lumiere. Splendid idea too but I think it’s somewhere in the storage room. I could still print out a photo of Rumple and draw a heart though. 😉
The only thing I did spend money on were the sweets I plan to hand out (though I have somehow swallowed quite a few mini Rockets). Total cost? $3 (before tax).
Voilà!
What do you think? 🙂
(This post was written for The Glosse Posse.)
I’m excited to share three Pinterest reviews to you today!
I started the Apple Cider Vinegar (hereforth referred to as ACV) cleanse last Wednesday, drinking the awful-tasting beverage before every meal every day. (Please see the last post for instructions.) I then picked the ACV + Tea Tree Oil toner to apply to my cleansed face twice a day (morning and evening). You will need 1 cup water, 1 cup ACV, and a few drops of Tea Tree Oil. The latter treats acne but you can use green tea in lieu of tea tree oil if you wish.
This was followed by a scar-fading cream, a natural remedy made by a Traditional Chinese Medicine doctor, which I would also apply twice a day over some pink marks. Although I had expected to have a clear face by Monday, the two above-mentioned pins (not including the scar-fading cream) worked incredibly well.
Over the weekend, I indulged myself by munching on some ketchup crisps/chips. I would usually break out the next day or so but I was surprised that I didn’t spot anything ‘new’. (This doesn’t mean you should take advantage of eating everything unhealthy and flush it all out with ACV.) Furthermore, I think the combination of the three helped reduce the size of the pimples, prevent new ones from forming, and faded acne scars. The first and second are probably the result of the toner and/or the ACV drink, and the third is most likely from the cream. Yesterday marked day 7 (actually, 6, since I had forgotten to drink ACV in the morning and afternoon) and my skin is looking much better than it had last week.
I thought I would try the sour cream mask last night to brighten up the skin and to fade the remaining pink marks. The recipe I followed requires 2 Tbsp sour cream, 1 Tbsp ACV or lemon juice, and 2 Tbsp honey. As I didn’t have any honey at home, I made my brightening face cream with sour cream and ACV. It is very similar to the last [failed] mask I made so I imagine you can use sour cream or plain yogurt. The honey is supposed to moisturise and heal the skin. ACV balances the pH of your skin and also soothes damaged skin. The sour cream acts as a natural exfoliant.
I applied the mask on my face for 20 minutes as instructed, then rinsed my face with ‘cool’ (it can’t be cold or warm) water. I noticed an immediate change in my appearance. The mask had faded quite a few of my scars and I felt as if I would have clear skin by Wednesday or Thursday.
(Photo source: pinterest.com/pin/98023729362552604)
Now, here’s the scary part…
I also thought I’d try rinsing my hair with ACV (after I had shampooed it, of course). I had a hard time pouring it that some of the ACV got on my face. After I had finished showering, I looked at myself in the mirror in horror. Some parts of my face looked like it had been either overheated or was ‘burning’. I didn’t have any pain, however, so I was sure it could not have been a burn. My face didn’t feel hot either. I was very confused and couldn’t figure out if it was the ACV or the sour cream. What I did not understand is that I hadn’t had any immediate reaction after I had rinsed off the sour cream face mask. I was also uncertain if it could be the ACV because the red marks weren’t in streaks but random blotches under my chin and near my temples. In a moment of despair, I prayed to God to get rid of the red blotches and to save my skin. (This is not a joke. I kept imagining the worst.)
I applied a clear toner and Effeclar Duo on my cheeks, then went to bed.
This morning, I awoke to find that the redness had gone (oh thank God!) and that my skin was indeed restored to the way it had been before the showering/ACV incident. The only unfortunate thing I noticed was that I had a new pimple but it popped pretty quickly. I applied the ACV toner this morning, as well as the acne-fading cream and all is still well.
So… if there’s anything I’ve learned from these Pinterest tests, they are:
I hope I didn’t frighten any of you!
Read more: Health Benefits of Apple Cider Vinegar (Juicing with G)
(This post was written for The Glosse Posse.)
In four days, I’ll be modelling in antique and vintage dresses for a live model lecture. What does that mean? My skin needs to be flawless. We are discouraged from wearing any foundation or concealers so as not to get the makeup on the clothing. My problem? My face was attacked by acne two weeks ago and it’s taking its time to heal. I don’t think my right cheek has been this bad in 10 years! The causes are: lack of sleep and intense stress. The Advil Liqui-gel has helped quite a bit but now I’m left with pink scars and scabs. In the meantime, I don’t want to clog up my pores with makeup so I’ve turned to my Pinterest beauty board for some home-made remedies. One of the pins I saw was this:
This anti-scar face mask requires:
4 tbsp honey (some require 2 tbsp)
3 tsp lemon juice
4 tsp plain yogurt
1 x egg white
I’m not sure what the mask is supposed to look like but I had expected it would be as thick as yogurt. Well, my ‘mask’ looked like icky soup. I applied it on my face anyway. It was terribly hard to wait 15 minutes as required with the liquid dripping from my face as I did the dishes. After 15 minutes, you’re supposed to rinse the ‘mask’ with warm water. I had room-temperature water.
Did I notice anything different? Not really. Was it worse? No. Did I feel stupid? Yes. Perhaps I used the wrong kind of honey. Maybe I had too much yogurt? When I tried googling photos of people’s yogurt acne-fading mask, it looked whiter and thicker, just like yogurt. In other words, my mask was a complete failure. Nonetheless, I know this mask requires a few treatments before anything works but I’m impatient.
Since I am terribly desperate, I am currently using La Roche-Posay’s Effeclar Duo to treat the red spots, as well as a natural scar cream made by a Traditional Chinese Medicinist. Plus, let us not forget the miraculous wonders of water. I’ll let you know how my face is doing. 🙂
(This post was written for The Glosse Posse.)
I didn’t have much time this past week to test out some fun pins, not to mention I was missing quite a few ingredients, so I decided to go with the simplest one called DIY Microdermabrasion. All you need is baking soda and water. The instructions said that you’ll need 3 parts baking soda and 1 part water, which you will then stir until it becomes a paste. I didn’t have time to follow the instructions so I played around with the ingredients in my palm until the ‘product’ looked watery enough to apply on my face. I tried to find where the original pin had come from but unfortunately, the blog had been deactivated. As I was googling for some more baking soda microdermabrasion tips, I found a blog called Don’t Pin That. The blogger pointed out that baking soda can dry out your skin and cause even more break-outs. This DIY microdermabrasion works better for those with oily skin. Since I have combination skin, I didn’t want to risk messing with my natural pH balance. I massaged the product in a circular motion, avoiding the eye area, then quickly rinsed my face with cold water (warm water should be fine too). It feels a lot like having salt dissolve on your skin (slippery feel) but don’t try to scrub your face. According to the pin, you’re supposed to end up with a glowing face, like the girl in the picture. While that was not the case for me, I did find that my complexion improved and my skin tone was not as dark. After the DIY microdermabrasion, I moisturised my face as usual and applied Advil Liqui-gel on the raised bumps around my chin and right cheek.
When I woke up the next morning, I felt that there was just enough oil on my face, as usual. My skin wasn’t dehydrated and I noticed that the uneven skin from the night before was now much smoother. This could also be from using the Advil Liqui-gel, though I’d never had it work that quickly before. Total cost of ingredients that I already have at home? Just pennies for this one-time treatment!
Warning:
It is recommended that you do not do this treatment daily but weekly or less often, depending on your skin type. Since my combination skin becomes less oily around autumn/winter, I think I’ll be doing this treatment once or twice a month.
Just remember to moisturise! 😉
Let me know how this pin works for you. Always do a test patch if you’re unsure and stop if you notice anything abnormal.
I’ll have to go shopping this weekend for some more ingredients for next week’s pin.
Cheers!
The Lady and the Rose 
