Save some cash and revamp your wardrobe!

I am at my point where money is a bit of a problem. What I'm trying to say is I would love to have a good piece of designer dress or a really high quality dress. Many people may not believe me, but I actually do not own that many dresses. I usually just accessories them differently every time I wear the same dress.
Anyways, I usually clean my wardrobe every 6 months to give it a fresh look. Plus, it gives me the chance to see what I have and what I need. Honestly speaking, just like other tips on revamping your wardrobe, its not an easy task. I would suggest play some happy music when you're at it.
However, cleaning out your wardrobe does not mean you have to throw away every single thing you think you're not going to wear. If I do that I'd only have a few clothes left.
Clear your mind and analyze your clothes 1 by 1. Check if there are any holes. If there are, think of any way you can save this dress. Perhaps add a pocket or maybe cut the length? If no, yes you have to break up with it. Throw it away, toss it somewhere you can never turn back and get it again.
Pull out clothes that is outdated, not your size anymore and you don't think you'll ever wear them again coz you're just bored of them.
Lay them out on the bed or somewhere spacious. Look at them closely. If you have a dress that is too big, you can easily take it to your taylor and alter it to your size.
Outdated? Be creative. Try to think of a way to save the dress. Perhaps get rid of its shoulder pads or maybe shorten the length or perhaps alter the waist size? Take it to the taylor. She or he will know what to do. But don't forget to voice out your preferences. Most outdated clothes or dresses can be saved, by modernizing them. If you're taylor is really good, you dress will be a super hot vintage dress.
All of us have come to the point where we're just bored of some of our clothes. My tip is, alter them! From long sleeves to short, from to short to sleeveless, from long skirt to mini skirt, from a dress to a skirt! But if you think there's nothing you can do about that piece of cloth, get rid of it!

5 rules to flat abs

1. Stop targeting those superficial muscles! That means, those crunches you're doing every day are not technically working. According to Yahoo Lifestyle, in order for you to lose 450 grams of fat you need to do 250 000 crunches a day, that means 100 crunches a day for 7 years!! If you ask me, i'd probably wouldn't even make it for a year. So start doing your planks by targeting your core muscles

2. Stop being a couch potato and start moving your bum! Best workout for your bum is the glute bridge march

3. Eat for your abs: 1. wholegrain breads & cereals
2. Chicken & turkey
3. Beans & Legumes
4. Olive oil
5. Peanut Butter
6. Green Veggies
7. Whey Protein Powder
8. Low Fat Dairy
9. Eggs
10. Berries
11. Oats
12. Nuts & Seeds

Eat more protein (fish, chicken. nuts... etc)
Avoid added & processed sugar
There's nothing wrong with fat - know your limits and eat with moderation

4. Stop the stress!! Stress encourages your body to store more fat

5. Believe it or not, but workout less. Doing abs work out everyday, won't do any good. You only need 3 sessions a week to get tone. Give your body a full day recovery before you do your next abs exercise. If you're body is used to the work out you're currently doing, its time to move on to a harder move. But you can still have your daily cardio exercise!!

Gossip Girl Spoiler Alert!

Ok, if you're a big fan of Gossip Girl and you don't want to ruin your day, go away!! Seriously, don't read this.

Here goes... According to some reliable sources Chuck Bass and Blair Waldorf are going to break up at the end of this season. Why oh why? I'm so upset! They're my favorite couple... the sweetest couple ever!!!

So apparently, the break up is going to be Chuck's fault and everyone else is going to hate him too!! Chuck oh Chuck!

Is your hair straight but flat and dull?

My hair had always been straight, but very thin, flat and dull. This always annoy me that there're times that I perm my hair just so that it'll look thicker. However, I've just accidentally discovered a really inexpensive way to make my hair look thicker & bouncy but still straight. I just came back home, and there was only a bottle of shampoo for curly hair (I used it when I had permed hair). So, out of desperation, I just used it anyway. The result was marvelous! After washing and blow drying my hair, my hair looked bouncy, alive but at the same time straight and silky!

Burnt

It hasn't even been a week that I'm back, and my skin is already looking burnt. Oh the hot hot sun. Some people might like this, but I don't. Somehow my skin doesn't show its original flush, and looking dull all the time. So right now I'm planning to go for a pharmacy hopping to look for an affordable product to repair my skin. Believe me, this is the time that I wish I could afford SKII, but u can't have it all, right?
I used to wonder why can't I buy this and that. I've always been longing to have a bottle of 'Miracle Water' in my bathroom cabinet and a tub of creme de la mer on my dressing table. But you know, rather than thinking about how much I want it, i think its best for me to think of how much I have in my life, and be thankful. Yes, I thank God for everything that God has given me. A great husband, great family, nice apartment and of course, a chance to further my study. Some people don't even have anywhere to live, no food to eat, and worst some people have to go through war. I am so grateful for what I have

Listen to your body

Me and my hubby had a great conversation about healthy eating with my father in law (who is a seriously health freak)just now. He just came back from seeing this non-mainstream but highly recommended doctor who gave him some good advices on healthy eating. As most of you know, we should avoid eating white stuff like, white rice, pasta, white bread etc... And I think most of us tend to buy low fat food, you know, to avoid getting fat or to lose weight. But my father in law made a good point when he said that America has the largest amount of low fat food but the Americans are just getting fatter and fatter each year. Weird isn't it? So according to this doctor he saw, the biggest culprit to being fat or weight gain is actually sugar. Any form of sugar. This include carbs (rice, pasta, white bread...etc), sugary drinks and even fruits! I almost screamed when I heard that. I love fruits. I eat fruits in front of the tv, almost every day. Apparently its ok to eat fruits, but not the riped ones or the sweet ones. But those are what we really love, right? Gosh, being healthy is so hard. And apparently, those fatty food that we eat is actually ok as long as we eat with moderation. But sugar is the villain. Trust me, it wasn't easy for me to take either. When sugar enters our body, it becomes belly fat and this could cause high visceral fat. This is dangerous to our body as it could lead to deseases like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart problem. Visceral fat is very hard to get rid of, so the only way you can do this is to lower your sugar intake and exercise regularly. So to lower your sugar intake (which is hard bcoz almost everything that we eat and drink contain sugar), try to take food that does not convert into sugar right after it enters your body, like vegetables. If you have to eat sugar, try to go for honey or less processed sugar like palm sugar or brown sugar.
I've been asking myself, "How do I do this?" and I came up with kind of a good idea. I don't think I can go on and on with a strict diet and not tempted to eat unhealthy food. As a matter of fact, its ok to give in to your cravings sometimes. Coz if you don't do that you might just give up and eat everything! So, my plan is to eat healthily for 6 days and take a break for 1 day. That sounds fair, doesn't it?

Sculpt

O.M.G! I have to say that this is the most tastiest protein shake i've ever tasted in my life! I usually take their latte flavour, but they have other flavours too, like chocolate, strawberry and vanilla.
This protein shake is low in fat, low in sugar, low in carb and its especially created for women. All you have to do is just mix 250 ml of soy milk or skim milk and a scoop of the shake, and blend it. This a great after work out drink! I totally recommend this to all women

Acai Berry

Acai Berry is famous for assisting weight loss. First introduces world wide by Oprah, this product has been a hit ever since. As I've mentioned in my blog before, I've bought Acai Berry quite awhile ago but haven't been consistent in consuming it.
Anyways, after about 3 weeks consuming this drink every morning, I have to admit that I haven't shed a single kilo. I'm not saying that Oprah was lying when she advertised this product but perhaps different product works differently for different body. Coz I've read some reviews on the internet where there are people out there lost a lot of weight by drinking Acai Berry juice. But I do notice that this drink gives me a lot of energy and it tastes like Ribena. So, if you drink this before hitting the gym, its a really good idea. Other than that, I don't think there's anything special or unique about this product.

I have nothing to wear!

Familiar with that phrase? I hear myself saying that every single day.

Everyday when I open my wardrobe, I caught myself staring at a row of same old boring clothes. "How am I going to look hot if I wear the same thing over and over again?!", thats what I always asked myself before going to sleep.
I did some reading and watched some fashion shows, and it turns out that you don't really need to have that many clothes (especially if you can't effort it) too look smokin' hot. You just need the basics.

1. LBD (Little Black Dress)
2. Tank Top
3. Some Scarfs
4. Denim
5. A pair of good stunning sexy heels
6. A pair of good stunning ballet flats (Hello, Audrey Hepburn!)
7. Trench Coat
8. A pair of boots
9. Black skirt
10. Turtle neck

These are the essentials, and its cool if you have more than this. So once you have all the basics, all you have to do is use your imagination by mix and matching your basics with your accessories and jewelleries. A simple black dress (even if its a cheap one) would look expensive if you match it with some gold earrings, long gold necklace, gold bangles (3 or 4) and of course, a pair of heels. For something more casual, just wear your best jeans with a plane tank top. Put a scarf over your neck and let the end hang in front of your chest. To make your look even better, make sure you have your accessories like bangles, necklace and earrings on.

PS: You don't have to buy expensive accessories, just make sure they look expensive. Accessories are very important!

Look good without spending (or shop smart!)

Since I'm a student, its not easy for me to spend money all the time to look good. Seriously, its not easy to keep up with my high maintenance ways (i have to admit, i am a bit high maintenance). However, no matter how much I want to save up, I can't even go to the supermarket looking like a hobo. So, I did some thinking on how can I not spend (that much) but still look awesome. Here's what I've found:

1. Do your own manicure & pedicure. It might sound hard but with a little bit of practice, you'll master it like a pro. Google or look up on you tube on how to do your own manicure & pedicure. They have many useful videos on it (save AUD25).

2. Do your own facial. Its really easy, unless you really have bad acne problem. In that case, I recommend you to leave it to the professionals. Otherwise, boil some water. Pour it in a wide shallow basin. If you want to, you can pour in a few drops of essential oil. Let your face be near the water, close enough that you can inhale the vapour. But not to close, or you'll boil your face! Then, scrub your face with a good face. I suggest body and face scrub from MD Formulation. Its quite expensive, but you only need to use a little bit, so it should last about a year. After that, apply some face mask on your face, according to your skin type. The ones sold at the pharmacy in small packs are cheap and good. Make sure you read the ingredients though, you really don't want to get allergic reaction. Lastly, after the mask has dried up, rinse your face, pat dry and apply some moisturiser. If you have some vitamin C cream, it would be a good idea to apply it now. And now you're done!! (save AUD 55).

3. Have your own hair treatment. Boil some olive oil. Let it cool a bit till its warm enough and soak your hair in it. Now, wrap your hair with a towel, and let it stay over night. Wash your hair the next day. You will definitely get soft shiny hair!! (Save AUD 100).

Happy New Year!

I know its a bit late for a Happy New Year, but who cares? So, Happy New year!! In previous years, I nvr really thought of having a new year's resolution. But this year I do! I'm not going to tell you what it is or i'll jinx it so lets just hope I can keep up with my resolution!