5 Great Lower Body Exercises

I'm always looking for something different to switch up my workout routine.  At this stage of my life (reaching a new milestone of 60 at the end of this year), keeping my body toned, healthy and yes, still sexy is a feat within itself.  I did come across a great series of exercises that will add some fun to your routine and make them muscles respond.

Prevention.com has come up with some awesome routines to exercise your thighs, shape up your belly, and workout your butt with just (5) ballet-inspired moves using just a wall in your home.  Yes, I said a wall!  Oh ... and a mat or rug too!  So ladies ... go at it and let me know how they worked for you.

Go to http://www.prevention.com/fitness/strength-training/no-squats-belly-butt-thighs-workout

Yardley Makes it Easy to Layer Your Perfume Scent With 'Layers of Luxury'

Yardley sent me a Russian Nesting Doll style box o' Lace goodies - A box within a box within a box (don't worry Mother Earth, I'll reuse and recycle them), which ended up housing a whole set of Yardley Lace products wrapped up in a soft Pashmina. I hadn't smelt Lace in ages, and when I opened the first bottle I immediately recognised it as one of my gran's favourites - a soft, powdery scent that is super feminine.

Exhibit A: Russian Nesting Dolls (source)

But more on the layering. Yardley have now expanded their product offering of old favourites like Lace, White Satin, Gorgeous, Ballet and You're the Fire. They recommend adding a delicate layer of one product upon another upon another... This will give your scent a stronger impact, and make it linger longer.

Yardley Lace Layers of Luxury products

The product offering consists of:

Roll-on (R18)
Perfumed Body Spray (R30)
Body Lotion (R26 - R36 for HUGE bottles)
EDT and EDP (R100- R220, ranging from 15ml-50ml, only available in Lace, White Satin, Ballet)

Want some? Yardley's layers of luxury fragrance range will be on shelf from August 2012. I think they're v affordable gifts - you can make up a nice packet for an aunt/gran/older colleague for under R100 if you leave out the actual perfume.

C xx

Review with swatches: Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner in Black Gold

One of the easiest ways to vamp up a look is with a sexy, defined upper lash line. Call it cheating, but I already discovered Maybelline's gel liners last year on an overseas trip, and I was getting rather impatient for the local launch.

In SA, we'll have two liners in the Eyestudio Lasting Drama Gel Eyeliner range: Black Gold and Black Chrome. Both have (you guessed it) a black base, with either chrome or gold flecks. Like so:

Maybelline Eyestudion Lasting Drama
Gel Eyeliner 24H in Black Gold

A swatch of Maybelline Lasting Drama Gel Liner
in Black Gold - Horiffically enlarged so that you
can see that the 'gold' shows up nicely.

It's a v nice all-in-one kit - you buy the pot of gel liner as well as a decent applicator brush for R100. If you haven't used a gel liner before, there's no reason to be intimidated - it applies in exactly the same manner as a pencil or liquid liner. In this case, you just have to dip the brush in the pot first, and then you start 'painting' on your liner as usual. The gel is soft enough for easy application, but once it sets it doesn't budge, and you can party away (I did just that, until 4am on Saturday morning. Thumbs up).

The Black Gold is especially great for any eye colour that has yellow flecks in - whether it's blue, green, brown or somewhere inbetween - the gold will pick up the yellow flecks, making you appear all bright eyed and bushy tailed. I love the effect it has on my grey/green/blueish eyes.

Available from Maybelline counters at R100 each

C xx

Review: Mama Mio Omega Body Buff

I'm slowly working my way through the products in my OMG kit, and so far the product that has impressed me most is O•Mega Body Buff.

Mama Mio Omega Body Buff

I generally prefer sugar- or salt scrubs in a vegetable oil base, but this scrub has me hooked. It contains Sweet Almond Oil, Vit E, Aloe Vera, Chamomile, and some more things I don't really care about. Because it's a SCRUB. And to be a good scrub, it has to contain the right amount of abrasive. This one contains the perfect amount of Micro Ground Pumice. The test? With all exfoliators, I scrub my upper arms, and see (a) how well and (b) for how long it sorts out the bumps and rough texture (It's called Keratosis Pilaris, and I wrote a story on it for Beauty South Africa, click over here if you would like to read it).

The verdict? This one leaves even my often-bumpy arms super smooth for up to a week (I usually have to scrub them twice a week to keep them that way). It has a orangey scent that reminds me of some medicine I drank as a child (I'm thinking it was antibiotics?) so I'm not completely in love with the scent, but it's most likely because of the association I'm making. It's a great, gritty-enough scrub that rinses easily and does not leave the skin feeling dry. Is it too early to start putting things on my Christmas list?

Available from selected spas and skincare salons at a RRP of R395 for 200ml. To locate a stockist, visit this page.

C xx

Benefit Products No Longer Available in South Africa

August will be a v depressing month. Not only am I being dragged to kicking and screaming to go live in Gauteng (OK OK I'm lying, I'm leaving by choice), but Benefit cosmetics will also no longer be available locally in Woolies stores.

I'll miss my favourites:

Benefit Girl Meets Pearl Highlighter
Review of this product over here. 

Benefit High Beam Highlighter.
Review of a good dupe over here

Benefit Finding Mr Bright Highlighting Kit -
this was my initial introduction to Benefit products,
and it got me hooked faster than you can say crack addict

I'm also already kicking myself for not trying more of their products like I intended to. Now I'm torn between running into the biggest Woolies I can find while uttering primal screams and buying everything I've always wanted to try, or just making my peace and pretending I never knew about it. If I were to choose option A, these would be on my list:

Brow-zings kit in dark

Dandelion Highlighting Powder

Hervana Multi Blush

So long Benefit. It's been real.

C xx

A website like http://escort-london.com will provide you with the highest quality in the industry.