Summer Body Guide Part 2

As Promised in my previous Post here is Part Two to my Summer Body Guide.

 By now I'm sure you can definitely see the change in your body I had promised you. I am also sure that there were a few days you wanted to give up as you felt you couldn't do it any longer. If you're still here now I want to congratulate you on achieving what you have! You should be proud of yourself. I told you it wasn't going to be easy, but I hope by now you can see it has, and will continue to be worth it. 

The second half of this guide IS scarier than the first, and it is a main reason I split it in two parts. If you read ahead to the end of this Guide before even starting I'm sure the intensity of what is to follow would've scared some of you away: with doubts you were unable to even attempt what is left to this Guide. After getting halfway, I hope you hold a different perspective and have learnt you are actually capable of achieving a lot more than you first assumed.

 So without further ramblings and pats on backs I shall give you Part 2 to My Summer Body Guide.

 DAY SIXTEEN:

80 Squats

DAY SEVENTEEN:

75 Sit-ups

100 Crunches

45 Leg Raises

12 Pushups

50 Squats

65 Secs Plank

DAY EIGHTEEN:

80 Sit-ups

110 Crunches

48 Leg Raises

14 Pushups

125 Squats

70 Secs Plank

DAY NINETEEN:

85 Sit-ups

120 Crunches

50 Leg Raises

15 Pushups

50 Squats

75 Secs Plank

DAY TWENTY:

REST DAY

DAY TWENTY ONE:

90 Sit-ups

130 Crunches

52 Leg Raises

15 Pushups

145 Squats

80 Secs Plank

DAY TWENTY TWO:

95 Sit-ups

140 Crunches

55 Leg Raises

16 Pushups

80 Squats

85 Secs Plank

DAY TWENTY THREE:

100 Sit-ups

150 Crunches

58 Leg Raises

17 Pushups

40 Squats

90 Secs Plank

DAY TWENTY FOUR:

100 Squats

DAY TWENTY FIVE:

105 Sit-ups

160 Crunches

60 Leg Raises

17 Pushups

95 Secs Plank

DAY TWENTY SIX:

110 Sit-ups

170 Crunches

60 Leg Raises

18 Pushups

75 Squats

100 Secs Plank

DAY TWENTY SEVEN:

115 Sit-ups

180 Crunches

62 Leg Raises

19 Pushups

50 Squats

110 Secs Plank

DAY TWENTY EIGHT:

150 Squats

DAY TWENTY NINE:

120 Sit-ups

190 Crunches

62 Leg Raises

19 Pushups

95 Squats

115 Secs Plank

DAY THIRTY:

125 Sit-ups

200 Crunches

65 Leg Raises

20 Pushups

175 Squats

120 Secs Plank

Now that you've completed this Guide I hope you have achieved the Summer Body which you originally wanted. I also hope you've all gained more self confidence and faith in yourself in what you're capable of achieving.

 Let me know in the comments how you all went, and if you will be continuing this Guide but personalising it to yourself!

I hope you all are proud to show off everything you've worked your bum off to achieve for this Summer, and no longer feel like beached sea life when asked to bathe in the sun with your friends!

Until next time xx

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Summer Body Guide Part 1

So the reality has just hit you that Summer is literally about to knock on our doors and you feel you may not be 100% ready for its arrival. The Winter weight is still there and you're now worrying that you may not feel as comfortable as you would like in your Summer attire. You would much rather have a toned stomach and a bum thats doesn't bounce as much as your boobs do when you run. Images of a beached whale come to mind when someone mentions sun bathing in public.

Now is the time to stop worrying! I am going to share with you my exercises I do which help me to stay and be more comfortable in my own skin. I'm not going to lie, it is going to be a lot of hard work And dedication- but if a Summer body is really what you're after: you need to accept that you cannot receive the desired results you want without either of these two things. There is no pill you can pop or fruit you can eat which will magically transform you into a toned babe, despite what Facebook and the internet will try to tell you.

 When I first started doing these exercises I literally began seeing results within a week- my bum being the first place. I have aways been self conscious about my bum, so when I saw the results there to begin with it pushed me more into dedicating myself completely into this routine. You may see results sooner than I did, or even a bit later, but trust me you WILL see results. It's a 30 day cycle. In this post I am only going to tell you the first 15 days so it's not overly confronting or scary then later I will be posting the final 15 days. 

If you are unaware what any of the exercises are, I have links to Youtube videos which show you exactly how to perform them correctly down the bottom. When I do these exercises I do split them up a bit, I usually do 20 sets of each then go on to the next exercise after a 30 second rest period. If you would prefer to do all the sets together at the same time, go for it, just make sure you do take time to rest and don't overdo it.

 So lets get in to this Summer Body Guide!

DAY ONE: 

15 Sit-ups 

5 Crunches

5 Leg Raise

3 Pushups 

30 Squats

25 Secs Plank

DAY TWO:

20 Sit-ups

8 Crunches

8 Leg Raise

4 Pushups

50 Squats

12 Secs Plank

DAY THREE:

25 Sit-ups

10 Crunches

10 Leg Raise

5 Pushups

75 Squats

15 Secs Plank

DAY FOUR:

60 Squats

DAY FIVE:

30 Sit-ups

12 Crunches

12 Leg Raise

5 Pushups

20 Secs Plank

DAY SIX:

30 Sit-ups

12 Crunches

12 Leg Raise

6 Pushups

60 Squats

25 Secs Plank

DAY SEVEN:

40 Sit-ups

20 Crunches

20 Leg Raise

7 Pushups

90 Squats

30 Second Plank

DAY EIGHT:

50 Squats

DAY NINE:

45 Sit-ups

30 Crunches

30 Leg Raise

7 Pushups

45 Squats

35 Secs Plank

DAY TEN:

5O Sit-ups

50 Crunches

30 Leg Raise

8 Push Ups

38 Secs Plank

DAY ELEVEN:

55 Sit-ups

65 Crunches

33 Leg Raise

9 Pushups

120 Squats

42 Secs Plank

DAY TWELVE:

40 Squats

DAY THIRTEEN:

60 Sit-ups

75 Crunches

40 Leg Raise

9 Pushups

75 Squats

50 Secs Plank

DAY FOURTEEN:

65 Sit-ups

85 Crunches

42 Leg Raise

11 Pushups

50 Squats

55 Secs Plank

DAY FIFTEEN:

70 Sit-ups

90 Crunches

42 Leg Raise

12 Pushups

60 Secs Plank

By now if you've completed all these days you will definitely be able to see and feel a difference! A huge congratulations to making it this far already. If you're keen to continue let me know and I will upload the rest of this Guide for you!

Video Links!

How to Do a Sit-up!

How to Do a Crunch!

How to Do Leg Raises!

How to Plank!

How to Do a Pushup!

How to Do a Squat!

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PureTAN review.

Fake Tans and myself definitely have a Love-Hate relationship. We've been at it for years. Sometimes they can please me, other times they make me want to exfoliate my whole top layer of skin off and start again. I've experienced many orange, streaky and overly potent smelling tans. But still, I keep going back to them hoping maybe one day we'll be able to connect properly and make things work. 

Today is that day my dear readers! Today I am happy to announce that Fake Tans and Myself are finally in a committed, serious and trusting relationship. Their name is PureTAN. 

I can honestly say this is the Best tan I have ever experienced in my life. It does not streak, come out orange and better yet it does not leave you with that disgusting overly strong fake tan smell EVERY other tan on the market leaves you with. To be honest the smell of fake tan is what puts me off most. All day the only thing you can smell is that, and the people you walk past/stand near can smell it too. Which is a complete giveaway that the colour of your body is in fact from a bottle. PureTAN does not give you this embarrassment though.

I have used this tan for over two months now and every time I've used it I've had 100% positive (amazing) results. Every time. What other tan can you say that about? Not many I'm sure. I would recommend using this tan with the mitt (or your own) that PureTAN sell as it evenly distributes the product onto your skin- therefore not making it streak.

Another great thing about this tan is that it only takes 1 hour for it to process for a light tan, 2 hours for a medium and 3 hours for a dark. As soon as you apply the product to your body you can instantly see the difference it gives.

In my review I am including photos so you can see for yourself how this tan works and the end result it gives. So lets get straight into it!

As you can see I am naturally very pale, so when it becomes the warmer months I do tend to reach for my bottle of brown to not stand out as much. I also do prefer having some colour to my skin as I feel I look healthier and also when I am a tone or so darker I feel my body looks more defined.

I usually begin applying tan from my legs then work my way up. Here you can see what the fake tan looks like on my leg as soon as I've applied it vs what my leg looks like with no tan on at all.

After applying the tan to my whole body you can instantly tell I am wearing fake tan, but that's okay because I really do not plan on going out whilst the tan is developing. Nor should you. It's not what I look like during the process time that worries me anyway- it's all about the final product. 

I only left this tan on for 2 hours, not the whole 3, as because I'm naturally pale (and everyone knows it) I didn't want to do something so extreme and make people know it was fake. Once people get use to me being this tone I can then extend my developing time to the 3 as if I've naturally just become darker with time. It's how you fake it properly. You should never really fake tan so extreme on the first go if you want a 'natural' look. It's all about making it look natural, so naturally it takes a bit of time. After washing all the product off this is what I looked like. 

As you can see it is very natural looking and nothing too dramatic to what I originally was. It isn't orange and hasn't streaked at all. If i keep applying this every 2-3 days it will gradually become darker, which is exactly what I want. You can also understand now with what I meant before in saying that being tanned gives me more definition. 

After washing the tan off I used another PureTAN product which is their coconut oil, and slathered that all over my body to give moisture to it so the tan will hopefully last longer

Even after the next day and another shower I felt the tan still lasted as great as the first day. 

I've also included photos of me outside in natural light so you can get an idea what it looks like in the real world.

the next day

I happily give this product review a 10/10. There is absolutely nothing to fault with this tan. I completely Love it and I am going to keep on using it until it decides it no longer loves me (which I hope never happens)

You can buy this product off their website https://puretan.com.au/ or from your local Priceline.

Too Faced The Little Black Book of Bronzers ♡

Not so long ago I was lucky enough to win a competition on Instagram hosted by @lulus.
The prize was The Little Black Book of Bronzers by Too Faced.

I will be honest with you, I haven't really owned that many bronzers in my life (high end or low.) A few months ago I made the decision to purchase Hoola by Benefit, but apart from that I've never really owed bronzers. To me, bronzers weren't seen as a huge staple product for my makeup collection.

 Let me tell you, since receiving this Book my mind has definitely changed!

Before now I always thought of Bronzers as a product which made many girls look tacky, fake or 'Oompa Loompaey.' Which is still the case for some people, but only those who go crazy on their product usage, or seemingly apply their makeup in the dark. Due to having such pale skin myself, I was afraid I would unknowingly slip into either one of these horrendous categories by using bronzer.

My first impression of this "Book" was the name itself was a bit deceiving. It was definitely not  'Little" like the title labels it. It was in fact massive. A bit too massive actually. It wasn't an item I would easily be able to transport with me, or even be able to store easily. Right now actually, I store this product under my makeup table as it won't fit in the drawers, and even if it did- it would take up too much space. You cannot take the bronzers out of the book either which is a bit of a disappointment. It would've been nice if you had the choice to either store them in the book, or the ability to take one (or all) out and do what you please. Really though this isn't too huge a hassle. I still have products I am capable of using. Who cares if I have to store it under a desk, it's not like I'd be using that space for much else anyway.

 Upon opening the book you are faced with a page explaining how you can use these bronzers, and tips for the occasion you would wear them for. Which is very helpful if you're practically a Bronzer Virgin like me. On the page next to it are the Bronzers themselves. Attached to the Book in all their brown, shiny (matte) glory. 

I've included swatches of all the Bronzers you get with this book. 

After swatching and trying these Bronzers on myself I have to admit I am a fan. Except for the darker ones (Sun Bunny and Beach Bunny), I am able to wear all on my natural skin. The other two I feel would definitely be suitable if I wore a medium fake tan.  I will give a quick overview and summary on each of the Bronzers just so you can get a better idea at what they are.

Milk Chocolate Soleil:  This is one of the lighter Bronzers in the Book and as the name suggests smells exactly like chocolate. To me, I feel scenting makeup in such a way isn't too wise a decision- as honestly who wants their face to smell like chocolate all day? It is a very strong scent, and you can smell it as soon as you open the book. Apart from the smell though this Bronzer applies so smoothly and easily to the skin and has a lovely matte finish, so there is no shine coming through.

Chocolate Soleil: This bronzer is the same as the milk chocolate soleil apart from the fact it is a tone darker, so more suited for a medium- deep look. It too has the chocolate scent and a matte finish.

Snow Bunny: This Bronzer you can use one of two ways: you can either mix all the colours together and get a luminous bronzed finished (as the swatch photo shows) or you can use each colour individually and have a highlighter, bronzer and a blush. The choice is yours! Personally I did find this to be a bit on the shiny side, and I'm not a huge fan of glittery makeup (I do tend to prefer natural looks) but I know there are many people who do enjoy some sparkle in their life and this would be great for them. 

Bronzed and Poreless: When I first used this Bronzer I didn't notice much of a difference between this and the Milk Chocolate Soleil. After a few hours though I found this one did stay matte longer and didn't "rub" off as easily as the milk chocolate. The Book describes this as a pore perfecting bronzer, I do not have big noticeable pores so cannot really comment on if this Bronzer does in fact hide the appearance of such a thing. 

Pink Leopard: Pink Leopard is another highlighting bronzer. The book labels it as a blushing bronzer. Just like snow bunny it is on the sparkling side, but in a more deeper shade. 

Beach Bunny: This was one of the two Bronzers I wasn't able to wear on my naturally pale skin as it is a very deep shade of a bronzer. In saying that though I feel it would be a very good product to contour with as there are four different shades of brown involved you could use individually, or like the swatch photo- blend together for a nice deep bronzed look. 

Endless Summer: This bronzer is labeled as "16 hour wear." Hell it's even got '16 hour bronze' carved into the bronzer itself. I used this as an 'all over face' bronzer, as in I did not apply it in the "big 3" way, or contour. I found it did give a nice natural sun kissed look to my face. Also it was able to last through my 8hour shift at work. I didn't give it a 16 hour go, as I don't think I ever really wear makeup that long, but with how it lasted my whole day at work without making my face shiny- it convinced me it possibly could last 16 hours. 

Sun Bunny: This is the other bronzer which I found too dark for my skin. The Book claims its a 'natural' bronzer, but honestly I feel thats only if you used one half of this product, as one half is light the other is very deep. Once again this could be used as a potential contour bronzer, but I feel it would be more suited as a 'sun kissed' look for naturally olive skin.

Overall I would rate this product a 7/10. I did have to deduct points as the scent of chocolate to me is definitely not needed, and also the size (and not being able to take each individual bronzer out) is another bother. Otherwise it is a great purchase for someone who's wanting to try out different bronzers for different occasions!

Why I Jab My Face With Needles & You Should Too

I will be the first to raise my hand if the question "who has problem skin?" is asked. True, I'll admit it isn't as bad as I make it out to be, but for me I would much rather if it were a lot clearer than it is. I've tried many (many many) different products, my bin will tell you that. I've increased the amount of water I drink a day, and even try (most days) to have a healthy diet, but nothing seems to completely fix my skin. 

After doing a fair bit of research on micro needling, I finally had the courage to buy my own "mini" micro needler. Now, I didn't spend big $$ on a fancy pancy machine. 1 because I do not have money to waste on products that "may" work, and 2 even if I did have the money I wouldn't be able to justify to myself spending so much on one item. So I did what I do best- I resorted to E-bay. 

All I did was search "micro needler" and found many different results. The product I ended up choosing for myself was about $18 including postage, so if it did end up being a dud, it wasn't that huge a dent in my amazing bank account. Just a Large Maccas meal and Mcflurry really, and hey my skin would probably appreciate the miss on that meal. 

Now if you're not familiar what micro needling does- feel free to Google it. Long story short though is micro needling is a machine/ roller (in my case) which has many many tiny needles sticking out of it, that then goes over your skin puncturing it and causing 'trauma' which then signals to the cells that they need to be regenerated. Therefore creating fresher, newer and hopefully healthier cells. 

The Derma Roller I purchased was 0.5mm (the needles length) which has 192 needles on it. 

I have used this probably 3 times now and already can say my skin is so much clearer! I have less noticeable (acne) scarring (not completely gone), less pimples and even my pores seem to not be as obvious as before. Only thing I am not a fan of when using this on my skin is it does 'hurt' a bit when rolling it over the skin as you do need to give Some pressure when rolling. Not so much that you're digging it into your skin, but enough so that there is some impact. I found after using it my face feels a bit 'burnt' and goes red for the next few hours. I do however have very sensitive skin so this could possibly not be as bad with other people. I've found using Bio Oil and a moisturiser with Vitamin E does help shorten this effect though. 

So reality is (for me) I do not need to go out and spend over $200 on a machine that basically does the exact same thing this one does for me for only $18. The only obvious difference is mine isn't powered so I do have to put pressure onto the gadget myself when using it, oh the shock of doing some work myself! But really, is it honestly worth the big gap in $$?

Who Is The Girl Behind The Posts?

Hello Everyone! 

I figured it would make sense that my first post be an introduction to myself so that you can get to know a bit about the girl behind the keyboard.

My name is Carissa, I am a 23 year old female from somewhere in Australia.
I love; reading, writing, all things beauty and also creating my own products for myself.

The aim of this Blog is to be Beauty Related. Whether it be product reviews, tips and tricks, looks I've created or even products I've made myself. I want to be able to share with you all everything I know and learn. There may possibly be the odd occasional 'non beauty' related post, but mainly I want it to be Beauty Focused. 

I have my own Youtube Channel; www.youtube.com/carissamcholme 
I like to think it is entertaining, but I may also be the only one who views it that way. I don't make videos for other people, I literally make them because I enjoy everything that is involved in creating one. I guess you could call it a hobby which I happen to share publicly. 

I'm a very honest and open person, which is both positive and negative. 
I love juice. I love lace. I love drinking out of a straw.

Anything else you want to know about Me, do not hesitate to ask :)

I hope you can enjoy this Blog as much as I know I'll enjoy writing it.