Honey, I Shrunk The Pimples

After all the stress leading up to the wedding my lady cycle went AWOL and my once clear skin hotfooted off with it replacing me with acne to rival my teenage years.

This is actually better than it was for my wedding day :(
By now I had isolated the breakouts to my cheeks and the ones on my chin and jaw aren't really visible.
Thank God for make up!

You may remember, back when I started doing the Dry July Challenge one of my aims was to clear my skin. (along with save some money and lose some weight. Oh well, what's that Meatloaf? 2 outta 3 aint bad?)

Yea, I lost a bit of pudge (2kg's all month is not nearly enough) and the breakouts weren't as bad but they hadn't left completely.

Plus I was left with some scaring and pigmentation.

Cue lightbulb moment!

Two weeks ago I was blog surfing and crashed into this old remedy at Lola's Buddhatropolis.

Having come from a holistic background in beauty myself I remembered the age old properties of this wonderful creation of nature and figured I'd revisit the routine after seeing so many positive reviews on acne.org.

I chose to try:

- One tablespoon of pure honey

(mine was from Daylesford so it was probably Organic

but I think any honey will do so long as it's unprocessed)

- A little squirt of lemon

(I dab this onto the spots and scars BEFORE I rub on the mask)

- A teaspoon of Cinnamon (mixed in with the honey)

METHOD:

Step 1: Pat the lemon onto the spots you'd like to lighten and allow it to dry.

Step 2: Apply the mask to your face in a gentle circular motion.

I like to wet my fingers and pat them on my face a little before I do this as it helps the honey to spread more evenly,

(just so you're skin's damp not too wet or else the mask gets all runny.)

Step 3: Leave it on between 15-60mins

(depending on how long you're willing to sit around looking like a swamp monster)

Step 4: Simply wash off with warm water.

You'd think it'd be really sticky and messy to get rid of but it comes straight off with ease just by splashing your face as you would in the morning.

Step 5: Pat your skin dry. Never rub.

That's it, there's not even any need to moisturise - the honey does that naturally.

Don't I look hot?
Especially while making "the duck face" haha

Please ignore the one disgusting pimple (on my neck of all places!)
As you can see I wasn't applying it far enough - who would've thought?

Still it's pretty plain to see there's been a massive improvement since the start of July.

My skin is not only relatively spot free, the texture is smoother,  my blackheads have disappeared and my pores are tighter & clearer.

Even hubby noticed how soft and smooth it felt!

I highly recommend you give it a try.
I mean what have you got to lose right? It's only Honey.

Wishing you a sweet week.

xx

Kat

My Old Friend, Plonk

Alright, so it's still 3 days till I'm allowed to have a drink but it's almost Friday... so in the spirit of ingesting every alcoholic beverage I can't get my sober little hands on, This post is for you.

Firstly I bring you....

Jamie Oliver's Mulled Wine

Mmmm... Just looking at it makes me feel all toasty and warm inside.

Shattered I couldn't host a Christmas in July feast this year. 

(Damn it, if I can't drink with you then neither will you - Baahumbug!)

And lastly I give you this latest offering from Rekorderlig.

Winter Cider

But it's not just any winter cider.

.... It's one you heat up

..... and drink warm

This could be good ... or it could suck.

Right now I really don't care.

In my mind I'm imagining apple, cinnamon & vanilla flavoured angels dancing naked on my tongue but basically at this point it could taste like stewed socks and I'd still happily chug.

Well it sounds as though this will be my first science experiment - boiling something you don't want to boil sounds harder than it seems. They say you want it to be hot, not warm, but not too hot as you'll cook off all the alcohol. Kinda defeats the purpose if that happens I suppose.

Hmm ok so maybe I need to invest in a cooking thermometer... how else am I supposed to know before it gets to 77degrees?

Or maybe I'll just try the basic rule of thumb. Stick your finger in it and if its "almost" too hot to do that... then I should be right. Right?

Well, we just won't know till next week now will we.

Unless of coarse you'd all like to try one of the above this weekend and let me know how you go?...

nah, didn't think so. Fine I'll be your guinea pig. Just don't expect an unbiased opinion, remember I've been deprived.

Thinking of drinking

- Kat xx

Wishful Thinking

Today I'm wishing & hoping & praying for something long awaited.

I have the feeling, deep down, it wont eventuate but at the end of every month I can't help but raise my hopes with baited breath all the same...

It's funny how the human spirit insists on shining this little ray of hope - even against all odds.

xx

Image Sources

P.S. Linking up again with Faith, Hope & a whole lotta Love as well as This funny place.
(even though these images aren't exactly mine they've reminded me to have Faith & keep Hope that someday soon I'll be feeling a whole lotta Love of the maternal kind. AND I've epically failed at being worldess... Again! Sorry. Hope you guys don't mind)

Also just reminding everybody that this is the last week of my
Dry July challenge wherein I've been resisting all allures of comforting winter warmers of the alcoholic kind in order to raise funds for adults living with cancer.

All proceeds go to the The Royal Melbourne Hospital departments of Clinical Haematology and Medical Oncology.
So far I've only managed to raise $65 - which doesn't feel like a lot but it's helped this amazing event come up with $203,810, and that's certainly nothing to sneeze at.
I only wish I could donate thousands of dollars to all the charities close to my heart.
I will however be doubling whatever I raise by the end of the week so if you or someone like you would like to contribute to this very worthy cause please click on the Dry July link above as these are the last few days to make me put my money where my mouth is :)

New Background

So..... it's sad to admit but it's Friday night and I've been watching 17 Again (you know that Disney movie staring Zac Efron? No?.... ok I admit it then, I'm sad), playing with my blog settings, and scouring the internet for entertainment. Yea it's rockin at my place.

Damn you Dry July!!!
What the hell do non drinkers do on their weekends anyway?
I need to develop some hobbies STAT!

Anyway this was meant to be an uber quick post to say:
Welcome to my new layout and What do you think?
Do you Love it?
Do you Like it?
Or does it make you wanna Meh?
Maybe even Blegh...
All suggestions are welcome. You can be honest - I can take it.
I'm not entirely sold personally - its especially tricky to figure out what colour to assign my text so that it's at least readable. Agh... I'll probably change it a million times before I go back to my original settings anyway.

Oooh, look at that, Juno just came on so I think I'll be off now.

Night all
xx

Golden Moments

 Wasn't sure which of these two editing options I liked more. 

The top image is closer to the true colour of the original but I love the way the hearts "pop" in the bottom one.... hmmm couldn't decide.

What do you guys think?

Either way I'm sure you'll agree I have one very talented brother-inlaw.

He may be modest but at last nights Love Is Here book launch & art exhibition his piece was certainly the focal point of the room.

I know I'm not the only one who's proud of him for putting his work out there.

If you'd like to see more great street art by this disgustingly gifted street artist check out his website 

HERE

Stencil found on the way home from the gallery.

Above the bar at Match Bar & Grill  - Melbourne
If you ever find yourself in town stop in.
Worth every penny :)

State Library of Victoria
I'd forgotten how many pretty buildings we have in Melbourne.

Bright City Lights

Last night I was lucky enough to be invited out for a night of feasting on gastronomical and visual delights

(I'm saving those pics for a whole other post) 

But even more excitingly I had a GOLDEN TICKET thanks to a donation from my wonderfully generous friend.

If you don't know what a golden ticket is - It's basically a free pass to drink for one night only during DRY JULY.
And boooooy did I enjoy. Wooo Hoooo!!!

Thank you Ambs. 

I know I can make it through the rest of this month now xox

Hump Week

And what a hump it has been.
This weekend marks the end of week 2 of Dry July (and quietly, also my detox month) so you'd assume it would all be down hill from here right?
Wrong.
It all started going downhill as of last Monday.
Tiredness, no thanks to my thyroid, combined with the nonchalance losing weight brings to me was my inevitable undoing. (I had almost reached my goal weight - just 1.5kg off according to my scales on Mon- Yippee!)
You see while others see results as a reason to spur them on, I seem to suddenly relax.
I thought that even though I hadn't done a smidge of exercise all week that my past efforts would make up for it and that I owed it to myself to have a little rest on the healthy eating and fitness plan seeing as I'd been so good on the alcohol front all month.

Imagine my horror when I hoped onto the scales and saw a 3.5kg weight gain!   WTF?!
I'm back at square one and then some!
Not only have I fallen off the wagon, the wagon's dragged me along the asphalt all week and trampled me for attempting to hang on.

Needless to say I had a little cry this morning, moped around the house for a bit then decided to pull my shit together and get back on the horse.

Sorry for getting back on the negativity train, but honestly - I didn't believe it was possible to gain that much weight in less than a week but lo and behold I've set a new standard. And when i really stop to think about what's been going into my mouth all week it actually makes sense. It's like the flood gates opened up and my mouth along with it ready to ingest whatever came my way.

• Dumplings, dumplings and ever more dumplings
• White bread, white pasta, white rice, fried chips, cheeese, cheeeeeese, cheeeeeeese!!!
• Snacking on double brie and smoked ham on Savoys or in a sandwich every day
• Two pieces of toast with breakfast, lunch and dinner.
• English toffee ice-cream every night (it was fat free ok, so by my deluded calculations I could eat a quarter of a tub per sitting)
• And of coarse, sleeping in and sitting on my ass at every free opportunity I could find

Any wonder I'm not coming to you from an insulin induced coma right now.

I know I said my PCOS condition was a blessing in disguise because it stops me from treating my body like shit.
And that's very true.
But sometimes the weight of it all - the diabetic diet, the hormonal imbalances, the inability to conceive, the constant struggle with my weight and need to work out twice as hard as the average human being in order to maintain it - can feel like too much to bear.
Sometimes I just wish I could have it easy for a change.
And then I remember. It's not a life threatening illness. I'm not powerless to create change. I can control my symptoms and while yes there are people in the world that have it way easier there're are so many more who have it way tougher than I do.
So today I chose to take this weeks lesson and run with it - literally.

I cannot afford to give up. The payoff's too important xx

Dry July - Week 1

So week one has gone by without too much of a hitch and I'm now onto week two still alcohol free. Go me!

Although I didn't think I'd be missing alcohol as much as I have been, especially during the week. It's strange since I hardly ever drink on a weekday - it must be the temptation of knowing i can't have it surely.

Aside from that my big sister and her beautiful boys have come back to visit for a few weeks from their home abroad in Malaysia.
It felt so good to hold them in my arms today. Play time and cuddles are bitter sweet when in the back of your mind you know they'll be gone again so soon. I feel like spending every waking moment with them and cuddling them in my sleep as well.
Lets see how i feel after a month of their screaming, jumping, running & mess making hey?  :)

As you can see us adults started having more fun with the play dough than the kids were by the end. Haha - I love a bit of sister silly time xx

Still Alive

Just in case you were wondering what's happened to me I am still alive - barely!

This week has drained it hard core. Between working on the business, working on my figure and working out the bomb shell that has been my house I've had no time to show any blog love. Sorry for neglecting you :(

I actually have a few new things to post about namely finding my hilariously angsty poetry from my High School days... so embarrassing it hurts lolll
As well as this being day 1 of my Dry July challenge. Oh my... just 30 more to go...

Well I'll try to get on here again over the weekend (I won't be hungover on this Sunday for a change Hoorah! So that should help)

P.S. Today is the birthday of the ever lovely Miss Ambs and what a lovely day it is.
Perfect for big road trips to visit her roots but alas Salami has come between us -  (I can hear a collective "whhaaat? tf" of confusion. - But more on my husbands conversion to the Greecy side another time haha)

Happy Birthday dearest!!! ♥
Thinking of you xx

Dry July

I guess if you're reading this it means I'm actually going to do it. (Up till now this post has been sitting in my draft pile deleted only to be re-writen - twice!)

You're totally going to think I'm being a little bitch but after the way I was left feeling all day Saturday after just a few glasses *cough* a bottle *cough* of wine Friday night and waaay too much sausage (of the wrong kind) I'm seriously wondering how much longer I can go on with this lifestyle.

Not that it's unusual for me to drink a whole bottle to myself or sadly what i'd even consider excessive drinking especially on a Friday night but I did have to work the next day and I don't seem to function very well with a hangover these days.

Surely I'm getting old. Not to mention fatter.

Something has to change.

Then last night, while trying to amuse myself with some mindless magazine flicking, I came across an article in July's Cleo entitled: Teetotal Twentysomethings.

insert link here 

(which i will do when the cleo website decides it wants to play)

Rather fitting I'd say.

So for now I'm actually toying with the idea of signing up for Dry July http://www.dryjuly.com/

I stress: Toying with the idea of...

though I think I actually might and now that's it's out there in blog world I think I probably will.

Surely it couldn't be that hard. Famous last words? hehehe

I dont think I drink that much on a regular basis (that could be delusion talking) and the sacrifice would be worth it.

Clear head, clear skin, healthier liver & bank account up to 4kgs weight loss (so the article says) but most importantly it's for a good cause that's close to so many people's hearts.

Too many of us have been affected by the cruel disease that is cancer. How I hate that word and the feelings it conjures up.

Well that settles it - I'm signing up today.

Wish me luck peeps - you know I'll keep you posted xox

p.s. I bit the bullet - God I'm sooo scared... I can't remember going longer than a few days without a drink... this may be harder than I thought - oh dear :/
If you'd like to show your support or donate to the cause please click on my link below:
https://www.dryjuly.com/profiles/katerinaberry
All donations above $2 are tax deductible.

Even your comments of encouragement would be much appreciated ♥