8 Personalized Valentine’s Day Gifts

Valentine’s Day is yet another holiday where people adhere to the social constructs of society and buy their significant others generic gifts they find last minute at Walmart. This Valentine’s Day, forget the typical flowers and chocolates and try giving one of these personalized gifts to show your significant other you truly care.

Customized Puzzle

If your one and only enjoys putting together a good puzzle, think about how puzzling together pieces of both your faces would make them feel. Not your average V-day gift, but a quirky one that you both can work on together — creating a memory one piece at a time.

Redeemable Love Coupons

If you’re not looking to spend any money this Valentine’s Day, try making redeemable love coupons for your significant other. The coupons can say anything from “one free kiss” to “making breakfast in bed.” You can tailor the coupons to things you know your significant other will enjoy, all it takes is a little creativity.

DIY Heart-shaped Hand Warmers

This gift is one that keeps on giving. If you’re more of a crafty person, try making your own heart-shaped hand warmers. Your beloved would appreciate the small token of your adoration, especially during these cold months. Something so easy to make, and yet so pleasing to give. Here is a step-by-step guide to making these heart-shaped hand warmers.

Five Senses

If you’re looking to give a more creative V-day gift, test your sweethearts five senses with five gift bags, each containing an item related to one of the senses. Try to make the items as creative as possible, but something your significant other would understand. Items such as their favorite midnight snack for taste or a lotion of their favorite scent for smell would be perfect.

52 Reasons

By using playing cards, you can write 52 reasons why you love your honey. It’s a creative take on expressing your love for someone, and being able to tell your significant other 52 distinct reasons why you love them will surely win you some brownie points. 

Memorable Places Picture Frame

This simple and inexpensive idea will mean a lot to your special someone because it’s completely personal. Some ideas of locations to frame could be where you went on your first date or where you had your first kiss. It’s a gift that will take you both back to one of the best moments of your relationship.

Scavenger Hunt

The gift isn’t the destination, but the journey you both can go on together. This adventurous idea can provide you with a day full of both your favorite spots, like grabbing your significant other’s go-to drink at that coffee shop you both love. The more places you go, the sweeter the walk down memory lane will be.

Balloon Chandelier of Memories

Balloons are always a nice surprise, but an even better one when photos of your relationship are clipped to the ends. By attaching some of your favorite memories of you and your love to balloons, it makes for a festive Valentine’s Day that your significant other could only appreciate.

3 Tips For Kissable Soft Lips This Winter

We all want our lips to be as smooth and soft as possible. The problem is all the heating in our homes and offices makes the air really dry, which plays havoc with our delicately balanced skin, hair, and lips. So, to keep your lips protected – chapped lips can be seriously painful – we’ve got three tips to make sure your pout stays as gorgeous as ever, even when it’s cold as fuck outside!

Fix your surroundings

Do what you can to make the air around you as hydrating as possible. Invest in, or dig out your humidifier – it will add moisture to the air, which will benefit your skin, lips, and hair as well. The heated vapor produced by humidifiers also kills 90% if the bacteria and spores in the air, so you’re less likely to catch an annoying cold. Found a humidifier on Amazon for $16.99, which also diffuses essential oils â€“ bonus!

Prevent chapping

Stop your lips from chapping in the first place and always keep a lip balm to hand. Look for lip balms with lanolin in, a highly moisturizing natural ingredient that comes from sheep’s fleeces (it can hold 200% it’s weight in water!). And always ensure that you apply lip balm before bed, so your lips don’t go without added moisture all night. Drinking water before bed can help too!

Lanolips has to be my all-time favorite lip balm for combatting chapped lips, it’s super protecting, and one layer lasts all day. Another lip balm I’ve been obsessed with for years is Carmex; not only does it contain lanolin, but also beeswax, shea butter, and Aloe Vera, which work together to heal chapped lips and prevent future drying. It also costs less than $2!

DIY lip mask

I love using natural ingredients to heal my skin, and honey is one of me and my mom favorite ingredients because of its moisturizing, hydrating, and repairing properties. It’s also antibacterial, which means it’ll help to prevent any infection that can occur when your lips get dry. You can apply pure honey as a mask to your lips for 15 minutes, before gently wiping it (or licking it) away. You can also make a lip oil by combining a teaspoon of honey with a teaspoon of sweet almond oil; stir the mix well and store it in a small plastic container or lip tin so you can use it throughout the day.

Lip Beauty Tip:

Another great alternative is the Coconut LIPS by ToGoSpa – The Kisser Fixer- 3 Lip Masks, $15.

Coconut Lips by ToGoSpa are Micro-Infused Collagen Gel Masks with Hyaluronic Acid, Vitamins C & E that work to moisturize, re-hydrate and soothe  lips, creating a more full and moisturized appearance.

Each silky application is infused with a combination of natural high-density marine collagen, enzymes, amino acids, natural marine minerals, trace elements, proteins and vitamins. With just one 20 minute application, you will see improved elasticity, texture and overall appearance of the lips. Activated by the body’s temperature, the nutrients stored in ToGoSpa® gel pads work together to decrease the appearance of fine lines around the mouth. 

They added Coconut Extract and Allantoin for a SUPER DUPER moisturizing experience, with the gentle aroma of Coconut, you will be transported on your very own Tropical Staycation! (No Parabens, No Dyes, Cruelty Free)

The ToGoSpa Lip Mask + Balm make for a great combo, $25!

Organic Splash for Lips: A ripe zesty citrus scent of Brazilian Orange and Italian Grapefruit soothes the senses, and calm the mind. Organic jojoba, evening primrose, sunflower, and coconut oils deeply hydrate and protect lips from moisture loss, and Rejuvenating Shea butter and Vitamin E moisturize and condition skin, helping to soothe dry, chapped lips.

Scented with a brilliant splash of Brazilian Orange & Italian Grapefruit to invigorate and refresh; fortified with a skin-conditioning blend of healing evening primrose and grape seed oils to protect your lips from the damaging effects of daily pollution and provide long lasting moisture protection.

Energizing, invigorating and oh so moisturizing.

Organic Love Balm for Lips: Fresh and tingly on the lips, our Organic Love balm is crafted with a scrumptious formula of certified organic virgin coconut oil and ultra-softening African Shea Butter to prepare your lips for their chosen role. When our ever vigilant product crafters extraordinaire came across a report indicating that the act of kissing worldwide was on the decline they immediately cried as one, this shall not be and sprang into action with the single goal of correcting this most egregious of situations.

Lip smackingly good-for-you this unique blend of organic oils moisturize lips from within rather than sealing them off like petroleum-based lip balms. Fortified with Lavender, Peppermint and Spearmint to soothe and refresh and a super skin-conditioning blend of evening primrose and grape seed oils to revitalize dry, parched and cracked skin. Hooray for happy, healthy kissable lips! No synthetic ingredients or flavors.

WILL YOU BE TRYING ANY OF THESE PRIMP TIPS? IF YOU HAVE MORE TIPS FOR KISSABLE LIPS, COMMENT DOWN BELOW!

Vitamin 101 | Green Tea Blemish Buster

We all hate breakouts, but sometimes it seems we are fighting an uphill battle with these little red devils! If you are looking for a way to fight acne without harming your skin, this may be the solution for you. According to Dr. Jennifer Gan Wong, Green tea extract has been proven to be effective in its fight against acne without the harsh effects of the commonly used benzoyl peroxide. Green tea nourishes skin while it combats acne and keeps you clear. It also helps reduce inflammation and works as a detox for your skin! Talk about badass blemish buster!

Get a good quality green tea from your local health food store, traditional Chinese or Japanese store or online. You can use any type of green tea, such as Sencha, matcha or genmaicha and should aim to drink two to three cups per day. To prepare it, heat fresh water to just before boiling point, pour into the cup and steep for five to 15 minutes, depending on individual instructions. Do not add sugar to green tea as it will diminish health benefits.

Drinking green tea daily can also help prevent new acne breakouts, which are caused by bacteria, because, as Nadine Taylor, M.S., R.D. of Green Tea Library notes, the catechins in tea kill bad bacteria while maintaining good bacteria.

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According to Dr. Jennifer Gan-Wong of Memorial Medical Center, green tea also works as a topical application for skin problems, including acne scars, eczema, and psoriasis. Epigallocatechin gallate, or EGCG, is another type of antioxidant found in green tea that is very beneficial in reducing acne and scars by both cleansings the skin of toxins and neutralizing the bacteria that causes acne. Green tea has astringent properties which help diminish redness and inflammation.

For a facial cleanser, use pure, unflavored green tea. Heat one quart filtered water to just before boiling, pour over one cup of green tea leaves and let steep for about 20 minutes. Allow the tea to cool and splash on your face, or use cotton balls to dab directly onto acne scars. Apply the green tea extract to the affected area three times daily. Really simple! Do not rinse. Store the tea in a sealed container in the fridge. 

Easy DIY | Awesome Green Tea Eye Brightener!

It’s such a bummer, but your eyes can give away far too much, and by that I mean EVERYTHING! It can tell someone if you’re healthy, well rested, or not feeling at the top of your game! Fortunately, there are some awesome tricks to help mask those issues other than your favorite concealer! I have had issues with eye bags since I was in high school, so I’ve gotten pretty good at dealing with them over the past years! This is SO easy and SOOOO good! It requires two things–Chamomile Tea + Green Tea! Chamomile Tea is awesome because it helps to relax the area around the eyes, reduce puffiness, while the caffeine in Green Tea improve circulation, improving drainage around the eyes, and brighten the area of skin. So this is so easy, I hope you all start doing this!

LEE’S AWESOME GREEN TEA EYE BRIGHTENER

1 Green Tea bag
1 Chamomile Tea bag
Cotton Pad
Water

Heat one cup of water, then remove once boiling. Add both tea bags, and cover with a saucer, let sit for 30 minutes. Let tea cool, then transfer to the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, soak two cotton pads with cold tea, and slightly squeeze so there is no tea dripping from the pad. Apply to eyes for 5 minutes, then turn over apply for another 5 minutes. Repeat daily or as needed. Discard tea after 3-5 days.