Artifact Girl

TOMATO FACE MASK

You say Toe-May-Toe and I say Toe-Ma-Toe...

I love tomatoes, sometimes I bite right into them like apples and slurp the juices out. I sprinkle a bit of salt and eat the rest! Delicious. 

If you're a fan of tomatoes, then you'd be happy to know that they are also great for face masks! For a natural glowing and radiant skin, tomato with a bit of honey added is a great combination! Tomatoes add moisture, fights acne and builds radiance to your skin! Who can say no to that? ;) 

For those who have acne prone skin - add a splash of lemon juice! And for those who suffer from dryer skin - add a few drops of olive oil! 

What you'll need:

1 small tomato

1 tbs of honey

1 tbs of lemon juice *optional (oily skin)

1 tbs of olive oil *optional (dryer skin)

Mash up the tomato in a pestle and mortar until it becomes liquid. Add in the honey and/or other ingredients. Mix it up. Use a brush to brush the mask on! Leave it on until you feel like it's drying out on your face. Wash off with luke  warm water, then splash your face with cold water. Pat dry and continue on with your skincare routine. 

Let me know how you like it! 

Enjoy!

Love,

Artifact Girl xo 

BURDOCK ROOT ACNE TONER

Benzoyl peroxide. Salicylic acid. Crushed Asprin...even toothpaste.

If you suffered from acne, you've most likely tried them all! If none of these worked for you a simple herbal remedy might do the trick! Burdock root.

It's been used for many centuries to help the body from harmful substances and its benefits for acne prone skin made it a popular herbal treatment. 

Just the other day, my mother reminded me of this root. She occasionally makes it for a Korean side dish - chopped, seasoned and sauteed. It's tasty! You can find burdock root at your local asian market. My mom was watching a Korean beauty show on how to clear acne prone skin and burdock was the special ingredient! She told me I could either drink it like tea or use it as a toner/wash. I thought this would be great to try since I was starting to break out on my cheek. 

What you'll need:

1 cup of burdock root (peeled and chopped)

a medium pot

few cotton pads

First peel the skin - like a potato, chop the root in smaller pieces. Fill a medium size bowl with water and bring it to a boil. When the water comes to a boil, drop in the burdock root and let it boil for about 15 minutes. Turn off the stove and let it sit for about 5 minutes and pour it into a small bowl. Take your cotton pad and soak it in the burdock tea and apply in all over your face. I like to do this about 3 times and I let it soak into my skin! After your skin has dried you can give your face a light rinse, pat dry and carry on with your skincare. I put the rest of the tea in the fridge (I would make a new pot after 3-4 days).

You can even drink it if you like! Though, I would add a bit of honey for taste. ;)

Continue using it as often as you can. I've used it for a week now and I can see and feel the difference! 

Let me know how this worked out for you. 

 

Love,

Artifact Girl xo

HOW TO MAKE YOUR OWN WEDDING FLOWERS

Phew! The wedding madness is officially over for me, but I would love to share some wedding discoveries I've made along the way!

Many people were asking about my paper flowers I made for my wedding. I used them for the pew markers at the church and also the reception stairs. I loved the look of Magnolia flowers - I just find them simply elegant and refreshing! Since they are pricey and harder to source, I decided to make them myself out of paper. 

Step 1: Draw, Cut, Trace + Repeat

First I drew 4 basic petals (1 long and thin, the other 3 petals should be shorter and wider. They should be the same shape but gradually bigger in size). Cut each piece out and trace each piece repeatedly on the full sheet of ivory card. Repeat this until you have a nice pile of each petal.

Step 2: Curl it

This part is the tedious - take a stick, I used a chop stick and curl the edges of each petals. 

Step 3: Roll it

Take a few sheets of the 8 1/2" x 11"  ivory card and cut them vertical in 3 pieces. Then roll it into a long stick and glue the ends to keep them tightly rolled, this will be the stem of the flowers. Make a few at a time. 

Step 4: Petal it

Start with the long thin petal. Petal by petal. Then the other 3 petals glue them in order from smaller to bigger. Just go by eye and see what looks best. 

*Step 5: Blush it

This is optional, but you can use either a blush or eyeshadow to shade or give color to your petals! It gives a great effect! Quite clever, if I say so myself! ;) 

*Step 6: Leaf it

This is also optional, you could use real greenery, paper or even the plastic to complete the look. The greenery really allows the ivory flowers to stand out. 

You could use them - stem by stem or even bundle them into a bunch of 3's or 5's (odd numbers always look the best). 

There you have it, beautiful paper magnolias for you to admire without expiration! 

 

I hope you enjoyed this flower tutorial!

Love,

Artifact Girl xo

MARRIED LADY

"Sadie, Sadie, married lady...that's me!" - Funny Girl

I've been a married lady for almost 3 weeks now! Time really does fly! But, it's been nice going back to a regular routine - not thinking about centrepieces, flowers, etc... :)

Everyone is now asking me how it feels to be married. I would say that we now feel more commited to eachother and commited to building a beautiful life together. Even after 8 years it feels like a fresh new beginning.

I can't wait to start building - stone by stone. 

Love,

Artifact Girl xo

HOW TO CLEAN MAKEUP BRUSHES

I'm going to admit...that I don't always wash my makeup brushes when it's due for a cleaning. I know...I know...gross!

However, I do sanitize them each time I use them. :)

Here's a way you can easily wash your brushes with vinegar, dish soap and VODKA! 

What you'll need:

4 tbs of vinegar

3 pumps of dish soap

1 shot of vodka

1 cup of water

1 silicone oven mit (or anything with a waterproof textured surface - so the bristles have something to work its soapy lather)

1 small spray bottle

Add the dish soap, vinegar and the water into a medium sized bowl and stir it up until all the ingredients are mixed in together. Soak in all your brushes (bristles down) for about 5 minutes. Take the brush and swirl in circular motions on your silicone mit until you work up a soapy lather. Run the bristles in luke warm water and rinse out the soap, pat it dry and lay it flat to dry overnight. What I like to do in between the cleanings is to use the Vodka as a disinfectant! I pour vodka into the spray bottle, and use it whenever I need to quickly use a brush. No one will even notice that you threw a shot in your cup! ;)

I hope this helps!

Love,

Artifact Girl xo