Your Favorite Hair Growth Vitamin Might also be Making You Gain Weight

I adore supplements that provide multiple benefits in one formula. I've been really consistent with my vitamin regimen lately because I want to harness their wonderful benefits. Because I'm so focused on the positive aspects of incorporating supplements, I rarely think about the flip side.

Yesterday, I learned of an undesirable possible side effect from one of the most popular beauty vitamins on the market. You and I have taken this vitamin without realizing that it might also be working against your health/fitness goals.

This LED Mask Brings NASA Technology to Your Beauty Routine.

A few years ago, I was introduced to the wonderful world of LED light therapy. At the time, LED masks were just entering the beauty space as the hottest must-have. Celebrities were posting selfies featuring their own personal LED masks purchased exclusively from their estheticians. I looked around at pricing and, at the time, the most popular brand was going for somewhere around $1,000.

Needless to say, I decided to wait patiently for the prices to make sense. Sometime later, I found a generic version of the infamous Desse mask at a far more reasonable price. Once I had the mask in hand, I questioned whether a mask with a bunch of tiny colored light-bulbs would actually work to change my skin.

In reality, it did. Although I didn't use it as consistently as I should've, I always noticed a difference when I wore the mask vs. when I neglected it. But, alas, the mask broke after my clumsy self dropped it.  Recently, I stumbled on an image of Kourtney Kardashian wearing a newer, more modern version of the LED mask. I was intrigued and immediately wanted to know more.

Not Self Motivated? Here's How to Accomplish All of Your Goals Anyway.

When I first got into the process of personal development, I realized that a big part of reaching your goals and achieving success was fueled by being consistently motivated. At one point, I sought to learn from the most self-motivated people I could find. These people seemed to be able to tap into an endless source of internal motivation that most of us only dream of.

I tried to become one of those people....and failed miserably.

I just never seemed to consistently muster up the constant flow of self-motivation needed to crush my goals on a daily basis. Not having an endless source of self-motivation to tap into was frustrating. Once you label yourself a non-motivated individual, it all goes downhill from there.


Thankfully, I realized that being motivated isn't an innate gift that a select few are blessed with. In fact, I believe that the most motivated people have mastered one technique that I will share with you today.

Everything I Learned from Laura Harrier's Nightly Skin Routine.

The other day, I came across a video of Laura Harrier's multi-step nighttime beauty routine. I've followed Laura on IG years before her recent rise to stardom. A while back, I wrote an article about how she swears by honey masks to treat her skin. You can imagine how excited I was when I stumbled on a video featuring her entire nightly routine. 


Whenever I watch these "Go to Bed with Me" videos, I don't lend my full attention to the products use. Instead, I observe for any key takeaways that I can apply to my routine ASAP. Laura's routine certainly had a few precious gems that we all can benefit from. 

Let us discuss.

Vision Board Not Working? Try This Reality Creation Method Instead.

When the pandemic first began, I had a difficult time adjusting to all the changes happening at once.  As soon as my husband started working from home, we overindulged in our eating which resulted in unwanted weight gain.  By the end of March, I reached my heaviest weight.  

Eventually, I came to the conclusion that I had to do something.  But, I was feeling unmotivated.  I've always had an ideal weight goal in mind but was never able to reach it.  So, instead of using the number as my means of motivation, I decided to try a different, more powerful strategy.   Based on past experience,  my ideal weight number wasn't really an effective tool to drive weight loss because it wasn't bringing me any closer to my goal.

I needed to try something different.

Tea Before Breakfast. How This Habit Is Changing My Life.

The one thing I regret is not sticking to a well-developed morning routine.  Everyone knows that executing a powerful morning routine can absolutely change your life.  Ideally, my morning routine would look something like this:

-wake up early

-pray, meditate, journal

-exercise

-create a daily action plan

-conquer the world.

But, in reality, my morning consists of waking up, scrolling through Twitter then getting up and walking directly to my computer to start my day.  

Not very inspiring at all.  

Once I realized that I was in a rut, I decided to do something about it.  Instead of doing a full overhaul, I decided to take the easy route and institute a single morning habit that was effortless but would produce a host of benefits.

The Daily Design // Hugh Jackson's Must Try Manifestation Technique.

I love learning about manifestation techniques.  The secret to manifesting successfully is finding the right technique that's simple and works.  Today I bring you a new method to practice.  And this one is pretty awesome.

This manifestation tip is brought to you by Australian actor Hugh Jackman.  Hugh has an extensive career that spans over 20 years.  In a recent podcast interview with author, Tim Ferris, Hugh revealed the advice from his dad that led him to craft a powerful daily manifestation practice.

His dad's instruction was clear, he urged Hugh to "always check in that everything's ok."  Most of us simply respond "yes" to that piece of advice and move on.  But Hugh opted to create an entire manifestation routine to ensure that he'd always follow his dad's words of wisdom.  Trust me, this routine is so good that you'll definitely want to try it for yourself.

[FOTD] // Summer Shimmery Lips.

For the past several years, the biggest thing in makeup was the highlight.  Your makeup look wasn't complete until you dusted your cheekbones and adequate amounts of highlight.   Heck, I even remember when the girlies were dabbing the tips of their noses with highlight just for the sake of it (is nose tip highlight still a thing?)

For the most part, the trend of overly highlighting the face has calmed down a bit. Now, it's all about a healthy, dewy face that shows off your amazing skin.  This creates the opportunity to place more focus on our beautiful features.

And what better feature to highlight than your lips?

The Supplement Proven Eliminate Eye Wrinkles 16 Weeks (..and it's not collagen).

Wearing protective face masks every day has really caused me to finally focus on the part of my beauty routine that I've been pretty much ignoring.....my eyes.  When the bottom half of your face is covered up, all attention land on our eyes by default.

At my big age, I should have a robust anti-aging routine for my eyes.  But I don't.  Sure, I rub a little facial moisturizer into my eye creases, but that's about it.  Before I invest hundreds into eye creams, I thought I'd take an internal approach instead.

Thankfully, I've stumbled on a supplement proven to improve eye wrinkles in weeks....

Meet the Skin Therapist Who's Mastered the Art of Multimasking

Back when my skin was an absolute mess, it was darn near impossible to find a skin expert who also specialized in treating dark skin. I put in countless hours of research to discover a woman on the other side of the country who was revered for creating beautiful skin for black the biggest names in Black Hollywood.

 Times have certainly changed.  There's a beautiful uprising of black women who've entered the professional skincare beauty space.  Some have gained notoriety via social media.   Others are quietly doing their thing at a nearby skin studio.   Today, we're talking to Samantha, a skin therapist who immediately caught my attention.  It wasn't just her interesting and electric Instagram feed that drew me in, but also the fact that she's a skincare professional working alongside a WOC specializing in surgical and non-surgical treatments. 

I haven't stepped into a skin treatment spa in nearly a year. I wanted to find out which new treatment to experience once I make my triumphant return.   Keep reading to find out the answer to that question and more.

The "5 Minute Action" Method is the Easiest Strategy to Get You Motivated to Do Anything

I couldn't wait for summer so I could take advantage of longer days.  In my mind, longer days would provide the opportunity to fit in everything I wanted and needed to do within 24 hours.  Unfortunately, this hasn't been case.  I often find myself wishing I completed a few more items off my list. 

Most of what needs to get done falls into two categories.  The tasks that come with little/no resistance and the ones that I have a mental struggle in getting done.  Honestly, getting over the resistance is half the battle.   Most of the time, the task itself isn't that bad.

How many times have you forced yourself to do something only to realize that it wasn't as dreadful as your mind pictured it would be?

If getting started on a task is something you struggle with, I have a super-easy solution for you.

*Giveaway* Win a CrystalPeel Body Exfoliation Set

It's been years since I've done a giveaway and we are well overdue one.  I sometimes receive unsolicited emails from companies offering the potential to partner with BelleMocha.com. Truthfully, a lot of those brands are offering products that I don't necessarily vouch for. 

But today I offer the opportunity for you to win a set of my favorite body care brand ever, Crystal Peel Collection. 

Some of you might remember coming across earlier posts that I've written about their patented microdermabrasion soap.  Their body scrub soap bars are some of my absolute favorites.  Thankfully, the good folks at Crystal Peel have offered to supply some of their best selling body bars to you amazing BelleMocha readers.

The best part about this giveaway is that there will be multiple winners who will receive multiple products including a full-size microdermabrasion body bar, a mini travel size bar and post exfoliation body creme.

Trust me, this giveaway is too good to pass up.  The winners will be selected on June 1rst so make sure you visit my IG post for details on how to enter.

Looking for "Sheet Mask Level" Hydration in a Bottle? Here it is!

Since sheet masks came into my life, I've always wondered if there was a way to bottle that deliciously hydrating serum.  Heck, at one point I was bottling the stuff myself.  But I was never able to collect a large enough amount to create the type of access to pure sheet mask serum I wanted.

There a ton of serums out there to choose from.  But they always come in mini 1 or 2 oz jars.  This triggers my scarcity mentality that forces me to use tiny amounts on my face.

 So my search began for a sheet mask formula in a bottle.  I wanted a serum that was as hydrating as a sheet mask but in a full-size container.  I wanted the opportunity to use it on my face and body, as needed, without the fear of running out too quickly.

.....oh, and I wanted the product to be affordable.

Although my demands were pretty high, I still was able to find the exact product that met every single one of my conditions.

The Home Work Out I'm Doing for Flatter Abs in 2 Weeks.

Just weeks before the quarantine began, I had finally mustered up enough motivation to visit gym regularly again.  I was so certain that I'd build muscle tone by summer but, unfortunately, my plans were foiled.  As soon as the lockdown orders were in place, I found myself stuck in a house with no gym access and an ample supply of junk food.

It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happened next.

My weight ballooned up to levels that I haven't seen a long while.  Eventually, I came to my senses and went back to eating like a normal person again.  Naturally, some of the weight came off. But I needed to incorporate a little exercise to burn off extra calories due to lack of activity.

As soon as I sought to find some at-home workouts that could tone up my midsection, I stumbled on a forum where a few ladies were discussing the astonishing results from a certain fitness Youtuber.  Although I enjoyed reading their comments and reviews, it wasn't quite enough for me to jump headfirst into doing her targeted workouts.

That was days ago.

This morning, I logged on Instagram and was greeted by another happy individual singing the praises of Chloe Ting's workouts.

At that point, I had no other choice than to jump on the Chloe Ting ab transformation train.

People Swear by the 55X5 Method for Manifesting Results

In my opinion, mastering the Law of Attraction requires 2 parts.  First, one must understand the principles and philosophies. Once you know how the law of attraction works, you must implement the universal law via a series of repeated actions.  Just knowing how the law of attraction works isn't enough. Putting those principles into action is where the magic happens.

This morning I learned of a manifestation exercise that a bunch of people swear by.  Some manifestation techniques are harder for some people vs others.  But the technique I learned today, anyone can do.  A ton of people claim to see results in as little as five days (or less) using this simple method. 

If you have a pen and a piece of paper ready, you can easily start day one of this five-day challenge.