Wearing something “loose and comfortable” for yoga class may be a little more complex than it sounds, and just like for any form of exercise, the right workout gear would definitely make a huge difference ! Here are some reasons you’ll want to equip yourself with proper attire before showing up for your first yoga session.
Yoga Pants : Regardless of the yoga class type, pleaseavoid extremely short bottom that constantly ride up, because you’ll find yourself pulling them down after every five minutes. I myself find it is really embarrassing to watch it. - oh well it is my personal opinion !
You may want to opt for a pair of leggings, crops or capri for good measure.
Yoga Tops : Women should avoid loose tops as they’ll be revealing more skin than you’d like especially when you reach and up side down etc Down Dog (see the image below). Opt for form-fitting tops that stay on your body and keep you covered no matter how you move. This also helps the instructor monitor your core and body alignment, making sure you’re doing the poses correctly.
Colour-wise, you may want to settle on darker colours or print pattern, especially if you get sweaty easily. Whatever colour you choose however, make sure the fabric isn’t see-through. It is really No No to "wedgie"
For yoga wear, avoid anything with buttons, zippers, and bulky drawstrings. These will be uncomfortable when you have to lie face down. They also restrict your movement and may prod into your flesh when you bend and stretch.
Synthetic fabrics specifically made for exercise would be appropriate for most classes. They are usually a spandex-nylon blend, and move along with your body. Also, since your tights will absorb your sweat, be sure to choose a pair with quick-drying fabric to ensure a comfortable session. I like cotton but not for yoga wear because it stretch over the years and lose its shape.
Be mindful of the thickness of the attire you wear, too. Very thick pants can be loose and movable but their weight may interfere with your form. In sum, wear breathable, stretchy leggings, shorts for running and normal casual T shirts instead. You can carry a fitted long-sleeve shirt with you if you think you might feel cold before or after class.
Yoga is usually practiced barefoot. If you don’t want to keep your feet bare during practice, you can invest in a pair of specially made toe yoga socks that have rubber grips sewn to the sole.
In addition, if you’re prone to calf cramps or soreness, you can wear compression calf sleeves on your lower legs. They allow for complete flexibility too.
Christmas is nearing and it’s time to prepare to have guests over for a feast of epic proportions. Here are some classic and elegant dessert recipes that will surely bring the festive cheer to your merry party!
This dessert looks intimidating with its sophisticated cracks and form but it’s actually really simple to make. You’ll need icing sugar and egg whites, which need to be whisked for about 10 minutes. Add corn flour and vinegar and fold it into the meringue.
The result will be a wonderful marshmellowy meringue mixture with silky and stiff peaks. Distribute a circular dollop evenly on parchment paper and place the layers in the oven. You can use a piping bag to make your bases evenly shaped.
Spread whipped cream between the Pavlova bases and finish it off with some strawberries and you’ll have a quintessential Christmas dessert ready for your guests to dig into.
Here is another easy recipe to make your pavolva.
The English trifle involves three simple ingredients: sponge cake, cream, and fresh fruit.
Start with your cake layer and begin putting different fruits around the outside of your bowl. Do the same with each type of fruit that you’ve chosen to use. The cream goes in next, followed by more fruits. You can get creative with additional ingredients like liqueur, vanilla extract, or raspberry sauce, but make sure to add them in the centre so they will be soaked up by the sponge cake at the bottom.
What’s great about this dessert is that you can choose to make them in individual portions or leave it up to your guests to help themselves.
If you fancy a beautifully layered trifle yourself, read this.
Although making a yule log, or a log cake, may take a lot of time, patience, and effort, it is undeniably a mainstay dessert centerpiece, especially during Christmas.
You’ll start off whisking eggs and caster sugar until the result triples in size. Sift in flour and cocoa powder and fold it into the mixture. Again, you can add additional ingredients like liqueur here. Pour the mixture evenly onto parchment paper and pop it into the oven for about 10 minutes.
Invert your sponge onto baking paper and tightly roll it up, and leave it to cool. In the meantime, work on your cream filling. Evenly spread it into the sponge and roll it back up. Finally, pipe your chilled ganache onto your log, dusted with icing sugar.
Here is a step-by-step recipe that will guide you to making a wonderful yule log for everyone!
The trick to a perfect pumpkin pie is ensuring that your crust is cooked well.
To do this, you’ll have to blind-bake your pie shell. This means pre-baking it so you don’t end up with something that’s uncooked halfway through the centre. Place parchment paper and pie weights into your pie shell so the shape of your crust doesn’t change.
For the filling, use pumpkin puree, three eggs, vanilla extract, and salt. The secret to the recipe lies in the spices that are added: cinnamon, finely ground nutmeg, ginger, and Chinese five spice. Finally, add evaporated milk and whisk everything, before filling your pie.
To make the perfect pumpkin pie for the festive season, here is a recipe for you!
A croquembouche is made up of profiteroles stuck onto a cone and bound together with spun sugar. Traditionally served as a celebratory cake in France, this dessert is perfect for any party – and it even looks like a Christmas tree!
First, you need to make your choux pastry for the profiteroles. Once out of the oven, poke a hole in each of them with a skewer and pop them back in the oven for them to dry out. For the filling, you’ll need milk, vanilla bean, egg yolks, sugar, and flour. After whisking and cooling, spoon the filling into a piping bag and fill the profiteroles.
You can use any regular cardboard to make a cone, depending on the size you desire. Keep adding your pastries along the sides of the cone using a sugar and water mixture as glue. Finally, add an elegant touch to your extravagant dessert by making enough spun sugar to drape around the croquembouche.
Here is a great recipe should you want a croquembouche to be on your table at your Christmas dinner.
Although some recipes are certainly not easy to make, they are definitely worth the time and effort. Elegant, beautiful and delicious, the desserts are sure to charm your family and friends!
The tree is impeccably decorated – you have achieved a look that is equal parts festive and sophisticated. The lights around the house are giving off the exact shade of golden for optimum cosiness. Even your holiday music playlist is handpicked for maximum enjoyment; after all if Michael Bublé isn’t crooning softly in the background, is it truly Christmas? It looks as if all is perfect for a night of joy and laughter. But the crowning glory to a memorable party is still missing – the food.
While some of us are truly gods among men and have the know-how to whip up an entire four-course meal, the rest of us simply make do with the inspiration we get from the internet and our mothers. If digging through old cookbooks or your mother/grandmother’s ancient recipes does not sound appealing to you, we have just the thing. Here are 3 main courses you can take inspiration from and put your own twist on:
When you think of Christmas mains, one of the first things that come to mind are holiday movies where the grandma brings out a great hunk of meat out from the oven, still sizzling in its juices. Why not try a variation of that? This particular recipe makes use of cumin – a spice that is native to South Asia – as well as some homemade sweet and tangy BBQ sauce. This is perfect for those looking for a short preparation time. The active preparation time for this main is a mere 30 minutes and then you can take leave it to cook for two hours while you prepare the other dishes of your Christmas dinner. It’s a win-win situation!
Image cred: pixabay
If you have had enough of cooking meat and would like to try your hand at something different, don’t worry; we’ve brought something different – seafood. For your crustacean loving relatives, perhaps this recipe with spaghetti and lobster might do just the trick. With a base of tomato sauce and enhanced by the flavour of chiles like habanero, jalapeno and serrano, this main is comfort food with a twist. On a budget? Swap it out with your loved one’s favourite shell fish instead.
Image cred: Brooke Lark on Unsplash
Okay look — we love the indulgent, giving nature of Christmas as much as the next person but sometimes light and fresh is the way to go. In the flurry of Christmas dinners all serving heavy dishes, this might be a respite for your digestive system. It is chock full of the delicious freshness of green vegetables with the addition of the creaminess of ricotta and goat’s cheese. If your family and friends prefer the vegetarian way of life, this is a must try.
Image cred: pixabay
Whether your Christmas dinner is a grand sit-down affair with all your extended family or a small cosy get-together with friends, these recipes will be sure to enhance your dinner party and impress your beloved loved ones. But in case you do mess up and the meat doesn’t melt in your mouth as you imagined, don’t be too miffed. The truth is, while the food and the decorations do help the festivities, nothing can beat the goodness of a home filled with the laughter and joy of people you care deeply about.
And if your meal becomes too heavy, it is always great to wash down the heavy feeling with a cup of light herbal tea. You can purchase our organic herbal teas here!
Merry Christmas!
Did you know, tea bags were invented by accident in 1908? (Aren't the coolest things created by accident! Potato chips, Penicillin, Post-its) Thomas Sullivan from the United States created small silk bags to give samples of tea to his customers but some of them thought they were meant to be placed directly into the pot, like a metal infuser, instead of being poured and emptied out. Thus, Voila! The invention of the tea bag!
Also, did you know that there are 4 major types of tea: black, green, oolong and white, but plot twist, they all come from the same plant - the Camellia sinensis - the different types of tea are a result of different ways of treating the plant. Interesting isn't it? Now that we have all enhanced our tea knowledge, lets find out how to reuse and recycle our tea bags. Each tea bag is filled with fresh, delicious and healthy goodness, so it is only right we do it justice and make the most of it.
The eyes are the windows to your soul so naturally we would want them to be all bright, twinkly and awake. If you are lazy to run out to the local beauty supply store for an eye mask to unwind after a long day at work, just grab some old tea bags and place them over your eyes for a few minutes. Put on some calm, soothing music and let your entire body relax into your bed or sofa. The remaining nutrients and minerals will seep into your skin and relieve dark circles and puffiness. You will feel like a new person after your tea bag treatment.
You have definitely seen those people walking down the street with the perfect hair you've always wanted. It seems like there is always the perfect amount of wind blowing right in front of their faces; strong enough so that their hair is flowing freely in the wind but not too much that their hair gets all messed up and stuck in their mouths. That hair. That hair just might be achievable with the help of your old tea bags! They can be used as natural alternatives to our conditioners (yay we save money!) to help add nourishment and silkiness to your hair. Just take your old tea bags and brew a weaker tea, cool it and rub it in through your hair after you shampoo. It'll leave your hair smelling great too!
We recommend these teas for "Tea Rinse"
Chamomile - The chamomile extract softens and nourishes your hair and scalp gently. Add two chamomile tea bags to a huge cup of boiling water, and let it cool. Then, pour the chamomile tea over freshly washed hair and repeat 2-3 times. Good for dandruff, itchy scalp, lighten hair colour, nourish hair, promote hair growth, make hair smooth and silky.
Black Tea
Green Tea
The feet of a person usually get noticed for either one of two reasons; 1. pretty pedicure or 2. stanky feet. I don't know about you but I definitely prefer the former. Smelly feet are foes to everyone in the vicinity including yourself (unless your nose is incredibly resistant to strong odors). Some people have smelly feet due to medical conditions and some might've just finished a long run in their sneakers, either way you need a way to beat the feet! You could put used pepper mint or green tea tea bags in your shoes to soak up the smell. Or alternatively, you could soak your feet in water with old tea bags (pepper mint or green tea). This doubles its use because tea bags are great for detox baths as well. Catechins in green tea has Antibacterial properties and pepper mint has instant effect to remove odor. Try these tips out and you will be one step in the right direction. (Pun intended. I'm so funny)
Ever had a cup of tea that smelled so amazing and thought 'I want to smell like that all the time"? Well, have you ever thought of making your favourite tea into soap? Because you can! This will require you to purchase a few items but it is certainly worth it. And with Christmas coming around the corner, nothing says thoughtful and meaningful quite like handmade soap! (you could give Lush a run for their money)
We recommend you to use our Lemon & Chamomile including marigold, lemon, chamomile, mint, ginger and Lemon !
Things you will need for DIY Soap making:
Lets make some soap!
5. Degrease your pots, pans and plates - soak 5 min with used tea bags
Most of us love a good hearty meal of fried chicken, mac n cheese, lasagne, pizza and hotdogs. But the resulting dishes from these fried/greasy foods often have a oily and greasy layer over them that can sometimes be nearly impossible to clean. Sometimes it even feels like the more I scrub, the worse it gets. To alleviate this problem, pile up the dishes in your sink and fill it with hot water and throw in some old tea bags to soak. It helps loosen any hard foods and lifts grease so that when you get around to doing the dishes, it'll be super quick and easy.
It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas in Singapore, with Orchard Road decked out in sparkling street lights, gorgeous Christmas trees adorning the shopping malls, and festive markets popping up all over the city. Christmas is a season of giving and sharing with your loved ones and those less fortunate than ourselves, so plot the perfect surprise for your nearest and dearest with a visit to the loveliest Christmas markets on the Little Red Dot now.
Image cred: Christmas Wonderland at Gardens by the Bay
A white Christmas may not happen in our little tropical island ever but live the experience of a European Christmas market at Garden by the Bay’s massive Christmas Wonderland. Step into Santa’s Grotto to say hello or choose to wander around the wooden German-style huts for traditional treats and a steamy mug of mulled wine. Otherwise, put on your skates for a spin around the synthetic skating rink, get on some carnival rides and catch the new circus act, Circus Abyssinia. Christmas Wonderland is an absolute must-go for a lavish feast of sights and sounds.
If you’re on a gift-hunt, ditch the usual retail mall run and scout for a unique gift at Public Garden – a one-stop destination that will fulfil all your festive shopping needs.
Independent traders all over Asia will congregate at Public Garden to peddle their artisanal, handmade wares. In search of unconventional treasures made with lots of love and soul? Public Garden is where you have to be.
Image cred: Santa's Workshop at The South Pole facebook event page
The Local People team is about to transform South Beach Avenue into one huge Christmas party for you! Expect a slew of art and craft workshops, fundraising carnival games, LED balloon giveaways, movie screenings and homegrown live music. If that’s not your jam, local food vendors will be there to churn out some hearty holiday grub too. Soak up the yuletide spirit and keep partying on because all proceeds from the carnival games will benefit several non-profit organisations.
With over 25 vendors, amusement rides and a stellar line-up of live performances, The Great Christmas Village at Civic Plaza is indeed a great seasonal attraction. Remember to visit Santa at the Hitachi Santa House to snap a quick holiday memento and don’t miss the Christmas Countdown Concert because it has been said there would be a grand display of pyrotechnics at midnight (hooray!).
Heads up: Save this for a late afternoon or early evening visit so that you and your family will not have to bear the brunt of the heat.
For a jolly good day of fun, bring the little ones to Food For Tots (Food For Thought restaurant group’s newest concept) and join their one-day Children’s Christmas Market where your children can participate in various hands-on activities. Learn to bake Stained Glass Cookies with The Little Things, a local programme that trains children to manage and thrive in the kitchen, or pen down some thankful thoughts with Festive Letter Writing. Afterwards, enjoy Food For Tot’s delicious brunch items amidst the lush greenery in Jacob Ballas Children’s Garden and take home some balloon sculptures to celebrate the merry holiday season.
Make this magical year-end count with your loved ones and have a ball of a time at any of the Christmas markets listed above. Wishing you and yours all the love, joy and warmth that this festive season has to bring.
♥ Shop Online Page (Heart Shaped Lemon) ♥
In the colour spectrum, yellow is the brightest colour and the most striking to the human eye. That radiance and brightness can be found in one of the more detoxifying fruit: lemon.
Hailing from Setouchi, Nilufer Tea's heart shape lemons are pretty on the eyes and healthy for consumption. The plantations that grow the lemons receive ample sunlight, water and lots of fresh air. As a result, the lemons take on the qualities of the environment and are translated into tasty lemons.
Due to the plantations' practice of ethical farming, no pesticides are used and the lemons are organically farmed. You can simply go to the farm and take a bite of the lemon without worrying the chemicals culminating in your body. The farmers take pride in their plantations and have painstakingly ensure that only best lemons are given to you.
Shop Online Page (Heart Shaped Lemon)
You might be wondering: how does the lemon become a heart shape?
Image cred: @askafrench on Instagram
When the lemon is still young and growing, a heart-shaped mold is used to cover the fruit. As the lemon continues to grow, it is shaped into the mold and becomes a heart shape.
Shop online here for your lemons!
Being part of the citrus family, lemons contain high amounts of vitamin C which brings us an array of benefits. It helps our cells to regenerate so that our skin remains youthful, decrease the bad cholesterol that causes health problems, prevent scurvy, and also helps our body to absorb iron better.
But vitamin C is not just lemon's forte of rich nutrition. Unlike other citrus fruits, lemons have a unique sour taste that holds a hint of sweetness to give you a bit of that sour buzz. That is why lemons are often used in different cuisine to give a splash of freshness to the dish.
Lemons are undoubtedly more sour than other fruits as it contains more citric acid. This acid helps to improve the process of digestion and also the production of digestive juices. As a result, lemons can help to cleanse the gut and remove toxins through bowel movement.
Shop Online Page (Heart Shaped Lemon)
Just like a heart shape lemon, Nilufer Tea aims to bring you the heart of wellness. These lemons are not only pretty, but also healthy. At the same time, we support these small farms which place ethical farming at the heart of their profession. Due to the high quality control by both the farmers and Nilufer Tea, heart shaped lemons can be limited and are only available at the peak of its harvest. But like everything that is worth having, sometimes we just have to wait.
As now is the optimal harvest, Nilufer Tea is ready to ship all orders of heart shape lemon! Get yours here now for yourself or as a gift for someone special.
Shop Online Page (Heart Shaped Lemon)
Heart shaped lemon is very insta worthy ! Feel free to contact me if you are interested in 🙂
info@nilufertea.com
