Author: Toney Tengey

This is Toney Tengey. Blogger and the Editor in Chief of LyfeRepublic.com Thrives on fast-paced environments and has a high-energy personality. Toney shares ideas and information working relentlessly to provide accurate content. Her experience with blogging has taught her the importance of being thorough, always emphasizing quality content. Enjoy!  

Well, Valentine’s day is just around the corner, and we are pretty sure, sweethearts all around the world are gearing up to celebrate this romantic day with their loved ones.

We are also pretty sure you might be in need of some Valentine’s day gift ideas and this is where we come in to give you our top 3 gift ideas and where to easily get them. This year, instead of the usual chocolates, flowers and cards (which is cool by the way) why not add some spice to the tradition and make that special person feel giddy with love on this day.
LOTUS GALLERY: Has something for everyone, with creative and thoughtful presents you can personalise with special messages, dates, photos and more to show that person you love just how much you care. Customize a cozy throw pillow or a picture frame with his or her photo or even customize a mug with your own words. Whether you are an old pro or a newbie to the game of love, www.lotusgallery.com.gh is your one-stop-online gift shop for unique gift items.

RELATED ARTICLE: LOTUS GALLERY, GHANA’S FINEST ONLY ONLINE GIFT SHOP
MELONS CANDLESHOP: What better way to spice up the romantic atmosphere than including candles in your celebration of love. From a personalised candle to heart-shaped tea lights, melons candleshop have you covered. They are a Ghanaian handmade candle and accessories makers. Hit them up on Instagram @melonscandles for different size candles and all your go-to fragrances.


CHOCO TOYS: Whether you’re looking for a Valentine’s Day gift for yourself or for a romantic night with your sweetheart, Choco toys has something for everyone this Vals Day! They have high quality sex toys we think would each make a fantastic gift for a lover. Visit www.chocotoys.com to spice up your sex life.

NB: If your Valentine has no sex toys to your knowledge, please proceed with caution. It’s much better to have a frank and honest conversation about sex toys rather than blindsiding them with a gift they do not want.

WELCOME TO LOTUS GALLERY WHERE MOMENTS ARE MADE MEMORABLE!

I first visited the site because a friend of mine had sent me the link and insisted that I check it out and so I did and oh mine, I was first of all, blown away by the design and style of the website, it’s not your common website believe you me. I proceeded to the gift section, they have something for  everyone with a wide section of categories from couples to kids to kitchen/barware to confections to scents and fragrances and many others. You owe it to yourself to shop here if you’re in the market for unique and quality gift-able items.

 

Lotus Gallery is a locally owned lifestyle gift boutique in Accra, Ghana by a very hardworking, buoyant and resilient lady, Mrs. Seraphina Tetteh-Fio. This online gift shop is actually Ghana’s only online gift and hamper shop which features well selected gift ideas for your loved ones, they also render customized printing services as well as wrapping services.

The holiday season is almost upon us and it’s time to show loved ones how well you know them, what they value and appreciate, the bond of family, the beauty of romance and the joy of friendship. How deep is your love?

Perhaps you’re not a great gift giver or you love giving gifts but have no idea how to go about it? Don’t stress, Lotus Gallery is got you covered. Experts and professionals will aid you select the best gift combinations to convey your exact message and even more no matter the occasion. Lotus Gallery gifts are picked as a personified embodiment of your thoughts at unbeatable prices.

You may ask, why LOTUS GALLERY? And these are the simple answers:

1. At Lotus Gallery only authentic products are sold. They offer a wide selected range of quality gift items and home accents to fit their clients’ personal style and taste at comparative prices. You are guaranteed to always get your money’s worth.

2. Free delivery within Ghana when you purchase anything from GHC 500 and above. They also offer delivery services within Ghana and beyond. If you prefer a local pick up too, you can do so at their office located in East Legon.

 

3. One of the many interesting features on the site is the PERSONALIZE PAGE where you can add your personal touches like pictures, quotes, texts, emoji to gifts such as frames, mugs, plates etc. You do all these yourself online on the site just the way you want it. I ordered for a frame with my picture and it was such a delight. It was nicely done and just within few hours, I had my personalized frame.

4. Lotus Gallery has a safe and secure payment system online where you can either pay for items and services with mobile money (Vodafone cash, MTN Mobile Money, Tigo Cash, Airtel Cash), Pay into their bank account or with your visa or master card.

5. At Lotus Gallery, no query or request is too small or too much for their dedicated team to tackle.

Why stress? Why walk long distances, when you can express your feelings and warm thoughts with just a click of a button? Shop their wide selected gifts, hampers and personalized items to find something you will be proud to give at www.lotusgallery.com.gh

 

Website: www.lotusgallery.com.gh

Instagram: @lotusgallerygh

Twitter: @lotusgallerygh

Facebook: Lotus Gallery

Tel: +233 302 950 158

Whatsapp: +233 207705030

Quick and easy smoothies – perfect for when you are on the move or perhaps not a lover of breakfast! Your body will love these delicious smoothies. Choose the flavor you fancy (the method is the same for all three) or get creative and design your own.

 

Ingredients

GREEN SMOOTHIE

  • 125ml coconut milk
  • 500ml kale or spinach, chopped
  • 250ml pineapple chopped
  • 1  banana, chopped
  • 3 – 5ml grated ginger

BANANA GINGER SMOOTHIE

  • 2 SPAR Freshline bananas, sliced
  • 250ml plain yoghurt
  • 15ml Shoney (to taste)
  • 3ml freshly grated ginger

BERRY OAT SMOOTHIE

  • 200g frozen berries
  • 175ml  plain yoghurt
  • 30ml honey (to taste)
  • 3 – 5ml grated ginger
  • 25g Quick Cooking Oats

Method

  1. Combine the ingredients in a blender, except for the oats if making the berry smoothie.
  2. Puree until smooth, about 1 minute.  Add water to reach the desired consistency.  Stir the oats into the berry smoothie reserving a few for sprinkling on top.

Hints & Tips

When using banana, it is a good idea to peel and freeze it the day before. Cut into chunks and blitz with the other ingredients for an icy smoothie.

 

Source: Daily Sun

Fendi has designed this pink circle scarf printed with the brand’s signature logo and lined with brown fur in the center.

But many Twitter users have compared it to a Punani. Yep, the tweets are true. Fendi designed a $1,000 blush-toned “Touch of Fur” scarf that reminds people of the very moment they were brought into this world.

Unfortunately for those of you who wanted to add this scarf to your Christmas list, it’s already been removed from the Fendi website because of people’s reaction and so all that’s left is its memory. And to be fair to Fendi, the “Touch of Fur” scarf is available in blue and red, but online shoppers have stayed fixated on the pink version out for obvious reasons.

Business Insider reports that While many mocked the scarf, others said that they would try wearing it. The scarf is still available to purchase in blue and red.

 

South Africa’s Riky Rick who has been in the entertainment industry for more than 5 years is known for pushing the boundaries when it comes to his fashion choices and he recently broke the internet with his latest outfit when the rapper wore a skirt during a recent appearance on ‘Live Amp’.

Although Riky Rick is known and loved for his unique sense of style, some of his fans however think he has taken his love for fashion one step too far this time. See some reactions below:

 

The monochrome gender-fluid ensemble is from the newest menswear collection by revered knitwear fashion brand, Maxhosa by Laduma.

The man behind the brand, Laduma Ngxokolo, insists for starters the correct term for the look is not a skirt or kilt, but rather it’s his interpretation of ibheshu – a calf-skin apron worn by Zulu men. He does, however, confirm that the get-up was heavily influenced by the Scottish kilt. “The collection is called culture, so the whole objective was to celebrate different cultures around the world,” he told Sowetanlive

 

This might come as a shocker, but Google isn’t the only viable search engine when you’re trying to track someone down online. In recent years plenty of new and innovative people search engines have emerged onto the scene, some surpassing even Google in terms of their effectiveness. Although there’s no definitive one-stop website for tracking someone down just yet, there are definitely a dozen more ways to do so than there were just a decade ago. So, the next time you wonder what’s new with one of your friends or an old colleague you haven’t seen in a while, you can use these websites to track them down and find out.

Fair warning: stalking is an offense and you should always be wary of it. People have been prosecuted for stalking in the past. There’s a fine line between finding someone you’ve lost touch with and reconnecting, and passionately stalking someone online.

Using ZabaSearch

This is a relatively new people search engine that’s grown in popularity in the last couple of years. It’s eerily comprehensive and houses a lot of public information. You might be shocked to realize the amount of public data available on you if you perform a simple search on your own name. This might freak you out, but this website can be a real life-saver if you’re in desperate need of a phone number for business purposes. The index has both listed and unlisted numbers, as well as addresses. The founders of ZabaSearch maintain that all of the info is public so it violates no laws.

Using Pipl

Pipl is interesting because it apparently uses the “deep web” to find people Google can’t. Although we thought it was a gimmick at first, it actually returns some pretty useful info, including personal web pages, names, press mentions, etc. If the search you want to conduct is too broad or the name is too general, you can narrow it down by giving Pipl some guidance, such as entering the state or city.

Using Wink

Wink isn’t a regular search engine, but rather one which scans all social media for the name you give it. It will return Friendster, Myspace, Twitter and LinkedIn accounts for the associated name, in addition to other information such as their interests or even, whenever possible, their location.

Using ZoomInfo

ZoomInfo was built to connect candidates with potential corporate businesses, but it can also be sued as a tool for tracking people down. It lists a person’s employment history, their current job title and whether or not they’re currently on the lookout for a job. You can filter people by location if there are too many “John Doe’s”.

Using Intelius

To access most of the information available through Intelius, you’ll be asked to pay a fee. The site offers everything from phone numbers to complete background checks and actually can have useful information. I have purchased information from Intelius in the past and it did lead me to exactly the person I was looking for. However, I know the price tag (often starting around $40) can be off-putting, especially if you’re only casually searching or if you need to find information on a long list of people.

Conclusion

Using a search engine to track someone down is perfectly legal. As long as all of the information you find is public records, you’re not breaking any laws. Use them at your discretion, however.

 

Originally appeared in Superselected

We all love natural hair, but it can sometimes be overwhelming and tricky. For those who had transitioned or had a big chop, the journey usually starts off with a buzz, but as time passes, being a naturalista becomes the norm, the excitement reduces and so does the enthusiasm to continuously maintain and style your kinks. However, some women’s spark with their kinks never die in fact, they always seem to come up with fresher ways of reviving or to sophisticate their kinks. We’ve come up with 5 natural hair tips to help you with your natural hair journey.

 

Trim and shape your hair

Sometimes the only thing holding your hair back from being as healthy as possible is getting a professional trim or by cutting off what is damaged. Keeping your hair shaped is important too if you wear your hair out often. Split ends will happen to the best of us which is why trimming your hair 4-6 times a year is recommended for healthy hair. You want to get your hair trimmed by a professional for two reasons, their shears, and attention to detail. If you trim your hair with scissors, you are already setting your hair up to split because scissors are not sharp enough for a clean cut and if it isn’t a clean cut it will split right after the cut.

 

Protective Styling

Having your edges tucked away in weaves, wigs or braids guarantees less breakage. But that doesn’t omit the fact that you may still need to sleep with a satin head scarf or wear a satin wrap beneath  wigs to protect your edges.

Product selection

Choose products that do the Job for YOU. Please don’t expect products to work miracles on your hair as it did for your friend, relative, or colleague.

 

Maintain moisture and hydration.

A moisturizer will have water as the first ingredient. If you look at the definition of moisture, water is present; water opens up the cuticle to allow the other ingredients to penetrate and work on a deeper level. Using oils and butter as moisturizers are not going to be as effective. Oils will nourish, seal and even soften the hair temporarily and so will butter. If you use a water-based, creamy moisturizer daily or as needed this will be more effective.

Protect your hair for bed.

Your satin scarf and bonnet should be cherished.

 

 

Velvet has the potential to look elegant, sophisticated, and smart – but it also has the potential to look cheap or even trashy. So, when velvet fashion is worn right, it’s luscious and can be a total winning look for whatever occasion you’re wearing it for. Conversely, the opposite is true. We’ve been seeing a lot of velvet emerging as a beautiful trend, and it is, of course, very important for people to know exactly how to wear velvet in the most successful way possible.

Velvet goes hand-in-hand with ‘70s fashion and is a type of woven tufted fabric in which the cut threads are evenly distributed, with a short dense pile, giving it a distinctive soft feel. By extension, the word velvety means “smooth like velvet.” Velvet can be made from either synthetic or natural fibers. It complicated process meant that velvet was expensive to make before industrial power looms became available, and well-made velvet remains a fairly costly fabric.

Velvet fashion has also been typically seen in evening wear rather than day wear, but we have been seeing velvet as day wear pop up on various runways this year. Velvet bottoms are about as deep into this trend as you can get. While they aren’t the easiest item to pull off, when styled the right way, their impact will be unforgettable. Check out a few styling tips on how to rock velvet fabric.

1. Say yes to an elegant Velvet dress or jumpsuit, is a perfect choice for evening. A velvet dress really stands out on its own, but you can add a statement necklace to be fancier and voila, there you go!

2. You can try a velvet accessory like a velvet cross-body bag, you can wear it for any occasion, from running errands to the fanciest of date nights.

3. Velvet makes even a t-shirt or top look more chic and glam. Wear it with high-waist jeans.

 

4. Make a velvet midi skirt work by pairing it with a cozy and comfy top.

 

5. Wear Velvet in any shoe you can find it in. A mule, a platform pump for a special occasion, a chunky boot for any time in between, the velvet gods were good to the shoe lover this year.

6. Mix with different textures and a velvet jacket or pant style blends rather than making too much of a statement. Dress down to make it a statement, or up to turn. Either way, your wardrobe will thank you.

7. When you need a break from all the skinny jeans and tailored trousers, Wear Velvet in wide-leg options. Whether they’re for work or play, a swinging pair of party pants can spruce up the dreariest of days and span all occasions.

 

There is an appealing airiness to the clothes. Long, languid dresses with a 1930s sway with Duro Olowu’s signature prints—florals, polka dots, and a particularly charming butterfly print that covered a striking high-waisted pantsuit as well.

Indeed, even the most modest floor-length looks with full sleeves have an ease about them that belied their construction—the gorgeous blue floral number in the lineup is a good example, made with several layers of chiffon.

MORE STUNNING IMAGES BELOW:

Personal hygiene for most women includes monotonous activities such as brushing, flossing, bathing, and deodorizing. And that is all. However, personal hygiene is more than just keeping bad breath and body odor away.

As a woman, special care should be placed on feminine hygiene care. Taking good care of yourself is an important part of growing up. Maintaining feminine personal hygiene not only helps you to battle infections and detrimental diseases, (In some cases, bacterial infections may lead to sterility, disease, cancer, and other health problems.) but it creates an aura of freshness around, when you get busy with your chores.

So, ladies, just spare a few moments to look through the following 10 steps to maintain your vaginal hygiene.

1. Wear loose, breathable, bottom clothing. Tight pants, shorts, or panties made from synthetic fabrics can reduce the air circulation around your vagina and cause it to sweat, which can increase your chances for odors and infection.

 

2. Wear loose panties that allow for air circulation or that are made from a natural, breathable fabric such as cotton.

3. Eat a balanced diet high in nutrition. A diet with plenty of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains such as brown rice will help prevent your body and vagina from experiencing infections or ailments.

4. Wash your vaginal area daily with mild soap and water. Mild soap will help prevent your vaginal region from becoming irritated or infected due to exposure from harsh chemicals found in antibacterial or astringent soaps.

5. Rinse your vaginal region with fresh water after washing with soap, then dry off immediately with a clean, towel to prevent moisture build-up.

6. Wipe your genital area thoroughly after urination. This will help keep your vaginal area dry and clean throughout the day.

7. Wipe yourself from front to back after experiencing a bowel movement to prevent fecal matter from coming into contact with your vagina, which can cause a bacterial infection.

8. Wash your vaginal area after sexual intercourse. Bodily fluids and residue from condoms and other intimate products can cause infection, irritation, and odors if not removed from your vaginal region following intercourse.

9. Change tampons, sanitary napkins, and pantyliners frequently. When these menstrual products become soiled and are worn for long periods of time, they can cause you to experience foul odors and increase the risk of infection.

10. Use menstrual products that do not contain scents or dyes, as these products contain chemicals that can be harmful to your health.