Summer is here, and you want to look your best. I am not a person who starts getting ready for summer in the winter. I can’t because I don’t operate well in winter. So I need quick but efficient/healthy solutions for my appearance. A Little bit about me, I smoke about five cigarettes a day (I know it is a grave sin for most of you), eat healthily (what a contrast), and I am a big researcher about anything and everything. I workout and have prepared diet lists for my friends in the past. I am on the hunt for the best of the best products from all over the world, and I am tired of bias product reviews. Now that you know a little bit about me, here are the four things I have tried and fell in love with.

Yerba Mate

This drink is magic! It is an acquired taste, but it is an answer to most of your needs. Yerba mate is a traditional drink made from the dried leaves of an evergreen holly, Ilex paraguariensis, a native plant of South America. Argentina is one of the countries that made this drink famous.

The Health Benefits:

- It contains more caffeine than coffee without the coffee’s side effects like caffeine crash and headache. Plus your teeth don’t get stained.

- It makes you lose weight as it reduces your appetite. (See how many models drink it.)

- It makes you focus better, and makes you feel happy.

- It is a nutritional powerhouse loaded with vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. (Your face will glow.)

- It is diuretic, so it makes you lose that extra pound of water weight.

The secret is, however, to have it like Argentineans do. I would highly recommend the Rosemont brand. Get a Mate cup and metal straw and get on with it. Here's how to make it.

Natural Middle Eastern Loofah

This will give you a new skin! I am not a person who is into milk baths, bath bombs or regular body treatments. Simply because I don’t have time, but I am very keen on clean and smooth skin. So this is where the natural loofah comes in. This is not like the loofah you would find in high-end beauty salons nor is it the one you will find in the beauty section in regular stores. You need to go to a Middle Eastern store or order it from Amazon. Loofah is a genius of tropical and subtropical vines in the cucumber (Cucurbitaceae) family. The plant is an edible plant but in order to have the loofah they dry the vegetable as a whole. So you may end up getting “a loaf of loofa” and cutting it to usable sizes. I must warn you; it will feel like taking a bath with a brick if you don’t soak it in the water the day before.

Nutrilite Double X

Most of us skip vitamins because of their ingredients, the nauseous feeling we get after taking them, or because we don’t believe in the usefulness of them. I did not take vitamins for a long time because of all the reasons above and more until I came across the these. Nutrilite Double X has changed my opinion. It gives you 12 vitamins and 10 minerals.

Double X is purely herbal, and it is gentle on your stomach. The plastic-like smell you get from most of the capsules are replaced with a nice thyme-like smell and it is effective. I don’t know why the creators split these vitamins to three little packages as gold, platinum and copper, but I am glad they did because it makes it a lot more fun to take them. It comes in a rectangular box with a latch, which makes it fancier and easier to carry it in your bag.

Mizon Snail Cream

If you are not a beauty product freak and want one cream to answer all your needs, then this is it! The dilemma starts when you want your skin to look vibrant/youthful without using too rich/harsh of a product, especially if you have sensitive skin after you get your first fine line on your face. I tried many moisturizers and serums, and finally, I found this product while visiting Korea. I was skeptical first because of the low price and the high promises on this cream. I bought it because of my Korean friend who recommended it. I am glad I did. Snail creams were used by pregnant women for a long time to reduce the cracks on their bellies. Later on, it became popular as a facial treatment for its scar healing, rejuvenating, moisturizing and acne clearing features. However, the products that claimed to have snail mucus in them had not more than 50 percent. Mizon uses 92 percent, and it doesn’t cost arms and legs. Moreover, it is gentle, and it gets absorbed quickly. It doesn’t have a smell nor does it have harsh chemicals. Apply it to your face before bed and watch how your face changes in a couple of weeks.

The world we live in doesn’t seem like it has enough hours in a day. We want to look our best without sacrificing too much time/money on personal treatments. If you are tired of being a victim of cosmetic companies who, most of the time, over promise and under deliver, I would say give these a try and thank me later.