Impressionistic Nails - Inspired by Claude Monet

I am a huge fan of Monet's work - the most influential impressionist painter of all time. After spending hours upon hours just awing over his masterpieces, I was inspired to create an impressionistic form of nail art. What I've come up with could never be compared to the nuance of Monet's brilliant work and hence this is more of an inspired tutorial. In all honesty, I'm quite horrible at applying nail polish so I tried to make this process as simple as possible. I guarantee that anyone, no matter your skill level, will be able to re-create this nail look with ease.


STEP 1:
Start off with a dark colour as a base.

I used Revlon's Midnight Affair (791)

Revlon - Midnight Affair (791)

STEP 2:
Choose a variety of bright colours that you will then stipple onto the dark base with a sponge.

These are the 3 colours that I used (all by Sally Hansen) - Pacific Blue (420), Mint Sorbet (340) & Coral Reef (405).

SALLY HANSEN Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear - Pacific Blue

SALLY HANSEN Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear - Mint Sorbet

SALLY HANSEN Hard As Nails Xtreme Wear - Coral Reef

Here, I applied some nail polish onto the sponge and began stippling the colour onto the nail. Do the same for all of the colours you have selected, layering one upon the other, until you get your desired look. 

After stippling on all 3 colours, layer after layer, I came up with this final look. Again, not even close to the brilliance of Monet's paintings however, I think the inspiration can most certainly be seen.

I think there is something very fun and whimsical about this nail look. The pastels colours make this ideal for spring/summer however the darker base really grounds the whole look. 

I just want to give a quick shout-out to my elementary school art teacher Mrs. Brady! She exposed her students to so many different artists from Monet to Picasso to Dali. It was from her class that I able to experience all of these different forms of art. I don't think it's required for educators to teach their students the history of art at such a young age, however she made it a priority. I remember she even had a special session where she invited an individual who drew the scenes for one of the Star Wars movie to come in and talk to the students. I didn't appreciate it much at the time (because I was so young) but I now realize that opportunities like this don't come everyday. She went above and beyond to give her students the best education possible and I'm glad that I have this knowledge of art that many students tend to lack (unless they've chosen to pursue some form of visual art).

Are you a fan of Monet? Would you ever sport this Monet inspired look on your nails? Let me know in the comments below!

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"Healthier" 5 Layer Nacho Dip

We all know the classic 5-layer dip and we all know how unbelievably unhealthy it can become if we use ingredients such as high-fat sour cream and tons of cheese. These ingredients are what make a nacho dip an absolute home run for me but I thought I would try to make a healthier version of this much loved party-favourite. Here’s what you’ll need:


INGREDIENTS:

Diced tomatoes

Shredded iceberg lettuce

Diced green peppers

Fat-free yogurt

Shredded low-fat cheese (which ever cheese you prefer)

Salsa (this is optional - I'm going to skip since store-bought salsa has a very high sodium content)

Taco Mix

PREPARATION:

1. Mix yogurt and taco mix to create 1st layer of your dip.

2. Place one layer of lettuce on top of the yogurt mix, followed by 1 layer of tomatoes followed by 1 layer of green peppers and finish off with 1 layer of shredded cheese (Note: in the pictures, I opted to put the cheese directly on my nachos with additional lettuce and tomatoes which I then heated in the oven)

5 Layer Dip - yogurt, lettuce, tomatoes, green peppers & cheese (I decided to place the cheese directly onto the nachos instead of placing it as a layer on the dip)

Voila, you are all done. One healthy nacho/chip dip ready in seconds! As you can see in the pictures, I opted to place the cheese directly onto the nachos which I then placed in the oven on broil for about 5 minutes. I also added some additional lettuce and tomatoes onto the nachos. Besides the chips, this is a pretty healthy dip. If you wanted to be uber healthy, I would skip the chips and use this as more of a vegetable dip!

These are the nachos I made to go along with the dip - cheese, tomatoes & lots of lettuce!

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Home-made Fruit Flavoured Water (Newest Obsession!)

Recently, I've been trying to drink ONLY water. To be perfectly honest, I've gained a little bit of weight over the winter months and I thought that one of the best and healthier ways to lose that weight would be to cut out the fizzy sodas and juices and just drink plain ol' water. Unfortunately, that is easier said than done. For those of you that have tried this in the past, you know what I mean. Water just tastes so blah in comparison to orange juice or coke (two of my past go-to drinks). I know that there are a lot of flavour packs for water on the market like crystal light and what not but I've been trying to go all natural. In attempt to making my water taste more flavourful, I have begun adding fruit to it and letting it refrigerate over night. The end result is a naturally sweetened and extremely refreshing flavoured drink. For those of you interested in making your own, here is what you'll need:

Ingredients:
1.   1 Pitcher of Water
2.  Fruit (which ever you prefer)
3.   1 Lemon or 1 Lime (which ever you prefer)

Preparation:

1.   Squeeze the juice of 1 lemon/lime into a glass pitcher

2.   Slice your fruit and add to lemon/lime juice (more fruit = more flavour)

3.   Add water to pitcher until full to top

4.   Leave in refrigerator over night

Voila, you are all done! In the morning, you should have some tangy yet sweet flavoured water. This recipe is so simple! The more fruit you add, the more flavourful your water will become! Keep in mind that you want to choose fruits with a higher sugar content so that they will actually sweeten your water! You could also add some mint leaves or other herbs if you want to be really fancy.

PS - When I don't have the time to actually cut up the fruit (or I'm just too lazy), I use frozen fruit which does the same trick (actually if you heat up the fruit in the microwave, the sugars are released which you can add to the water to instantly sweeten it up! You'd just need to give it an hour or two to chill).

What do you think of this simple DIY flavoured water?

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FIRST IMPRESSIONS: Small Makeup & Skincare Haul - August 2nd, 2013

I picked up a few random makeup and skincare products over the past week and I thought I'd share my first initial impressions of these products. I thought it would be more beneficial to share a small blurb on how these products perform (in the short-term obv) along-side my haul. Please keep in mind that these are first impressions and therefore, my opinions may change in the future. It's difficult to review certain products (esp. skincare) in terms of long-term benefits after a single-use. If I find it imperative, I will provide a more detailed review of certain products in future posts. If you would like me to provide a full review on any of the products mentioned below, please leave your requests in the comments below or the requests page. 

1) Nicole by O.P.I (Kardashian Kollection) – Smile for the Glam-era: A dark aubergine colour with fuchsia micro-shimmer. This is a beautiful fall colour that could easily be mistaken for black however under light, you can truly see the subtle shimmer and purple base. Nicole by O.P.I has to be my favourite nail polish brand – it has yet to disappoint me. This polish applies like a dream; opaque finish after 2 coats, dries relatively fast and no chips for about 3 days. It’s also one of those foolproof colours that a nail polish newbie such as myself could apply with ease. The only words of caution I would provide are to use a base coat. A lot of these darker colours stain your nails horribly. This colour is part of a previous collection so I was able to buy it on clearance for only $3 @ (get ready for it….) DOLLARAMA! I didn’t even know they sold Nicole by O.P.I but they had quite a few colours (most of them being the crackle/texture polishes which I’m not a fan of). I don’t go to the Dollarama too often but I think I might make a trip once a month to see if any discontinued colours are in. For the record, I have purchased colours from Nicole by O.P.I at full price from SDM and I think they’re worth every single penny! 

Pictures taken after 3 days of wear

2) Pai Comfrey & Calendula Calming Body Cream: This is an ultra light yet hydrating cream. Although this is marketed as a body cream, I've been using it on my face since it's been quite dehydrated and sensitive these past few days. I need a pea sized amount to cover my whole face and neck and it sinks in super fast. This cream works great under makeup as well which is always a plus. The only cons would be the ridiculously high price tag, the odd smell, no SPF and poor accessibility to the product itself (I've only been able to find it online). Although I am enjoying this product, I would not repurchase due to the price. 

3) Revlon Colorstay Eyeshadow Quad – Moonlit: This quartette by the Revlon Colorstay line provides a white colour, a cream, a lighter taupe and a dark olive green – all shimmery. I find that I get a lot more use out of my smaller eyeshadow palettes rather than the larger bulkier ones. Being a neutrals girl, I picked up this product with high hopes. The colours are right up my alley so I thought I would get my money’s worth. Unfortunately, the colour pay-off of these shadows are quite poor. The white colour is more of just shimmer; the cream is better than the white in terms of pigmentation however it still leaves a lot to be desired. The taupe and the olive are by far the better of the 4 shades. Also, be aware that there is quite a bit of shimmer fall-down. I also find that these colours definitely do not stay on the lids too long – so much for Colorstay. If you already have a hard time having shadows stay on your lids, I would recommend skipping over this product. Overall, I would not repurchase this product, as I don’t enjoy ½ of the colours provided.

Please note that these eyeshadows were heavily swatched.

If you own any of the products mentioned above or you plan on picking some of them up, let me know in the comment below!

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