Gel Nails

There's something about painted, glittery nails that makes a gal feel pretty and delicate. I wash my hands a lot and I cook almost daily, so manicures do not last a day on me. After seeing the lovely fingernails of my friends, I decided to give gel nails a try.

What is it? Using a gel polish that cures under UV or LED light, making it hard and resistant to chipping, peeling or cracking.

First day of gel manicure

Indeed it is miraculous! Usually my weak nails would be peeling as I grow it out, but the gel prevented that from happening and my polish remained intact.

1 week after gel manicure

Since it didn't break, I didn't cut it and I ended up with long nails that I haven't had since I was pregnant with my oldest. The only problem was that although the polish remained intact, you can obviously see my new nails growing out.

 

2 weeks after gel manicure 

After 2 weeks it became inconvenient to have such long nails so I had to cut it myself.

 Not so pretty now, eh? Grrr ...

Halloween Goody Bags

Happy Halloween! Once again it's the time of the year where kids binge on sugary treats and ladies find excuses to dress up as "sexy-anythings". Ah, those good ol' days ... 

As a fun bonding project, Elizabeth and I made Halloween goody bags for her preschool class. We made our own tags by printing out Hello Kitty pirate faces and colouring them in. During this bonding session, she revealed that she was going to marry a certain gentleman in her class. I reminded her that another lady had her eye on this gentleman already, but she assured me that she didn't mind if they all married. All three of them. Oh, my ...

Amidst the glittery princesses in the school, Elizabeth was an original as a Broken Scary Doll. It was fun doing her makeup and she does a pretty good impression of being "broken".

Have a safe Halloween!

How to Cut a Passion Fruit Without the Mess

Oh, yes. This is the question on everyone's mind. If you're like me, you toss and turn every night wondering what you can do to prevent juice from ending up on your cutting board when you cut open a delightful passion fruit.

There is a way. 

What you'll need:
1. A pair of (very clean) scissors 
2. A small spoon
3. Nimble fingers

Step 1: Using scissors, cut off a small round opening from the top of the passion fruit.

Step 2: Using a small spoon, scoop out the inside

Step 3: Enjoy! You can now pat yourself on the back because you have not wasted any juice. Whoopee!

 

Passion Fruit Green Tea with Honey

Passion fruit is a delicious summer treat that's also good for you. Here's an easy way to make your own passion fruit drink without going to Tea Station.

Sorry, I almost finished my drink before remembering to take a picture.

Ingredients:
1. Passion fruit - I used 5 good size ones, but you can use as little or as much as you want.
2. Green tea bag.
3. Honey - I ran out of honey so I used Agave nectar instead.

Directions:
1. Steep tea then remove tea bag.
2. Add honey into tea - I use around 1 tablespoon.
3. Stir until honey dissolves.
4. Cut passion fruit in half and add the flesh of the passion fruit into tea ... don't eat the skin! It's bitter!

For a cold drink, let tea cool in fridge first or add ice.

Some benefits of passion fruit:
- Has high fibre content to improve digestion
- It is rich in vitamin A and C so helps improves vision and increase immunity
- Increases blood production since it contains high amounts of iron
- It has also been found to improve sleep quality as it helps relax the nervous system

Gel vs Liquid vs Pencil Eyeliners

Out of the different types of eyeliners, my favourite formula would be the liquid eyeliner because it has the longest staying power for me. Here are some looks I did with gel, liquid and pencil liners.

Gel ... I'm using M.A.C's blacktrack. This does smudge on me though. It's a softer look than the liquid liner and you get great precision with a brush.

Liquid ... I use the Physicians Formula Eye Booster in Black. This gives me the longest staying power but a more "rigid" line.

Pencil ... I use L'Oreal Extra-Intense Liquid Pencil in Charcoal. It's definitely the fastest to apply and you can smudge it for a smokey look, but staying power and intensity is not as good as the liquid liner.

Jello! Bear on a Beach

As a fun treat, Elizabeth and I decided to be creative with Jello. We've recently enjoyed the beach, so we decided to create a "beach-themed" jello treat. Here's how we did it.

What you'll need:
- clear plastic cups
- Jello powder and whatever you usually use to make jello
- toothpick
- paper and a little artist to draw on the paper
- tape and scissors
- graham crackers
- cake icing
- gummy bears (here I'm using the large ones)


Step 1: Create the ocean.

Put your jello cups in the fridge to freeze overnight.

Optional: Throw a gummy bear into the "ocean" so you have a swimming bear.

Step 2: Create your umbrella.

After decorating our paper with cute pictures, we cut out a circle.

Fold the circle in half again and again until you can no longer do so.

Wrap tape around a toothpick. This will prevent the paper from slipping 

down and hold "open" the umbrella.

Open up the folded circle and poke the toothpick through the middle. 

Wrap another piece of tape around the top of the toothpick to secure your umbrella.

 Step 3: After the jello has solidified, create your beach.

 Create "sand" by crushing graham crackers.

Ensure the "sand" will stay in place by putting cake icing on the surface of jello.

Scoop the crushed graham crackers onto the icing. 

 Using a sharp knife, cut a "slit" in the ocean and push the gummy bear half way in.

Add your umbrella. Voila!

 

L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Butterfly Mascara

I'm a big fan of drugstore mascaras because it doesn't hurt when you throw them away frequently. My current favourite is the L'Oreal Paris Voluminous Butterfly Mascara in Blackest Black, the waterproof version. What I look for in a mascara:

- Smudge proof

- Keep my lashes curled

- Define and add volume to my lashes

I've tried the regular, non-waterproof version and found that it doesn't hold the curl of my lashes as well as the waterproof. It's harder to remove, but since I don't wear mascara on a daily basis so I'm ok with that. 

There's a difference! You can see my lashes! I would repurchase.