The effects of color in our homes

Did you know that colors can directly affect our mood, both positive and negatively?  When choosing a paint color for a room, it’s important to decide on the right paint color and then play around with the hundreds of different shades and hues that are attractive to you.  The following are colors and their impact on our mood (both good and bad)

Yellow reflect happiness and joy.  It is perfect for kitchens, dining rooms, and bathrooms, where yellow makes for energizing and uplifting moods. In small spaces, yellow can feel expansive and welcoming.  However, it is not a good choice to use in large amounts when it comes to designing a room.  It’s been shown that people are more likely to lose their temper in a yellow interior and babies also seem to cry more in a yellow room.

 

Blue is thought to bring down blood pressure and slow your heart rate.  It is considered calming, relaxing and serene.  Blue is often used in bedrooms, bathrooms and offices.  With blue however, you have to consider the natural light the room gets.  Pastels can look chilly when on the walls of a room that doesn’t receive much natural light.  Soft, warm blues have a calming effect when used as the main color.  Dark blues as the main color can evoke feelings of sadness.

 

Green is the most restful.  It combines the calming quality of blue and the cheerfulness of yellow.  It is suitable for any room and has a calming effect when used as a main color for decorating.  It is believed to relieve stress by helping people relax.  If you think about it, people waiting to go on tv sit in green rooms because it helps them relax before going on stage.

 

Red increases the energy level in a room.  It draws people together, raises your heart rate and a good choice for living room or dining rooms because it stirs up excitement room’s energy level. It is a good choice when you want to stir up excitement, particularly at night.  Red in the bedroom however is considered too stimulating.

At the end of the day, it is how color affects you personally.  A good way to try it out is incorporate color in accents pieces or even paint one wall a bold color.  It’s up to you.  And the beauty of it is you can always repaint!

 

The power of a professionally shaped brow

The perfect brow.  Whether you choose waxing, threading or do it yourself plucking, everyone is looking for the perfectly shaped eyebrow.

I’m a big believer in having your eyebrows shaped by a professional.  Even if you go once.  I go every couples of years and then have my local eyebrow threader just follow the shape.  In my opinion, it’s an inexpensive way to look youthful and refreshed.

Eyebrows that have been properly shaped bring balance and proportion to the whole face. Facial features can be softened or accentuated just by shaping the brows. In general, larger features look better with a slightly, fuller eyebrows, where as smaller features are balanced by thinner eyebrows.

A well-groomed eyebrow can give a polished look to a person’s appearance. Women who have nicely shaped eyebrows look put together, even without makeup.

 

Great newborn gift

There’s a new addition to our family, baby Gavin Matthew.  I wanted to get my brother and sister-in-law something special and something Gavin would have for a long time.  After some web surfing, I came across this baby blanket from Pottery Barn Kids.  It’s super soft and from the reviews, gets even softer as you wash it. Embroidered with the baby’s name, it makes a perfect gift!  http://www.potterybarnkids.com/shop/baby/bedding/nursery-blankets/

Low calorie salad dressing a good choice, right? Think again….

To eliminate the fat, but keep some flavor, salad dressing companies rely on adding sugar to their fat-free dressings.  There’s sometimes as much as 8 grams of sugars per serving.  Regular dressing with canola or olive oil as the top ingredient have either no or very little sugar in them.  They’re more calories, but canola and olive oil are heart-healthy fats that help lower cholesterol.  My advice?  Ditch the store bought dressing all together and make your own.  Olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to taste.   That’s it!  It’s delicious, easy and healthy.

Bringing the beach indoors

I love summer.  Living in NYC though my beach time is few during the season, so I like to bring a little of the beach to NYC.  Besides placing starfish on my windowsills and a few on my dresser, I like to take a hurricane vase, fill the bottom with sand, place a candle in the middle and line it with shells.  I have a collection of shells and sand from various beach visits, but if you can’t get to the beach, your local arts and crafts store is sure to have it.  You could use any vase or candle holder, even get smaller ones and line your dresser or place them as a centerpiece on your dining room table.

 

Polish for Summer 2012

Summer 2012!!  Time for the mani’s (and especially pedi’s) to shine.  So what’s new for summer 2012?  

Neon:  Yep, the 80’s are back and so are neon colors.  We’ve been seeing neon clothes creeping back here and there and it’s made it’s way into nail polish colors.  Bright yellow, greens and oranges, even blues.  But, please, if you dare to get a neon manicure – be sure to keep nails short.

Pastels:  Always a favorite of mine, pastels are a great everyday polish.  One that particularly is a favorite is Essie’s Mademoiselle.  It’s a light pink that complements everyone’s skin tone.  

Prints:  There’s a new product out, it’s called Sallly Hanson Salon effects. Want to wear animal prints on your nails for the night, try out neon without the commitment?  These strips make it easy and fun!  Purchase at any drugstore by you.

 

Making your clothes (and shoes) look new again

As we rejoice in our summer wardrobes, we may find some of our favorite clothes are a little worse for the wear.  Instead of throwing out that favorite top, why not spruce it up instead?

Many of my tops and dresses develop pills on the sides from my shoulder bag rubbing while I walk to work, an easy fix to this is to get yourself a clothes shaver.  This inexpensive invention shaves away all those unattractive pills, you can even use is on your favorite comforter or blanket.  Here’s a good one, it’s called the Fuzz Wizard and it gets great reviews on Amazon.

 

How to get those white clothes white again:

While I was taking out my bathing suits, I noticed my favorite white one had become all yellow on top from applying sunscreen.  An easy way to get white clothes white again is to soak the garment in a bowl of 2 cups lemon juice and 1 cup salt.  Wring the garment out gently, leaving it a little damp.  Afterwards, take it outside to sit in the sun for approximately 6 hours.

Black clothes a little faded?

Try adding  strong coffee  or tea (about 2 cups) to the rinse water. They should return to their original dark black state.

Restoring my favorite platform cork shoes

A good shoe cleaner that is totally safe for cork is Jason Markk Premium Sneaker Solution. Pour some of the solution onto the brush that comes with the kit. Then brush the solution into the cork, in a circular motion.  Then just air dry them.   No rinsing or water is needed.  It’s only $15.00 for the kit http://jasonmarkk.com/products.html

Removing scuff marks from patent leather:

Use nail polish remover and a cloth.  Put a dab of nail polish remover on the cloth and work in the direction of the scuff mark.  Never put the nail polish remover directly on the shoe, always use a cloth or cotton ball.  Another thing that works is the Magic Eraser.

Enjoy your favorite clothes and shoes again!

 

Getting ready for summer…

Yeah!!  Summer is just about here and I’m looking to get a head start.  I’ve tried bronzers before but only the powder type, never the spray tanners.  Afraid of looking like Snooki, I did my homework and found the perfect one. Sephora’s own Tinted Self-Tanning Body Mist.  It’s the easiest, most natural looking color.  One tip:  I apply my moisterizer first and then spray a light coat on and only once or twice a week, just for a little color.

 

 

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!

Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!!  I will be heading down to the South Street Seaport today to experience MexFest, where some of the best NYC Food Trucks are going to put their Mexican “flair” on their specialities, oh and we get a Sombrero each, so we have to get there early, will post pics later.  Enjoy the day!  By the way – here’s something I had to share, my friend Leia and her husband had a Cinco de Mayo party last night and got these adorable beer ponchos from Party City…take a look…que chido!