St. Patrick's Day Drinks!

As you know St. Patrick's day is on Tuesday and all that means for a good percent of  adults is "Yes! An excuse to get drunk mid week!" Or maybe I'm the only one saying that? Haha 

Anyway I thought I'd type out a few green drink recipes that I've tried and liked and i hope you enjoy them too. All of these drinks contain alcohol but I will include 1 that  doesn't. So lets get started!

Green Beer

This is so simple to make. slowly pour your beer into a mug and add 4 drops of (obviously) green food colouring. Voila. Done. Just me mindful when drinking anything with food colouring, there is a chance your teeth will be tinged green!

Mixed Drinks

So this one is simple too and requires any type of clear alcohol and clear, yellow, or green mix. I'd choose vodka and 7-Up and add in my food colouring, but this will work with Malibu rum, patron, or even white wine!

 

Vodka Slime 

Another easy drink to make is this one. All you need is cherry vodka and frozen lime juice mix. I always purchase the minute made brand and make the juice while its still frozen. I mix the vodka and water with the juice and continue to stir until the juice has completely blended with the water and vodka. I only do this so the drink is cold and no one has to wait for it. Half a cup to one cup of vodka will be more than enough for this drink, depending on how strong you like your drinks.

 Green Wine 

Grab your favourite white wine, poor a glass and add a few drops of food colouring. I always find this fun to drink, especially in a wine glass. I always feel weirdly sophisticated and extremely fun all at once. if you like white wine, you really can't go wrong with this.

Green Apple Sangria

By far my favourite drink is this one. Grab a pitcher, slice up some cucumbers, green apples, Kiwi, and grapes. throw them into the pitcher with one or two bottles of Barefoot Moscato. (Depending on the size of your pitcher) Add in either club soda or 7-Up and a splash of triple sec or green apple vodka, maybe some food colouring and garnish with a slice of lime and enjoy!

Non Alcoholic Sangria 

 In a large pitcher add in 7-Up, frozen minute maid lime juice, slices of apple, kiwi, grapes, and cucumbers, add a splash of lime grenadine, stir and enjoy!

So like I said earlier, I've tried and loved each one of these drinks and I really hope you do too! If you try any of these you HAVE to let me know what you think!

Remember to always drink responsibility and have a great St. Patrick's Day!

                                                    xxoo -  Katie

My Favourite Winter Nail Polishes

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So winter is fast approaching, for many of us, we already have snow so I thought, instead of complaining about the cold weather how about a blog post about some of my favourite winter nail colours! So I've gathered five polishes that I've been using the most these past few weeks. So enough talk, lets get right into it!


OPI - Just A Little Rosti At This

I LOVE THIS COLOUR! I'm currently wearing it as I type this. It's the perfect burgundy shade for fall. This is such a warm, luscious, and creamy colour, I cannot get enough of it. This shade is so pigmented you could get away with one coat but two just makes it SO much better. Other than the colour another reason I love this polish is because it's pretty much the same shade as my favourite lipstick from Rimmel London #107 From the Kate Moss collection. I love when little things like lips and nails match, so naturally this made me super happy!

OPI - Give Me Moor!

This shade reminds me of a strong unopened bottle of cabernet sauvignon. which kind of makes no sense because the actual colour is way more purple. I really enjoy this colour when I feel like wearing my (fake) leather coat. It makes me feel like some sort of rebel vampire. Don't judge! 
This polish needs two coats since it's a bit translucent, but that second coat packs a mean punch and really gets dark. I love wearing this polish and then adding the next polish over top so add a little something special!

Morgan Taylor - Fame Game

I wouldn't classify this polish as a glitter polish, even though it is, but rather a shimmer polish since the sparkles are so tiny, AND it's easy to remove. Wait what? A glitter polish that's easy to remove? Yup. It's true. they actually exist! Morgan Taylor is a fairly new brand to me, I only ever started working with and seeing these polishes when I was in school. They were decently priced and had a great range of colours so I picked a few up. This polish looks good on it's own but I find that it looks best with a white base coat, or as an overlay. This polish reflects blue, green, yellow, and orange so it goes over top of top of pretty much any colour! It adds just a nice little pop of sparkle and reminds me of fresh fallen snow, you know.. the kind that glitters. =)

Morgan Taylor - Where's My Crown
This is my go to Christmas colour for my accent nail. two coats of this and your nails are evenly coated. Even one coat to add a little shimmer to your nails looks amazing. I love the amount of glitter in this polish and the fact that the glitter all the same size and shape, it makes the nail look so flawless because there is never a space without glitter. I love to pair this polish with my OPI Just a little rosti at this. Adding it to my accent nail over top of the OPI makes my nails scream Romantic Christmas! haha Because this is a glitter polish, it lifts off of the nail quite easily so I highly recommend a base coat and a top coat.

 Last but of course not least

Morgan Taylor - Sapphires, Rubies, and Emeralds Oh My
Honestly the name pretty much says all you need to know! what makes this glitter polish so incredible besides the glitter is the base of it. The base of this polish is a sheer dark purple so when I got it I instantly fell in love but I was a little nervous to use it because I thought the base would cover up the sparkles and the polish would just look chunky on the nail but I couldn't have been more wrong, the glitter shines through the base effortlessly! The glitter is purple, pink, blue, gold, and green, it's like a little bottle of Mardi Gras and totally remind me of Esmerlda from the hunchback of Notre Dame. I chose this as a winter colour because of how dark of a polish it is, you can wear this without a dark base and get away with it the base colour and the amount of glitter make it possible. Like the polish above, this does need a base coat and a top coat although this never lifts off my nail like the glitter polishes above. but still base and top coat are always a must for longer lasting polish!

So I hope you all liked this blog post, I'll be back with some more of my favourite polishes for the winter season in an upcoming post so stay tuned for that. and like always if you have any questions, comment below or ask me on any of my social media pages which you can find along the side of my blog! enjoy your day everyone! Thanks for reading =)

Katie - Xxoo

Get Ready For Fall With Me!

So, today is the first official day of autumn! My favourite time of year!

I love everything about fall, from chilly mornings, pumpkin spiced everythaaaang and of course Halloween!

For being a chilly season fall reminds me of warmth and comfort. There's something so pleasing about layering my clothes and adding a cute scarf, carrying a hot cocoa or some fancy fall inspired latte with me where ever I go. It's pure perfection. Because I love fall so much, I'm going to create a list of the things I love most about fall then I'll get into the product I want to talk about. Haha!

1. Boots
2. Scarf's
3. Over sized sweaters
4. Jean
5. Beanies
6. Pumpkins
7. Trees
8. Fires
9. Warm drinks
10. Dewy mornings
11. Stepping on fallen leaves
12. Snuggling
13. Decorations
14. Halloween
15. Latte's (Even Though I Don't Drink Coffee)

Okay! So lets get into the actual topic for today!

 So in this post I'm going to be talking about a room spray from Fruits&Passion that only comes out during the holiday season. Yeah yeah, I know it's still only September but this room spray is the epitome of fall. It's the Orange Cinnamon room spray. I have to say, this is just a room spray not a perfume. If it is sprayed onto your skin it will irritate it and turn red. But if you're that desperate spray it on your clothes before you put them on! Haha. Anyway I personally like the one from Fruits&Passion best probably because I worked there for so long, and it's the first one I ever tried but every other one I've tried out is also pretty amazing! So If you are able to go and purchase this room spray DO IT! But if you'd like another alternative, one with out all the harsh chemicals, you can make your own. It's simple all you need is one orange, cinnamon, and some sugar, (If you want) 2 cups of water and a stove =)

So first things first.

 Peel and eat your orange.(Don't be wasteful) =D Do not throw away the peel. You'll need this!

Measure out your two cups of water and pour it into a pot. start boiling the water. Once the water is about to boil add in 1 tablespoon of cinnamon, then take your orange peels and squeeze the oil into the water piece by piece. After you're done just place the peels into the water. At this point, you can also add a tablespoon of sugar; all this does is sweeten up the scent. after that step stir and reduce the heat to low and enjoy.

 I only keep this on the heat for maybe 45 minutes and after that I Strain out the orange peels throw them away and pour out the cinnamon water.

 This will make your house smell so warm and really put you into the fall spirit. If you try out this room spray recipe let me know how you liked it and if you did anything different.

Hope you all enjoyed this post!

Xoxo-Katie 

My Favourite Healthy Meals & Snacks!

I love a good pizza and I'll usually never turn town a slice, but every once in a while I enjoy eating as healthy as I can. I admit, I don't eat healthy as much as I should and I have no excuse as to why but hey, we all have our flaws. So if I'm not craving a deliciously cheesy pizza, pasta, or fries I like to opt for these options. on this post, you will see that I have posted 2 breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack ideas. These are foods that I enjoy and consider healthy and if you wish to recreate these ideas feel free to modify them in any way that you like and be sure to let me know what you did differently and what you thought of my ideas!


Breakfast!

So for breakfast, these 2 ideas have been my favourite ever since I was a child. They are super easy to make and only take about 5-10 minutes.

Fruit Smoothie
This is as simple as it's name. Using my blender, I throw in a cups worth of frozen berries. 
a handful of raspberries, strawberries, kiwi, pineapple and watermelon.
I sometimes also like to add a scoop of flax seeds and a scoop of strawberry protein powder if I'm feeling extra hungry. Once I blend my ingredients together I check to make sure the consistency is not too thick, since I don't want to eat my smoothie with a spoon. I add small amounts of water and blend. I do this a few times to make sure it's perfect. For the days when I add my protein powder, instead of water I'll use almond milk. it makes it blend and taste better. For this smoothie I choose to exclude any kind of juice or yoghurt because they are both loaded with unnecessary sugars. and besides, there's already sugar in the fruit. the kiwi, and watermelon really sweeten this smoothie up! I encourage you all to try it! 


Avocado and Egg White Toast
Now this is something I could eat everyday
You'll need one egg, half an avocado and one piece of toast.
to start, I like to begin with separating my egg white and egg yolk. 
for this recipe, you will not be needed the egg yolk, but as always, you can keep it of you like. I would just  suggest making sure the yolk is cooked completely so you don't have a mess to clean up while eating it! =P
So, after separating my egg, I set it aside and cut into my avocado. I cut it into half and then slice it and place it on either pumpernickel or rye bread. Then I take my egg white I quickly pour it into a hot pan. Once it's done cooking I transfer it on top of the avocado and bread. I add a pinch of salt on top to give it a little flavour and that it.


Lunch!

Oven Roasted Tomato On Toast
 So for this, all you'll need is 
one small, ripe tomato, olive oil, oregano, and your choice of bread.
 I like to eat this with French baguette or whole wheat toast.
 So all I do is pop my bread in the oven which has been preheated to 350. Take out the bread after one minute. Then I thinly slice my tomato and place it on a cookie sheet and lightly drizzle them with olive oil and sprinkle them with oregano, I leave them in the oven for about 3 to 5 minutes, then take them put and place them on top on the bread. And there you have it!. Simple and delicious. Tip: Some people like to sprinkle salt on the top after the oven. the choice is yours! =)

Spicy Lettuce and Turkey Roll-Ups
This is like a wrap, without the bread. All I do it take a washed lettuce leaf, place a slice of deli turkey on top and drizzle on Franks Red Hot sauce. then I roll it up and place it on a plate. I usually make about 5 of these and sometimes more, because I have a big appetite and I adore not only lunch time but hot sauce as well! So for this recipe, I always use turkey, I think it tastes best but Iv'e seen people make this with ham, roast beef, and chicken. so if you recreate this, let me know how you made it and how you liked it!

Dinner!

Buffalo Chicken Wraps

This is by far my favourite dinner that I make. I start off by defrosting chicken.(this usually takes a few hours) 1 breast per person. next I start to prep my buffalo sauce. I don't have exact measurements for this, I'v just come to know how it is suppose to look and taste. but I'll make some guide lines anyway. So I get out a bowl and put in about 1/2 cup of Low fat ranch. Then I add the same amount of Franks Red Hot. I usually add a bit more hot sauce, and taste test to make sure it's as spicy as I like, add more ranch if it's too spicy! so once my chicken is thawed, it's time to prep my veggies. I always use romaine lettuce, one to two leafs per wrap, cucumbers, green peppers and mushrooms and sometimes tomatoes if there's any available. Once I've finished slicing the veggies, I grate some cheddar cheese and then begin cooking my chicken. before I put the chicken in the pan I cut it all into bite sized cubes for easier eating. I then add a tablespoon of water to the pan and immediately add the chicken. I stir the chicken around every once in a while. once all the chicken is white, I find the biggest piece and take it out and cut it in half to make sure it's cooked thoroughly. I check about five pieces, you know, just to make sure! then I transfer the chicken into a mixing bowl and add in my buffalo sauce and mix them together until the chicken is evenly coated. So once that's done I get out whole wheat tortilla's and start assembling my wrap with all the veggies and cheese. once it's wrapped, I like to place it into the oven to heat everything up and to get some grill marks, which loo pretty fancy. This dinner is pretty quick to make. 20 minutes once the chicken is cut and ready to go!

Brown Rice Chicken Stir-Fry

This is the simplest of dinners! and it can be modified so much that everyone will enjoy it. To start I prep my chicken. I cut the chicken into bite sized cubes and drizzle General Tso over top to marinate for the day. Of course I only do this once the chicken is thawed out. when it's closer to dinner that's when I prep my veggies. I cut up peppers, celery, asparagus, broccoli, and mushrooms. then I grab a wok, heat it up and add a bit of water then chicken. I cook it until all the pieces are white, check the biggest ones to see if their cooked all the way through, if it is then I add my veggies. at this time I'm cooking one cup of brown rice. Tip: I like to over cook my brown rice a little bit to help get rid of the chewy texture. Careful not to burn yourself or your rice! so once my rice is done I leaved it covered and set it aside. I Then grab a mix of Arctic Gardens Asian style frozen veggies, which has water chestnuts, snap peas, orange and yellow carrots, and peppers. so I throw in a cup of that. once they have heated up to the same temperature as the other veggies I add in more General Tso, Mix, then add my rice. if I need more General Tso, I add it, if not I'll usually leave it or add Cajun to add some more flavour.

Snacks!

Greek Yoghurt, Berries and Granola

So for this all you need is one cup of Greek yoghurt, I like to use the Oikos Key Lime flavour. I scoop out a cups worth then add two tablespoons of granola. (I like the banana nut flavour) Then to top it off I cut up strawberries and raspberries and place them over the granola. and I'm done!

Frozen Fruit

One of my favourite snacks is frozen fruit, I love frozen bananas, mango, raspberries and blueberries. For this I usually buy frozen fruit instead of freezing it myself, store bought just turns out better! Haha. So I Just scoop out a cups worth and put it in the bowl. And I usually always go back for seconds. This snack is so easy to make and so delicious. Be sure to let me know which frozen fruit is your favourite!


All right, well I really hope you all enjoyed this post about some healthier options to try out, and if you do try them out be sure to let me know what you though and include any modifications! I'd love to see what you all created!!
                                    Xxoo-Katie

My Top Five Favourite Bath Recipes!!

I love baths, It's a great way to relax, warm up and have a few minutes to yourself, Another great thing about baths is the endless list of ingredients you can add to your water to enhance your relaxation, and skin. So here's a list of the ones I love most. I hope you like them too! 

Milk and Honey

This bath is so soothing. There’s nothing quite like it. I love to dip into this bath on a lazy afternoon with the sun shining in through the window! This bath is so moisturising to your skin and leaves it lightly scented. I found that the best milk to use is 2% it makes my skin so much softer than when I use skim milk. The higher the percent, the better it gently exfoliates. The honey is such a wonderful addition to this bath, not only because honey is antibacterial and a natural anti-inflammatory but it also smells beautiful and simple. While I'm preparing this bath I like to start off with really hot water and I add in the honey. (I use raw honey because it’s better for you and your skin. So try to avoid the honey in a squeeze bottle if you can.) After adding a few scoops of honey into the hot water, I swish the water around with my hand to make sure the honey has completely melted. Then I turn on the cold water. I personally like this bath on the cooler side, unlike the other baths I’ll be talking about a little bit later. So once the bath is filled, I add the milk, about two cups worth. Swirl it around and hop right in! I also hear that Cleopatra used to take her baths like this, and I believe it. My skin is always glowing after this bath and she had amazing skin! This is such a great bath. If you try it out, let me know how you liked it in the comments below!

Oatmeal

Okay. I love the simplicity of this bath and I know you’re going to love it too! So to start just run yourself a bath. Next get yourself some oatmeal. Not the instant stuff. Real Oatmeal! Now all you have to do is take a cups worth and pour it into either nylon sock or regular sock. Tie the top and pop that thing right in the bath. Squeeze the sock every now and then to release the goodness =D Oatmeal is so good to restore moisture in any skin type. So give this bath a try and let me know what you thought!

Red Wine and Honey

I found this one online a few months ago and was kind of sceptical about the wine. I also didn't want to waste it on a bath. But it was well worth it. So, same thing goes with the honey, I use the raw honey and add it into the hot water, and help it melt by swishing the water around. Next is the wine. I added two glasses to my bath. I think it was more than enough. But you can judge accordingly. Wine is made from fruits which are full of antioxidants. Antioxidants are so great for your skin. Red wine also contains tartaric acid which acts as an exfoliate to the skin. It takes away all the dead skin cells and leaves you with perfectly soft skin! A little trick to this bath I learned is to pour a third glass of wine, sit it on the edge of the tub and have a few sips every now and then! Haha =D

Tea Bags

That’s right, I wrote tea bags. Seriously along with wine, tea is jam packed with antioxidants, which means great things! Tea is also really soothing and relaxing so this bath is perfect for those stressful days at school or work. For this bath I dropped about 5 to 7 tea bags into my bath. I chose an assortment of teas, like peppermint, chamomile, green tea, and rooibos. I try to always choose teas that will smell nice together. It’s usually a hit and miss until you find the right combination but always worth it. So if you need to relax, and desensitize, this bath is for you

Epsom Salts

Well there’s not much that Epsom salts can’t do. It helps reduce inflammation, flushes toxins, eases migraines and headaches, and can even clear body acne. You can even purchase Epsom salts that are scented which is really nice. Purchasing Epsom salts without any scent is a good option too because you can always add your favorite essential to it and create your own scent. I’ve done this with some oils from the body shop. I Like the Vanilla and Strawberry oils. But I tend to buy the eucalyptus scented one since I no longer live near a body shop. I especially like the eucalyptus scent one when I have a headache, cramps or a cold. For this bath I like to add a generous cup of the salts into my bath while the water is running. If you’re sick or need to relax. Try out Epsom salts!

I Hope you all enjoyed this blog post. Remember to subscribe to my blog to be notified when I add a new post. I’ll also be posting announcements about my blog on my twitter account @KatieLauren18 so go over, follow and send me tweets about what you thought of the blog and give me some suggestions on new posts! 

                                                                Xxoo-Katie

My Night Time Skin Care Routine

So I'm the type of girl that likes to try new products! I'm constantly looking at reviews and seeing what my favourite You Tubers and Make Up artists are raving about. I like to turn to them for some of my beauty needs and I really turn to them regularly for cleansers, toners, creams, eye creams, whatever. So after many empty bottles, blemishes and black heads. I have found a few products that I love and swear by! 

 So for starters I like to cleanse my face with Clean&Clear Morning Burst Hydrating Facial Cleanser in the scent cumber melon. This cleanser has tiny beads that you massage into your skin and they burst as you cleanse, I'm sure a lot of you guys are familiar with this product as it's available at almost every single department and drug store around.

 So after I cleanse I go in with a more expensive product. A toner by Mario Badescu. It's made for combination skin and a little goes a long way!! This toner "Lotion" as the industry calls it smells like it works. and believe me it does. This product is available on the Mario Badescu website/ Here's a link to the site:    Mario Badescu

Now after my toner I like to go in with my night cream ad for this I use

 Toléra

**purchasing this product is a little tricky since you can only purchase it online as a professional  esthetician or dermatologist or you can go into your local spa and see if they sell it. Mine does and my school provides this line of product for me to use on clients and fellow classmates.**

And that's about it for my night time routine. Have you used any of these products? Tell me what you like to use and what you thought of this post. I'll be back with my day time routine in a few days!

Have a great day everyone!

 xxoo-Katience Rich Emulsion - Nourishing and Desensitizing Cream by Dr. Renaud

Make Up - When To Throw It Away!

We all have old make-up products that we don't use any more. you know the products that sit in the bottom of a drawer of the purse you used last summer. Rediscovering them, for me is so exciting and I'm embarrassed to admit that some times I apply the product immediately Which is not always good since make-up expires, so when does it expire and how do you know how long a product will last once it's open?

The answer is quite simple.

 If your product doesn't have a best used before date like this one: ( 06/12/2016) 

look for this. 

This icon simply means that once the product it opened, it can be used for up to a year, other products with this icon may say 18 M or 24 M which just represent the amount of months the product will stay good for. Of course you can still use the product after the date, but be cautious because after the 12 months or how ever long your product has, the properties in the ingredients start to wear down and break. which ultimately leaves you with a useless and ineffective product.

Then there are some products that don't seem to have any dates or icons on them, maybe they have work off of you just cant see it. so I've found a very helpful picture online to help you out with the longevity of your products. check it out and make sure to leave a comment if you found it helpful! 

                                                                xoxo-Katie