Rainbow Honey: Bubble Beam (Part Two!)

Not too long ago, I posted my first review of Bubble Beam, paired over a basic black creme. I wanted to test this out on its own, though, and see what it would look like without any base color. The result? A punchy, fun, super-shimmery blue jelly. Check out my swatches below!

Rainbow Honey's new labels don't make for a completely text-free color swatch, but it isn't a big deal. 

This color is ridiculously pretty, fun, and complex. It only took me three coats to get to this opacity, which is great because it stuns as a top coat, so I was expecting it to take more work. Do you guys remember the book Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister? This polish reminds me of that.

It chipped after a couple of days of wear, which is pretty normal for glitter and flake-heavy polishes, so it didn't bother me. I never expect glitters to last very long, but usually (as is such in this case) you can wear them as just a top coat and they last much longer. I change my manicure fairly often anyway, so I don't really care. 

As usual, the formula on this is great, applying smoothly and requiring only three coats for full opacity. I had no issues with dry times and I didn't need to employ the foil method for removal, which is always nice. My husband sometimes shoots me a weird look when he sees my alien foil hands, so I try to refrain from freaking him out too much. ;) I continue to be impressed by the unique creations Rainbow Honey produces, my friends. There really are no other brands like them on the market.

To see Bubble Beam layered over black, click HERE!

What I Wore Sunday: Neon Mother's Day

This was my first Mother's Day, and I told my husband that I really wanted to wear a dress for it. If you remember me talking about it awhile back, I have lost a lot of weight and none of last year's warm weather clothing fit anymore. One of the worst things you can do for your self-esteem is wear clothing that you feel uncomfortable or unhappy in. If you look great to your standards, you will feel great, too. I firmly believe this, and it has helped me face my own self-esteem issues with confidence.

What I didn't realize is when we went shopping, I'd fall in love with a bright, highlighter-yellow, neon dress. I figured I would find something floral or delicate, not a number that punches you straight in the eyeballs. My husband told me that he thought two things when I wanted to try it on: 1) Holy hell that color is awful; and, 2) There is no way I'm standing in that checkout line.

When I tried it on, not only did his jaw drop, but he grabbed it from me when I put it back on the hanger and hauled over to checkout. Hoorah for us, the dress was on sale! After we snagged the dress, we went to look for a blazer or cardigan to go with it. He recently won a Gap gift card at work, and in their sale section, we were able to find the perfect, hot, neon-green blazer for only $5 post-gift card. Talk about a steal!

Dress: Express; Shoes: Steve Madden; Blazer: The Gap

And of course, my nails. I went for a bright, but not neon, fuchsia from OPI, with Rainbow Honey's Lunairetic as my bling ring, because it has diamond-shaped glitters reminiscent of the studs on my heels.

Since I'd paired my dress with a pair of heels from the same store (just for trying-on purposes), he also decided we needed to hunt for heels. "After all, I promised you we would buy you heels post-pregnancy". The man is too good to me. The heels he ended up buying me were also on sale and happened to be the last pair left - also in my size. It was fate. They are probably my new favorite shoes, not going to lie, and I fell in love with the electric purple/blue suede with the gold studs up the back. 

The public response to this outfit was awesome. People in Queens didn't really know what to think of it (it's pretty laid back here), but the moment I got into the West Village in downtown Manhattan, that quickly changed. So many people stopped me on the street to tell me how absurdly amazing the look was, how head-over-heels they were with my neon pairings, and how awesome I am for being bold. I could see some people kind of look at me like I was nuts, but the biggest thing was that I didn't care! I had fun. I was bright. I was bold. I loved the positive feedback, and grinned when others looked at me like I was nuts. Yes, I made some highlighter jokes (how can you not?), but I decided to go for it, and I'm glad I did. I regret nothing.

I had an amazing Mother's Day. It was the best day I could have ever asked for, and it came after a really wonderful Saturday, as well. We explored our beautiful neighborhood and really got to get familiar with it, which is so important because adjusting to a big move can be really hard. We didn't expect our new neighborhood to be full of so much greenery, beautiful architecture, and fun things to do, but we were so wrong. I have more things to talk about, and Mother's Day itself will get its own post soon. I hope you had a wonderful Mother's Day!

Olive Oil Can Save Your Life

One of my favorite questions I get is: Why pay $15-30 for the same bottle of olive oil that I can get at the grocery store for $6?

The short answer is you get what you pay for, which is a confusing concept because every bottle, whether it be filled with fake or real oil, all say the same thing: 100% Extra Virgin Olive Oil. To the consumer, it makes no sense that their dollar be stretched thread-bare to accommodate the higher cost of the same product, which is fair.

Except for the fact that it isn't the same product at all. Real olive oil takes much more time, energy, and patience to create. It is genuine, sweat-bearing labor that not many people can do anymore. Some groves are strategically planted with trees in straight, easy-to-access lines for convenient machinery to hoist workers on, but many traditional groves have intricate, thick trees planted all over the land that require long, strenuous hours and near-acrobatic skill to harvest. A lot of people no longer possess these skills, but that's just the picking aspect; more work goes into actually creating the oil from the fruit.

Aside from the manpower from small, honest, hardworking families, think of olive oil as more than just a condiment. Like most fruit juices, olive oil goes bad fairly quickly. Unlike wine, it doesn't get better as it ages, but rather, starts to deteriorate from the moment it's made - an event that rapidly picks up speed during the bottling and shipping process. Different oils come from different olives and go with a multitude of dishes. Olive oil is not a one-size-fits-all kind of deal, but the one thing every great oil should have in common is the point of today's post: oleocanthal.

In the millennia-spanning history of olive oil, the discovery of oleocanthal is new. Our ancestors were onto something when they literally ate, drank, and bathed in the delectable substance, firm in their belief that it heals us from the inside oil, but the how was never really known until recently. When Dr. Gary Beauchamp was in Sicily attending a meeting on molecular gastronomy, he recognized the throaty bite that olive oil gives off from a near-exact sensation given by ibuprofen, a substance he has tested extensively through various studies involving biting and swallowing to test its sensory properties. This prompted the scientists at Monell Chemical Senses Center and others from various institutes in Pennsylvania to put the oil through rigorous study and testing. They determined that the more of this then-unnamed chemical that high-grade olive oil contained, the stronger the back-of-the-throat bite gets.  They named the chemical "oleocanthal" (oleo = olive; canth = sting; al=aldehyde).

Further testing caused them to determine that oleocanthal, much like ibuprofen (in activity, not molecular structure), is indeed responsible for inhibiting COX-1 and COX-2 enzyme activity, which are both responsible for inflammation. We have known for a long time that people on the Mediterranean diet, which consists largely of hefty doses of olive oil, have a healthier life with much less risk of heart disease, breast and lung cancer, stroke, and other degenerative diseases. Oleocanthal could be the key player in this role, and that's what makes eating real EVOO crucial.

BUT WAIT, there's more!

Oleocanthal could be playing a crucial role in preventing Alzheimer's disease. This miracle, natural-occurring compound changes the molecular structure of neurotoxic proteins, known as ADDLs, that are believed to cause Alzheimer's disease. These ADDLs otherwise bind to nerve cells, which is thought to be the first solid step to springing Alzheimer's into action by disrupting nerve cell functions that would otherwise be maintaining our memory and normal brain functioning. They determined that oleocanthal is shrinking the structure of ADDLs and preventing said toxins from binding to the synapses found in the hippocampus, where Alzheimer's is believed to get its start. Oleocanthal also makes ADDLs larger targets for antibodies to lock onto, making treatment more hopeful.

This information is fairly new (published in 2009), and scientists are still working to determine just how effectively we can place preventative measures and treatment for those already inflicted by the devastating condition. Clinical trials are still ongoing, but it's looking pretty promising so far.

In breathless conclusion, when you ask me why olive oil is worth the higher price tag, it's not just because you're keeping small farmers in business. It's not just because you are giving your body delicious, real oil as opposed to its less-than-favorable, but cheaper counterpart.

You are buying natural medicine and setting yourself up for a potentially long, healthy, and active life. You are buying your prevention and cure, all rolled into one delicious, dark bottle of peppery goodness.

sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5