Manicure Monday: Accessory Match: Scarves

Its that time again, and we have a great new Manicure Monday Accessory Match.  Doing this post this week, has made me totally wanting the accessory from the image sent to us.  Yes, I'm in love with the beautiful teal lacy scarf!  Just to let you know we tried a few different option for fingernails, and toenails. Enjoy! ~Nails with Zing  

accessory

Dermelect: She-She, NYC: East Village

Opaque Teal polish as the base, then lace decals on top, 

Since my lace decals had a wide middle stripe, I painted it with translucent teal polish
 and added a tear drop on my ring finger to match 

Sally Hansen: Insta Dri 60 second top coat, Sally Hansen: gold, Dermelect: she-she

I tried a new look by removing all polish from my ring finger and painting it gold

I loved the look so much that I went with the same look on my toenails:
 gold and opaque teal

I added dotted vertical lines on each gold toenail

Then I added a mini lace decal on the teal toenail

Lastly I paint a gold stripe on the lace decals where the translucent teal polish was
when everything was dry, I used my 60 second dry top coat to seal everything together

Are your Nails healthy?

I have recently been thinking about health of mind, body, and the different parts of your body like dental health, vision health, organ health, skin health, brain health etc.  As a blogger who does lots of product reviews, lately I've been asked to review lots of vitamins, minerals, and other natural dietary supplements key to keeping your body healthy.  When we are in tune with our body, we know what different types of pain mean, we know what symptoms to remember when something isn't flowing well, our bowel movements aren't normal or we are craving something not in our diet.  As I have been learning to listen to my body, with every creak, pop, jab of pain or growl I am learning something new about my body and how it tells me I'm doing good, or that I'm not doing good health wise.

When I don't feed my kids enough vegetables they get a yellowish tint around their mouths.  When I don't eat enough greens my hormones are fluctuating like crazy.  But I have never once thought about noticing my nails and how they change to let me know they're healthy or not.   I have always had thin weak nails that chip, break, tear and sometimes peal off in layers, this has been going on my whole life.  But just recently I have learned that not all of that is normal, and its not really good...not SUPER bad, but there are things I can do to help my body to be healthier by listening or rather following the health of my nails.  So my question to you is, do you know if your nails are healthy or not?

Below I have listed a few links of articles that I have found, very helpful to me in helping me learn more about nail health and how it keeps us more in tune with our total body health.

1. Top 10 things Your Nails say about your Health from How Stuff Works, 10 detailed and real tips or suggestions on how to measure your body's health by following or watching for bad signs from your nails.

2. 5 Home Remedies to prevent nail Problems from How Stuff Works, 5 treatments you can do from your home to help keep your nails healthy and prevent dangerous or harmful issues to your nail health.

3. 5 Things not to do before going to the Salon from How Stuff Works, Learn how to keep your nails, your skin, and even your legs from being contaminated at a Nail Salon.

4. 3 Reasons your nails are naturally Dark from How Stuff Works, nails that change color isn't healthy, learn how to treat and prevent this from happening to you.

Omega 3 Krill Oil

Details: Number One Nutrition: Premium dietary supplement: Omega 3 Krill Oil promotes cardiovascular health, natural source of omega 3, 6, 9 with astaxanthin.  60 soft gels per bottle, 1000mg per serving.  Take 2 soft gels daily with meals.

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

My Review:  This is the second time in my life that I have tried Krill Oil as my Omega 3 oils.  I have taken fish oil my whole life, and with my earliest memory being when I was in middle school I have about 20 years of different types of fish oil brands, omega 3 brands under my belt of taking these.  Most have fishy after tastes that you burp up multiple times after taking your suggested daily dose.  I have had some brands that smell fishy but have no fishy after taste, and everything in between.  Number One Nutrition Omega 3 Krill Oil is a medium sized soft gel that is super easy to take, easy to swallow, but it smells even worse than most fishy smelling fish oils.  However, if you can get past that smell these soft gels are the best that I've ever taken.  My normal fish oil soft gels are horse sized, and I have to take 2 daily, with no fishy smell, and a slight fishy after taste that you burp up.  However, to be honest, I don't mind taking this super smelly Omega 3 Krill Oil because there is no fishy after taste, even if you take these with no food.  That is the first time I've experienced this type of dietary supplement before.  In my mind that is impressive.  Like all vitamins or minerals, dietary supplements, you don't see them working instantly, your body needs the time to ingest, fill up, use and absorb before you will see results.  And with fish oils/ Omega 3's you don't really see the results right away and sometimes not at all until you go to the doctor.  I like how my body feels, I'm glad I am giving my body the essential fatty acids it needs, and I'm finding my body feeling better and healthier when I take Krill oil.  So in this sense I will recommend this product.

Pros: easy to swallow, no fishy after taste you burp up, medium-small soft gels, high potency of krill oil in each daily serving.

Cons: smells like rotten dead fish (super strong smelling)

My Rating: Thumbs Up

Spanish Learning Songs for Kids

Details: Whistlefritz offers Spanish Learning Songs for children.  Lyrics and translations are included, all songs are sung in Spanish, Cd comes with 15 fun songs.  Child friendly songs such as Good Day Little Friends, Old McDonald had a farm, Toys, At the Zoo, Clap, Clap Little Hands and more, perfect for children to get up and sing along, and dance along with the great music.  Comes with the lyrics written out in Spanish, so you can learn to read along with the songs and learn the lyrics that way as well as by just listening to the songs.  There is also a Vocabulary section for each song, giving the English translation for each word so you can figure out what the song is about, and what you are learning to say.  You can buy this on Amazon.

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

  My Review:  As a home school teacher I was planning on keeping this CD a surprise for my children for the new school year this fall.  I was planning on listening to it when they were sleeping or with head phones so they couldn't hear it, but before I could they found it in my pile of school supplies I'm organizing. My children love happy music so much, that they have literally taken control of this CD and listen to it whenever they can. My 7 year old is begging for Spanish lessons, his 4 year old cousin and newest Aunt are primary Spanish speaking, and my son really wants to be able to talk to them better than he does now.  My 4 year old loves learning how to be big like his older brother, and is super excited that he has now figured out how to use the CD player without help.  He switches the CDs around, and sits in bed listening to music once his brother has fallen asleep at night, or he'll get up early and turn the music on to wake his brother up.  With this Whistlefritz CD I have found my kids hiding all around the house listening, singing along as best they can, and dancing when I'm not looking.  Its super cute to see them so excited about music, dancing and Spanish!  I am very impressed with how fun this CD really is for kids.  I love being able to see the Spanish lyrics so I can learn them and teach them to my kids, and I love seeing the English Translations so we can learn about what we really are singing.  I recommend this product for teachers, parents, Home School teachers, and well anyone who loves good music, loves to dance, and enjoys Spanish.

Pros: AWESOME

Cons: none

My Rating: Thumbs UP

Anew Reversalist Skin Care

Details: Avon Anew Reversalist: complete renewal express: wrinkle smoother, slide to open top.  To Use: gently pat into skin do not rub into skin.  Use fingertips to apply directly on wrinkles, over moisturizer or makeup.  Mirrored top compacter.  A finishing cream to powder perfecter in a portable compact, for application over moisturizer or makeup.  Instantly reduces the look of any type of wrinkle on the forehead, crow's feet and eye area.

Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary from Influenster in exchange for product reviews that are honest and non biased.  Nevertheless I only recommend products that I have personally tested, tried and find worthy.

My Review:  I'm in love with this product since I first started using it 2 weeks ago.  I love how smooth to the touch it is, how it goes from a cream to a powder when you dab it onto your skin, how it blends into any skin tone or color.  For example when my face wasn't tan it blended nicely, when it was beet red from a sun burn I could still blend in this product.  Now that I'm tan from all the swimming my kids and I do, I can also blend in my Anew Reversalist product easily.  I've noticed that when I use this product over my makeup it is harder to blend completely.  I usually end up rubbing in this product, even though it says not to. Its also easy to add to much, and when you do that you have to keep rubbing it into your wrinkles to keep it smooth.  But if you just spend an extra minute or so on dabbing this into your skin after your makeup is on, without adding too much, you'll be just fine.  I also love the mirrored top of this compact so I can use this on the go if needed.

Pros: smooth texture,

Cons: not easy to dab into skin with makeup on

My Rating: Thumbs Up

Cow Appreciation Day 2014

Chic-Fil-A does a yearly event called cow Apprication Day.  This year its on July 11th so I thought that since I have plenty of time I would post some cool, fun, cute ideas on how you can easily celebrate with the whole family.  Enjoy!

My kids from 2013

Go to Chic Fil A dressed like a cow and you get free food!  Make it a family event, or a school event, field trip, besties or Mommy Group!

Don't know how to make a cow costume?  Want to do better than the last minute construction paper costume you see my kids in above?  Here is a great tutorial on how to make a cow costume (yes there is time!)

Want to do more than just get free chicken?  Want to pull out all the stops and create a whole party around this day?  Want to get creative and show off your next "nailed it" stunt on Instagram or Facebook?  And no its not a Cow Pie.  Here's an idea:

Okay so school is out for all those who are in Traditional schools, but how can you in year round schools helps celebrate Cow Appreciation Day?  How about cow themed school printables, activities and a field trip to Chic fil A?

How about if we throw in cow entertainment?  Songs: Old McDonald, Exercising: Cow Tipping, Movies: Jonny Lingo.  Haven't heard about it?  Its a great motivational movie that helps men learn to respect women, and women learn their self worth.  Are you an 8 Cow woman?  Want to throw an 8 Cow party here are some great tips and tricks.

Cow Extras for your laughs:

Cow toilet paper and a cow cell phone case!  You could totally TP your yard or neighbor's tree, and your Husband's car.

Cow up your cell phone with this awesome case!





Cow  phrases:

Thank Moo
We've Moo'ved
How have moo been?
Thinking of moo
What's MOO
You're MOOvelous!
What's moo with you?
Moovin' with the Lord.
Cow are you? 
Cow you've been?
You're moosic to my ears
'herd' the 'moos'
moo-chas gracias
have a udderly wonderful birthday 
an Udder Year Older
udderly exhausted 
Our Moo Address 
I Love You Dairy Much
I'll Never Love An-Udder
Friends For-Heifer
Be Mine For-Heifer
Somebody Brand Moo
Udderly Cool
I'm head over hooves for you!
~ Dairy Queen
~ Got Milk?
~ Lil' Cowpoke
~ Love One an Udder
~ Milk Does a Body Good
~ Milkin' It for All It's Worth
~ MOOre Milk Please
~ Nature's Lawn-mooer
~ Udderly Adorable
~ Udderly Delicious

Vitamin D3 with Organic Coconut Oil

Details: Natural Stacks: Vitamin De with organic coconut oil.  Performance essential, 5,000 IU, 180 soft gels dietary supplement.  No GMO, gluten, artificial colors, preservatives.  Serving size: 1 daily, suggested to take in the morning unless otherwise directed by a health care practitioner.  Vitamin D3 is a superior form of Vitamin D formulated with organic coconut oil for optimal absorption.  studies suggest that Vitamin D3 plays  a role in regulating the neuromuscular and immune systems, help with mood and sleep issues.  It also helps support new cell growth and bone formation.

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

My Review:  Vitamin D is very important to women who need calcium way more than men do.  However, many women aren't recieving the correct amount of Vitamin D their bodies need to absorb calcium, help their bones, and teeth that they need because their bodies aren't absorbing enough Vitamin D.  I have read studies that say to go outside for up to 30 minutes without sunscreen to absorb pure Vitamin D.  However not everyone can absorb enough Vitamin D in that short amount of time, and usually any time after 30 minutes in the sun, sun burns start.  I have personally asked my doctor how much of both Vitamin D and Calcium my body needs, and I was getting half or less than what my body needed.  So I got a good all natural vitamin due that has both calcium and vitamin D in high potencies.  However  to get what my doctor recommended I was supposed to swallow 4 huge horse pills daily.  A task that usually went undone than done because I am not one for giant horse pills.

When I saw this product, and that the amount or potency of the Vitamin D was higher than taking those 4 giant horse pills I knew I needed to check it out.  What luck!  These soft gels are tiny, easy to take, and you get more for your money.  I am very glad to have found this product, now to find a calcium that's similar and I'll be set.  But I don't mind taking 2-3 small calcium pills so the Vitamin D3 is absorbed into my body and my body gets the amount of calcium it needs too.  I highly recommend this product!

Pros: high potency, small soft gels, easy to take, quick to swallow, comes with the healthy oil to absorb fully and quickly into body

Cons: none

My Rating: Thumbs Up

Manicure Monday: Summer Stripes

Hi again, Nails with Zing here for our newest Manicure Monday!  Today we have put together a fun bright summer look with a little attitude.  I call this look Pink Sass. Enjoy!

Sinful Colors: 24/7, NYC Matte finish, Hot Designs Polish Pen: Black

2 layers of Sinful Colors "Neon" Pink

Add a fuzzy/ thick zigzag line from the Black polish pen,
 then once dry, add 1 layer of the matte finish

Once matte finish is dry, add more zigzag lines
but that are thin and leave shiny

Learn Spanish on the Go

Details: Pimsleur Approach: Gold Edition: Pimsleur Spanish Level 1( comprehensive 1).  Get started instantly with access to a whole new world of learning a new language via CDs.  This approach to learning a new language has been proven to be the fastest and easiest way of learning.  What to expect: when pressing play you open the doors to the language of Spanish where you will listen in sequence, follow along, speak out loud and it only takes one lesson a day.  Your Pimsleur Spanish package comes with 16 CDs, 2 lessons on each CD, each lesson is roughly 30 minutes.

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

My Review:  I am very interested in learning to hold meaningful conversations in Spanish as I now have family who speaks only Spanish.  Its not fun being the only one in the room unable to communicate, and sit there looking dumb, at the same time wondering are they talking about you? As a home school teacher I am also interested in giving my children secondary languages as they ask for them.  My children want to learn Spanish, so if this Pimsleur program can work for adults I find no reason to try it with children as well.  But since our current school year is almost over, I will be holding onto this until the next school year starts in the fall before I introduce my children to this program.

For this review I very quickly played the CDs to see what to expect.  Each lesson is a conversation, but with different components of conversations, or speaking parts of speech.  For example, you will learn how to ask for directions;  how to speak to a man or woman, how to be polite while conversing with Latinos, and much more.  I was a little surprised when I first started listening to the CDs because I was expecting to learn numbers, then colors, shapes, simple house hold words, then phrases, questions, answers etc...like how they teach you in school.  but this approach really is different, and more engaging than text book lessons.  I started listening to the CDs as I do my chores around the house, or while cooking dinner for my family.  Because these are CDs I highly recommend that you get a CD player that you can easily carry around with you, because a big one isn't as convenient.

How it works: there are two voices a man and a woman who you hear converse with each other on various topics that would actually be important to learn when speaking to people of a Spanish speaking country, or heritage.  They each take turns repeating specific words, and phrases; in between spaces for you to follow along by saying what they say out loud.  Each lesson builds off the previous lesson, and gives you ample ability to continue to build off what you are learning before moving on.   I know this program will be even bigger or more popular if they go to itune type files that you can have on your ipod, ipad, tablet, or phone as they want this program to be accessible for people who travel via planes.

Pros: handy, easy to engage with, easy to follow along with, lots of recitation and repetition,

Cons: because this is a CD course, you need a portable CD player,

My Rating: Thumbs Up

Stress Release Reading Rulers

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Details: Crossbow Education: Eye Level Reading Rulers: 10 duo window rulers one of each color: yellow, sky, celery, purple, grass, magenta, jade, pink, aqua and orange.  Place over text and start reading.  Gloss or matte surface, reduces glare, improves focus, assists tracking, narrow window isolates single line of text, wider window for reading paragraphs.  Crossbow is a family business that started back in 1992 by Bob Hext, who was a teacher at the time.  After dealing with struggling readers, and especially his dyslexic students he wanted to create resources to help students with reading issues; and so in 2005 the Eye Level Reading rulers became one of the leading brands for Visual Stress products in the UK.  Visual Stress is the difficulty or discomfort experienced by some people when looking at text against a white background.  It can happen after long periods of time reading, or immediately affected.  Visual stress affects over 20% of the population.  There are symptoms that help figure out if you are suffering from Visual Stress.

Disclaimer: I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

My Review:  As a home school teacher for 5 years of preschool, and now home schooling a first grader as well, I have found that my oldest really struggles with reading, much like I did when I was his age.  For him, he not only struggles learning to read, but fights it because its so hard for him to concentrate, remember, and focus on the words on the page.  So when I was introduced to Eye Level Reading Rulers I had to jump at this chance to find out if my son is affected by Visual Stress, and how I can help him better if he is.  So here is what we started with.  I was given the Visual Stress Assessment that will help me figure out which colored ruler will help my son be less stressed when reading.

I used the abridged version of the Visual Stress Assessment Pack that Crossbow offers on their website.
Step 1: use the room your child reads in the most, set up a table where the child can sit with his feet planted firmly on the floor, and then choose the test reading sheet with the font your child reads the most.
Step 2: start with the ruler at the top of your color order, so you would start with magenta, then test the child by having them read without the ruler and then with the ruler.  Ask which was easier to read.  Then move through the whole list of 10 ruler colors, keep a pile of the rulers that your child responded to positively, separate from the pile of rulers they did not respond positively to.
Step 3: once you have a positive pile, do the reading test again to find out which one works the very best for your child.  Your child may have 2 that work best and that is okay.
Step 4: enjoy reading!

As I did this test on my 7 year old here is what happened: he liked the magenta ruler, he liked the sky ruler, he liked the pink ruler better than the magenta and sky rulers, then the yellow and pink rulers were the top choices.  In the end we used both the Sassoon 18 point font test sheet, and the Arial 14 point font test sheet for the tests.  I started with the 18 point font first, and then when I needed to find out which one or top two rulers worked best for my 7 year old we then used the 14 point font.  I am very pleased with how well the yellow ruler is working for him, and how well he is now able to focus and read without visual stress.  I recommend these products and highly suggest getting your child tested (since you can do it from your own home) to help them read easier.

Pros: easy to use test assessment, useful, works well, easy to carry along, love the paragraph section that is separate from the single line section

Cons: none

My Rating: Thumbs Up