New York Fashion Week: Oscar de la Renta RTW S/S 2015

Gingham style! Designer Oscar de la Renta also merged the buffalo check on casual coats, cropped tops, pencil skirts and dresses for his beautiful Ready To Wear Spring Summer 2015 collection during Fashion Week in New York. The blown-up version of the gingham, one of the bigtrends forecast for upcoming seasons, was a hit in light blue, pink and black. The pastel colours were a dominant theme in this défilé. Strapless styles and motifs were also repeated in evening gowns and full-skirted organza cocktail dresses which were were delicately embroidered with floral embellishments, foliage and contrasting lining in bright tints. Accessories were kept to a minimum. None required if you consider the power decorative accents exude and bestow. All photos courtesy of Giovanni Giannoni.

Flat Belly Diet For Everyone

Recommended foods for flat belly diet:

Eggs;
Olive oil;
Lean meat ( author specifically recommends turkey );
Natural peanut butter (no added sugar );
Grains;
Raw almonds;
Low fat cheese ( yogurt , cheese , milk, cottage cheese – all with low fat );
Whey;
Raspberries , strawberries , blackberries , blueberries;
Beans and peas;
Spinach and any other green vegetables;
Oatmeal with skim milk.

6 Rules for the flat belly diet

1 . Eat six meals a day ! Prepare your food packets in the evening for the next day and divide it into six small meals to keep your metabolism active and burn fat all day.

2 . Take breakfast! Breakfast is recommended in two healthy and nutritious either oatmeal with skim milk , strawberries , almonds and low-fat milk or boiled eggs and lean meats. Any option you choose, do not skip breakfast.

3 . Drink natural shakes! Natural shakes, homemade, vegetables, fresh fruit and skim milk in the diet are great because they give you immediate feeling of fullness and not bloating.

4 . Do not count calories! Counting calories obsessively just makes you stress and makes you feel frustrated, so give up the habit. Eat plenty of foods recommended to burn fat and lose weight without the need to keep track of calories.

5 . Drink plenty of plain water! Carbonated beverages are strictly prohibited and alcohol, two of the main causes of a swollen abdomen appearance. Aerated water clean and moisturize your body and your abs will get much flatter.

6 . Cheating once a week! To motivate you even more, the author proposes flat belly diet to give yourself a chance to get a meal as you like once a week. Knowing that you can cheat at a time set in advance, you’ll feel much less tempted to eat unhealthy foods in the remaining time.

You can try some exercises for six pack abs or even for 8 pack. 

Beauty Basic: 4 Types Of Foundation Brushes

Hey Girls!

When I first starting up in make up, I barely knew we needed to use brush/applicator to apply foundation. All I knew I just need to use my big ol' fingers to apply it and it's all good. But thank's to YouTube, now I know there's another way to apply foundation in order to get a better result. It's by using a foundation brush. 

However, there's a lot of kinds and shapes of foundation brush. At first, I only used one type of brush, but through out the years I have been expanding to use 4 types of brushes. Each brushes have a different effects and different result. And this time, I want to share with you all my opinion on 4 types of foundation brushes that I've been using. They are Buffing Brush, Stippling Brush, Flat Top Brush, and Classic Foundation Brush. 

Buffing Brush

Honestly, I've been reaching this brush more often than my other brushes. I like how this brush has round shape which can easily reach narrow area around my nose. The bristle usually dense and short. By buffing out this brush into your skin, you will get a flawless skin with no harsh line. Use this brush by swirling it in circular motion all over your face and to your neck as well. This brush is perfect to get a medium or full coverage. Buffing Brush works best for liquid and cream foundation. But you  can also use it for mineral foundation which I haven't tried.  Use this brush when you need to get done your make up in hurry, it's easily to work with and it will blend your foundation in a matter of second. 

• Coverage: Medium to  Full 
• Best for: liquid foundation, cream foundation, and mineral foundation

Stippling Brush

When I first got this brush, I had no idea what to do with it. Well, ofc, it's for foundation, but when I used it, it was kinda useless and weird. I even asked to my self, why people invented this brush? So  then I started to use this brush more and more, and now I am happy to say that I  sort of "understand" this brush. First of all, stippling brush is designed with denser bristles at the bottom and more spread out at the top. The hairs are usually made from syntactic fibers and very soft. With a proper use of Stippling Brush, you can achieve an airbrushed effect with your foundation. However, it took me a while to finally be able to use this brush properly, which is the main problem with this type of brush. This brush is not intended to be used with  too much pressure. When we do that, it will leave a streaky marks on the skin which is not the look that we are looking for. Just dab the brush into your foundation and lightly swirl it to your skin and you'll reach a satisfying result.

• Coverage: Light to Medium
• Best for: Liquid foundation.

Flat Top Brush
Another type of brush that immaculate to achieve a heavier coverage with your foundation. Flat Top Brush is packed with flat dense synthetic bristles which ideal for liquid, mineral, or cream foundation. The finish of this brush is similar to buffing brush, it gives flawless look with an exception that Flat Top Brush provide more coverage.  Dab the foundation onto your face and swirl the brush in circular motion all over you face and neck to get the look that you want. Here's the problem occur, since the bristle is so dense and flat, it needs more control in application and it takes a lot of muscles to work it around the face. Moreover, this brush tends to be difficult to reach certain area around my face due to its flatness.

• Coverage: Medium to Full Coverage
• Best for: Liquid, Cream, and Mineral Foundation

Foundation Brush
Flat Foundation Brush is a classic brush that I believe has been around for ages before other types of foundation brushes were existed. This is the brush that you need when you want a full coverage result with so little time for application. Meaning, this brush is very easy and quick to use. Just swipe, swipe, swipe and that's it! ( Kidding!) But really, it's very simple to use this brush. Flat Foundation brush is best for liquid or creamy foundation. However, many people complaint that Flat Foundation Brush sometimes leaves streaky effect on the face. So it's advisable that after the application of this brush, we smooth out the foundation with a blender or sponge.

• Coverage: Full Coverage
• Best for: Liquid and Cream Foundation

 If you ask me which one is my favorite foundation brush? I have to say Buffing Brush is the winner. It's easy to use and it's able to give both sheer and heavy coverage. But it depends to your own preference, I know some people love the stippling brush more than anything, or choose Flat Top Brush over the Flat Foundation Brush. So keep searching until you found the right one! I'll see you in my next post and have a nice day!

Chromosonic Fabric Changes Color With Heat and Sound

If you find yourself intrigued by tech fashion, you’ll need to check this out. A new textile designed by Budapest-based artists Judit Eszter Karpati is able to interact with its surroundings, producing incredible visuals.

This innovation, named Chromosonic, is aptly referred to as the “Chamelon fabric.” Able to sense its surroundings such as temperature and sound, Chromosonic changes color based on this information, and can even blend itself into the background.

So how does it work?

The fabric, which is handmade, has several elements that generate its color combinations. It is woven with nichrome wires, which generate heat, and screenprinted with thermochromatic dye. When the wires are heated up the dye senses it, turning the fabric a different color.

Karpati has shown several ways in which the fabric can generate the heat necessary to change color.

The first is basic: human touch. Much like novelty t-shirts from the 90’s, the fabric can sense and utilize body heat to get the desired results.

The second, more complex way generates more interesting results. By connecting the wires to an Arduino microcomputer, Karpati is able to feed specific patterns and color combinations into the fabric, designing the results herself.

Realizing the potential the computer could bring to the designs, Karpati decided to take it a step further: making the color “dance” to music. Using the computer to process audio files, the computer broke down the sounds, generating heat based on the information produced by each song. The heat created a range of beautiful results in corresponding colors and patterns.

While a fabric this complex might not be feasible for mass-production, there is potential to see it walking down the runway of a haute couture show.