Friday Five

What I’m Reading: Could you be a Victims of Social Media Flaunting?

Paris Fashion week this year had a different story to tell when Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint from her hotel room. However, when the public decided to voice their opinions on the matter, many were quick to point fingers and blame her constant use of Social Media and flaunting as the trigger to the issue.

With social media we are constantly reminded that once we hit post, it will out there for the world to see! However, so often we forget about revealing our locations in posts that can be easily grabbed from Snapchat Geofilters, Instagram Location tags and Facebook Checkins. They are things that we just add on the regular, without thinking about the dangers that could be associated with these. As well as sharing our belongings with our followers. How often do you see someone on Instagram share a picture of their new purse or car, or on Snapchat show some will show videos of the money they got for their birthdays. Its small things like this, that in the immediate moment seem perfectly safe to post, until something like a gunpoint robbery makes you think differently.

Life Changer Hack: Become the Master at Hosting 

As we welcome in the season of holidays, and what seems to feel like none stop dinner parties and small gatherings, let’s start it off right by learning the key tricks to being a stress-free host.

Julie, a food blogger from The Little Kitchen has had her fair share of hosting guests for the holiday season. She understands the stress and exhaustion that comes with and has shared her key tricks on how to make sure everything goes smooth and problem free right from the start.

1. Make a Plan

   You may not be a planner, or organized even! But to help the day run smoothly, Julie suggests making a game plan; from what you are serving to who is coming. This will help with planning your meals and grocery shopping so you have a clear sense of how much you need to make and how long things will take to cook. A game plan will allow you to work backward from your serving time, to determine when you need to start cooking each part of the meal to how long it is going to take to cook.

2. Make things ahead of time

   When you can, meal prep. This isn’t something that’s just for the workweek to make evenings better, it can also help make your dinner parties more fun for you. Some desserts like pies and cobblers can be made ahead of time, frozen and then all you need to do is toss them in the oven to bake. For vegetables, peel them and prep them the night before or even a few days before to save you time the day of.

3. Ask for Help

   Most often your guests will offer to bring a dish over, and as a host, we immediately want to say “no, don’t worry about it I have everything covered”, which more times than not it isn’t the case. When your guests arrive, feel free to delegate tasks around as well. Believe it or not, it can be difficult to be cooking the dinner, setting the table and serving drinks at the same time. Instead, get someone to man the drinks and restock the bar, while someone else is helping set the table.

4. Not everything has to be homemade

   With enough practice and hosting experience, you will learn what is worth your time on making from scratch, and what is worth spending $6 on at the grocery store to save you 3 hours of time! What you can buy, do and spend the time on you save being the great host you are!

5. Prep the night before

   Finding serving dishes and plates can sometimes be tricky, especially if you keep them in storage for 3/4 of the year! The night before your dinner party lay everything out and make sure you have enough serving platters and bowls for all your dishes and guests. This will also help speed up the process for serving your meals and laying the table.

 

People Doing Good: The Pink Tax Strikes Again 

This time in our very own city; Toronto, Canada. Local coffee shop Tokyo Smoke Cafe made the pink tax an obvious reality for customers and bluntly exclaimed the difference in pricing between men and women.

Putting up a short-term menu, they listed different pricing based on gender. With M and W showing customers the price they would be charged. With women being charged $1.50 and up more for their regular coffee orders.

This is what society calls the “Pink Tax” additional costs that women have to pay for almost identical products. The Pink Tax is commonly added on to toiletry products and clothing. Where studies have shown that women pay an additional 43% for things like razors, soaps, shampoos and deodorants.

The problem is, we don’t think about it when at the drugstore becuase it isn’t clearly stated and marked like the Tokyo Smoke Cafe’s menu. Where here women refused to pay for their coffee and walked away in disgust on the price differences based purely on ones gender.

Friday Five

What I’m reading: The troubles of a resting bitch face

The resting bitch face is a problem many have to suffer through. The countless amount of times others ask you if everything is okay and you have to ask back really puzzled on why they think everything wouldn’t when you remember you suffer from rbf!

It makes everyday things challenging. Photo day at school is never fun! While hanging out with others, you may feel the constant pressure to smile and express you are having a good time, in fear that they will feel you hate their guts!

When it comes to movie times, you can look like an unemotional person. You can pass off as being the only person in the theatre that was not emotionally moved by the movie. Plus side of that is you don’t have to worry about running mascara or embarrassing snorting in a laughing fit!

On the plus side, you can dominate any game night with the perfect poker face! Go all in and scare the opponents without cracking a smile.

Life Hack: The best apps to keep you organized

The Goop understands that back to school/ work often means chaos and disorganization for the first few weeks. Both of which are never fun to deal with. Instead, they have a great list of apps for your phone and iPad to keep you and the family on track and organized.

1. Evernote: makes note taking and organization take top priority. Making it easy to switch between devices while taking notes during class, work or at home phone calls.
2. Wunderlist: Are you a lover of the to-do list, but want to limit the amount of paper scraps? Wunderlist takes all that and turns it digital. Allowing you to write your list of things to get done, while also making it easy to cross out a task when you’ve done it!
3. LastPass:LastPass: If you are anything like us, this app will be so helpful! It safely stores your passwords for your accounts and apps, while constantly checking that they are not too easy to crack. It also suggests new password ideas when you are setting up new accounts.
4. Salt: Expecting company in the near future? Or love to hear about new places in your neighborhood? Salt is a glorified map app that allows you to see what others in your community has pinned as a great place to grab a bite or a cocktail. It also is super easy to pin yourself and share with friends and out of town visitors.
5. Voice Dream: Take any written document and instantly make it an audio file to listen to while on the go or while doing another task. With various language and voice options, you can customize the audio file to your own likings.
6. Polymail: The email box dream! It can combine multiple accounts onto one account, usable on both desktop and mobile for easy switching between devices. The app lets you delay email sending, easily sort by read later and ignore emails as well as offering you an easy way to search through all your emails for the topic or number you were looking for!

Check out Goops complete list for more great apps and choices to make your fall productive!

People doing good: Have an idea worth a million euros?

International fashion company H&M wants to hear your solution for sustainable fashion. This years focus is “creating clothes for a growing population while improving its impact on the environment” Huffington Post

The Global Change Award, which is funded by the founders and owners of H&M – The Stefan Persson Family. Is granting a lucky winner 1 million Euros for an idea that can change the fashion industry as we know it. Influencing the production, consumption and disposal stages of fashion and positively impacting both the environment and the consumer. 

If you feel like you have the answer the industry is looking for, the award is open for applications in 3 categories:

• Circular business models covering ideas on how to reuse, repair, share, digitalise or extend the life of products.
• Circular materials looking for ideas on new fibres, recycling techniques, and leather substitutes, etc.
• Circular processes aiming to find new methods around chemicals, water and dyeing, as well as 3D printing, demand-driven manufacturing, etc.  

Read more on last years winners and how to enter!

Have a great long weekend!

Nudy Patooty xxx

View at Medium.com

Friday Five

You can celebrate, you’re practically at the weekend! Whether your spend it relaxing with your feet up or running around playing catch up  on the errands you should have done during the week, it will be a good weekend for sure.

What I’m reading: Mastering Snapchat no matter where you are

If you are anything like us you have the Snapchat app, and often check it for pictures and stories from people you follow… but you always forget to capture the moments and laughs on snapchat yourself. But not to worry, this simple and easy to follow guide on how to snapchat while traveling from Fathom will have you snapping away in no time. 

1. Learn the simple steps of what screen means what – the camera screen will appear every time you open your phone, Swipe to the right = your personal snaps and friends, Swipe to the left = your friends stories and brand stories (seen by all!)
2. Learn how to add the puking rainbow and puppy dog ears – the fun face filters change daily
3. Keep your friends updated on where you are with the location and event filters – once you have taken a picture simply swipe the screen to see the collection before posting.
4. Learn how to say it all with text – once you have snapped a pic tap on the screen to add text, read more on how to edit the text to make it any colour or size you want!
5. Who you going to send it to – learn how to keep a streak with your BFF’s or how to share your snap to everyone on your Snapchat

Read the simple crash course on Snapchat then give us a follow @nudypatooty to see behind the scenes on fashion and production secrets!

Life Hack: Hunting for a sale doesn’t have to be a thing anymore

Shoptagr has created a way to make shopping the sales more successful and faster. Take the hunting and searching game out of sale shopping, and instead let Shoptagr notify you when a product you tagged goes on sale. 

How does it work? If you use a chrome browser its easy, (or use the iOS app for your phone or tablet). All you have to do is download a chrome button that sits right on your browser in the top corner. Then when your browsing your favourite stores (choose from 400+ online retailers) simply choose your size in your favourite items and press the little Shoptagr button on your browser. 

Whats next? Choose when you want to be notified – a price drop, a percentage sale or low in stock. When its time you will get a notification right on your browser (or app) notifying you that its the perfect time to get that item.

This honestly changes the shopping game, not only does it remind you when an item is nearly out of stock, but it will tell you if something is back in stock! How many times have you sadly closed your browser because the dress you loved wasn’t available in your size. 

People doing good: Google adds 11 professional working Emojis for world emoji day 

90% of the online population uses Emojis on a daily basis, why not use it to better educate and empower the only population. Google proposed back in May 2016 to create a collection of Emojis that “represents a wide range of professions for women and men with a goal of highlighting the diversity of women’s careers and empowering girls everywhere” 

The 11 new emojis represent a wide array of working industries and fields – including teaching, medical, engineering, foods and agriculture. All which will be portrayed in varying skin tones as well as in both male and female genders. They also will be expanding existing emojis by including female representation – on many of the “fitness and activity people” emojis. 

Defiantly an exiting and inspirational change for young women as they see women can be part of any industry and activity that their male peers are apart of.

xox
Nudy Patooty

Friday Five

How was the week? Is it one of those “finalllyy its friday” or “What its already friday?!”

Don’t worry we have your Friday Five, for a quick catch up and easy read to get you to the weekend. 

How to get your groove back when times get rough

When something goes bad, I often find it leads to what seems like a never ending train of bad outcomes and disappointments. Leaving you feeling like your stuck in a rut. Noticing everything that didn’t used to happen. When we change our routine, or our familiar surroundings in can be hard to settle back in and find that grove you once had. Something that seems so new can take ages to adjust to and feel comfortable again. 

They can create physical changes, changing the reflection we see staring back at us in the mirror. Breakouts can start, besides the fact that we could have sworn was a stage we passed, or permanent dark circles under your eyes leaving you to think if you finished another bottle of wine to yourself the night before! These things can daunt us and keep us going in that downward spiral. It takes that one jolt of energy to get us back on the right tack, back to our old self and the old (but new) routine. Learning to except that life us full and will continue to be full of changes and challenges, but discovering that you don’t have to loose yourself is important.

These simple steps from Manrepeller will help you get your groove back and building that self confidence back up!

1. Look at a childhood photo of yourself – inspire the younger you!
2. Think of who you love, and why you love them
3. Imagine how you want to make people feel
4. Analyze the benefits of making yourself look your best
5. Think of who you admire, and why you admire them
6. Imagine the ideal world you want to live in!

The amazing benefits of filling your home with house plants (both big and small!)

Plants aren’t just for your garden, something you plant once a year and forget about them until they die and you re plant the next year! Moving them indoors can do wonders for the space as well as your overall health. 

According to LifeHacks the 7 wonders of bringing plants into the home may change your mind, and have you considering bringing a green , leafy friend home.

They help purify the air

Skip the loud, chunky air purifier and instead pick up a nice slim plant. They help eliminate toxins from the air, and could solve that dry cough you find yourself getting half the year.

They lower stress levels and increase work productivity

They give healthy produce

Mind you this is only if you opt for the edible plants (like herbs, tomatoes, lemons) but being able to pick the produce from your own garden is way more fun than shopping at the grocery store.

They make great house decors and statement pieces

As long as they are alive and healthy (unlike my dead palm leaf tree on the balcony!) they can become the feature in the room. Large plants and indoor trees look great in open concept layouts, while small plants are perfect for tables, countertops or windowsills in the office or living area. 

Plants can help you sleep better

Something like Aloe or Lavender by the bed can help when they emit the smoothing effect throughout the day and night, helping you have a more restful sleep. 

They help fight the common cold

You can be sick no more. The clean air, and recycling of air will eliminate traces of bacteria and colds, reducing your chances of getting sick.

They improve wellbeing

Seeing green brings a positive energy and overall happiness to an environment. They also create a nice aesthetic to a space and make the space look clean and fresh!

How to style the only nude shirt you’ll ever need

@hilarykennedy

@pinterestingplans

@nudypatooty

New York Graffiti Art make for more than a statement piece

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German artist Katharina Grosse has transformed an abandoned building left behind from Hurricane Sandy. Part of the MoMA recovery efforts to bring awareness to parts of the city still recovering from the storm, the left behind military aquatics building has been transformed into an exhibition. 

Have a good weekend!

Nudy Patooty

Friday Five

Welcome to the third edition of Friday Five. Here’s hoping we don’t take too much of your time to fill you with news and updates on the week!

Could it be, a new shade of blue?

They say all great things happen when we least expect it. This is exactly what happened with the new found shade of blue.

Scientists in Oregon State created a new shade of pigment of blue, all while experimenting with materials to be used in electronic applications. After combining materials and putting them in a furnace at 2000F, out came a brand new shade of blue: “YInMn Blue” Named after the chemical makeup of Yttrium, Indium and Manganese Oxide.

This new creation not only means Crayola has a new crayon to add to the box, the pigment is made without any toxic chemicals meaning it is way more safe to produce. It also has amazing benefits in helping with energy efficiency, as the material combination has the ability to reflect light and potentially has the qualities to help keep buildings cool if painted on the roofs or walls.

It also is great for art restoration – as many of the classic art pieces from the past are fading with time. However as YInMn Blue is a close match to the common Ultramarine Blue, it is safer and more durable to use and is known to not fade when exposed to water, oil and other elements.

How to Shop for the Perfect Bra

If you have never been fitted for a bra, your defiantly not alone, however you should make an effort next time you are shopping for bras to make sure you are actually buying the right size and style for your size.

The most common questions about bras and the tricks to use when shopping are answered below:

When you try a bra on at the store: Make sure it is fastened using the outermost hooks, this allows for your bra to stay snug as it stretches and shifts with wear. As time goes on, the band of a bra will stretch, allowing you to change the hooks you fasten keeping a tight and snug fit. When you first purchase a bra it should fit a little snug (even on the outermost hooks)

Help, my bra straps keep falling down: There are a couple reasons for this –
It could mean you are shorter in the shoulder length, with this in mind it is recommended that you try on a few different bra styles.

It could mean you are wearing the wrong bra size or style, get fitted again and try on a few different strap and cup styles.

Your bra is worn and stretched. It could mean your bra is telling you to move on, and that it is stretched beyond help! Toss it and go bra shopping!

How to prevent the bulging and spilling in the back: If this is something that you find with bras, try looking for a bra that has a wider band. This will hold everything in place and make sure everything is kept in place!

Washing your bras: I know it is easier to throw it in the washing machine and hope for the best, but if you want your bras to last hand wash them. Use a gentle laundry detergent (something ideal for delicate fabrics and items), and be sure to soak them for 20-30 mins.

You should wash your bras after every 3 wears, especially in the summer months. As well as rotate between which bras you wear at least every 2 days. This allows your bras rest, and will help extend the life of them.

Why choose Bamboo Fabric for Summer Heat?

In the heat it is recommended to wear natural fibers; like cottons, linens and bamboo fabrics. As they have a natural weave and do not trap heat and sweat in the garment. One of the best natural fibers to wear in summer is bamboo, not only as it is a natural fiber, but also its unique structure and qualities help you cool down and stay cool during the summer months.

It is absorbent and moisture wicking

The natural weave and build of the bamboo fabric allows it to keep you and your clothes dry as it absorbs and wicks moisture away from the skin. Bamboo fabric gets to work immediately and absorbs moisture 3 to 4 times faster than cotton.Bamboo helps to regulate the body temperature

Bamboo fabric is composed with a loose weave – filled with micro gapps placed throughout the fabric. This helps with body temperature regulation. Meaning that in the summer heat, the bamboo fabric helps trap and ventilate cool air to keep you 2 to 3 degrees cooler. While also benefitting when you go indoors to the high AC, by keeping you 2 to 3 degrees warmer!

Marvels welcomes women and racial diversity to its next generation of Superheros!

Even if you are not an avid Marvels fan you can still enjoy the new direction Marvels is taking in their comic books. With the new series following the Civil War (from 2006, and the comic the recent Marvels Civil War movie was based on), the Civil Wars II series will see a shift in the iconic Iron Man character. The beloved Tony Stark will be handing over his suit and power to Riri Williams, a black women, known as a Science Genius from MIT. 

As the series comes to an end, Tony Stark will literally step out of his suit and hand it over to Riri Williams, introducing a new representation for Iron Man (or Iron Woman!). She captures the attention of Tony by building her own Iron Man suit in her college dorm, and flying around America to help where she can. 

Could this be a shift in traditional comics as we know, introducing and expanding diversity in these plot lines, more accurately representing the world around us. Riri Williams could soon become an icon and hero to so many young girls who are trying to find their place in the world of White Male superheros. 

On that note, enjoy your Friday and your Weekend!

Nudy Patooty

Friday Five

Welcome to Nudy Patooty’s Friday Five – I don’t know about you, but with a week of errands, work and a jam packed schedule we often find it difficult to keep up with anything (even the Kardashian’s). With Friday Five, we give you quick reads to catch up on right before the weekend, and a quick 5 minute break! 

How Dangerous is that Blue Glow from Our Smartphones?

On average we spend about 90 minutes a day starring at the screen of our smartphones, averaging up to 23 days a year. Thats 23 days we spend starring at a small rectangular screen trying to catch up on social lives and global news. 

The impact of this time has a bigger toll on our health then we like to think. The main result of the smartphone addiction, is the blue glow the screens emit. This impacts our sleep patterns, confusing our brains to think it is daytime after reading these screens. Repeated on a daily basis, we become exhausted and lack the energy to complete daily tasks. 

If you have teens around, this glow can be even more harmful to their bodies. As they are more vulnerable to the light exposure, if repeatedly used before bed, it can push their sleeping back hours resulting in groggy mornings before school.

If you find you can’t be without your phone an hour before bed, there are some apps on the market that change the blue glow on the screen, to a red glow – eliminating the brain tricking all together.

Struggling to Keep Your Plants Alive? Find out what You’ve Been Doing Wrong

As much as we love the outdoors, sometimes inside is just a little cozier, so we are constantly trying to bring the outside in, filling our homes with fresh flowers and green plants. 

But how much do you really know about these plants; their origin, the type of environment they prefer, or their feeding and watering habits?

Without this crucial knowledge, it often leads to a short life for the plants. So brush up on the facts of the plants and do a little research before buying the next house plants.

1. Marketing trick – We know about the marketing tricks in the fashion and media industries, but believe it or not its also done with plants! The craze of succulents did’t just come out of nowhere, the “easy to care for” plants can be a little more tricky then you think.
2. Give them too much love – At an early sign of a plants withering we often turn to love. Tending to over water in efforts to bring it back to life and regain some colour. But *public service announcement* this isn’t helping your plants what so ever! Instead try and really understand what isn’t working; is it the sun exposure, does it need nutrients, does it just not like the other plants its near. 
3. Making excuses – The worst you can do for your plants, is blame anything and everything… but yourself. We are so quick to blame the air in our homes or the house pet from damaging it, but more times then not, the reason is lack of attention to the plant and its environment.

A Beauty Brand Doing Good for the World

The beauty industry is most known for its influence on negative self esteems, unethical production methods and the overload of chemicals in products. However Josie Maran Cosmetics is changing this standard with each product and collection she delivers to stores. 

Josie Maran uses Argan Oil as a base for most of her beauty products, resulting in natural makeup that you won’t feel bad about putting on your skin each morning. Not only is this helping you out, it has also created employment opportunities for women in Morocco. Josie chose to source her oil from Morocco, creating Women only co-operatives and providing a place of work for many women that otherwise wouldn’t. This has resulted in steady incomes and education opportunities for these women, as well as the chance of freedom and independence. 

Its exciting to see women empowering women, and when it comes from a brand part of a $50+ billion dollar industry, its hope that things are changing for the better!

Happy Friday!

Nudy Patooty