Archive - March 2016

Heartbreak Stages
Lifestyle

The 5 Stages of Heartbreak and How to Get Over It

by Nicole Sparks

Breakups suck. Everyone knows it, but not everyone knows how best to deal with the emotional baggage that ensues. You certainly wouldn’t be the first person to rely on a pint of Rocky Road and a bottle (or a few) of wine to soften the blow, but there’s only so much heartbreak that chocolate can heal. Understanding your feelings and the emotional process of losing someone from your life may help you feel less alone and heal faster. A breakup of any kind is a significant personal loss, and should be treated as such. It really doesn’t matter if the relationship was terrible and all your friends tell you you’re going to be better off. It doesn’t even matter if you were the dumper or the dumpee. In the period immediately following a split, as you go through the brutal withdrawals, everything...

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Lifestyle

5 Apps That Have Replaced Tinder

by Nicole Sparks

If you’ve never been sent into a panic stricken frenzy because you accidentally swiped right on that rude guy from your gym you hate (or if that sentence makes no sense to you…) then congratulations, you have miraculously missed out on the prime of the Tinder craze. However, no millennial with wi-fi access is immune to the allure of these oh-so-addictive dating apps. More and more are popping up, so if you’re over Tinder, go ahead and indulge in one of these other increasingly popular apps. 1. Bumble “The woman has to say something first within 24 hours or the connection disappears forever”   Known as the feminist Tinder, this app is definitely geared towards pleasing women both aesthetically and logistically. In fact, this app was co-founded by one of the original co-founders of...

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Entertainment

Hugh Jackman Saved Some Swimmers From Drowning

by Erin Gillespie

Hugh Jackman, aside from being one of the sexiest human beings of the male persuasion on the face of the earth, also has a reputation for being one of the nicest guys in Hollywood. This week, we can safely add real-life superhero to his ever-growing list of attributes. Jackman was at Bondi Beach in his native Sydney, Australia over the holiday weekend when a sudden riptide caught swimmers out. Jackman’s 15 year-old son Oscar and 10 year-old daughter Ava were both swept up in the rip tide (along with many others) and, and were struggling to stay afloat. The actor, along with a few other beachgoers, joined forces to save the struggling children and surrounding swimmers. The Australian TV station 9 News covered the story. The actor launched into action himself at the Sydney beach...

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Fashion

The End is Nigh: Velour Tracksuits are Supposedly Coming Back in 2016!

by Erin Gillespie

Listen up fashion lovers, the worst possible thing ever in the history of all sartorial offences is going down right now, under our noses. For reasons I cannot even imagine unless they contain such phraseology as “we have been smoking crack since we woke up last Saturday morning”, the fashion powers that be have decided to bring back the velour track suit. I don’t know how I could have missed it at the time, but Vogue magazine online did a piece about this very thing back in January. The article’s author, Leana Satenstein, was no less stunned than I am now, and described to us one of the most illustrative images of what the velour track suit represents that I’ve ever read. At first, I was shocked when I discovered my colleagues had been wearing the piece in...

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Lifestyle

Benefits of Oil Pulling

by Nicole Sparks

How does anyone know what is real or just trendy when every week there is a new diet and natural health remedy sweeping the web. It is often hard to decide which are worth your time. Threading, going organic, gluten free, drinking apple cider vinegar, oil pulling…which of these health crazes are actually helping to benefit your body? One of late popularity is oil pulling. Oil pulling is the act of using oil—coconut, sesame, olive oil—(just to name a few) and swishing it around your mouth for at least 10-20 minutes, as you would do with a mouthwash. Seems easy enough? But where did this idea come from? Before there were fluoride based mouth washes, ancient cultures such as the Ayurveda Indians, used oil pulling as a remedy for fighting plaque, bad breath, tooth decay, various gum related...

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Lifestyle

Natural Remedies to Repair Damaged Hair

by Nicole Sparks

Adios #dyed #fried #bleached #tangled #frizzy #oily Ever gone to the drug store for 1 thing and walked out with an $87 bill? And then arrived home to realize you already own a similar shade of that nail polish you insisted on buying? One quick stroll down the hair aisle and the shopping basket somehow fills with all the oils, mousses, and sprays that we believe we absolutely need to solve our (hair) problems. Shopaholic tendencies aside, the amount of money we spend on beauty products can add up quickly, and in using all these products we inadvertently expose our bodies to a long list of chemicals. But there’s good news: the same natural ingredients that are so beneficial to our bodies are deliciously nutritious for our hair. You likely have some of these ingredients on hand, and if not...

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Fashion

Leggings Are Not Pants, No Matter How Badly You Want Them to Be

by Erin Gillespie

We know, we know….they’re comfortable. They’re easy to put on. You can go to and from the gym and back without having to change. There are a lot of positive attributes to the ubiquitous legging, but the ability to double as a pair of pants (thats trousers to those of you living in the UK, not pants as in underpants) does not fall under the list of positive legging attributes. But lets qualify our position a bit, shall we? It’s not that we think that the legging is strictly verboten per se, it’s more a matter of how one chooses to style this, the most maligned of all fashion pieces…okay, the most maligned next to the scrunchie. And maybe parachute pants…but that’s for another article. While it’s certain that there are some women that can carry off...

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Fashion

Printspeak: What Your Spring Print Picks Say About You

by Erin Gillespie

With spring on the horizon, you can’t help but go a little bit bonkers with wanting to cast-off your layers-upon-layers of dark, heavy woollens and breathe some life into your wardrobe. One of the tried-and-true ways of doing this is with color and print. Every spring fashion season, designers come at us with such a riot of color and pattern that there is surely something for everyone in the mix. We all have our favorites. Whether you’re a tartan girl, favor a ditsy floral print, or wouldn’t dream of anything other than a nautical stripe, your spring print choices tell the world a lot about you as a person. Want to know what they’re saying? I can help. I’ve been honing my fashion divination skills (by which I mean I’ve scoured the dark recesses of the...

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Lifestyle

10 Superfoods You Haven’t Tried Yet

by Nicole Sparks

Before we delve in, let’s clarify what exactly constitutes a superfood. As consumers, we are bombarded with this word. We see it splashed on magazine covers and labels of expensive granola mixes. All we need to know is that a superfood is any natural food rich in antioxidants, nutrients, and a variety of compounds considered to be especially beneficial to your health. Quinoa, kale, avocados, and chia seeds are household names when it comes to superfoods. But it’s time to explore and reap the benefits of some of the lesser-known superfoods that pack just as much, if not more, nutritional punch! Psyllium Husk (a.k.a. the main ingredient in Metamucil): For all the gluten-free and vegan bakers out there, rejoice! Not only does psyllium husk pack a whopping 80g of fiber per 100g serving, but...

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Lifestyle

Natural Remedies to Stop Breakouts

by Nicole Sparks

  When has there ever been a good time to have a breakout.? Whether you’re 15 and afraid to face your fate at the movies, 20 and getting ready for your big internship interview, or 25 and dreading bikini season because you will need to let your shoulders and back show, acne sucks. All of a sudden your mom, best friend, and even co-workers have advice on their skin regimen: “you should use a toner”, “I swear by a blackhead cream”,”what do you mean you don’t use facial wipes.?” The fact is everyone has different skin, both issues and reactions, and pharmaceutical face washes, scrubs, rinses and toilettes can be harsh on your skin, leading to more of the problem. So, with Mount Vesuvius on your forehead, what do you do next? Here are our favorite...

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