Now that spring cleaning is well under way, and were all feeling s little better, with memories of winter slowly fading from our minds, it’s the perfect time of year to clean out your makeup bag. Most makeup is only designed for a shelf life of a year, and after that it will start to break down, and besides being a little gross it wont look so hot anymore. The best part about spring cleaning your makeup bag? You now you have a great excuse to go shopping.
These should be good for a year, or so. To make them last longer just be careful about how you apply them, your fingers or your face should never come into contact with the top of the bottle, as this can contaminate its contents, instead apply creams to a q-tip or sponge, then apply to your face.
Sunscreen:
Sunscreens should be tossed at the end of every season, after that they wont be effective. Since you should be applying sunscreen every single day, a bottle shouldn’t last you longer than a season anyway. Tip: Keep your sunscreen by your door in an easily visible place, that way you’ll be more likely to remember to put it on before you leave the house.
Self Tanners:
There are mixed messages about how long self tanners can last, most say two, but I wouldn’t keep them more than one because the color can break down. You don’t want to turn a shade of orange more suited to fruit than skin.
Foundation: Cream foundation is good for about a year, mouse foundation for about 9 months.
Powder Compacts: The power itself can be good for up to two years, if stored separately from the puff, puffs should be either cleaned or replaced about once a month. If you store your puff inside of your compact the shelf life is closer to six months.
Eyeshadow: Powder eye shadows will last indefinitely as long as they are kept contaminant free. Creams are good for up to a year if kept the same way.
Eyeliner: Eyeliner pencils can be kept forever as long as you sharpen them before or after each use, you can also wipe them down lightly with alcohol every few weeks just to be safe. Liquid or cream liners last closer to a year if kept properly. Tip: Always have two clean liner brushes available so that no double dipping is required in your eyeliner tins.
Mascara: Mascara should be tossed after 3-4 months, no matter how much it costs!
Blush: Powder blush, the same as powder eyeshadow, cream blush, the same as cream eyeshadow.
Lipstick and Lipgloss: Both can last up to two years
Lip liners: Same as eyeliner pencils, the bacteria is removed when you sharpen, so sharpen often and it should last you several years.
Sponges and Puffs: Sponges should be replaced every single week, no exception. Velour Puffs can be washed with your makeup brushes.
Makeup Brushes: Good brushes like good friendships can last forever, as long as you nurture them. Brushes should be washed with a gentle baby shampoo once a week or every two weeks, and them dried standing handle down. If you think your brush has been contaminated you can also rinse it in rubbing alcohol.
Tools like Tweezers, Eyelash Curlers and Sharpeners: Metal tools should be cleaned after every use, especially tweezers. To clean them just soak in rubbing alcohol for two minutes and rinse.
Now keep in mind, these are all just guidelines, you know what your products should look, smell, and feel like, if it’s off, don’t use it. Also how you store your products will determine how long they last. The bathroom is the absolute worst home for your products as the heat, and humidity will break them down. Keep your makeup in a cool dark, easily accessible place. I keep mine in my top dresser drawer.
Happy Cleaning
Jaymi
WASHINGTON, D.C.- The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is advising parents and caregivers to be cautious when using infant slings for babies younger than four months of age. In researching incident reports from the past 20 years, CPSC identified and is investigating at least 14 deaths associated with sling-style infant carriers, including three in 2009. Twelve of the deaths involved babies younger than four months of age.
Slings can pose two different types of suffocation hazards to babies. In the first few months of life, babies cannot control their heads because of weak neck muscles. The sling’s fabric can press against an infant’s nose and mouth, blocking the baby’s breathing and rapidly suffocating a baby within a minute or two. Additionally, where a sling keeps the infant in a curled position bending the chin toward the chest, the airways can be restricted, limiting the oxygen supply. The baby will not be able to cry for help and can slowly suffocate.
Body Scrubs
You need only four ingredients to make these moisturizing exfoliants. The base can be made from either Epsom salts or sugar, depending on whether you want a large or fine grain. Color the scrubs with shades that are in keeping with some of the scents you use -- pink with grapefruit, for example, or green with eucalyptus. Makes about 2 1/3 cups.
Tools and Materials
2 cups Epsom salts or organic cane sugar
1 cup carrier oil
8 drops essential oil(s)
1 drop food coloring
Special equipment: plastic pipette, canning jars
Directions
1. Stir together Epsom salts or sugar and carrier oil in a bowl, mixing well.
2. Using pipette, add essential oil, 1 drop at a time. Add food coloring, and stir until color is even throughout. Spoon into canning jars.
3. Download clip-art labels, enlarging or reducing to fit top of canning jar if necessary. Print onto ink-jet bumper-sticker paper (which is designed to withstand water). Cut out the labels, and affix to clean jars.
These fragrant spheres for the bath (we scented ours with peppermint oil) are made by packing Epsom salts into a plastic mold. The bath "snowballs" can be tinted any color. You'll need 3 to 4 days to make the bath balls because of the drying time between steps. Makes 2 large or 4 small balls.
Tools and Materials
2 cups Epsom salts
2 tablespoons water
A few drops essential oil(s)
1 drop food coloring, plus more if desired
Special equipment: plastic pipette, large or small round bath-ball molds, storage jars
Directions
1. Stir together Epsom salts and water in a mixing bowl. Using pipette, add oil, 1 drop at a time, until strength of scent is to your liking. Add food coloring, 1 drop at a time, until desired shade is achieved; stir until color is even throughout.
2. Spoon a generous amount of mixture (more than necessary) into 1/2 of a bath-ball mold. Pack firmly. Repeat, packing mixture into second half of mold. Press pieces together until they connect. Remove top half of mold very carefully. Let bath ball stand, mold side down, overnight (set ball on an overturned jar lid to keep it from tipping over).
3. Remove mold carefully. Invert, and let ball dry completely, 2 to 3 days more. Transfer to jars.
Bath FizziesIce-cube trays serve as molds, giving the fizzies their shape. Using a flexible silicone model lets you slide the cubes out smoothly without breaking them.
Show off the colors of the bath fizzies in glass jars with screw tops, the kind used for storing sugar and flour. Pack each type of fizzy in a separate jar so the scents won't meld. Write the name of the scent on a vellum tag (choose a shade that matches the fizzies), and punch a hole in the top. Thread the tag with ribbon, and tie it around the jar.
Citric acid, a common food additive, is available at wine-making-supply stores, some spice shops, and online. When citric acid is combined with baking soda and placed in water, a chemical reaction creates bubbles.
Makes 1 dozen (use 2 per bath)
Tools and Materials
1/2 cup citric acid
1 cup baking soda
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
About 6 drops food coloring
10 to 15 drops essential oil(s)
Special equipment: 2-ounce travel-size spray bottle, plastic pipette, silicone ice-cube tray, storage jars
Directions
1. Stir together citric acid, baking soda, and cornstarch in a glass measuring cup.
2. Pass mixture through a fine sieve or a flour sifter into a mixing bowl. Stir in sugar.
3. Fill spray bottle with water, and add food coloring. Spritz mixture lightly (it should become damp but not fizzy) until you can pack mixture with your hands.
4. Using pipette, add oil, 1 drop at a time, until strength of scent is to your liking. Using a metal spoon or your hands, mix ingredients until color is even throughout (mixture will begin to dry out; when this happens, spritz until packable again).
5. Spoon into ice-cube tray, pressing firmly. Let dry at room temperature overnight. Pop out of tray gently. Transfer to jars.
Happy Crafting
BCBGeneration
The recipient of three international awards for its design, Flipper comes in a number of cute animal shapes. Choose a different one for each member of the family and enjoy the added benefit of making toothbrushes easy to identify, reducing the spread of germs through accidental toothbrush sharing.
Happy shopping
Since 1994, the M·A·C AIDS Fund continues to provide funding to non-profit HIV/AIDS organizations and programs for basic needs such as food, clothing, housing or shelter (short-term or transitional); direct services related to healthcare, social services, transportation (medical visits, outpatient visits and other social services), and health-related recreational activities, and programs that bring HIV/AIDS education, awareness and prevention to the public attention.
I'm addicted to gossip, i can admit it. I'm constantly perusing the latest gossip magazines and grilling my friends about their love lives. Thats why I love Post Secret, random strangers sending their deepest secrets on homemade postcards, endless hours of entertainment.
Now that spring cleaning is well under way, and were all feeling s little better, with memories of winter slowly fading from our minds, it’s the perfect time of year to clean out your makeup bag. Most makeup is only designed for a shelf life of a year, and after that it will start to break down, and besides being a little gross it wont look so hot anymore. The best part about spring cleaning your makeup bag? You now you have a great excuse to go shopping.
These should be good for a year, or so. To make them last longer just be careful about how you apply them, your fingers or your face should never come into contact with the top of the bottle, as this can contaminate its contents, instead apply creams to a q-tip or sponge, then apply to your face.
Sunscreen:
Sunscreens should be tossed at the end of every season, after that they wont be effective. Since you should be applying sunscreen every single day, a bottle shouldn’t last you longer than a season anyway. Tip: Keep your sunscreen by your door in an easily visible place, that way you’ll be more likely to remember to put it on before you leave the house.
Self Tanners:
There are mixed messages about how long self tanners can last, most say two, but I wouldn’t keep them more than one because the color can break down. You don’t want to turn a shade of orange more suited to fruit than skin.
Foundation: Cream foundation is good for about a year, mouse foundation for about 9 months.
Powder Compacts: The power itself can be good for up to two years, if stored separately from the puff, puffs should be either cleaned or replaced about once a month. If you store your puff inside of your compact the shelf life is closer to six months.
Eyeshadow: Powder eye shadows will last indefinitely as long as they are kept contaminant free. Creams are good for up to a year if kept the same way.
Eyeliner: Eyeliner pencils can be kept forever as long as you sharpen them before or after each use, you can also wipe them down lightly with alcohol every few weeks just to be safe. Liquid or cream liners last closer to a year if kept properly. Tip: Always have two clean liner brushes available so that no double dipping is required in your eyeliner tins.
Mascara: Mascara should be tossed after 3-4 months, no matter how much it costs!
Blush: Powder blush, the same as powder eyeshadow, cream blush, the same as cream eyeshadow.
Lipstick and Lipgloss: Both can last up to two years
Lip liners: Same as eyeliner pencils, the bacteria is removed when you sharpen, so sharpen often and it should last you several years.
Sponges and Puffs: Sponges should be replaced every single week, no exception. Velour Puffs can be washed with your makeup brushes.
Makeup Brushes: Good brushes like good friendships can last forever, as long as you nurture them. Brushes should be washed with a gentle baby shampoo once a week or every two weeks, and them dried standing handle down. If you think your brush has been contaminated you can also rinse it in rubbing alcohol.
Tools like Tweezers, Eyelash Curlers and Sharpeners: Metal tools should be cleaned after every use, especially tweezers. To clean them just soak in rubbing alcohol for two minutes and rinse.
Now keep in mind, these are all just guidelines, you know what your products should look, smell, and feel like, if it’s off, don’t use it. Also how you store your products will determine how long they last. The bathroom is the absolute worst home for your products as the heat, and humidity will break them down. Keep your makeup in a cool dark, easily accessible place. I keep mine in my top dresser drawer.
Happy Cleaning
Jaymi
Housed in a big flat bright yellow tub, this moisturizer just about screams SMILE from across the room. As soon as you open the lid you are greeted with the most unusual and beautiful fragrance of tropical flowers. The smell isn’t specifically feminine though so it would be good for men or women.
It’s a very rich creamy moisturizer that takes a little bit of work to absorb into the skin, but it is definitely worth it. Intense and deep is the only way to describe how this moisturizer works. Dry cracked hands are soothed on the first application, and your skin is left feeling soft and velvety.
This product is filled to the brim with yummy natural moisturizers like coconut oil and fragrances like Ylang-Ylang, and it also contains many free trade ingredients such as babassu oil, cocoa butter, and shea butter.
I definitely recommend this to anyone who needs serious moisture.
-Jaymi
One day I sat in a restaurant in Anaheim, California eating breakfast, when a woman passed by my table with her infant carrier in tow. As she lifted it up to fit between the tables, her shirt raised and I saw that, although she was at a healthy weight and her body was fit, she had that same extra skin hanging around her belly that I do. It occurred to me that a post-pregnancy body is one of this society's greatest secrets; all we see of the female body is that which is airbrushed and perfect, and if we look any different, we hide it from the light of day in fear of being seen. That makes me want to cry. Sure we all talk about the sagging boobs and other parts, but no one ever sees them. Or if they do, it's in comical form, mocking the beauty that created and nourished our children.
It is my dream, then, to create this website where women of all ages, shapes, sizes and nationalities can share images of their bodies so it will no longer be secret. So we can finally see what women really look like sans airbrushes and plastic surgery. I think it would be nothing short of amazing if a few of our hearts are healed, or if we begin to cherish our new bodies which have done so much for the human race. What if the next generation grows up knowing how normal our bodies are? How truly awesome would that be?"
Warning:This website contains Nudity and is Not Safe for Work
