7 DIY Beauty Hacks

Alright.

This weather is killing us. Well, it's killing me not to be able to take the kids outside to get their wiggles and giggles out and Simon actuallllly went through with the, "the next toy you fight over - it goes in the trash" threat when he got home from work this morning and he says we're going to keep going until this house is toyless. I think he meant it. So maybe it's just killing the parents around here BUT my one solution to the insanity is to give the kids baths. Every single day and another one (or three - if we are doing solo soaks) at night if sanity necessitates such little luxuries. If they bathe separately (or sometimes they can handle two at a time ... sometimes) they are super happy little guppies and the other one or two are content to have all the toys to themselves.

Long explanation to explain that this isn't turning into a beauty blog complete with YouTube channel and tutorials on how to shape your unruly brows ... rest very much assured of that fact. I'm just sharing some of the things I do to keep myself entertained while the kids enjoy these life saving marathon soaks and Theo (his baths are a little more high maintenance because ... drowned factor) circles the bathroom in search of some mischief (none to be found, thank your brother for that, Theodoro).

When I was a tween I used to love poring over one of those little beauty books they sell by the candy in the checkout line at the grocery store because the little book told me how to: whiten my teeth with mashed strawberries! and speed up the nail polish drying process with a bowl of ice water!  and other things that clearly made a lasting impression because I've forgotten but here .... take take take my advice. Drink it up ....

Hacks might be a bit of a stretch but .... let's lean with it. Rock with it. And roll with it too.

Also .... let's all marvel at that horrific bit of photo editing brought to you by 3 in the morning and 3 hours of sleep in the past 3 days.
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end marvel.
thanks.

1. green tea cubes for a puffy face/eyes: I'll be honest and admit that I only made the ice cubes out of green tea one time and now I just use plain old ice cubes but I do think the tea makes a difference. Basically (no matter how much sugar, salt, and coffee I avoid) I feel like my face is always puffy and it's especially terrible when I'm pregnant. If I melt half an ice cube on my face I think it helps. Call me super crazy, that's fine. If you can stand to do the whole cube and completely lose feeling in your face .... I'm impressed. This also works if you're out of coffee in the morning. Zaps you right into awake mode. You'll see.

2. cold water on wet nails: Well .... just nails that aren't completely dry. You know when your nails seem dry but then you get a toddler dressed and it looks like someone embossed hyroglyphics onto the polish? Yes, it's the worst. It's not the end of the world but I just fill the sink with super cold water (not a problem this time of year ... in the summer you can pop an ice cube in .... I'll let you) after painting your nails and letting them dry to just over the sticky hump and .... submerge for a minute. It sets the polish niiiiiice and smooth. Just watch.

3. epsom salt + baking soda bath: I obviously don't do this one while the kids are bathing because we do not own a feeding trough and we would not all fit but it doesn't take long so usually I can take a quick bath while the kids are eating breakfast or lunch. Simply dump a cup or two of epsom salts into a warm bath along with a few generous shakes of baking soda and any fragrant oil that you like (I'm on a lavendar kick but the first trimester I was alllllll about the lemon) and .... toxins be gone. Supposedly. I've read about so many celebrities that do this and .... maybe they are lying but I'm not and I promise I can see the swelling in my ankles decrease by the time I pop out of the mini-soak.

4. baking soda and hydrogen peroxide to whiten teeth: You've seen it all over Pinterest. I've only done this a handful of times but I can tell a difference. Just make a little paste in a little bowl with a tiny bit of toothpaste so you don't die a salt-gagging death and brush brush brush. My gums and teeth are crazy sensitive and CRAZY super sensitive when I'm pregnant but if I do this every other day .... they behave. And don't hurt. I've read about people adding salt to "exfoliate" their teeth but .... I haven't gone that far yet.

5. coffee scrub: I'm a connoisseur of the facial scrub. I don't know why but if you slap the word, "scrub" on a tube of gunk and tell me that it will slough of dead cells and minimize my pore size ... I'm alllll over it. So I've tried about a million. Never have I ever found one as effective as coffee grounds. Here's my recipe but really just a little coffee and oil and maybe some sugar is all you need. If you have sensitive skin .... I highly do not recommend moving forward with this diy. Not at all.

6. baking soda scrub: And if you do have sensitive skin ... baking soda (little bit of baking soda with just enough water to make a paste) is a great one to try. I've talked about it here and I haven't had to do it in a long time because summer was a million years ago or maybe I've done it enough that my clingy melasma is gone forever.

7. coconut oil on cuticles and heels: Ah. This is the winter of the dry extremities. My hair, my cuticles, my feet, my hands - always my hands. I've found that rubbing coconut oil on my cuticles and heels and then wearing socks (only on feet, not on hands ... although that's not a bad idea) overnight and (most likely in my lazy case) way into the next day ... dry no more. And everyone loves a moisturized heel, right? Right.

I know you've got a million better ideas.
Let the lady of the blog know.
She'd be most appreciative.