New Products To Try: Nuance by Salma Hayek

I decided to post an update about some products that are animal testing free and give you my first impressions of these products.  I found these in the drugstore and because I was not keen to try any new Burt's Bees products, I was perusing the aisle and found these:

These products claim no animal testing and have the all important bunny symbol on them.

What I liked about them immediately is that the ingredients were free of sunflower seed oil.  I am allergic to sunflower seeds and I noticed that skincare products I had previously tried that had the oil were leaving my skin splotchy and irritated, so I was keen to find some products that don't contain it even though I have no trouble eating foods cooked with the oil.  Regardless, I figured these were worth a try.  If you live in a cold place in the south like we do, one cream may not be enough unless you want to splurge but mostly on small quantities (see my post about Avene Rich Compensating Cream here). 

Here is what I like about each of these products right off the bat:

Hydrating Gel:  nice clean, mild scent of cucumbers;  good texture, absorbs well; this is meant as an additional day cream during the cold weather here

Anti-Aging Super Cream:  again: clean and mild scent, nice texture, absorbs well; I'll post an update if the results are comparable to Roc and Clinique after I've used it more

White Clay Treatment Mask: this is meant to replaced the Proactiv spot treatment and it smells way nicer than the other sulfur based masks, definitely worth a try based on that; again I'll post an update about it's efficacy after several weeks of use

Nourishing Body Cleansing Cream : delightful smell, comparable to Aveeno Cream Wash for sensitive skin; definitely avoid soap based bath cleansers if you have sensitive skin and are enduring cold weather!

Hope this posts gives you some ideas and I'll post the updates when I'm confident I have given them a good run!

DIY Monogram Stationery

Here is a super easy post about monogram stationery.

All you need is a set of stencils of your choice (I chose some from Martha Stewart, which I got at Michaels), some blank cards + envelopes, and a metallic pen or marker.

The stencils I had nicely lined up with the edges of cards and envelopes.  Just outline the inside of the stencil with a mechanical pencil and fill in with the metallic pen.  

Be careful with metallic markers as the ink can either get stuck or spill out of the nib.

I put some together in groups of tens and put them in a nice decorative box for some DIY gifting this Christmas!  

These would make great gifts for a new bride (you can always use new stationary when you change your last name), a birthday, or just for yourself to have a supply of one of a kind notes to send out to people!

 

Cleaning Out the Coffee Grinder!

So we have had this coffee grinder for several years and we try to keep up with cleaning it out regularly.  One tip that I had read about and often used is to clean out the grinder with rice.  This way you don't have to try to pry your fingers under the blades to clear out any grounds stuck there.

Here is the picture before I cleaned it out.  Clearly it was in desperate need of a cleaning.

Add about 1/4 cup to 1/3 cup of rice.  I don't think it matters what kind as long as it's medium to long grain.

Run the grinder for about a minute.  I repeated the step with the rice twice just to be sure I got most of the grounds worked out.

Last thing I did was wipe the whole thing down with a bar towel dampened with hot water.  It was much easier to clear around the blades and now after just a few minutes we have a much cleaner coffee grinder.

Hope this trick is useful!

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year Everyone!

Thanks for helping the blog get off the ground this year!  I hope you, your family, and friends have a wonderful 2014!

~xo~