Life Hack: End of Summer Foundation Tip

I don’t know about you, but I got a little bit of sun this summer. Not a lot, but enough that my Pearl Powder Foundation from Root is just slightly too light for me.  I was color-matched in store during the middle of winter so my foundation color works for most of the year. But I noticed when I put it on a couple of weeks ago the color just washed me out rather than giving me a good foundation color. Here’s a photo:I really didn’t want to purchase a different shade foundation since I wouldn’t use it much during other times during the year. So I set out to figure out how to correct the color with things already in my makeup kit. I tried a couple different things before I found a fix that really works!Root’s Bronzing Powder did an excellent job with all over color and fixing my foundation problem. I prefer to use the light bronzer since I find the color is way more buildable than the original or sunkissed. However, if you’re a lot darker than your winter color you may want to try one of those. Here is a photo after applying Light Bronzer all over my face and blending into my neck:As you can see by applying the bronzing powder all over I’ve evened out my tan skin tone and I no longer look like a ghost. My face matches my neck and shoulders. This is an easy inexpensive way to fix your summer foundation problem. And best of all, you can use the bronzing powder during the winter to give your skin a healthy glow! Are there any special ways you do summer or end of summer makeup? Let me know below! Also let me know if you liked this makeup tip post and if you’d like me to do more.Here is the final makeup look:Root Creamy Concealer: Light – Under Eye AreaRoot Pearl Powder: 6 – FoundationRoot Light Bronze – FoundationRoot Setting Silk – All OverAu Naturale Cream Bronzer – ContourAu Naturale Cream Highlighter – Cheekbones, T-zone, Cupid’s Bow, Under EyebrowsRoot Punch Love – BlushRoot Portland – Eye CreaseRoot So Bronze – EyelidRoot Midnight Mocha – Outside Eye CornerRoot Shell – Inner Eye CornerRoot Pretty All Day Gel LinerRoot Mascara: BrownAu Naturale Sangria – LipsAster & Bay Hibiscus and Beet Root Lip Stain – Lip GlossRoot Setting Spray

Relaxing Foot Soak

If you follow me on social media you will remember a couple months ago I was stage managing a community theater production of Carousel. After just the first week in Tech my feet hurt like crazy! I decided to make a foot soak to help soothe my tired feet.This soak is amazing! It not only calms those agitated foot muscles, it also smells amazing! I found that once I soaked my feet I could then go several days without doing it again. It relaxed my feet pretty completely and left them feeling very soft.You can make this recipe without the essential oils if you don’t have them on hand. You will still have some relaxing benefits. The EO’s simply provide additional relaxation to the muscles. I highly suggest using them if possible, especially the peppermint and rosemary. These EO’s will provide your tired feet with the most comfort.I used my laundry tub to soak my feet, I don’t happen to have anything smaller that I could have used. I put in ½ cup of soak into the entire tub. You can feel free to adjust how much you add based on the size of your container.[amd-yrecipe-recipe:88]

Natural Ant Repellent

This summer while we were painting the outside of our house I had, for the first time, issues with ants in our kitchen. It seemed to be a combination of the wet conditions early in the summer and the lack of paint on the outside of our home. I tried several things before I found a solution that actually worked.I tried cleaning with vinegar, Dr Bronners soap and I finally resorted to Lysol spray. However nothing seemed to work. Whatever I used would clear the ants out for about five minutes then they would be back. I really did not want to try any sort of ant trap since those contain highly poisonous chemicals. I finally was able to track the ants down to a single hole at the base of the kitchen backsplash and that’s when I decided to try something drastic. I decided to try cayenne pepper. I had seen this fix in a couple of places on the internet but it seemed too good to be true.I placed a small amount of cayenne at the opening of the hole and used a paper towel to spread it up and down the backsplash. I wanted to make sure the ants could not just skirt around it and come in another way. Once I had placed the cayenne I used my homemade cleaner to clean as much of the counter as possible.This remedy has worked incredibly for me! I have not seen any more signs of ants, at all, in my kitchen. I noticed an immediate difference and have not seen any additional ants in my kitchen since placing the pepper. One thing to note, cayenne pepper while not toxic to furry babies, can burn them if they get too much on their paws or noses. You will want to be very careful if you have pets or children around that they do not come into contact with this ant remedy. Since the hole I was covering is at the base of my backsplash and pretty much continually covered I felt very comfortable using this method. Keep the cayenne to the smallest portion of your counter possible to avoid it coming into contact with people or pets.

Life Hacks: Removing Leftover Candle Wax

Don’t you just hate when you’ve been burning a fantastic new candle, but then it gets to the very end and the flames just peter out with a quarter inch of that fantastic smelling candle wax left? It always bugs me when that happens. Ages ago I ran across this way to get that last bit of candle wax out so you can use it for other things.The wax leftover from this is great to use in a wax burner after you get it out. Then you can use the glass holder for other things around the house. Currently I use old glass holders in the bathroom to hold things like q-tips or bobby pins. Alex has a couple in his work space that he uses to hold screws and washers/nuts.

Take your candle and set it on a heat proof surface.

Bring a pot of water to a rolling boil. When the water is boiling pour it into the candle.

Let the candle sit until all the wax has lifted to the top.

Once the wax has cooled to the touch remove the disk from the candle holder.

You can remove the last bits of wax from the glass holder with soap and warm water. Use the wax in a wax burner.

Life Hacks: Swiffer Pads

I don’t know about you but I love my Swiffer broom. However, those Swiffer pads are SO expensive! So I was searching online for an alternative and the idea of using fuzzy socks was all over pinterest. For me this is a super easy life hack since I have a bunch of pairs of fuzzy socks that I don’t wear often anymore.

The basic premise is that you take a fuzzy sock and put it on the end of your Swiffer mop.

You then Swiffer like normal. If you want a Swiffer wet pad just spray some of the natural cleaner onto the fuzzy sock.

The sock will pick up all sorts of things up off your floor.

The best part is when you’re done just turn the sock inside out to take it off of the mop and then toss it in the laundry.

If you don’t have a pair of fuzzy socks you can pick up great ones for $1-$2 at Old Navy. This is a great price for reusable Swiffer pads!