Beauty tips that I actually found helpful. No really.

Every now and then it becomes glaringly apparent to me, that just because someone is employed in a particular occupation doesn't mean that they are any good at it. I'm sure you've all experienced this in some form or another, or maybe you've even been that person? I know I sure have been. I was once told by a restaurant manager that I wasn't "a natural waitress." It was a comment that was probably unfair at the time, given it was my first time waitressing. Thankfully however, I saw the humour in it and never spent any time berating myself for my lack of success in that arena. 

The start of the new year always finds the internet flooded with new-year themed articles from beauty and style writers. I recently clicked on one titled "Top Beauty Tips for 2013." Cool, I thought to myself - I'm stuck in a bit of a makeup rut and maybe this will provide some ideas about new things to try. I was so disappointed...so, so, disappointed. I'm not exaggerating here - some of these "Top Trends" included "wearing sunscreen" and "washing your face." Now, I'm not saying that these aren't good things to do on a daily basis, they absolutely are, but I would tend to categorise these under the heading of "common sense" or maybe "personal hygiene" rather than "top tips."

So, as a lot of us do when we are in a situation like this, I thought to myself "They got paid for that? I can do better than that!" And hopefully I have - here are some tips that I've come across that I have actually found helpful -  I hope you do too.

1. Keep your eyeliner pencil in the freezer.

I know, right? It sounds whack. But it actually makes perfect sense - eyeliner pencils are always soft and smudgy, and sometimes this makes it really hard to draw a precise line. Storing your eyeliner in the freezer will harden the pencil and help you create a look that is sharp and clean - perfect for work, when you're probably not going for the smokey, smudgy look. Probably. I mean, I don't know your life.

2. Do your eye makeup first.

I was a bit of a late bloomer when it came to makeup, and never really had anyone show me what to do or how to do it. There were certainly no YouTube tutorials to help me out. I just bought some makeup and off I went. I'm sure this contributed to some odd looks and odd habits over the years. I always, always used to start with foundation and then go from there - I mean, it makes sense semantically - the foundation always goes first. BUT, when you do your eyes first, you can then clean up any smudges or mistakes without the hassle of redoing your foundation. Totally sensical. 

3. All you need to exfoliate is olive oil and sugar.

In the past, I have spent crazy amounts of money on facial scrubs and body scrubs. I've never found a cheap one that actually did the job, and the expensive ones well, they're expensive. When someone told me how easy it was to make your own at home, I was completely won over. All you need is a jar, some olive oil and some raw sugar. I say raw sugar, because white or brown sugar are too soft and you won't get that really scrubby texture that gets rid of the dead skin cells. Added bonus, you can play with the ratio of oil to sugar until you get the texture that you prefer!

xx

Lashes.

I'm a sucker for eyelashes. I think I hinted at this in our introductory blog post. False lashes, lash extensions and mascara. I think I love lashes the way many women (and men?) love shoes. Don't get me wrong... I love shoes too... but today, it's all about the lashes.

I wasn't a particularly girly teenager. This was probably, mostly, because I was overly self-conscious and lacked confidence but certainly, being a teen in the late '80s and the '90s meant that 'grunge' was a big part of style back then. And eyelashes weren't particularly important... eyeliner maybe, but lashes, not so much in my world? Girly or not, in the '90s I took style cues from the likes of Juliana Hatfield, who herself admits to having been very self-conscious, and also Lisa Loeb. I think I still do.

Now it is almost twenty years later and the internet is in my life. As Caroline was saying in her post about fashion and style blogs, I can take style cues from wherever I like. Amongst the thousands of average (and below average) blogs there are some excellent tips to be found. Lisa Eldridge is my current favourite but more about her another time. And so back to my point about eyelashes. I've tried and tried to use false lashes without much luck. Gluing my eyelashes together is about all that I've achieved until now. A few days ago I came across the best tip, I think, on the internet, for applying false lashes. The recent Beauty Department post is the only place that I have ever seen anyone suggest (carefully) applying the lash glue to your lash line rather than the false lash strip. It makes positioning the lashes much less slippery and a whole lot easier. Of course this will only interest anyone who has ever tried (and failed) to apply false lashes though, I'm sure. Check out The Beauty Department for more info.

Still on the subject of lashes, after battling with bits and pieces falling out of the bathroom cabinet over and over again I realised I have an awful lot of mascara (amongst other stuff). I don't strike myself as a person who owns twelve mascaras! But I do. Let me justify having this many mascaras. Firstly, I find it hard to go past a magazine that comes with a free mascara so a number of these were 'free'. I may not have read the magazines yet but I have the mascara. Secondly, facebook is sometimes a great place to enter competitions to win such things. I have to say that I think at least seven of the mascaras pictured here were free with purchase of a magazine or won from facebook comps. That still means I have bought about 5 mascaras in the last year though.

What am I going to do with all this mascara? I can't give it away seeing as I've 'tested' them all now. How about a few before & afters? You know I love a good before & after.







So today I present to you the Maybelline One by One Volum Express Mascara in Satin Black. This is a limited edition mascara I 'won' on facebook. I liked it before I took these photos but after looking at the pictures I can see the effects even more clearly. Definitely makes the lashes look longer and thicker in my opinion.


The thing about shoes and lashes (and earrings too) is that they fit you even when your jeans are feeling a bit tighter than usual. If only eyelashes made the sound Amber Dempsey's eyelash implants made on The Simpsons.

Keeping up with it all.

Way back when I was in primary school the beginning of the school holidays signalled clean-out-my-room time. This was mostly self-inflicted. It seems I got some sort of  joy out of emptying my cupboards and drawers, going through all my bits and pieces and then putting it all back again in a neat and tidy fashion. I would throw out a handful of things I didn't want anymore like dried-out textas then sharpen my pencils, alphabetise my books and so on. I didn't have a great deal of 'stuff' back then so it wasn't a major task but I would dedicate most of a day to it.

Nowadays I am not the greatest cleaner or tidier in the world and I do have a fair bit of 'stuff'. I went through a bit of a hunter/gatherer phase around the turn of the century but have slowed down on the gathering a lot now. The last time we moved house (coming up to five years ago) was a real eye opener. So many boxes of fabric, 'things to sell on ebay', memories, 'collectibles' and so on. Too many. And those 'boxes full of stuff' stayed 'boxes full of stuff' for too long. I had to come up with some motivation and some rules to get me sorting, culling, organising and getting real about the stuff-to-space ratio in our home. Slowly I'm starting to realise what works and what doesn't work for me when it comes to cleaning and organising. After a recent chat with a friend made me realise I wasn't the only one with this sort of problem I thought maybe sharing a few of my favourite tips here might be helpful for someone else... and motivating for me.


Here are the things I tell myself about cleaning and tidying, in no particular order. They might not work for you but then again, maybe they will?

1. Nothing should have a permanent home in a cardboard box. Find a place for the things you have in boxes that were never unpacked when you last moved house. If you still want to keep those things but have to store them away for whatever reason try to get a plastic box with a lid and make sure you have a place for that box whether it be in a shed, garage, in the top of a wardrobe or somewhere out of the way. Try not to have the box in view in the house. If you can make space to have a box in the house you should be able to make space for whatever is in the box somewhere out on display.


2. Do you use it? Do you need it? Do you love it? When I'm really stuck on an item in a clean-up I try to ask myself these three questions. I think I got this tip from watching an episode of Hoarding - Buried Alive. If I can't answer 'Yes' to any of these questions then I seriously need to think about letting go of the object in question.

3. The 'Pick Up 5 Things' rule. I'm afraid I can't remember where I came across this suggestion. I think it might have been on an Oprah organisation special some years ago. This one works best for me on a more day-to-day basis. Every time I get up from the computer, the couch or walk through a room, for example, I pick up and put away five things that aren't in their place. If I'm feeling extra motivated I'll change the rule to 'Pick up 5 things and wipe down one surface'. I don't actually do this all the time but when I do it helps keep the mess, created by two untidy adults and one active toddler, down a bit. Sometimes it's hard to know where to start when faced with tidying or a major clean up. Just start with five things.

4. MOOP - Matter Out Of Place. This ties in with the above point. The problem is that to deal with MOOP, everything in your home must actually have a place. If you can aim to have a place for all your belongings and then have an empty shelf or cupboard somewhere you might find you feel a whole lot better in your surroundings. (Easier said than done, right?)

5. Daily email from The Organised Housewife. Recently I subscribed to the daily email from a blog called The Organised Housewife. Daily Tasks are sent to your inbox. Instead of dealing with cleaning all at once these emails suggest one thing to do each day. Breaking it down this way makes it much less daunting. Examples of tasks I've seen in the emails so far include clean your knife block and wipe down the kitchen cupboard doors. The little things do add up to making a difference.

6. Pomodoro technique. I think I first heard about the Pomodoro technique from Frecklewonder's blog. It's a timer system that can be used to help get you through any task at home or at work. I find I use it most when I am working. Check out the Pomodoro website for the details but basically you break tasks down into 25 minute blocks with 5 minute breaks after the first three sessions and a longer break after the fourth. I find it really makes me stay on task and the job feels a lot shorter somehow. There are various Pomodoro apps for the computer or your phone or you can just use a regular timer. Try using it when cleaning or sorting your 'stuff'. It might help keep you motivated.


7. Watch Hoarders, Hoarding - Buried Alive or How Clean Is Your House?.
These TV shows never fail to inspire and motivate me. They remind me of what could happen if I never did anything in the way of cleaning or tidying. I think I could watch these shows all day long.

As I said, these are some tips that work for me. Does anyone have any good cleaning and organising tips to add?