Cool Alternative to Waxing Facial Hair

Like many other women I know I've got extra facial hair that is dark. I've been waxing or tweezing for YEARS! And I do mean years, I've been waxing my eyebrows since I was 11, that's 22 years of waxing people! My lip and chin followed not long after.

Years before I had my son, who is 3 now, I had laser hair removal on my lip and chin. Got one of those buy one area get one area deal. It worked great, until I got pregnant. Then the hormones went all whacky and the dark hair started growing back.

Not so fun let me tell you.

Anyway, there's a salon down the road from my apartment that I've had some other services done and I decided to get my eyebrows done there. I used to get them done at my nail salon or at my hair stylist. I could still get them done at my nail salon but I'm currently in the market for another hair stylist again, it's a long story for another blog post.

They are Indian so they thread eyebrows. I never had it done before. It was awesome. SO much faster than waxing. Added bonus is that my skin isn't red or inflamed afterwords, not red at all in fact, and you don't have all that gross wax residue left over from waxing. Another thing is that you don't have to worry about potentially getting burned by the wax being to hot.

I wanted to see if I could find instructions in the Internet to see if I could do my lip and chin at home. I'm more than happy to pay the $6 every few weeks to have my eyebrows done as, quite frankly, I'm not that coordinated when it comes to making sure my eyebrows are even.

There is TONS of info out there. HERE are my favorite instructions I've found.

Now a few notes about getting started.



It says to use 2' of thread. I think that, at least for me, that's to much. Around 18" or so seems to work best for me.

It does take a bit of practice to be able to yank out the hair. Once you do get the hang of it it's certainly faster than tweezing and, in my opinion anyway, faster and easier than waxing. As for the thread I seem to like just a standard all purpose thread. I've got some upholstery thread that works decently as well. The article says that the type doesn't matter so just play around with different types and just pick one that works best for you.

I didn't practice on my leg like they say to in the article as I had just shaved the other day so I didn't have enough hair there to try it out. I did just fine with the mirror on my face once I got the hang of the motion required to pull the hair out.

The big bonus of threading is that you don't have to wait for hair to be a certain length like you do with waxing. You can do it every other day if you feel like it so you never have hair on your eyebrows, lip or chin.

Sure you'll still need tweezers just like with waxing but that part is no worse than before.

30 Day Mommy Ab Challenge

So I started doing the 30 Day Mommy Ab Challenge that was posted on Being Mommy's Facebook page.  I follow them on Facebook because they have contests, photos and other fun stuff.



This is the calender that I'm following.  I've only done 5 days of it (Thursday was a rest day) but I'm feeling great.

My abs have always been strong but a little extra toning never hurts.  I'll do a variety of different things including lean muscle building protein shakes and another lean muscle building supplement.  You can see both products below.  The shakes I'll do with plain water, skim milk or unsweetened almond milk.  Just depends on my mood or if I've got almond milk in the house.




I enjoy staying fit and try to manage that as best I can with a toddler in the house.  He's 3 so running around after him and swimming in the pool (now that it's summer) helps a ton with that.

Tablets - What's right for you?

So recently my boyfriend asked me what a good tablet would be for his 7 year old daughter for her birthday.  He asked me because I have an iPad mini.  I told him that he won't go wrong with a Kindle Fire.

Had it not come out when it did I would have a Kindle Fire.



I think the Kindle Fire is a fantastic tablet for the price.  It's one of the best in fact.  Apple's products are good yes but they always come at a premium price because that's just how Apple operates.

Not only is a Kindle Fire a fully functional tablet just like an iPad but it's a couple hundred buck cheaper.

Scale factor is the same as my iPad mini so that's not an issue either.  I don't like the full size iPad because it's too big in my opinion.  The Kindle Fire is a perfect size.  And it runs around $100 less than the comparable iPad.

The added bonus of the new version of the Kindle Fire HDX is the "Kindle Free Time."

You can set limits for your kids for watching videos, reading books, playing games.  It automatically cuts off when the time limit had been reached.  It's an awesome idea that the iPad doesn't have.

How to Make your own Bath Salts

I don't know about you but I LOVE soaking in a hot tub to take the aches, pains and bumps away after a long day.  It's always very relaxing.


This past Christmas I made a jar of bath salts for all of the women in my family as a little something extra from me.  They were a huge hit.




Here is the basic recipe.  There are many, many, many variations.  This is just one.  The possibilities are endless.  You can do just about anything.



1 part Epsom Salt
1 part Sea Salt
1 part Baking Soda (Optional)
Essential Oils (Optional)
Herbs or other additives (Optional)



Take a zip top bag and start with 1 cup or so of each of the salts.  Combine in the bag, close and combine well.  If you're using the Baking Soda (good to help with softening the skin) add it in now as well.

Once combined well add your essential oils, herbs or other additives.  Close and combine well.

The amount of oil you'll use will depend on your personal preference.  I tend to go heavier on the oils than they recommend because I like the effects of the oil.  My favorites to use are Lemon and Eucalyptus Oils.  The combo is divine.

Let the salts dry overnight in a bowl or a tray so that way once you pour them in the jar they don't stick together.

After the salts are dry you can then add whichever dried herbs you choose.  Hole herbs end to work best.  Rosemary is always a good option to go with.

Once dry, use a funnel or a piece of paper rolled up like a funnel to pour the salts into the jars.

You can make pretty labels to go with them if you'd like.  I used quilting squares to put between the lid and the screw cap of the jar to pretty them up a bit.  I also made little cards (business card size) saying what was in the jar as I already had the materials at home.  I tied the card to the jars with a pretty bit of ribbon.  Then I got small craft paper bags at the store and with some tissue paper and I had my handmade gifts to hand out.

Find everything you'll need to get started here.

I'd love to know if you make up your own and what you did so leave a comment letting me know!

Trials in Hair Maintenance

Since I moved out on my own a bit over a year ago I've had to figure out who was going to cut my hair.  The guy who was previously cutting my hair (for the previous 8 years had moved out of state on me.  I absolutely loved him.  He cut my hair and my son's hair.

He referred me to another girl whom I really loved but she wound up leaving her salon and I had no way to find her.  I tried a neighbor's ex wife who is a stylist and she charged me $50 to cut my hair and $18 to cut my 3 year olds!!!!!  I have NEVER paid that much to get my hair cut either here or in New Jersey.

Anyway, after the $18 buzz cut I decided to buy a pair of hair clippers and just cut JD's hair myself.  It's a simple buzz cut so not a big deal.  My mom is also a retires hair stylist/barber so she's going to show me how to cut his hair.

After lots of research I stumbled upon this set of clippers.  It has everything that I need and to boot it was only $36 so after 3 haircuts it's more than paid for itself.

It's easy to hold and manipulate and it serves my needs perfectly.  I'm hoping to get several years of use out of it.