#ALSO the tub cleaner i use... i want a candle that smells like it. a perfume. i want to eat it
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I don't drink or smoke or do drugs and I get 8 hours of sleep and eat a shit ton of vegetables and hike so I should be allowed to breathe in hot plastic fumes if I fucking want
#is the smell of the hot dishwasher full of plastic the best smell on earth to anyone else#also my car seat covers are vinyl and in the summer when the windows were rolled up 🤤#ALSO the tub cleaner i use... i want a candle that smells like it. a perfume. i want to eat it#says kenna
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Cafe: Showers
Previous: Teaser 1 / Teaser 2 / Hospital/Squad Car / No More Squad Car / Empty Bar / Used Car Lot 1 / Used Car Lot 2 / Gas Station / Roadside 1 / Roadside 2 / Forest / Treetops / Cottage (1) / Cottage (2) / Interlude: Police Station / Cottage (3) / Cottage/Car Ride / Clinic / Clinic 2 / Clinic 3 / Clinic 4
Just a short lil update cause I’m.... really barely holdin it together atm lmao
TW for: nonsexual nudity I guess; panic attack; referenced death/murder of a parent; referenced gore/body horror; minor self-injury vibes (almost giving yourself hypothermia/hair pulling); child whumpee (emotional whump)
@whumpitywhumpwhump, @gottalovethemwriters, @stephsspilledthoughts
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Sam Rochester’s hair has always knotted too easy. She remembers, or kind of remembers anyway, that her mom used to work the knots out, before she left, but her dad was always in despair about them. The few times she asked for his help he about tore her bald and threw the hairbrush hard enough to crack the mirror and they ended up screaming at each other and making Leah cry. Which is kind of how it was with him in general.
He was her daddy, though. She did love him, even if she screamed at him sometimes.
Even if it turned out she could still pull the trigger.
Sam’s seen Doc O’Brien’s clinic from her dad’s car lots of times, but she’s never been in it, ‘cause Daddy never liked Doc O’Brien. He always said it was cause he was gay which Daddy thought was about the dumbest thing you could be but Sam also knows they went to school together and that Doc O’Brien was on the football team and Daddy wasn’t, so she thinks maybe that was part of it too.
The clinic used to be somebody’s house, and it still looks like that from outside; Doc O’Brien bought it before Sam was born and made the whole bottom floor into the clinic. Sam already knew that Doc lived upstairs from the clinic because her daddy used to say that he’d blow his brains out before he ever lived that close to his work.
He used to say that, sometimes. “I’d blow my fucking brains out before I’d do that,” he’d say. Sam keeps thinking about that, now. “I’d blow my fucking brains out.” She can’t decide if it makes her feel worse or better to think about it. Anyway, he didn’t have to, because he spit blood all over the floor and jumped at Leah and bit her hard, right next to her neck, and made Sam do it for him.
Sam locks the door to Doc O’Brien’s bathroom harder than she needs to. It’s an old door because the whole house is old, up here where he didn’t change it when he made the clinic, which she thinks means it wouldn’t stop anything that really needed stopping. But it makes her feel a little bit better, to have it locked.
Doc O’Brien is single and old whether he likes guys or not so she expects his bathroom to look like her dad’s, dirty and all the soaps half-empty. It’s a little better than that, though, cleaner, and there’s a scented candle unlit on the counter. Sam picks it up and smells it; it smells a little like Christmas but mostly like dust, so she guesses the bathroom isn’t that much better than her dad’s, really. The shower is clean but you can tell it’s old, the bathtub part is yellow and the paint is peeling up by the ceiling where it’s been wet too long to stick.
It’s—good, she thinks. Like a person’s house. She’s never had a real conversation with Doc O’Brien before, and she isn’t scared of him—she isn’t scared of anything, she wasn’t too scared to pull the trigger so that means there’s nothing that can scare her anymore—but it makes her feel better to know his bathroom’s old and dirty. The downstairs is clean, she guesses ‘cause it’s all a doctor’s office, really. Up here—up here it feels less like being in a mean teacher’s house.
The water runs hot, too. Sam says a little prayer to thank God for that because her hair has always knotted too easy but it’s never been knotted like this, tangled up with running through the woods and then those tangles splattered with blood and some of it’s her dad’s; she’s gone hunting with him before but you don’t shoot deer up close like she shot him, you shoot them far away so you don’t see the way the bullet pushes their head out of shape, so the blood can’t spray forward and hit you, hot like this shower water, and stick in your hair and hold it in knots.
She doesn’t even notice herself deciding to do it but Sam reaches out for the faucet and slams the water all the way back to cold, so cold it hurts and makes her shake and gasp but doesn’t feel like blood spray.
Sam washes her hair in cold water, working out the knots with her fingers. She closes her eyes when she does it, and breathes slow until the world goes away, until there’s just the snarls of her hair slowly unraveling. She doesn’t watch the water turn pink as it goes down the drain.
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The little girl—Sam—is taking too fucking long in the shower. Pax had to argue hard to get the Doc to give them plastic to wrap their bandages in so they can wash their blood-matted hair without getting their new bandages wet, and now they would like to make good on that twenty minutes of arguing please, so they’re hovering outside the bathroom door, and right as they raise their fist to pound on it a little wail issues from inside.
It’s a very specific sound—the sound you make when you’ve been trying to hold it in for too long and made it worse by holding your breath. Against their better judgement they put their ear to the door and they can hear, faintly under the sound of the water, the kid sobbing hard and fast enough she might actually be hyperventilating.
They wait a couple seconds, chewing their lip. Pax’s never had siblings or anything. They don’t really know that much about kids. Also, in fairness, she did shoot them.
But the gasping-sobbing-wailing meltdown noises are getting worse instead of better so after another few seconds they call reluctantly. “Hey, you, uh.” They clear their throat. “You good in there, Shotgun Sally?”
“—can’t—get the knots out,” the little voice says, barely audible, and then the girl properly wails, “I can’t get the knots out!”
Now they can hear her sobbing better, too, like once she’s starting talking she’s given up on trying to be quiet.
Pax frowns at the door, kind of baffled. “Out… of your hair…?” they say slowly. The kid does have pretty long hair, they think, though they can’t remember much else about it.
Instead of answering, the little girl cries, loudly, with a lot of wailing and gasping.
Pax does not know this kid, but listening to it fucking sucks.
“Kid, Jesus,” they say, knocking on the door, like that will help in any way. “You want me to do it?”
Sam does not react to this at all, like she hasn’t even heard it, except that the noises she is making are edging out of “wailing” and into something better described as “screaming.”
And, look. Pax doesn’t know anything about kids. But they do know a thing or too about hair, and picturing the kid tearing her hair out by the roots in attempt to get blood and guts out of it is—making it hard to listen to her panic.
“Kid,” they say, trying to project their voice without yelling, “kid, put some fucking conditioner in it, jesus, it’ll be—c’mon—kid, fucking, Christ, will you relax?”
The little girl will not, apparently, relax.
This is fucking stupid, Pax thinks, and then they take a step back, wind up, and kick the door open.
It takes exactly one try, because it’s an old house with old doors, which means they don’t have a lot of time to figure out what they’re actually going to do once they’ve succeeded in getting the door open.
The little girl is hovered on the floor of the bathtub, her hair a horrible rats nest she is clearly in the act of ripping out with her fingers, and she is now staring at Pax with very big eyes, still gasping and hiccupping.
It’s also fucking freezing in here.
Pax sticks their hand in the water, which is running full blast and is so cold they draw back with a yelp. They slam it off with their other hand and then grab a towel hanging from the rack next to the tub and drop it unceremoniously over the little girl’s head, earning a noise like a startled cat.
Without the water noise it becomes clear that she is shivering, badly. Pax sits down heavily on the lid of the toilet, almost relieved, because at least that means they didn’t kick down a bathroom door for no reason.
“Christ,” they say, a little out of breath. “You lookin’ to get hypothermia, cause this seems like a pretty good way—to—”
They trail off, because the little girl has curled up under the towel without uncovering her head and is now crying properly. It sounds less like a panic episode, but it does not sound particularly fun.
Pax sighs.
“Look, kid,” they say quietly, watching the little towel-covered lump shiver and shake. “You want me to fix your hair for you?”
Sam pulls the towel down to fall around her shoulders instead, and looks up at Pax with big wet eyes, mouth still twisted up with crying. “I don’t want,” she says, with a little effort. “D’you promise not to—pull on it?”
“Ha,” Pax says, getting to their feet so they can rifle through the Doc’s cabinets. “What do I look like, a fuckin’ amateur?”
#the cafe at the end of the world#whump#original whump#zombie apocalypse whump#panic attack#shower whump#trauma recovery#parental death tw#gore tw
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Written by R. Ann Parris on The Prepper Journal.
Some holiday weekend, head out to the ‘burbs” or stroll through some campgrounds or a public park. Your nose will pick up a couple very distinctive smells: Wood smoke and charcoal grills. Charcoal and wood fire scents carry far and linger long, presenting a pretty significant cue that people are nearby.
They also regularly offer really lovely wisps and plumes visible above rooftops, retaining walls, hedges, and woods depending on fuel source, weather, and skill. Even relatively small grills can pump enough to home in on once scents have us in the neighborhood.
We may very well want to avoid those telltales in some disasters, and there are plenty of other reasons low-and-no-smoke cooking backups are a must-have for preppers.
They apply to “normal” outage-based disasters and world-shaking events, and to beginners, apartment dwellers, and “soft” climate dwellers as well as the old hats who are already familiar with the numbingly, back-achingly incredulous amount of wood it takes to cook daily and keep even a tight, well-insulated home warm.
The backup methods I’ll list commonly use less fuel or completely different fuels than our primary systems. That diversity and efficiency helps our resources last longer and keeps us cooking when resupply isn’t available.
If we already count on wood or propane for winter heat or cooking, using alternatives now can lower our current burden, giving us the ability to stockpile more. (Or some extra cash and time!)
Many of us try to avoid pine and unseasoned wood in chimneys, especially brick that can’t be taken apart for easier access. Nonflammable, cleaner-burning and tabletop methods help limit buildup.
There are also scenarios where an injury or illness limits our usual labor, there are reasons to stay hunkered down inside, limit noise, and as such our most-efficient tools go down and our production slows; that or something like a flood or mudslide limits our access.
If we can cook and warm spaces without wood, we can horde that “now” precious commodity against greater need.
Or, we may not have a massive woodpile (yet), or a fireplace or woodstove of either species. We may not have a functioning chimney, or our chimney may develop a problem during a crisis. Backups for our backups keep us plodding forward.
*Liquid-gas fuels share some of the wood-charcoal factors, and have some new ones of their own.
Many of us live places where it gets pretty hot. Whatever the fuel used, heating the house unnecessarily just isn’t conducive for easing the stresses and burdens of an already difficult time – whether the crisis is widespread or only affecting us.
On the other hand, outdoor cooking gets old fast for those of us with seasonally or perennially dusty-windy conditions. That’s how it goes with picking oak catkins and maple spinners out of food, and dealing with flies and mosquitoes.
Grilling outside in a pounding rainstorm or frigid winds also kind of sucks – and can take forever – but then again it’s not usually a great idea to use charcoal grills inside.
Slight Consolation: Food you’ve suffered for in cold weather tastes better. (Muggy/hot weather, not so much.)
Options we can use indoors and under screened porches and pop-up pavilions check a big, big box.
There’s also the *other* rule of threes that some of us ascribe to: three ways to reach and accomplish any task. It’s not always possible (or practical), but in the case of alternative cooking methods, we can check that box, too, easily and with very little outlay in time or money.
Most of the methods below use things already in the home, very basic “everybody everywhere” tools, and outright trash/recycling that costs nothing but time. Some don’t even take up extra space.
The internet abounds with options for DIY’ing these and making them more efficient or portable, so I’m not going to reinvent the wheel on that front.
*I am not affiliated with any of the links provided, nor do I always agree with the authors (or even have any idea what else they post) – they’re the simplest, easiest, or most expedient versions that popped when I wanted an example.
Minimal-Smoke Cookers
Propane/Butane Stoves & Grills – There’s not a safe DIY for these and there’s potentially competition with preppers’ primary fuels or generators, but they’re pretty handy and inexpensive, so I don’t want to ignore them.
Rocket Stoves – I love these things. They take small kindling and sticks or trash wood and turn it into a high-efficiency, high-temperature burn. There’s a variation for everyone – balcony, porch, or backyard; homes, RVs, vehicle kits, or bag-portable.
Super easy DIY’s use CMU block, or a paint can, #10 can, or tall baked-beans or spaghetti-sauce cans and increasingly smaller cans. Other builds involve buckets, ammo cans, large terra cotta pots, cement, and sand. They’re not quite as super-easy or super-fast builds, but some variants further increase efficiency by burning the wood gas that’s generated from burning most woods.
Some of the store-bought versions have an added bonus: They’ll charge small devices or battery packs.
They can put off a fair bit of smoke, but they do it quickly and then stash away. They use wood, but we can fuel them with pruners and busted-up furniture and boards instead of axes and campfire/stove logs.
They’re not a simmer-beans or bake-bread oven/stove. It’s too fast and hot of a burn. They specialize in fast-cook foods and quickly bringing foods/water up to a boil to use with…
WonderBag/Wonder Boxes – Purchased or DIY, bag or box version http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-Make-a-Wonder-Box-CookerCooler/, these function like a thermal cooker https://delishably.com/cooking-equipment/Thermal-Cooker.
They allow us to use a short “burn” time to heat food or water to boiling, then retain the heat, turning preexisting pots into non-electric slow cookers or crock pots.
Solar Cookers – DIY for solar ovens abound, from the simple glass over a tire with a pot inside, to some pretty complicated tilts, cuts and hinges. They’re done with pizza boxes and aluminum foil, vehicle reflectors, polished scrap metal, and mirrors. You can spend as little or as much as you fancy, ordering in or building.
I find them limited to mid-late spring through autumn, but I can protect them from pests pretty easily and they’re great for not heating the house or burning fuels in summertime, as are…
Steeping Jars – These are basically small-scale solar cookers. It’s as simple as pouring dehydrated veggies, grains, or pre-soaked beans in any ol’ jar, adding the needed water, and hanging/setting it in a bright spot.
Dark paint or fabric on jars, reflectors, and added insulation like a larger jar or aquarium can increase efficiency, reducing cook time and extending the weather they’re useful in.
*Don’t forget to brew sun tea & coffee.
Water Bags & Camp Showers – Getting the sun to give us a head start or completely handle heating water for us decreases resource and time expenditure. We can use anything, purpose-made, painted/covered garden sprayers, or regular ol’ jugs.
The warmed water can be used for wash-ups or for soaking and cooking freeze-dried foods, Lipton-Knorr-Rice-a-Roni sides, or our own noodles and rice.
The sun is free (when it’s there), compared to other resources – whether it’s propane, charcoal, or self-cut wood – and there’s little wear on parts compared to hydro or wind power. Even if the sun only warms that water, it’s reducing wait time and resource use.
*Keep a pot of water on a conventional oven, arctic brick stove, space heater, or woodstove, or on, under, or beside a grill and while a rocket stove burns out to accomplish the same ready-to-use pre-warming – even now. It’s even handier in winter, increasing heat radiation and serving as a heat sink.
DIY Candles – The upcoming methods call for a candle or alcohol stove. Those heat sources are interchangeable. (Differing flame heights will require adjustments.) We can also create our own.
With cotton mop strands, cord, or “real” wicks, olive oil can fuel lamps (https://www.littlehouseliving.com/olive-oil-candles.html). *Small citronella burners are really nice alternatives to open jars if we’ll have our lamps in and out of service for a while during an outage or long-term disaster.
We can sink wicks into shortening, too, in jars or the original tubs, creating another simple (and surprisingly long lasting) cooking method out of multi-functional storage items.
We use candles and mini-stoves in a grill, or set them up campfire/tailgate style with a grate over a terra-cotta pot, bricks, or some cans (fill them with water – sturdier + pre-warmed/boiled water).
Smells from candle, oil, and fuel-brick stoves and ovens will carry to nearby neighbors (so will cooking foods) but they dissipate even faster than quick-burn rocket stoves. The traces are even more contained when used indoors.
Clay Pot Heaters/Cookers – These are pretty easy to find for DIY – using as much hardware as you like, or kept streamlined and simple – or as prettied-up ready-to-use purchases.
They can be effective on their own, most usually to slowly warm foods like a slow cooker, but if they get plopped in a grill or oven (crack the door), the efficiency goes up and food will heat faster and more evenly.
*That goes for any of the methods that will fit. Be mindful of flame size and fumes.
Candle Ovens – We can buy a HERC oven (multiple recipes/examples: http://prepared-housewives.com/baking-with-the-herc-oven/) or DIY our own. It’s just rigging clusters of taper or pillar candles, DIY candles/lamps, or a whole slew of votives or tea lights on a drip-safe surface inside an oven, and cooking or baking at 200-300-degrees on the grate above.
*Hood/tent foods in full-size ovens (and campfire grates) with an overturned bowl or larger pan. It’ll hold heat closer to the food, speeding things up and cooking more evenly.
Can Stoves – These are super easy, super effective spinoffs of Sterno stoves and the military, camping, and emergency solid-fuel stoves that abound.
They can be done with greatest simplicity with just two types of can openers, or we can go to town with tin snips to increase ease or rig cross-bar “grills” at the top.
Backing up Backups
Increasing redundancy in our disaster cooking increases our ability to weather absolutely any storm. That makes these guys a prepper must-have in my book.
Some methods also significantly reduce our observable footprint, which may end up a major benefit, and some are reasonable alternatives to heating up our kitchens even now. Most of these have easy, inexpensive DIY options, allowing everyone to build extra resiliency into their disaster plans.
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The post Prepper Must-Have: Minimal-Smoke Cooking Backups appeared first on The Prepper Journal.
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Don't forget to visit the store and pick up some gear at The COR Outfitters. How prepared are you for emergencies?
#SurvivalFirestarter #SurvivalBugOutBackpack #PrepperSurvivalPack #SHTFGear #SHTFBag
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Learning Through Play: 101 Ways To Keep Young Minds Occupied At Home
Parents, right off the bat, let me say that there is no right way to be feeling about the current situation. Relief, anxiety, excitement, dread are all normal. We’re all figuring this out as we go along and doing the best we can. Virtual high-five!
This is not a homeschooling post per se. This is about the importance of play as learning, and letting our kids play to restore some balance we don’t always manage in our typical over-scheduled lives.
Here’s the good news if you’re stressed about making sure your kids are still learning why they are at home: they are. I recently attended a workshop with a local homeschool coordinator. The biggest thing I took away was a reminder that all play is learning.
Why Kids Need to Play
Play is how kids learn about the world. Theoretical and Applied Playworker Bob Hughes (awesome title!) lists 16 different types of play that are central to physical, mental, emotional, and social development. By manipulating objects and trying things out (“I wonder what will happen if I give the dog a haircut?”), using their imaginations to role play different scenarios, and moving and challenging their bodies, kids play to learn:
How their bodies work
Laws of physics
Laws of nature
How to interact with other people, and the consequences of breaking social norms
How to follow rules, and the consequences of breaking those, too
Play builds neural connections and motor skills. Through play, kids get to act out adulting (as in playing house), tap into their creativity, and discover their passions.
Importance of Play
Play is not optional. There is a reason that it’s Primal Blueprint Law #7 and Mark has written about it frequently here. (I’ll put some links at the bottom.) Yet, we all know that kids don’t play today like they used to for a variety of reasons. If this time at home offers one thing, it’s time for playing. This means getting free play, movement time, social time, music and arts time, and family time—checking a bunch of Primal boxes.
I’m not just talking about the kids, by the way. I’m talking about the adults in your house too. How much do YOU play in your normal life? I’m guessing not enough. A lot of the ideas here are fun for the whole family.
Play to Learn: Indoor and Outdoor Activities for Kids
For obvious reasons, I’m not listing things that involve going to parks or other public places. If you can still go for bike rides or kick the soccer ball around outside, great! You can do these inside or in your yard if you have one. I also didn’t list too many options that might necessitate shopping for materials. Pick the ideas that work for you given the ages of your kids, what stuff you already have at home, and how much space you have.
Before You Begin…
If you’re like us, you have a stash of art supplies, board games, boxes of legos and blocks, and sports equipment stuck on shelves and in closets. Dig it out and take inventory. What do you already have in your home that your kids can play with? Even bigger kids enjoy revisiting things like blocks and playdough, especially when they’re stuck at home.
Creativity Stations
I have a friend who, when her kids were little, would put out a craft or art project every night. When her boys woke up in the morning, it was waiting for them to explore at their leisure. It made for a lot of fun and peaceful mornings in their house. (Yes, she’s a supermom.)
I’m adapting this idea by designating a “creativity station.” Realistically, you might as well call this the “mess station.” Maybe it’s a card table in a corner of the living room, on the deck, or in the garage. I’m just giving up my kitchen table for now. Lay out a bunch of supplies and let them have at it. These stay out for several days at my house, then we clean it up and get out something else. Here are some ideas:
Art labs
Coloring/painting
Supplies: paper, coloring books, crayons, markers, paint, stamps, stickers—whatever you have!
Ideas: Encourage kids to explore textures by using different types of objects as stamps: sponges, cookie cutters, leafs and sticks from the yard, legos, etc. Make footprints with action figures. Keep a bowl on hand that they can put dirty stuff in to wash. Also keep a pile of rags nearby for wiping dirty hands before they touch the wall.
Collage
Supplies: Paper; old magazines, newspapers, circulars, coupon mailers; glue; safety scissors
Ideas: Give kids a theme (e.g., food, their favorite person) or just let them make whatever they want.
Mosaic
Supplies: Construction and tissue paper in different colors; glue; scissors (optional); bowls to keep colored confetti separated (optional)
Ideas: Have kids cut or tear colored paper into small pieces like confetti, then use the pieces to create mosaic art. You can use coloring book pages as a “pattern,” or they can draw their own or make it free-form.
Science lab
Supplies: Plate or baking sheet; plastic table cloth or drop cloth (optional); containers of different sizes for mixing and pouring; water; food coloring; baking soda; pipettes, medicine droppers, etc. (raid the medicine cabinet); measuring spoons; baking soda; vinegar in a spray bottle; dish soap
Ideas: Let kids make “potions” and practice pouring from one container to another. Sprinkle baking soda on a plate, “decorate” with drops of food coloring, then spray with vinegar.
There are a ton of ideas for easy and fun science experiments online, too. Check out this lemon volcano and these 10 experiments you can do with water.
3-D creations
Supplies: Clay, playdough, tape, toothpicks, chopsticks, straws, rubber bands, paper clips, corks, pipe cleaners, anything else you can find around
Ideas: This is fun for free play, or you can challenge your kids to build something specific, like a bridge that will actually hold a small weight.
Make your own playdough recipes here and here. (Yes, these are not Primal recipes!)
Archeological dig
Supplies: Plastic tub with moon sand, kinetic sand, or dirt; small toys (e.g., plastic animals, blocks, marbles, plastic eggs filled with “treasure”); spoons, paint brushes
Ideas: Bury objects for your kids to “excavate.” Have them build ancient ruins.
Make your own moon sand recipes here and here.
Family Time
Family dance party
Let older kids create a custom playlist
Freeze dance: Let someone control the pause button; when the music stops, freeze and hold the position
Minute to win it games (check Pinterest for ideas)
Family book club
Sing-alongs
Card games
Board games
Dice games
Have a “campout” in your backyard. Make a campfire in a fire pit, place a bunch of candles in a circle, or have your kid make a pretend fire out of sticks and paper.
Make a family tree (including genealogy research if you want)
Go on a family vacation without leaving the house! There are so many ways to “travel” online. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Visit the Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa
Watch the Northern Lights live (best viewing hours are 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. EDT.)
Tour the Carlsbad Caverns
Visit a museum
See the Great Wall of China
Tour the Vatican
See the animals at the San Diego Zoo and the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Go to the opera
Take in a Broadway play
Go scuba diving
Go to outer space
71 More Activities for Kids
Color the driveway with chalk
Use chalk (outside) or masking tape (inside) to make hopscotch or foursquare
Make noodle or bead necklaces
Draw a comic
Illustrate a favorite book or story
Listen to a song and “draw” what you hear
Origami
Make a flexagon
Gather up broken crayons make something new with them
Move like an animal; take turns guessing which animal the other person is being
Primal essential movements
Resistance exercise with (light) hand weights and resistance bands
Make an obstacle course
Jump rope
Hopping on one foot contest
Do a handstand
Play hacky sack (make your own filled with rice or flour)
Put on as many clothes as you can, then try to do jumping jacks or burpees
Learn to breakdance
Yoga
Meditate
Make a drum kit with bowls and buckets
Make “instruments” like castanets and boomwhackers with household objects
Build a pillow fort
Build a cardboard box fort, paint and decorate it
Build a catapult
Build a Rube Goldberg machine
Make a birdhouse
Identify birds or bugs in your backyard
Learn about animal tracks and make your own
Weed the garden
Dig a hole
Plant an indoor herb garden
Cook together
Learn about food preservation; make sauerkraut or yogurt
Smell boxes: place objects with a distinctive smell—a candle, an orange cut in half—inside an empty tissue box and take turns guessing what’s in there
Touch boxes: same as above, but you have to reach in and feel the object without looking
Learn to tie knots
Make a solar oven
Learn how to build a fire (supervised, obviously)
Make a sundial
Learn how to use a compass
Get a bucket of water and test what sinks or floats
Learn to sew
Follow a finger knitting tutorial
Crochet a small project
Make a t-shirt scarf out of an old shirt
Make tissue paper flowers
Play charades
Make puppets and put on a show
Play hide and seek
Play sardines (the opposite of hide and seek – rules here)
Make the letters of the alphabet with your body
Play 20 questions
Play I spy
Make a word chain
Dig out the old point-and-shoot camera and learn to take pictures
Cloud watching
Build towers and knock them down
Yard scavenger hunt
Find something in the house for every letter of the alphabet
Make a yarn spider web
Juggle
Speak pig latin
Learn a new language
Use a magnifying glass to explore objects up close
Freeze little plastic toys, marbles, etc. in bowls of water, then test ways to free the toys most quickly. Try different techniques like rubbing, spraying with warm water, or sprinkling with salt.
Blow bubbles; make your own bubble solution and bubble makers
Bring some flashlights in a dark room or closet and make shadow puppets
Balloon “hockey” with balloons and brooms
In the snow: fill spray bottles with water and food coloring and “paint” the snow
Give the Kids — AND YOURSELF — A Break
The idea isn’t to keep your kids occupied every minute of the day. It’s ok if they complain about being bored every once in a while. If they are like most modern kids, they aren’t used to having a ton of time on their hands. Present them with options, but let them figure it out on their own if they are old enough.
Your house might be messy and chaotic right now. Your kids might be too. They are certainly not immune to the stress and anxiety in the world, especially your older kids. It’s ok if you don’t have a schedule with neat blocks of school time, movement time, snack time, and chore time, and if your kids haven’t gotten out of their pajamas in a week. Your kids are going to be fine no matter what.
This is not nearly an all-inclusive list. What else has your family been doing to have fun while #stayinghome?
Resources
More play activities and lots of homeschooling resources from Unschool.school
100 Ways to Play from the Boston Children’s Museum
More play activities and homeschool ideas from Beyond the Chalkboard
Related posts from Mark’s Daily Apple
The Definitive Guide to Play
The Lost Art of Play: Reclaiming a Primal Tradition
15 Concrete Ways to Play
Why You Absolutely Must Play, Every Day! (plus 10 Pointers for Successful Playtime)
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Learning Through Play: 101 Ways To Keep Young Minds Occupied At Home
Parents, right off the bat, let me say that there is no right way to be feeling about the current situation. Relief, anxiety, excitement, dread are all normal. We’re all figuring this out as we go along and doing the best we can. Virtual high-five!
This is not a homeschooling post per se. This is about the importance of play as learning, and letting our kids play to restore some balance we don’t always manage in our typical over-scheduled lives.
Here’s the good news if you’re stressed about making sure your kids are still learning why they are at home: they are. I recently attended a workshop with a local homeschool coordinator. The biggest thing I took away was a reminder that all play is learning.
Why Kids Need to Play
Play is how kids learn about the world. Theoretical and Applied Playworker Bob Hughes (awesome title!) lists 16 different types of play that are central to physical, mental, emotional, and social development. By manipulating objects and trying things out (“I wonder what will happen if I give the dog a haircut?”), using their imaginations to role play different scenarios, and moving and challenging their bodies, kids play to learn:
How their bodies work
Laws of physics
Laws of nature
How to interact with other people, and the consequences of breaking social norms
How to follow rules, and the consequences of breaking those, too
Play builds neural connections and motor skills. Through play, kids get to act out adulting (as in playing house), tap into their creativity, and discover their passions.
Importance of Play
Play is not optional. There is a reason that it’s Primal Blueprint Law #7 and Mark has written about it frequently here. (I’ll put some links at the bottom.) Yet, we all know that kids don’t play today like they used to for a variety of reasons. If this time at home offers one thing, it’s time for playing. This means getting free play, movement time, social time, music and arts time, and family time—checking a bunch of Primal boxes.
I’m not just talking about the kids, by the way. I’m talking about the adults in your house too. How much do YOU play in your normal life? I’m guessing not enough. A lot of the ideas here are fun for the whole family.
Play to Learn: Indoor and Outdoor Activities for Kids
For obvious reasons, I’m not listing things that involve going to parks or other public places. If you can still go for bike rides or kick the soccer ball around outside, great! You can do these inside or in your yard if you have one. I also didn’t list too many options that might necessitate shopping for materials. Pick the ideas that work for you given the ages of your kids, what stuff you already have at home, and how much space you have.
Before You Begin…
If you’re like us, you have a stash of art supplies, board games, boxes of legos and blocks, and sports equipment stuck on shelves and in closets. Dig it out and take inventory. What do you already have in your home that your kids can play with? Even bigger kids enjoy revisiting things like blocks and playdough, especially when they’re stuck at home.
Creativity Stations
I have a friend who, when her kids were little, would put out a craft or art project every night. When her boys woke up in the morning, it was waiting for them to explore at their leisure. It made for a lot of fun and peaceful mornings in their house. (Yes, she’s a supermom.)
I’m adapting this idea by designating a “creativity station.” Realistically, you might as well call this the “mess station.” Maybe it’s a card table in a corner of the living room, on the deck, or in the garage. I’m just giving up my kitchen table for now. Lay out a bunch of supplies and let them have at it. These stay out for several days at my house, then we clean it up and get out something else. Here are some ideas:
Art labs
Coloring/painting
Supplies: paper, coloring books, crayons, markers, paint, stamps, stickers—whatever you have!
Ideas: Encourage kids to explore textures by using different types of objects as stamps: sponges, cookie cutters, leafs and sticks from the yard, legos, etc. Make footprints with action figures. Keep a bowl on hand that they can put dirty stuff in to wash. Also keep a pile of rags nearby for wiping dirty hands before they touch the wall.
Collage
Supplies: Paper; old magazines, newspapers, circulars, coupon mailers; glue; safety scissors
Ideas: Give kids a theme (e.g., food, their favorite person) or just let them make whatever they want.
Mosaic
Supplies: Construction and tissue paper in different colors; glue; scissors (optional); bowls to keep colored confetti separated (optional)
Ideas: Have kids cut or tear colored paper into small pieces like confetti, then use the pieces to create mosaic art. You can use coloring book pages as a “pattern,” or they can draw their own or make it free-form.
Science lab
Supplies: Plate or baking sheet; plastic table cloth or drop cloth (optional); containers of different sizes for mixing and pouring; water; food coloring; baking soda; pipettes, medicine droppers, etc. (raid the medicine cabinet); measuring spoons; baking soda; vinegar in a spray bottle; dish soap
Ideas: Let kids make “potions” and practice pouring from one container to another. Sprinkle baking soda on a plate, “decorate” with drops of food coloring, then spray with vinegar.
There are a ton of ideas for easy and fun science experiments online, too. Check out this lemon volcano and these 10 experiments you can do with water.
3-D creations
Supplies: Clay, playdough, tape, toothpicks, chopsticks, straws, rubber bands, paper clips, corks, pipe cleaners, anything else you can find around
Ideas: This is fun for free play, or you can challenge your kids to build something specific, like a bridge that will actually hold a small weight.
Make your own playdough recipes here and here. (Yes, these are not Primal recipes!)
Archeological dig
Supplies: Plastic tub with moon sand, kinetic sand, or dirt; small toys (e.g., plastic animals, blocks, marbles, plastic eggs filled with “treasure”); spoons, paint brushes
Ideas: Bury objects for your kids to “excavate.” Have them build ancient ruins.
Make your own moon sand recipes here and here.
Family Time
Family dance party
Let older kids create a custom playlist
Freeze dance: Let someone control the pause button; when the music stops, freeze and hold the position
Minute to win it games (check Pinterest for ideas)
Family book club
Sing-alongs
Card games
Board games
Dice games
Have a “campout” in your backyard. Make a campfire in a fire pit, place a bunch of candles in a circle, or have your kid make a pretend fire out of sticks and paper.
Make a family tree (including genealogy research if you want)
Go on a family vacation without leaving the house! There are so many ways to “travel” online. Here are some ideas to get you started:
Visit the Tembe Elephant Park in South Africa
Watch the Northern Lights live (best viewing hours are 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. EDT.)
Tour the Carlsbad Caverns
Visit a museum
See the Great Wall of China
Tour the Vatican
See the animals at the San Diego Zoo and the Monterey Bay Aquarium
Go to the opera
Take in a Broadway play
Go scuba diving
Go to outer space
71 More Activities for Kids
Color the driveway with chalk
Use chalk (outside) or masking tape (inside) to make hopscotch or foursquare
Make noodle or bead necklaces
Draw a comic
Illustrate a favorite book or story
Listen to a song and “draw” what you hear
Origami
Make a flexagon
Gather up broken crayons make something new with them
Move like an animal; take turns guessing which animal the other person is being
Primal essential movements
Resistance exercise with (light) hand weights and resistance bands
Make an obstacle course
Jump rope
Hopping on one foot contest
Do a handstand
Play hacky sack (make your own filled with rice or flour)
Put on as many clothes as you can, then try to do jumping jacks or burpees
Learn to breakdance
Yoga
Meditate
Make a drum kit with bowls and buckets
Make “instruments” like castanets and boomwhackers with household objects
Build a pillow fort
Build a cardboard box fort, paint and decorate it
Build a catapult
Build a Rube Goldberg machine
Make a birdhouse
Identify birds or bugs in your backyard
Learn about animal tracks and make your own
Weed the garden
Dig a hole
Plant an indoor herb garden
Cook together
Learn about food preservation; make sauerkraut or yogurt
Smell boxes: place objects with a distinctive smell—a candle, an orange cut in half—inside an empty tissue box and take turns guessing what’s in there
Touch boxes: same as above, but you have to reach in and feel the object without looking
Learn to tie knots
Make a solar oven
Learn how to build a fire (supervised, obviously)
Make a sundial
Learn how to use a compass
Get a bucket of water and test what sinks or floats
Learn to sew
Follow a finger knitting tutorial
Crochet a small project
Make a t-shirt scarf out of an old shirt
Make tissue paper flowers
Play charades
Make puppets and put on a show
Play hide and seek
Play sardines (the opposite of hide and seek – rules here)
Make the letters of the alphabet with your body
Play 20 questions
Play I spy
Make a word chain
Dig out the old point-and-shoot camera and learn to take pictures
Cloud watching
Build towers and knock them down
Yard scavenger hunt
Find something in the house for every letter of the alphabet
Make a yarn spider web
Juggle
Speak pig latin
Learn a new language
Use a magnifying glass to explore objects up close
Freeze little plastic toys, marbles, etc. in bowls of water, then test ways to free the toys most quickly. Try different techniques like rubbing, spraying with warm water, or sprinkling with salt.
Blow bubbles; make your own bubble solution and bubble makers
Bring some flashlights in a dark room or closet and make shadow puppets
Balloon “hockey” with balloons and brooms
In the snow: fill spray bottles with water and food coloring and “paint” the snow
Give the Kids — AND YOURSELF — A Break
The idea isn’t to keep your kids occupied every minute of the day. It’s ok if they complain about being bored every once in a while. If they are like most modern kids, they aren’t used to having a ton of time on their hands. Present them with options, but let them figure it out on their own if they are old enough.
Your house might be messy and chaotic right now. Your kids might be too. They are certainly not immune to the stress and anxiety in the world, especially your older kids. It’s ok if you don’t have a schedule with neat blocks of school time, movement time, snack time, and chore time, and if your kids haven’t gotten out of their pajamas in a week. Your kids are going to be fine no matter what.
This is not nearly an all-inclusive list. What else has your family been doing to have fun while #stayinghome?
Resources
More play activities and lots of homeschooling resources from Unschool.school
100 Ways to Play from the Boston Children’s Museum
More play activities and homeschool ideas from Beyond the Chalkboard
Related posts from Mark’s Daily Apple
The Definitive Guide to Play
The Lost Art of Play: Reclaiming a Primal Tradition
15 Concrete Ways to Play
Why You Absolutely Must Play, Every Day! (plus 10 Pointers for Successful Playtime)
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Treat Yo’ Self… for Pennies: 25 Spa Treatments You Can Do at Home
Want to know a secret?
Iâve never had a professional massage.
I totally get why theyâre appealing, but theyâre just not my jam.
Manicures, on the other hand? Â Heck, yeah.
My tombstone will read, âHow do my nails look?â
Iâm not gonna lie, getting my nails done every two weeks or so costs a pretty penny (or 6,000, to be exact), but itâs the one luxury I budget for even if it means using cheap body wash or mascara.
The main reason I go to a salon to get my manicure done is because thereâs no way I could do it at home. Iâm basically the most uncoordinated person on the planet, so Iâd end up with acrylic powder in my eye and nail shellac on the walls.
For all other spa-type treatments, though, Iâm strictly a DIY gal.
Here are some of my favorite ways to indulge myself easily right in the comfort of my own home â without spending a fortune.
15 Ways to Get Your DIY Spa Day On
Everything youâve heard about coconut oil is true. Skip the expensive body lotion and deep conditioner and use this low-cost alternative instead. An entire jar will run you only about $4 and will last for months.
Apply an avocado or egg mask to your hair at the beginning of your spa routine, then wrap your head in a warm towel. Let it work its magic for at least 20 minutes while you give yourself a lip scrub. One egg will set you back 10 cents, and an avocado is about $1.
Korean sheet masks make your skin look amazing, but they can be awfully pricy. I picked up a handful at my local dollar store for a buck each and discovered they work just as well as the expensive brands. If you buy in bulk, you can save even more pennies.
Speaking of masks, if you use Lush cosmetics or know someone who does, hang onto those little black pots and bottles the products come in. Youâll score a free face mask when you turn in five empties. Thatâs a savings of at least $9.95!
Clear up blemishes and reduce fine lines with a 60-cent container of plain, generic-brand yogurt! Whether you use it plain or jazz it up with extras like a dash of honey or oatmeal, your pores will thank you.
After rinsing off the mask, I like to give myself a five-minute face massage. Itâs surprisingly relaxing â and totally free!
If youâve got a few dollars to spare, sign up for a Sephora Play! subscription. For just $10 per month, youâll get a box delivered right to your door filled with deluxe product samples and a bonus fragrance.
This homemade eucalyptus sugar scrub is both energizing and effective. For less than a dollarâs worth of sugar, you can make a batch to slough off dry, dead skin, leaving behind a tingly clean that smells luxurious.
For a change of pace, I like to mix things up and exfoliate my skin with this three-ingredient coffee body scrub that you can make with the (free!) used coffee grounds left over from your morning brew. It reportedly also reduces the appearance of cellulite. (Donât tell me if thatâs just an old wivesâ tale â I donât want to know.)
Sometimes my skin just isnât up for a harsh scrub down. Thatâs when I whip together this gentle scrub that rinses off easily with warm water. Not bad for 60 cents worth of oat bran. (Iâve tried it without wheat germ, and it still works great.)
If you plan to shave during your spa time, try dry brushing first to prevent ingrown hairs and razor-burn bumps.
If Iâm going to sport beautiful nails, the rest of my hand better keep up appearances, too. This lemon-sugar hand scrub is so easy to make, smells amazing and costs less than $2. After you rinse it off, slather on some hand lotion and take a minute to admire your, er, handiwork.
Do you know why every spa scene in a movie or on TV depicts someone with cucumber slices on their eyes? Because it works! For about 75 cents, youâll have all the slices you need, plus leftovers for salad. (Tea bags dampened with a bit of cool water are also a great way to reduce puffy, irritated eyes if youâre fresh out of cukes.)
Iâm cursed with dark skin patches on my face (thanks, hormones!) that make me look like I blended my foundation with my eyes closed. One way I keep the discoloration in check is by dabbing a few pennies worth of lemon juice and honey on the affected areas. You can blend the ingredients together or apply them one after the other. Leave it on for about 20 minutes before rinsing off with warm water.
15. Treat your feet to a nice soak with whatever gentle bath wash you have on hand. Follow it up with a homemade foot scrub that costs less than $1. Simply stir one part coconut oil into two parts sugar and scent with a few drops of essential oil. A dash of lemon juice adds extra oomph. To kick (ha!) things up a notch, slather on some lotion and cover your tootsies with thick socks while the moisturizer works its magic.
10 Easy Ways to Spa-ify Your Surroundings
While planning your day of indulgence, donât forget to design your own relaxation grotto. Give your bathroom a deep clean and then:
Splurge on a soft, thick towel.
Pick up some pretty containers from the dollar store to hold all the scrubs and potions you make.
Scour thrift shops for a fluffy bathrobe to wear while relaxing.
Get some inexpensive candles to create ambience during bath time â or make your own.
Set a plant or vase of flowers in the bathroom, because greenery makes everything better.
Cover your bathroom window with frosted contact paper to diffuse bright sunlight that might harsh your mellow.
Put a few sprigs of eucalyptus on the corner of the bathtub to create a clean, refreshing scent when you run the hot water.
Buy a bathtub overflow drain cover so you can fill the tub extra deep and soak all the way up to your chin.
Queue up this chill Spotify playlist.
Make some cucumber-infused water to sip as you spa.
Want even more DIY spa ideas? Check out how to make your own sea salt spray, body lotion and more.
Disclosure: We donât hesitate to pick pennies off the sidewalk when we spot them. But the affiliate links in this post help our earnings grow even quicker. Plus, itâs a lot cleaner than sidewalk money.
This was originally published on The Penny Hoarder, which helps millions of readers worldwide earn and save money by sharing unique job opportunities, personal stories, freebies and more. The Inc. 5000 ranked The Penny Hoarder as the fastest-growing private media company in the U.S. in 2017.
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What’s In Your Cabinet?
Do you know what toxins are in your home right now? Would you like to kick them to the curb and start living a healthier lifestyle? It may take a little time, but read on how I am making it happen in my home.
“May contain ingredients with potential for chronic aquatic toxicity, acute aquatic toxicity, nervous system effects.”
That’s a quote from the Environmental Work Group website regarding ingredients in a brand-name automatic dishwasher detergent I once swore by. Yes, it made my dishes and glassware sparkly. But it is also believed to contain nasty toxins that not only kill the fishies, but cause cancer, asthma and respiratory problems, skin irritation, and developmental and reproductive toxicity in humans. Call me crazy, but sparkly dishes with a side of cancer and dead rivers ain’t for me.
The Truth Is Out There
The more I investigated the contents of stuff lurking under my sinks, in the medicine cabinet, and in the laundry room—common household and personal items I used regularly—the uglier it got. Did you know that those convenient make-up remover wipes can contain formaldehyde-releasing chemicals! Formaldehyde is a known human carcinogen, as per the International Agency for Research on Cancer, which is an agency of the World Health Organization.
Now, I’m not one of these people that want to live forever. Heck, I’ll probably live to 100 doing nothing but leaning on my genetics. But I would prefer to not be embalmed before the coroner shows up. I’m just wacky that way.
Out of the Frying Pan?
So I did my research on the store-bought stuff I’ve been using for decades and then found non-toxic, plant- and essential-oil based household cleaners and personal products that won’t wreak havoc on me on a cellular level or turn whatever waterway my tub drains to into a massive slow-moving fish kill. And if I was going to make the switch, I needed to make sure the essential oils I would be using were 100% pure. Why would I stop using products with ingredients that are toxic only to begin using essential oil-based products that were distilled from plants that were grown using pesticides and herbicides, or that are cut with things to make the price tag cheaper? No, my new products had to come from a reputable company with total transparency from sourcing seeds, to growing policies, to distilling and testing for purity.
Money Was Tight, But I Had a Plan
If you’re anything like me—a stay-at-home, work-from-home (aka struggle from home) 24/7 caregiver—simply going cold turkey from buying my hand soap at the dollar store, and everything else I buy with coupons and only when on sale, was just not fiscally feasible. Spoiler—going toxin free will cost you more, at least upfront.
Now, I most decidedly don’t want to die like Madame Curie, but I also don’t have the couple million she won for two Nobel prizes, or my own money tree. Slow, steady, and methodical was the only way I could make it work. I’m betting it’ll work for you too.
The first thing I ditched were the cadre of scented candles, air fresheners, and odor eliminators. I share my home with three cats and a dog, so you can bet I was fairly addicted to anything that kept my house from smelling like a zoo on a hot day. Instead of covering up odors with stuff containing sodium borate, (developmental/endocrine/reproductive effects) and other bad actors, I turned to the power players of the essential oil world, the everyday oils that are anything but ordinary: lavender, peppermint, lemon, eucalyptus, tea tree, orange. I diffused them daily, and guess, what? Not only did my house smell amazing but the emotional and mood lifting effects were noticeable. Then I discovered ways to use them topically, and my whole world changed.
I set myself a reasonable monthly budget for my oils that wouldn’t break the bank. I just wanted to use the oils, but when my first commission check paid for my monthly allotment, I found I could start adding additional oils and other products slowly. After a few months, I had a good stockpile of everyday oils, so I could really start adding more and more household cleaners, make-up, and personal products. I’m about half-way to completely eliminating toxins from my home! And my commission checks keep paying for my monthly subscription.
Tell me about the toxins you’d like to eliminate from your home and your life.
[contact-form] Eliminating Toxins, One Toxin At A Time What's In Your Cabinet? Do you know what toxins are in your home right now? Would you like to kick them to the curb and start living a healthier lifestyle?
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Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products
Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.
Household Cleaners
Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.
We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.
The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors, and it also works to clean stainless steel appliances if you buff it on “with the grain” of the steel). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.
Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.
Laundry Stuff
Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.
Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.
Freshening The Air
A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).
Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.
And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.
Shower Stuff
Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel
The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).
So We Don’t Smell
We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tried a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.
When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!
The Kids’ Stuff
Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).
In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!
My Makeup
So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.
Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.
Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.
I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.
Nail Polish
This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).
The colors shown above are:
Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer
Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise
Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine
Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).
I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.
Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.
And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)
I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.
So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.
*This post contains affiliate links*
The post Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products appeared first on Young House Love.
Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products published first on http://ift.tt/2r6hzQy
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Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products
Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.
Household Cleaners
Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.
We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.
The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors, and it also works to clean stainless steel appliances if you buff it on “with the grain” of the steel). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.
Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.
Laundry Stuff
Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.
Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.
Freshening The Air
A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).
Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.
And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.
Shower Stuff
Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel
The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).
So We Don’t Smell
We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tried a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.
When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!
The Kids’ Stuff
Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).
In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!
My Makeup
So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.
Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.
Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.
I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.
Nail Polish
This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).
The colors shown above are:
Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer
Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise
Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine
Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).
I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.
Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.
And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)
I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.
So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.
*This post contains affiliate links*
The post Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products appeared first on Young House Love.
Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products published first on http://ift.tt/2qxZz2j
0 notes
Text
Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products
Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.
Household Cleaners
Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.
We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.
The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors, and it also works to clean stainless steel appliances if you buff it on “with the grain” of the steel). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.
Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.
Laundry Stuff
Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.
Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.
Freshening The Air
A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).
Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.
And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.
Shower Stuff
Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel
The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).
So We Don’t Smell
We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tried a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.
When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!
The Kids’ Stuff
Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).
In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!
My Makeup
So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.
Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.
Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.
I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.
Nail Polish
This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).
The colors shown above are:
Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer
Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise
Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine
Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).
I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.
Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.
And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)
I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.
So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.
*This post contains affiliate links*
The post Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products appeared first on Young House Love.
Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products published first on http://ift.tt/2qCHnUt
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Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products
Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.
Household Cleaners
Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.
We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.
The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.
Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.
Laundry Stuff
Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.
Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.
Freshening The Air
A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).
Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.
And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.
Shower Stuff
Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel
The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).
So We Don’t Smell
We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tired a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.
When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!
The Kids’ Stuff
Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).
In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!
My Makeup
So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.
Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.
Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.
I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.
Nail Polish
This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).
The colors shown above are:
Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer
Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise
Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine
Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).
I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.
Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.
And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)
I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.
So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.
*This post contains affiliate links*
The post Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products appeared first on Young House Love.
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Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products http://ift.tt/2f5FU9c
Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.
Household Cleaners
Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.
We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.
The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.
Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.
Laundry Stuff
Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.
Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.
Freshening The Air
A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).
Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.
And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.
Shower Stuff
Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel
The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).
So We Don’t Smell
We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tired a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.
When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!
The Kids’ Stuff
Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).
In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!
My Makeup
So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.
Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.
Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.
I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.
Nail Polish
This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).
The colors shown above are:
Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer
Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise
Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine
Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).
I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.
Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.
And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)
I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.
So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.
*This post contains affiliate links*
The post Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products appeared first on Young House Love.
0 notes
Text
Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products
Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.
Household Cleaners
Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.
We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.
The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.
Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.
Laundry Stuff
Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.
Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.
Freshening The Air
A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).
Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.
And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.
Shower Stuff
Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel
The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).
So We Don’t Smell
We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tired a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.
When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!
The Kids’ Stuff
Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).
In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!
My Makeup
So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.
Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.
Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.
I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.
Nail Polish
This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).
The colors shown above are:
Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer
Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise
Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine
Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).
I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.
Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.
And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)
I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.
So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.
*This post contains affiliate links*
The post Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products appeared first on Young House Love.
Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products published first on http://ift.tt/2uiWrIt
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Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products
Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.
Household Cleaners
Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.
We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.
The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.
Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.
Laundry Stuff
Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.
Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.
Freshening The Air
A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).
Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.
And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.
Shower Stuff
Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel
The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).
So We Don’t Smell
We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tired a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.
When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!
The Kids’ Stuff
Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).
In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!
My Makeup
So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.
Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.
Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.
I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.
Nail Polish
This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).
The colors shown above are:
Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer
Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise
Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine
Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).
I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.
Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.
And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)
I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.
So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.
*This post contains affiliate links*
The post Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products appeared first on Young House Love.
0 notes
Text
Living Simply: Our Go-To Household Cleaners And Personal Care Products
Since sharing this round-up back in 2009 and an one from 2012, we’ve been getting quite a few requests for an updated breakdown of the household cleaners and personal care products we’re using to keep our home (and bodies!) clean these days. We do our best to keep our collections of soaps and cleaners pretty simple and streamlined (including my makeup, which all fits into a bag the size of a pencil case) because less stuff = more money, more time, and more space. So if you’re looking for a few ideas on what you might be able to cut out or simplify, hopefully this quick little post will give you some ideas. Ok, let’s go.
Household Cleaners
Yes, these are the household cleaners we use to clean our entire house. This J. R. Watkins lemon dish soap sits on the counter by the sink for pots and pans along with this J.R. Watkins grapefruit hand soap (which we use in our bathroom and the powder room too). And here’s our dishwasher detergent, which we forgot to pull out for the picture.
We use Mrs. Meyer’s Clean Day Multi-Surface Concentrate Cleaner for nearly everything else (no buying toilet cleaners and tile cleaners and wood floor cleaners each to do an individual job). We like the concentrated formula so it lasts a while and we can just water it down, which I usually do by around 50%. We typically use a moist microfiber cloth to rub down whatever it is that needs scrubbing (floors, counters, tabletops, windowsills, etc). Our favorite is the lemon verbana scent. Trust me on that. It’s heavenly.
The white vinegar and water in the spray bottle is also a really great all purpose cleaner (we use it mainly for cleaning windows and mirrors). I typically do a 3 parts water and 1 parts vinegar combo in my spray bottle and I’m good to go. I can’t tell you how nice it is not to have the entire cabinet under the sink crammed with cleaning products. Plus the fact that a big jug of vinegar is so cheap and goes such a long way means it saves us a ton of money each year, and I’m not always running to the store to get more.
Oh and toss in Magic Erasers too. You can cut them in half so they last longer, and they’re great for grubby spots where messy hands grab the white stair banister or for cleaning up the marker-dappled top of the art desk. We also love these weirdly named Scrub Daddy sponges for pots and pans with baked on grease and grime.
Laundry Stuff
Generally speaking, the MVP here is our Seventh Generation Free & Clear detergent, which we use for every load of laundry (this is also a concentrated cleaner so it doesn’t take up much space on the shelf). We haven’t used fabric softener or any sort of spray starch for YEARS and don’t miss it.
Occasionally when we have an issue with a stubborn stain that doesn’t come out with just some pretreating with detergent we’ll reach for the big guns: the Oxi Clean powder (which we use for soaking things) or the Oxi Clean gel stick (a stronger pretreatment than just the detergent). And a Tide To-Go pen is nice to keep in the kitchen junk drawer with another one in the car (just in case there’s a spot you notice when you’re headed out the door or already out at a meeting). One in the purse isn’t a bad idea either.
Freshening The Air
A few members of our household are sensitive to overly perfumed or fragranced stuff, so there’s no Febreze or Glade Plug-Ins in rotation. We generally rely on soy candles with various essential oils for a really nice non-irritating scent (like this one, which also keeps mosquitos away when we light it outside). This Mrs. Meyer’s candle is also one of my favorites (I take the cap and label off so it just looks clean and simple on a counter or shelf). It smells JUST LIKE the multi-purpose cleaner I use in the lemon verbena scent, so my little mom hack is that I like to light one in the kitchen so it smells freshly cleaned (but I didn’t actually scrub anything down – ha!).
Plants are in this mix too, because they’re awesome for purifying the air (see this NASA-approved list for the most efficient ones) and they look pretty too, so I’m down with having something green in every room. The Eco Me spray air freshener is basically a greener version of Febreze (I love the mint smell best) so that’s nice if something is musty or a room/rug/sofa just smells stale. Give it a few spritzes and you’re golden.
And that little gray charcoal bag is something I’ve mentioned on the podcast, but we love them for eliminating smells naturally. The charcoal basically absorbs extra moisture and odor through the burlap and traps it in there – then you lay them out in the sun for around an hour or so once a month and the odors bake out and they’re “recharged” to soak up more odors for another month. I have a ton of them around the house – one in each room, plus one in each shoe bin in our mudroom cabinets by the door to keep them smelling fresh. They’d be awesome for a gym bag or cabinet full of sports stuff too.
Shower Stuff
Our shower stuff is as pared down as possible for us (we’ve tried shampoo/conditioner combo products and haven’t found any we love) but it really is nice for me and John to use the same shampoo & conditioner (which we get in a giant size so it lasts forever) along with this giant body wash (same thing, lasts for months and months). By finding shampoo and conditioner that we both like, we don’t have double the products crowding our shower, and the large sizes ensure that we don’t always feel like we have to pick more up at the store. We’ve also discovered that we’re both oddly fond of big pump bottles so they can all just stay put in our hanging shower caddy. Yes, we’re that lazy and don’t want to lift and open stuff. Oh and I also use our conditioner as shave gel. #rebel
The only extra product in there for me is this Burt’s Bees deep pore scrub. I love how it gently exfoliates (it has those little beads in it) and leaves my skin feeling soft. Occasionally I’ll also use coconut oil straight from the jar as a deep hair conditioner / mask (you have to wash it out thoroughly or your hair will be greasy the next day, but it’s great for softening and detangling).
So We Don’t Smell
We’re not really perfume/cologne people, but we like to know we don’t smell, so we rely on natural deodorant that actually works (we have tired a ton, and I love this one and John loves this one). A note on bodies/smell/natural deodorant: for some strange reason I can try something John loves and hate it, and vise versa. So the way we found our favorites was just to try a few and not rely on reviews or what works for others since it seems to vary so wildly by body chemistry and other mystical things.
When it comes to the ol’ breath we love these Sonicare tooth brushes (my dentist told me he can tell who uses them because their teeth are noticeably cleaner which made me beam like a piranha) and we like Tom’s of Maine luminous white toothpaste to clean & naturally whiten at the same time. Also not pictured is floss, but we don’t use mouthwash and it’s all good. Dentist approved even!
The Kids’ Stuff
Ok, so we have discovered that you can acquire an infinite amount of kids stuff. And for us, we have just tried to keep things simple from the start. Their bathroom counter basically has two products on it: Tom’s of Maine Strawberry Children’s Toothpaste and the foaming version of that J.R. Watkins hand soap (they like the fun-factor of foam versus the liquid pump kind).
In their tub we keep some Honest shampoo/body wash (love one product that does two things) and the accompanying conditioner. Pump bottles again for the win! We also got tipped off by a mom who told us her kids never got lice because she misted their hair with this peppermint spray that I guess lice hate so they stay away? We’ve been spritzing a bit on their heads before hair brushing during our out-the-door routine, and so far, no lice! I’m knocking on allll the wood as I say this, but there was a particularly bad case of it last year involving a ton of kids getting it (even the ones sharing a desk with our daughter) and they never hopped on her head. Hallelujah!
My Makeup
So this is all of the makeup I own. No basket in the bathroom. No clear plastic drawer system. No caboodles (although I totally had one as a kid and LOVED THAT THING). If you see us at a speaking event, this is all I have on my face (and if you see me at Target, I usually have nothing but lip balm and maybe some salad in my teeth). The BareMinerals bronzer is awesome. I apply that with a big makeup brush (mine’s old but this one is similar) and occasionally I use this cover up under my eyes if I need it – but I’m pretty lazy about that.
Next I swipe this Nars Orgasm stick, which does magical things, under my cheekbones and I swipe this highlighter stick (which I am obsessed with) above my cheekbones and under my eyebrows and kinda… rub it in? Next, I put some brown eyeshadow on my lids (the darkest color in the four-pack) and on my eyebrows (sounds weird, but it subtly darkens them just a little). Then I use the lightest color from that eyeshadow kit under my eyebrows sort of on top of the highlighter. Next I curl my lashes and apply black eyeliner, which I’m legitimately terrible at doing (I have a steady hand for cutting in a wall, but the most unsteady hand for drawing on my eyes) and then I add some mascara.
Oh and Burt’s Bees Lip Balm! Nothing on my lips but that ever ever ever. I have a giant joker mouth with even the slightest color on my lips, to the point where blog readers see me in magazine shoots when a make-up person put lipstick on me and say WHYYY DID THEY MAKE YOUR MOUTH LOOK SO CRAZY?! Oh and my favorite tweezers and nail clippers are in the pouch too, in case I need to do some grooming with those.
I am NOT a makeup pro (I’m pretty much the polar opposite), but I thought it might be funny to make a two minute video of me putting on my makeup because it’s so fast and easy, and a few people have seen pics like this and said “what did you use on your cheeks?! How do you do your makeup?!” But is that a weird thing to do? I don’t know. Tell me if you’d find that helpful and maybe I’ll work up the courage to aim a camera at my face for two minutes and press record.
Nail Polish
This is probably the one area where I could be more minimal (I’m sure a bunch of folks out there don’t have any nail polish around) but it all fits into one small basket and I like painting my toes and nails myself (see also: I’m cheap) so I guess this is my little treat-yo-self category. My absolute favorite brand is Butter London. It’s eco friendly and has a brush that makes application a lot easier for me, but it’s also somewhat pricey. I pay because it lasts forever and goes on so well that it looks like a pro manicure for a fraction of the price. I also like Zoya (also eco friendly, and comes in some pretty colors too).
The colors shown above are:
Top Row: Butter London Shop Girl, Butter London Ta Ta Lacquer
Bottom Row: Zoya Nina, Zoya Maura, Butter London Twist & Twirl, Butter London Hardwear Topcoat, Butter London Rather Red, Zoya Kylie, Zoya Louise
Weird Face Stuff / Woo Woo Anti-Aging Routine
Here’s where I’m gonna get weird for a second. I don’t buy toner or makeup remover or eye cream or face lotion or any other potions for wrinkles or acne or stuff like that. I buy these two totally natural products that basically do it all for me: Bragg’s Organic Apple Cider Vinegar (it has to be Braggs! It’s the best!) and Dr. Bronner’s Organic Coconut Oil (I use this so much I leave it out on the kitchen counter so I removed the label to make the jar prettier).
I already mentioned coconut oil as being an awesome deep conditioner and it’s also really amazing for skin – body lotion, face lotion, makeup remover, you name it. I generally like to rub it all over my face before bed (warning: if you rub it on in the morning you can look a little shiny). I have sensitive skin, but I never break out from it – in fact, coconut oil is naturally antibacterial so I have a theory that it actually cuts down on blackheads and breakouts, both of which I’ve had as an adult when using other products on my face.
Also, a word on wrinkles: when we recently shared this picture people asked if I didn’t age. I definitely do have wrinkles, but I have noticed in the last year or so of using coconut oil every night before bed that my skin feels more hydrated and plumper if that makes sense – so it’s less dry and therefor my crinkly eyes and forehead don’t show up as clearly. So yes: coconut oil is my anti aging secret. I’m basically a witch doctor and if anyone has any ailment I say “put coconut oil on it!” Like that dad from My Big Fat Greek Wedding and his Windex.
And as for a toner/skin cleanser, I splash some apple cider vinegar on a cotton ball and rub it all over my face in the morning as I’m pouring my tea (I actually keep cotton balls and ACV in the cabinet with my mugs since I do it at the same time). It doesn’t make my face shiny or anything, and it seems to also help with avoiding breakouts and just generally clarifying my skin (also, a cotton ball soaked in ACV and held on a skin tag for a few minutes a few days in a row will literally make it FALL OFF YOUR BODY). I know that’s gross, but it’s also kind of a miracle. I did one next to my eye that bugged me so much and three days later it was GONEZO. See ya later, taggy. (*flashes peace sign at skin tag*)
I’ve heard that it can help to water it down if your face gets red when you slather it all over as a toner in the morning with a cotton ball (my face used to get red at the beginning of trying this, but oddly doesn’t anymore – maybe it has adjusted?). The redness only lasts like 15 mins anyway if it happens to you, and then water it down next time if it does.
So that’s it. I’m sure I forgot something, but that’s generally what things we buy, how we use them, why we like them, and look, I even worked skin tags into the discussion. Also I’d love to hear if you have any simplifying products or routines that you guys use at home, so feel free to share them on Instagram or Facebook with us.
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