Top 10 Ways to Use Baking Soda for Beauty

1. Make a small amount of paste with baking soda and water in the palm of your hand and brush your teeth with it. You can also mix the baking soda with mouthwash for an even fresher mouth. Do this once a day in place of your regular toothpaste for shiny, polished teeth.
   
2. Pour 1/2 cup of baking soda in your bath water for soft soothed skin. This is especially nice if your skin is dry or itchy.
3. Sprinkle a little baking soda in your tennis shoes after a long day of wearing them. It absorbs odor and dampness. Tap it out before wearing. It leaves your feet and shoes smelling and feeling fresh.
4. Include a 1/4 tsp baking soda in with your hand soap in the evening when you wash your hands. It acts as an exfoliant and leaves your hands nice and soft. 
5. For acne, mix water and baking soda to a thick paste. Dab on spots and leave for about 20 minutes, then rinse off with cool water. Do this every day and see the results!
6. Turn your everyday shampoo into a clarifier by adding 1 tbsp in the palm of your hand. Gets rid of build-up and leaves hair shiny.
7. Soak your smelly feet in warm water with 1/2 cup baking soda added. Kills odor and feels great!
8. Clean and deodorize brushes, combs, hair clips, etc with a mixture of baking soda and warm water. You can add a capful of bleach if desired. Make sure to rinse thoroughly.
9. Soak stockings and pantyhose in a mixture of warm water and 3 tbsp baking soda to freshen up and remove odor. Then rinse with cool water until water runs clear. 
10. Want brighter, cleaner nails? Scrub the beds and under the tips with a nailbrush and a little baking soda. Removes stains and stubborn nail grime. 

Next time you hit your local supermarket, pick up a couple boxes of baking soda. Start inventing your own recipes for using this magic powder in a box! If you know any tips with baking soda, please leave your comments and if I get enough responses, I'll do a follow up post! 

For even more great ideas for your whole house visit the Arm & Hammer site. 

Stay tuned for more reviews right around the corner.  

Punky Hair Colour is Fabulous and Fun

If you like fun and flirty hair colors, you'll love Jerome Russell's Punky Colour! This is a temporary dye that comes in 26 colours. 

Check out these shades!

• Alpine Green
• Apple Green
• Atlantic Blue
• Blue Black
• Brite Yellow
• Coral Red
• Dark Tulip
• Ebony
• Flame
• Flamingo Pink
• Lagoon Blue
• Mandarin
• Midnight Blue
• Pillarbox Red
• Platinium Toner
• Plum
• Poppy Red
• Purple
• Red
• Red Wine
• Rose Red
• Rubine
• Spring Green
• Turqoise
• Vermillion Red
• Violet

When you check out the Jerome Russell website, it will let you see what all the colours look like. I personally buy my colours on Ebay as they are less expensive, running about $13 including shipping. This 3.5 oz jar lasts for about 4 or 5 short-hair applications considering we don't do our whole head but only certain sections. 

Now, this is a semi-permanent, vegetable based conditioning cream. It truly does leave your hair in better condition that before you started. A big plus to this dye, it smells fabulous! The purple and violet smell like grape. The green smells pretty much like apple and so forth. It does wash out anywhere from 5-40 shampooings. How often you wash your hair determines how often you have to re-do your colour. We have also touched and brightened up the colour by simply brushing on more over top and it was good as new. 

Depending on the color of your hair, you may need to bleach your hair first just like with any other dyes of this type. The good news is this colour pulls out very fast when you have to bleach it the next time so you only have to leave the bleach on for just a few minutes. It is very easy with these colours to change up the colour. My roommate has changed hers several times from the green to the blue to the violet and its been easy as pie. I had the purple before and this time in the picture shown I have the violet. 

This product gets a big thumbs from me. Not too pricey, good for the hair, easy to work with, smells great, and forgiving if you change your mind and want a different color!

No Change Transforming Nail Color

I was so excited to get my Avon order in the mail today. I tried out my new items right away. I'll review one today and one tomorrow. Today, I'll talk about Change Artist Transforming Nail Color. 

This product has two separate sides; one being the color polish and one being basically a top coat. The top coat side has a very skinny striping brush of sorts. This top coat is supposed to enable the customer to make designs on your nails. It is supposed to transform your polish.

Please note I keep saying "supposed  to". My roommate and I both used the polish and the transforming top coat. Neither of us were satisfied with either product. 

While the polish itself is a very pretty color, it wears poorly even after several hours of drying time. The top coat didn't really transform the polish at all any more than any top coat would. 

The worst part of this product is, its a mess. The transforming top coat causes the polish part to run no matter how long you let it dry. It also streaks the polish. 

Maybe if I had more patience to play around with it, I could give it another go but as it is now I have one hand painted with just the polish and one hand with the streaky shiny polish and transforming top coat on. 

My roommate managed to do the tips of her nails with the polish and brush another color over her whole nail. It looked really pretty until it started coming off a few hours later. You can see in the picture it did look nice for a while. Trust me, that didn't last. 

Overall, I give this product a thumbs down. Nice try Avon. You have some great products but this isn't one of them. Tomorrow I'll review a lip product from Avon.

Beautiful Night and Day

My roommate got this as a valentine gift from me this year from Ebay. Yes, the colors really are as brilliant as they look. In fact, this picture doesn't even do them justice. As you see in the pictures on the models, the makeup is very beautiful. The colors really pops!

The lighter colors are soft and subtle and the brights are just spectacular. My favorite thing about this makeup is its staying power. The colors stay true and bright for at least 8-10 hours. However, when it is time to wash it off, it comes off quick and easy (especially with the Equate makeup removal pads) with no leftover stain on your eyes.

This makeup is good for both personal and professional use. Create different looks for day and night. Models: Amy Hass (myself) and Holly Lawson. Makeup by Amy Elmore.

Equate Brand Facial Cleansing Towelettes

I'm a sucker for a good store brand item. I do say a "good" store brand item because I don't believe they are all created equal. These towelettes are one of Wal-Mart's store brand gems. 

They remove makeup in a flash, even stubborn mascara! The pre-moistened quilted towelettes deep clean faces of all skin types. They are gentle and don't dry your face out. In fact, they even seem to moisturize your face. They are alcohol and oil free and they even smell nice. They are safe if you wear contact lenses. 

The best part is the price. They are extremely economical. If you buy the dispenser at first and then buy the refill packs, the price is even better. 

Here are a couple interesting tips for their use. For a quick cleanup when company pops in, I run in the bathroom and use one to wipe up the sink and counter. Works like a charm! Also, they are great for wiping off your makeup brushes in between shampooing. 

I hate being without them honestly. Cheers to Wal-Mart and Equate for a great product at a great price!

Next time, we'll look at some Avon makeup unless I find something else for you before my order arrives!

Smooth Legs Smooth Away Hair Removal Exfoliator

I found this amazing hair removal system on Ebay! It leaves your legs baby smooth and takes all the dead skin right off. It is very easy to do; just move your hand in a circular motion in a line up and down your legs. This is a very painless and gentle way of both removing hair and exfoliating at the same time.

One pad lasts for several uses. This makes it economical too. 

The set comes with a smaller Smooth Away as well for face, under arms or bikini area. I used it on my upper lip and found it wonderful for smoothing the fine hairs. My roommate used it on her eyebrows and loved it. 

I did try it on my bikini line and didn't have much success in that area. I may need to try again but I still love it for my legs. 

The directions said the results lasted longer than shaving. I didn't find this to be the case. I had stubble the next day but my legs were still incredibly soft. I didn't mind at all doing it again as it was super easy especially just for a touch-up. The price was reasonable especially considering how expensive razor refills are for a decent razor these days. 

All in all, I'd give the Smooth Legs Smooth Away's a big thumbs up!

Next review will be the makeup removers and the Avon makeup as promised. I just had to clue you in on this first!

Sugar Scrub

I decided for my first post to review a natural beauty treatment of my own concoction. This is a sugar scrub which is very simple to make. It takes about two minutes to put together. 

After mixing the ingredients, simply rub your hands together briskly for about 30 seconds and then rinse with warm water. Dry with a soft towel. 

Mix the following in a small bowl:  

• 2 tbsp sugar (you can substitute sea salt)
  
• add enough canola oil to make a smooth paste
  
• 2 drops of peppermint oil
  

I loved this scrub! It did leave my hands the slightest bit greasy until I dried off with the towel and then they were just super soft. The peppermint left them smelling so nice. I had enough left over to do my feet and this worked wonders on my dry winter heels. 

Coming up in My Pretty World

• Facial wipes or makeup removal pads
• Avon Lipstick and nail polish