How Dirty Is Your Makeup?

....what sort of question is that? I know it sounds nutty but how often have you really thought about that? I can guarantee not much! But all it sadly takes is one pink eye infection to realize.. Our makeup is probably the 2nd dirtiest thing in our bathroom. And something we never worry about sharing. 

Even though you can't see the bacteria on your makeup, think about it: you touch your face, then your makeup and then your face again. Or even better your friend comes by and "just needs a touch up", her face is now touching your makeup, then her face again... this cycle is a germaphobe's nightmare. Our natural oils and dead skin cells are going all over your favourite compact. Gross right?

So how can you disinfect your favourite makeup goodies? Rubbing Alcohol and a spray bottle. It's the easiest way to disinfect your makeup quickly instantly ( just don't drown your products) . This can be done every few months, or once a week, depending on how much you use a particular product. 
So Now What?

Powders: Pour rubbing alcohol into a spray bottle, lightly spray your eye shadow, blush, bronzer, pressed powder etc., without saturating. Leave the lids open to dry a bit. 

Lipstick: Two options here: 1) dip a Qtip in rubbing alcohol or 2)Pour rubbing alcohol into a small cup. Dip the lipstick ( or Qtip) into the rubbing alcohol, wipe gently with tissue, and put the lid back on.

Liquid makeup and Mascara: collects more bacteria and cannot be disinfected the same way so it’s important that you follow the guidelines on when to throw it out. 

Tips on how to prevent bacteria:

• Wash your hands or use hand sanitizer before putting on makeup
• Use makeup brushes so your fingers never have to touch the product.
• If you don't have brushes? Steer clear of makeup that exposes all the product from opening it and that you have to stick your finger in.
• Don’t share makeup, or makeup brushes. If you do, always disinfect before you use them again. 
• I do recommend if you are sharing, invest in separate mascara wands! 

Happy Cleaning!

Tea is liquid wisdom..for Sunburns?

BEST SUNBURN REMEDY: TEA!

After 4 hours at the beach without sunscreen, you could imagine I had a sunburn. It takes a few hours for my skin to show if I got any colour, so after lying under the direct sunlight for hours, I went home to see that my skin was red. A few hours later I checked out my skin and it was lobster red.

So I started with the Vitamin E gel and Aloe gel, reapplying every 30 minutes. After having quite a few bad sunburns I’ve realized it only gets worse before it gets better. After a few days it got more painful and I figured out that the Aloe and Vitamin E really didn’t help my burn. The pain from applying it wasn’t worth the temporary relief. I looked up sunburn remedies and I saw the usual; aloe, cold shower, vinegar. But I kept stumbling across one that my friend had mentioned to me..... Tea. Everyone who mentioned it said you had to do this right away or it wouldn’t work. I tried it anyway, at this point I would try anything... unfortunately for me... it didn’t work. So I suffered through the pain, the

sticky skin, and finally the peeling for over a week. I realized I needed to do something right after I got the burn so it would go away before it turned bad.

A few weeks later I got another burn ( you would think I would have learned) after being outside all day. Instead of worrying about going through the pain of a sunburn that would surely show up the next day, I tried “the tea thing”. I made some orange pekoe tea, poured it into a bowl, let it cool, and soaked a towel in it. Then I put the towel on my burn. I lied down reading my book for about 30 minutes with the cool, tea soaked towel on my back. I took it off and went to bed, and when I woke up the next morning I was extremely pleased with my skin. I had a tan!

You could imagine my excitement when I realized that I didn’t have to live through another burn again because of my newfound discovery. However, I have also learned that one bad burn today is not as minuscule as I make it to be. If you want a tan, be sun smart, you have one skin... so be good to it!

Until Next time, have some fun in the sun... but safely....Next time Im going to get the golden glow with the help of a fake tanner.

My Favourite Summer Trend

Summer Trend Alert: Nautical

This trend has been back in style every summer and this year it’s been reinvented with more highlights of elegance, glamour, and vintage sashay for the 2011 season.

On the Runway

Inspired by sailors and started almost 100 years ago by Coco Chanel when she was having an affair with the Duke of Westminster. He was a yachting admirer and Chanel started dressing like the sailors. She made the men’s sailing apparel suitable for women and just like Christmas is every December, you can expect the nautical trend to come back every summer. Here are a few tips on how to wear it…

For the ideal look, you want your colours to include: red, blue, and white, and the pattern to be stripes.

- Add in some neon for a pop of colour. ( another fun summer trend)

-Minimize your accessories, and use raw materials.

-Go for breezy, it is summer after all!

-My little tip? Make one item in your outfit striped, and the rest patternless.

Taking the runway to our day to day office life.

Until next time wishing you Fair winds and Following Seas!