Day 151: DIY Eye Make-up Remover (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I apologize in advance for these creepy close-up eye pictures of me!  But, this homemade eye make-up remover really works -- and it's cheap!

My eyes at the end of the day: 

Eye Makeup Remover Ingredients & Instructions:
1 cup water
1-1/2 tablespoons tear-free baby shampoo
1/8 teaspoon baby oil

Mix ingredients together in a small container.  Shake before every use.

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 150: Using Vegetable Glycerin in Homemade Hand Scrub (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I have super dry hands in the winter and wanted to try adding vegetable glycerin to the Mary Kay's "Satin Hands" recipe, as suggested by the blog author.  I made the recipe per the pin, and added 1 tablespoon of vegetable glycerin at the end.  I did notice that it didn't dry out my hands as much (a success), but I didn't like how it made the scrub ingredients separate out in the jar (a fail, in my opinion).  This wouldn't look as pretty or be as user-friendly (the receiving person would have to stir the scrub before each use) if giving as a gift.

Verdict: SUCCESS / FAIL.

Day 142: Using Baking Soda to Exfoliate (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Through this pin-a-day journey I'm on, I've discovered that the most versatile item in my house is baking soda.  It feels like it can -- and should! -- be used for everything!  About two months ago, I decided to attempt using baking soda as a facial exfoliate, and it has worked great!  I decided to spare you a close-up photo of my face, and instead explain just how different my face feels :)

Instructions:
Wet your face (I use a washcloth).  Pump a quarter-sized dollop of facial cleanser into the palm of your hand (as you can see, my true Costco loyalty extends even to my facial cleanser!).  Pour about a teaspoon of baking soda into your hand and mix well to combine with the facial cleanser.  Using a circular motion, massage the mixture onto the skin for 30 seconds to remove dirt, oil and dead skin, particularly around the nose, chin and forehead.  Rinse the baking soda scrub away (this is my only complaint with the baking soda scrub -- I try to carefully wash it away with a washcloth, but this step can be a bit irritating to my skin.  It takes a few times of wiping my face and rinsing out the washcloth before the gritty baking soda is completely removed from my face).  Repeat once a week.

I've tried other exfoliating treatments in the past, and my skin has never felt this smooth.  Try it!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 122: Foot Soak (success).

Pinterest pin and website picture.

Fact #1: day 122 of 2014 is the day that I post pictures of my feet on the Internet.  Fact #2: feet are gross.  Mine are particularly gross, since I wear sandals most of the year and rarely get pedicures.  With that said, my feet felt -- and looked -- so much better after doing this soak with baking soda and regular salt water!  Go try it!

Before:

Instructions:

Fill a bucket with warm water, and add 1/2 cup of baking soda and 1/2 cup of salt (any kind).  Mix well.  Soak your feet for 20 minutes.  At the end of twenty minutes, use a pumice stone to exfoliate.  When skin starts shedding, return feet back to the water.

After!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 114: Heart Manicure (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Even though Valentine's Day has already passed, I thought this was cute to try -- and it worked!  Instead of taking my own "how to" pictures, I decided not to reinvent the wheel and instead, simply borrowed the original blog author's photo below (website link above).

Materials: Toothpick, nail polish & a piece of tinfoil.

Instructions:
Pour a small amount of polish on a piece of tinfoil; refrain from using a quick-dry polish, as it will get sticky very quickly.  Let the polish sit for one minute to thicken up just a little bit, which will make it easier to work with.  Using a toothpick dipped in polish, make a dot on the nail.  Make a second dot next to that.  Using the toothpick tip, drag one of the dots down at a 45-degree angle.  Drag the other dot down at a 45-degree angle to meet the other side.

My finished nail -- I love it!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 112: Baby Powder to Untangle Necklace (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Although I was eventually able to untangle this necklace using baby powder, I tried untangling another knot in the same necklace without it and didn't find that using baby powder made it any easier...

Instructions:
Sprinkle a little baby powder over the knot to help loosen it, then use a pin to finish freeing it.

Verdict: FAIL.

Day 99: Baby Oil Gel for Shaving (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

Although I felt like I got a cleaner shave using baby oil instead of soap (but no difference between using baby oil versus shaving cream), I didn't notice any difference in the amount of time it took for stubble to grow back.  Unless you have baby oil in the house, I don't think using this makes enough of a difference to go buy it!

Verdict: FAIL.

Day 95: Listerine Foot Soak (fail).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I multiplied the original recipe by 4 so that most of my feet could be submerged in the solution to take full advantage of the foot soak:

Recipe:
1 cup Listerine
1 cup distilled white vinegar
2 cups warm water 

I then soaked my feet for 10 minutes, dried them off with a towel (noticing that no dead skin was removed from my feet, as the original pin had claimed would happen), and then realized that my feet were blue.  Blue!  And they still are after washing them with soap and soaking them in just water for another 10 minutes!  Plus, the smell of Listerine from my feet is overpowering!

Verdict: FAIL.  I wish I'd done a little more research before doing this pin -- another blogger had a very similar experience to mine, although her feet appear even more blue than mine!

Day 94: Kool-Aid Lip Gloss (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I always lose my chapstick / lip gloss, so I thought this would be a good pin to try -- if it worked, I could make a bunch and put them in various areas in my house, car, purse, bags, etc. 

Ingredients:
Vaseline (I used the generic kind below, and the Kool-Aid crystals melted / combined with the petroleum jelly as intended, something that didn't happen with many readers of the original pin.  It sounds like the trick is to NOT mix in the Kool-Aid crystals until the petroleum jelly has had a chance to cool to a lukewarm temperature.)

Unsweetened, caffeine-free Kool-Aid drink crystals.

Lip gloss containers.

Instructions:

1. Put petroleum jelly in a microwave-safe bowl (I didn't measure the jelly, but just scooped out a spoonful and did a few batches).

2. Heat the Vaseline in the microwave in 30-second increments, stirring between each heating.  Since I was doing a small amount at a time, it took me 2-3 minutes to melt each batch of Vaseline.  It will be liquid when fully melted and is very hot!

3. Take out of the microwave, let sit until lukewarm, and then stir in Kool-Aid drink crystals until desired color / flavor is reached.  Stir until the crystals are completely dissolved.

4. Pour into lip gloss containers and leave for a few hours to solidify.

These turned out just as described, however, I've decided I don't love the taste of Vaseline or Kool-Aid :(  Luckily, there were LOTS of comments / ideas on the original blogger's site.  First, I tried mixing honey and Emergen-C crystals with Vaseline, but could still taste the distinct petroleum jelly taste.  Then, I tried coconut oil mixed with Kool-Aid crystals, but the crystals never dissolved despite multiple attempts at heating, re-heating, stirring, etc. 

Finally, I tried Aquafor mixed with Agave Nectar.  This was my favorite attempt (I use Aquafor all the time as chapstick), but I need to do a few more attempts to hopefully figure out how to get the two ingredients to mix a little better than they did -- the agave sunk to the bottom when the mixture solidified.

Overall, the pin came together as described and I would recommend trying petroleum jelly and Kool-Aid first to see if you like the taste -- these two ingredients combined together the best out of all my options tried!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 92: Break-Up with Your Build-Up (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

We have hard water where we live, and I vacillate between my annoyance for the hard water spots on our glass shower doors and how dry my scalp / hair is (something that I didn't realize was caused by hard water minerals, but now see the connection).  My hair ends up looking frizzy much of the time and I notice that with the colder weather, my scalp is particularly dry:

I have loads of baking soda in this house (Costco!), so I tried this "break-up with your build-up" pin about removing build-up from hair that has accumulated from shampoos / conditioners, hard water minerals, environment, hair products, etc.  All you need is baking soda and water!

Recipe:
1/3 cup baking soda
4 T water (I used the hard water from my tap, which seems counter-productive -- but it seemed to work!).

Mix together the two ingredients to form a paste and then step into your shower.  I made my hair wet, and then starting with the ends, massaged the paste into my hair / scalp.  I left it on for 15 minutes, and then washed my hair with my normal shampoo and conditioner.

Voila!

My hair is definitely less frizzy, but honestly, the best part of this has been that my scalp no longer seems dry / flaky at all -- here's hoping that continues!

Verdict: SUCCESS!

Day 55: Lemon Sugar Scrub (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

For my second attempt at making a homemade hand scrub, I went for one that promised not to contribute to my already dry hands!  This one worked great, and is also super easy to make.

Ingredients:
* sugar
* extra virgin olive oil
* lemon essential oil

Instructions: Mix 2 cups sugar with 1 cup of olive oil.  Add lemon essential oil to your liking (I added 16 tiny drops).  To use the scrub, rub about a teaspoon of lemon scrub onto wet hands. Rinse with warm water and pat dry. Apply your favorite lotion while hands are still damp, as lotion will absorb better on damp hands.

Verdict: success!  Although I've been using this frequently and my hands are less dry than before, I wanted to mention that the sugar and olive oil separate between uses.  That might be an issue if you're planning to make this as a gift (see picture below), but for my personal use, I just mix it up again with a spoon each time and it's ready to go.

Day 54: Imitation Mary Kay's "Satin Hands" Scrub (success).

Pinterest pin and website link.

I had a few people try this recipe (one of whom is a loyal fan / user of Mary Kay's "Satin Hands" treatment), and this got all-around rave reviews.  Plus, it gets bonus points for being super easy and inexpensive to make, and it now looks so pretty sitting on my new soap / sponge stand in the kitchen.  

Ingredients:

* Sugar
* Dawn Ultra Hand Renewal with Olay Beauty Scent Dishwashing Liquid (found at a drugstore for $4)
* Container

Instructions:
Add the sugar to the container first (leaving room at the top so you can easily stir the sugar and soap together) and then slowly add Dawn Ultra Hand Renewal.  Do this slowly, as you don't want the consistency to be too runny.  The original author suggests that the consistency should be similar to creamy peanut butter.

Verdict: success!

Suggestion for Dry Hands: I had others try this recipe because I felt like my hands were unusually dry after trying it -- but no one else experienced this.  If you tend towards dry hands, the author suggests using vegetable glycerin in the scrub.  I haven't tried that, but likely will the next time I make this!  Or, you could try this Lemon Sugar Scrub, which worked great for my dry hands in this cold weather.