What's your best beauty/household tip?

[Georgia Peach]

My best 'household tip is this'. Whenever you open crackers, chips or corn chips and don't finish them, store them in the fridge - NOT the cupboard. They NEVER go stale this way!! People don't seem to believe me until they try it! There is no moisture in the air of a fridge and they all stay crisp. You don't even need to put them in a container - just leave them in their original packet.

I have some crackers that have been in there for 2 months. They wouldn't last a week outside once opened! Means I can have have a few whenever I feel like one without thinking the whole lot will go stale when I open the packet. Corn chips and potato chips are awesomely kept too!

I hate wasting snack perishables and this means I don't have to. My nana used to do this - even during WWII - as things were rationed and waste was frowned upon in Australia at the time.

Give it a go Saves you money too

haha, my Nana does this too!

 

[swinggal]

Cool! You don't have to put any of those things in the freezer, just the normal fridge. Chips, corn ships, crackers etc. Normal fridge is the go. Only flour for the freezer.

Glad its working. I hate waste and it certainly eliminates that

 

[Lorena B]

You can also put your lipstick and eye liner pencil in the fridge in summer when they are going all melted.

 

[Mike in Seattle]

OK - I'll throw one in. Awhile back, I was making rice. I can make almost anything else without a problem - rice always turns to disaster, which has become a bit of a joke with the gang. One friend we were visiting thought it was hilarious, said, "OK, let me show you how simple it is" and to this day has never been able to make a perfect batch of rice. My curse spread to them!

I ended up with an aluminum pan (commercial grade, not non-stick) with burned on crud in the bottom. I know, I know - two cups of water brought to a boil, dump in a cup of rice, cover, turn off the heat, wait 20 minutes - how hard can it be? And yet, how do I end up with charcoal in the bottom of the pan? Well, frankly, because a friend decided to HELP me. Any ideas on some easy way to remove the char from the pan and return it to it's former state?

I scraped everything out and did some scrubbing with steel wool. I've let it soak filled with hot water & Cascade for a few days. I've tried baking soda and boiling water. I've tried boiling it with vinegar. And since it's aluminum, I can't use oven cleaner. (See, I do know MOST of the common burned on cooking fixes!)

It's a $10 or so pan I've had forever...but some of you may understand, it's not the cost, it's the principal and frugality my grandparents were always drumming into my head with "use it up, fix it, mend it, make it last." The other half just about laughs when I say I'm going to go blow $5 on a wire brush for the drill to "scrub" it out with.

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

I ended up with an aluminum pan (commercial grade, not non-stick) with burned on crud in the bottom. I know, I know - two cups of water brought to a boil, dump in a cup of rice, cover, turn off the heat, wait 20 minutes - how hard can it be? And yet, how do I end up with charcoal in the bottom of the pan? Well, frankly, because a friend decided to HELP me. Any ideas on some easy way to remove the char from the pan and return it to it's former state?

No tips on the pan, but I can give you rice-cooking advice! It's really simple lol, although I've never seen anyone else do it this way.

First off, we use a wide steel skillet (about 2" deep or so). Maybe aluminum just doesn't work well? Anyway...put 2 tablespoons oil in the skillet, add the rice, heat over high heat. Stir around 'til just barely toasty - about 1 minute or so. *Then* you add 2 cups of water - the oil should be hot enough to sizzle madly when you pour the water in. Turn the stove to low heat, put on a lid (preferably not your favorite fedora ), wait 15-30 minutes. I'm a bit iffy on the time since I don't cook it often...but it works! It's done when the water's gone - any shorter, and it'll be tough; any longer, and it'll burn without the water. Oh - and no fair stirring while it's in the pot. Just poke down to the bottom with a spoon and see if there's any water left.

Salt and any additional seasoning should be added with the water. I like a couple of peeled garlic cloves to add flavor.

Note: Just use regular ol' rice. No quick-cooking stuff! We also tend to use whole grain rice around here; YMMV with white.

 

[Darhling]

I know the sugar & oil for the body has been recommended, but I am a big fan of sugar and face oil (Almond oil) I use a teaspoon of each and scrub on damp/wet skin untill the sugar is dissolved. It never makes me red or blotchy, I just get really clear and smooth skin.

To keep the mess to a minimum I do it in the shower so if you have any of those small sugar packs, that will be perfect so you dont have to bring a sugarbowl.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

OK - I'll throw one in. Awhile back, I was making rice. I can make almost anything else without a problem - rice always turns to disaster, which has become a bit of a joke with the gang. One friend we were visiting thought it was hilarious, said, "OK, let me show you how simple it is" and to this day has never been able to make a perfect batch of rice. My curse spread to them!

Trust me....I share the same lack of rice-ability. People in Brazil (major rice eating country) have shown me how...and then they boggled while under their supervision and watchful eye, my batch of rice was dreadful, when I did -exactly- what they said to do.

I just gave up and bought a rice cooker.

No tips on the pan, but I can give you rice-cooking advice! It's really simple lol, although I've never seen anyone else do it this way.

First off, we use a wide steel skillet (about 2" deep or so). Maybe aluminum just doesn't work well? Anyway...put 2 tablespoons oil in the skillet, add the rice, heat over high heat. Stir around 'til just barely toasty - about 1 minute or so. *Then* you add 2 cups of water - the oil should be hot enough to sizzle madly when you pour the water in. Turn the stove to low heat, put on a lid (preferably not your favorite fedora ), wait 15-30 minutes. I'm a bit iffy on the time since I don't cook it often...but it works! It's done when the water's gone - any shorter, and it'll be tough; any longer, and it'll burn without the water. Oh - and no fair stirring while it's in the pot. Just poke down to the bottom with a spoon and see if there's any water left.

This is the method I was taught in Brazil. I have progressed to -sometimes- getting it to work.....

 

[ShoreRoadLady]

Trust me....I share the same lack of rice-ability. People in Brazil (major rice eating country) have shown me how...and then they boggled while under their supervision and watchful eye, my batch of rice was dreadful, when I did -exactly- what they said to do.

I just gave up and bought a rice cooker.

And that's why there are rice cookers! lol Of course, I can't say I haven't burned a batch or three of rice in my time... shhhhhhhh

 

[Minerva]

I do my rice in a lidded saucepan.

1 cup rice to 1.5 cups water is the ratio I use for most of our rices (a little extra for starchy rice). Add a dollop of oil, a pinch of salt, and spices (I like saffron).

Throw all that in the pot, put the lid on, get it up to a good boil, then cut the heat to medium. It will steam out a lot while cooking. It's fine, that's what it's supposed to do so don't worry at it. Let it cook for about 15 minutes, then check it. If the water's not gone yet, give it another couple minutes. Once it's done, keep it lidded and let it rest for 15 minutes.

Transfer to serving bowl, fluff, and serve.

 

[maggiethespy]

Sorry if these have been left already.

Polish your copper-bottom pots with ketchup.

Never store your coffee in the freezer-- it causes it to got stale. Got for a room-temperature, dry, air-tight, opaque cannister.

Moisturize thirsty skin with olive oil.

Soften a face with a mashed banana and honey left on until dry and rinsed with warm water.

Treat dry hair with mayonaise as conditioner.

 

[SassyLindaB]

my mum used to use an alternate wash of egg and beer on my hair when I was a youngster

 

[BombshellBella]

CHAMPAGNE RINSE
1/2 cup champagne
1/2 cup hot water

Combine and the last thing you do before leaving the tub is rinse your hair with this. Makes the golden highlights come out of your hair, recommended for light colored hair.

AGE SPOTS
Grate a potato put on age spots for 15 minutes, should lighten the spots.

BROWN HAIR
For richer brown hair mix your shampoo and conditioner with unsweetened cocoa.

EYE WRINKLES
Take out 2 sardines from a can put over your eyes and keep on for 15 minutes... supposedly susan lucci uses this trick.

Thats all I can think of now.

 

[Laura Chase]

Dear ladies, I just got an English translation of Ovid's Cosmetics for the Female Face and posted it on my blog, and I thought you might find it interesting. Despite Ovid's tongue-in-cheek manner, there are some interesting recipes for cream (which he probably wrote off from medical treatises on the subject).

Beware, some of those ingredients might be very, very bad for you. Not that I know much about it, other than that you should not put lead on your face (as the recipe for a cure for spots and pimples calls for)! lol

A recipe for whitening cream
Now, when you have had your full of sleep, and your delicate limbs are refreshed, come learn from me how to impart a dazzling whiteness to your skin. Strip of its straw and husk the barley which our vessels bring to our shores from the fields of Libya. Take two pounds of peeled barley and an equal quantity of vetches moistened with ten eggs. Dry the mixture in the air, and let the whole be ground beneath the mill-stone worked by the patient ass. Pound the first horns that drop from the head of a lusty stag. Of this take one-sixth of a pound. Crush and pound the whole to a fine powder, and pass through a deep sieve. Add twelve narcissus bulbs which have been skinned, and pound the whole together vigorously in a marble mortar. There should also be added two ounces of gum and Tuscan spelt, and nine times as much honey. Any woman who smears her face with this cosmetic will make it brighter than her mirror.

A cure for spots and pimples
Then make haste and bake pale lupins and windy beans. Of these take six pounds each and grind the whole in the mill. Add thereto white lead and the scum of ruddy nitre and Illyrian iris, which must be kneaded by young and sturdy arms. And when they are duly bruised, an ounce should be the proper weight. If you add the glutinous matter wherewith the Halcyon cements its nest, you will have a certain cure for spots and pimples. As for the dose, one ounce applied in two equal portions is what I prescribe. To bind the mixture and to make it easy of application, add some honey from the honeycombs of Attica.

A cure for blackheads
Although incense is pleasing to the gods and soothes their wrath, it must not be kept exclusively for their altars. A mixture of incense and nitre is good for black-heads. Take four ounces of each. Add an ounce of gum from the bark of a tree, and a little cube of oily myrrh. Crush the whole together and pass through a sieve. Bind the resultant powder by mixing with honey. Some people recommend that fennel should be added to the myrrh; nine scruples of myrrh and five of fennel is the proportion. Add a handful of dried rose-leaves, some sal-ammoniac and male frankincense. Pour on barley-water, and let the weight of the sal-ammoniac and the incense equal the weight of the roses. After employing very few applications of this mixture, you will have a charming complexion.

Rouge
I have seen a woman pound up poppies soaked in cold water and rub her cheeks with them. . . .

 

[ladybrettashley]

These tips are all wonderful! Laura Chase, that is really neat - if a bit out of date with regard to health codes .

My best household tip:
To get wax off of clothing iron the wax spot with a rag or paper towel between the clothing and the iron. The wax will pull off of the clothes and soak into the rag (without mucking up the iron, as well).

Beauty tips:
For the curly/frizzy headed gals:
Cut down on the shampoo. I only use conditioner - but scrub with it, like you would with shampoo. It will still clean you, and it doesn't dry your hair out the way shampoo does. I only shampoo if i've gotten really dirty, like after camping.

I condition my hair first thing in the shower, then put it up in a bun while i do everything else and rinse it out and brush last thing, so it has time to really soak in. Seems obvious, but it didn't occur to me for ages, and i use about half as much conditioner this way!

Also, i've read that using a t-shirt instead of a towel to dry your hair will keep from splitting it, and keep the frizz down. Been meaning to try that myself.

Other stuff:
If you have very dry skin, vitamin E oil will do wonders for acne/blemishes. And it's about a dollar instead of what you'd spend on fancy cleansers.
BUT my skin is not dry enough for it, and it made all my really bad spots go away, only to be replaced a day later by a facefull of small spots .

If my cuticles dry out i rub a little chapstick on them - it's a little heavier-duty than lotion and i always have some with me!

 

[Joonie]

100% Shea Butter is a miracle moisturizer.

Denture-cleaning tablets make my diamonds shine like nothing else. (And they end up smelling minty, too!)

 

[Heather]

Denture-cleaning tablets make my diamonds shine like nothing else. (And they end up smelling minty, too!)

Ooo I'm going to have to try that one!!

 

[msrsimpkin]

I pop an Alka-Seltzer, along with my engagement ring in a glass of water and leave it for 10 minutes or so. The stones are really fiddly to clean, and the fizzing just brings them up so bright.

 

[analiebe]

for a quick & easy moisturising exfoliant take 1 tsp raw sugar add few drops olive oil & 1/2 tsp warm water... mix so that the sugar granules begin to melt and rub gently on face to remove dead skin cells... can be done with bigger quantities for a body exfoliant ... this gem was passed to my latvian grandmother whilst she was in a naples refugee camp during WW2

 

[NicknNora]

If you have a problem with frizziness or fly-away hair only wash and rinse your hair with tepid or cool water. This helps keep the cuticle smooth.

Also for frizz, do a dab of shampoo and concentrate on massaging your scalp and then gently pull the shampoo through to your ends for a very light wash. This also helps keep the cuticle smooth.

And when all else fails, use a hair flat iron. They work very well.

 

[LisaFreemontSt]

I'm a big fan of wearing dresses around the house. This is not a household tip per-say...but if you are wearing a dress while doing some of the above handy things, you will undoubtedly feel better doing it.