Affordable Beauty Tips #4

Salam 3alaikum ya banaat!

see what you can do with that stuff piling up in your medicine cabinet or laundry room!


Beauty in the Laundry Room/Medicine Cabinet!

Ivory Bar Soap: Cheaper than liquid body washes and also great for hand washing delicates. Before you go out gardening, scratch your nails across your bar soap to build up a coat under your nails, put on your gardening glove, then when you get done just rinse out the soap. It will save you time having to dig all the dirt from your nails later inshaAllah.

Bounce Sheets: Rub a bounce sheet on the bottom of your dress/pants/abaya to avoid static cling. Keep bounce sheets in your clothes drawer to keep that "just washed" smell. Bounce sheets are also great to smooth out fly-away hairs!

Aspirin: Crunch up aspirin, mix with a little water and use on skin to reduce puffiness and prevent razor burn after you shave. If you apply a paste to a pimple it will also reduce redness and pain and help shrink it up quickly.

Baking Soda: I use it for everything! You can use it to exfoliate your scalp (just add to your shampoo or conditioner) to deodorize your shoes, add to bleach and make a scrub for the bathroom and kitchen, exfoliate your lips by mixing it will oil or vaseline and gently wiping away with a warm wet cloth. Add baking soda to your toothpaste for extra cleaning power and toss some in the wash to help whiten whites.

Epsom Salts: Great for adding to oil for an exfoliating scrub. Good for tossing in the bath instead of those pricey bath salts. Just add some body wash/essential oils/leftover perfume in the bottom of the bottle for a great smell.

Witch Hazel: This is another great antiseptic/astringent. It does amazing things for ingrown hairs and razor burn. Just put some on a cotton ball and swipe over the area. Follow up with olive oil/vitamin e/ coconut oil or your favorite moisturizer! Witch hazel is really cheap but I would spend the extra couple dollars to get one that doesn't have such a strong smell to it, because the smell is quite definitely an acquired taste... You can also try adding an essential oil to cover the smell, but shake the bottle each time before use. Witch hazel also helps heal bruising and sun burns.

Affordable Beauty Tips #3

Salam 3alaikum girls!

In continuation with the "affordable beauty" series, here are some tips for using what you have in your home office or at work!


Beauty in the Office!

Elmer's Glue: Use kids white school glue as a peeling face mask. Apply to skin, wait to dry, and peel off.

Liquid Paper: Use this white correcting fluid to fix a chip in your french manicure instead of going to get a fill in. It also works to cover up black scuffs on white shoes in a pinch!

Scotch Tape: Removes powdered eye make up really quickly if you want a change or if you get extra powder all over the place. Just press the piece against the make up you want to remove and it will lift away!

Magnetic Paper Clip Holder: Holds all your bobby pins in one easy to access place.

Post-It Notes: Use small ones under your eyes to catch any loose falling eyeshadow, fold in quarters with the sticky side facing out and use to clean under your nails. The sticky catches the dirt.

Paper Clips: Use an unfolded paper clip to make polka dots with your nail polish.

Circle Paper Hole Reinforcements: Use to make a clean curve with your nail polish during manicures, like the "half moon" manicure and french manicure. You can also use cut up strips of blue painters tape to make straight lines!

Affordable Beauty Tips #2

Salam 3alaikum sisters,

This is a continuation of my "Affordable Beauty Tips"!
There are many ways to make what you already have in your bathroom work for you in many ways to help stretch out the life of your beauty products. Its all about the multi-taskers!!

Beauty in the Bathroom!

No More Tears Baby Shampoo: Great for removing make up and cleaning make up brushes. You can keep a small bottle with a few drops of shampoo mixed with water to use as a make up remover and brush cleanser.

Tinted Moisturizer: Mix your favorite moisturizer and foundation to make a lighter feeling "tinted moisturizer" and stretch your bottle of foundation! I use this one from St Ives that you can get pretty cheap at walmart. The tub lasts forever and is really light. I can reapply every time I make wudhu without feeling too greasy. It is made for reducing wrinkles, which to me is totally off the point since I just like the weight of it, but I guess an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure inshaAllah!

Left Over Lipsticks: That small amount of lipstick in the bottom of the tube can be gently melted in the microwave and added to moisturizer to make a cream blush. You can also use lipstick and gloss leftovers as a light cheek stain in a pinch. Also you can try mixing colors if you get tired of a certain lipstick color. Mixing with vaseline will make a less intense color as well.

Vaseline: Vaseline has so many uses I might be able to make a whole post about it... I especially like the new vaseline with cocoa butter. Use it to protect eyelashes at night, as a cuticle cream, on rough skin patches, as chap stick or gloss, mix with eye shadow to make a cream eyeliner and apply with an angled brush, vaseline and kool-aid make flavored lip gloss, use to tame eyebrows, apply to cracked feet and wrap with plastic wrap them put on socks over night.

Conditioner: I use one conditioner (Suave Naturals, Tropical Coconut) to cleanse my scalp (instead of shampoo) and as a shaving cream. You can get a huge bottle for just a couple of dollars at walmart! I like this one because it doesn't have any silicones in it that require a harsh shampoo to wash out, plus it smells great.

Affordable Beauty Tips

Salam 3alaikum sisters!

As a newly married lady, I am always on the hunt for affordable beauty tips and tricks. I thought I should share the wealth! I'm hoping this will be an ongoing project inshaAllah.

Beauty in the Kitchen!

Sugar: Mix granulated sugar with your favorite body oil or honey and exfoliate. Add used coffee grounds for a great smell and caffeine that helps firm skin!

Corn Starch and Cocoa Powder: Mix a small amount of cocoa powder with corn starch to make a cheap "setting powder" that reduces shine and is SUPER cheap! You can adjust the amount of cocoa powder to match your skin tone. You could make a slightly darker version to use as a bronzer, and try adding cinnamon for a little more "rosy" hue. Be careful to apply sparingly so as not to dry out your face too much.

Rose Water: Dilute some rose water with a few spoons of water to make a great facial toner. Its affordable, natural, and smells great! Keep only a few ounces mixed at a time in a tightly closed bottle to keep it fresh.

Olive Oil, Coconut Oil: Great skin and hair moisturizers and great for use on dry cuticles and cracked feet! And its something you probably already have in your house. I also sometimes use olive oil to remove waterproof makeup.

DiY Blush: Mix a couple drops of red food coloring into a couple spoons of water. Add baby powder or corn starch until it makes a powdery paste. Add more or less food coloring to adjust the color. The color of the wet paste will be darker than the dry paste, so don't freak out! Press the paste into an old clean empty blush compact.

InshaAllah the next installment will be coming up soon!

Makeup Advice?

Salam 3alaikum sisters,

I have a question I hope you can help me with inshaAllah.

I like to wear make up in the house for my husband, but this is something that I don't have a lot of experience with. Before Islam I almost never wore make up and the three years after Islam before I got married, I only really wore make up for short periods of time for ladies gatherings or 3id.

So my question is, how do you keep your make up on all day?! It is my understanding that I've got to water to all parts of my face/skin when I make wudhu, which means the make up has to come off every time I get clean for prayers.

source

Is there some secret tip to this that I am missing?? I know there are ladies out there who wear make up all day, so how do you do it?? Please educate me!!

Thanks sisters <3

How to: Sugaring/Halawa!

Salam 3alaikum sisters,

Sorry this was a long time coming. I wanted to post photos of myself sugaring a hand or something, but then figured that there were men reading this blog... (SHAME ON YOU GUYS, THIS IS A LADY'S ONLY SPACE!!!)

I didn't want to leave you all hanging so I found a youtube video that does it similar to the way I do it, plus shows how to sugar with cloths (kind of like regular waxing).




I didn't actually listen to the sound on this one yet since I picked it while my husband was sleeping lol.

But some tips from me:

• this wax looks much more soft/liquid/sticky than what I usually use. That's ok though as long as it still pulls off your skin.
• if the sugar is too hard to easily pull out of the container you put it in, let it sit in a sink of hot water until it is pliable and easy to remove from the container
• if your hair is a little long, trim it down to about 1/4 of an inch, which will help the halawa hold stronger
• if you are afraid the sugar is too sticky and will pull your skin (which seriously, it almost never does) you can put a light dusting of baby powder or talcum before you apply
• this lady picks up her hand as she smooths on the sugar, but I never do that. I slowly press up against the hair grow in one long sweep, making sure it is a pretty thin and even application, then pull down with the hair growth, the sugar never leaves my hand the entire time
• keep the skin pulled tight, it reduces the pain and seems to help the hair adhere to the sugar better
• if it becomes difficult to control, stop and make a ball with your hands then start again. 
• unlike wax, you can go over a place you have already waxed more than once if some hairs are missed. I probably wouldn't do it more than 3 or 4 times though, just to avoid stressing your skin out
• if you miss a few stray hairs, don't worry you can just pull them with tweezers later
• I usually use the same blob of sugar for an entire leg
• if you are going to sugar sensitive areas (face or bikini area) I suggest using a small amount of sugar and working in small sections.

Using Cloth Strips:

• heat the sugar the way you would wax, make sure it isn't too hot!!!
• you can use cut up denim for this, i heard it works really well, just wash it really good in very hot water before you use it for this
• you can use the same cloth strip more than one time, and use it to pick up missed hairs
• I think this is probably a good method to use the sugar that cooked a little bit too long, but I never tried this before so don't hold my word to it

After: 

• wash off any sticky stuff left with water (cool or lukewarm water is better)
• if you are prone to ingrown hairs, it is a good idea to put an antiseptic after you sugar like witch hazel or something made for waxing
• moisturize moisturize moisturize. I usually apply a thick layer of extra virgin olive oil. I would suggest using an unscented moisturizer for the first 24 hours to avoid irritation
• many sites i read said to avoid hot water on the skin for the first 24 hours as well. 

Question:

Do any of you ladies wax or sugar under your arms? I am terrified to try it lol, but I get tired of shaving. Also if I recall correctly it is sunnah to pluck those hairs out.

Update

Salam 3alaikum sisters!!

As you can tell I have been absent for a while. First our computer was in the shop and then it was being monopolized  by the man of the house.

Currently were a planning a small vacation inshaAllah before the two of us part ways to visit our families for the rest of the summer. I am looking forward to seeing my family inshaAllah but not so excited to be separated from my husband for 2+ months. We will be spending our first Ramadhan and 3id apart from each other inshaAllah.

Also I found out that I have problem with acid and ulcers and damaged stomach lining subhanAllah. To me it seemed so sudden, but apparently there have been small symptoms that I just ignored in the past. Alhamdulillah 3la kl 7al that it wasn't something more serious!