Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Relationship Advice

As we get older, we think we've got this relationship/love thing all figured out regardless of our level of success. Recently my friend KC shared some valuable advice she got from an 8 year old. I think we probably all knew these truths back in the day but forgot them over time.

  • If a boy likes you, he'll ask you to chase him. If he's an older boy, he won't ask you to chase him. Instead he'll just run away and look over his shoulder to see if you're following him. When he stops and looks back, you need to stop running. You don't want him to see you chasing him.

  • When a boy wants to be your number one boyfriend, he'll put an "I Love You" note in your locker. Other boys will just ask for your number.

  • If you want a boy to be your boyfriend, you just tell them that they are your boyfriend. Then slap them across the face and tell them to bring all of their friends over. It is key to have several boyfriends at a time and you will want to have all of the boys in your class as your boyfriend.

It seems as there were a few more pearls of wisdom but I can't recall them right now. I'll be sure to post part deux when I (or KC) remember them.

Friday, September 25, 2009

The Advil Experiment

So I'm not so good at this blogging thing. I have a few postings I hope to get up within a few days but first I want to update you on the Advil experiment.

While it doesn't work overnight (as I was promised from the beauty queen who touted it on television), it does bring the inflamation down within a few days so I was quite pleased. So here are the steps.

1. Take an Advil (or use a generic like I did) and grind it up into a powder.

2. Remove as much of the coating as possible. This should be easy if you crush the pill before grinding it up. I found that it mostly just peeled back. Any of the coating that is left will add color to your mixture once you add water. Which bring us to...

3. Add a very small amount of water to a portion of the powder. You probably won't need all of the powder at once unless you are dealing with multiple spots. Be very cautious about how much water you use as the goal is to make a paste.

4. Once you have your paste (add more powder if you used too much water), place on the offending pimple.

Note that as it dries it will flake off and be pretty obvious on your face so best save this for just before bed.

I've tried this a few times now and have been happy with the results! Let me know what you think!

Monday, July 13, 2009

Mad-Scientist Beauty Secrets

Growing up I was a total beauty junkie. I wanted to be a make up artist for awhile and devoured Allure Magazine. During church, I would brainstorm the new eye shadow colors I was going to invent when I got home. I am also something of a mad scientist when it comes to product usage. I’ve never been one to only use a product for the “Suggested Use.” I think I was encouraged by my discovery that the now defunct Clarion peel off mask could also cure razor burn to try more creative uses. This has not always had a positive result. For example, hydrogen peroxide is not a recommended remedy for insect bites – in my case it caused massive hives (luckily this is also when I discovered my amazing dermatologist). So here are some of my more successful tips for beauty product double usage:

Visine – Obviously we all know what the main purpose of this product is as well as Visine’s tag line – “It gets the red out.” It turns out that this tag line extends beyond red, watery eyes. Because it constricts the blood vessels, it is also good on any sort of red irritation (with the exception of in sort of cut) – pimples, blotchy skin, etc. For those of you using Visine the old fashioned way, an excellent way to apply it is on the end of a Q-tip. After application of the Visine to the Q-tip, hold the Q-tip up in the inner corner of your eye. You may wish to blink a couple of times. This distributes the Visine without drips all over your face or ruining your make up.

Liquid Band-Aid – This is product I knew immediately that I had the perfect alternate use! Have you ever had a pimple that you couldn’t leave alone but since you had somewhere to be it must be covered? If you just put the tiniest amount of Liquid Band-Aid on the open part of the pimple, it quickly seals over and make up can be easily applied. It is important to use a VERY small amount as the formula is meant to work as a band-aid for several days so too much will begin to look worse very quickly.

Neosporin with Pain-Relief – After a long day on my feet (and probably a blister or two), I decided to rub this excellent product not only on the injured areas but on all of the sore and tired areas of my feet. While I didn’t feel like doing the Riverdance, my feet hurt less in general. This has become a staple in my travel gear as well as the Visine. A previous manager used to give me a hard time due the quantity of items I often brought with me when I traveled. I loaned her my Neosporin with Pain-Relief and was not sure that I was going to get it back! After that I think there was a bit more understanding of the wardrobe of products in my arsenal.

Enjoy these new uses to a few everyday items found at your local drug store. Let me know how they work for you and if you have a similar tip to share! I’ll be experimenting – I’ve heard that a ground up Advil mixed with water will get rid of a pimple!

Thursday, May 7, 2009

In the beginning...

With a title like “On the Tart Side” I’m sure you’re wondering what this blog is all about. It goes back many years to my first blog which was actually called a “pita”. Weird name huh? This was back in 2000 before blogs were everywhere. I was only doing the blog in anticipation of a web column I was going to write for a friend’s website. Well, that website was never launched and I got a new job that didn’t provide time for blogging. The original “On the Tart Side” is still up but frozen in time. You can check it out here but keep in mind that most of the links are bad now. The actual web column was going to be called “On the Tart Side: Life and Times of a Modern Renaissance Woman” but let’s be honest – that’s just too long so it was shortened to “On the Tart Side.” The inspiration for the title was actually from a cosmetics ad because “tart” is my favorite word. In fact, I like the word so much that both of my phone numbers spell “tart!”

Okay, enough of the back story on the name! I’m sure my loyal reader (hi Jen!) wants to know what I’ll actually be blogging about. That’s the beauty of this blog – it’s going to be about any number of topics! I have so many interests it will vary depending on what my current passion and/or mood might be. What it won’t be about is boring things from my life (i.e. – Today I picked up my laundry and then I ate a tuna melt.) because this isn’t a diary. However, entries could be sparked by things from my life like a wonderful new wine I tried or a website I found that may be of interest to others.

I hope you will enjoy reading this blog as much as I (hope) I’ll enjoy writing it!