Pinterest Pin Test: Brush Cleaning DIY

When I saw this Pin I knew I had to try it. Seemed really simple and so completely affordable that it is just to good to be true right?

Homemade brush cleaner:
1/4 cup vinegar
1 tsp of dawn soap (I just used my own face wash)
And warm water all in a cup-let sit/stir until all the nastiness has come out then
wash under the faucet until water runs clear, shape and dry laying down

As a makeup artist and skincare 'professional' as my day job now, I figured it was time to start taking my own advice to all my customer's and start cleaning my own brushes everyday to help reduce on bacteria transfer and put an end to acne breakouts.

Well the results were undeniably successful!

And now that I've started cleaning them after every use (soaking and soaping included) I've already started to notice less breakouts except for those monthly ones. Hallelujah right?!

Say What?: Poo dust

It's a true nasty little fact that every time you flush the toilet dust, poo particles, and multitudes of germs are released into the air. After watching ten quick minutes about this subject in a documentary, I immediately started searching for covered bathroom containers instead of the previous open ones we had. I got one for the q-tips, cotton balls, and another for my hair ties because poo dusted hair ties just isn't an outfit make.

And the main event was throwing away our toothbrushes and then I was on the lookout for a covered toothbrush holder. Why you ask? Well in this Mythbusters episode they had an experiment with 24 toothbrushes, keeping only a few outside the bathroom and the rest inside by the toilet. The results were that EVERY single toothbrush had poop particles on them, but the ones in the bathroom left on the counter were more thoroughly contaminated. To put this in perspective for any of your doubters, the average toothbrush can hold up to 10 million germs and up to trillions! That. Is. Gross. Since we had been leaving our toothbrushes just on the bathroom counter across from the toilet for quite a couple months I had a slight panic attack. Kind of like when you see a spider unexpectedly and just scream out of habit. But more like a Gladiator warrior scream. You get the picture.

The good news is that I found one after weeks of searching. I finally went into Bed Bath and Beyond (magical store right there) and found this glorious invention after some help from a clerk. After over a week of using it I can say that I rest easier when I brush my teeth now (you can't put a price on peace of mind), and I don't find stray hairs in my toothbrush anymore. Totally worth it, and it helps keep your toothbrushes more sanitary so total plus! I promise I'm not a total OCD/cleanfreak/germaphobe kind of person. But the only thing that I would love more is if they made a sanitizing toothbrush holder that is great quality, works, and isn't a fortune...but I digress.

Oxo covered toothbrush holder $19.99

Should this be on your New Year's Resolutions list? I'd hope so. Or you could just go around everyday after brushing your teeth with a poo dusted toothbrush. Nasty thought huh? Morning breath ain't got nothin' on that.

Our first big purchase

as a married couple was both exciting (we LOVE the car) and downright scary (car payment? ah!). Thank goodness we had a great salesman (go see Mike at SouthTowne VW) who talked us through the scared silly parts and got us to see that it was worth the purchase - and while I may have thought he was biased at the time - I now completely agree with him even though my heart hadn't been set on a Jetta TDI.

A little bit of background we knew for quite a few months before my parents came back from their mission that we would need to get another car because Jared was driving my parents only working vehicle while they were gone. We had discussed the need for getting a high fuel efficient car because we commute over 60 miles each day to school - yes we didn't really think that through - and we drive up to see our parents in North Salt Lake weekly as well.

So my heart was set upon a Prius which boasts 48/51 MPG and as far as I was concerned we could really use that to lower our gas costs. I did tons of research in the month leading up to my parents coming home and had found a suitable Prius with a good price. After watching Jeff Dunham's skit about Prius's - plus the fact that it isn't a manly car - Jared adamantly refused to drive it if we bought one. So I bargained I would drive it, and Jared could drive my Mazda.


Well needless to say we get to the dealership with the check in hand to pay for it, Jared test drives it and had a little bit of a freak out. I didn't understand until after test driving the Jetta TDI why he was so unhappy with the Prius. When he test drove the Prius in his mind all we would be paying for was the economic statement and an complicated battery and then besides that there was nothing special about this rather pricey car. When I stepped into the Jetta TDI I feel in love with the standard leather interior, seat warmers, automatic window controls on all the windows - not just the drivers, and tons of special safety features. And it still gets 45 MPG and even better the diesel engine is expected to go more than twice as far as a typical gas engine.

In the end I feel like we got a lot more for our money and are so happy with our choice. Even though it was really overwhelming to take on a car payment and become real adults, I wouldn't choose any other car to pay one on. Now every time we see a Prius on the road we laugh to each other that we were actually considering one.

P.S. The dogs love the new car too :)

Book review: Steve Jobs

This past trip to Hawaii I took only one book to entertain me because it had been waiting on the shelf for the last weeks of the semester waiting to be read. I'd been wanting to read it since it came out back in November.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

$18.60

Pros: Walter Isaacson portrayed the genius behind this successful company accurately but also with sentimental observance to what Steve Jobs wanted to accomplish in his lifetime that likewise each person's life is to accomplish. A change in the world that they perceive to have no control over. This book also made me feel even more firmly that Apple products are great products now that I understand the production and development process. Overall it was a good book, giving highlights and colorful stories of the background of the company.

Cons: It was a rather long book about 560 pages and at points when going in depth on the company details it got rather dull.

The biography was long but interesting reading about Apple from the beginning, and the determined, often unagreeable brains behind the operation. If you use or even have multiple Apple products I would definitely suggest this book if you have free time. And if you don't like Apple it might change the way you see this company and its purpose.

iPhone Case Review

I was originally leaning towards a case I posted about quite a while ago that CupofJo had endorsed as cute and stylish covers for her iPhone. But after reading this review I double thought that. Instead I decided to try the uncommon cases that I was finding raving reviews for.

Stability/flimsibility: extreme stability, absolutely no way this case is going to bend. Very sturdy.

Edges: curved corners, and fits flatly to the screen without any gaps.

Button spacing: the case fits correctly with all the plug-in's and buttons, however it is rather bulky and if I had big man fingers I don't know how I'd get to the buttons. Thank goodness for little womanly hands.

Image on the case: a concern I had when ordering this case was that others had given it reviews regarding the clarity and color of the image as faded and not bright. However, my case was vibrant just like the pictures and I had no issues with the coloring of the case.

Quality of the case as a whole: worth the mulla. And a huge pro is that there are actually foam inserts on the inside of the case that allow it to fit extraordinarily snug to the phone. I would definitely buy another based on the quality. The only downside was that I wanted a bright/light case to fit with the zen of my white iphone. Because the product only had pictures of the back of the case and not the front, I was unaware that the front was black with extra black accents around the case.

Uncommon Hello Birds by Valentina Ramos in 4S capsule - $40

***Since writing this review I actually full on dropped my phone-I'm talking it flying out of my hand six feet to smash into the ground-and was still perfectly fine. I'm a believer in this case because my phone hit that tile floor HARD.***