Roughing It - SPA 4.0: Sugaring Putty from Scratch

Last night I had one of my legendary spa nights: hair dyeing, eyebrow trimming and armpit sugaring.

The armpits went so well that I thought I might do my legs today. I discovered I didn't have enough product left, so, being frugal, I tried making my own. I googled and went though about six recipes and three youtube vid's before I felt prepared to take the plunge. Instead of making a sugar "wax" (to spread on with a stick and rip off with a strip of fabric) I decided on Sugaring Putty, which is supposed to be thick enough to use with out fabric. I am not sure where it originated, but they do it in the Middle East.

Batch number one turned out like molasses and I had to throw it out (after spilling it all over the kitchen and my pyjamas). This is batch number two. An amber colored, sweet smelling putty. I brought 1 cup of sugar, 2 tbsp lemon juice, 2 tbsp water and a shake of sea salt to a boil over medium heat and then turned it down and simmered it for a half an hour (recipe I used here). Once it cools, its very thick - almost solid. 

Then I washed and dried my very hairy legs (see below). I put baby powder on, which is supposed to reduce the pain because it prevents the wax from sticking to your skin. 

I grabbed a walnut sized ball of putty and worked it in my hands a bit until I got used to the feel of it. It's quite sticky, so you've got to keep moving. I videoed what happened next, but I feel, upon reflection, that I should keep it to myself (...) However, I will share with you what I learned from attempts one and two: 

1.) Don't add water to the putty to 'make it less sticky' - strangely enough, the opposite will happen and you will get everything stuck to everything and end up glued to a plastic bag and your camera.

2.) Don't add baby powder to the putty to 'make it less sticky' - even more strangely enough, the opposite will happen and you will get everything stuck to everything and end up glued to a plastic bag and your camera.

Attempt number three was the golden ticket:

Basically, you rub the putty against the hair growth three times and then rip it off in the direction of the hair growth (the opposite of waxing). And to my everlasting surprise (and satisfaction) IT WORKS!!!

VERDICT: 4/5 Frugality rating!

COST: Zero dollar signs! (It cannot possibly get cheaper unless you just let the hair grow for the rest of your life!) A regular wax job is between $15 and $60 (depending on the size of the area), and a home kit of  MOOM (what I use at home) is $17. This is the cost of a cup of sugar and a bit of lemon juice, and makes enough product to do your whole body once. 

PROS: It's cheap, convenient and natural.

CONS: It's messy, slightly more painful than using my usual sugaring kit and I cannot possibly imagine using this on my bikini line (I fear I would end up gluing my va-jay-jay shut).

UNKNOWNS: How long does it last once made up? Will my next batch be a bit less sticky? 

That said, I will definitely do this regularly. It would only get a better rating if the putty was a bit easier to handle.

Detox Darling - Your Armpits Are Atrocious

I'm BAAA-aaaack! And to celebrate my re-emergence into my Frugality blogging I am starting a new string of posts on freeing your life from unnecessary exposure to harmful chemicals.  Don't cringe! I promise that it'll be simple and interesting. And without further ado:

Did you know that your deodorant has Aluminum in it?
Go ahead and check, I'll wait. It'll say something like "21% Aluminum Tetrahozide" in an inconspicuous spot.
...
Did you find it? Okay, here's why you need to know:
ALUMINUM has been linked to ALZHEIMER'S!
And might be linked to breast cancer as well. Bad news, yes?
If you don't believe me, google it. (But don't read too much. I read one site that told me to throw away every single bath and beauty item in my bathroom {doosh bags})

Anyways, back to toxic deodorant. I've known this for years, but I am a sweaty girl. And when I tried the natural (aluminum free) deodorants out there I became that most awful of awfuls: The Sweaty AND Stinky Girl. So I decided what any socially coherent single woman in her 20's would do: I decided I would take my chances with Alzheimer's.

And every time I applied my deodorant, I thought mournfully and a bit bitterly about how unkind it was of the world to foist fear mongering information on Aluminum on me without any proper alternatives. It was as though the choice was: Be stinky or die a horrible death when you are old.

And then, my Aluminum hating armpits were liberated.

I was pretending to be busy whilst surfing the net, and a found a website that swears homemade deodorant works. I admit that even though I am a super 'home-made' advocate, it had never even occurred to me that you could make something like deodorant. And even if it had, I would've thought what you are thinking now: yeah, you can make it - that doesn't mean it'll work.

But the woman swore in earnest that it would. She was so beseechingly convincing that I thought I'd give it a go.

And it works.

IT WORKS!!!

I have been using homemade deodorant for two weeks now (and for those of you local girls, you will be impressed that it has been the hottest two weeks of the year) and it works. I find that I am a little bit stinky by evening, but I was with regular deodorant too.

So, How Can YOU Detox Your Armpits?

Well, if you have a pioneering spirit, go to Crunchy Betty for some deodorant recipes, and get your goop on, or if you want something easier - I'll make you some (you have to buy it, silly). 

A Batch of Homemade Deoderant (should last roughly 2 months) for $6. You can pick your scent: Lavender or Tea Tree.

NOTE: Some women say it irritates their skin, so if you need a sensitive skin batch, I can do that too for a dollar more. 

Roughing It - SPA 3.0

Last night was SPA night, and although this may not excite you as much as it excites me, I finally found a hair dye in the right color. Nice'n'Easy 120 (Natural Dark Brown). I have tried 4 different colors the last 4 times I have done my hair, which has left me a bit mottled looking, so things are looking up from here! What is really exciting about finding a color I like is that Nice'n'Easy sells touch up kits for 2 or 3 bucks cheaper, so if I don't change my color, I save even more money when I cover up those unsightly white hairs that are sprouting like weeds all over my head.

Roughing It - SPA 2.0

(continued)

Now on to a very touchy subject for thousands of women out there who spend between $100 and $300 every 6-8 weeks.

As I mentioned before, I colored my hair last wednesday night. As in: I colored MY OWN hair by MYSELF. I understand if you are shuddering in horror. I truly get why it strikes terror into many of your hearts. Everyone knows the dangers of dying your own hair. Irregular results. Splotchy forehead. Early morning trips to the salon wearing sunglasses and a head scarf. I myself have accidentally dyed my hair black. Twice. So, it is not the naive preaching to the innocent. No. This post is a woman-to-woman, nitty-gritty, in-the-trenches of beautification type communication.

So, with that rather self important build up, what I have to say is this: If you have that much money to spend on your hair, DO IT. I envy your hair every Sunday when I ought to be setting my thoughts on God and all things Holy. Truly, your streaks are glorious and your trendy new 'do' inspires me. You are probably the woman with acrylic nails and saucy new shoes. The one who, in my heart, I secretly hope lets herself go and stops making the rest of us look so bad. But I digress.

However, for the rest of us, who really shouldn't be spending that much on the dead thing growing out of our heads, you will perhaps feel sympathetic when I tell you that I have had my hair cut twice in the 21 months. Yes. That is, to the best of my memory, one hundred percent truth. I have also colored it (at home, with a $8.49 box color) twice in that time. And that is the extent of my hair budget. So about $100 in nearly two years.

I think you will agree with me (especially if you have seen my hair at all in that time) that perhaps I have taken the money saving to an extreme and that a middle road must be found. And we both know (if you have been at ALL paying attention for the last 67 seconds) that I am definitely not the one to be trusted with finding that middle ground for me, you or anyone else. I simply want to introduce the plausibility of spending less on your perfectly dyed-streaked-trimmed-trussed-and-tousled coif.

Roughing It - SPA

Wednesday night is my alone night. Everyone has something to do, so I put baby to bed at 7 and have about 2 and a half hours of uninterrupted alone time. I often do my blogging or work on my crochet projects, but last night my eyes were sore from too much reading without my glasses on, so those things were out.

So I fell back on my fall back plan: I did one of my monthly spa nights.

Only as I was mid-pluck, did I realize that had I gone to a real salon my bill would have been at least a hundred dollars, if not closer to a hundred and fifty. So for the attractive price of about $10, I had these treatments done in my own home, at my own convenience: Hair Color, Eyebrow Shaping, Armpit waxing, a deep cleansing facial and an intensive moisture treatment on my feet. Yes. And all of this beautifying took me only an hour, because I am much more efficient than a salon.

Of course, I am aware that going to a spa is much nicer than hanging out in your own bathroom, and having someone pamper you is often nicer than pampering yourself. But when you cannot afford spa prices, here are my recommendations:

For Waxing:

A) I have a fair bit of experience with home waxing, and I recommend 'sugaring' before waxing. The sugar washes off with water (wax does NOT) and for some reason, it is less painful for me. The brand I use is called "MOOM" and you can find it at most drug stores (London Drugs, Shoppers) but not usually in your grocery store. The MOOM kit contains re-usable cloth strips, and you heat the "sugar" in hot water or the microwave. It takes a while the first time, but after you've done it once, it's much easier. The MOOM is about $16 a box and you could do your bikini line or armpits about 4 times. In a spa you could get your armpits done once for this price.

NOTE: I would only recommend home waxing if you have had a waxing treatment first with a trained technician - you know what to expect as far as the pain levels go, and you know how your skin will react to waxing.

Also, from experience, you should definitely read all of the information in the box before you trial-by-error. I did not, and suffered the consequences.

B) Although I prefer the MOOM, Nair Pretty offers pre-packaged wax strips big enough for your legs, arms, or whatever. The advantage of the Nair strips is that they are portable, you rub them between your hands to prepare them, and you throw away the mess. I used these last night on my armpits, and I would definitely purchase them again.

More to come....