How to wash your hair with baking soda & vinegar

I've been wanting to share this for a long time.  In my hippie quest to banish nasty chemicals from my life I decided it was time to break up with my $50+ bottles of shampoo from the hairdressers. For years I had fallen for all the traps... more shine, more bounce, more length, less frizz, less curl etc, etc, etc.  

"It's not bloody working, what's wrong with me?", I would moan to my hairdresser.

"Give it time", my hairdresser would say soothingly. "Do you double shampoo?  You must always double shampoo!  Once to get the oils out and once to really clean your hair".

And so I bought more designer shampoo, and washed my hair more rigorously.  Eventually my hair was getting so greasy that I practically had to wash it every day.  Disaster!

Bugger this I thought, I'm quitting, I'm going cold turkey on the shampoo.  And then the night before my last foamy head massage I read an article on washing your hair with baking soda and vinegar.   I was skeptical of course, and more than a little worried about smelling like salad dressing for the day.  It certainly didn't feel terribly luxuries in the shower but the result amazed me.  My hair was not only clean but in no time at all the grease was so much better that I only had to go through the process a couple of times a week.  Best of all what used to be a $50+ habit turned into a mere few dollars a month.  As for my hairdresser, she shook her head in disbelief!

What you need:

 Baking soda

Apple cider vinegar/ water (you want to fill your spray bottle with a 50/50 ratio)

Spray bottle

What you do*:Wet your hair in the shower.  Take a cap full of baking powder (I keep mine in a water tight jar on the shower ledge) and massage it into your scalp.  If you have a lot of hair like I do you may need to use a little more.  Then generously spray your whole head with the vinegar/ water solution.  Leave the whole concoction in your hair for a good few minutes while you get on with shaving your legs, brushing your teeth or doing whatever else it is you do in there.  When your time is up you simply give your hair a good rinse.  And don't worry, that salad dressing smell doesn't linger.  Ta da, you're all done!  

*Oops somebody reminded me of a missed step.  It helps if you turn the baking soda into a bit of a paste before applying it.  I do this by just adding a little water in with the baking soda while I'm in the shower.  

If you find that your hair is a little dry you can always put a little coconut oil into the ends.  I found mine struggled a bit because of breastfeeding, so would occasionally put a conditioner treatment in afterwards.

Other uses for baking soda and vinegar:

Wow the possibilities are endless!  I mean you actually start realising that these are the only two ingredients you need in your bathroom cabinet AND laundry cupboard.

- Exfoliating

- Deodorising

- Oven cleaning

- Scrubbing showers etc

- Cleaning carpet

- Removing candle wax

Ah the list goes on.  Basically the uses are endless.

Anyway I hope that helps for all those that have asked me. xx

Sometimes you just have to ask (starting from the top)

 Source

I'm a pretty shy person.  You won't generally see me striking up conversation with strangers at a party, it takes me quite a long time to feel comfortable around new friends and I don't much like being the centre of attention.  However, I am terribly curious!  If there's something I'm interested in, I have to find out every little detail about it (a typical SCANNER trait).  I used to spend a lot of time getting books out at the library and/ or browsing the internet for more information, until my grandfather said something brilliant one day,
"If you're interested in something, go and find the person whose work you admire the most or is the best in their field and contact them.  Everybody, no matter how big or small, loves to talk about themselves!".
That was a real light-bulb moment for me.  For once my curiosity overwhelmed my shyness and I haven't held back since. 

I would hunt down the email address (which in this day and age takes about 5 minutes on the internet) of whoever I was curious about, write to them introducing myself and letting them know that I admired their work, and then I simply ask if they would be interested in meeting up for a coffee and a chat.  Sounds like asking a stranger out on an awkward date doesn't it!  People are generally so flattered that you are taking an interest in them and their work that they almost always say yes.  As a result I have had the the opportunity to meet stylists, writers, interior decorators, museum curators, shop owners and all sorts of other crazy professionals.  What better way to find out more about a particular industry and career than to go straight to the source!  I have ended up with many job opportunities this way, have made further contacts and even had some friendships spring from these meetings. On the other hand it as also been a good way to figure out which jobs are not for me, and it didn't take me years of studying to realise it!

The thing is that these people have nothing to loose by taking half an hour out of their day to have a chat with you.  You aren't asking them for a job, you don't want money or product from them, you're really just asking that they share a bit of their knowledge.  In my experience it is also best to start with the people who are at the top of their game and then work your way down from there.  Those that are still trying to make it themselves (a) don't necessarily know as much yet, and (b) may see you as competition and are much more guarded about their work.  It's also a good idea to have some questions already prepared (even if it's just mentally) so that you're not wasting their precious time with awkward silences!  And lastly, hold onto their details!  I don't know about the rest of the world but here it's all about who you know.  As sad as it is, being able to name drop or fall back on this person for further contacts can be invaluable.

So now I'm curious about you, have you contacted people before just because you thought they seemed interesting? 
x

Working from home

 Source

It has been nearly a year and a half now since I left my job and started working for myself at home.  My 'office' became the kitchen table and my view was a beautiful garden surrounded in bush and a little view out to sea.  I think like most people I started out with the assumption that working from home would be like a permanent holiday.  I would set my own hours, spend days in my pyjamas if I felt like it and never spend another early morning crawling through traffic on the motorway.  And yes while some of these points are exactly like this, I also discovered that working from home creates a whole new set of hurdles!

Time management 

Time management is so crucial to your productivity and has to be established from day one.  In order to run a smooth operation you need to figure out a few key aspects;

1.  Decide when you are most productive.  Are you an early riser?  Do you prefer to ease your way into the day over a late morning cup of coffee?  Or does your mind kick into action once the sun has gone down and everybody else is in bed?  The beauty of working from home is that you get to choose your hours, the difficulty is sticking to them!

2.  Set your hours.  How many hours do you need to work in a day to stay on top of your workload?  You may find that you don't need to put in eight hours a day.  Often you can be a whole lot more productive in four hours of solid concentrated work than you are in eight distracted hours.

3.  Learn how to switch off!  This can be really hard to do when your office is just in the next room but for the sake of your sanity you must not blur the lines between work time and home time.  Set yourself a time when you switch off your computer, put away your notes and dedicate your attention to friends and family.

Create a space 

In order to 'get in the zone' you need to figure out where you work best.  Ideally of course you would have a spare room in the house that you could convert into an office.  Sometimes though this isn't an option.  It didn't take me long to realise that working at the kitchen table wasn't really ideal.  I happen to work best when I have a buzz of people and background noise around me.  So every now and then I grab my red notebook and head to the local cafe for a coffee and good writing session.  The point I am trying to make here is that there are no rules, you just need to figure out what works best for you.

Leave the house everyday  

When you work from home it is easy to find yourself spending an entire day (or two) locked up inside, and before you know it you haven't felt the sun on your face or had a real conversation all day.  For sanity sake you need to get out of the house at least once a day.  Take the dog for a walk, wander down to your local cafe or hit the gym.  Not only will that save you from become a socially challenged hermit but you'll find that it refreshes you and does wonders for your productivity. 

Social media discipline

Oh has there ever been a better procrastination tool?!  Whilst the likes of Facebook, Twitter and blogs are brilliant for marketing and communication, they are also major time leeches.  In order to get a handle on this addiction I have found a few things useful;

1. I spend about an hour in the morning whilst having my breakfast catching up on blogs etc.  Then I try not to look at them again until I have finished my work in the afternoon.

2. When possible I like to write my drafts with pen and paper so that I am nowhere near my computer!

3. Turn the internet off at the wall  if you don't need it!  That way you can still work without all that temptation.

Get dressed everyday

Sounds like slightly silly advice I know, but it's so important as part of your daily routine.  When you're home alone all day it's easy not to get dressed, brush your hair, wash your face etc.  However for many of us it is an important part of signalling the beginning of the work day.  This is also another reason why leaving the house once a day is a great idea, because you have to make yourself presentable to the world!

Give yourself a holiday
I know it's difficult!  Especially when you're a freelancer and not working simply means not being paid.  Even YOU deserve a break every now and then though.  If you're life is all work and no play then you're  eventually going to burn out and be forced to take time off.  My suggestion would be to set a little bit of money aside from each job (no matter how big or small) and put it into a holiday fund.  You'll be surprised how fast it adds up and before you know it you'll be lying on a beach in Fiji thinking about nothing other than when to have your next swim.  

Love what you do and you'll never work a day in your life

I hope that was a little bit helpful to anybody starting out or thinking about working from home.  

x

 

How to get musty odors out of vintage clothing

 I don't know about you, but I absolutely despise that old, musty op shop smell.  And it gets a lot worse when you have a whole room jam packed full of vintage treasures that are waiting to be washed.  So anyway today I did some research and discovered the technique used by the Mad Men wardrobe to keep their vintage smelling fresh.  Here's what you do...

 - Fill a spray bottle with one part vodka and two parts water
- Give it a shake
- Take your clothing outside and lightly spray it
- Give it some time to dry and air out
- I then turned heavy coats inside out and sprayed them on the inside too
- Ta da... no more stinky second hand store smells!
I was really astounded by how well it worked, the odors had completely disappeared and the clothes were as good as new again.  Because ermmm I have rather too many clothes in my personal wardrobe, I will pack away my summer/ winter things depending on what season it is.  Even though I always make sure I have washed them before they get packed away, they still end up musty after sitting in an old suitcase for 6 months.  So I'm definitely going to be using this on all my other clothes as well!
x