Good Subs

Good Subs

In the wildly popular book 50 Shades of Grey (which I loved) the "sub club" was a group of  women with no self-esteem who got sexual gratification by being beaten up and abused.  Don't be alarmed...this column is not about submissives.  It's about seriously low priced substitutions for products you use every day!

It's hard to know which is my favorite, so perhaps I'll go in alphabetical order:

Baby Wipes - incredibly useful for removing makeup, instead of those overpriced little makeup remover wipes which can be at least twice the price.  Buy a store brand and save even more.

Baking Soda - and vinegar make an excellent drain cleaner and the kids will love the "volcano."  One cup of baking soda in the drain.  Pour 1 cup of vinegar on top and stuff a washcloth or other cover over the drain.  Then pour boiling water over it and voila!  Clear drains.  If it is stubbornly sluggish, repeat.

Coconut oil - a recent discovery w/ 1000 uses!  It is solid in the jar but melts to the touch so it is very effective as a personal lubricant.  Melt it by putting the jar in a pan of warm water and a small amount of coconut oil tames frizzy hair as well as Moroccan Oil at a fraction of the cost. Apply it to damp hair as a serious conditioner.  Use it as a massage oil.  A night eye cream.  A lip balm. Mix it with some brown sugar and use it as a body scrub.  I bought a gigundo jar of organic, virgin coconut oil at Costco and I keep discovering new ways to use it!  Let me know what you do with it.

Coconut milk - put a can ($3.79) in the refrigerator and use it to moisturize your skin.  Just a little dab 'll do ya and the smell is intoxicating!

Earring backs - take a lid from any #5 plastic container, the kind you get at the deli, and cut small squares and/or circles out of it.  Get a safety pin and punch a hole in the middle of the shapes.  You now have a lifetime supply of post or open wire pierced earring backs!  A while ago, I removed all my earring backs - which I would have eventually lost anyway - and sold them to the jeweler as scrap gold & silver.  You heard it here first!

Fabric softener - works quite well as hair conditioner!  Soft, fluffy towels in the wash turn into soft, silky hair on your head...and a gallon of fabric softener costs about as much as 10 ounces of a pro conditioner.
Try it - and let me know if you like it.

Grapeseed Oil - I have a little spray bottle of this miracle fluid in my shower.  I spray myself and spread it over my skin before I towel off.  It gives me very smooth, touchable skin and I haven't been bothered by psoriasis or dry patches since I discovered it.  Can also be used as finishing oil for your hair.

Hair conditioner - I swim a lot and was once caught in the shower w/ no hair conditioner.  I did have some skin moisturizer w/ me and on the spur of the moment and I tried it.  To my surprise, my hair came out remarkably smooth and silky!  I'm beginning to think we could reduce the number of different products we use to maintain our good looks... 

Soda Stream - this is by far and away the hands down top dog for me.  I love seltzer, and I had been dragging bottles from the store or spending a fortune to have them delivered.  Now I make my own for pennies and there's no lugging bottles to or from the store.  You buy the device which runs independently on your counter (no electricity).  The gas canister that makes the bubbles drops easily into the device & costs$19, but when you return the spent one to the store (about a year later) it gets recycled and you pay only $14 to replace it.  Then you fill the plastic bottles with tap water, pump the device until it "burps"
and you've got seltzer.  It's revolutionary and available at Target and Staples.

Timely Thrift

I am a movie freak and am lucky enough to belong to the Writers Guild of America, so I get to see a lot of free movies.  You can, too, as NYC has outdoor free movies all over the city during the summer.  Check out this list.
 Free movies in NYC!

Happy Father's Day to everyone.  Presents are nice, but I hope you will tell your Dad how much he means to you.  Isn't that what everyone really wants?

Next time, we'll talk about gifts.  You don't have to spent a fortune to make someone happy.  I have some great ideas on how to give the best gifts in the world.

As always, I would love to hear from you.  Please sign up and leave a comment on the blog.  Thank you!

Keep calm & carry on....Lori Bores

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