Among My Favorite Leggings Are Old Navy’s PowerSoft

Over the years I’ve compiled 2 Best Leggings Roundups. Apparel gets discontinued, and yet my October 14, 2021 blog is still relevent. The leggings on that list are available and haven’t changed much. With Black Friday approaching I'll add another leggings option to grab on promotion. I know Old Navy well enough to know they'll go on sale for 50% off at under $20 a pair! Black Friday is always a best day to save on basics.

There are variations in style such as leg length and pockets or no pockets. This style even comes in a pair of shorts. I buy the High-Waisted PowerSoft Full-Length Pocket Leggings - The PowerSoft material is a light compression, smooth, sweat-wicking fabric. They never feel rough or stratchy on my skin. They have an attractive, snug, yet not too tight fit. Yes, you  can buy them without pockets, but why would you? The pockets don’t take away from a smooth appearance. I slide my apartment keys inside to go down to my mailbox hands-free. I also machine wash these PowerSoft leggings, but tend to hang dry them. 

For a polished casual-smart look, pair them with a t-shirt and cardigan or blazer. You never have to look sloppy even when just hanging around the house. Stock up! You’re wear them 3/4 of the year.

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What Makes Grade 1 Soap Long Lasting?

Today I’ll share a pet peeve of mine. It drives me crazy and over the years I’ve gotten less tolerate of it!

I love the smell of both Dove and Ivory soaps, two drugstore brands, but I stopped buying both of them because they are not long lasting. Both brands crack, split, or turn into a gooey mess before I finish the bars, untidiness I wish to avoid! I haven’t studied these two specific soaps but here are 5 factors that make splitting and cracking more likely: 

1. Freshly cut cold-process soap cured less than 4–6 weeks.
2. High-water content recipes or soft oils (like high olive oil without enough hard oils).
3. High glycerin content or use of humectants.
4. Rapid drying (high heat, low humidity) that creates a brittle skin.
5. Poorly mixed batter or air bubbles left in molds.

I don’t know why Dove and Ivory soaps split, crack or become muck, but I no longer want to deal with it! So what should we look for instead?

Longer lasting harder bars of soap have a high content of hard oils like coconut oil, palm oil, or shea butter and a high percentage of saturated fatty acids like palmitic and stearic acid -- the latter added to increase the bars hardness and durability. Soaps that undergo a longer cure time will last longer. Also the Total Fatty Matter (TFM) makes a difference. Grade 1 soaps have 75% or higher TFM.

Look for Triple Milled Soap. By definition, it is premium long leasting soap (often French, British or Australian). Triple-milled soap is made by passing the soap mixture through steel rollers three times, a process that removes excess water and air to create a dense, smooth, and long-lasting bar.

IMHO, grade 1 soap makes a fabulous gift! It’s an essential we use all day every day! Chagrin Valley Soap and Salve makes fancy grade 1 soaps for a Christmas stocking. 

Still Triple Milled Soap need not be expensive! You often find them for less at health food stores, T.J. Maxx, and European styled drugstores. Kiss the gooey messes goodbye!!🧼

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Bakeup Beauty

Bakeup Beauty is a brand started by celebrity makeup artist, Jo Baker. She sells an edit of 12 high performing staples she says we can’t live without. According to Jo Baker, "Makeup should take no longer than five minutes. It should perform, last, and make you feel like yourself - just with a bit more confidence.” Yes, I agree!

When you have a celebrity following it puts your company on the map! So what are those 12 beauty essentials? I’m linking them up here so you can check them out. Featured in Vogue, People, Vanity Fair, Harper’s Bazaar and Instyle magazines, the colors remind me of a youthful California girl look.

So here’s what I’d buy. The neutral hues eye palette called Desert Road Trip - Micro Palm. Unlike foundation or cover stick, eye shadow is a cosmetic item you can either splurge or save on when purchasing. Makeup artists recommend having one expensive palette with staying power so you don’t have to reapply the shadows as often, but for trendy colors the less expensive palettes are fine too.

Once you are introduced to various beauty brands, you can watch for deals, and when you stumble upon one, you’ll know whether to snatch the products up!

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The Best Sizes of Food Containers

Bormioli Rocco Quattro Stagioni Glass Milk Bottle 33.75 Ounce/1 Liter with Airtight Lid

In recent years I’ve become super orgainized. I tend to buy larger sizes of foods you might consider staples such as 4 lbs - 5 lbs of flour, sugar, dried legumes and sometimes pasta. I dislike having a job before starting a job, so having a little extra in storage containers means I can decide to make bean, lentil or pea soup without having to go to the supermarket. The same with baking, I never lack the flour or sugar to make pizza dough or a coffee cake if I get a craving or a visitor.

The 3 most useful shapes and sizes of food storage containers that fit most compactly into a pantry, refrigerator or freezer may surprise you!

1) 1 liter sized glass milk bottles - I discovered Bormili Rocco Quattro Stagioni Glass Milk Bottles with airtight lids at T.J. Maxx. Initionally, I only used them to store milk, eggnog, juice, Kombucha, i.e., liquids. But the mouth is wide enough for dried beans, peas, lentils and many pastas, and they take up less space than 32 oz canning jars, which are another great type of food storage containers. Had I considered compactness though, I’d have bought more of these than canning jars. The milk bottles are more versatile and can be lined up side by side inside a cupboard. 

2) Large (about 1 gallon) rectangle storage containers - They fit enough potato salad, cole slaw, guacamole or slices of an entire coffee cake to feed a family, but take up less room in your refrigerator or freezer than round or oval shaped contrainers. You could invest in glass or hardy plastic, but the takealong lighter plastic ones hold up surprisingly well for less moola.

3) Half cup Rubbermaid containers - When I got 8 of these as part of a set I thought it was a ripoff, but you’d be amazed at how many times they are the right size for condiments or leftovers. They also stack and snap together which is a useful space-saving function.

After I pack leftovers from a home cooked meal, I always think one day someone will design a more storeage efficient refrigerator! I notice flatter rectangles that hold a good portion of food fit better inside a refrigerator than round containers. When you get the black bottom containers or the plastic round ones for free with other food you buy, reuse them as they’re great for leftover soup or beef stew. 

Today I’d always aim to get shallow rectangle-shaped containers as the best space-savers for storage. You can stack them up!

Like-foods organized in (too thin for shoes but just right for a freezer) plastic shoe boxes bought at Walmart

If you’d like to add other space-saving-tips or brands for storing food in a cupboard, pantry, refrigerator or freezer, please comment.

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The 3 Other Precious Gemstones In The Raw

Recently I wrote a blog about raw rubies before they are cut, polished and turned into jewelry. Today I’m posting images of the 3 other precious gemstones in the raw. When we visualize gemstones, mostly we see them as the sparklers they become after craftsmen and jewelers get their hands on them like the above Harry Winston diamond ring. Not how them start or grow in nature, but how they are finished, right? So let's look at a few images of gemstones as they are found in nature.

I. Diamonds are a single element. Formula: C. A diamond is an allotrope of the element carbon. Its structure is a rigid three-dimensional lattice where each carbon atom is bonded to four other carbon atoms in a tetrahedral arrangement. A diamond’s atoms are arranged in a crystal structure called a diamond cubic. The gemstone rates a 10 on Mohs Hardness Scale. BTW: Graphite, charcoal, and diamond are all allotropes of the element carbon.

⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧

The Aga Khan Emerald brooch and the Chalk Emerald ring

II. Emeralds - are beryls, a mineral. Its formula, Be3Al2(SiO3)6, is colored green by trace amounts of chromium or sometimes vanadium. On Mohs Hardness Scale emeralds rate an 8. They were formed under the most violent of geologic conditions, which is why less than 1% of the world’s emeralds are eye clean. Unlike diamonds, inclusions and surface breaking fissures called  jardins are common and accepted in emerads. 

⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧ ๋࣭ ⭑✧⋆ ๋࣭ ⭑✧

The Swedish royal family's Leuchtenberg Sapphire tiara and an unheated Kashmir 9.38 sapphire ring sold by Christie’s

III. Sapphires - are a variety of the mineral corundum. Its formula, α-Al2O3 consists of the elements aluminum oxide with trace amounts of iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. Sapphires register a 9 on Mohs Hardness scale. Blue is the most in demand color. When sapphires are yellow, orange, purple, pink, or green they are called fancy sapphires. When corundrms are red, they are rubies, not sapphires.

Gemstones take millions of years for the Earth to produce, or nowadays they can be grown in a lab, but it takes the artistry of human hands to turn these majestic crystals, beryls, and corundums into gorgeous pieces of jewelry. The next time you see a gemstone think of its journey and how many hands went into crafting it into a thing of beauty.

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T.J. Maxx Is the Best Retailer For Beauty Products

Korean beauty, Azure, is a top-notch retinol cream. 

T.J. Maxx’s beauty department rocks! It’s buyers find top-notch makeup, skincare and hair care from all over the world. In its aisles, the Korean, Japanese, French, Italian, German, Australian, organic, niche and luxury markets are well represented with beauty products for less than their full retail prices.

Because of the redutions T.J. Maxx must be discreet about the brand names that end up on its shelves. You cannot find brand names online via T.J Maxx’s search box. But I think it’s a great opportunity for brands to pick up new customers who are  first enticed to try them for less.

The quality, quantity and cost of a variety of personal care products are unbeatable. I haven’t bought cosmetics, skincare, or hair products at major department stores in years because I haven’t had to with such a wide array of awesome international beauty and luxury brands at T.J. Maxx. It's fun browsing the myriad of offerings and discovering new beauty products you wouldn’t otherwise try or even know about.   

At bargain prices customers can afford to up their beauty routines, as well as, take a few risks trying new products along with tried-and-true essentials. Think of it as an education without breaking the bank! You never know what stellar beauty surprises you’ll see on a trip to the retailer.  I’ll add links below of some of the T. J. Maxx beauty finds I highly recommend!

As a kit, $16 bucks for both, full-sizes

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