Bakuckiol The Retinol Alternative

Most of us know how important retinol is to our anti-aging skincare regime. Well, there's a new kid in town.

Bakuchiol (which is a phytoretinol) is an anti-aging ingredient derived from the leaves and seeds of the psoralea corylifolia (babchi) plant. An herb commonly used in Indian Ayurvedic and Chinese medicines, dermatologists describe it as a natural vegan alternative to retinol. It has anti-inflammatory and anti-bacterial properties to heal, calm and smooth the skin.

According to a double-blind medical study published in the British Journal of Dermatology, using bakuchiol for 12 weeks was as effective as retinol in reducing wrinkles and hyperpigmentation ... yet was milder with less irritation, so is ideal for sensitive skin and in fact, is suitable for all skin types. In other studies, bakuchiol stimulated the skin to produce collagen, as well as, increased elasticity, and improved firmness.

In comparison, retinol is used at night to avoid sun degradation and skin sensitivity. Yet unlike retinol, bakuchiol's potency is not weakened by sun exposure and it doesn't irritate or dry the skin, so can be used both during the day and at night.

How much bakuchiol is needed in face serum, lotion, cream, or oil to do its job? Choose a bakuchiol serum, etc, with between .5 - 2% concentration for visible benefits. A lightweight bakuchiol serum or lotion layers beautifully with other anti-aging products such as vitamins C and E, azelaic acid, or niacinamide in your skincare routine. Furthermore, since bakuchiol also brightens the skin, some users are replacing their vitamin C serum during the day and retinol at night with just one gentle ingredient. On the other hand, don't combine bakuchiol with glycolic acid as these two kids don't play well together. Glycolic acid degrades bakuchiol's effectiveness.

Moreover, there are a ton of bakuchiol-based beauty products on the market in all forms: face serums, lotions, creams, and oils that are very reasonably priced -- many well under $20 so what's good for our faces is also good for our wallets! Ahhh, welcome to the neighborhood, bakuchiol, you are a Savvy Shopper's dream.

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The Best Homemade Jewelry Cleaner

Photo:WeddingWire and Shutterstock 

Truthfully I rarely clean my rings, earrings, bracelets, or necklaces at home, and only once have I taken my jewelry in for a professional checkup and cleaning. Luckily, the one time I did so was right before COVID shut everything down for 2 years. Why suddenly I decided to do so is a mystery, but I'm happy I did. A designer at Effy cleaned a few pieces for me, and we ended up talking for 3 hours about jewelry and life ... in 2019 before the world paused. What a fond memory!

Don't soak pearls in soapy water, wrap them in cloth.

Having our fine jewelry checked for loose stones and professionally cleaned is an important step in keeping it maintained and sparkling. I aim to become more diligent in doing it. Experts tell us to have our fine jewelry cleaned every 6 months, and I'll shoot for at least once a year. In reality, 6 months will blaze by before I realize it has.🙂

A few good habits I've already established include always removing my jewelry (consisting mostly of rings and earrings) when showering or doing household chores, and I apply hand cream ringless. With the exception of traveling, I always remove my jewelry before bed and put it in a safe designated place so the jewelry doesn't get tangled, damaged, stolen, or lost. In fact, everything in your home should have an assigned place. (Away from home I sleep without removing my rings and earrings so I don't leave them behind.)

Now I aim to get into the habit of cleaning my jewelry at home in-between yearly professional cleanings. The following is how jewelers advise we do it ...

The Best At Home Jewelry Cleaner is none other than soapy warm water. Everything else (vinegar, alcohol, baking powder, salt, or ammonia) is potentially too harsh on gemstones.

Tools and Directions:

1) Add a few drops of Dawn dishwashing liquid into a bowl. It could be any mild dishwashing liquid, but I notice many jewelers use Dawn and therefore so will I.

2) Fill the bowel with lukewarm (not hot) water. Let your jewelry soak for a few minutes to allow the soapy water to loosen any dirt. It turns out that soap works this same way in removing all grime, whether the dirt is on your hands or on your clothes. Soap works by loosening the dirt.

3) Stroke the prongs and around the stones with a new soft bristle toothbrush. Use a new, not an old toothbrush as an old toothbrush may have toothpaste residue on it that is potentially too abrasive for many stones.

4) Rinse with clean water - Some jewelers like to use distilled water for the wash and rinse cleaning cycles of jewelry. Personally, I just use tap water. :) 

5) Dry your washed jewelry by laying on and gently rubbing with a soft cloth.

Effy designed

Extra Tips:

1) To be ultra-safe only clean your diamonds, sapphires, and rubies at home as these are your harder more durable stones. Let the professionals clean your emeralds and softer gems unless you have gemstone knowledge. Emeralds have more inclusions and are brittle and oiled, and some other stones may be sensitive to a change in hot or cold temperatures. A jeweler will know the risks of each type of gemstone and how to properly clean them without damaging the stones. So if in doubt, leave a stone out of soapy water, and don't clean with ultrasonic or steam machines! At times I'll run an emerald under warm water.

2) Diamonds ByBonneJewelry dries her diamond rings (on the right👉) with a hot blow dryer to get them to glitter by preventing water spots from forming, but since I'm not a jeweler like Bonnie I'm too chicken to use a hot blowdryer on a piece. When in doubt, leave the heat out!

3) To rinse the jewelry I hold it under the running tap water of a faucet with the sink's stopper plugging its hole in case I drop the piece. If there's any chance your jewelry will go down the drain, go a step further and get out a 2nd bowl filled with clean rinse water. Be safe, not sorry!

So what did we learn today? The best jewelry cleanser for at-home cleaning is sitting right on your kitchen sink: Dawn dishwashing liquid in lukewarm water! It lifts away dirt and safely keeps your sparklers sparkling! Additionally, buy distilled water if you wish; and if brave enough, on diamonds only, dry with a blow dryer for extra shine.

Almost everyone has a few pieces of fine jewelry ... perhaps an engagement ring, or special occasion gift. Keeping it sparkling is simple!

Except where noted, I grabbed the jewelry examples from Macy's website. You always get lovely eye candy on THE SAVVY SHOPPER. You're welcome!

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How Many Bed Sheets and Bath Towels Do You Need?

According to home organizers, a household needs 3 sheet sets and 3 towels for each person in the home. One set in use, one set clean waiting in your closet, and one set dirty waiting to be laundered. Personally, I think we can do with a mere 2 sets per person. Too often we buy more than enough when all we need is enough in home goods.

During the 32 years I've lived in a small Manhattan apartment, I normally only stock 2 sets of bedsheets, as well as, 4 bath towels and that's it. Granted I'm not raising young children; only occasionally have an overnight guest; plus tend to be neat and tidy, which certainly makes a difference. Still, I think with easy access to a washer and dryer, home dwellers who wish could omit the 3rd set of sheets or towels.

Over a period of years, minimalism saves time, space and money. It's helpful to start with your personal quirks and preferences.

Let's discuss: I buy 4 large bath towels that hang on my 2 bathroom racks but skip hand towels, and seldom bother with additional sets of either bath towels or bedsheets which would only hang out in my closets. 

I could function with only 2 bath towels, but since I have 2 bath racks, I do keep 4 bath towels out. One set never gets used, so anyone who stops by has a clean towel to dry his/her hands. Moreover, I own a stack of about 30+ wash clothes which I rotate and wash.

With my 2 sets of bedsheets, one goes on the bed and a 2nd unopened set waits on deck in the closet for the day the 1st set in use on the bed wears out. However, I do have a separate clean set of sheets to fit a futon-style couch for an overnight guest to use if visiting (it's a given you'll need a sheet set for every guest bed in your home. I also have an unopened spare set of sheets on deck for it).

Once a week, I strip my own bed of its sheets, grab the 4 big bath towels, machine wash and dry them, then put each one right back in circulation. I buy a color or pattern I like and don't tire of anything until it falls apart. I frequently clean but never rotate my towels or bedding. Perhaps I'm not a typical woman because I simply don't care enough to change the decor in my bathroom or bedroom weekly. Cleanliness, not variety is my focus.

The handtowels I don't buy.

In fact, I like the color of my bedding and bath towels this week just as much as I did last week. Sooo, after pulling them out of a hot dryer, they go right back on the bed and bathroom racks. Hey, do you know how many hours of folding laundry I've avoided over the years by keeping good quality sheets and towels in continuous use?  Time ... I can put to better use elsewhere!

Nonetheless different strokes for different folks. How mininalist are you? Do you buy multiples and often change your bedding and bathroom towels, or wash, dry, and keep them going?

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5 Reasons Not To Buy Cartier Love Bracelets

All photos: Courtesy of Cartier unless noted. I like this design because the diamonds hide scratches that show on the smooth bangles. It's also less common than the plain ones, although I approve of common when cheap. :)

The Cartier Love Bracelet was designed in 1969 by Aldo Cipullo and recently popularized by television personality and makeup entrepreneur, Kylie Jenner, who is known to stack her multiple love bracelets up and down both arms while filming her family's scripted Kardashian reality show. 

Back in 1969, the original Cartier Love Bracelet was gold-plated sterling silver selling for $250. It was a plain bangle with the familiar bolt design that came with a vermeil screwdriver to unlock the bracelet to put it on or take it off. The inspiration for the bracelet was a medieval chastity belt, and ideally, customers like Kylie Jenner are supposed to wear it (or them:), 24/7. 

Soon after promoting the bracelets, Cartier dropped sterling silver and made the bracelets out of 18-carat gold. In 1979 the retailer added diamonds to the design. Today the Cartier Love Bracelet Collection has grown to about 50 variations selling from $4,450 to $62,000 depending on the width, gold, and gemstones you buy. For unknown reasons, white gold costs more than yellow or rose gold at Cartier. The bracelets weigh between 30 grams and 38 grams. On the resale market, yellow gold retains more of its value due to its greater demand.

I won't lie ... I like the chic solid bracelet ... rose gold and sparkly 3 rows of diamonds would be my choice, yet I will never in a million years buy one. 

Here are 5 reasons why I don't think you should buy it either:

1) It's not good value for the money. You spend a huge markup to own a status bracelet. You're not paying for the value of the gold or diamonds, you pay for the Cartier name, and the concession isn't good value for the money.

2) There's nothing unique or special about the bracelet, which is often the natural criteria along with demand for driving up the price of an item. It's as if the bracelet is mass-produced! Every luxury influencer, wannabe, and Kardashian wears a Cartier Love Bracelet. You are spending a ton of money to join the flock of over consumptionairs.

3) The bangles don't stay pristine, but scratch and break easily, so you will make several trips to Cartier for repairs. After charging double-digit-thousands, why can't Cartier design bracelets that don't scratch up and locks that don't loosen or break?

4) It's a hassle to take the bracelet off and on. You'll always need the help of another person to unscrew it, not to mention, do you want to leave on an expensive piece of fine jewelry 24/7? One that scratches easily?? Really, do 'ya???

5) A slew of Cartier Love Bracelets always end up on the resale market. What does it tell you? 

Photo: Pinterest

1. Too many customers have regrets after parting with a heap of moola: The allure of owning the bracelet sometimes exceeds the love of wearing it. 

2. You need not buy a new bracelet at full price: If you must own a Cartier Love Bracelet save a few thousand bucks by perusing the reputable resale markets. 

 

Frankly, I wouldn't pay the still-inflated prices for a pre-loved Cartier Love Bracelet. But I'm a value shopper, and it's a hard habit to break. 

If a buyer were to choose a non-staus, fine jewelry bracelet, she could get an equivalent bangle (sometimes with more gold and diamonds) for less money that fewer people own, for example, the Roberto Coin Love in Verona bracelets - plain or with flower diamonds or pave diamonds. Moreover, you don't need a key to take it on and off! That said, whatever brings you happiness is not to be judged. Logic doesn't always win. Personally, I like the Cartier Love Bracelets, but think consumers can find beautiful similar pieces for significantly less. Same joy + a car ... or some retirement money.

Roberto Coin Love In Verona

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Eat Chocolate Chips To Beat Inflation

A practice of mine started off as a way to eat dark chocolate in moderation, but now that inflation is upon us, it's also a good way to save money on chocolate. I don't understand why chocolate bars in the candy aisle are $3.59+ for 5 - 6 ounces depending on the brand (how much smaller will a chocolate bar shrink?) while a 12-ounce bag of dark; semi-sweet; or milk chocolate chips in the baking aisle costs only $1.95 - $1.99 depending on the store. 

Rarely will I buy a chocolate bar, instead I stock a bag of dark chocolate chips, that I open and try to pour out a one-ounce serving as a treat. I don't always succeed, but I have a better chance of stopping with one or two pours of chocolate chips that I pop into my mouth than stopping after eating a strip of chocolate. I mean, once you unwrap a candy bar, you eat nearly the entire bar, right? We rarely stop at a square or strip of chocolate.

The brands of chocolate chips that taste as good as chocolate bars come from Aldi (dark) or Target (semi-sweet). Walmart's semi-sweet chips are good too, but just a tad below in flavor compared to Target's and Aldi's house brands.

What started off as annoyance directed at the forever shrinking chocolate bar (too costly for the puny size), as well as, portion control is also a money saver that adds up over time. And it's easy to toss a few chocolate chips (rich in flavanols like epicatechin and catechin) into plain Greek yogurt or a bowl of oatmeal for healthy eats that are low in sugar.

When economizing keep tabs on your repetitive, small purchases. Use your stash of cash😉 to pay for bigger expenses! Chocolate chips are a good deal and with inflation, let's hope they remain so.

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Homemade Window And Stainless Steel Cleaners

Photo and linked article Bob Villa - with his advice 

I'm not against using Windex to clean glass or windows, but the size of the bottle keeps shrinking, and I'm simply tired of restocking it! Sooo, I stopped buying Windex. Now I buy a 32-ounce bottle of pure ammonia. Mix it with water -- about 1 part ammonia to two parts water poured into a spray bottle -- and voilà ... use it to clean glass; mirrors; counters; sinks; sometimes a bathroom floor; other surfaces; toilet bowls (avoid pouring it in the tank since over time ammonia could damage the mechanisms inside the tank), as well as, for wiping down big and small appliances. Saves time and money with less restocking: Dilute, delete, and next!

Check out Bev's chart.

Another offering for Streak-free Window Cleaner can be made by pouring: 1 cup water, 1 cup rubbing alcohol, and 1 tablespoon of white vinegar into a spray bottle. Frankly, I don't waste my alcohol making this one since a little extra rubbing with a clean paper towel after a spritz of the ammonia and water mixture works as well ... and to my satisfaction. 

Next up: A Stainless Steel Cleaner is a tad harder to replace but not impossible. As it turns out, I find bottles of stainless steel cleaner at T.J. Maxx for $3 - $4 so continue to buy them. IMHO nothing works quite as well. What's more, making stainless steel cleaner is not a one, but two-step effort, therefore more time-consuming. In a pinch, here's how: Use white vinegar to break down grease and grime. The 5% acid in white vinegar will not hurt your stainless steel.

Repeat the spritz and wipe if needed. (There is a 6% acid white vinegar that is also safe to use if you feel like hunting for it. I'm trying to reduce not add another product and job to my cleaning routine. 5% ... sold!)

Next polish the stainless steel with food-grade oil. People commonly use olive oil, but home building expert, Bob Villa's website, says to use food-grade mineral oil to avoid the risk of the olive oil going rancid with prolonged sunlight. For sure expert advice, although I've never heard of food-grade mineral oil ... and I bet it's more expensive than my $3 Stainless Steel Cleaner, which is readymade! So in a pinch (of running out of Stainless Steel Cleaner), I would use olive oil. Shhhh, we won't tell Bob Villa!

In looking for photos after writing today's blog, I stumbled upon  Bev's The Make Your Own Zone blog, which looks awesome! Join me in checking out her website for useful tips. Like me, I bet she settles for plain ole 5% white vinegar and olive oil in her cleaners in lieu of running around town to find stuff nobody ever buys.😛

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What Gives Fancy Diamonds & Sapphires Their Colors?

A  rare blue diamond

Diamonds, the element carbon in nature, are usually thought of as clear, transparent, or white. Sapphires, corundums, or aluminum oxide, are abundantly blue in nature. Yet both precious gemstones also come in several fancy colors when trace minerals (impurities) bond within each stone's chemistry as they form over billions of years in the earth's crust. 

Have you ever wondered what gives fancy diamonds and sapphires their various colors? Since I couldn't find charts via Google searches, I created 2 charts for you below, my lovely readers, listing the mineral or impurity present in each gemstone that produces its rare color. 

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First up let's take a look at fancy diamonds --

Diamond is an allotrope (meaning it has molecular modifications) of pure Carbon

Color of Diamond	Trace Impurities or minerals causing the color
Blue	Boron
Yellow and Orange	Nitrogen The Orange weights 14.82 carats
Green	Sulfur
Purple	Has an unusually high presence of Hydrogen
Red and pink DeYoung Red Diamond	No trace elements are present. The color is caused by a distortion in the diamond's crystal lattice produced by intense heat and pressure from all directions after the stone's formation in the earth. A special configuration of molecules lets us see the stone as pink or red as light passes through it.
Black	Clouds of minute mineral inclusions such as graphite, pyrite, or hematite extend throughout the stone. In short, a black diamond is a bundle of inclusions in the stone.

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Next up is our 2nd featured gemstone fancy sapphires  --

Effy Jewelry in common blue and multi-colored sapphires

Below is our 2nd chart listing the trace minerals or impurities that give sapphires their most common and fancy colors.

Sapphire is a corundum, chemically, extremely hard aluminum oxide. Red corundum is a ruby, not a sapphire.

Color of Sapphire	Trace Impurities or minerals causing the color
Blue (the most sold)	Iron or Titanium
Green and Yellow	Iron or low-level radiation within the earth
Orange (padparadscha sapphire) The Natural Sapphire Company	A combination of chromium (red) and iron (yellow) or natural radiation
Purple and Violet	Vanadium or natural radiation
Pink	Chromium
When the corundum is red it is a ruby. All other colors of corundum except red, are sapphires.	Chromium

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Interesting fact: Red gemstones are the rarest in nature often making them the most costly. Red diamonds are extremely rare and expensive. Rubies tend to cost more than sapphires. The jewelry industry has a well-known saying about corundum, "If you're a buyer, you want to buy a sapphire, and if you're a seller you want to sell a ruby." So don't be fooled: Pink corundum is always a sapphire while red corundum is always a ruby. Take heed if a merchant is selling pink rubies!😁

What a fun Van Cleef & Arpels design with emeralds and fancy carnary yellow diamonds! We'd all be dancing if we could afford to buy it.

I hope you find my 2 charts helpful in understating what makes fancy diamonds and sapphires. Fancy is a real term in the gemology world used for the lesser-known colors of these gemstones.

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Mini Refillable Perfume Atomizer Bottle

Although I lean towards botanicals and don't spray myself with perfume often, I still recognize a clever, practical innovation when I see one. The portable Mini Refillable Perfume Atomizer Bottle is a travel tool for perfume mavens. Made of an aluminum case and with a glass interior receptacle, you hook it onto the small cylinder hose under the lifted-off nozzle of your full-sized perfume bottles to fill the mini up, then carry it with you leaving your cumbersome perfume bottles at home. Without the atomizer mechanism, it would be impossible to remove the perfume from a spray bottle. The mini travel-size atomizer bottle is a durable and leak-proof slender aluminum case. 

Since I don't own many bottles of perfume, perhaps I could fill it up with sanitizer or rubbing alcohol ... saving the costs of having to buy travel sizes. This slender spray cylinder will lighten your load on the road. Genius spray tool and a definite for perfumes!

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