You Missed a Spot is a new Spring Cleaning feature for the month of April focusing on the not so obvious places you will want to tidy up for the season! Each Thursday visit us for a new installment that goes beyond the how to’s of vacuuming, window washing and laundry!

• First check your makeup labels and look for what appears to be a small pot of makeup with the lid coming off. That little symbol will indicate how long you can use the product before needing to discard it. Inside the pot will be printed a number and then either a letter M for months or Y for years. For example, right now I am looking at an eyeshadow that shows the pot and it says 6M inside, which means this eyeshadow will last 6 months before I need to discard it. Since I purchased this last month, I have about five more months of use before I should get rid of it. Good to know!
• Powder makeup usually last about 2 years if not specified on the container itself. Make sure you use clean brushes to avoid adding new bacterial over time.
• Liquid face makeup like foundation or concealer lasts about a year, and again, if you can use fresh applicators like clean sponges, you will reduce the risk of bacteria spreading to your face. To ensure freshness of liquid makeup, keep it in the refrigerator to stay fresh!
• Lipsticks can last from 12-18 months, but a good thing about lipstick is that you can keep it in the refrigerator or put it in the freezer to kill bacteria.
• Liquid eye products like mascara or liquid eyeliner only last 2-3 months, again, keeping them stored in the fridge will help reduce bacteria, but after 3 months you need to toss it!
• Nail polish is a tricky subject because it goes on your nails, not your face so its not so much a risk for bacteria, but the sure sign that it is going bad is when you start to see the liquid separate. That goes for liquid makeup as well, separation means the makeup is breaking down and you need to toss it.  Sometimes, however, you will find that your nail polish is clumping or drying out, but there is a way to revive it. Stop at your local beauty supply store and get some nail thinner and add a few drops to your nail polish. Shake it up and it should even out the consistency of the polish so its usable again.
• Finally, another sign that your makeup has gone bad is the smell. Make sure to keep an eye, or a nose, on the odor of your makeup. A lot of times fragranced makeup won’t smell bad, but it can start to smell stale which is a sign its ready to go!

Sleep. Its something we are supposed to be spending roughly a third of our day doing, but often with our busy lives we do not. Whether you are an insomniac, suffering from circadian rhythm disorder, or just too busy for a solid eight hours, there are a few things you can do to prepare yourself for a good nights rest, refreshing your mind and body and perhaps also influencing you to stick to a regular sleep cycle.

1. Schedule your sleep

Now, this may seem a little odd, but the idea of scheduling your sleep time is very helpful for a few reasons. It forces you to look at your day and your plans and ask ‘what is a reasonable time for me to go to sleep and what is a reasonable time for me to wake up.’ Once we grow up and no longer have a set bedtime, we have no one but ourselves to make sure we are sleeping enough, so take a look at your day and your needs and set yourself that schedule for sleep for at least six hours, but 8-9 is best!

2. Give yourself a full day of activity

One of the reasons people do not get to bed at a reasonable time is because their bodies are simply not tired. Like a parent will wear out a child throughout the day so that they sleep well at night, so must you wear yourself out! If you find that you are still wide awake after being up for at least 16 hours, you may need to add more activity to your day or perhaps lay off the caffeine and sugar that could be keeping your body awake longer than it should be.

3. Set the mood in your bedroom

When you think of your bedroom, do you think of a place of peace and relaxation? Or, do you think of it as the place you eat, watch tv, maybe even work? If your bedroom does not give off the ambience of relaxation, you may need to give it a makeover. Make sure you have a comfortable mattress, seasonally appropriate sheets and bedding (i.e. warm flannel for winter months and light, breathable cotton for warmer months), and as few distractions in your room as possible. Experts say you shouldn’t have a tv and lots of gadgets in your bedroom, but I think as long as you have a place for everything and everything is in its place you can keep the tv and iPad in your room as long as you know to turn them off at bedtime!

4. Start a night time regimen

One of the reasons you may find it hard to get to sleep is that you do not have a nightly ritual that you follow each and every night that will mentally prepare you for sleepy time! Try creating a nightly to-do list of slow, relaxing things you can do to unwind before bed. Start by signing off the email and daily to-do lists mentally. Then, perhaps take a warm shower or bath to relax your body and quiet your mind. Then brush your teeth and wash your face, perhaps starting a nightly face regimen if you do not have one already. Make yourself some tea, slip into comfortable pj’s, pull your hair up into a top knot and get into bed with a good book. For some added aromatherapy, I highly suggest and adore Bath and Body Works Pillow Mists. I spray both the Stress Relief and Sleep Mists on my pillows before bed and the smell melts me into a slumber!

5. Lower the lights and relax

Its very important that your bedroom be dark or mostly dark in order for you to fall asleep and stay asleep throughout the night. When we sense light, our bodies automatically think “stay awake its day time!” The same goes with darkness, if you lay down in a dark room your body is thinking “its dark, so it must be nighttime, lets sleep!” So turn off all the lights and if you have to have a nightlight, keep it in a far corner of the room and make sure its not too bright. If you cannot make your room completely dark due to a window that perhaps opens to a street where lights are present, try getting dark or thick curtains to block out the light. If that doesn’t work use an eye mask! I also suggest eye masks for those who find that they wake up often during the night. I am definitely one of those people and I find that when I wear an eye mask to bed, I stay asleep throughout the night.

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You Missed a Spot is a new Spring Cleaning feature for the month of April focusing on the not so obvious places you will want to tidy up for the season! Each Thursday visit us for a new installment that goes beyond the how to’s of vacuuming, window washing and laundry!

{Spring Cleaning your Car}

I always find that women have the weirdest clutter in their cars. Tubes of lipstick and pallets of makeup crammed into cup holders, extra shoes and clothing decorating the floors and back seats, trunks filled with bags of items to be returned to various stores and boxes with discarded mail, not to mention the variety of catalogs and magazines and half empty coffee cups that are just there, for really, no good reason! Us ladies certainly find the most extraordinary uses for our vehicles, and I think its because we like to be prepared… for anything! A high-heel breaks at work, no problem, I have a spare pair in the car! A guy calls for a last minute date, no problem, I have some dinner clothes in a bag in the back! I ran out of the house without makeup on, not a problem because I can apply my makeup in the car on the way to work! I think you know what I am getting at and I am sure we have all been in one or all of those situations before. The other thing about ladies and their vehicles is that they are often not always clean, and I think this is because women aren't so into their cars, so they don't think about taking it to the auto wash to vacuum out the caked on eyeshadow covering their passenger seat (am I right?). So, to help a sister out, I have put together a how- to on cleaning your car, yourself, and keeping it organized and clean as part of an ongoing effort.

Step 1. Remove everything from your vehicle.

If you haven't cleaned your car out in a while, its time to do so. You won't be able to vacuum it out or properly detail it unless its empty so go ahead and take some bags out to your car and start removing everything. As you remove items, trash the trash (it should be obvious what trash is), and toss any broken makeup or melted lipsticks that really aren't useful anymore (seriously, if you liked them that much, why did you subject them to such bad living conditions as though you didn't know lipstick would melt on your dash board in direct sunlight). Obviously, anything you need, or anything not broken does not need to be trashed, but I bet the extra clothes should be washed if they have been in your vehicle for a while.

Step 2. Take your car to the local car wash.

Most towns have a car wash where you pay with quarters for foamy water and brushes and industrial strength vacuums to self clean your car. Better yet, most large towns also have drive thru car washes where they take your car and wash the exterior and interior for you and you can watch them on a conveyor belt as three men vacuum, Amor All and Windex your car inside and out. If you don't have the cash for that, definitely stop by your local gas station, as one will usually have at least those large vacuums outside for you to use for fifty cents to a dollar. Plus there are lots of household items you can use on your car, like carpet stain remover that will work on auto carpet and if you have a steam cleaner for your house you can use that on your vehicles carpets or upholstered seats as well.

Step 3. Time to organize.

Once your car is clean inside and out its time to start putting things back inside it, but you must do this with organization in mind! First, think about what you really need in your car and what you don't. Yes, having extra clothing and shoes in your car is a good idea, but lets limit how much we leave in the car and better yet, lets make sure its organized inside a travel bag so that they clothes are contained and not all over the place. If you definitely need to keep some makeup in your car, I suggest getting a decent quality makeup bag and putting inexpensive makeup items in it. You don't want to ruin a YSL lipstick, but I am sure you won't be heartbroken if a Wet & Wild melts or breaks. Better yet, try to use all liquid makeup for the car so you don't have to worry if the item melts, and that way you also avoid the issue of powered makeup making a mess of your seats and dashboard.

Step 4: Put together a car emergency kit.

I highly suggest that you also put together an emergency kit filled with everyday items you may need on the road so that you don't end up taking items from your house with you and then leaving them in the car. Fill a small travel bag with packets of tissues, hair brushes, band aids, tampons, travel sized lotion and hair sprays. If you want to see what I keep in mine for inspiration, click here. Also, if you live or travel to questionable areas, it would be good to keep some sort of weapon like a taser or at least pepper spray in your car just in case. (P.S. Learn how to use the pepper spray first and the proper places to use it- like don't spray it while your in your car because ventilation and all!)

Step 5: Get a roadside emergency kit.

One other thing that a lady should always have in her car is a roadside emergency kit. You can buy these at local auto stores or put one together yourself, but buying them at the store is generally easier and cheaper than a DIY. These roadside emergency kits will include things like jumper cables, an electronic jumper (for times when no one is around to help you, think night time on a side street), flares, a flashlight, a blanket, hand warmers, batteries, some first aid items and other useful times you wouldn't even think of needing in your car. Check the contents of the premade kit before you buy it so you know you are getting everything you may need, and compare kits because some have items that you may prefer if you are not so hands on with your vehicle.

Step 6: Check your chargers.

The last thing I suggest is to make sure you have the proper chargers for your phone, gps, and other gadgets you may need in the car. Call me a worry wort, but I am often afraid of my car breaking down and my cell phone dying all at the same time while I am alone at night in an unfamiliar area (I do a lot of driving for work and my GPS likes to get me lost sometimes so this scenario could totally happen to me). Its better to be safe than sorry, so make sure you have what you need to prevent a bad situation from getting worse.

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• Luck apparently can smell, because it happens to be attracted by strong, distinct scents. 
• Mint, ginger, pine and thyme all attract luck your way, so I suggest drinking strongly scented herbal teas and wearing a deep, musky perfume that mimics the odor of the forrest. 
• Birch, pine, elm, and other tree scents seem to have a way of bringing luck your way.

• I suggest making a nice little potpourri pocket filled with mint leaves, ginger root, paprika, thyme, and oregano and taking it to be blessed under the light of the Waxing Moon sometime in April. 
• Obviously, April is not the only time you can do this, but due to certain astrological forces, it does happen to be the best month of the year for this, however, you only have a three day window to take advantage of it! 
• Just make a little field trip to a quiet place outdoors with your scented pocket during sunset and simply wish on the Waxing Moon, asking for it to bring you whatever particular luck you are seeking. 
• Be sincere and honest with what you ask and take time to reflect. When you are done, keep your scented pocket in your room in a safe place where you can visit it daily.