CasaSugar

Casa Quickie: Herbal Carpet Cleaning

CasaSugar — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 07:00:00 -0800

If your house is smelling a little stale due to dry Winter air, try this tip. To make your whole house smell amazing, sprinkle dried lavender on your carpet before vacuuming. When you vacuum your carpets, the lavender scent will spread throughout your entire home. This is an especially good tip for anyone who lives with pets, since the lavender scent counteracts any dog- or cat-related smells in the house.

Source

In the News: Rammed Earth Construction Gets Updated

CasaSugar — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 11:15:52 -0800

From adobe to cob masonry, people all over the world have built with earthen materials to create their homes. Now, one form of earth building - rammed earth - has been given a technological update. In the San Francisco Chronicle article "Sonoma Couple's House Shows Mexican influence," husband and wife Bruce Needleman and Edna Hayes recount the process of building their beautiful earthen home.

The rammed earth building technique, which entails pounding layers of soil, mixed with a small amount of cement, into molds, has been around for literally thousands of years: Pliny, who wrote before the Common Era, recounts Hannibal seeing rammed earth towers in Spain. However, this ancient building technique is perfectly at home in the modern world.

To find out how the Hayes-Needleman's home used an update of rammed earth, read more.

The Hayes-Needleman house used an update of rammed earth developed by David Easton. This technique is called PISÉ, or Pneumatically Impacted Stabilized Earth. PISÉ utilizes a new type of mold, which is a quick-lock form that cuts down the time needed for the building process. In PISÉ, a cement, water, and earth mixture is sprayed through hoses into the forms, and a wall of two- to three-feet high can be constructed in about an hour.

The Hayes-Needleman's house, which utilized this method, is a gorgeous, Mexican-influenced 3,600-square-foot house. It features terracotta roof tiles, lavender and cacti landscaping, a tranquil pool and courtyard, and two-foot-thick walls that make heating and cooling the house a breeze. In fact, even in hot Sonoma county, this house doesn't require air conditioning. Read the entire article to find out more.

Source

View 3 Photos ›

Recipe For Clean: Furniture Polish

CasaSugar — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 09:00:23 -0700

Have you assembled your home cleaning kit yet? If you have, you're in luck, because I have a great Recipe For Clean for furniture polish. Use it to get your home so fresh and so clean.

Supplies

4 oz. oil (2 1/2 ounces olive oil or jojoba, 1 1/2 ounces coconut oil)
1 oz. beeswax
1 oz. carnauba wax
4 oz. distilled water
double boiler
hand mixer

To find out the steps for this DIY, just read more.

Melt the oils and waxes in a double boiler over medium heat.
Remove from heat, pour in water, and mix with a hand mixer until thick and creamy.
Dab some cream onto a soft cotton rag and rub into the furniture.
Buff and polish until the oils are well worked into the wood.

This polish has a shelf life of six months to a year.

Source

Round-up: Natural Air Fresheners For Your Home

CasaSugar — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 13:00:40 -0800

Got a stinky smell in your home? You might want to pause before turning to that can of synthetic air freshener.

Did you know that most synthetic air fresheners - such as Lysol - do little to nothing to freshen the air? Instead, these chemical-laden products simply add more pollutants to your home when you spray them around your living room or bathroom. So, instead of making a bad situation worse, combat unpleasant smells with something that is derived from natural ingredients and won't detract from your home's indoor air quality. Take a look at the widget below for some of my favorite natural air fresheners.

Source

Beauty Byte: Burt's Bees Wants to Regulate "Natural" Beauty Products

BellaSugar — Fri, 11 May 2007 11:31:48 -0700

I have always liked Burt's Bees products, but now I have an even better reason to admire the brand. According to Women's Wear Daily, Burt's CMO Michael Indursky wants to lead an effort to regulate the so-called natural-beauty industry.

While shoppers are increasingly drawn to natural and organic beauty products, there is very little regulation of the category. In fact, Indursky's first step will be coming up with an official definition of what "natural" means. According to WWD:

"A natural product should not have parabens, any synthetic preservatives, sulfates, animal products or anything with suspected potential human health risk," Indursky said.

He said he was looking to apply the definition to items that contain 95 percent natural ingredients.

Ideally, if products didn't meet that qualification, says Indursky, they would not be allowed to use the word "natural" in their names. Products that did meet the requirements would get a special insignia.

I, for one, think this is a great idea. It's unbelievable to me how many products marketed as "natural" or "organic" are packed with chemicals. After all, just because a lotion contains herbal extracts does not make it natural. It sounds like a massive undertaking, but I'm glad that Burt's Indursky is taking it on.

Source

Taste Test: Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters

YumSugar — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 15:00:50 -0700

Last week, my desk was covered with bags of Cape Cod Popcorn. This week, it was another comforting snack - pouches of Granola Nut Clusters, a new item from granola bar pioneer Nature Valley. The product, which is offered in four different flavors, comes in 5-ounce resealable bags for a reasonable price ($3.79). But were the nut clusters everything they'd been cracked up to be? The final answer is after the jump

Product of the Day: Nature Calls Toilet Deodorizer Drops

GiggleSugar — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 10:00:00 -0700

I'm not that puzzled that there's a product called Nature Calls Toilet Deodorizer Drops ("anti-poo magic!") that if you put in your toilet water "prior to doing your business" it will "obliterate all unpleasant odor." What puzzles me is that it's being sold on Urban Outfitters' online store. Is this really the brand synergy you guys wanna get going? Hip clothes, furniture. . .and poop deodorizer?

Source

Do You Use Your Baby's Products?

babysugar — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 04:00:41 -0700

Babies' changing tables are filled with a boatload of products to keep them soft, dry, and smelling like, well, a baby. The products may be designed to be gentle on a lil one's delicate skin, but there are no laws preventing mama from swiping a bit for her own use.

When my tot was diagnosed with a bad case of eczema, the doctor recommended coating him in Aquaphor at every diaper change until we got the scaly patches under control. In the process of creating my lil greaseball, my hands benefited from the super moisturizing power of the miracle product. A tube of the stuff now sits next to my kitchen sink for post-dishwashing hand care. A friend told me that she uses her daughter's shampoo to clean her makeup brushes, saying that the all-natural formulation makes her feel better than what the department stores sell.

Do you borrow your child's products for your own use?

A Look at Who's Shopping Wal-Mart's Beauty Aisles

BellaSugar — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 14:00:38 -0700

Wal-Mart is already a go-to spot for a lot of household goods, but one study suggests it may be taking a bigger role in the world of beauty. WWD reports on a new study by researching firm The Benchmarking Company, which surveyed more than 2,300 women to gauge their opinions of the store's beauty shopping experience.

Among the findings: 73 percent of the participants shop for personal care products at Wal-Mart, and more than half do so because of low prices. Olay, Cover Girl, Suave, and Maybelline are some of the more popular brands among these shoppers. One beauty genre, however, isn't doing so well at Wally World. The study shows that shoppers are "confused" by natural and organic products, and 70 percent refuse to pay more for them. Why does this matter for beauty brands? Because 200 million people shop at Wal-Mart each week. Are you one of them, and do you stock up on your grooming essentials there?

There's Oil in Them Thar Skin Care!

BellaSugar — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 06:00:51 -0700

Putting oil on your skin might seem daft, but it is not always so. It all depends on what type of oil you choose and what kind of complexion you have. Dry skin? Oil can help perk up dehydrated complexions, especially after months of suffering in cold weather. And while it's wise to check for comedogenic ingredients in general, even acne-prone skin can benefit from certain oils.

The biggest obstacle is getting over the idea of putting it on your face. Fortunately, you need only a few drops to cover all of your face. The idea is to warm the oil with your fingers, gently press it into skin, and if you wish to follow with a regular moisturizer, you can. (I find that I don't need one, though.)

I've been trying out more oils than an Exxon speculator lately, so for a roundup of mini-reviews, read more.