How To Refinish Antique Furniture Without Harmful Chemicals

If you’re the type that loves going antiquing and finding those unique and special pieces, then you also know how important it is to be able to refinish them in a way that isn’t harmful to the pieces. Many of today's paints and stains can be quite harsh and even end up damaging walls, floors, decks, and furniture thanks to the chemicals in them. So is it possible to refinish antiques without the use of harmful chemicals? Let’s take a closer look.

Look for Environmentally-Friendly Products

One of the tips you can use when shopping for products that won’t harm your antiques is to look for paint and stains that are environmentally-friendly and organic. Granted, these won’t be easy to find because most companies fill their products with paint thinner, mineral spirits, and chemicals. One company that is really standing out in terms of these environmentally-friendly options is Real Milk Paint Co.

Real Milk Paint uses its very own formula that is environmentally-friendly and uses only organic materials. This means you don't have to worry about anything toxic in the paint. The products contain ingredients such as lime, purified casein, a citrus solvent, and more.

These products are meant to be used on walls, floors, decks, and antique furniture where you don't want to take a chance ruining it, but you still want to see fabulous results. There is nothing toxic about their products, which for many people is a top priority nowadays. You can click to learn about Real Milk Paint Co. and their various products.

No Need to Be a Pro

Because you aren’t planning to use chemicals, you can relax and not worry so much about the process. Refinishing antiques isn’t just for professionals; anyone can tackle it as a DIY project. The key is to give yourself plenty of time to finish the project, ask for help when needed, and do your research before you get started.

Ideally, you want to look at the refinishing project as more of a hobby than a chore. Who knows, you may end up being really good at it and want to try a whole bunch more refinishing projects. There are even processes that not only cut out the chemical strippers but the sanding as well. This is a real win-win!

Practice Makes Perfect

Another tip you can use is to practice on scrap pieces of wood before you tackle the actual piece of furniture you want to refinish. This can take a lot of stress out of the project. If you don’t practice first, then your antique item will become your practice piece.

Garage sales can be a great place to pick up cheap pieces of furniture that are beaten up and seen better days. These can make for excellent practice projects while you get to know the process.

Create a Stunning Piece You Can Show Off

Refinishing a piece of furniture isn’t just a satisfying thing to do; it allows you to customize an item and then show off all your hard work.

Tips To Help You Choose The Right Retirement Community

Retirement communities are more popular than ever. Accommodation is often designed to be senior friendly, with single level living spaces, easy to use bathrooms, and kitchens with low wall cabinets and pull out racks.

In addition to senior friendly accommodation, retirement communities provide much needed social contact and offer a secure place to live, with cleaning services and on-site recreation.

With so many wonderful retirement communities out there, choosing the perfect spot for your new home can be quite difficult, so be sure to make use of the following tips to help you decide.

Know the Difference between Assisted Living and Independent Living Communities

Independent living communities are designed for active seniors who can take care of themselves. Residents live in separate houses or apartments and benefit from communal spaces, recreational facilities, on-site security and housekeeping, and meal preparation services.

Assisted living communities cater for seniors who need more help managing their day-to-day lives. Apartments make up the bulk of assisted living accommodation and these may not come with their own kitchens.  Assistance is provided to help residents wash and dress, do laundry, eat meals, and take medications.

Assisted living and independent living communities may offer nursing support, but they aren’t nursing homes.

Choose a Community That Can Adapt to Your Changing Needs

Moving to an independent community isn’t as simple as making a move to a new home in your neighborhood. While appealing accommodation will obviously be a big factor in your choice of community, you also need to make sure that your community can cater to your needs if the day arrives when you can no longer take care of yourself.

If you choose to live in a community that doesn’t offer skilled nursing care to residents you may well have to pack up and move again at a time in your life when moving to a new home is the last thing that you want to do.

Communities like the Riddle Village continuing care retirement community in Pennsylvania provide independent living facilities for active seniors, but they also supply nursing care should you need it.

Choose a Community That Fits Your Values

In recent years, some retirement communities have chosen to cater to residents with certain lifestyles. You can find communities that put a strong emphasis on sustainable development and green living, communities that cater to the LGBT community, as well as those that meet the needs of religious groups.

If you’ve got values that you hold dear, take a look to see if there's a retirement community that ticks those boxes.

Make Sure There Are No Hidden Costs

Avoid unwelcome surprises by double checking the services included in your monthly fee. Some communities charge a higher fee but include all of the services you’ll need, while others charge a lower fee with add on charges for the services that you use.

Add on fees can cover services like housekeeping, meal preparation, transport, and use of recreational facilities.

Conducting thorough research before you choose a community will ensure that life in your new home goes smoothly and leaves you free to enjoy all that the community has to offer.

Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush In Fetish Review and Swatches

My blog buddy Ashley of Ashley Sue Makeup, sent me a lovely parcel of gifts in 2015. One of the items was Urban Decay's Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in Fetish. Ashley & I love the same shades of blush. We're always laughing about it! Well in 2015 I started remodeling my home. I was going to do 1-3 rooms, but ended up doing the entire house ;) So I packed up a lot of my makeup and pretty much only reviewed anything new that came in. So that's why you've been seeing a mix of both older & newer makeup reviews. By the end of May, I should be done reviewing all the past stuff. Well anyway, my delay is your GAIN! This blush is now ON SALE! It's an excellent blush! It's MATTE! I'm not sure if you are aware, but Urban Decay's Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush also offers SHIMMER shades. According to UD, this blush is suppose to give you a "sexy, lit from within ... like the lingering effects of a romantic rendezvous." Well! LOL I will say, it gives a lovely effect. This color is very soft & natural looking. It stayed on my face all day. It blended great with my makeup. This is just a superb everyday blush. Very fresh! I love it and I'm so happy Ashley sent it to me. I paired this blush with Urban Decay's Lip Gloss in LIAR. I thought it complimented it. This blush runs $26. Both ULTA & BELK ($15.60) and MACY's ($23.40) have some of the colors on sale. All the shades are available on Urban Decay's website, but they were full price. But catch an UD sale, if you're interested.

FYI This weekend I will have two sponsored posts. I accept these every now & then to defray costs of giveaways & shipping etc. They're usually very interesting topics. Have a great weekend everybody!

 Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet

supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff) 
  Urban Decay Afterglow 8-Hour Powder Blush in Fetish is Supersweet

Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Luminous Blush in Blushed Copper Review and Swatches

Despite having dry skin, whenever I see words like "shimmery" or "luminous" I get a little nervous. Nobody wants to look like a disco ball. I've always gravitated towards matte blushes. Whenever I saw a sparkly blush, I stayed away. So when Becca came out with six (6) Shimmering Skin Perfector Luminous Blushes last year, I was like PUMP THE BRAKES...STOP...REALLY...THESE ARE BLUSHES AND NOT HIGHLIGHTERS!?! OK! The colors were beautiful, but shimmer on the cheeks??? I don't know. Plus they cost $34 each! When you pay $30 UP for a blush, you want that sucker to work! So I waited for Sephora's VIB ROUGE Sale towards the end of last year and purchased ONE! I purchased a safe color (for me) called Blushed Copper. I felt if anything went bad, maybe I could use it as a highlighter. Well you guys, I just tried it and I am very pleased. NO SPARKLE! NO FALL OUT! NO GLITTER! The key word here is LUMINOUS! They BLEND WITH YOUR MAKEUP! IT'S ALL A PART OF THIS GLOW TREND THAT'S GOING ON! These blushes can be used as a blush OR blush topper. They are a powder, but definitely not powdery. If you want a change from a flat matte blush, try these! Right now with the whole sun-kissed look, I think I can get away with this blush during the day. I used Becca's OPAL Highlighter on my nose and my lip gloss is Kylie's LIKE lip gloss. I included all the blush colors below (from Becca's website). So now, I'm not afraid to get Tigerlily. HaHaHa Have you tried these? Do you think this look is too much for day? Is this more Winter? Let me know your thoughts.

 Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet

supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff) 
  Becca Shimmering Skin Perfector Luminous Blush in Blushed Copper is Supersweet

Mally Beauty Effortlessly Airbrushed Blush & Highlighter in Pretty Pink & Perfect Peach Review

The color PEACH is super hot right now in makeup for Spring & Summer (2017). Makeup companies are coming out with all types of peachy products. I'm loving it, because peach colors compliment my skin tone. Just look to the right at my profile pic. LOL So I'm riding this peach-filled bandwagon while it's hot. Others are sick of the trend. That is very understandable, because the color may not be complimentary for everyone. When a color is hot (and compliments you), do you buy as much of it as possible? Well Mally Roncal (Mally Beauty), came out with two sets for Spring/Summer. One is called Effortlessly Airbrushed Blush and Highlighter in Pretty Pink and the other is Effortlessly Airbrushed Blush and Highlighter in Perfect Peach. With each set, you get a blush (either Pink or Peach, depending on the set you choose), then you get a highlighter (both sets come with Stardust which is a GOLD highlighter). Each set also comes with a double-ended brush (the dark end is for the blush; the white/lighter end is for the highlighter). I purchased both sets during ULTA's 31 Days Sale, because these are regularly $35 and during the sale they were only $19.  I definitely wanted the peach set, but was unsure about the pink. Me & some shades of pink just don't agree. The PRETTY PINK blush is a purplish pink. Purplish pinks can go very wrong on me, but I think I carried it off pretty well. The PERFECT PEACH blush was a little lighter than what was shown on Ulta's website, but it is pigmented and really looks great on the skin. The STARDUST HIGHLIGHTER is a true gold! I added it atop my blush and on my nose. Both blushes are highly pigmented! A little goes a very long way. The brushes are great for applying, but use a Beautyblender to blend it thoroughly with your other makeup. I love using my Beautyblender with blushes now. I really like both sets. I definitely prefer the PEACH color on me, but the pink was not too shabby. But I still prefer the peachy shade that is in her Shimmer Shape & Glow Palette (Deeper). It just has that OOMPH! But this peach is nice if I want a softer look.

 Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet

supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff) 
  Mally Beauty Effortlessly Airbrushed Blush & Highlighter in Pretty Pink & Perfect Peach are Sweet

Pretty Pink

 Perfect Peach

Pink or Peach? 

I felt the Peach shade blended better with my skin tone.

With the PRETTY PINK set, I'm wearing Mally Must Have Pink on my lips.

With the PERFECT PEACH set, I'm wearing Mally Southern Peach on my lips. 

I'm also wearing Too Faced Foundation in Sand.

Becca Sunchaser Palette Review and Swatches

When I first saw the packaging for the Becca Limited Edition Sunchaser Palette ($34), I was intrigued. It has a beautiful ombre effect and it kind of reminds me of a sunset (on a sandy & palm tree laden tropical island, of course). Inside, this palette has a bronzer (Sunlit Bronzer in Ipanema Sunset), blush (Mineral Blush in Apricot Blossom) and highlighter (Shimmering Skin Perfector Pressed in Opal). Let me briefly talk about each! The bronzer is highly pigmented, definitely brown and is very warm-toned. I applied it (used it as a contour) around the perimeter of my face & contoured my nose. I used my Beautyblender to blend it out! It's very good. Then I applied the blush to my cheeks. The blush is described as an apricot color. Some reviewers felt it leaned more pink than peach, but it showed up as apricot on me. This blush is highly pigmented, so a little goes a long way. Plus, it's buildable. Last but not least is the highlighter, in Becca's popular OPAL shade. You may remember my love for Opal HERE. I love the poured version for an all over glow and this powder version (which I didn't have) is great as a highlighter. I included four pictures below, of how the shades look on me. I'm really pleased and ready for a vacation on a tropical island you guys! HaHaHa When this palette first came out, there was chatter that Becca came out with a Sunchaser Palette YEARS AGO! So I did a little beauty snooping and it's true ... Becca Sunchaser Palette 2013 ... but the colors don't look the same. If you wear warm tones well, then you will love this palette. It will be a great addition to your collection and for Summer. I think this palette is a little more challenging for cool-toned wearers. Mainly due to the bronzer. For me, I love it and glad I purchased it. I want to throw out another option. Last year I reviewed Mally's Shimmer Shape & Glow in Deep. I think it's a great alternative. It now has new packaging and can be found at ULTA. Just throwing it out there! I'm now getting to the point where I can compare similar products. Chrissy Teigen is coming out with a "summer" palette for Becca in May. The colors in it are gorgeous! I'm not a fan of Chrissy Teigen, but her upcoming palette really interests me. Oh BTW! I'm not wearing lipstick. I just applied OPAL to my lips >.<  HaHaHa

 Sweet-Bittersweet-NotSweet

supersweet(run & buy it) sweet(really good,buy it) bittersweet(ok, issues)not sweet(not good,don't buy this stuff) 
  Becca Sunchaser Palette is Sweet