Quacks
What on earth is a Quack?!
It's a 'Quick Life Hack': tips and tricks I'd like to share - about any topic ( food, hobbies, health - well, just about anything!)
Please send me a message if you'd like a 'quack' included here and if you are happy for your first name to be shared.
Stop that Sneeze!
You know the feeling – a sneeze is welling up inside but you’re behind the wheel, driving through town or negotiating a narrow country lane. You can’t risk closing your eyes for a nanosecond, but you can’t sneeze without doing just that. Or the curtain slowly rises, the orchestra is silent, the conductor’s baton raised….and “Atishoo!” Unthinkable. Here is my friend Moyra’s ‘quack’ for suppressing a sneeze: place one finger tip on the space between your upper lip and your nose (it’s called the philtrum, but you knew that…) and press until the sneeze retreats. It works - thank you, Moyra!
No more shredding!
Tired of shredding documents and envelopes to remove personal information before recycling the paper? Do the piles build up, waiting to be dealt with? In some areas, paper collection won't even accept shredded paper, so what's the alternative...? An ID Roller!
With a quick sweep across your personal details with these nifty inked rollers, the text underneath becomes unreadable and the whole page can be dropped into your recycling bin. Magic! Just go to your online stationery store and search for ID Roller.
Exfoliate!
A 'Quack' from a beautician friend: if you use a facial scrub - whether it's every day or once a week - apply it to the backs of your hands before rinsing off. They will benefit too and will absorb hand cream more easily.
Cold shower, anyone?
Brrr, no thanks! But you can get some of the benefits just by turning your shower to cold when you've finished, then spraying your feet and lower legs only. Good for circulation - invigorating, yet bearable!
DIY Luxury skin care
Transform bland, unscented body creams and lotions with a few drops of your favourite essential oil - citrus to refresh, lavender to relax.
Here in the UK, it seems almost everyone over the age of 60 is on prescription body creams to combat dry skin and stop it becoming fragile. I appreciate this, but it can be boring so I add drops of essential oil to jazz things up a little. Only recommended if your skin isn't sensitive to the oils of course.
Double bed, single occupancy?
I love a double bed and I love freshly laundered bedding, but I hate wrestling with double duvets every time the cover is changed. It became a chore I kept putting off until my lightbulb moment - a single size duvet works fine for one person on a double bed! If you think it looks a little odd, just throw over a large bedspread during the day (which won't need regular laundering) Should I ever wish to share my bed again, I do have doubles available, lol...
New life for old scent
Perfume dregs left in the bottle? Abandoned a scent after you found a new favourite? Don't waste it! I learned this quack after my skin became allergic to my favourite perfume but I couldn't bear to throw it away. I don't want to risk hives either, so I give a quick spritz into the air or onto towels in the bathroom and display the bottle on a shelf. The fragrance lingers far longer than any air freshener and gives your bathroom a luxury air, literally!
Multi-taskers
I love multi-tasking products for their space-saving proerties. Here are two of my handbag favourites (I don't leave home without them):
Folding hairbrush and mirror to pop into your handbag: neat, tidy and convenient. Mine is by Denman but others are available of course.
The SwissCard pocket tool by Victorinox contains a small blade, scissors, nail file, screwdriver, ruler, toothpick and tweezers, all neatly slotted into a rectangle the size of a credit card. Perfect for any emergencies, e.g. a broken nail!! Other multi-tools are available, but this is the only one that doesn't look as though you're going out to whittle wood or extract stones from horses' hooves..... both perfectly valid activities of course.
