Confession: I love Pinterest. Love. It.
With nearing 5k pins, it’s safe to say I have spent some extensive time on this beautiful little app. Along the way, I’ve learned some new hacks, tried some bad ones, and pinned an embarrassing amount of dream wedding posts. Here is some of the fruit of my labor.
1. Conditioner first, then shampoo
When I first saw this beauty hack online, I had my typical, skeptical reaction of thinking “there is no way that actually makes a difference.” I am so happy to report that I was 100% wrong. My hair (which, for years, felt like hay #ThanksSwimming) has never felt softer or looked shinier. After some research, here is the reason why this works: the conditioner softens and strengthens your hair before you shampoo it and acts as a guard against the shampoo, which can strip the hair of its natural oils.
Try it for a week and see for yourself: this one is life changing.
Overall experience: 12/10
2. DIY Banana Oatmeal Face Mask
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon ground oatmeal
½ banana
1 teaspoon milk
I first started using face masks this year, when I actually received one from a Her Campus promotion! If you don’t use face masks, let me tell you this: they feel wonderful. And if you suffer from some pretty nasty acne like I do, these can really help clear up your skin.
For the good of everyone reading this, I decided to try a DIY Pinterest face mask with some things I had readily available in my dorm room. The face mask was really cooling and smelled awesome. Afterwards, my face felt clean and very soft. If you are going to try this face mask, make sure you grind up the banana and oatmeal well, and don’t leave it on for more than 10 minutes, or it becomes hard to wash off. Trust me on that one.
As far as helping my acne, this mask really didn’t do much. There was no noticeable difference the next morning. If you want a face mask that really works for acne, I recommend splurging and buying this Avocado and Oatmeal Mask or this Charcoal and Black Sugar Polishing Mask.
Overall experience: 6/10
3. “Unshrinking” clothes with conditioner
The magic formula:
Fill a bucket or sink with warm water
Add 3 Tbsp on conditioner to the water
Soak shrunken garment
Gently stretch back to original size
Let air dry
Enjoy your resized piece of clothing
I have to be honest; this hack was a LIFE SAVER. After borrowing my friend’s dress for Gameday, I thought I would be a nice person and wash it after I sweat all over it cheering on my tigers. I was horrified when I pulled it out of the washer and it looked like a dress for a toddler.
Thank goodness for Pinterest, because this is another hack that actually works. If you put in the time and effort to stretch your favorite t-shirt from 5 years ago back to normal size, I promise you won’t be disappointed with the results! (you’re friends, however, might question that fashion choice.)
Overall experience: 10/10
4. Using Baking Soda as Face Wash for Oily Skin
I have very oily skin, and I absolutely hate feeling like my forehead is an oil spill after a long day of classes. After seeing pins about using baking soda to reduce oily skin, I decided to give it a whirl.
One a day, I would wash my face with just baking soda and water. After a week of doing this, I found that it really does help reduce oil! My skin was drier, and my acne was going down because of it. However, the baking soda is a pretty powerful drying agent- my skin felt a bit uncomfortable. If you are interested in trying this, make sure to moisturize or use the baking soda sparingly!
Overall experience: 8/10
5. DIY Sharpie mug
I love DIY, so this one was right up my ally. All you have to do is find a plain mug, a couple sharpies, and get to work! After decorating your mug, bake it in the oven at 250 degrees for 30 minutes and BAM. Done.
…at least that is what they say will happen.
After numerous tries and different techniques involving oil based sharpies or longer cook times, I regret to inform you that this craft just does not work. The design stayed for about a week, then washed off gradually. Not worth the time or effort in creating your masterpiece that won’t last.
Overall experience 1/10
p.s. warn your friends about this before they think it would be a cute gift for a coffee loving friend. Been there, done that, super awkward when your adorable design washes off and they only have a white mug to remember their 20th birthday by.
6. Coconut Oil as Makeup Remover
If you look on Pinterest, you will see what I like to call the “Coconut oil Craze” going on. Articles like “50 ways to use coconut oil” are common when scrolling one of my favorite time consuming sites. I jumped in on the craze, and tried coconut oil to remove my makeup.
Overall, this stuff does really work! It smells incredible and takes off your daily face of makeup easily. You can buy a big container of coconut oil for cheap, and it lasts forever, so it’s cost effective too! Simply rub it between your fingers and spread manually, or use a cotton ball dipped in the coconut oil to remove makeup. The only downside: coconut oil is oil, which doesn’t mix with water well. So removing the coconut oil is not very easy- after rinsing with water, your face still feels a bit oily.
Since I had a giant tub of coconut oil, I tried washing my face with it once a day. If you have really red acne like me, washing your face with coconut oil is also a great way to bring that redness down! I would recommend doing this before bed so it doesn’t make your skin look oily during the day.
Overall experience: 8/10
7. DIY Healthy Bananas Foster
Keeping with the banana theme, I decided to try a yummy sounding recipe, too, because just putting banana on your face is not as satisfying as actually eating one. Here it is:
Ingredients:
2 bananas, cut into ½” pieces (using slightly unripe bananas works best!)
2 tbsp honey
½ tsp cinnamon
Olive oil
Cover a pan in olive oil at medium heat. Add the bananas to the pan and cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Whisk together honey and one tablespoon water. Remove bananas from pan, immediately pour honey mixture over bananas. Allow to cool and sprinkle with cinnamon.
And if you are me, put over top of ice cream and enjoy!
These bananas are so easy and so delicious. They truly taste like bananas foster without all the butter! I would definitely recommend if you are looking for a sweet treat to get through a hard week, but don’t want to break your healthy eating!
Overall experience: 9/10
Happy DIY-ing and Pinterest Hack Trying!
Check out Her Campus Clemson’s Pinterest account here!