TinkerBotQuality, Against All Odds.

Can a homemade sugar wax be used in a wax warmer for reheating?

Yes!  Absolutely.  Sugar-based wax is able to be rinsed off with warm water.  If you’re worried about it burning and caking onto your warmer, there’s no need.  When homemade sugar wax is made, it is boiled in a pan at temperatures much higher than what can be put out by your wax warmer.  Even when it’s made at those high temperatures, it does not burn and cake on the pan.

When rinsing out your wax warmer after using sugar wax, be sure not to let water get into any openings that may expose the inner components.  Also, be sure not to leave your wax warmer unattended!

A Healthier Alternative to Energy Drinks

I wrote an earlier blog about the health risks involved with consuming energy drinks, and since then I’ve discovered a healthy (and tasty) alternative. It’s called Cranergy and it offers an all-natural energy boost in both invididual portion-controlled bottles and a large bottle for storage in the fridge.

Cranergy is made by Ocean Spray and contains cranberry juice, grape juice, green tea extracts, and a healthy dose of B vitamins (not 150% of suggested daily intake like most energy drinks). From what I’ve seen it comes in two flavors: cranberry and raspberry. It’s a mere 50 calories per 12 fl. oz. bottled serving. Cranergy has a very low amount of sugar because it’s made with Splenda and is jam-packed with vitamin C.

I really think this is the way energy drinks should be. It doesn’t give you a jittery burst of energy that’s way over the top like other caffeinated drinks. It delivers a subtle and natural boost to help you along.

A lot of people use energy drinks as a suppliment (or substitute) for sleep. Cranergy will by no means support this unrealistic and unhealthy lifestyle because it’s subtle. I think if we had more products like this on store shelves, people might make the healthy choice to stop overworking themselves and foregoing sleep.

I had a bottle of this one morning before I went to the National Zoo and I have to say it really boosted my energy, especially after having been sick for a week from getting my wisdom teeth pulled. I was more energetic than the other two people I went with, which I found pretty surprising. I went into the day thinking I would be dragging the rest of them down! I didn’t have any sort of crash, but ask expected I was pretty exhausted at the end of our 7 hour trip to the zoo.

Keep in mind, a good energy drink shouldn’t perform miracles! If it does, chances are there will be an equal and opposite reaction: a crippling crash.

Image Credit: MuchMoreThanAMom.com

Heating Things Up: La Grande Melting Pot, a Wax Warmer

So as you all probably know from my CacheBeauty Amazon saga I finally recieved my (working) La Grande wax warmer! I was looking for a warmer that was affordable, yet had the capability of heating loose wax instead of a container since I make my own. At first I looked at another product from this company called La Petite, but it only held a mere 4oz of wax! I was looking for something a bit bigger that would allow me to wax MORE than just half a leg at a time. La Grande seemed like a great choice:

Fast Heat-Up Time; Variable Temperature Settings; Non-Stick Well; Locking Lid; Compact unit holds standard containers up to 16 oz; Convenient handle on warmer for transporting. (From Spilo.com)

It’s pretty simple. Turn the dial to your desired setting, the light turns on to let you know it’s warming up and once it’s at the correct temperature the light goes off. Or so you’d think. The dial is a bit finicky and the labels for each setting aren’t exactly accurate. I use a sugar-based wax but set the warmer to parrafin. It does come with a little holder to lift out wax cans/containers that you place directly in the warmer, so I thought that was pretty nifty. Also, the handle REALLY helps out because you can just hold up the warmer while it’s plugged in and bring it closer to yourself when waxing.

It does it’s job, but even though it has a dial, there are really only 3 settings. There really is no fine-tuning, and in my opinion it makes the wax a bit too hot. While the lowest setting barely melted the wax, the medium (parrafin) setting nearly burned my skin. I can only imagine how ridiculously hot the actual wax (high) setting is. However, I do like that the inside of the warmer is designed not only for warming containers but also raw wax. The inside is non-stick, so it’s supposedly easy to clean.

The box is unprofessional and misleading. The warmer is shown with a multitude of waxing supplies and in small, barely legible text it states that those accessories aren’t included. I really think they could have placed the warmer in styrofoam to protect it from damage.

It may look good in the pictures, but the fact remains that the majority of the parts are cheaply made. The dial is made of cheap plastic and the painted logo on the front chips very easily. However, I have to give them credit for not underestimating the importance of using good quality materials for the main components.

So overall, I guess I’d have to give it 3 out of 5 stars. An average product, but an extraordinary price. I guess you get what you pay for! It ended up costing me around $24 on Amazon.com, and ended up being $33 with shipping. Damn UPS.

(Image credit: BeBeautiful.com)

An Ode to Customer Service: CacheBeauty (Revisited)

In a previous blog entry, I told the unfortunate tale of the wax warmer that I bought off of Amazon from CacheBeauty.  When I got it in the mail, it was broken and I called their toll-free number.  The woman on the phone told me they would send another warmer out with a shipping label to send the broken one back at no cost to me.

Well, they sent another one out to me and it arrived today on time (the scheduled arrival date).  This one worked just fine, and all I had to do to send the broken one back was stick it in the box it came in, close it up, and adhere the new sticky label.  They included easy instructions for the shipping illiterate.  Now all I have to do is hand it off to the UPS guy that comes by my mom’s work every day.  If that weren’t an option, all I’d do is schedule a pickup for free online with UPS.

So here’s what I think of CacheBeauty:

They’re easy to contact when you have a problem, especially since they plaster their toll-free number all over their websites, profiles, and receipts.  The amount of time it takes for them to solve your problem is next to nothing, and they’re very pleasant during the whole process.

The only complaint I have regarding ‘ease of ordering’ is that they have quite a few websites, all with different items.  Unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, it’d be hard to find a product.  Other than that, they accept all standard payment methods and have both a catalog and online stores.

My only beef with CacheBeauty’s pricing is that their very low prices mislead you.  Yeah, sure, paying $20 for a $30 product SOUNDS great, but when it comes down to it, they use a really expensive shipping service that jacks up the price quite a bit.  Regardless, I did find a lot of good deals on their Amazon profile.  Even with shipping, a lot of their items are still cheaper than most.

CacheBeauty is pretty lucky they didn’t get a 2 on this, because I have to say I’m not very fond of their preferred shipping service.  UPS may be great for a business owner, but the customer ends up paying a hefty price.  UPS is CacheBeauty’s shipping choice, and it’s nearly double the cost of shipping via the USPS.  Not only that, I’m convinced the first warmer they sent out was damaged during shipping because it rattled as if a component had been dislodged inside.

Homemade Wax Cubes

Why spend $10 for a 14 oz. container of wax that (at most) will wax your legs two to three times?  There’s a simple homemade recipe that can produce gallons of wax at the same cost.

This recipe can be found on hundreds of places online, but only here on TinkerBot will you find an accompanying solution for storing the wax so it can be easily used in a warmer.  I recommend using a warmer because it is the safest method of heating wax.  NEVER heat wax in a microwave unless a product instructs you to do so because it is VERY easy to burn yourself.

This wax is designed to be spread over your skin and covered with muslin (cotton) strips, then pulled off.  You can either cut up old tee-shirts or drop by a craft store to pick up fabric for the strips.

So, on to the recipe!

Read the rest of this entry »

General Tips for Waxing

Since I’ve been keeping the focus of the blog on waxing for these past few days (and will continue to for another few) I figured it’d be a good idea to post some general tips for waxing.

Waxing is a popular alternative to shaving that removes the hair by the roots. Hair typically does not grow back for 4-6 weeks. Over time with continued waxing, hair may grow back lighter and less coarse.

• When waxing, always apply the wax and strips in the direction of hair growth. If you apply the wax against the direction of hair growth, you’ll slowly and painfully rip out hairs one by one.
• As you remove the wax or strips, always pull against the growth of the hair (pulling from the tip towards the roots). Make sure you don’t pull the strip up and away from your skin. The aim is to keep the strip as close to your skin as possible while removing it.
• Make sure to remove the strips or wax in a single pull. Keep strips shorter than 1 foot. The more pulls it takes to remove a single strip, the less hair you’re going to remove.
• Your hair must be at least 1cm (about 1/4″) long in order for the wax to stick to it.
• Avoid any scabs or abrasions of any sort. Be sure to wax around them and instead shave that area until it heals.
• Make sure the wax isn’t too hot. Test it on a small area on the back of your hand before using it on any other part of your body. If you apply wax and you discover that it’s beginning to burn you, run the area under cold water or spread the wax thinner over your skin so it will cool quicker. Panicking and trying to pull the wax off your skin will cause a burning goopy mess that will burn a larger area of skin or even your hands.
• Applying baby powder or talcum powder to the area before waxing will keep the wax from sticking to your skin, ensuring easier removal and increased adherence to the hair.
• Always take a shower or rinse the waxed area after you’ve completed waxing. Any residue left from the wax will attract nasty little specs of dirt, dust, and lint. Be sure to moisturize/lotion your legs afterwards.
• Avoid varicose (spider) veins… erm- not that I would know anything about those.
• If you end up waxing your armpits (not recommended) don’t put on deodorant for a few days.

And perhaps the most important tip of all is:

• The only type of pubic waxing that is safe to do at home without the aid of a professional is your bikini line. I really wouldn’t recommend anything further because of how sensitive this area is.

An In-Depth Look at Duct Tape Waxing

So I was finally able to test out waxing my legs with duct tape.  If you’re just tuning in at this point, I ran a little experiment on 5 brands of all-purpose duct tape (steering clear of utility/aircraft grade tape to avoid ripping skin off) to determine the stickiest brand which I would use in this little test.

Unfortunately, I discovered that the tape did not remove ALL the hair. Also, the hair it did remove took a few strips of tape on the same spot.  However, I did test the tape on both my and my boyfriend’s legs and it seemed to work MUCH better on him.  The majority of the hairs that didn’t come up off my legs were the few short blonde hairs I had.  On my boyfriend (oh, the things I’ve put him through over these past three years) after a few tries almost ALL of his hair came up from the one spot I was trying.  I think it was the fact that his hair was coarser and the tape stuck to it a lot easier.

Overall, I think it worked fairly well, and it DOES remove the majority of the hair.  However, I would end up waxing some spots afterwards.  I think it would be a good method to use if you would like to limit the amount of wax you use when waxing your legs.

Read the rest of this entry »

An Ode to Customer Service: Cache Beauty

I went ahead and bought the La Grande Melting Pot (wax warmer) from CacheBeauty on Amazon for my wax vs. duct tape leg waxing experiment. Being the dork I am, I was looking forward to plugging it in and FINALLY being able to wax my legs without nearly burning myself. Unfortunately, once I got it in the mail 7 days later, the brand new wax warmer straight from the box didn’t work.

I popped by CacheBeauty’s profile and was a bit disheartened to find the last bit of feedback that implied the buyer had to pay shipping to send a product back after she was not satisfied. I wasn’t optimistic to say in the least.

I called their toll-free number and I had to admit I was a bit angry. I had ordered the warmer on the 23rd and it didn’t ship out until the 27th. I recieved it on the 30th and took it out of the box only for it to not work!

A woman answered immediately; there was no time spent waiting or on hold. The lady was very kind and soft-spoken. Within about 5 minutes she had put me on hold briefly as she checked out my invoice number and told me they were sending out another warmer immediately along with a shipping label to send back the broken warmer at no extra cost to me.

I’ll update you guys once I get the replacement in the mail. Let’s see if things are really as good as they sound!

One Day Delay…

Sorry I wasn’t able to finish and post the blog about tape waxing today. I had a really busy day yesterday and my body just isn’t accustomed to that much activity since I’ve been sick for so long (I had mono for about 8 months). To say in the least I was a bit out of commission today.

Energy Drinks - An Increasingly Unhealthy Habit

Although this blog is fairly new, I have to admit I never imagined myself writing something preachy. I’m not one to talk when it comes to unhealthy habits, I’ll be the first to admit that. Although I’m a skinny-mini, once in a blue moon I’ve been known to down entire boxes of doughnuts in one sitting. But the sugary goodness of Krispy Kreme^TM is really nothing in comparison to the caffeinated monstrosity I discovered the other night: Spike Shooter.

I’m sure you’ve all heard of the infamous Cocaine Energy Drink, but did you know that Spike contains even more caffeine? It may be a mere 20mg (6.7%) more, but that extra caffeine adds up. Spike delivers the same caffeinated punch as 3 cups of coffee (300mg) in a mere 8.4 oz can. It claims to be “The Hardcore Energy Drink” and I’ve come to discover through personal experience that this claim is not completely unfounded.

I had the pleasure- yes, pleasure (please take note of my obvious sarcasm) of witnessing my boyfriend’s reaction to this so-called energy drink that, as of 2008, is being openly sold across the US. At about 1AM Tuesday morning, my boy-toy arrived home from a friend’s house, completely shaken. My first thought was that he had been in some sort of accident because of his quivering hands and bright red face. I had to have asked something along the lines of, “Are you okay?” because he quickly explained that he hadn’t followed the warning label on the drink (that drink being Spike Shooter Energy Drink). I went to go give him my customary welcome-home hug when I realized he was shaking from head to toe and could barely stand because his knees were buckling.

Maybe I’m being a bit melodramatic because he IS my snuggle bunny, but I couldn’t believe that he was having this sort of reaction to an energy drink. The worst part was that he didn’t even finish a full can! Read the rest of this entry »