Get Your “Groom” on With These Do-It-Yourself Tips
(No Matter Where You’re Stationed in the World)

Stacy Cox Licensed Esthetician & TV Beauty/Lifestyle Expert
Okay lets be realistic: if you’re stationed in Kabul or Kandahar and run out of your favorite Kiehls shaving gel you aren’t in any position to dash to your local Nordstroms or Bloomingdales department stores to replace it. So you restock w/ whatever brand is available at the base supply store or perhaps you borrow your friend’s Gillette (but – cue the sigh – it’s just not the same right?). And here’s another reality: if you wake up one morning with puffy eyes or your face feels super dry and sunburned it’s not necessarily something you have time nor the ability to focus on correct? If you’re a military spouse you most likely hit the ground running, before the suns even had a chance to rise, in a concerted effort to get your children up, fed and out the door for school on time. If you’re a U.S. soldier well let ’s face it, you’ve got bigger fish to fry: getting your job done safely & keeping the peace in the city you’re stationed. I understand… I get it! So this is where I enter the picture. I’m based in Los Angeles, CA epicenter to all things glam, perfectly sun kissed (never sun burned, perish the thought) and folks with pitch perfect appearances. I own a day spa and work daily to help conserve and preserve men, women and teens complexions from acne, aging and sun damage. I once figured out that over the course of my 11 year career, I’ve completed over 13,000 facial treatments on clients. To say the least, that’s a whole lot of blemishes I’ve done battle with. And for all the beauty tips and advice I’ve doled out over the course of the last decade, my clients and I unanimously agree the best tips are the ones that come right out of your own kitchen, backpack or purse. In short re purposing or “spinning” things within easy reach, that cost next to nothing not only make the best grooming tips BUT they tend to put a smile on someone’s face and result in him/her uttering one of my favorite mantras “oh wait…why didn’t I think of that?!” With the tips below: some you may have heard of before, others may inspire you to try them out and still others may just make you wonder if I’ve lost my mind. But the key, on certain occasions, is to step out of your comfort zone and try something new especially if it promises to amplify your appearance, confidence and give you a moment to take a beat and simply “chill out!” You certainly give each day 100% thus my argument is why not give back a little something to YOU? Self love and self care don’t need to be gender benders. It’s not just for the gals (guys)…seriously…it’s meant for everyone to indulge in when they are in need of recharging their batteries.

“Don’t underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can’t hear, and not bothering.”
~ Winnie The Pooh ~ (Genius! And so true!)

PROBLEM: Dry/Sunburned Skin
SOLUTIONS:
Olive Oil (Place a few drops in the palm of your hand and lightly press or massage over your face, neck & throat)

PROBLEM: Cramping Due to Menstrual Cycle or Physical Exhaustion
SOLUTION:
Pickle Juice (I know this sounds beyond weird, but drinking 2 ounces of pickle juice alleviates cramps! Popular amongst football players before a big game)

PROBLEM: Puffy Eyes
SOLUTION:
Metal spoons (Chill 2 metal spoons in an ice chest or freezer and apply them over your eyes for an instant quick fix! If you are the stay-at-home parent you can do this with your baby’s teething rings too! Just clean them first)

PROBLEM: Dry Heels & Elbows
SOLUTION:
Coffee Grinds (before you toss them out, save a cup and use it toexfoliate dead skin on your feet and elbows. Ladies the caffeine in the grinds is ideal to rub on the backs of your legs and booty to contend with unwanted cellulite!)

PROBLEM: Dry, Chapped Lips
SOLUTION:
Sugar Cubes or a Tooth Brush (Exfoliate dry lips with a sugar cube or dry tooth brush to remove the buildup of dead skin. Then top your lips w/ a dab of honey or oil olive if you don’t have lip balm handy)

PROBLEM: Dry, Fried Hair
SOLUTION:
Olive Oil (helps repair split ends, heals dandruff, and makes your hair shiny, silky, and lustrous. Massage a few tablespoons of olive oil into scalp and hair) Apple Cider Vinegar (Use approximately 1/2 to 3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar diluted with half a cup of water. Shampoo and rinse first, then pour on the vinegar – let it sit about a minute and then rinse out the vinegar and then shampoo again and rinse very well so there is no odor of vinegar. The vinegar removes all the old shampoo, conditioner, hair spray in short all the buildup.)

PROBLEM: Body Odor & Static in Your Hair
SOLUTION:
Fabric Dryer Sheets (Rub under your arms if you’re in a pinch to smell fresh or run it over your hair to stop the fly aways that come when static is present in the air.)

PROBLEM: Out of Lip Gloss (Ladies this one is for you!)
SOLUTION:
Pink Sharpie Highlighter (Gals use this in extreme emergencies, however its great…grab a pink sharpie marker off your desk and shade in your lip line. Watch you’ll get compliments, I know it sounds crazy but it works and “ yes” it does come right off!)

PROBLEM: Knots in your necklaces
SOLUTION:
Corn Starch (Dip a knotted necklace in corn starch and watch how easily the knots come undone!)

PROBLEM: Scratches on your CDs and DVDs
SOLUTION:
Toothpaste (Using circular motions, working from the inside to the outer edges, rub a cotton pad coated with the toothpaste to fill in the scratches on your CD and DVD and see if that allows them to work once again)

PROBLEM: Scuffs on Your Shoes
SOLUTION:
Inside of a Banana Peel (Rub the inside of a banana peel over shoes scuffs to instantly fade them away)

PROBLEM: Out of Hair Gel
SOLUTION:
A Dab of Face or Body Lotion (Works in a pinch to apply a light layer of your face or body lotion to sub if you’re out of hair gel)

PROBLEM: Out of Shave Gel/Cream
SOLUTION:
Hair Conditioner (Will do the trick)