A DIY Hazard to Avoid!

Pinterest seemingly has an infinite amount of ideas for "simple" home modification projects. Bathroom cupboards built into the walls between studs. Full walls turned into half walls to make a breakfast bar. Redesigned attic space as a play room. Pulling up the old tile that was in your house and reflooring with pennies. Scraping off the popcorn ceiling and stenciling with gloss and matte paint. The possibilities and ideas are endless!

Obviously each of these projects comes with their own hazards. Popcorn ceiling fluff in your eye. Smashing your thumb with a hammer. Knocking down the wrong part of the wall. While those are all definitely hazards to avoid, today we want to give you information about a more serious hazard to watch for if you do any home projects. Most of us, if not all, have heard about asbestos and that it is not good to be around, but if you are like me that is just about all you knew. Don't click away yet! You may be surprised at what you learn. I was! I'll be honest. I didn't even know exactly what asbestos was, or even if it is synthetic or natural. 

Asbestos is a natural group of fibrous minerals which can be separated and "woven" into threads. The fibers were discovered to be resistant to heat, fire, chemicals, they do not conduct electricity, and they are flexible which made asbestos a great building material until it was linked to illnesses, cancers, and deaths. Amazingly, asbestos still continues to be used in some products! 

Asbestos fibers enter the body through inhalation or ingestion and then can lodge in the lungs, stomach, or intestines. These un-digestible fibers may cause scar tissue, restricting the use of the organ, but they can also cause lung cancer or malignant mesothelioma. Mesothelioma is a rare cancer, with new cases being diagnosed in 2,500-3,000 Americans each year, which is found in the thin layer of cells that line our internal organs.  

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The prognosis for mesothelioma is not good. I read on mesothelioma.com that, due to the nature of the cancer, many cases are not detected until the cancer has reached its more advanced stages. The survival rate after diagnosis is often only a year or two. As with most cancers, the earlier it can be caught, the higher the chance of recovery. 

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Even if the mesothelioma is caught early, it is said to be one of the most painful and difficult cancers to treat. Because of the rareness of the disease, conducting research on various treatments or therapies is difficult. The most conventional methods used to treat mesothelioma are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy.

We were made aware of this disease through an email from Cameron Von St. James, the husband of mesothelioma survivor Heather Von St. James. Heather was diagnosed with mesothelioma three months after she gave birth to their daughter. Heather was given 15 months to live. That was 8 years ago now. After her diagnosis she had surgery removing her left lung, which saved her life. Now, she is thriving! Their family is working hard to share their story, spreading awareness of mesothlioma, and to give support to those going through the same struggle Heather went through.

So how can you reduce your chances of mesothelioma? Avoid asbestos exposure. Not sure if the old tile you found under your kitchen linoleum is asbestos? Leave it alone. It is suggested that if the asbestos material can be left intact, leave it and build over it. If the asbestos material is crumbling or falling apart, seek professional help. 

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Even if your home is new and the asbestos is at a minimum, you may still be at risk for asbestos exposure if a family member works in an asbestos laden workplace. Secondary exposure can still be enough exposure to inhale or ingest asbestos fibers. 

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So before you dive into your home project, be aware! If you think you have found asbestos, leave it alone. Asbestos comes in materials of every shape, color, size, and function so it can be hard to identify which material contain asbestos (asbestos itself can only be identified under a microscope). If you have a question about a certain material containing asbestos check first for any labeling on the product. If you can't find a label, look up the product online or call a professional. 

Also, check out this great pamphlet prepared in the UK about being aware of asbestos during DIY home projects. It has some great information and tips! 

Mesothelioma is a cancer you can take steps to avoid. Arm yourself with the knowledge available to protect yourself and your family from asbestos exposure. It's worth the time.

Popcorn Method of Doom

When it comes to things going wrong in the kitchen we usually can expect things like smoke, spills, nasty flavors, gooey messes, and flipping through the phone book to order a pizza when dinner flops. Rarely do we expect flying shards of glass. That's just not conducive to one's health and it should be avoided. What can cause flying shards of glass in the kitchen? Well, for two of our submitters, this pin was the start of their kitchen of doom:

The Original Pin

http://www.everythingbutthe.com/2011/09/08/blow-your-mind-microwave-popcorn/

According to the website, "Glass bowl + ceramic plate + popcorn kernels = perfectly popped popcorn in the microwave." According to our submitters though, "Glass bowl + ceramic plate + popcorn kernels = near death." 

The Pinstrosities

The stove. Perfectly situated to be easy to stand and cook at...and to have flying glass shards enter your abdomen. Yikes!

Tiffany said, "I normally make microwave popcorn in brown bags but I saw this pin and thought I would save the bag and pop it in the same bowl.  Upon reading the directions I was curious about the time 2 mins 45 secs.  Normally with a brown bag I only cook it for 2 mins or less.  But I tried it. It did take at least 3 mins to cook and the bowl and plate were both VERY hot just like the pin said.  Then I tried their suggestion of recooking the left over corn - cause there was quite a bit.  Once again I had to cook it for quite awhile before getting the popcorn to pop. After 3 mins I gave up because the popcorn that had popped smelled like it was burning.  So I pulled it out and right after setting it down on the stove top it sounded like a gun went off and the pyerx bowl exploded all over my kitchen! My guess is that the microwave is warming up the bowl and plate more than the popcorn.  I'll just stick with my brown bags!"

The microwave turned jack-in-the-box-of-death. 

Angela said, "I was super excited to try the microwave popcorn in a mixing bowl covered with a plate. I've actually had luck with the popcorn in a brown paper bag but thought this would be less wasteful. I was hearing pleasant popping and then heard a loud CRACK and opened my microwave to this. As I was not excited to eat glass shards, I would rate this a GCT of 5."

Thankfully neither lady was hurt. I have awful images in my head of opening the microwave just at the moment the bowl blew up and having a glass shard fly into a face. Or the shattering bowl on the stove/counter sending a glass spearhead into someone's stomach. These could have been bad. 

When objects heat up, they expand. Glass does not expand well, especially if there is even the tiniest flaw in it anywhere. We've had a Pyrex dish explode in our kitchen, but that was because we were idiots and didn't realize we'd left a burner on and pulled out dinner out of the oven and set it on the burner. A few minutes later it got way too hot and exploded. Don't leave burners on. Don't set anything down on burners unless you are actively cooking on them. And now we learn, don't put a glass bowl in the microwave for too long (in this case too long really isn't that long at all). Just because of the danger level with this one, I know I won't be trying this method here at home. 

Eyebrows...The Good, The Bad, and The Deadly????

Eyebrows.

 

They make or break you.

They are the curtains to the windows of the soul.

As such, they really should be treated with caution and a wonderful editing eye.

 

So, what about eyebrow colors?! Not all of us are blessed with blossoming brows that flourish onto our neighboring nose, temples or ears ( I kid I kid)...kind of.

 

Some of us have scarce brows that all but disappear when we take our "face" off. Others have brows Frieda would envy.

 

Today's pin addresses those of us that wish we could have more color in our brows. This pin is all about DIY eyebrow dyeing.

 

Check it out!

 

 

The Original

 

http://whatiwore2day.blogspot.com/2008/03/ginger-brows.html

 

 

 

The Pinstrosity

 

 

 Here's what Natalie had to say:

"I have been dying my hair for 10 years. I've been penciling in my eyebrows forever because they are thin and very light...you can barely see them! Yep, my hair is naturally brown and my eyebrows are basically invisible! As I was dying my hair today a brilliant thought came to me: Why not dye my eyebrows as well? DUH!

Since I am an expert at Loreal, Garnier, and Clairol hair coloring brands...I did not bother to see if the instructions said anything about applying dye to the eyebrow. I still have no idea! LOL! Obviously, I went for it! I remember thinking to myself, "Woah! I hope this washes completely out! It doesn't look right!" I was trying to use the plastic "gloves" to smear the dye on each eyebrow. I also was trying to make sure I got all my eyebrow hairs covered, too! After a few minutes they began to itch. BAD! 

Of course I could only find a clean white washcloth to scrub my eyebrows in the shower! haha! I scrubbed, and scrubbed, and scrubbed, and scrubbed. The skin around my brows was so red and puffy after scrubbing that I couldn't tell if I got it all off! Nope! After exfoliating, using different soaps, rubbing alcohol, etc...I gave up. "

 

She ended up getting the color off of her skin, but she didn't find the original pin until after this whole mess. One thing that scares me is that Natalie didn't know all the warnings before attempting something like this!! As a professional beautician that is one of the major things that worries me about DIY beauty pins, that some of these projects can end very badly! Let me explain.

 

For those of you new to the blog, I am a licensed cosmetologist. I learned all the typical cosmetology stuff including hair coloring, cutting, waxing (which includes all sorts of fun eyebrow stuff), along with facials among other things. So when I give this advice I'm not just pulling this out of a hat, I am properly educated and licensed in the beauty industry.

Just covering my butt, moving on.

 

The original pin is teaching you how to dye your own eyebrows at home with a at home hair dye kit. I won't even go into the 8 million things that can go wrong when dying your own hair (although many people are very good at it), but dyeing your eyebrows!!!

AHH! Scary!

 

May I add that the original blogger has all the FDA warnings I am about to give you on her blog. She knows the hazards and warns her readers as well. I am in no way trying to be mean or put anyone down, BUT I have seen BAD things come from people who dye their own brows because they didn't know the hazards so I am letting you all know now.

 

Dyeing your eyebrows with hair dye can potentially MAKE YOU GO BLIND if you get it in your eyes. Now, if I knew something I was putting over my eyes, that was liquid, and could potentially drip into my eye very easily, could blind me forever I would probably skip out on that. But not everyone feels the same, some argue that hair dye doesn't drip. I beg to differ.

Another hazard, as if BLINDNESS wasn't enough, this can cause severe skin and eye irritation. Have you ever gotten your hair colored and the fumes were a little much for you and your eyes watered? What if the dye was, oh I don't know, RIGHT over your eye! Also, many people have bad skin reactions to hair color because it is a chemical.

 

Please be properly warned before attempting beauty DIY. If you choose to try this technique after reading all of this that is fine, as long as you knew the risks!!

 

Did I mention that this will for sure, stain your skin around your eyebrow??? For like days???Or weeks...cause it will. And if you bleach your eyebrows, which I also wouldn't recommend DIY-ing, it can bleach and irritate your skin?

There is a reason people go to school for stuff like this, these are chemicals near and potentially on your skin.

 

Enough with the heavy, here is the fun part!

 

There are other options!!!!

 

Personally I have had my eyebrows tinted with specific eyebrow tint by a professional and that is a viable option, usually for people with darker hair. Unfortunately I had an allergic reaction to the stuff, had eye irritation, swelling, and a migraine lol ( figures) but that was a rare case apparently because this stuff is mild enough to be near your eyes so apparently I'm a wimp.

 

Another option...drum roll please...

Makeup!

I know, a little anti climatic but most of us put makeup on everyday anyways so I don't feel like an extra 30 seconds for eyebrows is too bad considering the other options...

 

Just to show you how much I encourage NOT dyeing your own eyebrows with hair dye...here are some pictures of me with and without makeup.I love you guys.

 

 I use an angled makeup brush:

http://i.ebayimg.com/t/Emily-Pink-Angled-eyebrow-brush-makeup-tool-Cosmetic-S011-/00/s/NjAwWDYwMA==/z/cvYAAOxyjP1RybcV/$(KGrHqF,!rEFGjB6TT+TBRybcV(jPQ~~60_35.JPG

Here is an example of that...

 

And I use a bronzer that I have had for probably 7ish years for my eyebrows, I'm a Ginger.

I wet the angled brush, get the angle nice and tight, and fill in my brows, 30 seconds later tada! I'm done!

 

Without Brows...P.S. My husband said that my nose really isn't that crooked in real life lol Thanks a lot funky bathroom lighting for accentuated wierd facial features lol

But no really...in the buff!

 

Half and Half..

 

 

Full Brows

 

So there you have it, you CAN have nice eyebrows without the potential hazards of hair dye.

Those of you who liked the idea of coloring your eyebrows with a  brush, I use a bronzer but you can use an eye shadow that matches the eyebrow color of your choice. The only thing I would watch for there is shimmer vs. matte, unless you want the shimmer than by all means, go for it!! :)

 

I hope you all don' think I was being too harsh here...apparently I feel very passionately about eyebrows haha

 

Hope everyone has a great Tuesday!