Tonight I am staying at the W Hotel in Downtown Chicago because, drumroll please, we are moving to Dallas tomorrow morning and the movers packed up our entire house today. We sought refuge for the night at The W, which is also the home of the Bliss Spa here in Chicago. After weeks of packing I was in desperate need of some overall grooming. So at 5pm, after a long day, I checked into the W and went right to Bliss for a wax, mani and pedi.

I was dreading the wax but as soon as I got to my room I read the spa menu and noticed that Bliss uses something called “poetic strip-less wax”. I immediately started to relax because hard wax is the only kind that can be used without a strip of cotton and requires more skill to apply but is usually gentler. When I met my waxing technician, Aretha, she told me that the “poetic wax” is a special Bliss formula and guaranteed me that this was going to be the most painless waxing experience of my life. I braced myself for the first shredding and, to my relief, it was a fraction of the sting I was expecting. And so the rest of the wax went – practically painless and, dare I say, even somewhat pleasant.

While I must credit Aretha for her skill and knowledge of the product, I am confident that the “poetic wax” and the secret Bliss formula are the reason I had such a smooth, pun intended, experience. I left Bliss relieved to know that they have a location in Dallas (and 20 others throughout the world) and that from now on “poetic wax” will be the only kind I let touch my skin!

Go to blissworld.com for locations.

The Environmental Working Group is the best resource for this information – from what foods you should buy organically to the best non-toxic cleaning and beauty products. The Group’s stated mission is to “use the power of public information to protect public health and the environment.” Most recently, they published a report showing the presence of hexavalent chromium in the drinking water of 31 US cities. A proven carcinogen, this is the same toxin from the movie Erin Brockovich and, if you can believe it, is not tested by water utilities. The EPA responded in less than 72 hours, announcing new actions to detect chromium-6 contamination in the nation’s drinking water. This story was covered extensively in the media over the Christmas holiday and is just an example of the good this organization is doing to protect all of us from potential cancer causing agents in our environment.

They have other great resources such as The 2010 Sunscreen Safety Guide, Shoppers Guide to Pesticides in Produce, and Guide to Infant Formula and Baby Bottles. There is a wealth of knowledge available on this site that will help you make more informed choices to protect your family and limit your impact on the planet. Start by subscribing to their update emails…you will rarely receive any soliciting donations, but given all the good information you receive, I wouldn’t complain if you did. Got to ewr.org to get started on your path to healthy, conscious living.

Once you choose a charity, you can make additional donations by using sites like goodshop.com that partner with major online retailers to donate a percentage of your purchase to the charity of your choosing. Retailers like Bloomingdales and Barneys will donate 2% of each purchase. Saks Fifth Avenue donates 2.5% and Sephora 3%. All you have to do is click through to the store from either goodshop.com or goodsearch.com after designating your charity. Goodshop is available all year long, not just during the holidays, so use it whenever you have the urge to splurge.

Do you have any favorite charities that you want to share with MKIA readers? Leave a comment and let us know!

In my never-ending quest to create the perfect nest, I’ve often wished for a way to mock-up a room before actually putting paint on the walls and purchasing the furniture. I think SceneCaster may be the answer to my decorating dreams. With this easy to use online tool you can create a 3D rendering of your space, using exact dimensions and actual 3D furniture and objects from their extensive online gallery. Everything from flat-screen TVs to artwork and area rugs can be dragged and dropped into your virtual space. They even partner with retailers that allow you to import images of the specific furniture and decor your are considering. The program is completely online-based (so there is nothing to download) and free (you just need to become a “member”). If you want feedback from your friends, SceneCaster makes it easy to upload your “scenes” to your Facebook page.

The space planning benefits alone would save me a lot of time and aggravation. No matter how much I measure and walk a space, I tend not be able to visualize how furniture will fit into a room until it’s actually there. This has caused a few regretful purchases over the years. Right now, I am turning a little unused bedroom into my office and I really want to use SceneCaster to plan the space but they are updating their Mac software so I am out of luck. But I thought I’d better share with all of you, as I am sure I am not alone in this struggle. They should finish their software update soon and we can all get to planning our pads. Go to scenecaster.com to learn more about the concept and start your own project.

While we are talking home improvement – Another useful digital tool I found is the iHandy Carpenter iPhone app ($2, itunes.com). It turns your phone into an accurate ruler and level. I love being able to whip out my phone and make sure my artwork is hung correctly!

I’ll be posting pics of my office as soon as it starts coming together and once the newly designed MKIA launches this month. Thanks for being so patient. It will be worth it!

]]> http://www.missknowitall.com/plan-your-space-like-a-pro/feed/ 0 http://www.missknowitall.com/get-your-glove-on/ http://www.missknowitall.com/get-your-glove-on/#comments Fri, 05 Nov 2010 22:29:14 +0000 Melina http://www.missknowitall.com/?p=1465 With most of the country experiencing unseasonably cold temperatures, it’s time I admit the inevitable…winter is coming and quickly. It’s about 35 degrees in Chicago today, which feels like 15 degrees to me because I just got back from a trip to the Caribbean. Goodbye white sand beaches. Hello scarves and gloves.

Thanks to a lovely Indian summer the gloves I now desperately need are still tucked away in the far recesses of our coat closet. Up until now, we have been spared the arctic blasts of fall that remind every Chicagoan not to get too comfortable without our winter wardrobe. Living here you learn to quickly amass an arsenal of hats, scarves, coats, boots, face shields and, most importantly, gloves. When worn together, these items transform the mere Midwestern mortal into a winter warrior from December to April.

I have yet to give into using a face shield and I try to keep my winter outerwear look less mountain climber and more sophisticated snow queen. To do so, I start with a great coat and I always wear gloves. The skin on your hands is extremely delicate and exposing it to harsh temperatures can be very damaging so keep them covered and use A LOT of hand cream in the winter.

You might think that buying gloves online is impossible. I did too. Isn’t that something you need to try on? No, not if you know how to measure your hand to get your exact glove size. Thanks to my bff, who was the impetus for this post, I went to the web and found some easy instructions on glove.org. Take the following two measurements of your dominant hand (the one you write with): (1) around the hand at the fullest part (exclude thumb) and (2) the tip of the middle finger to the base of the hand. Use the larger of these two measurements to determine your glove size – the number of inches correlates to the size of the glove you should be wearing.

Giorgio Sermoneta is the undisputed king of the glove. His company, Sermoneta Gloves, has been exclusively specializing in gloves since it opened its first shop in Rome in 1960. With stores in 10 international cities, including Manhattan and Chicago, it’s possible you’ve passed one of their fabulously colorful window displays. A high level of craftsmanship (to produce one pair of gloves requires at least 10 artisans) and reasonable prices makes them a very smart investment. Each style comes in a rainbow of colors and prices start at $85 for their Kid Cashmere Glove (see pink glove above). You can shop their collection online at sermonetagloves.com/shop. This weekend I plan to unearth my winter accessories and take inventory. I may need a new pair of gloves in some snazzy Sermoneta color.

No matter where you shop today, you are bound to walk out with a reusable shopping bag. In fact, my closets are full of them and while I have put many to good use, I don’t need another black patent bag from Scoop. I need specific types of bags designed for functionality that will solve my practical dilemmas and make me feel like less of an eco-friendly imposter. So I’ve assembled what I think is a complete arsenal of green satchels that will reduce our dependence on plastic.

1. Reusable Produce Bags $16 for pack of 4 – The answer to my produce bag prayers! They are perfectly see-through for easy content identification at checkout and because they are made of breathable, recycled mesh they keep fruits and vegetables fresher longer. Buy some at bagthehabit.com.

2. Get Hip Skull Bag $5.99 – Just a cool, lightweight reusable bag that you can have on hand for the impromptu shop. More importantly, when you buy one at ecobags.com a donation is made to The Green Ambassadors, a high school eco-ed program.

3. Lunchskins Sandwich and Snack Bags $7.95 to $9.95 – The perfect pouch to carry around my healthy snacks. You can also use them for dog treats, pacifiers, baby toys and your kids’ lunches. They are dishwasher safe (love!) and free of the chemicals found in plastic and aluminum. You can buy them at blueribbongeneralstore.net, which also carries Lunchbots (stainless steel lunch and snack containers) and their own produce bags. One stop shopping!

4. Eco Garden Tote $32 – Made of repurposed Cambodian rice bags, these large, sturdy bags can handle all your heavy groceries. The six exterior pockets are great for checkout line organization and will help speed up unpacking at home. You can buy one at globalgirlfriend.com, which “sources woman-made, fair-trade imported, eco-friendly products to help Cambodian women and their families gain economic security”.

5. Folding Recycling Bags $16 for set of 3 – The best thing about these industrial-strength waterproof bags is that they are not the standard bulky bins, which are not only heavy on their own but impossible to carry out to the curb (or trash chute for all you urbanites). Problem solved – here is a recycling system that is lightweight and has handles. Genius! Buy them at Gaiam.com.

Goodbye plastic, hello eco-friendly organization!

xoxo Melina

I am befuddled by buttons and harrowed by hems so it goes without saying that I am always in need of a tailor. That was, however, until I found Bristols 6 “Hem Tape”. I had just bought my first pair of Genetic Denim and wasn’t sure if I wanted to keep them long to wear with my new spring wedges or shorten them to show off my summer sandals. In 5 minutes, Hem Tape gave me a clean, shorter hem that was temporary enough to remove easily without any damage to the fabric but sturdy enough to last multiple wears and even a couple of washes. Problem solved – the new jeans did not have to go under the knife and I could wear them with whatever shoes I wanted.

Bristols 6 has a lot of fashion fixes to help you keep things in place and cover others but I am most intrigued by their “Adjust-a-Button”, which allows you to extend or tighten your waistband. The genius of this invention is obvious – poke a pin through the waistband of your favorite pants and let them out or take them in up to 1.5 inches. While I haven’t tried it myself, I am really excited about the possibilities…

Gain a couple of pounds in the winter months and now things are a little tight? No need to buy new pants, just add an “Adjust-a-Button”. Tone your tummy in Pilates and now your favorite jeans are loose? Cinch them in with “Adjust-a-Button”. Not to mention the miracle this could be for women in early pregnancy who need more room but aren’t ready for maternity jeans. It seems to me that having some of these on hand could be very useful.

You can buy Hem Tape ($12) and Adjust-a-Button ($18) at Bristosl6.com or on Amazon.com.

xoxo Melina

Because we all own at least 10 pairs of jeans (and that is a conservative estimate girls – believe me, I know), not to mention jackets, vests and skirts, it’s important we know how to take care of our denim. We’ve spent all that money acquiring them, the responsible thing to do is to properly care for them. The MKIAs, with help from the June 2010 issue of InStyle magazine and some other reliable internet sources, are here to tell you how. Follow these easy steps to prevent the fading, shrinking and general demise of your denim:

1. Don’t wash them every time you wear them. The general rule of thumb is every four wears but the longer you can go the better. So if you only wear them for a few hours, you can count that as half a wear.

2. Protect the color by washing them inside-out. The color in denim washes off when it rubs against another material so doing this actually protects all your clothes.

3. Wash them in cold water and on the gentle or hand wash setting. If you are treating “jeggings”, it’s best to wash them by hand.

4. Ideally hang your denim to dry but if you don’t like the way they feel without a little fluff from the dryer – tumble dry on the lowest heat. Omitting the dryer cycle is most important for dark denim, as that is where the majority of fading occurs.

5. Taking it a step further, you can buy detergent designed to care for denim. Our recommendation is The Laundress Denim Wash, an eco-friendly and non-toxic rinse that gently softens the denim while preserving the color.

6. Before altering and hemming – wash and dry in a high temperature to maximize the shrinkage…especially for pant legs.

By following these guidelines, you will prolong the life of one of the most abundant and important elements of your wardrobe. We know you can’t live without them so we hope we’ve helped you learn to care for them.

xoxo Melina

Because these beauties are ad-free, you have to pay for them.  But who wants to send an invite or card with ads all over it anyway?  And with a bevy of online tools to communicate to your guests and manage your event, it’s simply the better choice.

They also offer memberships, perfect for the prolific party planner and/or someone who likes to send special cards for every occasion. While Cocodot gives you the same convenience as other online stationary outlets, no one can touch their sophisticated selection. So give your guests something to remember and send a Cocodot invite next time.

This picture of LL clearly demonstrates what can go wrong when trying out a faux tan. I recently had my very first spray tan and despite what I think were acceptable results, I wish I had some no nonsense, MKIA advice before going under that gun. So here it is, our first ever MKIA “how-to” post, based on my personal experience and some good advice I found online:

Go to a professional. There are two types of spray tan: the kind done in a booth with an automated machine and the kind done by a trained technician. You are essentially spray-painting your entire body for a week so this is something I would not entrust to a machine. A trained expert can make sure you are covered, literally. Go on yelp.com and look up your local spas to find who does it best. Pay attention to the reviews of the technicians themselves and the product the spa/salon uses.

Exfoliate until it hurts! Before your appointment, make sure to shower and use an exfoliant to remove dead skin and smooth out rough patches. Give extra attention to knees, elbows, hands and feet so that the color does not gather in cracks, which can give the appearance of aging skin.

Shave, shower, and moisturize right before your appointment. This should be done the morning of or right before your appointment as you should not shower until the day after you have your treatment. Most salons recommend waiting 8 – 10 hours before showering, but if you want the color to set-in properly, my tech says to wait overnight and then shower. Shaving cannot be done after, at least for a few days, so as not to remove the color. And moisturizing will leave your skin ready to receive the color.

Make sure you have a fresh mani/pedi. A spray-tan is not a perma-tan so remember that it does come off eventually and using chemicals or a scrub (such as during a mani/pedi session) removes color and will leave your skin looking patchy!  My advice would be to get a fresh mani/pedi the day of your spray tan.

Make sure you reach every angle, don’t assume that they will. Here is where I really wish I had that MKIA advice before my first experience. When you receive a “personal air brush tan” you stand in front of the technician wearing not much more than the g-string they give you.  Make sure you move the side straps of the panties around so that you don’t end up with any lines.  Your bathing suits and underwear are not going to be the same shape and you will end up with little lines instead of a smooth, seamless tan, which is what you’re paying for after all.  ALSO, and this is a big one, when the technician is applying the tan to your butt, make sure you lean forward and get under those cheeks!  You stand in different positions and that can cause skin to touch and areas can be missed.  You don’t want to lean over to grab your sunscreen and have your bum outlined with two white streaks!

Wear very loose clothing, that stuff is sticky. No one said beauty was easy.  Spray tanning leaves you feeling sticky and kind of dirty.  You don’t want to ruin any good clothes or wear something that will rub the color off.  So bring loose clothes that you don’t care about to wear after your treatment.

Don’t plan to do anything the day of… As I mentioned, you should not shower until the day after your spray tan.  This will leave you feeling a little sticky and a little darker than you will be after you finally shower.  So if you have an event or are planning a trip, make sure you give yourself a full 24 hours of recovery time before making your first appearance.

Sound like too much effort? Maybe so but the MKIAs agree it’s worthwhile for a special occasion or trip. I went to Miami in the dead of January with a healthy glow (not something you see very often in my otherwise cool Chicago neighborhood). I felt confident in my bikini the minute I arrived and never felt the need to subject my skin to extra sun just to fit in. So get your spray on and keep your skin safe!