Nothing Like A Sink Shower!

Listen. We are all pretty busy people. You know what that means? It means that sometimes things like showers often have to either be rushed or skipped entirely. I've definitely had days where I'm running a little late for school or work, realize my hair is embarrassingly greasy, but don't have time to hop in the shower. I also happen to live with my mother who gets up before teachers do to go to work, so she goes to bed very early to wake up refreshed in the morning. She's a light sleeper, so when her lights go out for the night, the shower can't be turned on at the risk of a sound scolding for waking my mother up.

I've tried various different ways to get a quick "shower" in. My hair is the hard part. It's usually pretty easy for me scrub myself down to get my body cleaned. I've done things from baby powder/cornstarch in my hair, baking soda in my hair, and styling my hair differently to hide the fact that I haven't showered in the past 24 hours (don't judge - my work and school schedules get pretty hectic!). But there's nothing that works as well as bending over a sink and washing my hair in the sink. Of course, this doesn't give it the thorough clean it needs, but at the very least, I get my roots, and honestly, that's the most important part in my opinion. I then make sure to get a nice long shower in later that day. 

So how does one shower over the sink? It's easier than you might think!

1. Wear a t-shirt you don't mind getting wet! 

Seriously. Since you're going to be showering over a sink, you will get wet, your sink will get wet, and the clothes that you're wearing will also get wet. Some people do this over the kitchen sink since they're usually bigger than a bathroom sink, but I prefer to use the bathroom sink anyway because I get more privacy that way. Plus I have long hair, so I prefer not to wash my hair in the same place that my family washes food and dirty dishes. 

2. Bend over the sink, flip your hair over, and start getting your hair wet!
I like to have a small bowl or container handy for this. My aunt used to teach me to just cup my hands under the water to use as a makeshift bowl, but I've found that I make more of a mess that way. I'm also a pretty clumsy person, though, so other people might have more luck that I do. I use the small bowl to carefully pour/splash water at the front and sides of my hair, making sure to really get my roots wet. 

3. Start shampooing

This can either be the tricky part or the easy part, depending on how small your sink is and how careful you are. I squeeze a small amount of shampoo in my palm and then start rubbing it in my roots like I normally would if I were taking a regular shower. Just remember not to actually get your whole head though (unless you have short hair). It'll be harder to rinse out that soap if you have to rinse it out from a full head of long hair. 

4. Rinse!

Grab that small bowl and start rinsing out the shampoo. This could easily be the most time-consuming part, but that's okay. It's better to make sure to really get that soap out or you'll regret it later as you're scratching your head (literally!) wondering why your scalp is suddenly so itchy. By the end of this, your hair should be drenched and dripping wet. 

5. Grab your towel and start towel drying

Like I said, your hair should be dripping wet at this point. Grab your towel (which you should always leave within easy reach) and towel dry your hair. Your hair will most likely look pretty wild at this point, but remember that you washed your hair upside down, so gravity wasn't exactly on your side. But after a good round of towel drying, your hair shouldn't look that bad - just wet, naturally. 

6. Enjoy your clean(er) hair!

It's not the most thorough of methods to wash your hair, but it gets the job done. Personally, I think this is the most effective method of washing your hair when you're pressed for time. I feel cleaner and unlike when I use baby powder or cornstarch, I don't look like a granny from putting white powder in my black hair. 

Hope this helps!

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Getting Mold Out of A Camelbak Mouthpiece

As I was cleaning out my closet the other day, I dug up an old Camelbak water bottle I used to be absolutely obsessed with. I'm not kidding; I was rarely seen without it. I was always really hydrated. I don't remember why I stopped using it all the time, but I figured I should start up again. It'll be good for my health, after all. The problem was that it'd been a while since I've used the water bottle, so mold had started growing in the mouthpiece. The rest of the water bottle was just a thorough wash away from being usable again, but the mouthpiece was gross and moldy. Obviously, I wasn't about to throw away a perfectly good water bottle for the sake of a moldy mouthpiece, so I was determined to wash it out. 

I tried scrubbing it with some q-tips and scratching the leftovers with toothpicks. I rinsed it with hot water and soap. I let it soak in a baking soda and water solution. Although these methods gave me a temporary fix (the mold grew back the next day), they weren't long-term solutions. I guess I hadn't killed the bacteria. 

Then I tried a bleach solution. 

I'm no stranger to the fact that bleach kills bacteria on contact. I was just avoiding this solution for safety and health purposes; I didn't want to accidentally ingest bleach from a less-than-thorough rinse-out afterward. But desperate times call for desperate measures. Luckily for me, it worked like a charm and was incredibly easy to do. So just in case there's someone out there desperately searching for a way to really get that mold out of your water bottle mouthpiece, let me share my method with you: 

1. I used a plastic pint to put my bleach in. It wasn't being used for anything other than rinsing things out, so it was a safe choice. Whatever container you choose, avoid a commonly used dish for eating. You don't want any unhappy accidents. 

2. I didn't really measure out my bleach. I just put a tiny splash of bleach in my container, just enough to thinly cover the bottom of the container. I filled it the rest of the way up with hot water and give it a good stir. 

3. Now it's the easy part. All you have to do is put the moldy mouthpiece in this solution. Make sure you really poke it down so that it sinks to the bottom. That's it. Walk away and do whatever you have to do. 

4. My mouthpiece didn't have a terrible amount of bleach in it, so after 10 minutes, it was clear of the mold. I left it in for an additional two minutes, though, just in case. Adjust the time according to how deeply your mouthpiece needs cleaning. 

5. This is the important part. Rinse out your mouthpiece. Wash it with hot water and some mild soap, and really thoroughly rinse it. I even rinsed it with a baking soda rinse to make extra sure I wouldn't ingest bleach (I'd sooner accidentally ingest baking soda than bleach). 

And then you're good to go! I hope this has been helpful! 

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