4 Small Life Hacks: Bobby Pins, Vitamins, and How to Wash the Peanut Butter Jar

Here are four random habits I've adapted that have made a difference for me.

Wear bobby pins the right way

I have a lot of hair and bobby pins are a daily part of my life. I leave them all over the house and places I go like Hansel and Gretel's breadcrumb trail. At any rate, there are two tips I have for improving the efficiency of your bobby pin usage:

Bobby pins should be worn wavy side DOWN, facing your scalp, not up! The hold is much, much better this way, though it looks less decorative.

Above: Source unknown, but cross your bobby pins wavy side DOWN for max hold!

For hairstyles where you require more stability and hold, CROSS your bobby pins over each other, wavy side down. 

How to wash the damn peanut butter jar

You know what I mean--you love peanut butter, I love peanut butter, or any sort of similar topping to put on toast but you don't want to deal with the remains in the plastic jar. I read this article earlier this year and was determined to figure it out.

When the jar is empty, fill it 1/3 of the way with hot water, screw the lid on, and shake vigourously. Drain and repeat until the jar is clear. After the first couple shakes, put a dab of dish soap in there and shake if you wish to remove greasiness. 

Above: delicious and a pain to clean. 

Add a bit of hot water, lid on, and shake. Repeat a few times.

This takes less than 5 minutes and then you can properly recycle something!! No need to get your dish cloth or sponge hopelessly dirty or try to jam your hand in there.

Evening Primrose Oil Vitamins for PMS

On the radio a few years ago, I heard a health tip that evening primrose oil, a vitamin that you can easily get at any drug store in Canada, helps immensely with PMS symptoms. I've used it ever since and it makes a difference! I've recommended it to many friends over the years, and they have all had positive feedback.

Above: Evening Primrose Oil is available at most Canadian drug stores for a 

reasonable price in many brands, and helps with PMS symptoms!

BTW, none of this is an ad, and I'm not a Doctor, so if you are unsure about this vitamin please of course speak with your health care provider first. I've tried various brands over the years and haven't noticed a difference between them really, only that the oil itself is helpful!

Use a dosette for vitamins

A dosette is one of those containers for keeping pills, which you can find at any drug store or dollar store:

Above: example of a dosette

If you take vitamins (maybe evening primrose oil above!), sort them into a dosette for easy access and transport.

I keep one at work, rather than crowd a bunch of vitamin bottles on my desk that I never end up taking. I also keep one at home on the coffee table -- if I'm waiting for something to load, I take my vitamins. Much easier and more accessible and discrete than going to the kitchen, opening 4-5 different bottles.

Above: I use a one-week supply dosette like this for work and short travel

Another bonus is transport -- I throw the dosette into my work tote at the beginning of the week and take it home on Friday to refill. 

In pre-COVID times this was great for travel. Going away for the weekend? A dosette takes up no space in your weekend bag and you can still take your vitamins. For bigger trips too -- even before COVID, I often got sick while traveling abroad, and it was nice to have some zinc, echinacea, vitamin D, etc, to boost the immune system or otherwise steady your system as it acclimates to a new climate, types of food, etc.