Mandy Moore is in the throes of motherhood, and all parents can relate. The This Is Us star has three children with her husband, Taylor Goldsmith: August “Gus,” 3; Oscar “Ozzie,” 2; and Louise “Lou,” 2 months. And, like all moms, she’s struggling with sleep deprivation. Not only is Mandy’s newborn still too young to sleep through the night, but it seems her toddlers have been waking up in the early hours of the morning, too. In her Instagram stories, she admitted that she’s having an extremely hard time. Mandy posted a photo of herself looking exhausted with a caption that read, “Guys. What do I do to get my toddlers to not wake up at 4:30 and then stay up?”  “I’m about to go crazy. This is not sustainable,” she added. Instagram Friends & Fans Assure Mandy Moore That It’s Just “A Phase” While Mandy Moore didn’t share the advice she’d received, she did post a follow-up photo that showed her son playing in her hallway before the sun was up. In the caption, she explained that others assured her the early wakeups would eventually stop. “I came downstairs to him playing with his toys. Lights on. Cool cool cool,” she began. Instagram “Thanks to those of you who reminded me it’s a phase. Seems like many friends have been going through this or going through it,” she continued before adding, “Oooof. Being super sick with a newborn and a husband OOT. I’m ready for the next phase lol.” Our advice to Mandy Moore and every other parent struggling with exhaustion is the same—just hang in there. It’s only a phase. Eventually, kids learn to love sleep as much as the rest of us. This story’s featured image is by John Nacion/Getty Images. The post Mandy Moore Asks For Advice While Struggling With Relatable Parenting Problem appeared first on InspireMore.

Say goodbye to dry, chapped lips and learn how to make moisturizing homemade lip balm in this step-by-step guide. Our homemade lip balm recipe is easy to make with only three natural, non-toxic ingredients. You can put it in tins, tubs, or tubes to use as homemade chapstick too.DIY lip balm is also a terrific and useful homemade gift to share with friends, colleagues, or loved ones for a special occasion! We’ve been making lip balm for many years for our small business, so come learn all of our “secrets” including tips about the best ingredients to use, substitutions, troubleshooting, shelf life and more. This lip balm recipe is very similar to the one we use for our shop!Disclosure: Homestead and Chill is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Looking for more DIY gift ideas? Consider these beautiful pressed flower candle jar lanterns, or luxurious DIY herbal bath salts! Or pop over to our Homemade Holiday Gift Guide for over 27 easy and fun eco-friendly crafts, edible gift ideas, mason jar gifts, and more.SuppliesA double-boiler. Or, create a makeshift double boiler by nesting a stainless steel bowl, heat-safe glass bowl, or smaller pot inside a larger pot. Small containers to store your homemade lip balm. Consider options like these 1/2 ounce tins, 1 ounce tins, even smaller .15 ounce plastic chapstick tubes or cardboard chapstick tubes, tiny glass jars, or similar.  A glass measuring cup or similar small bowl/container with a pour spout. If you’re using chapstick tubes, a small funnel may be helpful as well. (When we make large quantities of natural lip balm for our shop, I use a stainless steel confectionery funnel to easily fill many small tins.)Ingredients The lip balm recipe below yields approximately 12 ounces of finished lip balm. To scale up or down, simply follow the same 1:1:2 ratio for beeswax, butters and oil. For example, use 1 tablespoon of beeswax and 1 tablespoon of cocoa butter with 2 tablespoons of oil to make a much smaller batch.1/2 cup beeswax (or 1 part beeswax). I recommend using beeswax pastilles since they’re the easiest to work with. See beeswax substitution options in the FAQ section to follow. 1/2 cup cocoa butter (or 1 part butter). Cocoa butter wafers are a popular choice and also easy to work with. I love the creamy, chocolate-like notes that cocoa butter adds to this lip balm recipe! You can also use shea butter or mango butter to make lip balm. 1 cup high-quality edible oil (or 2 parts oil) such as olive oil, sweet almond oil, or avocado oil. You can mix a couple if you’d like. I personally like to use organic sweet almond oil to make homemade lip balm. It’s highly moisturizing, full of nutrients, and has a very mild flavor and scent. See oil notes below for more guidance on choosing the best oil. Optional: edible essential oils – up to 96 drops or 1 light tsp maximum per 1 cup of base oil used. I prefer to use about half that amount for a more mellow scent. See more essential oil recommendations to follow.TIP: To measure by weight instead of volume, use a 1:1:4 ratio or 1 part beeswax, 1 part cocoa butter, and 4 parts oil (e.g. 60 grams beeswax, 60 grams cocoa butter, and 240 grams oil).Flavoring lip balm with essential oilsFeel free to add essential oils to your homemade lip balm recipe, but be sure to choose high-quality “edible” oils only. Organic is all the better! Some of the most popular essential oils used to make lip balm include peppermint, spearmint, wintergreen, sweet orange*, vanilla, chamomile, lavender, and jasmine. For a fairly strong-scented lip balm, use up to 96 drops (1 light tsp) of essential oils per 1 cup of oil maximum. Scaled down, that’s 12 drops of essential oils for every 2 Tbsp of regular oil. To make lip balm with a more mellow scent, use about half the amount.We love to use certified organic oils from Plant Therapy. NOTE: Certain citrus essential oils are considered “phototoxic”, which means they can increase the risk of sunburn while in direct sun – such as lemon, lime, pink grapefruit, and bergamot. However, this is mostly a concern when very high or undiluted concentrations of citrus oil is applied directly to skin. Sweet orange is not phytotoxic.The best base oils for homemade lip balmYou can make lip balm with any high-quality edible oil such as sweet almond oil, olive oil, fractionated (liquid) coconut oil, sunflower oil, avocado oil, hemp seed oil, or similar. Coconut oil that’s solid at room temperature can be more tricky to work with since it’s texture varies wildly with temperature. Note that oils with distinct or strong flavors (e.g. olive, coconut) will influence the overall flavor and scent of your homemade lip balm. While lip balm may be considered a cosmetic, I personally avoid using oils that are reserved for “cosmetic use only” (like argan oil or rosehip seed oil) since the final product is going dang near in your mouth. However, those are great choices for our calendula salve or lavender body salve recipes!Instructions1) Measure and combine ingredientsHave all your supplies and ingredients out and ready before starting, including the final storage containers. Add water to the bottom portion of a double boiler; enough so the bottom of the top pan or bowl is resting in water. Measure and/or weigh the oil, wax, and cocoa butter or shea butter and add to the top portion of a double boiler. Do NOT add essential oils at this time.TIP: Measuring cocoa wafers by the cup is a bit awkward, but it works! Just be sure to pack them in tight. For reference, we’ve found that 1/2 cup of beeswax pastilles and 1/2 cup of cocoa butter wafers both weigh about 60 grams each.2) Heat until meltedHeat the ingredients over medium-high heat until all of the ingredients completely melt and combine. Stir occasionally. Do not cover the pot while heating; the introduction of condensation (water) can negatively impact your homemade lip balm. Turn off and remove the pot from the heat for a couple minutes before adding essential oils. Essential oils are very volatile by nature, and thus will quickly dissipate on high heat!3) Pour and coolWhile it’s still hot, carefully pour the liquid into your lip balm containers of choice. If you have one handy, we find it’s easiest to transfer the melted mixture from the double-boiler into a glass measuring cup with a pour spout (in batches if needed) and then pour it into small lip balm containers from there. Microwave the glass measuring cup for 30 seconds first to prevent the mixture from cooling too quickly when it comes in contact with the cool glass. If the mixture starts to harden before you’re finished pouring, simply return to the heat to re-melt. Once the lip balm has completely cooled and hardened, add lids or caps and labels. Now you can enjoy your new moisturizing homemade lip balm! CLEAN UP TIP: For the easiest clean up, immediately wipe the pan out with a paper towel. If the lip balm residue starts to harden inside, lightly heat the pan again to help it melt once again.CoolingDone!How long does homemade lip balm last? Can it expire?Homemade lip balm will last or stay good for several months or up to a year. A number of factors influence the shelf life of homemade lip balm, including the ingredients used and how it is stored or applied. For instance, some oils go rancid more quickly than others, though beeswax acts as a natural preservative to help extend their shelf life.As a general rule of thumb, it’s likely good and safe to use as long as it looks, smells, and feels normal. Signs that homemade lip balm has expired or gone bad include “off” odors, flavors, or visible mold on the surface of the lip balm or inside its container.Using a tube applicator or dipping clean fingers into a lip balm tin will help it last longer than applying lip balm from a tin with soiled fingers… I’m looking at you, kiddos! Frequently Asked QuestionsCan I make homemade lip balm without beeswax? Yes! Of all the vegan plant-based wax options, soy wax or candelilla wax are recommended as the best substitutes to make lip balm without beeswax since they offer the most similar texture and results. However, you may need to experiment or tweak the lip balm recipe slightly to get it exactly how you like it.  Does homemade lip balm need preservatives? No, you do not need to add chemical preservatives to this lip balm recipe because beeswax acts as a natural preservative! Beeswax is also anti-fungal, antibacterial, antimicrobial, and extends the shelf life of the oil, butters, and lip balm in general. What if my homemade lip balm is too hard (or too soft)? If your homemade lip balm comes out too soft, the easiest fix is to re-melt it and add a tad more wax. On the other hand, if the lip balm is too firm you can re-melt it and add a little more oil instead. (Yet if you follow our lip balm recipe, this shouldn’t be an issue.) How to prevent homemade lip balm from crackingHere are a few reasons homemade lip balm may crack in its container as it dries, along with several ways to prevent it:In my experience, getting the perfect ratio of beeswax, oil, and butter (cocoa, shea, etc) is key. For instance, using too much beeswax or not enough oil may cause lip balm to crack – and be overly firm. Following a tested lip balm recipe will help! Because different waxes and butters have different melting points, swapping ingredients can lead to varying results too. For example, mango butter is more brittle than shea butter. Another reason homemade lip balm may crack is if it cools and hardens too quickly, and/or when the molds or containers are too cold. We’ve only found this to be an issue on cold winter days when the house is a bit chilly inside too. To overcome this, we try to work in warm location (such as near the stove) and also keep the lip balm containers clustered close together to stay warm and slow cooling.Why is my homemade lip balm grainy?When certain oils and butters are exposed to temperature swings (such as while making lip balm, or even leaving lip balm in a hot car) their natural fatty acids can crystalize and cause a sandy or grainy texture, also known as “blooming”. It’s totally harmless, though some folks find the texture undesirable. Our natural lip balm recipe never turns out grainy, but here are some tips if you’re having that issue!How to prevent grainy lip balm: Heat your butter ingredient (e.g. cocoa, shea or mango butter) to 175°F and allow it to hold at that temperature for about 20 minutes. Use a probe thermometer or candy thermometer to verify. It may be best to add your butter to the double boiler first, allow it to fully melt and heat as recommended, and then add the other lip balm ingredients to the pot. Then, the butter should be cooled as quickly as possible. The longer it is melted, the more likely it is to crystalize. Some folks even refrigerator their lip balm to expedite cooling. Yet that may also lead to more cracking, as previously discussed. Finally, try using a different type of butter product in your lip balm recipe. Solid coconut oil may also be the culprit. And that ‘s how to make homemade lip balm!I hope that this tutorial helps you feel confident and excited to make your own natural lip balm too. Please let us know if you have any questions in the comments below, and leave a review once you try the lip balm recipe yourself. Have fun!Don’t miss these related crafty articles:How to Make Soothing Homemade Lavender Salve How to Make Homemade Calendula Salve for Healthy Skin 17 Wonderful Winter Garden Activities (Projects) To Do Indoors Homemade Rice Heating Pad (or Cold Pack) Tutorial DIY Beeswax Wraps (Food Wraps) Tutorial How to Make a DIY Beeswax Fall Leaf Garland Did you enjoy this article? Want to hear more? Stay in touch! Sign up below to receive weekly updates on new posts from Homestead and Chill. Print Easy Lip Balm Recipe (How to Make Homemade Lip Balm) Follow our easy lip balm recipe and learn how to make moisturizing, natural homemade lip balm or chapstick with only 3 ingredients. It makes a great DIY gift too! Keyword homemade lip balm, lip balm recipe, natural lip balm, organic lip balm Prep Time 10 minutes minutesCook Time 10 minutes minutesCooling Time 20 minutes minutes Servings 12 ounces EquipmentA double-boiler, or make-shift double boiler (such as a glass pyrex bowl or stainless steel bowl perched on top of a saucepan with water below)Lip balm tins, tiny glass jars, chapstick tubes or other similar final storage container Ingredients1 cup oil (such as sweet almond oil, olive oil, sunflower oil, fractionated coconut oil, or other edible oil of choice)1/2 cup Beeswax pastilles (vegan option: replace with the same amount of soy wax or candelilla wax)1/2 cup Cocoa butter wafers (or shea butter)96 drops essential oil of choice (1 light tsp) (Use 96 drops per cup of oil maximum for a fairly strong-scented lip balm, about 1 light teaspoon. Feel free to use less or none at all) InstructionsHave all of your required supplies ready and waiting (including final storage tins). Add water to the bottom pan of your double-boiler. Now add the called-for oil, beeswax, and cocoa butter to the top portion of the double-boiler. Heat the mixture on the stovetop over medium-love heat until everything melts, and stirring frequently. As soon as everything melts and is thoroughly combined, remove from heat. Add optional essential oils once removed from heat. They're highly volatile and prone to dissipating. While it is still hot, carefully pour the liquid lip balm into your chosen containers. (If it starts to solidify while you’re still filling containers, simply put it back on medium-low heat until it liquifies again.) Allow them to fully cool and harden before adding lids. Notes*By volume, use 1 part beeswax, 1 part cocoa butter, 2 parts oil. By weight, use 1 part beeswax, 1 part cocoa butter, and 4 parts oil.  The post Easy Lip Balm Recipe (How to Make Homemade Lip Balm) appeared first on Homestead and Chill.

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Despite 90 years of research, the nature and influence of Dark Matter continue to elude astronomers and cosmologists. First proposed in the 1960s to explain the rotational curves of galaxies, this invisible mass does not interact with normal matter (except through gravity) and accounts for 85% of the total mass in the Universe. It is also a vital component in the most widely accepted cosmological model of the Universe, the Lambda Cold Dark Matter (LCDM) model. However, according to new research, the hunt for DM could be over as soon as a nearby star goes supernova. Currently, the axion is considered the most likely candidate for DM, a hypothetical low-mass particle proposed in the 1970s to resolve problems in quantum theory. There has also been considerable research into how astronomers could detect axions by observing neutron stars and objects with powerful magnetic fields. In a recent study supported by the U.S. Department of Energy, a team of astrophysicists at the University of California Berkeley argued that axions could be discovered within seconds of detecting gamma rays from a nearby supernova explosion. The study was conducted by researchers at the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics (BCTP) and a member of the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory’s (LBNL) Theoretical Physics Group. The paper that describes their findings was published on November 19th in the journal Physical Review Letters. As they argue, axions would be produced in copious quantities during the first 10 seconds after a massive star undergoes core collapse and becomes a neutron star. These axions would then escape and be transformed into high-energy gamma rays in the star’s intense magnetic field. For decades, the search for Dark Matter focused on MAssive Compact Halo Objects (MACHOs). When they failed to materialize, physicists began to consider Weakly Interacting Massive Particles (WIMPs) as the most likely candidate but also failed to find anything tangible. This led to axions becoming the most widely accepted candidate, an elementary particle that fits within the Standard Model of Particle Physics and resolves several unresolved questions in Quantum Mechanics – including a Theory of Everything (ToE). The strongest candidate for axions is the quantum chromodynamics (QCD) axion, which theoretically interacts with all matter, though weakly. As previous research has shown, axions will occasionally turn into photons in the presence of a strong magnetic field that can be detected. However, such detections would be very challenging since it would require that the supernova be nearby (within the Milky Way or one of its satellite galaxies). In addition, observable supernovae are rare, occurring once every few decades. The last time astronomers observed this phenomenon was in 1987 when a Type II supernova (SN1987A) appeared suddenly in the Large Magellanic Cloud (LMC), roughly 168,000 light-years from Earth. At the time, NASA’s Solar Maximum Mission (SMM) was observing the LMC but wasn’t sensitive enough to detect the predicted intensity of gamma rays. Benjamin Safdi, a UC Berkeley associate professor of physics and senior author of a paper, explained in a recent UC Berkeley News statement: “If we were to see a supernova, like supernova 1987A, with a modern gamma-ray telescope, we would be able to detect or rule out this QCD axion, this most interesting axion, across much of its parameter space — essentially the entire parameter space that cannot be probed in the laboratory, and much of the parameter space that can be probed in the laboratory, too. And it would all happen within 10 seconds.” Illustration of NASA’s Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope at work. Credit: NASA GSFC Through a series of supercomputer simulations that used SN1987A to constrain higher mass axions, Safdi and his colleagues determined that Type II supernovae simultaneously produce bursts of gamma rays and neutrinos. They further noted that the gamma rays produced would depend on the axions’ mass and only last 10 seconds after the neutron star forms. After that, the production rate would drop dramatically. This means a gamma-ray space telescope must be pointed toward the supernova at precisely the right time. The Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope is currently the only observatory capable of detecting cosmic gamma-ray sources. Based on its field of view, scientists estimate that Fermi would have about a one-in-ten chance of spotting a supernova. To that end, the team proposes that we create a next-generation gamma-ray telescope known as the GALactic AXion Instrument for Supernova (GALAXIS). Said Safdi: “This has really led us to thinking about neutron stars as optimal targets for searching for axions as axion laboratories. Neutron stars have a lot of things going for them. They are extremely hot objects. They also host very strong magnetic fields. The strongest magnetic fields in our universe are found around neutron stars, such as magnetars, which have magnetic fields tens of billions of times stronger than anything we can build in the laboratory. That helps convert these axions into observable signals.” As they note, a single detection of gamma rays would pinpoint the mass of an axion over a huge range of theoretical masses and allow for laboratory experiments to refocus their efforts on confirming this mass. Even a lack of detection would mean that scientists could eliminate a large range of potential masses for the axion, which would narrow the search for Dark Matter considerably. In the meantime, Safdi and his colleagues hope the Fermi telescope will catch a lucky break. “The best-case scenario for axions is Fermi catches a supernova,” he added. “It’s just that the chance of that is small. But if Fermi saw it, we’d be able to measure its mass. We’d be able to measure its interaction strength. We’d be able to determine everything we need to know about the axion and incredibly confident in the signal because there’s no ordinary matter which could create such an event.” Further Reading: UC Berkeley News, Physical Review Letters The post A Nearby Supernova Could Finally Reveal Mark Matter appeared first on Universe Today.

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