More beauty tips

Mane Event Mondays: The truth about blow drying
Mane Event Mondays: How to get effortless, flexible hair
Mane Event Mondays: How to cure a flaky scalp

Kate Middleton adopts a new style

Get the look

Kate Middleton is rocking a new hairstyle to go along with her designer duds. We enlisted the help of celebrity hairstylist George Gonzalez to find out how to get the same look at home.

Is it just us, or does Kate Middleton's new bangs-centric hairstyle look like the style original Charlie's Angels star Jaclyn Smith rocked in the late '70s?

The Duchess of Cambridge stepped out with the new style during an appearance at London's Natural History Museum on Nov. 27. She didn't get anything too drastic done — the biggest change is the new bangs.

And apparently, she's not too sold on the new look yet.

"I told her I loved her new hair style," spectator Joanne Baldwin told the Daily Mail. "She said, 'I'm not sure about it. It's a bit windy today.' I said don't worry, it looks lovely.'"

It totally does and we love that certain royals aren't too chicken to try out a new look. And Kate? Hair grows, so you're not stuck with it forever.

Loving the look? We turned to one of Oprah's favorite stylists, George Gonzalez of George the Salon Chicago, to find out how to ask for the same look at the salon.

"Kate's iconic cascade of curls get a modern update with the addition of a softly sculpted angled fringe that blends perfectly into her long layers," he told SheKnows.

"The staple of this style is of course the bang," he added. "The key to re-creating this is having your stylist cut an angled fringe with some of the sections skimming the tip of the nose in order to have the hair long enough to effortlessly sweep the fringe to one side. To soften this otherwise blunt edge when first cut, make sure your stylist 'chips' into the hair with the tips of the scissors."

And to do it at home? Gonzalez gave us a rundown of the steps it takes to get royal-ready hair.

• Apply a leave-in conditioner and use a wide tooth bone comb to detangle, applying a volumizing mousse throughout. Concentrate this on the roots in order to create a style with height that doesn’t lay flat.
• Blow out hair in 1-2-inch sections using a large boar bristle round brush paired with a thermal protectant to ensure the shine factor is amplified. Gather bangs and pin separately as you will style these later. Twist hair around the round brush and direct heat from the dryer on it for a few seconds. This will help create that loose, cascading effect.
• Clip each section after the twisting motion is completed in large pin curls and mist with a flexible light hold hairspray.
• For the bangs: I find styling fringe is easiest when you can start with fresh, damp strands. If they have dried too much so far, take a water bottle and gently mist them with water. Then, take a small round brush and start drying with a cupping action on a high fan setting. As the bangs become drier, start a brushing action on a low fan setting, directing them in the desired angle.
• Let cool. Take down the rest of your hair to reveal soft curls using your hands to style.
• Accentuate the loose waves by taking sections and curl with a jumbo curling iron for this iconic royal style. Mist with a light hold hairspray to seal this soft, bouncy style.

Not too difficult! Now, if he could only tell us how to get Kate's designer wardrobe without the five-figure price tag. Someday...

More Kate Middleton style

Celeb Hairstyle of the Week: Kate Middleton
Friday's Fashion Obsessions: Nicole Scherzinger and Kate Middleton
Spotted: Kate Middleton rocks the red carpet in Alice Temperley

Photo credit: WENN.com

More fashion obsessions

Friday's Fashion Obsessions: Taylor Swift and Kristin Cavallari
Friday's Fashion Obsessions: Jayma Mays and Emma Stone
Friday's Fashion Obsessions: Taylor Swift and Kristen Stewart

Photo credits: Alberto Reyes/WENN.com, Andres Otero/WENN.com

We're obsessed!

We have a total crush on Kesha's chic 'do. Find out why in this week's installment of Celeb Hairstyle of the Week!

I never thought this day would come, but Kesha has made our Celeb Hairstyle of the Week this week! A few weeks back at the American Music Awards, Kesha stunned everyone on the red carpet with her new sophisticated, cleaned up look and I'm still a tad obsessed with her hair.

The siren waves are a welcome look for the usually dirty looking star — sorry, there's no better way to say it! — and the style frames Kesha's face nicely. Here's to hoping she keeps up the good work!

More celebrity hairstyles

Celeb Hairstyle of the Week: Amy Adams
Celeb Hairstyle of the Week: Jana Kramer
Celeb Hairstyle of the Week: Pippa Middleton

Photo credit: FayesVision/WENN.com

Losing the pull up: A story about potty training

I had to do it. I knew it. My husband knew it. Our 2-year-old daughter had already begun outsmarting us. We knew that the time had come to make the switch from dressing her in pull-up style diapers to underwear if we ever wanted her to start using the potty. Everything we read told us that she was ready to get started, and since we had no clue what we were doing, we decided to follow the advice we found and go for it. Several months later, we're still going for it — one load of laundry at a time. It turns out that our beautiful, smart and hilarious little girl does not care a bit if she has peed or pooped in her pants. She's cool. She can still play. No need to take a break.

What this devil-may-care mentality has meant for us is an inordinate amount of laundry, occasional tears and lots of sticker- and candy-related promises. What has been the most surprising part of this journey with her is the ginormous smell that has started with just a small accident and quickly taken over our laundry room. We've found that when it comes to potty training, you must do the laundry immediately to save the clothes and avoid the dreaded, musty smell of pee.

How to save her clothes and save the day

Here are a few of my favorite tips for cleaning up after a potty-training accident.

• Use bleach. It is your friend. Presoak any soiled undergarment in the sink in a solution of diluted bleach. This will help to ensure that the mess does not spread to other items in the washing machine.
• If the accident involves a number two, then swish the soiled underwear around in a clean toilet. Hang on tight to the undies and flush to help wash away any remaining matter.
• Shoes are often casualties of potty-training accidents. To clean them, first spray with a bleach and water solution . Then wash them on the gentle cycle and let them air dry.

The hardest part for a parent about potty training is second-guessing yourself. Not knowing if your child is ready or if you are giving them the help that they need can be gut wrenching. Luckily, that worry does not have to extend to the laundry room.

More real-life laundry stories

Better with bleach: 3 Generations of moms share their stories
Real-life laundry: Conquering drool
Real-life laundry: Surprise finds with every wash and dry

A cleaning solution stands the test of time

Using bleach to clean up some of the toughest rooms in the home is a method that has withstood the test of time and has been passed down from generation to generation.

I'd recognize that smell anywhere

My mom laughs when she tells me that anytime she thinks of my grandmother holding her as a child, she thinks of the smell of bleach. "I can still smell it," she says. "She used it to clean everything." Fast-forward to now, and she still uses it to clean everything. So does my mom. So do I. In truth, I don't think there's a shower or bathtub that we can't clean with a little bleach and some elbow grease. My grandma told me recently that she has to wash all of her delicates with a cap of bleach to get them "oh-so-fresh." My mom uses bleach to clean out the drains by simply pouring about bleach down the drain and flushing it with hot water. If I've learned anything from these women, it's that bleach can clean almost anything in any room of the house.

Bathroom cleaning tips

Bleach can be used to clean your bathroom from top to bottom. In addition to cleaning the drain, you can clean the mildew that's building up on your vinyl or synthetic shower curtain liner by simply washing it in the washing machine with a little laundry detergent and bleach. Speaking of showers, you can use bleach to wipe down bathtubs, shower doors, tiles and floors to kill mold, remove mildew and make the dingy look on your tiles disappear.

Baby items

This may come as a shock to you — it did for me — but a little bleach can be used to sanitize baby bottles, nipples, dishes and high chairs. For best results, be sure to soak washed items for two minutes in a solution of diluted bleach. Pour the solution through nipples, and then drain and dry. The high chair may need more frequent cleanings when you begin to potty train, and so will another item new to the household — the training potty. You can spray this with a similar bleach solution or wipe it down with a little bleach and water to disinfect it and make sure it's safe and ready for the next visit.

Overlooked surfaces

My mother and grandmother both taught me that it's important to give a little attention to some of the most overlooked surfaces in the house from time to time. Wiping down faucets, remote controls, light switches, cabinet handles, refrigerator and microwave handles, and door knobs with bleach wipes is a great way to help keep a healthier home. This also goes for patio furniture and even broom and mop handles, which, if you think about it, are probably some of the dirtiest surfaces in your home.

Of course, before you try cleaning anything with bleach, it's helpful to test a small surface to make sure you don't run into any adverse reactions. Also, proper ventilation is a must!

More laundry tips from moms

Real-life laundry: Surprise finds with every wash and dry
Real-life laundry: Keeping things together
Real-life laundry: Conquering drool

If you want to streamline laundry chores, learn how to avoid mishaps and take better care of your clothing. A few extra minutes of prep before you toss a load in the washer is worth the time and saves you from unwelcome surprises.

Stains

Inspect clothing in good light so you don't miss a stain and have to re-launder the item later. Water-based stains such as soda, coffee and blood usually have an outline around the perimeter similar to a road map. Oil-based stains from food oils and grease will be blotchy and darker than the garment. You can pre-treat water-based stains before laundering and have success at removing them completely. Oil-based stains don't come clean in most washers, and the heat of a dryer further sets the stain and can permanently ruin the item. Your best bet for oil-based stains is a dry cleaner.

Check the pockets

Take those few extra minutes to check all pockets for stray items. Gum, lipstick or a tissue left behind can ruin an entire load of laundry and cost you far more time than the initial check-and-sort. Renee missed a red lipstick she'd tucked in her pocket, and she ran it through the wash cycle. The lipstick melted and left gummy red streaks on the entire load. She's learned her lesson and now consistently turns pockets inside out to avoid a repeat scary laundry mistake.

Using mesh bags to hold smaller and delicate items — like lingerie — cuts down on wear and tear, reduces tangling during the wash cycle and saves time when you're sorting.

Don't overload

Overloading your washer may leave you with clothes that are dirtier than when you started! The wash cycle is designed to run water and detergent through clothes to release the soil and flush it down the drain. Packing your washer too tightly means that dirt and grime will just transfer to other items and not get rinsed away. In Phoenix, Sarah's teenage son packed multiple pairs of muddy jeans and sweatshirts into her washer following a camping trip. The result? Mud soup, and extra work cleaning out the washer before they could divide the clothes into appropriately sized loads and rewash.

Most basic soil on clothing comes out in the first few minutes of the wash cycle, after the initial soaping. You can save time and cut energy costs by laundering some loads on a shorter cycle. Garments will also benefit, because a shorter cycle minimizes wear. Julie from Colorado says that she can do her family's sheets and towels on the shortest cycle because they are not heavily soiled. This way she saves on energy and has a load finished in half of the normal time.

Keep it clean

Microscopic bacteria lurk in washers. Bleach not only makes your whites look brighter, but it's an effective way to kill germs! Make your last load a white one, and simply add bleach. The bleach multitasks, making laundry look great and smell fresh, and ridding the washer drum of nasty bacteria.

Leave the door slightly ajar after laundry chores to help air out the washer and avoid musty odors that might linger or build up.

More tips

Trendy activewear for moms
5 Secrets of best-dressed moms
Moms of tots: What not to wear

We all do it: neglect to thoroughly check pockets when loading dirty laundry into the washer, and then get a big and not always happy surprise later. Kids are the main culprits when it comes to leaving a variety of strange objects in the clothes that find their way to the washing machine, but they're not the only guilty ones!

Nature

Jill, a California mom with three kids under 11 years old, thinks her children are of the hunter/gatherer variety. She's washed rocks, leaves, dirt, sticks, acorns and shells. Kids playing outside often stuff interesting items into their pockets and forget about them when dumping clothes in the hamper. Jill admits that in the laundry-day rush, she sometimes forgets to check for the treasures her little nature-lovers habitually collect.

Paper

For pure irritation value, there's nothing worse than doing a load of laundry only to find that someone left a tissue in their pocket. Mary, a Minnesota mom with six active kids, does laundry every day and has learned to check and double-check pockets for tissues, especially as the weather turns colder and one or more of her children seems to always have the sniffles. She's learned her lesson after spending up to 30 minutes picking wet shreds of tissue off clothing fresh from the washer. "It spreads everywhere," she says, and "the only way to clean it up is to pick off what you can before throwing everything in the dryer and repeating the process when the load finishes. And it's nearly impossible to identify the guilty party!"

Meow

Catherine leaned down to toss a few more items into her front-loading washer and thankfully heard an outraged meow from the family cat, who had made a comfy nest inside the washer on a pile of dirty towels. This Utah mom now knows not to leave the door ajar and fortunately discovered Ginger's cat cave before the beloved pet was harmed in the spin cycle.

Crime fighters

Donna, a homemaker in Estes Park, Colorado, has a husband in law enforcement who doesn't always check his pockets before tossing his uniform into the laundry. As a result, more than once she's washed bullets, handcuffs and his badge. The tip-off is the clanging noise these items make when the uniform makes it to the dryer.

Laurie does laundry "constantly" for her large family — her husband and four kids — and says her biggest shock ever was the day she found that her kids had actually put their dirty clothes directly into the washer. For a mom who is used to the routine of multiple reminders for everyone to gather up their items, finding it already done — and color sorted, too — was an unexpected surprise. "If only," she says, "it could happen again."

More tips

Moms of tots: What not to wear
Kids: "The most beautiful thing about my mom"
Why Vitamin C is a mom's best beauty friend

Funny
laundry mishaps

Husbands and kids who are novices to laundry chores can create messy and memorable wash-day mishaps.

It's not a lot of laughs doing laundry, especially if you're a busy mom who is constantly struggling to keep up with the dirty clothing and linens that your family generates. Sheets and towels, jeans and pants, shirts and tops, work clothes, play clothes... It all adds up to a lot of loads and a considerable amount of time spent gathering, sorting, treating stains and folding, only to do it again and again!

Laundry 101

A lot of moms expect their kids to pitch in on laundry days, and when children reach their teenage years they should be able to handle their own dirty laundry. New Mexico mom Allie thought that her 15-year-old son would be able to manage, but she got a big surprise passing the laundry room door and hearing the sound of a lot of running water. Her son had stuffed "practically everything he owns" into their front-loading washer and a waterfall was gushing out the door, snaking its way across the floor. So jammed it was unable to move into the spin cycle, the washer simply spewed out all of the water. It was a lesson learned for her son, who had to quickly help mop up the mess before starting over and laundering three new separate and soggy loads.

Single mom Barb had a similar situation when her teenage daughter added "extra" detergent to a load of especially dirty gym clothing. A triple soap portion had bubbles oozing out of the washer and frothing madly even during the rinse cycle. A longer second wash, sans soap, finally rinsed these garments clean. Undaunted by her mishap, Barb's daughter thought the rising foam was "awesome," and Barb got caught up in the laughter as well.

Tutorial

Just because your husband and kids have seen you do laundry hundreds of times, don't assume that they understand the process! Basic instructions on sorting, load sizes, water levels and amounts of soap will save some mishaps.

And as Montana mom of three Jamie Stevens notes, it doesn't hurt to mention items that are inappropriate for the washer. She learned this truth through experience, when her son — captain of the high school golf team — washed dozens of golf balls muddied from team practice at the driving range in her brand new machine. Alerted to a problem by very loud banging noises, she lifted the lid to discover his clever idea for cleaning sports equipment. Fortunately for everybody, the only lasting damage was a small dent in the washer door and a lot of teasing for the hapless teen.

More tips

The busy mom's spa treatment guide
Quick hairstyles for moms
New ways to brighten tired eyes

It's not easy to keep things clean when you're busy keeping track of two active little boys. Supermom Megan Stortz shares some of the more interesting, and sometime scary, non-laundry items that have made it through the washer and dryer in her home.

A list of laundry surprises

All in a day's work

When asked to share her strange tales from the laundry room, Megan was quick to recount a particular sticker story.

"One of my favorite laundry-related stories is when my oldest son went through a sticker phase. When my littlest was a newborn, his older brother would put stickers on everything. I can't count how many times I left the house with stickers all over my back. His love of surprise stickering resulted in many washed stickers that would inevitably melt into clothes in the dryer. In fact, one of my favorite shirts now has permanent Clifford stickers on the buttons. One of his shirts was thrown into the hamper inside out, which resulted in my putting it through the washer and dryer before realizing it was completely covered with probably 100 or more stickers that melted into one giant sticker ball. I had to throw that shirt away."

Here's Megan's list of other random objects she has found in the washer:

• Giant live spider
• Crayons
• Sidewalk chalk
• Hot Wheels
• Screwdrivers
• Jump drives
• Business cards
• Rocks
• Acorns
• Birdseed
• Sticks
• Seashells

Megan says, "I need to start checking pockets, but since I'm usually changing laundry while trying to keep my youngest from climbing in the dryer, I tend to shake and throw."

Laundry tips for busy moms

If you get to a point where, like Megan, you find yourself throwing out clothes due to sticky stowaways, here are four quick tips that may help save you a few bucks in the future.

1. Pull out all pockets during the sorting process. This will help you to discover your kids' treasures before putting them through the spin cycle.
2. Clip pairs of socks together before you wash to save yourself from having to find matches during the folding process and to keep the lost-sock total to a minimum.
3. Take your clothes out of the dryer as soon as they are done, to eliminate the need to iron .
4. Use a mesh bag to wash delicates and avoid the need to hand wash completely!

More real mom laundry stories

Better with bleach: 3 Generations of moms share their stories
Real-life laundry: What's that smell?
Real-life laundry: Conquering drool

Preserving a child's favorite little lovey isn't always easy — especially when it's kept by his side each day and night. Just ask Meshelle Bruce, mom to two boys and one very special blanket.

Preserving precious items

Truly delicate

Meshelle shared with SheKnows that her youngest son has grown very attached to his favorite blanket.

"My son has a receiving blanket that we actually used when we brought him home from the hospital. I have washed it so many times that it is now almost completely see-through! I have to tie it in knots when I wash it, in fear that it will fall apart. He just will not part with it, so we will wash it into oblivion, I guess!"

Preserving your child's favorite comfort item

Whether it's a favorite T-shirt, blanket or teddy bear, there are a few tips and tricks you can follow to get your little one's go-to comfort item fresh and clean while keeping it in one piece.

Washing stuffed animals: Since stuffed animals are often subject to being thrown on the ground, used as a tissue, fed from the table and a number of other messy but fun activities, it's a good thing to give them a good scrubbing on a pretty frequent basis. Luckily, it is perfectly safe to wash stuffed animals in the washing machine. Avoid washing them with other items, and use a mesh bag to help keep them in good shape for longer. Choose the delicate cycle and use mild detergent and cold water for the best results. Squeeze any excess water from the toys and allow them to air dry.

Keeping that favorite blanket clean: Often a child's favorite blankie can get pretty dirty and stinky after a wash. If your child sucks on their blanket along with their thumb, then you are probably all-too-familiar with the musty smell that comes with it. When you wash it, use water-diluted bleach to help sanitize the blanket and eliminate the odor.

Getting your kids involved: If your little one is reluctant to hand over his favorite comfort item, try getting him involved in cleaning it. Suggest that your child hand wash their blanket or favorite tee in the sink with a fun anti-bacterial hand soap. Look for soaps that foam in different colors, that smell great and that may even have fun packaging. A little hand soap won't hurt the garment, and it will get your child involved in the process of keeping it clean. Offer to finish the process by running it through the washing machine.

More real-life laundry stories from real moms

Surprise finds with every wash and dry
Conquering drool: Keeping up with a drool machine
What's that smell? A true story of potty training

We love your laundry bloopers

Laundry day is not without its bloopers, and you’ve shared some doozies with us. SheKnows is crowning the craziest laundry moments ever, so sit back and get ready for a good laugh!

Water, water everywhere

A little bit of water can cause a big problem, as Chantalle Edmunds, mom of six from Rockford, Illinios, found out.

Start the day off bright this school year>>

"Just after moving into a brand new house, I was doing laundry. Somehow in the move one of the hoses on the washer got loosened and flooded the laundry room, hallway and foyer," she said. "It started dripping down into the basement and set off all the smoke detectors in the house because one got wet in the basement. I tried everything to turn off the smoke detectors — flipping the switch on the circuit box, taking the batteries out of the ones I could reach. After I cleaned up the water I sat in a room that didn't have a smoke detector and closed the door until the builder came to fix it."

Choose the right soap

Those special instructions on the detergent bottle aren't there just for your entertainment, a lesson Shannon Gunning, mom of two, learned the hard way.

"I used regular [detergent] in my HE front loader right after we got it four years ago. There were suds everywhere!! I learned my lesson then!" she said.

Handy helpers

Everything has a learning curve, but teaching our kids how to do laundry comes with its very own funny moments.

Playdate fashion tips for moms>>

"When I first started having my oldest son take clothes out of the dryer, I went upstairs and couldn't find him. I suddenly realized that the door to the dryer was open and clothes were being flung out," said Jenn Duska, mom of two from Columbus, Ohio. "When I got closer, I realized he was inside the dryer throwing the clothes into the basket like I asked. When I asked him why he was in the dryer, he told me it was because he was too small to reach the clothes in the back!"

Stains in funny places

Stains in clothing are never funny, but they can lead to funny situations.

Kathi Wilson, mom of two and grandmother of three from Groveport, Ohio, missed a lipstick container going into the wash with a load of whites. Everything came out with pink lipstick smudges, including most of her husband's underwear!

Dazzle at the school drop-off line>>

"He had a procedure at a doctor's office a few days later," said Kathi. "He had to take off his shirt, and when he turned around, his underwear were sticking out in the back and they had lipstick all over them. I didn't tell him we could see it!"

Crazy critter moments

Courtney Taylor's 9-year-old daughter has a pet frog that has a knack for getting out of its cage. One night, after giving up on a long search for the slimy creature, she resigned herself to the laundry room. Imagine her surprise when she found the frog in her clothes basket as she was loading the washing machine.

"The laundry room is two floors down from its cage," said the Ohio mom of two. "I don't know how it got there!"

Courtney also had a crazy critter memory from her childhood. "We had a lot of cats when I was a kid, and we had one cat that loved to nap in the open dryer because it was warm in there. One day, my mom started a load of laundry and we heard a 'thump' sound over and over. We opened the dryer, and the cat ran out! Luckily, he was OK, just a little shaken up," she said.

More from SheKnows

New ways to brighten tired eyes
How moms can lengthen time between salon visits
Ways to help moms with thinning hair

Sometimes, your normal detergent just isn't enough. You've got to have a few tricks up your sleeve if you want to conquer the toughest of loads. These experienced moms know their way around the laundry room, and they're sharing their best tips and tricks with you.

Laundry secrets from the front lines

Use vinegar

White vinegar is not just for cooking! It's a fantastic cleaning agent and has plenty of uses in each room of your home. As some moms are finding out, it even has a use in the laundry room. Replace your normal fabric softener with the same amount of white vinegar for soft, clean-smelling clothes. The vinegar neutralizes odors, reduces chemical build-ups in your clothes from detergents and cuts static, all at a much lower cost than any store-bought softener.

Why you should own "fat" clothes>>

Christina Lowe of San Diego loves to use vinegar to neutralize her firefighter husband's smelly gear, as well as get rid of other odors. "I use just a little white vinegar. It works great with any pee smell from dogs or kiddos!" she said.

Keep clothes bright

One way to keep your clothes from fading is to turn them all inside-out before putting them through the wash. If yours have already faded, though, all hope is not lost.

Melissa Ward, a stay-at-home mom of three from Groveport, Ohio, says adding a couple of pinches of salt to your detergent will brighten your clothes in just one wash.

“My grandma told me to try that, and I didn't believe her, but I gave it a try. I couldn't believe it when it actually worked!" she said.

Banish grease with dish soap

Grease stains are tough, but not impossible to get rid of. Connie Taylor, mommy of one baby girl from San Antonio, swears that applying dish soap directly to the grease stain will send it packing.

MommyStyle: 5 Date night fashions for moms>>

"It has to be the blue, original Dawn dish soap, but it works every time," said Connie.

Save on dryer use

Your dryer is convenient, but you may not realize how much money it costs you to run it.

Brandi Keller is a mom of two from Washington who was tired of watching her electric bill climb with every load of laundry she put in her dryer.

5 Easy ways moms can elevate their style>>

"To save money on the electric bill and cut down on dryer use in the winter, I use tension shower-curtain rods in my laundry room. I put clothes I'd normally hang on the line outside on hangers and hang them up to dry on the rods," said Brandi. "Our furnace is in the attic, so the heat comes down from the ceiling. Clothes dry in no time, and we save money on our bill!"

More from SheKnows

Dazzle at the school drop off line
Moms of tots: What not to wear
Skin-savers for mom

Keeping up with a drool machine

Life with a little one opens up a whole new world when it comes to laundry. The frequency with which you can fill a washer is almost unbelievable, until you actually bring your baby home and experience it for yourself.

Burp cloths, blankies and bibs

Meghan Carr, a mommy of two, is quick to admit that her husband does all of the laundry at the house, and she also admits that it's pretty amazing. Still, she can't help but marvel at the amount of action going on in their laundry room. "We're always washing a favorite blanket for my oldest — an Aden + Anais star swaddle. We're washing bibs all the time for my youngest. He's almost six months old and constantly drooling."

Conquering stains

Regardless of your child's age, if you're a parent, then you're also a stain-fighting machine. There are a few tricks that can help your cause and allow a few cute outfits to see the light of another day. A favorite: presoaking. The moment a stain hits a shirt, throw it in a sink with cold water and a little detergent. You can even use bleach to presoak. It works much faster than any other laundry detergent, though, so it's best not to leave it for over 15 minutes. Also, make sure it's color safe!

Cleaning bibs and burp cloths

Bibs and burp cloths see the lion's share of disgusting messes during the first year of baby's life. From spit up to sweet pea puree, doing the laundry for a little one is a pretty serious undertaking. A natural inclination to cleaning a fully soiled bib or burp cloth is to immediately rinse or wipe wet food from the garment. If it's a really heavy mess, try letting the food dry first. Then scrape it off with a knife or spatula. Once it has been scraped, move to the presoaking step.

Don't let a bad bib damage your favorite pair of yoga pants. Keep bibs and burp cloths separate from any other garments when you put them in the washing machine. Also, make sure the Velcro, snap or hook fasteners are fastened to avoid them snagging on other garments while being washed and dried.

Finally, add bleach to a full load of laundry to help get your bibs sanitized and odor free.

More stories from moms

Better with bleach: 3 Generations of moms share their stories
Real-life laundry: Keeping things together
Real-life laundry: Surprise finds with every wash and dry

More Friday fashion fun

Friday's Fashion Fails: Jessica Biel and Naomi Watts
Friday's Fashion Fails: Lena Dunham and Heidi Klum
Friday's Fashion Fails: Amy Adams and Sharon Stone

Photo credits: Ivan Nikolov/WENN.com, WENN.com

Pure Ice Runway Nail Trends collection

Seeking some chic stocking stuffers that’ll really make her fingers sparkle? Look no further than the party polishes from Pure Ice’s Runway Nail Trends collection. With over 50 stunning shades to choose from, and coming in at less than two bucks a pop, they’re the perfect present for your mom, sister or cousin who is constantly painting her nails. Personally, we’re huge fans of the glitter and textured suede finishes.

Discover more great beauty tips and gifts

Best gifts for the hair obsessed
Gifts that help you walk a mile in a celebrity's shoes
Gifts that make bubble baths even better

TMZ Tour

Second to walking a mile in a celebrity’s shoes is heckling one from a bus while driving by. For the true celebrity groupie, TMZ offers a bus tour around Hollywood hotspots, complete with a TMZ tour guide map. And if it’s anything like TMZ’s television show, it’s probably hilarious. Stop by for a tour next time you or your loved one is in Hollywood.

More great gift ideas

Best gifts for the nail-art obsessed
Best gifts for the hair obsessed
Gifts that make bubble baths even better

Discover more great beauty tips and gifts

Best gifts for the nail art obsessed
Gifts that help you walk a mile in a celebrity's shoes
Gifts that make bubble baths even better

Just because your best bud is a tree hugger doesn't mean she wants to skip the razor and deodorant. Chances are she just wants to look her best while using the most earth-friendly products available. Help her out by picking up one of these beauty products.

All-natural nail care

Nail products are known for being harsh and loaded with chemicals, but you can put a smile on your friend's face this year with the Londontown nail treatment set. This five-piece set is packed with vitamins, minerals and essential oils that are designed to nourish and strengthen the nails from the inside out. All products are vegan, gluten free and cruelty free.

Hiking, gardening and gettin' a little dirty may be key components of an all-natural gal's life, but that's all the more reason to help her relax when she's home.

Between her yoga practice, weekend hikes and daily bike commute to work, the natural girl is usually naturally fit. Support her health-filled passions with these fun gift ideas.

Goal-tracking journal

If your friend is a true competitor, then she'll appreciate a journal designed to help support and enhance her fitness-related goals. We love this beautiful training journal from Believe I Am. Printed with vegetable-based inks on 100 percent recycled paper, it's sure to win major bonus points with the all-natural woman!

Today's all-natural gals don't have to choose between being earth friendly or fashion forward. Here are just a couple beautiful fashion accessories that are sure to appeal to her senses.

More great gift ideas

Best gifts for the nail-art obsessed
Best gifts for the hair obsessed
Gifts that make bubble baths even better

Bath pillow

Remember that time you bought an inflatable bath pillow, only to take it home to discover that it was totally gross and slimy within a week of purchase? Oh, that was me? Those days are gone now, with this Pretika Soft Spa Massaging Memory Foam Bath Pillow found at Sears. It wicks away moisture and is memory-foamy and truly delightful. It also dries quickly, which is a major plus.

More great gift ideas

Best gifts for the nail-art obsessed
Best gifts for the hair obsessed
Best gifts for the all-natural gal