Scrutiny by the Masses

Botanics Organic

Boots, the UK’s #1 cosmetic and beauty brand, just launched their first organic line, Botanics Organic – an affordable, eco-friendly collection that makes it easy to green your beauty routine. With packaging made from recycled materials and products such as Smoothing Face Polish, Rosewater Toner & Body Butter, Botanics Organic is not only good for your skin but it’s good for the environment too. Even better – all products are under $25 and are available at Target.com!

I was pleased to be sent a sample of these products, and I have to say that my very favorites are the Hydrating Day Cream, with nourishing almond oil, and the Smoothing Face Polish.  Sold at Target stores, these products are a treat -  high quality and a wonderful way to make you feel pampered without blowing the budget as you would if you bought a Cosmetic store product.

Check these out the next time you are in Target!  YOu'll probably see me in the row, sniffing all the products to my noses delight!

Make Up by Lauren Luke

Recently I was sent a make up kit to try, and I have to tell you, I was pretty impressed.

A make up artist based - I think - in the UK, Lauren Luke has a set of Youtube videos to explain how to copy certain looks - The Smokey Eye, Vintage Glams - and each look has a palette to go with it.  Not being the most adept at make up application, I followed the video and was impressed with how nice my eye make up looked.  The cosmetics were top notch, heavy and smooth, and I really liked the oversized mirror included - I never seem to have a mirror handy when I need it.

These kits are a great value and I highly recommend them, especially since you can watch the videos over and over until you master the look you are striving to copy. 

Check them out!

MyRecipes.Com

MyRecipes.com is an online database that features recipes and food stories from all the Time Inc. Lifestyle publications, including Real Simple, Cooking Light, Southern Living, Sunset, Coastal Living, Cottage Living and Health.  It holds thousands of the best recipes and hundreds of menus from magazines and cookbooks that you love and trust.

 From decadent desserts and authentic cuisines to great-tasting healthy favorites, MyRecipes.com has it all!  You can search for quick meal ideas, seasonal menus, cooking videos and cookbook reviews, get holiday tips and entertaining ideas, rate and save your favorite recipes and even create menus.  MyRecipes.com is your one-stop-shop for all things cooking related! 

There is even a feature on bikini-body recipes to help get you in shape for the summer.

I've looked at this site and found it to be both interesting and informative. With sections like 3 ingredient desserts and Recipe Finder, I easily spent  20 minutes just surfing for recipes.  I found more than a few that I plan to try in the coming weeks. Trying to cook in a more healthy manner, I was especially attracted to the healthy living section. 

I'd really recommend this site to anyone searching for a good recipe!

The Cat and The Clothes Dryer

Note:  This is a guest post.  I think it's funny and extra useful, and couldn't resist when I was asked to post this.

No, this is not one of those stories about me accidentally turning my clothes dryer on while my cat is inside. If you have done that then you really should not be a pet owner. This is a tale about an appliance repair that I needed to do because my cat decided she wanted to play. If you are a cat person then you know that when a cat decides to play she can choose anything she likes to play with. It can be a part of your anatomy that she suddenly decides to chew on, another pet in the house like your sixteen year old dog that she wants to torture, or, in this case, the lint screen for my clothes dryer. I don’t think this really classifies as appliance repair but it’s a funny story and I had to get the replacement part from www.AppliancePartsPros.com so I guess it applies.  

I was working in my basement and doing laundry at the same time, one of those days when I was just trying to get everything done so I could relax a little in the evening. The dryer alarm had just gone off and I pulled out a load of towels that were ready to fold. Knowing that the lint screen would be full I pulled that out too. Just as I was about to scrape it off into the trash barrel next to the machine the phone upstairs rang and I had to drop everything and run to catch it. 

My cat snuck down the stairs while the door was open and of course she found the lint screen to play with. By the time I was finished with my phone call she had thoroughly destroyed it and managed to get herself covered in white lint. She looked like she had just eaten a live chicken and the feathers had stuck to her face. I couldn’t help but laugh when I saw her trying to shake and scrape the mess off of her. She looked so confused that I just couldn’t be angry. 

That’s when I went online to Appliance Parts Pros. I found a replacement lint screen for $26.73 in the section for Whirlpool parts. A friend had told me about this site a while back when he had to do some appliance repair of his own on his refrigerator door handle. I guess his kids had yanked it off and he got the replacement appliance part online. Nice tip. APP has a great selection and I can see they’ll save me a ton of money in the years to come.  

 

The Baby Boutique and Supermom's Health

When my friend Erica asked if I wanted to preview some products from her new online stores, The Baby Boutique at Womb's Window and SuperMom's Health and Wellness, I was all over it.  I'm really not looking to have more babies, but I do love them.  They are so cute and cuddly and, ok, enough already.

Seen here are the products that she sent me - Ruby Toots Baby Sling, The Belly Hugger, Liquid Stevia, The Supermom No Lice spray, and she sent also a "Living the Dream" t-shirt.  I loved them all. The first two are from the Baby store, and the latter are the Health and Wellness store. 

I used a baby sling with all of my children.  I still use one with Riley when she's having a really difficult time.  The Ruby Toots is well constructed, the colors are true and don't fade, and for a non adjustable sling, it was really comfortable. I usually shy away from non adjustables, feeling as if a one size fits most label isn't going to work.  This one was really comfy.  Riley has taken it over as her own, and can be seen dragging it around the house, bringing it to me again and again. 

Not being pregnant, I can't speak to how well the Belly Hugger would work, but if I was to fall pregnant, I  think this would be a product I'd use in an instant.  It is designed to be worn under a shirt, and looks as if you were wearing a layered shirt, but without all of the bulk of layers.  It keeps your tummy covered during breastfeeding, and holds up your pants if you need to wear them unbuttoned during the beginning of a pregnancy, before you fit into maternity pants.  Or, ahem, if you eat a big meal.

My girls LOVED the Stevia.  A non caloric herbal sweetener, it is intensely sweet and thus can be used to sweeten a variety of items.  Studies have proven it safe for daily use, and I have diabetic friends, as well as those trying to control their weight, who swear by it.  I've never used it, not wanting to drink sweet drinks, but Erica has a recipe for Stevia Lemonade and my kids loved it.  The liquid is handy to avoid waiting for crystals to dissolve.  I actually had to hide this product after a few days, they loved it so much!

KNOCK ON WOOD, we've not dealt with Lice YET.  Please GOD, PLEASE, I'd love to avoid it.  From her site: This herbal blend uses the best nature has to offer to repel head lice when used regularly.  Whereas most lice products wait for you to have a lice outbreak, this one gives you a tool to keep lice away with a simple spray every day.  Commonly found head lice products use toxic pesticides on the people that are most vulnerable to adverse side effects:  children.  It has a pleasant minty smell and the SECOND I hear of lice in our school, I will be squirting my children's head every day.  I think it'd be wise for everyone with kids in school to keep this on hand.

The tshirt has a great picture of a woman carrying an overflowing basket of laundry, entitled "Living the Dream".  It's a good quality, heavy duty cotton, size small.

I highly recommend Erica's shops, and spent a very enjoyable hour browsing through her offerings.  I can see some items I'll be purchasing in the future for gifts.  Erica is knowledgeable and friendly and I'm always amazed by her knowledge and ability - I've known her for years and she's forthcoming with hints and tips,.

I'm giving away the t shirt and the Belly Hugger, so if you are interested, leave a comment here.

Yahoo! Answers

Two months ago, I was contacted to appear on Yahoo! Answers.  From the site: Yahoo! Answers is an online community in which participants ask and answer questions on a wide range of topics, from the serious to the delightfully trivial.  I've seen commercials for the site, but never really looked at it.  Wow!  There are some really interesting questions posted, some of them on topics I've never contemplated. 

I submitted a question and it was featured three weeks ago.  Check it out here, and then browse around the site.  It seems like a great site, with areas to ask (or answer) just about any question under the sun.

Mother Talk blog Tour: Mamasource.com

I've lived in my fair city since I was five years old.  My mom did lots of activities with us - tours of historic places, museums galore, and summer camps.  We were busy, busy people.

I moved out on my own and took a job as a nanny to a family with two, then three, and ultimately five children.  I did lots of things with the kids, but most of them were activities and classes that were picked by their mother. 

And then I was married and gave birth to my first child.  And I had no idea of where to go, or even a way to find other moms.  I joined lots and lots of groups, looking for my "people", but really wasn't successful at finding a group I belonged to.  At the beginning of my fourth pregnancy, we bought a computer and I "discovered" the Internet and message boards.  I made a place for myself on one board in particular, but the distance away from my friends made it especially hard to feel like I had true, in real life friendships that I could call on.  There's something about meeting in real life for coffee that no discussion board can replace. If Mamasource.com had been around back then, I think I probably would have been an addict, my love for my favorite discussion board - seven years and still going strong! - notwithstanding.

From the site: 

Mamasource is a safe and easy way to connect with other moms in your local area. Find the advice, referrals and insight you need, in a supportive community of moms helping moms. As a Mamasource member, you can:  Ask other local moms any question you need help with.  Read the questions other moms have asked- and see what answers they have received.  Share your own advice and practical referrals with other moms who need your help.  Mamasource is a free service, but to protect our members we are an invitation-only community. We have a strict no-spam policy and your personal information will never be shared with advertisers

What I especially like about the site are the city specific sections.  Want to know where you can get a great pedicure?  Ask away.  Stymied by the choices between three preschools?  You can get answers from real moms, who've had experience with the schools in question, and get the honest poop right from the source.  Feeling especially knowledgeable? There are always questions that need answering, so you can help other moms in your area.  With areas devoted to restaurants, shoe shopping, finance, pets, religion and any other topic you can think of, Mamasource is like polling the super cool moms, you know the ones hanging out by the swings, and learning just what makes your city a great place to raise kids.

Go check it out.  I know you won't be disappointed!