I’ve wanted to try Bare Essentuals for years, but I just never get around to it. I have friends who rave about it. I’m a little leery of buying a big starter kit of the product off QVC…but I know that it is sold locally at ULTA. It’s just a matter of deciding to try it…and investing the money into the products I’ll need to start with.

If you use it, what’s the bare minimum I’d need to buy to really give it a good try?

I know of far too many people living in my area without dental insurance. A lot of employers simply don’t provide it. There are various services and clinics in town where one can get a free cleaning, and the schools do fluoride treatments, but what do you do if you’ve got a dental emergency? One solution is to enroll in a discount dental plan - it’s not the same as insurance because there are no health restrictions and no co-payments. You simply get a discount on all procedures, and you don’t have to pay extra to be seen in the case of an emergency. These plans also don’t have a grace period - they go into effect immediately. You can buy a discount dental plan today, and be seen by a dentist tomorrow!

Let’s talk about your patoot for a minute. Your hiney, your rear, your better half? Whatever you call it - are you taking care of it? I know a lot of us laugh at jokes involving our rear end, poop, and bodily functions, but it’s no laughing matter. As the book says, “Everyone poops.” As I a mom, I’ve wiped enough rears that poop and similar subjects doesn’t bother me. When you’re a mom, you actually use bowel movements as a measure of health for your child. Not going enough? Time for grapes and prune juice. Going too much? Break out the cheese! Why do we stop paying attention to that as adults? A bowl of bran cereal or an over the counter product can get you back on track, just like you were 2 all over again. And colon cleansing may help too - Oxy-Powder is one such product you can use to get yourself ‘right’ again. It’s a tablet you take (uhh…ORALLY) that will rid you of toxins and other ick in your colon. You know those colonics all of the rich and famous are into? Same thing, but this is better for you, because it doesn’t remove the healthy bacteria from your system - only the bad stuff! (There’s naturally occurring bacteria in your digestive track - it helps you digest your food)

A few weeks ago, when my girls were sick, we had a regular little pharmacy going on the kitchen counter. Medicines prescribed by the doctor, over the counter medicines - you name it, we had it. I noticed the purple Triaminic was continually getting spilled on the counter, and at first, I blamed the girls for making a mess. Nope. Once night I happened to pick up the bottle and realized that it was cracked on the bottom, and slowly leaking out. I called up the company’s 800 number and complained, and they send me a coupon for a free bottle the next time we need one. I love customer service like that! c

What’s your favorite lipstick brand?

I ask because lipstick is the one thing (as far as makeup goes) that I wear almost daily. I wore Clinque for a few years (love their skincare & foundation) but found that the lipstick bled too much. I prefer not to wear lipliner, so I can’t stand a lipstick that bleeds like that. I bought a Mary Kay lipstick from a friend, and love the color, but it’s a little thick feeling. I tried an Almay lipstick that you apply with a brush and then put a clear topcoat over for shine, but it’s darn near impossible to get off. I like my lipstick to last long, but after 12 hours, I want to take it off easily!

So my search continues for the perfect lipstick. What’s yours?

If you’ve ever walked into one of those vitamin and fitness stores in the mall, you’ve probably been overwhelmed by the choices! I recently visited one looking for a protein supplement for my son, and there were so many choices…I could have spent an hour debating one product versus another. And the prices at those stores are SKY high too! A much better option is comparing prices for supplements and vitamins online. I pulled up a search for weigh gain protein powders and was able to compare prices on 20+ products, and there were reviews provided on some products as well. If you’re a current supplement user, you can use this site to leave your own review, which will help to inform other shoppers, like me!

I’ve been wearing glasses since the age of 9. I remember being warned by my mom that if I keep reading in dim light, I’d need glasses. That only egged me on, because I thought wearing glasses would be neat. I got the glasses, and discovered that wearing them daily wasn’t so neat after all. It didn’t help that my mom picked them out, and the plastic frames looked like something that belonged on a 90 year old woman. You can see why I was THRILLED to be allowed to start wearing contacts at the age of sixteen. By that time, my vision had gotten a lot worse, and I couldn’t go without wearing glasses. I was nervous about switching to contacts (and volunteering to stick a contact lens into my eye, daily) but once I made the switch, there was no stopping me. Back then, if you needed contacts, you went to your eye doctor and paid too much for him to order them on your behalf. Now, with the internet to help you out, you can cut out the middleman (the doctor) and order your contacts online, with the help of websites like ACLens.com.

They don’t just sell contacts either - they provide total support. Maybe you need some advice about laser surgery, or switching brands of contacts? Check out their contact lens forum for the answers to those questions and many more. In fact, there are 30,000 messages on their forums, so chances are, if you have a burning question, it WILL get answered! Or perhaps you want to ask an eye doctor about a problem you’re having…but your local eye doctor can’t fit you into his schedule for a month? Not a problem, because you can Ask The Doctor and get a quick response. I really love that this site goes to such lengths to help contact lens wearers take care of their eyes!

My girls were sick last week, and I caught the creeping crud this week. We’ve got a regular pharmacy going on our kitchen counter - cough medicine, fever medicine, Vicks, and I even bought Shower Soothers.

If you haven’t tried those yet, they really do work! It’s a small table you put in the shower - once the warm (or hot, in my case) water hits it, eucalyptus, menthol, and camphor vapors are released to help with your congestion. We tried the Vanilla Mint out and they are great. A word of warning though - the packaging says:

CAUTION: EYE IRRITANT. Product becomes hot when activated by water. Avoid touching tablet during use.

Now, for some reason, I noticed the part where it said eye irritant. What I failed to notice were the warnings about NOT touching the tablet. Halfway through my shower I decided to move the tablet to really get the stream of water hitting it. BIG MISTAKE. I came (thisclose) to a chemical burn on my foot. When they say not to touch it, they mean it!

If you can refrain from touching the Shower Soother, it’s all good though, and it WILL help your congestion.

Technorati Tags: congestion, cold remedy, Shower Soother, Vanilla Mint

Do you shop when you’re hungry? I don’t mean a trip to the mall or Target, I’m talking about setting foot into a grocery store when you’re tummy is rumbling. I’m so guilty of this, and my shopping cart on any given trip proves it. I stopped typing this post after those first 2 sentences to grab myself a snack from the kitchen - apparently blogging while hungry has the same affect on me. One of the best stores to hit when you’re hungry, is a warehouse club. You’ll usually find several aisles of smiling employees offering samples, especially on the weekend. And yes, if I like something, it goes into my cart! I noticed on my last trip there that one of the sample ladies had her card table awfully close to the aisle with the medicine. Is that on purpose? You stuff yourself full of samples and then head over to pick up a metabolism booster? I’ll have to pay more careful attention the next time I’m grazing for free samples…

Technorati Tags: Costco, Sam’s Club, warehouse club, hungry, grocery store

Have you heard about the latest health craze? It revolves around Himalayan Goji Juice. If you’ve never heard about it, Goji Juice is made from the Goji berry, which is grown wild in the Tibetan Himalayas. The berries are hand picked and pressed to extract the juice. The Goji berries contain:

B-Complex Vitamins
19 Amino Acids
21 Trace Minerals including Germainium
More Protein than Whole Wheat
More Vitamin C than Oranges
High natural content of Vitamin E
4 Unique Polysaccharides
More Beta-Carotene than Carrots
High source of Carotenoids

But what exactly does all of that healthy stuff DO you for? The Goji berry can improve your immune system (so you don’t get sick as often!), give you more energy (so you don’t feel pooped after a day at work!), help regulate your blood pressure (avoid taking more pills to get your blood pressure from going sky high), and promote healthy joints (no more creaking bones in the morning when you wake up!). In addition, Goji juice may be used to kill cancer cells in the future. Some studies have shown that it assists in the production anti-cancer agents in the body. Wouldn’t it be neat if the cure for cancer turned out to be a plant?

Technorati Tags: health food, Goji berry, Goji juice, cancer, health, health drink, immune system, blood pressure, Tibet

The big Bath & Body Works clearance sale starts online and in stores on December 27th. My absolute favorite Bath and Body Works items are their Purely Silk lotion ($18 a bottle, but SO worth it) in Warm Vanilla Sugar, and their Sugar Scrub. The Sugar Scrub is awesome for rubbing on your just shaved legs in the shower - it gives them a nice sheen and makes them ooooooooooooooooooh so smooth! And remember, if you can, use a coupon and save even more! Here are some coupon codes for Bath & Body Works from Coupon Cabin.