We Talk Shop

So winter is upon us (at least in some states) and thought I should start writing about a couple of things I’ve tried to keep dry skin away. One of them is Nivea creme, the blue tin ones you see practically in every drugstore. I bought the small tin for $0.99 cents and I’m so glad I’ve finished this creme. I’ve been using it on my hands, elbows and cuticles because unfortunately for me and my husband, that’s all it’s good for. I bought it because we get random dry patches on our skin especially in the winter. However, when he used it, he complained about the greasy feeling on his skin by the end of the day. It doesn’t sink in the skin and it just clogged up his pores.

Perhaps this creme would be more suitable to use for cuticles or elbows, or maybe if you have dry heels, because it just doesn’t work at all on the face. Too bad, because I love the classic blue tin, but I can’t justify buying this even for $0.99 cents just for that.

Fergit it: Unless you’re traveling and in desperate need of some heavy moisturizer, steer clear of this creme, because it’s not suitable for the face. But if you must try, get the smaller tin which is available at Walgreens, CVS, and most drugstores.

My toddler son got some of that fancy foaming soap for Christmas last year. We finally finished the bottle, which tells me that we don’t do a good enough job washing our hands. In attempt to do better, to use more soap this cold and flu season I bought another kid-friendly soap: Huggies Clean Team Hand Soap.

It’s a cute bottle with a hippo’s head for the spout. It dispenses a foaming soap — which I love because it just is cooler than regular soap, but more importantly for young kids is that the soap can 1) be seen by the kids and 2) stays on their hands. My only complaint is that I’d like more soap to come out with each pump. I have to double-pump to get enough soap to wash my hands.
But the really cool part is that there is a red light that flashes in the hippo’s head. It stays on for 20 seconds — the amount of time you are supposed to was your hands. Try it folks. Even if you don’t buy this product, try to wash your hands for a FULL 20 seconds. It’s longer than you think. Great idea, especially this time of year. With the MRSA virus speading like wildfire, the best thing we can do as parents is to all wash our hands.

Watch an animated demo.
Read about hand washing on my Mom blog.

Get it: It’s about 3.99 for the dispenser. I got mine at the grocery store so I’m sure you can find it most places you normally purchase hand soap.

All good face wash stories must come to an end. This will be the last leg of my facial foaming cleanser trial. I know, I know…I can feel the disappointment, but I need to go back to a consistent facial cleanser so my face can recover. Alas with all the high-end product disappointment (with the exception of Shiseido, I decided to take a moderate approach (for my wallet that is) and took a drive to the local Walgreens to pick up some Oil of Olay Foaming Face Wash. I’ve used the moisturizer before and Oil of Olay has never failed my mom’s face, so I figured it was worth a try.

*Wash, wash, wash* Aaaannnnnd…*Drum Roll*…. TADAAA! Well, my face felt clean with the exception of the slight layer of residue left behind. Yeah, film on your face does not signify a great face wash. I can at least say that it didn’t feel like lotion on my face *COUGH* Kiehl’s *COUGH*.

There you have it….

Fogit it! If you can….$7.99 at your local Walgreen’s. I’m sure you can find it at any of your local drug stores (that is if you want to walk around with residue on your face).

Eventually, I went back to the one trustworthy face wash I could count on. Dove Unscented Beauty Bar with Dove ¼ moisturizing cream. It does the job and my face doesn’t feel overdry.

***** (five stars)
Git it! $10.94 or less for a pack of 8 at Wal-mart or your neighborhood beauty aisle.

The End.

cleanser, face, face wash, facial care, facial cleanser, skin care, skincare

If I lived with Hercules, this would be a great product, but unfortunately Duro-Med does not include him with their product.

Here’s how it works: Unscrew the top, put in your pill, replace top and turn until pill is crushed. Sounded simple enough to me and at a little over $3, the price was right. I’ve tried to use the product a few times, only once sucessfully, but usually I end up with the pill uncrushed inside and the top stuck.

Skip it: But if you insist on trying it yourself, say if you lift weights for a living, you can buy it for $3.16 from Amazon.

Rarely do we write about things we aren’t happy with, but here’s a product that I recently purchased that just didn’t live up to my expectations: Neutrogena’s On-the-Spot Acne Treatment. I paid about $6; maybe a buck more, maybe a buck less, but should have opted for one of the other acne treatments. Shopgirl_trang’s recent posts about facial soaps inspired me to be better to my skin and to seek out remedies for what ails me.

Since this isn’t a glamorous review, I’ll get right to it. What I don’t like about this cream is that is says it’s the “Vanashing Cream Formula,” but it is a white cream that you have to rub into your skin. I was hoping the liquid was clear, but it’s white and doesn’t exactly vanish — unless you rub it enough so that you practically rub it off. When I put it on in the morning, I feel like I have to rub it off so that it won’t be seen and I can apply my make-up.

As for it’s acne-reducing effects, it does seem to help. I just don’t like how it goes on and how it doesn’t seem to dry fast enough. At night, I don’t want to leave it on because I think it will rub off on my pillowcase. And, you have to put it on like a lotion, thus getting the medicine on parts of your skin where you don’t really want it.

It would be better if it were thicker — and clear.

Don’t get it, but if you want to try it, I got my tube at Publix.

Thanksgiving might be over, but more holidays involving food have yet to come. Remember, with great food comes great responsibilities - to your teeth! Have you been dreading going to the dentist lately? I used to. Until, one day, while I was eating a beloved Fuji apple, I imagined how tough it would be to bite into its juicy goodness with false teeth. Eek. Enough said.

So a couple of years ago I visited my dentist after being gone for 7 years. No, I didn’t spend 7 years in Tibet. But it sure looked like it when my dentist told me what was going on. Although I was flossing and brushing my teeth twice a day, my gums were recessing and would ultimately lead to gingivitis. All those years of soda and coffee drinking have finally caught up with my oral life. He also told me I have a couple of mini-cavities that needed to be taken care of. So after cleaning me up and sealing up a couple of my teeth, he advised that I started using Gel-Kam. I unwillingly forked out $15 for two tubes (I bought it from the dentist office, and later found out that it was more expensive at Target, etc).

The dentist told me to use Gel-Kam once a day (preferably at night), after brushing with my regular toothpaste, but not rinsing it out. Sounds easy enough for me. That night I put a bit of it in my toothbrush, and out came a clear gel with a very runny consistency. Started brushing and owww! For some reason it hurt my gums! Fortunately the dull pain didn’t last very long, and it only happened to sensitive gums. I kept using it daily and the pain soon went away. I figured my teeth was getting back on its healthy track.

On my next visit, the dentist was pleased that I had no more cavities and no deep pockets in my gums. I also noticed that my gums have stopped receding and no longer sensitive. Also I started spending less time in the dentist chair, which is a big plus for me!

Git it! Gel-Kam’s secret ingredient is 0.4% stable stannous fluoride, which helps prevent decalcification and hypersensitivity. It should be available in your local pharmacy (no prescription necessary), but could be quite expensive at $15 a tube. If you can, get it at your dentist (should be cheaper at $15 for 2 tubes).

I have been looking for a protein bar that actually has flavor and is not like chewing on cardboard. So I was at Vitamin World and came across these bars - CarbWise Coconut Caramel Crisp. They were on sale so I thought why not. I really need something to help with those 3pm munchies. But I am also trying to watch how much fat I am taking in (yes I am another Sparkpeople.com fan).

I was pleasantly surprised by these bars, they actually taste really good. Now they are higher in fat then I would like, 9g but they are very high in protein 13g which I need for those afternoon munchies. So I am willing to do a trade off for these bars, plus if you need to satisfy your chocolate craving they are available in chocolate s’mores.

Get ‘em: GNC, Vitamin World

Ok, so all of the cuts on my knees and legs are not because I am clumsy, I just can’t get the hang of this razor.  I am really trying, because it is nice that it lathers as you shave - but that is part of the problem.   Because the razor is encased around the moisture rich shaving bar, you have to press down to have the razor touch your legs and from the looks of my legs, I am not very good at this.  So I will keep trying because I hate to throw things out, but I am thinking that my old bic razors are still the best. 

A couple of years ago, I visited my dermatologist for a very annoying (and embarrassing) problem. I developed a skin rash from God knows what. I had rashes from my lips down to my calves. Over the years I’ve learned how sensitive my skin really is and avoid a lot of products that has a lot of fragrance and unreadable ingredients.  And this is how I discovered Aveeno Therapeutic Shave Gel.

This is the only shaving cream that allows me to shave my legs without resulting in rashes or razor burns. It contains natural colloidal oatmeal, which many of us know is good for the itchies. It’s very rich and moisturizing, has no fragrance, and best of all, its not pink! I even got my husband hooked on it and he now favors to use this instead of his previous Gillette cream. It doesn’t dry out his skin and really allows a close shave.

Git it: $5.99 at your local drugstore (or if you’re lucky to find a two pack at your Costco’s, send me one, will ya? ).