We Talk Shop

This is another one of those products my mom brought from Publix. She chose the linen & sky scent, which I love for its fresh and clean smell. It does just what it says on the bottle – eliminates odors and freshens the air. I have pets, so anything that will keep my house smelling pet-free is on my must-have list. Most of all, I love it’s easy-to-use trigger control and ergonomic fit in my hand.

Get it! It costs around $3.49, about a $1 higher than it should be, but with it’s grab-and-spray ease, it’s still worth trying if you have an extra ECBs or RRs.

I love grocery stores. On my last trip to New York, I was just as excited to wander around Dean & Deluca as I was SoHo or Chinatown. Locally, for me, nothing beats Publix (there is not a Fresh Market or Whole Foods on my side of town). You never know what specialty brands or new items you may find.

At one local Publix, I can always count on fresh tasting, value-priced sushi — most of the 12 mouth-filling pieces cost less than $6. All the sushi ingredients come from Southern Tsunami, but it’s how the sushi chef prepares them that really makes the difference. At one Publix where I frequently shop, I can count on variety, and should I want something different than what’s available, the chef will prepare it for me fresh while I shop. This is why shopping at Publix truly is a pleasure. (And those weekly buy one, get one free deals are a pleasure too.)

You can pick up a Southern Tsunami menu in the store or take a look at their online menu. They even provide a complete nutrition chart of all the items they offer — even the salads and the condiments. Party trays are also available. (My favorite is the ocean crab roll.)

Try it: You’ll have a hard time finding a better value for sushi, especially considering the number and size of the rolls. And I’ve found that not all Publix sushi is equal; I tried the cucumber roll at another local store (because there was nothing else of interest readily available and no sushi chef in sight), which was a disappointment as the crab was more rubbery than flaky.

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 from Amazon for $6.85. Unfortunately the price increased since I purchased mine.

When it comes to mascara, Maybelline is a leader of the drugstore cosmetic brands, their Great Lash mascara is popular among many celebrities and celebrity stylists, at least that’s what I’ve read in the fashion mags. While I’m a fan of the Great Lash product, I actually prefer their new Colossal Volum’ Express, which has become my go-to mascara for thick, bold lashes.

Going eye to eye with a similar product, Cover Girl’s Last Blast, I still preferred Volum’ Express, the Lash Blast lacked the pop I was looking for; it had minimal impact.

However, Volum’ Express does lack in one area itself, it can get a bit cakey on multiple applications. Consider this a one-coat mascara.

Get it: You’ll find it for around $7 at your local drug or grocery store. For the best deal, keep an eye on the weekly ads at CVS or Walgreens for buy one, get one free offers, which unfortunately are few and far between these days.

I would’ve given this a higher rating, but the day after a used it I noticed the spot that I had cleaned on my wool-pile rug was discolored. It’s only a shade or so lighter, the rug is not ruined, but I certainly won’t be trying this product on any other wool materials. On the bright side, there’s not a hint that there was ever a stain on the rug.

I was surprised; I’ve been using Woolite products for years and growing up my mom used them as well. And I’ve used the Oxy Deep spray solution on another item with glowing results.

The P.O.D. itself is portable, easy to use, and made cleaning my pet’s mess easier and quicker. It’s an all-in-one solution to cleaning up stains. I plan to dump the Oxy Deep solution and use another product.

Skip it: If you want to try this product yourself, test it on a small area first. You can find it as your local grocery store in the cleaning/detergent aisle. There’s a $1/1 MFRC in the 03-14-10 SS or $1/1 MFRC in the 06-13-10 SS.

It had been a while since I’ve used a shower caddy. There never seemed to be one that worked that well – it either didn’t have enough space to fit all the different-sized shower necessities or it slipped or it rust or it wasn’t very attractive to begin with. And then I saw the simplehuman Shower Caddy in a Bed, Bath & Beyond flyer. simplehuman’s shower caddy isn’t perfect, but it’s the best shower caddy I’ve ever used, and overall I’m more than happy with my purchase.

This caddy has a firm-hold grip, once you tighten it, it’s not coming loose. There’s even a movable suction cup at the bottom to keep the caddy from rotating side to side (occasionally that slips free, but easy enough to put back). It’s next-best feature is the two shelves that move both horizontally and vertically so you can fit all your supplies. And as you can see in the photo, there’s even a hole in the shelves so you can turn your bottles upside down to get out every last drop.

If it wasn’t for a few small details, this would be a five-star caddy, but the hook for the razor on the left doesn’t accommodate most sizes. I have a Venus Vibrance, and the stem of the razor is too large for the hole. Fortunately I’m able to use the two hooks on the right. Wider shelves would also be nice — don’t count on fitting larger round containers on this caddy — your body buff will be left on the shower ledge. Oh, and if you’re sharing your caddy with someone else, there’s only room for one bar of soap — version 2.0 of this caddy should include a longer soap shelf to fit at least two bars of soap, also taking into consideration over-sized bars.

Get it! Despite some of the flaws, I still say run out and get it. Although the price may seem a little high, it’s made of stainless steel; I expect this to hold up for years – and if not, it comes with a five-year manufacturer warranty. You can find it at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Amazon for $39.99. If you’re signed up to BB&Bs mailing list, you will regularly receive 20% off and $5 off coupons, and they’ll even let you use them when they expire.

The best thing about these mats are their versatility. You can buy them for the kids play area, the garage, a business, by the pool, as a workout mat and whatever else you can think of where you would want to stand or sit on a comfortable surface (each piece is 13mm thick). I bought them for the garage to place my riding mower on to prevent drips or dirt from getting on the floor and also as a workout mat for the Wii.

The eight-piece pack fits together like a puzzle, covers 33.5 square feet, and includes 16 borders. One side is multi-colored in red, yellow, blue and green – fun colors for the kids. The other side is black, ideal for the garage or behind a store counter. For one of the two packs I bought, I only needed six to fit under the riding mower, so I used the last two under some boxes.

Get it! You can find the foam mats at Sam’s Club stores (not available online) for around $20.

Maybelline has already defined themselves with their pink and green tube, but they define a lash in a whole new way with Define-a-Lash mascara. The unique, flexible brush glides along your lashes, leaving just enough color to lengthen without clumping. It’s not as bold and thick as Great Lash or Dior’s DiorShow, but it’s the first mascara I’ve used that adds just the right amount to your lash.

Get it: It shouldn’t be the only mascara in your arsenal, but it should be one of them. Look for it at in the cosmetics aisle of any grocery or pharmacy chain for around $8. Be on the look out for $1/1 MFRC (tearpad).

I had been wanting to try these since they came out but at $2.94 to $3.99 a box, the price point was just too high. With the $1/1 MFRC from the 6-6-10 SS, I stopped at Target to splurge on a box for $1.94.

I hope these go BOGO soon because the flavorful combination of the crackers and cheese make these irresistible.

Get it: Even at $1.94 I thought these were worth it. I tried the classic cheddar but there’s also four cheese, cheddar cheese & bacon and garlic herb. If you “like” Ritz Crackerfuls on Facebook, you can print a $1/1 wyb cheddar cheese & bacon.

I don’t have a washer and dryer in my apartment so convenience is key when doing laundry because of the amount of hauling stuff around that is involved. That’s why I loved the all-in-one concept of Purex’s new laundry sheets. And for the most part they deliver.

The concept is simple three sheets in one, detergent on one, softener on the second sheet and anti-static on the third and all three are attached to one another so it’s essentially one sheet. I’m only carrying a sheet to the laundry with me versus boxes or bottles of detergent and fabric softener. So the delivery is fantastic, as far as the job that needs to be done it completed most of that. The detergent did remove all the stains but I did notice some scents left over in the armpits of some of the shirts in the pile. The fabric softener and anti-static did a fantastic job and the clothes smelled great (Spring Oasis scent) coming out of the dryer. Even after a day’s wear my clothes still smell great.

Get it: Averaging around $4-$5 for a package with 20 sheets (20 loads) is a decent price. The smell isn’t overwhelming and stays on your clothes and with the exception of a bit of odor in a couple of very used shirts, the detergent works. I received this through a free sample deal that is still going on. Definitely try it for yourself.