archives: October 2009
Is it too much information for me to share with you, the internet at large, that we have been having some plumbing problems at our place? Until we convince our building/landlord that they should perhaps address this situation like YESTERDAY, we have become a household where cleaning the toilet has gone from a “once a week when we clean the bathroom” activity to a “every day, sometimes twice depending on how much coffee a certain someone has been drinking” kind of thing. It’s enough to drive one to booze, frankly.
But I am a giving person, and instead of drowning my sorrows in Makers Mark, I have figured out a way to turn my pain into your gain. Since all this scrubbing has us going through toilet bowl cleaner at a rate that dramatically exceeds our normal usage, I decided to take advantage of this opportunity to test several of the various “eco-friendly” toilet bowl cleaners on the market.
In the old days, we were all so naïve, weren’t we? We all cleaned our toilets with bleach- and chemical-based products that used animated anthropomorphic bubbles in their advertisements, and we never thought much of it.
We’ve all grown wiser, though, and have come to realize that “chock full of chemicals and fumes” is perhaps not how we’d like to describe a product that we use in small, non-ventilated spaces mere feet from our toothbrushes. Great brands like Method, Mrs. Meyer, and Seventh Generation have stepped in with great natural alternatives designed to keep some of those nasty chemicals out of our kitchens and bathrooms.
But: when it comes to cleaning a toilet, I really want the product to WORK. I want shiny, clean, disinfected toilet. I just can’t deal with a cleaning product that doesn’t make the toilet sparkle, no matter how earth-friendly.
Thus began the quest for the perfect eco-friendly toilet bowl cleaner. Our contestants today shall be graded on value, fragrance, bottle design, eco-friendliness, and performance, plus any other factors I feel you ought to know. Let’s begin, shall we?
Method’s Lil’ Bowl Blu
Value: $7.49 for 24 ounces, or 31.2 cents per ounce
Fragrance: Smells fine, a little herbal, but mostly not very strongly scented
Bottle design: has the skinny end for squirting up under the rim, but the large bulbous disc-shaped main bottle was a little hard for me to grip securely, and was awkward to maneuver in the 360 degree turn around the bowl.
Eco-friendliness: High. Method’s blog explains that they use xantham gum, a natural ingredient, to thicken this product, plus plant-derived lactic acid (way less sketchy than the battery acid used in other toilet bowl cleaners). Method also gets mad props for their super-honest and up front disclosure policy. You never have to wonder what’s in their products- they tell you.
Performance: meh. While I can vouch for the naturalness of xantham gum (I use it in baking for my sister who can’t eat gluten), it didn’t really do a good enough job of creating a thick goo that sticks to the walls of the toilet. Once I started scrubbing, it didn’t foam up at all, and it took a lot of elbow grease to get the job done. Not my fave.
Overall: while I love Method’s commitment to eco-friendliness, and I give them MAJOR props for being so up front about what they put in their products, this particular product just doesn’t do it for me. (BUT, if you are not using method’s stainless steel cleaner yet, get out and buy some. A.mazing.
Seventh Generation’s Emerald Cyprus and Fir
Value: $5.39 for 32 ounces, or 16.8 cents per ounce
Fragrance: The “fir” in the name was a huge reason why I bought this one, because I am irrationally enamored of anything that smells like pine trees. Sadly, the scent here was pretty mild, and mostly like citrus with a little herbal tone to it, not at all like the thicket of pine trees I’d been hoping for.
Bottle Design: The shape of the bottle is pretty standard, and the flip-top squirter is long and skinny and does a decent job of getting up under the toilet bowl rim.
Eco-friendliness: Also good. Like method, uses xantham gum and lactic acid, plus “plant-derived demineralizer and cleaning agents.” Non-toxic and biodegradable
Performance: Well, it’s a little hard to say. The liquid is clear, so it’s hard to tell how well it clings to the wall of the toilet bowl. But it foamed up nicely and got the toilet looking sparkling and smelling fresh with minimal effort on my part. I was pleased.
Overall: Nice big bottle + plant derived natural ingredients + excellent foaming action + pleasant, if mild, scent = happy user.
Clorox Green Works Natural Toilet Bowl Cleaner
Value: $5.49 for 24 ounces, or 22.8 cents per ounce
Fragrance: strongly citrus scent, no chemical undernotes (that was a happy surprise; Clorox regular toilet bowl cleaner used to require me to leave the house for an hour after I used it just to get some fresh air.) Some users at drugstore.com seem to HATE the very strong citrus-y smell, but I found it pleasant.
Bottle design: the best of the bunch. Clorox has clearly learned some lessons from its years of non-eco-friendly product experience: this bottle gets right up under the rim easily, squirts smoothly, turns well.
Eco-friendliness: a little tougher to tell. It, too, uses xantham gum and lactic acid, and also uses citric acid. The website has a lovely display showing some of the ingredients, but not all. A look at the label also lists a “cocunut-based cleaning agent”, and tells us that it contains no bleach or phosphorus. That’s good: those are both no-no ingredients that are common in non-eco-friendly toilet bowl cleaners.
Performance: very good. The gel squirts on thickly and sticks well to the sides of the bowl. It’s green (clever, Clorox peeps, dying this stuff green- but don’t think you’re fooling me, I know that that color comes from the “yellow and blue dye” that you list on your ingredient list, not from its inherently natural properties) but the color lets you see that yes, it’s sticking well. It foams up nicely with scrubbing, and got my toilet sparkling clean.
Overall: I was happily surprised at both the performance and the fact that this was an environmentally low-impact product from a brand that has historically not really been known for it’s earth-friendliness. Probably the best cleaner of the bunch.
So, which one will I buy again?
Well, there are actually two additional eco-friendly brands that I want to try – Mrs. Meyer and J.R. Watkins – but I’m hopeful that we will have this plumbing problem resolved before I have to buy two more bottles, so I didn’t want to wait to share my findings thus far. (Have you tried either of the ones I haven’t tried yet? Email me!) But of the three I’ve tried so far? For performance, Clorox Green Works was the clear winner. If you’re looking for the best combination of value and performance (like maybe if you aren’t facing plumbing problems) I’d go with the Seventh Generation.
Using Random.org, the winner of a $20.00 gift certificate to Beauty.com is…
Kristin C.
Congratulations!
I would, however, like to give mention to some of the hi-larious, blush-inducing stories from the entrants. Some of my favorites:
“The last time I blushed would have been when we were at a restaurant with my mom and son Eli, just as the waitress arrived for our order, announced loudly and gleefully, “I FART!” And then he just kept saying it…”
“…after I fell to the ground in my patient’s room when my back gave out causing me to crash to the floor and begin to cry. It was super embarrassing.”
“While taking the escalator to work one day, a lady behind me was admiring my skirt. Then, I realized the back zipper was down and you could see my patootie.”
“The last time I blushed we were outside and I am carrying my fitting toddler over my shoulder he then pulled up my shirt.”
Thanks for sharing!
If you’ve ever set foot in a Sur La Table, other fancypants kitchen store, or kitchen of a home cook with delusions of grandeur, you’ve doubtless seen one of these:
That is a silicone baking sheet liner, of which the best-known brand is Silpat. These silicone and fiberglass roll-up sheets come in several sizes to go with various sizes of cookie sheets. Put one on your baking sheet and you don’t have to use cooking spray or parchment paper to get lovely, quick-release baked goods that never, ever stick.
Stick-free cookies! Save the environment from spray-on oils and wasted parchment paper! We all need this, right!….Right?
When I got married, I took the opportunity to register for the kind of specialty cookware I would never have bought for myself, including a couple of Silpat silicone mats. I was going to be an advanced home cook! I had arrived.
Well, I may sacrifice any advanced home cook street cred I might have by saying this, but after several years of using those things I found them…meh. In fact (um, running through mental rolodex to remind myself who gave them to us, confirming that they do not, in fact, read this website, yep, I’m in the clear here…) I gavethemawaytoafriend.
Phew. I feel better.
Honestly, they were a total pain in the neck to clean, and you had to let them dry completely before you rolled them back up and put them away (they never really seemed to get dry with a towel). I used them mostly for cookies and I actually didn’t like the way cookies responded to them. It was like the bottom of the cookie didn’t get hot enough quickly enough, so the cookies spread too much and got thin at the edges instead of setting up properly. Plus, they didn’t brown as well as they did with a regular cookie sheet. (That might be a good thing for delicate sugar cookies, but I’m more a rustic chunky chocolate chip kind of girl, where a slightly browned bottom is a good thing.)
As ashamed as I am to admit it, for those times when I want a non-stick layer, it’s hard to beat plain old wasteful parchment.
The best use, in my experience, for a silicone baking mat like this is as a kneading or rollout mat for pie crusts and bread doughs. The non-stick surface means you have to use less flour on the kneading/rolling surface. This is particularly helpful with pie dough, when adding too much flour can make it tough. But for that purpose, I prefer a larger rolling mat with measurements and rolling guides. (I use this one.)
Look, if you make a lot of super delicate thin lacy cookies, or caramels or other candies- the kind stuff that’s really hard to get off a sheet even with parchment- you might find that silicone baking mats are just the ticket. But otherwise? Save your money.
The verdict:
Do I need silicone baking mats? No!
Silicone baking mats, price varies by size, but a standard-size Silpat model is available for $15 on Amazon.
Here in Chicago, the weather is threatening to jump straight past autumn and into full-blown winter. I wore GLOVES to work yesterday, people. GLOVES. In October. This just isn’t right.
I’m not ready to give up on fall just yet. I LOVE fall. It’s the season of crunchy leaves and rich butternut squash soups and yummy local apples just begging to be baked into rustic spice cakes. It’s just too great to skip, in my humble opinion. So if the weather won’t give us fall, we’ll just have to create it ourselves! I have just the thing:
“What are those?” you ask?
Those, my friends, are cake stencils. Are you the type who gets a little droopy just thinking about the effort involved in frosting and decorating a cake? Me too! Cake stencils are MADE for folks like us. You place a stencil on a cake, dust it gently with cocoa or powdered sugar, carefully remove the stencil – and voila! Beautifully decorated cake, without all the calories and spreading and swearing involved in frosting.
Making a single-layer cake and decorating it with a stencil is a simpler, breezier version of dessert for a casual dinner party or fun holiday party. Just imagine the possibilities- gingerbread dusted with powdered sugar! Super-orange carrot cake dusted with cocoa powder! Apple cake dusted with a cinnamon-powdered sugar blend!
Or, if you have kids and are looking for a super-fun Halloween treat, there’s a set of Halloween stencils- and it’s on SALE!
Can you imagine how cute that witch one would be with powdered sugar dusted on a dark chocolate cake?
I love how easy these stencils are. You could even use them to trace shapes to cut out decorative pieces of pie crust for your Thanksgiving pies! I’m not one for buying lots of specialized holiday gear or decor, but these are so cute, and take up so little space, at such a low price, that they’re hard to resist.
Note: the Halloween set is the only one that’s showing on sale online, but my local Macy’s had both of these, plus the super-duper adorable pumpkin-carving kit, on dramatic sale in store this weekend. If you have a Macy’s near you, it might be worth checking out.
Martha Stewart harvest cake stencils, $14.99, and Halloween stencils $8.99 on sale, in stores and at Macy’s.com
Aside from the fact that I have highlighted my hair since I was 15, I’d say I have virgin hair. I hate blow drying it, flat-ironing it, and I am most certainly NOT a product fan (I like being able to still have touchable tresses throughout the day). However, I have come to accept the fact that in certain instances I need to use something in order to achieve the results I want. But first, let’s get the lowdown on what I’m working with:
- It’s crazy thick. Even as a wee babe I never had baby-fine hair; right out of the gate it meant serious business. My hair stylist actually had to purchase special wooden wide-toothed combs just for me as I’d break all of her other ones with my wet and tangly hair. True story.
- It has a natural wave. Throughout high school all I had to do was scrunch it with some water and I’d have some texture. I liked this as I could go either straight or wavy without a whole lot of execution or, who am I kidding, SKILL. I never had to master the art of ANYTHING relating to styling my hair because it was essentially easy. Well, aside from up-dos and don’t even get me started on THOSE because any gal with thick hair will tell you that maintaining an up-do for the length of time a formal event requires is enough to evoke a panic attack.
- It is happy to be highlighted. I first highlighted my hair in highschool and have never turned back. My natural color is brown, but I have two-tone blond/carmel coloring throughout to brighten it up a bit. LOVE. I will never go back to a single flat color again. And even with all the processing my hair has always been healthy. No split ends or nasty flakey bits. Hooray!
I understand that with this flowing mane comes great potential, and yet I am lazy. I love a styled and polished look but hate the actual styling part. That is, until I discovered Guts by Redken.
Guts is a spray mousse. Did you catch that? A mousse. . .that SPRAYS. It adds volume! Isn’t heavy and gloppy! It’s genius is what it is. I love it because it still provides a good amount of hold without making me feel like I’m wearing a helmet, all while not weighing me down. I’ve tried water wax in the past and it was too heavy, and I didn’t like how my hands felt afterwards if I touched my hair. Remember, I have thick hair so anything that can add voume is key. The smell is friendly and not overpowering which is an added bonus.
I didn’t like putting this on when my hair was totally wet, so I’d dry it about 75% of the way through and then spray it on. I’d scrunch away, dry a smidge more and be done. When I use this product I am trying to acheive this look with a bit more volume and messiness in the back (still waiting for that medal to arrive though):
It works fantasitcally. The Redken site says you can also use this product with a round brush if you wanted a smooth look, but I think it is perfect for a messy tousled ‘do.
Redken Guts Spray Mousse, $18.00 for 10.58 oz. on drugstore.com. Can also be found wherever Redken products are sold.
And don’t forget to enter to win a $20 beauty.com gift card over here.
Despite some sort of genetic anomaly that allows me to tan June through August, I’m really pretty darn fair. Pasty, if you will. Because of this lack of pigment I turn to blush to help others tell me apart from the Undead.
I have four different blushes in my makeup bag. Depending on the weather (cold? humid?), the condition of my skin (dry with a dodgy patch? too oily?) and the time I have available (weekend morning rush? weekday morning parenting tag time?)–I choose my poison.
The items in my stock:
Almay Smart Shade Blush in Berry.
Cost? Approximately $8.00
This the only product from the Smart Shade line that I’ve tried and it’s a blush I’m relatively happy with. A dab of color on the finger tip rubbed into the apples of my cheeks and the cheekbone create a natural looking color.
Pros: It blends easily, lasts throughout the day and doesn’t cause break-outs.
Cons: Once it hits the skin–despite the appearance that a little goes a long way, the color isn’t very intense so I end up using a tidgy bit of powder blush over it.
Maybelline Dream Mousse Blush in Soft Plum.
Cost? approximately $7.00
I’ve kept this one around but just this morning thought about tossing it. I used it for awhile since I was interested in the mousse consistency. It’s interesting. Given that it’s a mousse, it goes on fairly light and airy and kind of whipped; like that Yoplait Whips yogurt.
Pros: I like that the packaging is a nice, glass pot and that applying the mousse blush is fairly dummy proof.
Cons: The color was minimal and I was using the Soft Plum color. It also didn’t seem to hold up throughout the day and by 8:00pm, I looked washed out.
N.Y.C. Cheek Glow Single Pan Blush in Outside Cafe.
Cost? approximately $2.00
I’ve reviewed N.Y.C. lipsticks in the past and the blush is equally fabulous. Since it’s a powder, it’s easy to slap on if I’m in a hurry or need a quick pick me up. I tend to use a powder blush if it’s going to be a particularly humid day since my skin is fairly oily (even the cheeks) and wearing a liquid blush tends to add to the slippery factor.
Pros: Sooo cheap, quite a bit available given the price, stays on throughout the day
Cons: I can tell it’s not as heavily pigmented as another powder blush I have from the department store, but at a 1/5 of the price–I don’t consider this a major beef.
Stila Gel Cheek Color in Cherry Flush.
Cost? approximately $16.00
This is my absolute favorite. The color comes out of the tube like a gel which is a bit different and blends, I feel, the best of all the consistencies. Concentrated in color but wears uber sheer.
Pros: The color is sheer, long-lasting and provides the perfect pinch of pinky redness; the small tube lasts forever
Cons: At just over the $15.00 mark, it’s a bit of a splurge. Plus it’s becoming harder to find, so my assumption is that Stila is no longer making it but instead replaced it with this. Another pen!
So that you can find the blush that’s just right for you, Live Well Spend Well will send one winner a $20.00 electronic gift certificate to be used at Beauty.com.
To enter, leave a comment sharing the last time YOU blushed. Funny, embarrassing, blush-inducing stories are welcome.
If you refer others here and they tell us their story and that you sent them (“Amy sent me!”), both you and the person you referred will receive a BONUS entry.
You can also receive extra entries by following us on Twitter (@livespend) and by mentioning this contest by saying, “What made you blush? Giveaway @livespend (insert link to post) pls RT.” Comment back with a link to your tweet and consider that extra entry yours.
Giveaway will run until Friday, October 16 11:59pm EST. For full information on how giveaways are conducted, please see the Disclosure Policy.
I was talking to my mother today and out of the clear blue sky she said to me: “did you order your Christmas cards yet? If not, you’re behind.”
Why yes, it is still October. Early October, even. There is only one conclusion: my mother is too organized.
But the woman has a point. I actually try to do some thinking in October about holiday-like stuff, largely in an effort to spread out gift-related spending over several credit card statements rather than being hit with one big punch in the gut come January.
Holiday cards (if you do them) are a good thing to order early, since you’ll often get a discount for ordering far in advance. I love giving and receiving holiday cards, and one thing that I know I’m going to be buying this year to go with them is a custom return address rubber stamp.
Custom rubber stamps are awesome. I used them to make business cards for BlogHer this year and let me tell you: huge success. They were totally unique, I could make them in many colors, and it was way more affordable than most of the pre-printed business card options I saw. When I saw how well they turned out, I promised myself I’d buy another one to use as a return address label on holiday cards this year.
I was totally surprised how affordable it is to make your own rubber stamps. I used A&E Rubber Stamp Co. here in Chicago to make my first ones, and they did an excellent job. There are also many vendors on etsy who make adorable custom stamps. I’m currently eyeing this one:
I think it would look great both on envelopes (I like to stamp the middle of the back of the envelope, rather than in the upper left corner) and on larger packages.
Some other standouts:
Though some might be bothered by the slight imperfections that come with hand-stamping, I think it lends things a pleasant handmade charm. You can use different colors of ink depending on your mood, and it saves the paper that’s wasted with adhesive return address stickers. Plus, a rubber stamp lasts indefinitely, so you can use it for years to come.
As a bonus, The myrubberstamp etsy shop is having a sale on custom stamps- buy 3 get one free. A stamp would make a great gift for someone who’s just moved into a new house, a family that’s just added a new baby, or as a gift set with a nice inky pen and a pack of simple, beautiful stationary. I believe I know what my mother, mother in law, and sister will be getting in their stockings….
Custom Rubber Stamp, $12 at myrubberstamp etsy shop (or at many other etsy and in-person vendors)
I am a bit of a fanatic when it comes to my cuticles. I refuse to allow them to become dry and flaky and I am religious when it comes to moisturizing them. I once saw a greeting card with a woman holding out her hand to show off her engagement ring. And my eyes were immediately drawn to her cuticles which were DISGUSTING! I may have convulsed in the card aisle because c’mon! If YOU knew you were going to go on a modeling job and SHOW OFF YOUR HANDS wouldn’t you at least put some lotion on? And don’t even get me started on the quality control factor. Who approved this photo? Are they not well-versed with Photoshop? GAH. *shakes mental image out of head. On to happier thoughts* I like to think that having nice cuticles detracts from my ability to get a manicure in a timely manner, but moving on. . .
I used to use random cuticle oil before bed every night and it worked fairly well but stained my sheets. It also got all over whatever book or magazine I was reading before I passed out in a mouth-breathing coma. When perusing the Burt’s Bees section I noticed they had Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme and was excited to give it a try.
I’ve always been a big Burt’s Bees fan so I knew this was a product and company I could trust. What I immediately liked about the creme was how it smelled. I’m sensitive to strong scents and this is light and fresh, with the slightest hint of lemon. It smells clean, and doesn’t detract from any other scent I may have on which is fabulous. I put it on prior to bed, pawed through my People Magazine, and didn’t have any newsprint on my hands. Thumbs up. I also woke up with noticeably softer cuticles and no oily residue, all after a single use. After using it every day for a few weeks I had stronger nails that didn’t split as much. That’s like extra credit!
This product is listed as 94.91% natural on their website (ya’ll KNOW how important that is to me) and they explain their qualifications:
“At Burt’s Bees, we label every product we make with what we call a “natural bar.” This bar discloses exactly how natural that specific product is. Our products average 99% natural, with half being 100% natural. We will continue to strive for 100% natural on all our products, investigating all ingredients and the latest technologies to create the best products for your greatest well-being.”
I’ve been trying to go as Green as possible when selecting beauty products and I like knowing that their cuticle creme is as natural as can be (or bee. HA!). I don’t want nasty chemicals and petroleum-based products on my nails that can get in my eyes and mouth if I’m not careful. Not that I exhibit toddler-like behavior and stick my fingers all over my face, but I wear contacts so yeah, my fingers do go into my eyes at least twice a day.
A .6 oz tin is around $6.00 (total steal) and lasts for-evuh! I’ve had this thing for months and it’s not even close to half gone. It’s way easier for me to invest in something when I know it has longevity, which this product clearly does.
Burt’s Bees Lemon Butter Cuticle Creme, drugstore.com (and others) $5.99
Oh, and don’t forget about our Lands’ End reuseable lunch bag giveaway. Pack a lunch and save money while going Green: http://bit.ly/tw29n (ends tonight!)
In what seems to be turning into a trend involving makeup products in pen form, this week I’m reviewing the lipstain pen from CoverGirl.
I’ve been eyeballing this product for awhile and decided to take the plunge this week.
I really, really waffled on the color. Stain colors typically look deeper hue in the packaging, but wear more sheer. And, of course, it was absolutely ridiculous to try and use the little colored bits of paper near each pen to try and decide which one would look best on me. I was wary of anything too pink or anything too brown and decided on #425 Plum Pout.
The pen looks a lot like a marker: cap, felt tip, round mid-size barrel. After peeling off the plastic business, I whipped off the cap and kind of marvelled at how the cap was designed. Within the cap itself is a smallish dome that keeps the brush and its bristly-pen like top neatly contained and separate from the rest of the cap. I think this showed some thought in how to maintain the pen and the color.
I then touched the pen to see if color was already on it or, if like the OPI nail polish pen, I’d have to twist/crank/push something. Nope. The color is already saturated into the pen; again, like a marker.
Because of the lipstain’s pen-like design, you shouldn’t need a lip liner. It’s firm, relatively sharp tip allowed me to draw the outline and then fill it in with color with very little mess and “drawing outside the lines.” This is a plus because as much as I love lip liner (and some lip products actually require it), it can be kind of a pain to tote around.
The color. Weeelll. It’s kind of bright. It’s less plum (as pictured here on the drugstore.com website and also what the little paper swatch in the store advertised)…
…and more of a bright fuchsia. A little loud for me. Just now I realized that the color on my lips is pretty much the same color as the tube/package. Not sure if this is a fluke and applies to the other shades, but it may.
After absorbing the “HEY! LOOK AT MY LIPS!”-type of color, I pressed my lips together to see if it blended or smoothed out. Some stains are trick-kay in that where you put it–there it stays. I relined some areas and filled in others, pressed my lips together and things blended fairly well.
On the CoverGirl website they say that the color doesn’t have “the heavy look or feel of an ordinary lipstick” and I’d have to agree. I know I have color on my lips but there is nothing sticky, gooey, coated, lined or balmed about them. Just lips. I like this a lot because it means that I won’t feel compelled to lick or wipe or reapply what I’ve already put on (the look of chewed off lipstick is one my appearence neuroses).
As for the lipstain’s wearability, while wearing it I have finished a bottle of water, eaten a mini Snickers, attended a meeting where I had to actually contribute, talked on the phone and eaten a second mini Snickers. While my lips are slightly pinker than they would be normally, there is nothing remaining of what I applied a mere two hours ago. This contradicts the product’s claim that the “…color won’t come off, lasting for hours…” But what lip color doesn’t promise this?
Bottomline: Even though it lasts about as long as most average lip colors, it comes in a handy pen-like style and is very easy to apply. I recommend.
CoverGirl Outlast Lipstain Lip Color, prices ranging from $7.50-$8.00, available at most major retailers.
