Let me just say that I’m not a fan of tooth brushing or anything that goes along with it.  I’m just not.  The sounds and smells are all just too much.  And I’m not even pregnant!  I do it, yes, but it’s not something I’m enthusiastic about.  Those people frighten me actually so if you fall in that category please, keep it to yourself.  All this is to say that I do what I need to do to get the job done–I’m not a toothpaste connoisseur by any stretch of the imagination.

So I busted out the tube and brushed-brushed-brushed away.  It felt a wee bit grainy but hey, it’s au naturale so I just figured I was brushing like the pioneers minus a bark toothbrush.  I carried on.  All was fine and good in the morning but then throughout the day my mouth felt gross.  Like I hadn’t even taken the time and mental willpower to actually BRUSH my teeth.  Seriously, by 3:00 I felt exactly like I do when I wake up in the morning and it was annoying.  I wanted to scrape my teeth with a paper towel or something they felt so fuzzy.

I wanted to give it a try for a week so I continued to use it.  About three days in I developed a painful sensitivity in one of my teeth.  Cold water made me jump three feet out of my chair, and I won’t even go into detail about what happened when I had ice cream.  This was totally unlike me and I wondered if I suddenly had a cavity, even though I visit the dentist regularly.  The only thing new in my routine was the toothpaste so I switched back to my old brand and a few days later the sensitivity was gone.

I can’t say what could have caused it based on the ingredients and perhaps this is an isolated incident.  But it’s not something I’m willing to continue to use when everything I had been doing before was working well.  I am incredibly disappointed as I was excited to add more eco friendly products into my home, and hope Burt’s Bees will tweak whatever it’s got going on in there to knock this one out of the park.

Sadly, my mouth and I give it two thumbs down.  If you try it though please, let me know what you think!

Burt’s Bees Natural Multicare Toothpaste, $5.00 for a 4 oz tube. Can be found at your local drugstores.

It’s all a little confusing, isn’t it?

I actually have a friend who is a fisheries policy lawyer.  (How’s THAT for a specialty, right?  I haven’t seen him in several years- in case he ever finds this, Hi Josh!) It was he who first introduced me, many years before it was fashionable, to the concepts of overfishing and sustainable seafood.  He carried a card in his wallet, produced by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, that told him which fish were the most sustainably harvested (and thus okay to eat) and which ones were overfished, at risk of extinction, or fished in environmentally problematic ways (and thus to be avoided).

At the time, I teased him mercilessly for it- I had a food budget of about $10 a week, so it wasn’t like I was buying a lot of seafood anyway.  But now that I cook regularly, and trying to eat both healthily and sustainably, I find it can be kind of hard to keep track of which fish are okay to eat and which ones aren’t.

So I looked up the Monterey Bay Aquarium and found, to my delight, that they still make the seafood cards.  In fact, they’ve improved them, with lists organized by region of the country.  There’s even a separate list for sushi!

The lists are helpfully divided into green (good) yellow (acceptable) and red (avoid).  They have also identified a list of “super-green” seafood- fish that are sustainable, low in contaminants, and high in omega-3s.  (That list includes wild caught salmon from Alaska, farmed mussels and oysters, and Rainbow trout.  Full list is here.)

Now, I don’t know that I’m going to cut these cards out and keep them in my wallet at all times, but I do have one printed out and taped to my fridge, and it helps when I’m evaluating recipes to look at the list and see which fish are on the good list for my region.

So as you try to include more seafood in your diet, I encourage you to print out the list for your region and use it to guide your seafood choices.  The earth and the fish will thank you!

Monterey Bay Aquarium Sustainable Regional Seafood Guides, FREE! at Monterey Bay Aquarium’s website.

I have been very fond of pressed powder and have only branched out in the loose powder territory because my mom bought me some for my birthday.  I was, well how do I put this?  I was SCARED okay?  What about the mess?  What if I sneeze and it all poofs away?  What if I get too much on the brush?  WILL MY FACE THEN DISAPPEAR INTO A TRANSLUCENT VORTEX?  So many questions!

I hate messes and I hate waste so I was really questioning how I’d feel about this product.  Yes, some will get on your hand or on the sink but if you’re diligent you can minimize the spills.  Just don’t go on a weekend drinking binge and go to put your make-up on the next morning with a bad case of The Shakes and you’ll be good.

Here is a little snipped from Maybelline’s website:

Mineral Power Translucent Loose Powder with micro-minerals provides the finishing touch that perfects and sets makeup for flawless, healthy-looking skin.

• Natural, luminous finish
• Won’t clog pores
• Contains 0% oil, 0% talc, 0% preservatives and 0% fragrance

For Best Results

Use the 100% natural kabuki brush included with the Translucent Loose Powder.

Dip it: Dip brush into cap

Tap it: Tap brush to remove excess

Apply it: Apply to face using circular motion

It’s KEY to tap the brush on the side of the container–this knocks off any excess and helps the powder go on evenly while also reducing plumes of make-up wafting through your bathroom.  The first time I tried this application it took forever because I was so overly cautious about not wasting any.  My husband kept hearing “clack-clack-clack. . .clack-clack-clack. . .clack-clack-clack” like I was some sort of mini bathroom orchestra conductor.  But since then I’ve done it a few more times and have found my groove.

I love the brush.  It’s soft and firm without being too whisker-y.  It’s all natural and the application is flawless with the circular motion application–you just can’t get the same results with a puff and pressed powder.  I was also pleased to note that my face didn’t get nearly as shiney throughout the day as with my other make-up.  The difference is night and day.  I had smooth coverage which is what I wanted.  WIN!  Also, since I’m not a huge fan of break-outs I love that my skin can breathe as this is a natural mineral-based powder free of gunk.  DOUBLE WIN!

The downsides, which wouldn’t deter me from purchasing this again, are the loose powder mess potential and the fact that the brush is not attached to the container.  This makes me worry about throwing it in my make-up bag and the brush getting dirty.  So I think I’d just use this at home in the morning, and apply touch-ups (though not many are needed, seriously) with the pressed powder throughout the day.

What powder do you stand by and recommend whenever you get the chance?  Are you a pressed powder or a loose kind of girl? (OH STOP!)

Maybelline Mineral Power Finishing Veil Translucent Loose Powder, around $12.00 at local drugstores.

I get it, I think.  My mom is one of those people. She drinks a lot of water.  She doesn’t always trust the drinking fountain or bathroom tap at her destination.  So she buys disposable bottles of water and keeps several in the car.  But then it becomes a habit, and she drinks out of those annoying disposable bottles even when she has access to good, trustworthy water.  It makes me a little bit nuts.

I’m hoping I’ve finally found the product that will help her turn the corner: the Water Bobble.

It’s a reusable water bottle with a carbon filter built in.  Pour water into the bottle, and it gets filtered as you drink.  (Carbon filters are the same things that are used in a Brita pitcher.)  The filters last for two months (or forty gallons) and can be replaced.  The bottle itself is stylish looking and well-designed, and comes in six pretty colors.  It’s BPA-free.  And the price is so right: ten little bucks.  Compared to some of the stainless steel options out there, that’s a steal.

I think they’ve hit it on the head with this design.  Simple, inexpensive, clean.  Now, according to the website, it’s not for use in place where bacteria and parasites might be a problem (ie, camping, or traveling to places with unreliable water supplies) but for those of us whose water bottles mostly travel with us to school and work and the airport?  It’s a great idea.

The product is brand new- it’s not even available in stores yet, only through their website.  But starting this month, you can look for them at Bed Bath and Beyond and other retailers.  Earth Day is coming up, you know.  I think this would make an excellent earth day gift to yourself.

Water Bobble, $9.95, at Waterbobble.com

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.

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!)

Except, of course, these ARE lean times.  For many of us, that means evaluating our day-to-day spending and trying to make smarter, more frugal choices.  One of the easiest ways to do this, as I’m sure you’ve heard, is to bring your lunch instead of buying it.  This holds true for adults and kids, though I’m thinking specifically of adults here- I don’t know about your town, but in Chicago it’s alarmingly easy to drop $8 or $10 on a fairly average, not-particularly-healthy lunch from a downtown purveyor.  Not awesome.

So I try to bring my lunch most days.  This has led to a comical parade of lunch-toting products that I’ve tried over the years.  I’m looking for the right balance of function and non-nerdiness: it’s hard to convey a professional image when one is toting a My Little Pony lunchbox, or when one’s soup has leaked all over one’s important files.

That’s why, when Lands’ End offered to send me one of their lunch bags to test-drive, I happily agreed.

And I have to say: it’s been a while since I used a basic insulated lunch bag, and the design of these things has come a LONG way since I was in junior high.

The first thing I noticed were all the little design features designed to make the bag more useful: a front pocket that closes with Velcro, perfect for holding a napkin, (or a note if you’re the kind of parent who leaves notes in your kids lunch); a sturdy reinforced handle and mini-carabiner at the top so you could clip the bag to another bag; a cushioned bottom to prevent fruit bruising; a lining that pulls out so it’s easy to clean; and a nice long band of velcro along the top to close it securely.

It’s got the right look, too- it’s slim and low profile and comes in many colors, including a bunch of neutrals.  And this may seem like a small thing, but there’s no big logo on the outside, just a small reflective patch and a very subtle “Lands’ End” badge on the side.  This thing would blend in, is what I’m saying.

It’s not perfect, though.  I tend to bring a lot of leftovers in my lunch, and this bag’s slim design can be a liability- it’s a little too small to comfortably accommodate most of the Tupperware I use, so  I end up putting them in sideways and then awkwardly carrying the bag sideways to keep the containers inside upright.  Not ideal.  Because of the hefty insulation inside, it’s also a little bulky- it doesn’t fold down all that small for when I have to put it back in my bag to take it home at the end of the day.  The handle on the top seems more kid-sized than adult-sized (fine if you’re using it for your kids, and not a huge deal even for adults, but when your hands are already full it would be nice if it were a little bigger so you could slide the bag over your wrist).

On the whole, though, if you’re looking for a basic, sturdy, thoughtfully-designed lunch bag for you or your kids (which doesn’t cost a bloody FORTUNE, like some of the lunch bags I’ve seen out there), the Lands’ End model is a good bet.

The Lands’ End folks have graciously agreed to sponsor a giveaway for one LiveWellSpendWell reader.  If you’re interested in trying out this bag for yourself, leave a comment on this post (mandatory) describing your favorite things to pack in a brown bag lunch (for you or your kids).

You can get additional entries to the contest if you:

–Mention this contest on twitter with the following text: “Win a free Lands’ End lunch bag from @livespend – check out http://livewellspendwell.com/?p=375” and be sure to come back and in a separate comment and leave us the link to your tweet

–Link to Livewellspendwell.com in a blog post and leave a comment linking back to your post.

–Refer others to this contest- if they tell us you sent them (“Sam sent me!”) both you and the person you referred will get a BONUS entry!

Contest will run until October 5, 11:59 pm CDT. For full information on how we run our contests, see our Disclosure policy.

Lands’ End School Uniform Lunch Sack, $10.50 each or $8.50 when you order 2 or more, on landsend.com

I received a few products to sample and even though I am not pregnant, I do have some slight skin discoloration as a result so I was excited to see if the brown pigment spots around my eyes and mouth would fade or disappear all together. Ah pregnancy, the gift that keeps on giving! This line is also ideal for nursing mothers, as anything applied to the skin eventually enters the bloodstream. But my line of thinking is this: if a product is safe and recommended for gestating women, wouldn’t you want to use it even if you’re not expecting? Why not be safe and healthy regardless? I actually have a friend who uses that as a rule of thumb for staying healthy, but instead of “What would Brian Boitano Do?” it’s “What would a pregnant woman do?” Works out well.

First up was the Organic Cucumber Cranberry Eye Gel (30 ml $30.00) and let me just say, it has been my mission in life to find the perfect eye cream/gel. I have puffy dark circles under my eyes and I dream of one day having taught and refreshed eyes much like any model on the cover of a magazine, photoshopped of course. I’ve tried creams and gels and I fall firmly in the gel camp. The creams moisturize yes but I like the gel for the cooling and taught aspect. The directions say to use one pump but I found that to be too much. Half a pump worked great and hey, it makes the bottle last longer too! I used it day and night and it really does make my eyes feel refreshed. Now, is it a miracle product that somehow erases the last eighteen months of sleep deprivation? No. But does it make me look a hojillion times more refreshed and jovial? Oh you better believe it.

I also was able to try the Organic Fruit Face Wash (120 ml $28.00) which came not a moment too soon as my other face stuff had just run out. Side note: I LOVE it when that happens. Another side note: I love washing my face. I geek out reading the ingredients so I can know what kind of magical experience I will have when all the gunk gets wiped away. I eat up all the promises made about ‘newer, younger looking skin!’ and adjectives such as ‘supple’ and ‘firmer’ and ‘dewy’. I am a marketing savant’s key demographic. So I was clearly pleased as punch when I read Novena’s description of this face wash. All those ingredients are things I could, in theory, eat! So my face could be a yummy organic smoothie of goodness in theory, if you choose to make food analogies when describing facial care products. Which I do apparently! When I used it it didn’t make my face tight and dry like some other washes out there. The first few times it didn’t really get rid of all of my make-up and I was pretty bummed. But then I read the directions. FOUR PUMPS! I was only using two and it clearly mattered, so take it from me–go straight to four pumps and you’re golden.

The last product I was given to sample was the Organic Skin Care Spot Brightening Moisturizer (120 ml $28.00). This was what I was the most excited to try because of the aformentioned pigmentation around my eyes (thanks Theo! Mommy loves you!). Now, let me say that the discoloration isn’t dark enough for anyone else to see, especially if I have make-up on. And lemme tell ya, if you’re going to see me I WILL be wearing make-up. My husband even claims he doesn’t know what spots I’m talking about, but they are there and they shouldn’t be thankyouverymuch. So I might have globbed a little extra on in my ‘troubled areas’ and watched them like a hawk for any change or variance. I honestly think I see a difference, but since everyone else around me is all “Wha? Guuuurl what choo talkin’ bout?” it’s hard to get a second or third opinion. So just trust me. It’s not a Magic Eraser for your face but it does even out skin tone and reduce visible pigmentation. It’s not a heavy lotion by any means so it won’t weigh you down or cause break-outs. I did find that my make-up didn’t go on quite as easy since it was so light, but it wasn’t horrible by any means. I guess I’m used to being a greasy monkey. Don’t judge.

Novena Maternity Skin Care was voted one of the top five organic maternity products in 2009 by Fit Pregnancy Magazine. That’s pretty sweet. They also offer samples of each of their products if you want to dabble first before making a purchase. Each of these three products fall under our Splurge Worth category and I think if ever there is a time to indulge it is when you are pregnant or a new mom.

Novena Maternity Skin Care is generously offered their 5 Product Kit consisting of the three above mentioned items in addition to their Organic Citrus Blemish Lotion and Tangerine Cocoa Belly Butter Cream all in a cute pink insulated bag. This is valued at $135.00! If you’re pregnant, thinking of getting pregnant or KNOW someone who is pregnant, you’ll want to enter this amazing giveaway.

To enter, leave a comment on this post (mandatory) letting me know why you’d like this product kit. You can get extra entries by:

–Following us on Twitter (@livespend) and mentioning the contest : “Organic Novena Maternity Skin Care #giveaway valued at $135.00 @livespend http://tinyurl.com/pez3k7” and be sure to come back and in a separate comment leave the link to your tweet

–Blogging about it and in a separate comment leave a link to your post.

–Subscribe to our RSS feed and comment letting us know. If you already subscribe, mention that in the comments.

–Referring others here and they tell us you sent them (“Sam sent me!”) both you and the person you referred will get a BONUS entry!

Contest will run until September 21st, 11:59 pm CDT. For full information on how we run our contests, see our Disclosure policy.

“What’s that?” I say.  Meanwhile wishing he’d just contend with his son who recently decided I’m chump change and his father is King of All That’s Better Than Mom.

“You should talk about name brand things versus generic!”

(Blank stare from me.)

“You know that deoderant I used earlier in the week?  Well, that was a store brand and I was stinky by 2pm.  The other stuff is fine through the day and I’m not rank.”

And there you have it:  one man’s experience with Old Spice deoderant v. jenky store brand.

I’ve been mulling it over all day and have decided to not do a review today, but simply put it out to the masses for you to tell us what’s been better in your experience:  generic or name brand?

Leave your feedback in the comments section and be sure to mention a specific product and let us know whether you thought the generic or name brand version was better.

Via random.org, the lucky winner is…

Lisa G.

Congratulations!