As a lipbalm freak/addict, the YoYo Lip Gloss totally intrigues me. It is a pacifier buddy for people like me. (You know those who aren’t even without their lip gloss and are frantically digging in their purse to find a tube!

Never lose your lip gloss again with the YoYo lip gloss. Just attached it to your purse, bag, jacket, belt loop and you will have access to it whenever you need.  The lip gloss is attached to clip that is a tethered, retractable cord. Cool, right?

This is a perfect stocking stuffer or a fabulous gift for a child’s friend. Retails for just $2.99. Never lose your lip gloss again. Plus, they have amazing shades and yummy tastes!

In honor of Suave’s exclusive styling of actress and Emmy presenter, Kate Walsh (Addison on Private Practice/Grey’s Anatomy), Suave rolled out the red carpet for several of my closest friends. With help of Absolutely You stylist, Britni, we were all able to get celebrity hair with Suave’s styling products!

Doesn’t Kate Walsh look beautiful? You can get her hair with these tips from Luke O’Connor.

Modern Bob – Get the Look!

1. Begin with Vibrant Shine shampoo and conditioner from Suave Professionals to restore shine and luster to dull hair.
2. Next, blow dry hair in sections with a large round brush.
3. For the side-swept bangs, take the front section and blow-dry back with a large round brush, swooping to the side.
4. Finally, apply a dollop of Suave Professionals Sleek Anti-Frizz Cream.  Apple first to ends and work your way up to control fly-aways.
5. Finish the look with Suave Professionals Extra Hold Hairspray.

I was excited for this party to share Suave’s affordable Professional hair line with my friends. If you recall, at Blogher this year, I had my hair styled by the Suave’s celebrity Stylist Luke O’Connor. It was so much fun and I love Suave’s Professional line for its affordability and performance.

In addition to the celebrity hair, we had wine tasting from Wine Shop at Home provided by my cousin Tabitha, cheese, hor ‘doeuvres including Red Carpet Taco Pizza, Crab Dip, and Fresh Mixers provided by Healthy Choice. There was quite a bit of laughter and fun just getting together with the girls and getting our hair pampered by Britni!

At the end of the night, which ended a little after the actual awards show started due to it being a school/work night, everyone left with a goody bag of Suave products to try in their own home. My oldest daughter helped distribute the goodies and help people pick the products best suited for their hair. I was a little surprised that not many people had heard of the Suave Professionals line. Everyone, of course, knew of the classic products from Suave, but the Professional line was new so it was fun to share.

I hope my guests enjoyed the party as much as I did!

Even though my oldest son is almost nine, he stinks like he is a teenager. Or maybe he is going to smell worse as a teenager? Please tell me that isn’t true.

Since the baby shampoos just don’t cut it anymore and really, they aren’t even cool when you are a third grader, he has taken to using Daddy’s stuff. You know he isn’t going to use girly, glittery personal hygiene products in our stockpile.

So when Axe sent over a package with some manly smelling products, he was all over it begging to use the shower gel and shampoo. Well, heck yeah, PLEASE do us all a favor and use the soap. Like, mom is going to say, uh, no, please don’t do it.

He even let his older sister use the Axe Messy Look Paste to style his hair.

So every night, the boys make it a ritual for mommy to smell their hair after they shower!

Gross, right? That is what my heel looked like after a walk/run a few weeks back.

Half way through, I remembered Band-Aid had just sent me some of their Friction Block. Why didn’t I use it, I thought as I hobbled the last half a mile home.

BAND-AID Friction Block Sticks glides on similar to deodorant. My 3 year old daughter thought it was deodorant and wanted to use some. It goes on clear and smooth with no mess and it really makes you wonder if you even put it on. From there, it is suppose to reduce friction caused by wearing uncomfortable shoes.

I have no scientific proof but when I took my next walk/run two weeks later I was blister free. Yes, it was two weeks before my heeled recovered from the previous walk/run. It may not work for everyone or for every shoe type but it worked for me and saved me several weeks of recovering from a blisted heel.

It should be noted that you are not suppose to use them on any open blisters you already have! So use them before. It runs $6.99 online but watch for a sale and use a coupon to get the best deal!

I was recently sent a couple of things to try out from Aventine Hill Bath Emporium. Aventine Hill Bath Emporium was created out of a love for nature and a need for natural and organic skin care products. Shelia Burke and her daughters have created this wonderful aromatherapy inspired company to awaken the spirit, mind, body, and soul!

The first item I tried is the Ancient Herbal Cleansing Grains. This treatment detoxifies, cleanses, tones, nourishes, restores, and soothes all in one treatment. The instructions allow you to mix the powder with liquid based on your skin type. Have oily skin, normal, or dry skin? Choose one of the suggested liquids to mix with and then leave on 5-10 minutes and rinse.

I have oily skin so I mixed with Apple Cider Vinegar and my face now feels like the oily skin was neutralized.  I’ve never had a spa treatment before but this felt like I would imagine a Spa Treatment would feel.

Next up is a unique bath salt combination: Creamy Mocha Mint Latte. Nope, you don’t eat it…you soak in it! Made from 100% Pure Dead Sea Salts from Israel, Coconut Milk Powder, Rice Bran, and Fragrance. Smells yummy and feels yummy! Don’t all of us moms deserve a nice relaxing soak?

Both of these items would make a great gift idea for any special woman in your life. Remember 60% of what you put on your skin is absorbed by your skin. All Aventine Hill Bath Emporium products are paraben-free with no synthetic color or fragrance and never tested on animals. Aventine Hill Bath Emporium offers a wide variety of products from vegan lipbalm to bath salts, lotions, and more!

(Thanks Momfluence & Aventine Hill Bath Emporium for the opportunity to try these products out!)

“Nourish Your Body, Nourish Your Soul” with these absoultely yummy products from Basa Body. Their all natural body products are made using organic virgin coconut oil from wild coconuts harvested along the coast of Kenya. While they are free from the harsh chemicals and parabens and contain no artifical fragrance, color, or preservatives, they smell delicious.

I was recently given the opportunity from Mom It Forward & Basa Body to try out the Basa Body Natural Cocunut Oil Body Lotion, the Basa Body Stick: Natural Coconut Oil Healing Balm, and Cherry Cordial Soap. I’m sitting here feeling like I’m in a tropical place because of the aroma. Coconut fragrance is already one of my favorites but this one is especially scrumpcious!

I have one of those itchy spots on my hand. Otherwise known as eczema. Eczema is a skin condition that I used to get all the time when I was younger. However, the past few weeks I developed a patch of it on the top of my hand and haven’t put anything on it since I didn’t have any product on hand. So when I saw the healing balm, I wonder if it could help. Once applying it, it gave me instant relief. I’ve never had a product work so fast for me. The redness looks to be gone too. Instead of a mediciny fragrance, I have a wonderful coconut fragrance!

So now that you have heard about how great these products are, you will love them even more when I tell you how they are helping to lift women in Africa out of poverty!

Basa Body is named after Mombassa, where there is a small scale coconut oil plant called Coast Coconut Farms. They product pure organic coconut oil by hand. Basa not only purchases all of their coconut oil from Coast Coconut Farms, they donate 10% of their profits back to projects in Kenya to help fight poverty.

Coast Coconut Farms was created by The Pope Foundation in 2005 as a project designed to help lift the poor out of poverty. I love any project where they are teaching people life skills to help keep them out of poverty. By teaching and creating opportunities, people are empowered and can continue the cycle of teaching others life sustainable skills!

The company’s mission is to provide employment, management, and ownership opportunities for the rural people of Kenya. They give the rural poor access to capital, equipment, and training to create organic coconut oil harvested along the coast from the wild coconuts. Currently they have created employment for over 100 families. They have larger goals, though. They want to create over 1,000 jobs!

Here’s the scene. My husband had taken me to lunch. It was Friday so of course, we had the fish special. Once I got back to work, I had lingering taste in my mouth. It was one that even a strong mint or gum could not handle. Not something I wanted to experience all day long but luckily, I had received a few samples of the new Colgate Wisp. So I whipped it out of my purse.

Colgate Wisp is a new single-use toothbrush which has a breath freshening bead which gives a clean, fresh mouth with no rinsing or water required. As you can see from the picture to the left, it is smaller than lip gloss so you can keep it with you anytime you may need it.

It was a bit awkward to use at first as I wasn’t quite sure how to use it. Once you start brushing with it, the beads start to do their work. It will gently remove the food and plaque between your teeth and along the gum line to give you a freshly brushed feel. It is perfectly safe to swallow and pretty amazing how it works with no water. Includes a soft pick at other end of the brush for those hard to get places.

Since it is not convenient to take your toothbrush and toothpaste everywhere with you or wherever water is not easily accesible, Colgate Wisp is a great alternative. They are handy and compact and individually foil sealed. Store in your purse, desk, or car for that on the go clean anytime! They don’t replace regular brushing obviously but use them whenever you are on the go.

Available in Peppermint, Spearmint, and Cinnamint so there is a flavor for everyone. These retail for $2.39/4 pk and $7.99 for a 16 pk.

Have you tried these? When do you think you would use these?

Check out my review on Suave products: Suavenomics – Living Beautiful for Less!

Thanks to Vocalpoint, I was able to try Crest Weekly Clean. My husband joked, “so now I only have to brush once a week”? Well, I hope he was joking anyway.

Crest Weekly Clean is designed with similar ingredients to those dentists use to give you that freshly polished feel like you ahve after a professional teeth cleaning. Using the highest level of ActivClean Crystals and a blend of polishing silicas, your teeth will feel fresh and clean by using it weekly in between cleanings. At first, I thought it was a weekly ONLY thing but you can use it daily if you want that fresh feeling every single day. One tube is good for 16 uses and retails for $3.99.

(Note: This does not replace regular dental cleanings even though your teeth will feel so smooth and polished.)

I recently tried Tom’s of Maine Natural Whole Care Anticavity & Tarter Control + Whitening fluoride toothpaste in spearmint flavor. This is the only Tom’s of Maine product I’ve ever used and I was intrigued by the prospect of a toothpaste made without artificial or animal ingredients or chemicals.

I was a bit disappointed. While, I love the concept of a natural product, this toothpaste didn’t leave my mouth feeling clean at all. The flavor was very slight and the first few days I used it, people noticed white spots on my teeth. I used this for 2 weeks without using another brand and I just couldn’t get adjusted to it.

I still have much respect for this company as they try to be “green” in all processes of their product. You can read more about their environmental practices here. I’ve never heard of a company providing a $4,000 benefit to their employees for purchasing a hybrid vehicle. Have you?

While, I personally didn’t care for this particular flavor, I would still be open to trying another Tom’s of Maine product. A few months back, I believe these were Free after Easy Saver Rebates at Walgreens. Maybe, I will get another chance to try a Tom’s of Maine product!