I don't get sick too often, but when I do, it hits me pretty hard. And as 'luck' would have it, I got the nasty cold that everyone around me has had just in time to try Robitussin Severe Cough Cold & Flu. Lucky me?
I'm not big on taking medicine unless I really have to... which usually means it something pretty severe. And this cold... this one had everything. Coughing, sore throat, sinus pressure and, eventually, runny nose and sneezing as this lovely sinuses started to drain. Since the cough and sore throat were the early symptoms that seemed to be sticking through it all, it seemed to make sense to go to a brand know for their cough medicines, right? Here's the other thing... I'm not a big fan of liquid medicines. Never a fan of the flavors. I'd rather chock down a big pill... which I hate to do, as well. I wish everything just came in gummy form... but I digress.
So this new version of Robitussin (Severe) promised better flavor. That was a start. And to this day, after going through a whole bottle of it (and thermos), I can't quite put my finger on what the flavor was. I swear, there were notes of chocolate in it... chocolate covered cherry, maybe?? It wasn't sweet like your typical medicinal cherry flavor - there was no sweetness at all. Regardless, while I wouldn't guzzle a whole bottle down, I kind of liked to flavor, for what it was worth. That's a lot for me to say that! So yay!
But at the end of the day, it still had the pitfalls of a liquid medicine... you had to take it every four hours. I don't like having to think about it or, even more so, having my symptoms creep back up on me so often. And while it did subdue my symptoms, I wouldn't say it completely quelled them. I still had to use cough drops for the sore throat and coughing. Maybe my symptoms were more sever than intended for this severe formula? It did note that it the sore throat persisted, I should go see a doctor. I couldn't find the nighttime version that's out there - maybe it's better for overnight... the regular stuff did not last through the night. I woke up way early, very stuffed up and coughing.
So did it work...? Yes, kind of. I think I have high expectations when it comes to medicine. I want it to work quick, and last long. This didn't do that. I also want to evidence of any my symptoms... I'd rather a numb throat I can't feel than have it just be 'less sore' so I can still drink and eat like normal. My hungers is usually nonexistent when I'm sick, anyway.
Would I recommend it? Well, I wouldn't NOT recommend it. My husband prefers liquid medicine and this would probably be right up his alley in flavor and effectiveness. So it really depends on the person and what they expect with their medicinal needs. I'd still like to see what my options are on the gummy side of medicine.
I know what you're thinking... "Now she's talking about the private stuff... the stuff you only talk about with close friends." Well, yes and no. If you're reading this, I consider you a friend. And any friend of mine deserves to know about this.
So O.B. Pro Comfort tampons... what's up with them? What makes them so great - why are you talking about them? Let me ask you... have you ever used them? Have you ever considered it?
So the most obvious difference is the lack of an applicator. I'll admit, I was never willing to just buy these because of that fact alone. I mean, it's not exactly a pleasant situation to go into with your bare hand, am I right? But, the fact of the matter is, it's no harder than with an applicator, or no more messy. So once you get over that idea and become comfortable the fact that you will be touching yourself in a closer way than you're used to, you can finally focus on the good stuff.
First things first... these expand to fit YOU! Not lengthwise... but widthwise, to top those leaks. So, in my opinion, they work better than some others on the market. That's the biggest plus. Some other perks... well, less waste (with no applicator), for one. Also, way more discreet, and they're small enough to just put in your hand and go. Who doesn't want discreet when it comes to that time of the month?
So all in all, if you can get past the no applicator deal, these are probably a good thing to try. They have benefits others can't give you. And who doesn't like added bonuses??
Sometimes it's the little things...
True story... A group of coworkers and Ii were going out to lunch when right when we got there, one of them sneezed and, well, more came out of her nose than she would've liked. Thankfully, I had a Kleenex Pocket Pack in my car to give her really quick before anyone (but me) noticed. She was beyond grateful, and that moment alone made having them worthwhile.
I say that because at times, when cleaning out my car, i thought about taking them out. When was I going to need them. I cold always just grab a napkin somewhere. But I'd always end up throwing them back in the console somewhere.
Kleenex Pocket Packs have been around for as long as I can remember. But they've revamped them a bit... brightened up the packaging and gave them some fun blurbs on them. Just some little things to make you smile when you need one... or need to give one to someone else. And make them smile. My little story above is a perfect example of why they exist, too... just those moments when you need to share a little love!
So take it from someone who has first hand help someone in need with the simple gift of a tissue... it's such a small thing to keep on hand, but it can make a huge different for someone one day!
I've tried some stuff from Zep previously, and was impressed by it. As in, "Where has this been all of my life" type impressed. It makes any cleaning job so easy. So you can imagine, when I had a chance to try Zep's Microwave Miracle, I got excited!
We all know how a microwave get get dirty quick... things splatter and explode, and it seems no matter what you use to 'cover' your food, it still happens. And all too often, you see the mess, think to yourself, 'I'd better wipe that up.' But then you get distracted by the very food that caused it. So it dries, and then bakes on more the next time you use the microwave.
So Zep Miracle Microwave Foaming Cleanser lets your microwave do the work for you. You just generously 'foam up' the bottom of your microwave with it, turn it on for a couple of minutes, and then wipe away all the dirt. Seriously... that easy. I got it in the mail to try, and within 5 minutes of opening the box, I had a clean microwave. This stuff will forever be a part of my cleaning supplies.
So Zep Miracle Microwave... two enthusiastic, go out and buy it now, thumbs up!
I've been a HUGE Listerine fan for a long time. After I got over the burning and realized what it was really doing for me, I couldn't get enough of that burn. Plus, they kept coming out with new flavors... my parents only had the original gold, very medicinal flavor to choose!
But then I got to try Listerine® Healthywhite™ Gentle through CrowdTap and the Listerine brand. They promised this was a 'no burn' Listerine. I know there are other mouthwashes that have this claim... you know, "no alcohol = no burn." So this wasn't new ground, or anything. But if it's one thing Listerine knows best, it's mouthwash that actually does more than freshen your breath.
Sure enough, there was no burn. I had to overcome a small obstacle I placed myself, being a bad toothpaste flavor right before the Listerine... but once I resolved that, the Clean Mint actually tasted like Clean Mint. And since you have to rinse for twice as long as regular Listerine, there was still that lingering 'sting' you get from any minty flavor mouthwash (or even toothpaste).
All in all, it held true to the Listerine name and adds to the Listerine options out there. This is a great option for anyone that couldn't deal with the burn of regular Listerine. Go, Listerine!
I’m a member of the Crowdtap Kleenex Brand® rewards program, and Kleenex® Brand sent me these two products to review. Everyone might think they know the Kleenex brand already, but these are two products you may have not noticed before.
The first is not a new concept, but it's often overlooked. Kleenex with Lotion. If I can, I always buy tissues with lotion just to keep my nose from becoming completely raw. Which, if I'm buying tissues, then I'm likely going to be using a lot of them! I seriously do not understand why they even sell tissue without lotion - who wants a raw nose??
The second product was Kleenex nit-Viral, which claims to kill 99.9% of germs. Can't help but notice that claim... quite the claim, huh? Maybe it's a mental thing? Makes you just feel better with that thought? I know there are things out there that also make that claim (that aren't tissues), but it's still a huge claim, to me... hard to really be able to accept it. However, the concept is quite appealing and somewhat psychologically reassuring. If nothing else, it gives you a sense that's you're doing all you can to keep from spreading your germs to your family or others around you. So I applaud that. Who know... maybe that layer of germ killing goodness really does work. Regardless, it's a great concept and I'd rather have that sense of germ killing than not. They still have that great Kleenex softness you want and expect, so it's worth the buy.
So again, Kleenex lives up to their name... their brand has become synonymous with tissues, and it got that way for a reason.
I'll be the first to admit that many years ago, I started avoiding Scotts toilet paper because I felt you got what you paid for... it was cheap, and it felt cheap. Once I made that decision, I never looked back. But as a brand, they've hung around and definitely have their loyal users. Nothing wrong with that.
Well, recently, they threw out a concept that even got my attention enough to want to try it out... they went tubeless. And they brought to the attention of the world how made tubes are 'wasted' every year (recycled or not). I'm not a tree hugger, but I do care about the environment and try to be aware of the waste m household sends to the incinerator Indy doesn't do a landfill/dump) every year. Then I had a chance to try it though CrowdTap.
I was skeptical, at first. How does it stay 'roll like' and what keeps it was unrolling from the inside out? What happens when you get to the end - does it lose it's form then? To my pleasant surprise, it 'acted' just like any other toilet paper out there. Roll stayed intact through the end, though it got more squishy as it got to the center. And it lasted quite long... likely due to the single ply.
And that's where I was still disappointed with the Scott Brand. Still a little rough on a sensitive bum. Better than before, but still 'crispier' than I like - felt like what I get in my office building restroom or other public facility. not what I like to have at home. Of course, everyone has they own opinion and it might be perfectly acceptable softness to others out there.
So all it all, major probe for being environmentally aware. But no improvement, in my eyes, on the quality of the paper, itself. Except for a few ridges... but not softness. If you're already a Scott's user or are very much an environmentalist, you'll want to give this a try. In fact, it's worth a try for everyone out there. But just know that if you've come to expect the softness that so many other brands push and try to sell you on, then this will be a change from that repertoire for you.
I am the first to admit that I hate cleaning. It takes too long and more often than not, I'm not content with the outcome, which means it takes longer still to get it to a point where my OCD self is happy with the results. So you can imagine my skepticism when I had the opportunity to try our a cleaning product.
Enter Zep cleaning products and, for my trying pleasure specifically, Zep All Purpose Clean & Degreaser and Quick Clean Disinfectant. First thing to tackle... the kitchen. I used the Quick Clean Disinfectant on all the counters and was pleasant surprised by how easily it cleaned some of the grime from the sticky lunch that afternoon. It seems almost too easy (that was the skepticism in my head). But they looks great and there was no denying they were clean. But what about the stove? 
It seems to get attract grime, even if it's not being used. So I tried out the degreaser here. WOW! It made removing even some of the tough stuff so easy... just wiped right off.
I was sold at this point. Me... of all people. I wanted to try it out in some other rooms. Next stop... the bathroom! Our powder room has an antique sink in it that, in my opinion, just looks dingy all the time. I just chalked it up to being old. But even it had some shine left in it after using the Zep Quick Clean on it. Was there anything this stuff couldn't do?? Imagine what their other products are capable up. If they can make all cleaning this easy, I might actually getting into a cleaning routine I don't dread!
Zep cleaning products may be a new name to some people out there- it was to me. But apparently, it's been in the commercial markets for years. Businesses have been using their products to clean grime and grease in the background of probably some of your favorite restaurants. But now they're trying to bring their products to you. I even saw them in a hardware store since I was able to try these out. They have a FULL line of products... anything you could imagine needing to clean, they probably have something for it. So go... NOW! Buy this stuff! You won't regret it!
So this is a bit of a personal post, in that this seems to be a moot subject for so many. And it doesn't need to be... and shouldn't be. But I digress.
I'm talking about feminine products. I used to be very brand loyal to one tampon brand that had a sleek, flushable cardboard applicator. Then they stopped making them for some reason. Once I realized is was no longer being made, I literally went out and bought as many boxes as I could find to stash... about 6 months worth. But then I wandered aimlessly. The 'big brand' out there I've never liked because of the way it 'grows' during absorption. Which, in my opinion, was why it was more apt to leak. I tried the kind without an applicator, you know.. eco-conscious. Could never quite be okay with that... any then a 'new brand' came out. But it wasn't really a new brand... it was a partial rebrand for the younger generation. U by Kotex.
Now, I was no longer in that younger crowd, but I liked what I saw, so I tried them. And I liked them. A lot. It did everything my old brand did, minus the flushable applicator. But it had a 'clickable' version, making it smaller and easier to put in my pocket. Score. Years (I think) later, I still use them exclusively, and not they have a very smart campaign going... "Save the Undies!" This suits them well because, well, this brand does that! I never have leakage issues. And if you go to their website, you can even get a sample. Which I highly recommend.
This was a different 'try-out' from my normal routine. Fertilizer. Kind of cool to try something different... something for the house, more so. We have a small yard, so a lot of the stuff that seems to come out is meant more for suburbia. But we're lucky to just have our little patch of green in downtown... just enough without an overload of up-keep.
But there is still up-keep. And that's where this handy gadget comes into play. With our small backyard, and awkward raised/sloped/walled front yard, it's never easy to work with the 'normal' gadgetry of yardwork. Now, I'm not complaining about said yardwork... but it makes it both easy to do and easy to put off. So if we can make it even easier, why not?
We've all fertilized or put down weed control in our yards. Well, I assume we have. Even when I had a bigger yard in the suburbs, I never bought more than the hand spreader to fertilizer. But my hand would cramp up or the fertilizer would get stuck in a sticky ball. It was the simplest task, yet not so simple. With this Ready2Go Spreader, it's battery operated! 
It does the spreading for you - you just walk the line. And since the fertilizer is self contained and not exposed to the elements, it stays in it easy granular form.
It took me a couple of minute to figure out how to open it and get the batteries in, but then it was very easy to use. The only issue I had was because of my OCD nature, in that since this was the 'weed control' fertilizer, I tended to focus a little too much on the areas that had weed problems. I'm sure if I would've walked the lines like I was supposed to, instead of doubling back, it would've been fine. Probably why I use the liquid version of the spring fertilizer usually... but you know what? No matter. It worked. Within a few days, I could see the weeds starting to wither.
This one is a winner in my books. I'll likely look for the various refills in stores - you reuse the canister and spreader and just buy the refill bags. So if you see this in stores and have a postage stamp of yard, go for it. I think you'll be glad you did.
Nowadays, iPhone has almost become to a smartphone as Kleenex is to tissues... a name brand replaces the generic name in society and it just sticks. Though not too long ago, if you asked a business exec what the ideal phone was, they'd say a BlackBerry. People fell in love with the full querty keyboard and the ease of typing emails on it. I had one at one point. I had a few, actually. Then I had a Trio, and then another BlackBerry, a then I got a personal iPhone, and that was the end of BlackBerry for me. My next work phone (what I have now) is an iPhone, too.
But BlackBerry finally stepped up.
They recently introduced the Z10, and not long after, I was given the opportunity to try it out. For the past month, I've been able to 'play around' with the BlackBerry Z10 and compare it to my iPhone, and even other phones friends have. The Z10 can more than compete, and I'm going to spend the rest of this blog telling you why.
First off, they finally made the touch screen the standard for this phone. At the same time, they integrated their querty keyboard into the touchscreen version, still 'learning' how you type and giving you shortcuts to words. It's nice to not have autocorrect constantly changing words you don't want changed. So if you've ever had a BlackBerry before, you'll immediately fall into this comfort zone with it's familiarity.
The Z10 also has a 'hub' if you slide the screen right, giving you all your emails, notes, appointments, alerts, etc. right in one place. You can look at just certain things (like email), or all of it in a chronological list. It's way more comprehensive then 'hubs' other phones have as an option. Even more so, on the home screen, it tells you if you have new items in the hub, so there's no guessing or wondering if something new is there.
And it has apps. Just like the iOS and Droid operating systems, it has it's own store (BlackBerry World) with lots of apps. It came pre-loaded with all of the already popular apps, like YouTube, Facebook, etc. The only flaw I found with some of the apps (mainly the social media) is that they aren't as up to date as ones you find on other operating systems. But I'm guessing that'll change as more people pick up a BlackBerry Z10.
But, by far, my favorite feature is probably the one they're trying to promote the most. It's called Story Maker and if you're one who likes to take pictures and videos and then show them off, this will give you an option that makes you look like a pro. Seriously. It's the simplest video compiler I've ever seen and I can see this, alone, being a selling point. You can even create a video in 1080dp! Especially for those with kids... imagine being able to take pictures and videos during one of their games or recitals, and then being able to have a video compilation of it all before you even get home, ready to send to all your friends and family, and even post on social media. It's absolutely brilliant. I did the video below in about 5 minutes. If that.
As far as cons go, the biggest I can see is that this great phone comes so late in the game. We're so far entrenched in smartphone technology, that most people have chosen their system, and have bought/downloaded all sorts of apps made for that system. As far as I know, there's no way to convert. Sure, it forces loyalty... but you shouldn't have to force it.
But the bottom line is, the BlackBerry Z10 is a great phone, and it's no longer just for the business side of things! It's a great personal phone now, too! They're finally crossing that line, realizing that everyone has a smartphone nowadays, not just the on the go business person. So a big 'yay!' for that! I can honestly say that if you're in the market for a new phone, this is worth a look. BlackBerry hasn't given up yet, nor do they plan on limiting who their market is anymore.
So this new version of Robitussin (Severe) promised better flavor. That was a start. And to this day, after going through a whole bottle of it (and thermos), I can't quite put my finger on what the flavor was. I swear, there were notes of chocolate in it... chocolate covered cherry, maybe?? It wasn't sweet like your typical medicinal cherry flavor - there was no sweetness at all. Regardless, while I wouldn't guzzle a whole bottle down, I kind of liked to flavor, for what it was worth. That's a lot for me to say that! So yay!
