Mommin' It Up!

June 11, 2013June 12, 2013

Gettin’ My Clean Teeth On with Colgate Total Advanced

I mentioned a few weeks ago how I’ve been enjoying shopping at Walgreens for the first time in a long time thanks to their new Balance Rewards program in addition to the Register Rewards savings they offer. I’m diggin’ it! I’ve been back several times since I wrote that post (including twice this past weekend, ahem), and on one of those trips I was specifically on the hunt for the latest and greatest in clean mouth health from Colgate: Total Advanced Pro-Shield mouthwash, Total Advanced toothpaste, and even a Total Advanced 360 toothbrush.

As you know, I take a lot of pictures of myself for my #doyourmakeup Instagram carnival. So, I have to have sparkling clean teeth to look great! I’m not the best about a regimen, partially because I am just lucky and have “good” teeth – they don’t seem to stain easily and I’ve never had a cavity. But, they could be whiter! Also, my poor Joshua’s teeth DO stain easily so Bobby and I have vowed to be better at setting an example for him. Therefore, I have pledged to brush twice a day with my Total Advanced toothpaste & 360 toothbrush and rinse twice a day (something I NEVER do) with Total Advanced Pro-Shield mouthwash. But first, I had to get the products! So, off to Walgreens I went.

Before I headed out to Walgreens, I of course got my Balance Rewards card and Colgate coupons together so I could get a sweet deal on a healthy smile.

When I walked in the store I was greeted by just the products I was looking for on this great display!

Well, that was easy! But I still took a tour around the store to see where the items were on the shelves and make sure I had just what I needed. Then I checked out using my Balance Rewards card and coupons, and hit the road to get home and try out the products! I even got a $1 Register Reward for buying the toothbrush, and my Balance Rewards card saved me a bundle!

I’ve been using the products for about a week now, and I really love them. The Total Advanced Pro-Shield Mouthwash is alcohol-free and doesn’t make your eyes water in pain and clear your sinuses when you rinse with it – bonus!

And the toothbrush? YOU GUYS! I thought if you’d tried one toothbrush, you tried them all. I WAS WRONG! The Total Advanced 360 toothbrush is the bomb diggity toothbrush of the entire world. True story. I’ll never be able to go back to a “regular” toothbrush again. My teeth have never felt so clean! I think it must be the floss tip bristles that make such a difference…you gotta get one!

I'm no marketing genius, but I think they should call it "Toothbrush of Dreams"! — I’m no marketing genius, but I think they should call it “Toothbrush of Dreams”!

As I said, I’ve pledged to use these products for two weeks, which means I owe you a before-and-after Instagram post by June 20th! So make sure you are following me on Instagram so you can see how white my pearly whites turned out thanks to Colgate Total Advanced. I can already tell I am on my way to a much happier, healthier smile!

Want to connect with Colgate and find out more about how to use their products to get clean teeth? Check them out on Twitter @ColgateSmile and on their Facebook page!

Wanna see more fab photos of my shopping and brushing experience? Check out my Google + story for more!

June 10, 2013June 9, 2013

#doyourmakeup Tip: Why You Should Use Eye Makeup Primer

I do a lot of different things with my eye makeup, but one thing I always do every day is wear eye makeup primer. Two reasons: it keeps your shadow and liner on longer and it shows allows the true color of the product to come through without being affected by your skin tone. It’s a product I can’t live without! Recently I’ve been using this L’Oreal Paris Magic Decrease primer and I love it. Less than $10 at the drug store, and it’ll help you get the most bang for your buck out of your eye shadows. Don’t believe me? I’ve put together this two-minute video with a demonstration to show you what I mean! Check it out, and don’t forget to check me out under the hashtag #doyourmakeup on Instagram and Twitter. Hashtag your own daily makeup and join in!

Got makeup questions or tips? I’d love to hear them! Leave them in the comments!

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June 7, 2013June 6, 2013

Lands’ End Kids Swimsuits : Best.Suits.Ever!

My kids are only *slightly* adorable! Lands’ End provided me with these swimsuits for them facilitate my review. All opinions are mine (and 100% correct, of course.)

SWIM SEASON! Swim season has caused a bit of panic in me the last couple of years, because two summers ago the pool we went to decided to turn itself into a mini-waterpark and make my life a living hell. So after dealing with that for a couple of years, we decided to fork out the extra dough this year to go to a private pool. Yes, these days, apparently, you have to pay EXTRA to go to a pool that is not a “waterpark”. The decision to join the new pool was pretty last-minute, and therefore I had also slacked off on getting the kids their new suits for the season. WHOOPS! Thankfully, my friends at Lands’ End came to my rescue and let me pick out these adorable ones above to review and they got them to me quickly so I’d have them for last Monday when we took the kids to…wait for the irony…a waterpark! But, this one is A REAL waterpark. With lots of giant slides, a lazy river, etc. Not a formerly peaceful public swimming pool masquerading as a waterpark. This one I will only go to WITH my husband because there’s no way I could have all three kids there by myself. Our new pool is perfectly sized so I can relax with Jonah in the baby area and still see Sophie and Joshua swimming in the big pool. WIN.

But I digress. These suits! They are awesome. We’ll start with Sophie’s. Because she’s a girl, and let’s face it, hers is the most important! For Soph I chose this “Cape May Cutie” tankini ruffled top and ruffled bottom.

Why did I choose this suit? Honestly, the product description on Lands’ End’s website says it perfectly, but I’ll break it down: adorable, age-appropriate, MODEST style, and a UPF of 50 to protect her skin underneath it. It dries quickly, is comfy, and moves well. She ran all over that park in it and went down the big slides with no modesty problems whatsoever. And it’s a-stinking-dorable!!

(Once again, because she’s a girl, I also bought Sophie yet another suit. This one, because I am in love with the bright pink & orange colors and functional style. It has all the great qualities of the Cape May Cutie suit as well.)

Now, onto Joshua’s suit! This one was a tough decision for me but I couldn’t be more thrilled with it!

Joshua’s suit is the Boys’ ShakeDry Stripe Stretch Half-Elastic Board Shorts. I chose this particular suit for three reasons: 1) Orange is Joshua’s favorite color and I knew he would think the pattern was super-cool (he loves them). 2) They are “Shake-Dry”, which means they are water-repellent and dry really fast. This is important for Joshua because if you didn’t notice, the child has zero fat on his body, and he gets cold at the pool. So when he’s ready to get out, I try to warm him up fast! 3) The fit – I was pretty sure from reading the description that he elastic-back waist & drawstring would work with Joshua’s skinny frame and that they would also be long enough, as he is fairly tall. I was right! I couldn’t love them more and neither could he. Plus, they also have the UPF 50 protection from the sun!

Now for Jonah-Jo’s suit. Had to get something to protect my baby! His skin is the most sensitive of all my kiddos, so I went with a Short Sleeve Colorblock Rash Guard shirt and Colorblock Pieced Trunks for him.

In the baby pool at our new pool. He's not yet decided to go "all in". — In the baby pool at our new pool. He’s not yet decided to go “all in”.

This suit is just perfect for Jonah. He had not yet decided to become “one” with the pool, so I like having him covered up top instead of trying to slather him with sunscreen all over his front (once an hour). Plus, it keeps him a little bit warmer when his nutso parents take him to the waterpark in 65-degree weather because Daddy took the day off work and DANGIT we were going!! Ahem. Both pieces stretch and move really well, which is great, because he decided on Monday that he’d rather run all over the waterpark than get in the freezing cold water (a good call, in my opinion. Although that meant I had to chase him).

Run, Jonah, run! It’s the only way to keep warm!

We couldn’t be any more thrilled with our Lands’ End suits this year! (I love my SwimMates suit, too!) They really are the best, folks. Last year I had two for Sophie and she took swim lessons every. single. week. for a year and they held up beautifully. As a matter of fact, I just handed them both down to Emily’s niece for when she is older! Lands’ End for the win! You won’t find better swim suits for the whole family this year.

Thanks again, Lands’ End, for getting my kiddos ready for fun in the water this summer!