Need an awesome area rug? Look no further!

Ivy says:

I was lucky enough to get an awesome area rug to review over at Home Ec 101 Reviews. I say lucky enough, because this rug is fabulous! Go over to Home Ec 101 Reviews to see what I had to say about it. But even better, you can enter to win one of your own over at Shak In Style!

Also, I’ve been wanting to bring this up and this post seems like a good place to say it. If you like what I’m writing over here, you might also be interested in these other places I where I blog:

Shakhammer- Home improvement and DIY galore!

Shak in Style- Enough awesome home decor to choke a horse! (not that you would want to, or anything)

Love Shak, Baby- Where I do my mommy blogging. Fun for all, this is my second favorite place to write (second to Home Ec 101, natch!)

Animal Shak- Pets, pets, pets! Are you a cat person or a dog person? You can find plenty about both over here!

Shakyard- A novice gardener makes her way in the world of gardening and gardening blogs.

Notice a theme? It’s all part of the Shakadoo family of blogs. There are a few more Shak blogs, which you can see at any of the sites. Enjoy!

Home-Ec 101 Reviews: Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion

Ivy says:

I love using lotion, but all too often, I end up with lotion that makes my hands feel sticky, has a cloying scent, or both. I normally use Lubriderm Unscented, and it works okay. Nothing special.

We were sent a generous sample of Skin MD Natural Shielding Lotion to try. I was skeptical, because it came with a ton of literature about how fabulous it is. I don’t know why, but literature about how fabulous your product is always makes me skeptical.

I tried the lotion and found it had a very, very light scent and didn’t make my hands feel sticky. So far, so good. But what I noticed that was even more interesting was the fact that it made my hands appear less wrinkly. Ever since I was a teenager I have lamented my wrinkly looking hands. Something about this lotion makes your wrinkles less noticeable, and just for that, I’d buy it.

I noticed it said for face, hand, and body. So I tried it in place of my usual moisturizer. Now, this is during my usual breakout time of the month, and I was concerned that it would make my breakout worse. No need to have worried, I had one pimple, which is about the same as my usual breakout when using the Clinique moisturizer. As far as how well it worked, I’d say it was better in reducing the crow’s feet around my eyes than the Clinique, but Clinique moisturizer seems to work a bit better in controlling my oiliness. If one had dry skin, the Skin MD Natural might be better, however, with oily skin, I’d stick to what I generally use.

I have excessively dry legs and feet, and the Skin MD did such a good job I was able to skip a day when I had to drive to Indiana and my legs and feet didn’t get ashy on me like they normally would.

To sum it up: Skin MD Natural is a great product. A little goes a very long way, so a bottle would last a long time. It’s great for anyone on body and hands, but is better for people with dry skin as a facial moisturizer.

Heather says:

Being a fair skinned redhead, I’ve always had the aggravation of extremely sensitive skin. I was a little nervous about trying out Skin MD Shielding Lotion as I was worried I might get to spend the day blotchy. Thankfully, my concerns were groundless and I’m definitely a fan. The lotion is very light and leaves only a soft, not greasy feeling. I’ve also been pleased with it as a facial moisturizer and am happy to report it didn’t cause any breakouts. I do tend toward drier skin.

With a newborn in the house I am constantly changing diapers and washing my hands. I’ve noticed I do not have to reapply this lotion after each washing. Who has time for that, anyhow?

I passed some of the sample packets along to an acquaintance with eczema who also favorably reviewed the Shielding Lotion saying she would purchase it in the future if she found it for a reasonable price. A 4oz bottle is $25.00, but the directions aren’t kidding when they say apply small amount, a little goes a long way.

Finally, where can Skin MD Shielding Lotion be found? Their website has a store locator or you can ask your local pharmacist to order it for you*.

I’ve had to do this with sunblock for my ridiculously sensitive son, it’s not nearly as complicated as it sounds.

Want! Cute aprons to keep your clothes nice.

Ivy says:

Heather and I would like to have aprons to wear while cooking. I’m a total klutz in the kitchen, so I’m always spilling something on my clothing. Most of the aprons we’ve seen are too frou-frou (frilly, lacy, icky 1970s looking things) or too grill-cook (Kiss the cook, anyone? Yeah, not so much.) for us. Heather came across these today:

[photo credit: Domestic Darlings.com]

Needless to say, we want them. They have not just cute aprons, but adorable matching headbands as well. And I’m a huge fan of headbands. Go check them out for yourself! I’m totally going to buy an apron and matching headband as soon as I can scrounge up some cash for them.

Have you come across any cutie patootie aprons? We want to hear about it!

Mygrocerydeals.com

Several weeks ago a reader contacted us looking for a way to create fast and easy grocery lists. I was later contacted by Ed Hladkowicz VP of mygrocerydeals.com:

Our goal was to create an engine that eliminates the need for consumers to wade through the grocery flyers and circulars delivered to their doors via the weekly newspapers. We are building our business from the grassroots level and are continually adding new stores, products and nutritional information based on feedback from members. We are not perfect in having all the information that consumers want, but we are trying hard. We encourage members to ask their local grocery stores to contact us with their advertised specials so we can incorporate them into our database. We are also continually updating our nutritional information on listed products so members can check ingredient information before heading out to their favorite stores.

Ivy and I have been checking out the site.

Useful?

Yes, I love the absolutely love the nutrition library. I have friends whose children have life threatening food allergies. The library lets me check for potential allergens as I consider a recipe.

Intuitive?

The site layout is functional, with an easily accessible FAQ section.

Time saving?

Absolutely. My favorite part is where you can skim the sale flyers.  You can skim by store, skim by category, or skim by brand. This is AWESOME because you can determine quickly which store has the most of what you need on sale and you can hit the correct store. You can easily add things to your grocery list on the site, which then you can print out and take to the store with you.
Money saving?

Signing up for the site is free, which is awesome. Being able to shop the sales is one of the biggest ways I stock my pantry and save money, so yes, it’s absolutely money saving.  Add to that the ability to print out coupons and they have a letter (PDF) you can print to the retailer if they won’t accept the online coupons.

The Home-Ec 101 recommendation:

This is a great money and time saver. We highly recommend checking out MyGroceryDeals.com.