I recently celebrated my 38th birthday. Yay me! Unfortunately, it seems that with each passing year, I make more noises when I squat, stand up, or climb out of bed in the morning. I’m like a human groan tube! Aren’t I too young for this??
Do you remember groan tubes?! I loved them! I just don’t love sounding like them!
Enter ASEA…In August 2020, I started taking ASEA. There were a lot of changes I noticed pretty quickly; better sleep, no more anxiety attacks, and increased energy to name a few. However, there were some things that took a while for me to notice, because they were more subtle.
Several months after taking ASEA, I noticed that I’m not groaning when I stand up or climb out of bed in the morning. I can be down on the ground with my kids longer and stand up without pain/noise. Yay!!
Best of all, I’m able to handle more physical exercise during the day without the whole body aches that use to take me a day or two to recover. Plus, if I start feeling achy, I can take an extra ounce or two of ASEA and most of the time, the aches disappear.
I no longer fear evenings after challenging my body by gardening, going on a 4 mile walk, and cooking 3 meals. I have the energy to do it all and my body is keeping up with me. Yay!
For now, I’m super excited to put my groaning behind me. I’m sure in the future it will come back. I’m no Benjamin Button. 😉 I’m not taking an anti aging potion, but I am helping my body communicate better 😊
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
I didn’t until about a month ago. Now I’m asking myself…why on Earth did I wait so long?! This thing is amazing! I can’t wait to show my dentist my extra clean teeth!!
What makes this toothbrush special? Why did I try it? I’ll cover that and more below 🙂
What is this toothbrush?
The Oral B Smart Clean 360 is an electric toothbrush. It uses a rotating head to clean teeth better than a manual brush. This version has a red light sensor that activates when you push too hard and a timer that vibrates every 30 seconds, so you can use the brush for 30 seconds on each quarter of your mouth.
Why did I pick this one?
Honestly…I chose this because Jeff did. Haha. I know, that’s very scientific, but hear me out.
Jeff did some online researching and first tried a Sonic brush. Neither of us cared for the high pitched noise that brush made. On top of the noise, Jeff didn’t like the feeling of the brush against his teeth.
After trying to use the brush for about two weeks, Jeff gave up and returned it for the Oral B brush. He’s been happy ever since.
See, I let Jeff be the guinea pig. 🙂 That’s par for the course in our relationship. Hehe.
First Impressions
The very first time I turned on the brush I couldn’t believe how strong the vibration was. I pressed it against my skin to see what the light looked like. It’s a bright red light. It should be easily visible if it goes off in your mouth. I’ve never pushed that hard while actually brushing though.
After testing the light, I stuck it in my mouth and promptly giggled like a toddler being tickled to death. I could barely even touch my teeth with it. All I managed to do was move it around in my mouth and every once in a while I would kind of barely touch a tooth.
Jeff told me to stick it out, because he had similar issues in the beginning too. Funny, but I didn’t notice him giggling like the tickle monster was attacking him! I guess I’m just special like that 😉
It took me about 1-2 weeks to fully adjust to the vibrating mouth issue. Once that resolved, I noticed how clean my teeth were compared to my manual brush.
A Month or Two Later
Over the past month or two I’ve been using the new brush regularly. Sadly (or maybe not sadly), I’m not giggling anymore. I’m able to fully touch the brush head to each tooth without issue.
My teeth seem cleaner than ever! Yay!
I’m really impressed with the battery life. I think I’ve only charged it twice since I’ve gotten it. Too bad the battery on my cell phone doesn’t last this long.
I’m less impressed with the fact that I drool like a teething baby while I use this brush. My family would tell you I drool a lot anyway, but seriously, the tooth paste and spit pour out of my mouth while I’m brushing with this! Luckily Jeff has seen me in many worse states and he still loves me. Haha.
Overall
This is a great buy! I picked it up on sale from Costco in a two pack for about $80. I haven’t needed to replace the brush heads yet, but it was easy enough to put on the first one, so I’m sure switching will be just as easy.
If you don’t have a Costco membership or want to purchase from Amazon you can use the link below. Using this link doesn’t increase your cost, but it does help support my site. Happy shopping!
I’ve seen a lot of changes in myself since starting ASEA in August 2020. One of the more surprising changes over the past few months has been in my vision. I’ve been wearing glasses since I was about 13 or 14 years old. I primarily have an astigmatism, but I also have a slight distance issue.
On top of the glasses for a prescription, I also have an eye condition, which causes cuts on my eyes in the mornings when I open my eyes. The pain from these cuts is in the top 5 worst pains I’ve ever experienced. So I will do anything to prevent these cuts.
These days I wear the Manta Slim Fit eye mask. Since wearing the mask, I haven’t had any issues. Yay!
My Prescription History
2014 was the last time I had glasses made. This was a few years after my son was born. That prescription held fairly steady until 2019, when I needed new glasses. At that time, my prescription had gotten a little worse.
In July 2019, I attempted to have Costco make glasses for me. That was a trip! I’m not easy to make glasses for. I have a narrow head, smaller face, and crooked/uneven ears. I usually wind up looking for petite or teen glasses, because adult glasses look like clown glasses.
I had Costco try to make the glasses twice, but they didn’t come out right and I never wore them. My prescription wasn’t much worse, so I dealt with it. I loved my previous glasses.
February 2021
Around December 2021 I remember mentioning to Jeff that I was seeing really well. He shook his head and said I was crazy 🤪 My prescription can’t improve.
In late January/early February, I started having eye issues. At first I just noticed my eyes hurting a lot. My right eye more than my left. Unsure what the issue was, I decided to try using ASEA as eye drops (3 drops per day). This helped my eyes feel better, but they were still bothering me.
Eventually, I realized the pain was only when I was wearing my glasses. It felt like my eyes were straining with my glasses on. I found myself taking my glasses off more than putting them on. So, I decided to make an eye doctor appointment.
Sadly, due to insurance changes, I needed to find a new optometrist. My new optometrist took the prescription off my 2014 glasses and compared it to his new prescription and told me the right eye had improved about a click and the left was a half click improvement.
Say what?! Yup! An improvement from my 2014 prescription. The one that was weaker than my 2019 prescription. He said he noticed the scaring from my eye condition, but no other conditions that would cause my prescription to improve randomly.
Today
Now I have new glasses. It took some time to adjust to my new prescription, but now I like the new glasses 🙂
The skeptic in me says maybe this is a coincidence, but I’m keeping an open mind. After all, I’ve seen so many other changes, it’s hard for me to discount this coincidence.
One thing I’m certain about is that I’m extremely grateful for these redox molecules and I’m looking forward to see what else the future holds with them.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
I’m taking a break from ASEA reviews, to talk about something near and dear to my…butt – I bet you thought I was going to say heart haha
UNDERWEAR 🙂
I’m no longer a perma-wedgie thong wearing teenager. Nope, nope, nope. I’m a closer to 40 year old Mom looking for daily down there cheap comfort to match my yoga pants and sweatshirts. Gone are the days where I would spend $10 on a single pair of underwear.
Cheap might be the primary goal, but materials are always a big concern for this natural Momma. I want underwear that is 100% or nearly 100% cotton. Organic would be a plus, but it probably isn’t in my price range right now.
That shouldn’t be hard, right? Wrong! The majority of the underwear I found was 60% or less cotton. When did underwear materials start reading like a recipe’s ingredients list?
With my decision made, I chose the size based on the Amazon sizing guide. I looked up my jean size and went with the suggested underwear size. Definitely be honest about your jean size, because these fit true to size. This isn’t like when you tell the DMV you weight 10 lbs less. Pick your actual size!
Packaging
When they came, my first impression wasn’t very good. They come in very plain packaging. I know that shouldn’t matter, but we instinctively judge with our eyes first. Clear plastic with a white cardboard top with a simple black Amazon logo isn’t very attractive. Good thing the underwear themselves are.
Even though the packaging was plain, it was easy to open. Score for Amazon! There’s nothing worse than battling with a package like it’s an alligator doing a death roll refusing to let go of it’s prize. Just one flap to peel up and I had instant access to my new BBFs (best bikini friends).
Fit and Feel
Again, not impressive at first. They’re on the thinner side, but they are super soft. I was worried they wouldn’t be comfortable or wouldn’t hold up in the wash.
Both fears were unfounded. I’ve washed these half a dozen times and they’ve held up like they did in the first wash. I doubt these will last the 20 years my VS pairs have, but they seem decent for their price.
My biggest surprise was when I put them on. Holy cow! Amazon managed to make super comfy non-wedgie producing underwear! That’s like the holy grail of underwear for me.
There are no marks on my skin, no cutoff circulation to various body parts (yes – that can happen when leg holes become tourniquets), and I don’t need to adjust these at all during the day or night. This alone makes them worth their money. 🙂
Despite being comfortable and fitting well, these aren’t seamless, so if you’re looking for seamless, choose a different pair. I think I saw some specifically marked seamless.
After a few tries…
After my first few times wearing these, they have become my go-to underwear. You know those pairs you grab first after you do the laundry. So with Jeff’s blessing, I bought two more sets. Oops – new obsession in the works.
Both sets are bikini’s, but I’ll probably try a few other cuts in the future (see – obsession starting). At $2 per pair, these are budget friendly (totally rationalizing future purchases here).
If you’re looking for new underwear, I suggest giving these a try. Use the link below and you’ll help support this page without paying anything extra. 🙂 Happy underwear wearing y’all!
Shortly after reading my first ASEA post, Jeff decided he would give ASEA a try. Jeff is very skeptical of all things I do. Rightfully so. When I brought home essential oils, I think he thought I was trying to kill him. He wasn’t too far off base as we quickly learned he has sensitivities to coconut and many essential oils. Poor Jeffy!
Even though he had some rough experiences with essential oils, he wanted to give ASEA a try after reading my and other people’s stories.
TASTE
With Jeff’s decision made, he geared up for his first cup of ASEA. He looked at it like a quarterback staring down the opposing team like they were about to attack him. In my head I was chanting, “Blue 52! Blue 52! Hut! Hut! Hike!” while he downed the 1 ounce shot glass as quickly as humanly possible.
Slightly cringing, he set down the glass and shook his head like a wet dog and instantly questioned his sanity (and mine).
My reaction was probably very similar to Jeff’s, but I like to imagine I was more like Cindy Crawford drinking Pepsi. Haha!
One thing was for certain…we both questioned why we were subjecting ourselves to something that tasted like salty chlorinated pool water.
ENERGY
Even though the taste was less than desirable, I was motivated to keep going. Throughout day 1 I noticed I had more energy than usual.
You should know that I can’t have caffeine. It impacts me greatly. I become extremely unfocused and over stimulated. So, energy boosting drinks have always been off limits.
However, this is NOT that type of energy! This is a constant energy that keeps me motivated and focused without the negative effects that caffeine causes me. Winner winner chicken 🍗 dinner!
Jeff doesn’t share my caffeine issues. He’s a caffeine drinker, but he’s also a napper. Ever since I met him he would nap most on Saturdays, Sundays, and other days he had off. Ally sometimes tucks him in with her stuffies. Isn’t he cute?!
Jeff Napping on a Saturday Afternoon
The first day he had ASEA he didn’t nap. In fact, he hasn’t napped since starting. He’s also been more productive completing his honey-do list around the house 🙂 Yay for energy!
SLEEP
I’m ordinarily a fairly good sleeper. Most nights I fall asleep pretty quickly, but wake a few times to rearrange myself.
The first night I took ASEA I fell asleep quickly and slept FANTASTIC! I felt like I slept deeper/longer and questioned if I even woke once all night. I was refreshed and ready to start the next day. So, I decided it must be a fluke, but the “fluke” continued.
These days even if I get less than an ideal amount of sleep, I’m often well rested enough that I’m not dragging/tired during the day. If I am dragging (usually due to things outside my control – i.e. middle of the night kid interruptions), I have been known to increase my amount of ASEA for the day and feel better.
Jeff has more issues with sleeping. He wasn’t just a midday napper, he was also a cat napper before his actual bedtime. He would fall asleep on the couch watching tv around 7/8 PM and eventually make it to bed around 10PM.
After Jeff’s first two doses of ASEA, he stayed awake until 10PM with no naps! 😮 His “fluke” has continued too. In fact, I jokingly told Ellen, the friend who introduced me to ASEA, that I need to take Jeff off ASEA, because he has too much energy and is going to bed later. I’ve lost my me time! Haha. It’s okay though, because now we have more us time. And with 2 kids, us time is nice!
OVERALL
Our first impressions were very similar, but the ways ASEA continues to impact and support each of us appears to be tailored to what each of our bodies needs. Keep watching for more ASEA posts to see how else ASEA has impacted our lives.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Meet my friend Rem (Remy). Remy recently celebrated his 1st birthday! Yay Remy! Isn’t he cute? He’s ALWAYS by my side.
One day in December I was working while Remy, Leo, and Ella were all outside playing.
December in Wisconsin is relatively cold to normal people. The average temperature was in the 30’s for a while. Nothing should have been living. We didn’t have any snow on the ground, so the dogs were enjoying the moderate temperatures. Yes, 30 is moderate in Wisconsin 🙂
When they all came in, Remy was laying by my side while I was working. He kept rubbing his face on everything in the room. I didn’t think too much of it, because Remy is a rubber. LOL. He rubs against things like walls and beds often.
I eventually finished a phone call I was on and took a good look at him…
Oh no! Remy! My baby! Both his eyes were swollen, although the left eye was much worse. What exactly happened to him? I’ll never know.
I’ve been on a natural path for about 8 years. Prior to that, I would have given him some Benadryl and let him sleep it off. If it didn’t resolve within a few hours, I would have contacted the vet for their opinion.
My natural path had brought me to ASEA over the summer (see my first post here). My new first instinct was to give him a few ounces of ASEA Redox Molecules. I knew he would drink it, because his breeder, Ellen, had introduced him (and me) to it when he was little. He also tried drinking it when I was trying to give it to Bailey. So, I gave him 2 ounces and rubbed some Renu 28 around his face too.
I messaged Ellen and sent her this picture. She immediately suggested doing some eye drops with the ASEA. 15 minutes after the eye drops and a few more rubs of Renu 28…
I’m not a great photographer 🙁 and he’s wiggly. But, I hope you can see all the redness and some puffiness went away. I was pretty impressed.
Later that same evening after a few more drops and Renu 28 applications…
Almost back to normal!! No drugs needed!
I continued doing drops a few more times and by the next day…
Isn’t he beautiful? He was 100% normal the next day.
ASEA and Renu28 continue to amaze me. Keep an eye out for more ASEA posts. There will be more 🙂 I’ve been saving these for a few months.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
Oh Roomba oh Roomba, how do I love thee? Let me share the ways…
For those of you who haven’t read my review of the Dyson/Shark vacuum cleaners, let me tell you a little about my house.
We live in a ranch. It has a basement, so we have some stairs. There’s a baby/child gate at the top of the stairs to keep the dogs from going down there.
We have a vacuum solely for the basement. It’s an old Dyson in case you’re curious.
We have 2 shedding dogs, 1 non-shedding dog, 2 people with long hair, and 2 people with short hair in our house. In other words, this is a HAIRY HOUSEHOLD!
Our house is carpet in all the living areas, wood floor in the kitchen and entryways, and tile in the bathrooms. Lots of transitions between rooms.
Now that we’ve covered the basics, lets get to the good stuff.
FAVORITE FEATURE My favorite feature of this Roomba is the corresponding iOS App. The App allows me to name the Roomba (LOVE THIS!). In case you’re curious, our Roomba’s name is George.
George maps my house and displays the map on the App. Then I can go in and name rooms (not quite as cool as naming George, but still fun), add zones to clean or keep out of, schedule cleaning jobs, see cleaning history, and so much more!
While the App is fun, I’m sure you’re asking…but Jamie, how well does he clean? We’ve had George for a little over a year. So I’m been able to judge his performance pretty well.
PERFORMANCE George cleans everything really well, but he does the absolute best on our wood floors. We still need to use our regular vacuum about once a week in the high traffic carpeted areas, but otherwise we don’t really need to vacuum anywhere else. He even gets the impossible to get places, like under beds! LOVE THIS!
I have some mats that George easily cleans, but I have others that I need to pickup prior to letting George clean. He tries really hard to clean everywhere, he even tries to go under my couches! A for effort George!
MAINTENANCE/ONGOING COST I mentioned earlier that we’re a hairy household. Because of this we need to clean and replace George’s rollers more often than other people I know. I replace the rollers about once a month – less if I use him less. I clean the rollers after every room. The dog/human hair gets wrapped around the rollers and edges of the rollers. It’s become a habit now and less time consuming than pulling out the Shark, so I’m good with it. If I get lazy, George will stop cleaning and tell me his rollers need to be cleaned. Sometimes I swear it’s like I have another child…at least he doesn’t whine!
Bottom of George
Note the hair on the right roller end
Anyhow, the roller replacement doesn’t come cheap. If I order directly from the Roomba website (https://store.irobot.com/default/parts-and-accessories/roomba-accessories/i-series/) I pay $35 per roller set. I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to pay $35/month to keep George healthy. So, I turned to Amazon. I buy a pack that includes 2 roller sets, some filters, and roller wheels for $22. This pack is okay, but the rollers are louder than the OEM ones. I’ve linked the set I use at the bottom of this review.
QUIRKY BEHAVIOR Lately George has had a few…episodes. Maybe he’s getting senile in his old age? He sometimes seems to get confused about what to do when he’s done with a job. I’ll tell him to clean the living room and when he’s done, sometimes I’ll find him in my bedroom.
This seems to happen after he was stuck in a room and I needed to rescue him. He tends to lock himself in my master closet if I tell him to clean in there. So, I think it’s some sort of programming error after being rescued. It doesn’t cause any issues for us, so I just send him home, shake my head and move on with life. If I wasn’t home, I wouldn’t even know about George’s little escapades, because he eventually returns home on his own.
PETS We were originally worried about getting George, because we had 2 senior dogs at the time. As it turned out, those two dogs didn’t care about George at all. They watched him the first time he ran, then just ignored him. Our fears were completely unfounded.
A few months after George came into our lives, we decided to get 2 puppies. The puppies were slightly more interested in George, but they wound up mostly ignoring him too. They’re almost a year old and completely ignore him now. They even let George run right into them.
WOULD I BUY ANOTHER? Overall, George is definitely worth owning. He keeps the house clean so I’m not worried if someone unexpectedly shows up. Prior to having him, we had a lot of issues with dog hair everywhere. We just couldn’t keep up with the vacuuming necessary for all the people/pets.
If you use the links below, you’re helping support my page, but you won’t be paying any extra than going to Amazon on your own.
Fair warning…this is probably going to be long and I’m really nervous putting this much information about myself out here, but if it helps someone, then I want to do it ❤ Let’s talk about ASEA Redox Molecules and emotions!
I’ve had anxiety for a long time. In the 1990’s I had my first big anxiety attack. Let’s jump in my time machine and head back to the 90’s. Do you have your Delorean and flux capacitor ready? No? Darn, let’s pretend we do. 🙂
When I was around 13, my family went to Disney World. I remember standing in line and suddenly I had these racing thoughts. I was worried I couldn’t escape the park. I was hot, sweaty, and just needed to escape, but I couldn’t. The sun was bearing down on me, people were all standing much too close, and there was no escape. I still remember that feeling of helplessness and everything closing in on me.
My family said my eyes started to roll to the back of my head. I remember the blackness and stars entering my peripheral vision. I started to pass out. My family all thought it was dehydration. I’m sure dehydration played a role, but in retrospect, I’m fairly certain that was my first real big anxiety attack. As I grew up, I would often have attacks in crowds or when I felt like I didn’t have an exit.
That was my embarrassing first anxiety experience. It wasn’t my last, but lets return to more recent events…
I was officially diagnosed with anxiety in my 20’s. I decided not to medicate. I was a stubborn/invincible 20 year old and certain that knowledge is power and I can beat anything. **Jamie shakes her head at her 20 year old self**
I researched anxiety/depression and over the years, I found diet, essential oils, meditation, and other calming techniques were able to reduce the symptoms and attacks. I never got close to passing out again. Yay!! People like it when you don’t pass out on them 🙂
With my anxiety managed, I thought I was healthy. I thought 1 major anxiety attack a month was under control. I mean 1 attack per month is a lot better than 3! Right? Right!
Anyhow, I knew a friend of mine was using a product called ASEA, but I wasn’t ready to take that jump yet. She had been mentioning many of the physical benefits and I thought most of my issues were more ‘mental’. Plus, I thought I was mostly fine and the cost outweighed the benefit.
Then, August 2020 happened…
Our 11.5 year old golden retriever, Bailey (Bai), became suddenly ill. I would have done anything to heal him. Sadly, it was his heart and probably a tumor. We started him on ASEA redox cell signaling supplement, but it was too late. We decided to put him down.
This happened within 7 days. It was very fast. When everything was said and done, I had 3 bottles of ASEA left and a serious hole in my heart. So, I decided to try ASEA myself. After all, I wasn’t going to let them go to waste!
I remember my first dose of ASEA. I didn’t expect it to do much. I’m really a skeptic at heart. Anyhow, that first dose was after we put Bai down. My heart had been hurting for a few days. It was the kind of pain you feel when you’ve lost your best friend and the world isn’t as happy as it once was. Everything is a little darker.
After the first 2 oz cup, the pain in my chest lifted. I was still sad, but the pain in my heart was gone. This was my first ASEA win. It was a small enough win that of course I figured it was all in my head. What good/anxious skeptic wouldn’t? But, I kept taking it. I still had 3 bottles. 🙂
Over the next few weeks, I was taking 4 oz per day and I noticed several things emotionally. 1st and foremost, my anxiety started to improve. I wasn’t worrying about what I said in a conversation 3 months ago. I wasn’t worrying about my family dying while I wasn’t with them. I was able to breathe. Not physically – I mean I was obviously physically breathing – but emotionally I could breathe. I felt freer/lighter.
Still this must be a coincidence, right?
2-3 months after starting ASEA, my major attacks have stopped. I haven’t had one since. My thoughts have cleared. I don’t have racing thoughts. My worries are “normal” and controlled. I don’t think about the conversation I had 3 months ago where I put my foot in my mouth. I move on. I keep moving forward (❤Disney – Meet the Robinsons).
Most of this blog post discusses my anxiety. My depression was always minor and I often referred to it (in my head) as anxiety’s evil friend. The two went hand in hand. As my anxiety improved, my depression disappeared.
6 months taking ASEA and I’m more balanced than I was when I started. This alone was enough to keep me on ASEA, but this is only a small part of my experience. I’ll be doing a few more posts with my physical benefits and my dog Remy’s story!
Please note, I’m not trying to sell you ASEA. I am a distributor of sorts and if this sounds like something you want to try, I’m here to help answer questions, but that isn’t my goal. If reading is more your thing, you can find more information here: https://aseaglobal.com/products/asearedoxsupplement/
Anxiety/depression aren’t talked about enough. If you don’t have them, you probably won’t understand how debilitating they can be or how much they affect your loved ones, but anxiety isn’t rare.
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
I can hear what you’re thinking…Tooth POWDER? Has Jamie lost it this time?What on earth is tooth powder?? How does it compare tooth paste? Why is this product called DIRT? Should I clean my teeth with dirt? Let’s explore The DIRT Tooth Powder!
Before I get into the tooth powder, I want to tell you what caused me to go looking for a new toothpaste. See, I’ve been on a path to replace toxic items in our home with natural alternatives. So, when my teeth/gums became really really sensitive and I started noticing holes developing in some of my molars, I decided it was time to look for something that could help repair some of the damage I’ve done. After all, these are the only teeth I’ll have until I’m no longer physically on this planet and I want to take good care of them! Alrighty, let’s talk tooth powder…
What is tooth powder?? Above is an open container so you can see what it looks like. Tooth Powder is a toothpaste alternative. It kind of has the consistency of baking powder or sifted flour and doesn’t foam when brushing.
Why do they call it DIRT? I don’t know the owners of the company and I didn’t reach out to them for comment, but I’m guessing it’s mostly because of how it looks. The SAND probably didn’t have the same appeal from a marketing perspective. Regardless, lets be glad it doesn’t taste like dirt! At least, I don’t think so, but I’ve never really eaten dirt. Maybe I would if it was flavored?
This DIRT comes in 3 flavors: Cinna mint, Super mint, and Sweet Spice. I only tried the Super Mint, which was a nice refreshing minty flavor. Have you ever had toothpaste that burns? Don’t worry, this didn’t feel anywhere near that minty.
But really Jamie, why did you want to try something called The DIRT?? Are you sure you’re sane? Yeah, my husband asked the same questions, but I liked almost all the ingredients.
I was having a really hard time finding a natural toothpaste that had ingredients I liked and good ratings. When I came across this, I was fairly impressed with the ingredients. So, I decided to give it a try. Bentonite Clay and baking soda are suppose to help clean and brighten teeth naturally, green tea is suppose to help reduce inflammation, and Stevia makes it a little sweeter, but this is far from being too sweet.
Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of studies to prove these ingredients work for tooth care. This is probably the main reason it doesn’t have an American Dental Association seal of approval. So if you’re looking for something that has been studied and proven effective, then this probably isn’t the right product for you. Using this product requires a bit of faith without that seal.
So, how was my leap of faith? I used this for just over a year. During that time, I moved, COVID happened, and I stopped seeing a dentist regularly. Through all that turmoil, this was pretty good! It really helped with the gum sensitivity I was having prior to using this. My dentist was fairly impressed with my teeth considering how long it had been since I last had a cleaning.
Ultimately, there were a few reasons I stopped using this: 1. I was tired of having to be careful with it around my sink. You see, I’m a little clutzy at times. Especially when I’m waking up in the morning. This clutziness means I often drop things. In this case, brown powder went flying all over my bathroom on more than one occasion. Add two puppies who act like they’ve just been given the dog equivalent to catnip and it’s a recipe for disaster. Not only that, but when a tub costs about $15, dropping one of these babies is pretty expensive! 2. Consistency from batch to batch. I put in two different orders at two different times. The first order had a smooth consistency. The second order had a gritty/grainy texture. I wasn’t a fan of the differences between batches. It made me concerned about processing. 3. I missed the foaming paste.
Despite my reasons for moving onto Boka Ela Mint Toothpaste, this was a very good tooth cleaner. Consider giving it a try!
Have you read those kids books “Who Would Win?” I have an 8 year old and I read a lot of these with him. They feature two powerhouse animals and breakdown which animal would beat the other in a match. I feel like this is kind of like that. Two powerhouse vacuums…which is better?
I’ll break down which I like for what in a little bit, but first you need to know a few things about my home, because how your home is set-up and how many people/pets are in your home absolutely makes a difference.
We live in a ranch. It has a basement, so we have some stairs, but they aren’t used everyday.
We have a vacuum solely for the basement. It’s an old Dyson in case you’re curious. We won’t be moving the animal Dyson down there.
Prior to having the Dysons, we were going through 1 vacuum per year.
We have 2 shedding dogs, 1 non-shedding dog, 2 people with long hair, and 2 people with short hair in our house. In other words, this is a HAIRY HOUSEHOLD!
Our house is carpet in all the living areas, wood floor in the kitchen, tile in the bathrooms. Lots of transitions between rooms.
The Shark Performance Lift-Away (Left)
Age: 1 month
Cost: $180
Weight: 13 lbs
The Dyson Animal Ball Upright (Right)
Age: about 6 years
Cost: $350
Weight: 17 lbs
Maneuverability – Shark
Both vacuums pivot really well, but this is one of the places where the Dyson’s weight is a detriment. The dyson is harder to swivel and move. It can turn on a dime if you’re strong enough to move it, but I’m no Popeye!
On the other hand, the Shark is self-propelled and requires hardly any strength to guide it around furniture. It too turns on a dime and does so effortlessly. Definite winner here!
Stairs – Shark
We have about 15 stairs. This means the hoses are not long enough to cover the full height of the stairs. So, we’re carrying a vacuum on the stairs no matter which vacuum we use.
The wand on the Dyson is longer. So, if you have fewer stairs, you might be able to do them without needing to carry the vacuum with you. Or without the fear of the vacuum falling on you.
The weight of the Dyson makes our stairs an acrobatic feat and often makes me worried I’m going to slip and fall or the Dyson is going to come crashing down on me, but the Shark is able to lift off it’s base and you can carry it without the fear of the base crashing down on you. Have I mentioned that the Dyson has fallen on me more than once while doing the stairs? That sucker hurts!!
Hose – Dyson
I need to clarify that I’m not talking about the hose itself, but about the whole hose apparatus. Meaning the wand, hose, and accessories.
The Dyson has a really long hose, wand, and several accessories. It’s great for extending and reaching into longer crevices. Or just reaching the ground while standing.
The Shark is great, because it lifts off the base and can go anywhere, which is probably why the wand is shorter, but when you’re doing baseboards or trying to get under tables, you’re constantly hunched over with the short wand. In this case, longer is better!
Weight – Shark
I’ve mentioned several times already, so it shouldn’t be a surprise Shark wins in the weight category. Hands down.
I have bad shoulders/arms and I need something lighter to carry. The Shark is great!
Suction – Both
My husband swears the shark picks up more, but I don’t think so. I think they’re pretty even. Being in a house instead of a controlled test environment, there isn’t a way to accurately judge this. The more times I vacuum the same room, the more debris I will get. It doesn’t matter which vacuum I use. There’s too many people/animals in this house to get everything out of the carpet.
Switching Surfaces – Both
Both vacuums are good at going from carpet to wood, carpet to tile, or vice versa. They both have buttons to hit when you switch and it makes the transition pretty seamless.
Other – Shark
The Shark has a light. At first this was one of those features that I didn’t think would be useful, but it’s been really nice. Our house tends to have a lot of shadows and the light is helpful when going into the darker areas. It isn’t something that I would seek when buying a vacuum, but it’s an extra nice to have perk.
Overall Winner – Shark
At almost $200 cheaper, the Shark was the definite winner for us. The maneuverability and weight was what really sold me on the Shark. I always felt that the Dyson and I were having a competition of who could leverage their weight better and it always won. It seriously fell on top of me on the stairs more times than I’d like to admit. I never need to worry about the Shark landing on me, since the base is completely detachable. I will miss the wand length of the Dyson, but I’ll look for some accessories and see what’s out there to make up for the Shark’s short wand stature.
Do you have a favorite vacuum? Leave a comment, let me know which one you like!
I had to get a new hair dryer, because my daughter is old enough to have her own. Boo whooo!! 😢 They grow up so fast!
Now, admittedly I didn’t do a lot of research before buying this one. I’ve had great luck with CONAIR in the past, so I walked into Target, looked at which CONAIR models they had and went “eenie, meenie, minie, moe!” (from here on out, I’ll be calling this hair dryer Moe). It’s the fastest significant purchase I’ve made in a while.
First, I want to tell you about how pretty Moe is. Let’s face it, she is a beauty! All white with some some rose gold accents gives her a classic yet sophisticated look.
Second, Moe is nice and light. I have weak hands due to carpal tunnel and some other arm issues, so I need something light that I won’t accidentally drop on my head. Moe is a definite winner in this category!
Third, she has good/solid options for heat and air flow at a reasonable volume. There are 3 buttons. One to blow cold air, one to select a heat setting (Hot, Warm, or Cool), and a final button to select High or Low air flow. Lots of options! I typically use Warm or Cold air on Low flow. Keep that in mind with the rest of my review.
While I like all the options for heat and air speed, I’m not thrilled with the location/type of these buttons. The top blue snowflake button is right where I normally hold my dryer. I’m sure I’ll get use to holding it a little lower, but I haven’t yet. My last hair dryer has this same button, but it must be a little lower, because I don’t have issues holding it.
The other two buttons are in an okay position, BUT (and this is a big BUT for me) they are push buttons. My last hair dryer had slide buttons. So, I would need to move them up and down in order for them to work. These buttons just need to be pushed in, which is easily done accidentally while drying your hair. Sorry Moe, but you’re not getting any points for PITA (pain in the A$$) buttons!
I’ve been using Moe for about a month now. I have thinner wavy hair that frizzes easily. I use the concentrator (that’s the plastic cone add-on) to help reduce the frizz, but it’s no better than my last hair dryer. If I want really straight hair, I need to whip out my Revlon one step or my ancient Chi flat iron. So, I give Moe a passing grade on this and hair drying speed, but she isn’t any better/worse than I’ve had in the past.
Another draw is the cord length. I really wish they would give us longer electrical cords for hair dryers. When I was younger I started using an extension cord specifically for my hair dryer. To this day, I will travel with an extension cord to make up for the terrible lack of cord length on these machines.
Overall, Moe is extremely similar to my last CONAIR hair dryer. I’m deducting a point for the type of button. While I’m sure I’ll get use to them, I liked the slide buttons more, because there was very little risk to accidentally changing the heat or speed. If this sounds like a good fit, then give it a try! You can use my link below to see this more about this dryer on Amazon.
Do you have this dryer? If not, do you have one you LOVE? Leave me a comment! I’d like to hear from you!
I’ve been using this deodorant for several months. I’ve gone through two tubes of it. I wanted to make sure the first one wasn’t defective…it wasn’t. Then I was too cheap/stubborn to throw it away.
So, what caused me to wonder if the first tube was defective? It feels like I’m wiping my armpits with sandpaper! Are you sitting there thinking I’m just sensitive? Maybe, but I’ve never had this issue before with any other deodorants. Plus, when you look at it, you can see it’s a grainy texture. This grainy texture also makes it very messy. When you’re putting it on, small bits will come off and fall on the floor or counter or whatever surface is closest.
If you can get past the texture, it works okay. If you’re highly active or someone who smells a bit more than others, then I wouldn’t suggest this. Have you ever considered how stinky you are? I consider myself averagely stinky, but I can’t get through an entire workout without being noticeably stinky wearing this deodorant. Aside from workouts, it’ll usually last me all day, but not all night. If I want to be smell free when I wake up, I need to reapply at night before bed.
I feel like it’s important to note that this isn’t an antiperspirant, so if you’re afraid of sweaty armpits, this isn’t the right product. Keep searching.
Overall, this product is okay. It depends on your needs and how sensitive your pits are. I’m going to try Native next, so look for a review on that in a few months!
