Products blog posts and news

Oral-B Pulsonic: A Toothbrush That'll Tickle Your Fancy

I take dental hygiene very seriously. I've never had a cavity, and I brush my teeth at least twice daily without fail, so my old-school power toothbrush has certainly seen better days. I tried out the new Oral-B Pulsonic toothbrush to see if it's an upgrade from my old spinbrush. Here's my first impression...

Tee-hee -- it tickles! Having never used a sonic toothbrush, I wasn't ready for 27,000 vibrations per minute. It took me a few seconds to overcome the tickling sensation, and then I realized I had no idea how I was supposed to move the toothbrush.

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Green Potion From ModelCo Evens Out Skin Discolorations

Never thought I'd want a patina on my face. Or the desire to look like Margaret Hamilton—aka the "I'll get you, my pretty—and your little dog, too!" witch. But then I tried out ModelCo Miracle Veil Skin Perfecting Fluid.

Chances are, you've tried a skin corrector or concealer in a non-skin-tone shade: green, yellow, lavender. And you've gone through dabbing it on (yellow on greyish areas, green on reddish areas, etc) like a paint-by-numbers set hoping that the end picture will look like something human. And heaven help if you don't blend, blend, blend the corrector out in feathery strokes...

ModelCo Miracle Veil is different. It comes in a 30ml tube—almost the size of a purse-sized hand cream. And the idea is to use it more generously as a primer vs. a spot treatment. It's a fluid, as the name says, so it glides on smoothly much the way a moisturizer would.

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Dr. Murad In Discount Stores: Sacrificing Brand For Sales Volume

Sephora, Nordstrom & Neiman Marcus were once on the opposite end of the beauty product market relative to discounters like Wal-Mart, Walgreen's, CVS, Harmon Face Values and Rite-Aid.

At Harmon Face Values (a northeast chain owned by Bed, Bath & Beyond) they sell premium skincar elines like Murad and MD Skincare. On the same shelf holding low cost Pond's and Suave. A little jarring to see at first, especially when Space NK Winter '08 catalog has MD Skincare right there on page 55.

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Best AHA Cream For Your Budget

Ever notice how there are some skincare products you just always come back to? I was scanning the skincare shelves in my bathroom at home (yes, shelves) and realized that no matter how old I get or what condition my skin is in, I always seem to have a jar of Alpha Hydrox 12% AHA Souffle on hand. Here's why...

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Visible Panty Line Killers

Check out this comprehensive review of visible panty line (VPL) solutions. Who can't relate to avoiding the dreaded 'sausage leg overspill'?

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Road Test: NeoStrata HQ Plus For Age Spots

If there's one thing I know from years of working in beauty, it's that there are magic numbers. It all started with 2 and 4—as in "in 2 weeks you'll see..." and "by 4 weeks, your skin will be..." Anything longer (or an odd number) and the magic was gone. This brings me to age spot removal. And NeoStrata HQ Plus. Here's my first impression...

The magic number for NeoStrata HQ Plus? 12 WEEKS. AHHHH!

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Hula Hoop Workout For Weight Loss

I decided to try out the Hoopnotic TravelHoop exercise program. The Hoopnotic program is basically a ramped up grown-up version of the hula hoop you knew as a child—only now things are serious as this hoop touts the ability to get you in shape and get you a few pounds lighter.

Here's what I knew going into Hoopnotic:

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Bra-llelujah Keeps Back Fat Hidden

I am wearing Spanx Bra-llelujah. After hearing the gleeful praises of Spanx devotees on this one, I had to try it. So here's my first impression...

Now, in truth, I've never really struggled with body fat--so know that going in. But I also know that if you put me in an ill-fitting bra with a t-shirt on over it, you're going to see bulges and pouches and who knows what else. And it won't be pretty.