Stuff Parents Need - Easing the chaos in the nest, one find at a time.

How I Got the Softest Skin I’ve Ever Had

December 2, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Disclosure: Sponsored by JERGENS® Skincare through their partnership with POPSUGAR Select. While I was compensated to write a post about Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer, all opinions are my own.

In mid-November I had the luxury of spending a weekend in Ft. Meyers, Florida. I left Tennessee temperatures that were falling fast (with lows in the upper ’30s) and spent 3 days basking in the warm glow of the Gulf Coast sun.

I was also reminded of the intense humidity of the area. Since it wasn’t too hot, it actually felt amazing, though. And my skin was in heaven! All that moisture in the air helped my skin stay nicely hydrated.

But since I can’t move myself down to Florida just for the sake of beautiful skin, I need some alternatives that will help me lock moisture in, and this is especially critical as we head toward winter (which for me, seems to be the most difficult time of year for my skin’s happiness).

Have you spotted Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer on the lotion aisle at your favorite store, yet? It comes in 3 scents (Monoi Oil, Green Tea Oil and Coconut Oil). I went for Monoi Oil for one key reason: I’d never heard of it! A quick Google search taught me that monoi oil is made by soaking Tahitian Gardenia petals in coconut oil to achieve a beautifully scented final product. Mission accomplished, Jergens! This stuff smells AMAZING!

Ok, so going by the name, you are probably realizing that this is a product to use your skin is still wet. Why is that? Well it turns out that the very best time to moisturize your skin is when it is still wet. So bring your Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer into the shower with you, and apply it to your skin after you turn off the water, but before you reach for the towel. By doing this, you are locking in hydration at the optimal time, which will yield optimal results!

So does applying lotion to wet skin take some adjustment time? Of course! But I’d challenge you to use the product for a week and see if you don’t notice a significant difference in how moisturized your skin feels all day long by the end of that 7 days. Based on my own experience, I think you’ll be very pleased with your results, and will feel motivated to keep reaching for Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer before you reach for your towel. And if you are worried that you have to stand in your shower for a few minutes to let the moisturizer soak in before toweling off, that hasn’t been my experience. The product absorbs very quickly, so after you apply it you can feel free to pat dry and move on to the next step in getting ready for your day or night. You won’t have to stand around in the bathroom waiting for your lotion to soak in like you used to before trying this great new product, which saves you time!

Try It!

Interested in giving Jergens Wet Skin Moisturizer a try? Right now you can save $2.00 off any one 10 fl. oz. Jergens® Wet Skin™ Moisturizer! Choose from Refreshing Coconut Oil, Calming Green Tea Oil and Nourishing Monoi Oil. This coupon is first come, first served so print yours ASAP!

($50 Gift Card Giveaway!) The Gifting Bunch for Easy Group Gifting

December 1, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 70 Comments

Special thanks to The Gifting Bunch for partnering with SPN for today’s post. As always, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Have you ever been put in charge of organizing a group gift? If so, then you know what a cumbersome chore it can be!

The Gifting Bunch is a new start-up designed to make groupgifting easy and fun, just as it should be. The website has special tools and tricks to help the organizer create a group gift, collect private donations, and even personal messages from those who contributed, all in one spot. Additionally, there are more than 500 e-gift cards that can be selected for the gift recipient, and those gift cards are to the types of places your recipient would enjoy, such as Target, Amazon, Starbucks, Visa, movie theaters, restaurants, etc.

In addition to being able to collect funds for a gift for an individual, you can also collect funds or multiple recipients (for example, if you are collecting funds for the teacher AND the teacher’s assistant at your child’s school, or if you are collecting funds for a gift for all the non-teaching staff at the school). I’ve also been part of group gifting before for baby showers and wedding showers, and this would work for that purpose, as well. Best of all, the recipient gets the gift of choice, and can choose to spend the funds collected at one or more of over 500 places. The gift cards can be used online or in-store.

Here’s a quick video that walks you through the process if you’d like to learn more. Each gift giver pays just a 2.9% processing fee on their donation. So if someone gave $10, they would pay $10.29, which is less than it would cost to mail in a check to someone; TOTALLY worth it! 🙂 This is such a great option for group gifting during the holidays or any time of year.

GIVEAWAY! One lucky Stuff Parents Need reader is going to win a $50 e-gift card to the store of your choice through The Gifting Bunch! And bonus: the first 5 people who sign up for an account with The Gifting Bunch will get a $5 e-gift card to either Target or Starbucks! You must use the sign up code listed in the giveaway below!

Gifting Bunch

Be sure to enter my other current giveaways, found on the right sidebar of the blog.

Honest Beauty Mascara: An Honest Assessment

December 1, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Referral links may be included. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always. Honest Beauty did not request or sponsor this review.

I have been searching for years for an eco-friendly mascara that issn’t worthless. I know that’s a harsh way to put it, but in my experience, every non toxic mascara I’ve ever tried has given me the end result of it looking like I didn’t put on mascara, and that’s not the look I’m going for.

I’ve been pleased with the products I have tried so far from Honest Beauty, so I included the Truly Lush Mascara and Primer in my most recent bundle order. Here’s what it looks like:

Friends, I love it! I think the primer makes a big difference with this particular product. You apply the primer first to your lashes. I think it plumps them up and gives the mascara more to cling to which helps your eyelashes look thicker and longer.

I would suggest using a eyelash curler before you apply your primer, as I tried it once without first curling them and thought they looked rather straight. Also be careful with the primer not to apply it too close to your lash line, not because of possible irritation, but because it might be hard to get your mascara to fully cover it so close to your eyelid (learn from my mistake!).

I thought the end result looked great and wore really well throughout the day. It gets passing marks from me. I can’t say it’s the best mascara I’ve ever tried, but given the fact that it’s a non toxic option, it’s a winner for me, and I will most definitely order it again and plan to make it my primary mascara choice. I’m so glad to have one more item that I use regularly be a healthier choice for my body and for the environment!

The retail price for this item is $22, but remember, you can sign up for a bundle and pick any 3 items for $50, total. That’s a much better deal. Need some more ideas on what to include in your bundle? Check out my Honest Beauty reviews page, which I’ll be updating as I try more products.

PINCHme! A Fun Way to Get Free Samples

November 30, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Thanks to PINCHme for providing fun samples. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always. Referral links may be included at no cost to you.

Don’t you just love when you get to try something new out for free? I always have the best time at Costco, for example, as I try sample after sample of yummy goodies (and I usually find at least one new product that I want to buy that way, too!).

What if you could get free samples delivered straight to your front door, AND you could choose which samples were right for you? That’s the idea behind PINCHme, a totally free service that sends out notifications each week about fun new freebies that are available. You can log into your account, choose what is right for you, and then wait for it to arrive on your doorstep. You don’t even pay shipping! You are simply asked to provide the brand with a little bit of feedback on your experience, and if you love it, share about it on social media. It’s easy, fun and yes, FREE!

Here are some examples of the types of goodies you could snag for yourself or your family members to try!

In my experience as a PINCHme user, you can typically get up to 3 freebies at a time, so this particular box is atypical. But if you choose freebies from their site on a regular basis, you’ll be in for quite a large number of treats throughout the year.

GIVEAWAY

And right now, PINCHme is hosting a $1,000 Holiday Shopping Spree (to a store of your choice!) and an Exclusive PINCHme Box (valued at $100). All you need to do is sign up for PINCHme (and why not? It’s free!). Here’s the full run down on prizes:
Grand Prize:
$1,000 Gift Card of Your Choice + Exclusive PINCHme Box (Worth $100)

5 Lucky Runner Ups:
Exclusive PINCHme Box (Worth $100) + PINCHme T-Shirt + Tote Bag

Rewards for Referring Friends:
Refer 5 Friends = Get a Free PINCHme Plus Membership
Refer 10 Friends = Get a Free Premium PINCHme Box (Worth $30)
Refer 20 Friends = Get a Free Exclusive PINCHme Box (Worth $100)

PINCHme is such a fun way to try out new products and to give retailers your opinions. And the awesome giveaway is just icing on the cake! What are you waiting for? Get your own PINCHme account today!

Curious World App: Great Books, Games and Videos All in One Place

November 30, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Special thanks to Curious World and One2One Media for partnering with me for today’s post. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

Can I make a confession? My kids play with tablets often, but I’d say 80 percent of their screen time is spent watching videos instead of playing with apps. Sure, we own some apps, but I’m not an avid consumer of them because, quite frankly, I’m overwhelmed by the selection and I’m weary of all those in-app purchases that seem to beg kids to click on them. I am unsure of what apps are best to buy, and so by and large, I just don’t buy any.

So I am really grateful for the app we downloaded earlier this week called Curious World, which works on iPhones or iPads (Android compatibility is on its way!) and is ideal for kids in the 3-7 range. There is a free version of the app, but if you are like me and don’t care for in-app purchase stuff, I’d recommend skipping over that and taking a closer look at their subscription options. You can pay a monthly fee of $9.99 or you can pay a yearly fee of $80.

Does that seem expensive for an app? Of course! But I want to emphasize that this isn’t just an app, but rather a subscription, and what you get in return is pretty darn incredible.

Curious World contains a very robust collection of books, videos and games (over 500 at this point, and growing) that are fun and that promote learning. Specifically, there are 8 areas of learning that the Curious World app focuses on, and even tracks!

While children are exploring the curated list of videos and activities, the app tracks the amount of time being spent online and how that breaks down by content type (books, videos or games) as well as how it breaks down by developmental area. So as a parent, you can see what is interesting your child and what you can continue to foster, as well as note areas that aren’t getting as much attention so you can see if you can help engage them more in that area.

If you have more than one child who would enjoy Curious World, you simply set up multiple profiles so that their interests can be independently tracked. Furthermore, the content that will be presented your child will be age appropriate, so your 3-year-old isn’t going to have the exact same offerings as your 7-year-old.

I noticed my youngest going for the videos first, which is not surprising given how she is used to spending her screen time, so I did devote some time to showing her some of the games and other activities so that she would feel more comfortable trying those out. I think it’s a great idea to spend time with your child when you first introduce him or her to the app to ensure an understanding of the great variety of options.

Get Offline

Perhaps one of the things I appreciate the most about this subscription service, though, are the offline activities that are suggested for parents and children to do together. I found this information on the Curious World website, which you can log into with the same username and password that you use for the app. The offline activities you complete with your child can be tracked by learning areas, as well, which I really love! There are times when my child asks to play with me and my brain turns into a pile of mush when I try to come up with something we can do in a fairly short period of time. I can turn to Curious World to help me come up with fun new ideas that are also educational. Yay!
curious world app 1

As a parent who is overwhelmed by apps, I find this one to be a winner. I would recommend signing up for one month (you can get a month FREE!) and seeing how much use you and your children get out of it. If it seems to be very popular, it might be worth springing for the year subscription to Curious World. There’s a lot to be said for knowing that there’s a safe place online where your kids can have fun and grow their minds without stumbling upon something questionable (I’m looking at you, YouTube…).

Some New Elf on the Shelf Ideas to Rock Your Holiday

November 29, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Thanks to Kohl’s for providing some fun new Elf on the Shelf products and other holiday fun stuff. We are very happy Kohl’s customers, and we only promote what we love!

Owen (our Elf on the Shelf) arrived for his third annual visit to the House of M the day before Thanksgiving (yes, I know most elves come the day after…we can never wait, though!). I always take his arrival as an opportunity to work in a little bit of new holiday decor, typically in the form of a new ride for Owen. This year it was a sparkly train!

In fact, Owen arrived with several new presents for us this year (he’s such a thoughtful elf!). All his goodies came from Kohl’s, because he’s also a savvy shopper. He brought a new holiday doormat, some wrapped gifts for the girls, and even a pet! Yes, the Elf on the Shelf now has an Elf Pet, and you are actually supposed to touch it! My girls were so thrilled.

Once the presents from Owen were unwrapped, the girls immediately wanted to put on their new awesome Elf on the Shelf pajamas he brought them! Kohl’s has a cool exclusive line with several different options for boys and girls (ahem…adult sizes are needed, Kohl’s!).

Owen has only been with us a few days, so he hasn’t had time to get into too much mischief, but here’s a sneak peek at some of the fun things he’ll be doing over the next few weeks, all while leaving us with awesome new gifts to help celebrate the season!

Owen knows the way to our hearts in the House of M, and it’s definitely through fun glassware with a straw. I love this fun Elf on the Shelf tumbler he brought with him; he’ll be surprising the girls with it sometime next week, and prompting us to have some hot cocoa.

Owen will also be bringing us this fun “The elf made me do it!” decor item sometime next week. It’s just perfect for a home filled with mischief-makers. I’m betting you have some of those in your house, too!

I’ll be sharing some more fun ways that your elf can move around your house and help deck your halls with holiday cheer next week, so stay tuned for that (and Owen wants to treat you to some fun Kohl’s stuff, so watch out for an AWESOME giveaway!).

Has your Elf on the Shelf arrived? And if so, what fun antics have already transpired? And if you don’t have an Elf, I want to highly encourage you to get one. The magic of Christmas is magnified with the present of a scout elf, I promise!

Honest Company Women’s Complete One a Day Multivitamin: An Honest Assessment

November 28, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Referral links may be included. I’m a very happy Honest Company customer and I love sharing my thoughts on the value of their products.

Friends are you taking multivitamins on the regular? If not, I’ve got the perfect thing for you to request that Santa leave in your stocking this year (or if you are reading this at a different time of year, the perfect gift for you to get for yourself): Honest Company Women’s Complete One a Day Multivitamin.

This product is designed to be ultra-absorbable. Did you know many multivitamins are really hard for your body to break down, which makes them sort of pointless? Not this one! Furthermore, this blend has been specifically formulated for the needs of women, with amino acids, superfoods, healthy probiotics (something most multivitamins lack!) & digestive enzymes.

And because this product is made by The Honest Company, it is free of GMOs, soy, gluten, yeast, wheat, artificial flavors, dyes, preservatives and all sorts of other questionable stuff. This is why I love this company. I trust that they are making high quality products that will boost my health, not compromise it.

Honest Company offers wellness bundles, which allow you to get any two items on their wellness list for $35.95. The retail price for these vitamins is $19.95, so if you get them in a bundle, you will save $3.95 on your purchase. Additionally, you are offered the opportunity to get up to 3 more items from the wellness category at 25% off when you order a bundle. This is a GREAT opportunity to add in more vitamins, because at 25% off, each bottle will cost you just $14.96. So you could get a 5 month supply at one time if you wanted, or you could make other purchases from their offerings. I would recommend getting at least one more item so that your order total comes to $50 or higher, since shipping is FREE at that point. 🙂 Why put money into shipping when you could put it into more Honest Company products, instead?

I love these vitamins and I would highly recommend them to others. I also love having a wellness bundle. And remember, it’s SO easy to change the date when your next order will ship (seriously, you can put it off for months at a time if you so wish…not a big deal AT ALL, and you can do it online). And if you have never ordered from The Honest Company, check out my post on the Honest Company free trials that you should take advantage of first and foremost. I’ve also got a long list of Honest Company product reviews if you’ like to learn more about which products I recommend, and which ones I don’t.

Beauty Box 5 November 2015 Review: Some Strange Items Included!

November 26, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Box provided by Beauty Box 5 but all opinions are my own, as always. Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you.

My November Beauty Box 5 arrived a few days ago, and it contained some really unusual items. Want to see?

So this particular box, at first glance, seemed to have more samples than full-size products. I think the soothing facial mask and possibly the DePuff eye pads are already full size. In both cases, I would never pay that amount for something that will get used up so quickly. But on the flip-side, this is part of what makes Beauty Box 5 so fun: I get to indulge in a few expensive products that I otherwise would never even try.

My favorite product in the group is probably the Vegan Lip & Cheek color. It goes on strong; I was surprised by the power of the color!

And yeah, I’ll admit it, though the moodchanging lip stick is something I would have bought when I was 13, It actually wears quite nicely (though I’m not convinced that you ever get more than just one shade out of it…unless I’m always in the same mood!).

So…not my favorite box. But the boxes of the last few months have been really outstanding, and I can objectively see where this is a good one, too (I just don’t get overly excited about stuff like face masks). Overall, I continue to love my Beauty Bo 5 subscription and I think it’s a must-have affordable monthly treat! If you subscribe for a year, each box is only $8.75, including shipping (that’s like paying for the lip stick in this month’s kit and getting everything else free!).

My Top Toy Pick for 2015: Dash & Dot

November 25, 2015 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Dash & Dot provided for review purposes. I fell in love with these robots all on my own, though.

Friends, today I’m SO excited to show you the toy that I’ve been dreaming about ever since I was a little kid. I want you to meet your kid’s first robot friends, Dash & Dot.

Dash & Dot are from Wonder Workshop, and they are programmable robots that your child can play with and learn coding with all at once. Dash & Dot work with the help of a few different (free) apps you can download from the Wonder Workshop website (they work on phones but I recommend using a tablet so you have more room to play). I’ll go over the apps in a bit more detail briefly, but for now I want to emphasize that Dash & Dot are ready to play pretty much right out of the box. They make adorable little sounds and offer a “hello” greeting when you turn them on, and I can tell you that this “sign of life” from the robots as soon as they came on had my 2 girls hooked and wanting to play. It also earned them instant cuddles. 🙂

Our robots did have to get plugged in immediately, not because they were out of energy, but rather because updates had been made to the program since they had been packaged. I took that as a very good sign, because updates mean improvements!

So to get started with either robot, the app I would choose first is Go. This app gives you a basic feel for some of the fun things each robot can do, like different fun sounds or color changes. I think it’s a great app for younger children and a great warm up app for the older ones.

Path is the app that my kids seem to want to play with constantly, though. In this app, you start to build some programming for your robot through a series of challenges. Dash is perhaps the most fun with this app because Dash is the robot that moves. The challenges seem to build on one another so that the learning continues in the midst of all the fun.

I think one of my favorite moments to witness using this app was when my oldest daughter had to build a program to make Dash take 3 right turns. Once she got it figured out and successfully ran the program, Dash concluded his path by shouting, “All right!” He celebrated her success, and he also made a joke. Darah instantly got it and fell into stitches on the floor. That’s just one example of the truly thoughtful design behind Dash & Dot.

We are still pretty new to Dash & Dot, so we haven’t yet spent much time looking at a third app called Blockly, but my husband checked it out and seems really pumped about it. This app seems geared for an older set (ages 8 and up) and gets even more into the details of programming. It sounds as though you can really start to get your robots to do some more sophisticated actions, which is really cool!

Another thing I’m really loving about Dash & Dot is that this is a toy that my children want to play with together. They don’t always want to play the same things since they are almost 3 years apart in age, but they both love these robots. I think Dash & Dot are actually best when played with in a group setting of some sort, be it with a sibling, a friend or a parent, because as you play more and more, you will get into some problem solving issues, and it’s great to have more than one mind working out a problem together!

The listed ideal age recommendation for Dash & Dot is 5 and up, and I think that’s accurate, unless you have a younger child with an older sibling like we do, and in that case, the younger child can certainly play, too! My little one was drawing paths and running simple programs for Dash on the very first night we had him!

You can purchase Dash and Dot as a combo set for $199.95, or you can order them separately (Dot is $49.99 and Dash is $149.99). Dash is the one that moves about, and I definitely saw the kids playing the most with that robot. But when I asked Darah which robot she liked the best, she said, “Dot!” and I when I asked why she said, “Well you know, Dot can’t move around mom, but that doesn’t stop her from being awesome. She can do really cool stuff!” And right she is. Still, I would highly recommend buying the pair because they are so very much fun together (they give kisses! True story!).

So there it is, friends. This is my very top toy recommendations for kids 5 and up this year. Dash & Dot rock my world. They going to teach me about coding, too! #neverstoplearning