review - Stuff Parents Need

Honest Company Bottom Wash Review: An Honest Assessment

June 29, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 7 Comments

Affiliate links included. My opinions are my own.

Over the past few weeks I have been trying out, here and there, a new product in the the Honest Company line: Honest Soothing Bottom Wash.

This product is meant to be a supplementary cleaning/refreshing aid during diaper changes. You can use it for any and every diaper change if you wish, but the impression that I get is that it is particularly recommended for the gross diaper changes. No need to elaborate on that point.

And so, I’ve done most of my testing on those exact type of diaper changes. And my thoughts on the product?

Meh.

It smells nice, and I suppose in the midst of a gross diaper change that has some sort of worth. But I didn’t think that it made gross diaper changes significantly easier/faster to clean up after. Honestly, if I’m going to add a step to a diaper change, it needs to really be worth it, and I failed to see how this was the case.

Now I will say that Layah seemed to think it was fun. It made her squeal and squirm, which is cute…unless you are in the middle of a gross diaper change, and then squirming is TERRIBLE.

Why Try It?

If you don’t feel like your wipes are getting the job done sufficiently, then this might be worth a try. But my honest opinion is that this is a product to skip. It retails for $9.95, so if you are going to try it, get it as part of your essentials bundle because the per item price for a bundle is $7.20.

New to Honest Company?

Despite my lackluster review of this particular product, there are MANY products that I have tried and loved (and yes, a handful of others that failed to impress me). Check out my growing list of Honest Company reviews, and also be sure to learn how to get Honest Company free trials so you can maximize how many things you can try for free before committing to a purchase!

How I Like My Tea: Cold, Sweet and Calorie-Free! (Tutorial and Giveaway!)

June 28, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 175 Comments

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Southern Breeze Sweet Tea. Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you.

Let me blow your minds and bless your little hearts, friends. If you love sweet tea, then I’m about to turn your world upside-down. If you don’t love sweet tea, you just haven’t had it the right way, sweeties. Trust.

I have been making pitchers of Southern Breeze sweet tea every few days for the past 2 weeks. I’m from the South (shout out, Alabama!) but my husband grew up in Washington state. He actually said, “ay” at the end of sentences occasionally when I first met him (evidently this is a Canadian thing. I had no idea of such across-the-border shenanigans when I was 18). He did not grow up drinking sweet tea (bless his heart, indeed) and as for me, I did not grow up with it in my own home, but always enjoyed having it when I visited family and friends or when we went out to eat. And as an adult, I just couldn’t really get over how much sugar is needed to make sweet tea taste right, so I chose to only let it be an occasional indulgence, and not a regular in my fridge.

But Southern Breeze has changed all of that! Check out my quick video that tells you what is so special about Southern Breeze, and how you can have cold, sweet tea in just a handful of minutes!

I just can’t get over how awesome it is that the (fabulous calorie-free Splenda) sweetener is already inside of the family-size tea bags. You get to skip an entire step in the tea making process!

I actually made another pitcher of this about 30 minutes ago, and rolled my hair while I waited for the water to get hot enough in the kettle. My hair hadn’t even had time to set before the tea was ice cold and ready to go! You can get your sweet tea fix faster than your big hair fix, and the zero calorie business means you can have just as much as your little heart desires! 😉 Even Tim is converted…he drinks it as much as I do!

So how do you get your hands on this AMAZING new product? It is currently being offered at Ingles, Wegman’s and Harris Teeter. If you are in the same boat as me, though, and don’t have any of those stores in your town, fear not! You can order it on Amazon!

This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Southern Breeze Sweet Tea.

A Satisfying Drink Parents and Kids Can Agree On: Mott’s for Tots

June 25, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 2 Comments

Complimentary products and compensation were received as part of this partnership with Mott’s and TapInfluence. All thoughts and opinions are my own, as always.

I’m not trying to throw my parents under the bus, here, but I grew up drinking sweet drinks (like soda and sugary drink mixes) pretty much constantly. Milk was for cereal. Water was for the plants. Sugary drinks were for humans. My dentist tells me that my teeth are showing all the damage that was incurred while I was younger now, as I get cavities on the regular despite having improved my eating and drinking habits drastically. Such a bummer.

So I have been quite intentional about making sure that my kids have water and milk as their standard beverages of choice. Anything else is a rare treat. This drives my mother INSANE, as she thinks I’m depriving my kids by not letting them have a tall glass of fruit juice every day. She used to sneak apple juice to Darah when she was a toddler when I left the room. True story!

Revisiting the Fruit Juice Matter

But I haven’t been as strict on this issue since a while back when I first discovered Mott’s for Tots. This is a brand I am quite loyal to when it comes to picking up fruit juice, because it has 40% less sugar than 100% apple juice*, and it contains essential vitamins A, C and E.

I have enjoyed packing Mott’s for Tots juice boxes in Darah’s lunch this summer when she heads to her twice weekly program. She loves them and thinks they are a really fun treat.

I also let the girls have a small glass each of Mott’s for Tots juice during afternoon snack time. They make quick work of it!

Basically, the girls love to get to have juice at some point in the day, and I feel comfortable giving them an option that has a more reasonable amount of sugar for their small and growing bodies. I’m not alone in choosing Mott’s for Tots as it is also the preferred juice of pediatricians over regular juice.

What’s your stance on fruit juice for your kids? Did you know about Mott’s for Tots?

*Mott’s Fruit Punch Rush and Wild Grape Surge have 15g sugar and the market average of 100% fruit juices and blends have 25g sugar.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Motts for Tots via Burst Media. The opinions and text are all mine.

Take Your Awesome Pillow With You: Comfort Revolution Hydraluxe Cool Case Review

June 25, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Affiliate links may be included at no cost to you. As always, all opinions are my own.

Last January I wrote a post about the best pillow I have ever used. It’s called the Hydraluxe Cooling Bed Pillow, and if you aren’t familiar with it, go ahead and read my review. This pillow is SO awesome and keeps me SO comfortable at night, that we have been purchasing them as we are able, and now have 4 in our home.

We have replaced the majority of the bed pillows we own with this one model. Because it is JUST THAT AWESOME. So when Comfort Revolution reached out to me to ask if I would review a Hydraluxe Cool Case, which is basically a pillowcase with the cooling gel built in, I told them that I didn’t think I could help them since almost all of our pillows already have the cooling gel in them.

But then I was encouraged to think about one of the huge benefits of the pillowcase concept: portability! If you have a cooling gel pillowcase, you can take it with you any time you travel and enjoy that amazing, cooling sensation without having to pack your pillow. The pillow would take up a large chunk of a suitcase, but the pillowcase folds up nice and neat!

My first suggestion to you if you don’t own any Comfort Revolution products in the Hydraluxe line is to try the Cool Case. Start with this product because it is a bit less expensive, and you can see how you like the feel of it on a pillow you already own. Once you fall hopelessly in love with it, you can buy the pillow for your home, and then you’ll have the pillowcase on hand to either use on a second pillow, or to keep with your travel items for upcoming trips. Prices start at $19.99!

Babywearing made simple with the Soothe Shirt (GIVEAWAY!!!)

June 23, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 66 Comments

by Alanna Peters

I received a complimentary product for this review. All thoughts and opinions are my own!

I am all about babywearing. I wear my baby pretty much all day long, and we love it! I’m getting to be pretty good at wrapping and I’m figuring out the soft structured carriers, but when my baby was just a little squish it all seemed pretty complicated to me. Lalabu has come up with the sweetest, simplest way to wear and nurse your baby throughout the day! They created the Soothe Shirt, which has a built-in, cross-front nursing bra for easy breastfeeding and a pouch to put your baby in!

The Soothe Shirt is perfect for new babies up to 15 pounds. My baby is almost 16 pounds already (holy moly, she is getting big SO fast!) but we gave the shirt a try just to see how it works. You guys, I SOOOO wish I had this shirt from day one. My baby LOVED it! As you can see, she was all smiles as soon as I put her in the pouch. She’s a little big for the pouch so she was leaning out of the top but it would have been PERFECT for her when she was a little smaller. (Another bonus? I felt like the shirt made me look quite slim when the pouch wasn’t full of baby!)

Watch this cute video “A Day With Lalabu” to see how easy it would be to go through your day in this shirt. I LOVE it!

The Soothe Shirt is such an awesome product. The pouch is very comforting for newborns, who crave that closeness to mom. It is not intended for hands-free carrying but it does take baby’s weight off of mom’s arms and provides the comfort and bonding benefits of a wrap without the complexity. It is made in the USA and the seams are very secure, with the strength of climbing apparel. The shirt itself is designed to be worn all day long, either alone or layered with your favorite outfits.

Check out these other videos showing how to wear and nurse with the Soothe Shirt:

Lalabu Soothe Shirt | How to Wear
Lalabu Soothe Shirt | How to Nurse

Another aspect of Lalabu that I love? Lalabu gives back. The company was created by Keri Fosse and her husband, Brian, who were inspired on a trip to Africa. In addition to the creation of a great product, they’ve built a One Day One Dollar business model. Each Lalabu team member volunteers one day a week to help women in need. They also give $1 of each sale back to women in Africa. What an awesome concept!

Buy it! You can purchase a Soothe Shirt from the Lalabu website for $60. Shipping is free!
Win it! Would you like to win a Lalabu Soothe Shirt? Enter to win a Lalabu Soothe Shirt (winner can provide size and color preference).

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Cate &Chloe Jewelry VIP Membership Subscription Review

June 22, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

I recently had the opportunity to review a a new offering from Cate & Chloe. Are you familiar with this online jewelry boutique? They strive to provide affordable jewelry for everyday wear that is also really high quality. They recently launched a VIP membership program and asked if I would try it out and share it with you.

How It Works

My understanding is that for $39.99 a month you will receive 2 pieces of jewelry from Cate & Chloe that are hand-picked by their stylists for you, and that will have a combined retail value of around $200. If you wear a lot of jewelry, then I think this really is an affordable way to get some fun surprises in the mail, and maybe try some things you might have passed over if you saw them in the store without ever trying on. Since the jewelry gets delivered to your door, there’s no harm in trying it out, and you just may find that you love it!

While I haven’t personally be in contact with their customer service, I hear RAVE reviews about them, including their willingness to exchange a piece of jewelry if there is a problem.

cate and chloe vip membership review 1

My Experience with a Membership

I’m not sure if I was only supposed to receive 1 piece of jewelry as a reviewer, or if there was genuinely a mistake, but regardless, I only received 1 item in my package. I was sent the Olivia “Dignity” stud earrings. And at first blush, I didn’t care for them. They are too big to pass for real (I’d prefer to wear studs that someone might assume are genuine!). But I have worn them several times now, and I will say that they truly have grown on me. The detailing on them is very nice, and they are holding up beautifully. I can tell that they are quality pieces and not simply cheap costume jewelry.

Now with that said, I definitely don’t understand how the retail value of $125 that was quoted in my package came to be. Are they sterling silver, for example? No information was provided, and for me to believe that these are worth $125, I simply need more info.

No Style Profile?

I also think that just as people have very different tastes when it comes to clothing, the same is true for jewelry. I wish I had been able to fill out a style profile of some sort so that the stylists could have a better chance of sending me pieces that will work for me and my wardrobe. I personally think you are taking a bit of a risk to have them send you jewelry without knowing anything about your style.

With that said, having looked around the Cate & Chloe website, they do seem to have quite a large collection of truly beautiful jewelry. So it might be the case that it will be hard not to love anything they send you. But as for me, having just received 1 piece of jewelry with a retail price I couldn’t swallow, I wasn’t swayed to sign up for another month. But if you wear jewelry quite a bit, I think it’s worth the $40 risk to try it for a month and see if you are pleased with what you get.

Discount Alert!

If you are interested in giving it a shot, I’ve got a coupon for you to take 20% off. That would make it just $32 to get 2 pieces of jewelry…a very good deal, I think! Use code STUFFPARENTSNEED20 at checkout, and you should be all set!

Let me know if you decide to try Cate & Chloe and if so, what you get! While it doesn’t seem to be the right fit for me, personally, I can definitely see where this is a subscription service of value to folks who wear jewelry a lot and like to stay on trend, and also have pieces that look more high-end.

Stinky Diapers Are Gone: My Thoughts on Diaper Fresh

June 22, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · Leave a Comment

Affiliate links my be included. I only promote what I love.

So as many of you know, Layah is being rather stubborn about this potty training business. She knows how to use the potty, and actually often will use the potty when we put her there, but she won’t ever tell us when she needs to go, and like many children, she has no interest in pooping on the potty (seriously…I REALLY don’t get this…how is poop in your pants “not so bad”?).

So at various points on any given day, Layah might be wearing a diaper, training pants or even “big girl” underwear. And even on my own most disciplined days where I remember to take her potty very regularly, we’ll still have at least 2 things getting soiled. So all that is to say, the sun may be setting on the diaper days in our home, but we aren’t done yet. Boo.

I’m OVER the Stink

We primarily use cloth diapers in our home, but there was a period of almost 2 months where we just used disposables (shout out, Honest Company). You guys, I was just bummed that Layah didn’t want to potty train, and having to wash the cloth diapers just made me feel punished. This is silliness, but it’s where I was with dealing with it, and disposables I could at least throw out.

But the smell? The smell lingered, my friends! We don’t have a Whisper Diaper Pail, so dirty diapers just go in the regular trash. So when Diaper Fresh reached out to me about a spray they have that has gotten RAVE reviews for truly eliminating the foul odors in both cloth AND disposable diapers, I had a little heart-to-heart with myself, admitted that we aren’t done with diapering, and then agreed to check out the product. It sounded like the type of thing I like to tell others about (if it actually works!).

It Works!!!!

And it TOTALLY works, you guys. I have spritzed it on cloth diapers that are headed into the cloth diaper bag to await laundry day (which happens every 3 days or so). I’m sure you can imagine how disgusting that bag can get, in terms of the smell. I’m not saying that it is totally odor-free by using Diaper Fresh, but the difference is HUGE.

For those of you who use disposable diapers, you may be wondering why you would need to spray something you are putting in the trash. If you have an air-tight system that locks away odors, then keep doing your thing. For the rest of us who just toss them in the garbage can, then you KNOW why you need this. There are times when I have taken out the trash only 1/3 full because it contained such a gross smelling diaper that I couldn’t allow it to stay in the house. It only takes 2-3 squirts from diaper fresh and it’s like the odors just disappear.

The bad odors are not replaced with a different smell, so this is NOT an odor covering product. It is an odor neutralizing product, and there’s a big difference!

A Second Way to Use Diaper Fresh

I did a little experimenting with using Diaper Fresh in the laundry, and I wanted to share my successful results with you! I was noticing that my cloth diapers were starting to have just a wee bit of the “funk” even after being fully washed. All my cloth diaper readers will know that means that it usually means you have to strip the diapers in the near future (a cumbersome process because it takes a long time). I decided on a whim to put 1 Tbsp of Diaper Fresh in the first wash for the diapers (my first wash is more like a rinse, with absolutely no detergent). Well guess what? There was absolutely NO smell after the entire wash routine was over. Diaper Fresh saved me quite a few hours worth of work by knocking out the problem. I would not hesitate to use it again on my cloth diapers and I would not hesitate to use it on any other load of stinky laundry.

A Third Way!

I have even used this product on my kids’ car seats, which stink after a while and are a HUMONGOUS pain to remove, wash, and re-install. Save me a ton of time and hassle, and it nips those “spilled milk” odors in the bud!

Diaper Fresh is just a fantastic all-around odor remover, and I very highly recommend it, even if your diapering days are nearly over like mine are (please Lord let that be true!). You can purchase it directly from the Diaper Fresh website, or you can also find it as an add-on item at Amazon (just $6.95! More than worth it!!!). Whatever stage of diapering (or not-diapering) you find yourself in, I would suggest adding this item to your next Amazon order, as it is a versatile product for so many household odors!

Honest Company Dish Brush Review: An Honest Assessment

June 14, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 3 Comments

Hello, friends! It’s been a while since I’ve shared my thoughts on an Honest Company product so I thought I should tackle one today that I use pretty much every day: The Honest Dish Brush. This is a fairly confusing product in that they offer it in two packages. One option is to simply buy the bamboo brush itself for $4.95 (which is what I did). The second option is to purchase it with a ceramic dish in a package called “suds up” for $12.95.

So when I was making this purchase, it was pretty simple for me: do I want to pay $8 for a small ceramic dish? No thanks! And I’m very pleased with my $4.95 dish brush. But I will say that I now better understand that the ceramic dish is meant to not only hold your brush, but to be used when creating more suds for washing dishes. Evidently you just put a tiny amount of soap on the brush, put it in the dish, and then pump the brush up and down to make lots and lots of bubbles with ease.

Sounds cool, but I’m still not interested, personally. But I did want you to know about your options!

Ok, so back to the brush. I love it because it is sturdy (we’ve had ours for 6 months and use it all the time…it is doing just fine). It is also made of bamboo, which is a highly renewable resource, and the bristles are 100% recycled plastic. The price is definitely great for something that has lasted so long, and that is so responsibly made. When ours finally kicks the bucket, I will happily buy another one.

How to Buy the Scrubber Brush

Ok, so the right strategy for buying this brush first depends on if you want the $12.95 version or the $4.95 version. If you want the $12.95 version, your best bet is to include it in your essentials bundle, as the per item price is just $7.20 for bundle items. If your bundle for the month is already full but you still really want to try it, you can add it on as one of your extra 3 items that you can snag for 25% off, and that drops the price down to $9.71.

If you just want the $4.95 brush, DO NOT add it to your essentials bundle. Why pay $7.20 for something that retails for $4.95? Instead, add it as a plus 3 item at the end, and you get an even better deal, paying just $3.71. Or you might find yourself just picking up a few things at the retail price on the shop, and this is totally a fair price to pay retail, so I’d say go for it.

Cheap is Good, Free is Better

If you have never made an Honest Company purchase, there is a right way to start, and it is by getting a whole lot of free stuff! Here’s info on how to start your free trials with Honest Company. And if you have never ordered a bundle before and have no idea what to select, I’ve got a growing list of Honest Company product reviews to help you make the best selections, and to get the very best bang for your buck. The bundles from The Honest Company can be really good deals IF you know how to work them!

I Stopped Sorting Laundry, and It’s AWESOME!! #LaundrySimplified

June 3, 2014 · by Tiffany Merritt · 1 Comment

I am a member of the Collective Bias® Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper amplification for #CollectiveBias and its advertiser.

Well, well, well….just when I thought Purex had already invented the greatest thing ever to hit my laundry room (Purex Crystals, I never have fewer than 3 bottles in my laundry room at any given moment), the company has knocked my socks off (and cleaned them!) again. And this time, they are saving me tons and tons of time with sorting laundry.

May I present to you Purex® No Sort™ for Colors. This detergent is the reason why I can stop sorting laundry. For good. For real.

I never realized how much time it took me to sort through all the laundry in our house before each wash. I also never realized how many extra loads of laundry I was doing because I thought I was supposed to sort out all the pinks and reds for one load, all the dark colors for another load, all the light colors for another load, and all the whites for another load. I would often have maybe 3/4 of a load in any one category, but I’d go ahead just so that I could check that thing off my list, only to be right back at it the next day or the day after.

And now? My laundry routine is FAST. Like, it kind of blows my mind how fast it is. See this pile?

This is the pile the accumulated after 3 days of not washing clothes. It goes all the way to the back of the bed, so it is really quite large. If I had sorted this, it would have been 4 loads of laundry. With Purex® No Sort™ for Colors, I got it all done in two loads because I was able to fill each load to capacity with whatever I wanted.

It was SO awesome. I can tell you after having this product in my home for about 10 days now that I don’t do laundry as often and when I do go in there to tackle laundry, it gets done so much faster.

And are my whites discolored at all? Not one little bit! Purex® No Sort™ for Colors has dye transfer inhibitors in it, and that will prevent color bleeding that you might be currently sorting all of your loads in an effort to prevent.

Can I make a suggestion, friend to friend? Head to Walmart and pick up a bottle for yourself to try out. Go fast because it’s flying off the shelves!

If you have something with very vivid colors that has never been washed, it’s probably a good idea to keep it separated for the first handful of washes. But after that, let Purex® No Sort™ for Colors take care of it for you, and just throw it in with whatever else needs to be washed. This is #LaundrySimplified, and I’m absolutely loving it!

Don’t Fear the Color

In fact, I realized that I was saving so much time on my laundry routine throughout the course of the week that I had the time over the weekend to go do something really fun for me, and something that would bring a little color to my own home. We headed to a local nursery to find some colorful plants and a pretty door mat to help our front porch, which was pretty much dying from a lack of color. I mean, just look at it. So sad…

Thinking of my new favorite detergent, I said to the salesperson helping us, “We want to mix up some different colors all together!”. She helped us put this together for our front porch, and it has certainly brought some life to the front of the house, and I can see it through the window every time I come down the stairs. It’s like having fresh flowers on hand every single day. 🙂

I also found a beautiful WASHABLE door mat. And I kid you not, when I picked it out and showed it to Tim he said, “That’s going to get dirty fast,” to which I replied, “But it’s washable!” And then he said, “I’d be worried about those colors bleeding together.” JOKE’S ON YOU, TIM. That’s how people used to think about laundry back in the day. But that’s just not how it works anymore! And that colorful, washable rug is now at the entrance to my home, getting a little bit dirtier every day, and a little bit closer to its upcoming rendezvous with Purex® No Sort™ for Colors.

Want to follow the latest and greatest from Purex (because clearly they are rockin’ out with their innovations!). My two favorite ways to keep up with them are on Pinterest, Twitter, YouTube and Facebook!

What do you think about this new product from Purex? Think it might save you a ton of time in the laundry room, too?