The first product that I tried was CoverGirl Outlast Double Lip Shine.  I was excited because I had been wanting to try a product like this, but the price is prohibitive when it’s to try only.  The color was beautiful!  It was like it was picked for me.

I had my first problem at work while drinking my coffee.

You can clearly see the lip print on my cup and the little “pilly” pieces.  Here are some more pictures of the pilling that are actually on my lips.

My lips felt like they had sand on them after only one hour on my lips.  I’m pretty disappointed with the product.  I know that my mother wears a long-lasting lip product and there’s no way that it does this.  I can not recommend this product to anyone.

The next product I tried was Olay Total Effects 7in1 Advanced Anti-Aging Body Wash.  I used this product 3 times in the shower. Each time after I finished washing with it, I felt like I was covered in wax. I don’t feel like this did anything for me and I didn’t feel clean either.  I would absolutely not use this product again and I can’t recommend it to anyone.

The next product that I tried was Tide To Go.  Now, THIS is a great product!  I was able to use it on a couple of little stains that go on a shirt after eating out.  After I located the spots, I used the Tide To Go on it, and let it dry.  Afterwards, the stains were gone!  I whole-heartedly recommend this product!

The final product that I received was Gillette Fusion ProSeries Irritation Defense Soothing Moisturizer.  I gave it to my husband to use.  He said it was “okay” and he could live without it.  He used it after using his electric razor.  So, the rating for that was just “meh”.

This is a sponsored post for SheSpeaks/P&G.

Dinesh Chand, from Forefront Mission, came and spoke briefly at our church on Wednesday evening.  He is a missionary in India with his wife, Rachel, and their four children.  Dinesh said something that really struck home for me.

Dinesh said that it was his goal to have a church within THIRTY minutes walk of everyone in the area where he’s a missionary.

Before church, it was getting close to 5 PM, I realized that I didn’t want to walk the approximately FOUR minutes to my parent’s apartment to catch a ride with them to church.  Instead, I texted my dad and told him that I’d love him forever ( ) if he’d come and pick me up.  And he did.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to go to church; I love going to church and can’t imagine missing service.  It made me think about the people that have to WALK MORE THAN THIRTY MINUTES to get to church.

I felt ashamed of myself.

I had the opportunity to try out NEW Lysol^® Touch of Foam^™ Antibacterial Hand Wash free through BzzAgent.  The scent I received Creamy Vanilla Orchid.  I have to say that I am not a fan of the scent.  However, that is the only downside of this product.

Lysol^® states that the rich lather works on contact to kill 99.9% of bacteria and offers 10x more germ protection than the leading national competitor.  They say that the antimicrobial properties are built in to protect the hand wash pump and resist odor-causing bacteria.

The Lysol^® Mission for Health has new mom programs, healthy habits initiatives in schools and disaster relief efforts, and they are dedicated to doing more for health. Their mission is fueled by passion and backed by their expertise in killing germs.  They offer coupons and special offers.

The soap I use at work is very tough and drying on my hands.  When I used the NEW Lysol^® Touch of Foam^™ Antibacterial Hand Wash it left my hands feeling soft and smooth.  I didn’t feel like I needed to turn to my lotion bottle to re-moisturize my hands.

If the Lysol^® Touch of Foam^™ Antibacterial Hand Wash has the antimicrobial and antibacterial properties that it claims, then it’s a great product to have wherever you wash your hands.

I had the awesome opportunity to review Susan Merrill‘s book “The Passionate Mom: Dare to Parent in Today’s World” (click here for the Kindle edition).  The opportunity came from the author herself, whom I had the privilege of meeting at a friend’s wedding last year.

I have to assure the men that while this book is “The Passionate Mom“, this book is for the dads as well.  I think that every parent should read it.  Perhaps it should be renamed The Passionate Parent?!

Susan uses the book of Nehemiah as a guide for parenting.  She talks about Nehemiah and his request for permission from the king to go repair the wall surrounding Jerusalem.  She has 10 P’s that title each chapter.  The first P is Perception.  When I was reading this chapter, I thought about how sometime I am so busy perceiving other peoples issues that I fail to perceive my own child’s issues.  To truly get what’s going on with our kids, we have to spend a lot of time just watching and listening.  What we actually do is talk to much and lecture and we miss the real story.

Susan’s fifth P word was Patience.  Patience just happens to be a weakness for me as well as evidenced by it being my word to focus on for 2013.  Let’s just say that I get her issue with patience, because I have my own.  Our kids need for us to be patient.  They are fairly new to this thing we call life and we can’t expect them to be as on the ball as those of us that have been around the block a few times.

Susan touches on every imaginable topic that a mother (parent) needs to know about when raising children.  I’m sorry I didn’t have this book when my now 19 year old son was younger.  I think it would have helped me through some of the tougher times he faced as a tender-hearted child.  The good thing is that he is doing well, making friends, and growing up to be a fine man.

So, go get the book, because it’s fabulous.  It goes on sale Tuesday, 4/16/2012.  Susan is such a vibrant woman, wife, and mother.  She and her husband Mark (of Family First & All Pro Dad & iMom fame) are raising children with various personalities.  I can’t imagine her not hitting of most situations that touch every family.  And, while she writes from a Christian’s perspective, non-Christians can learn from the examples she gives from her own experience in difficult or different times.

By the time you read this, I will have signed off on the final paperwork without my darling husband, because he has to be out of town during business hours this week for work.  He signed off on his paperwork last night with our realtor, Steve Scherpf with SSI Realty.  I can’t sing this man’s praises enough.  If you live in the Pinellas County, Florida area and need a realtor, please call Steve.  He is THE BEST REALTOR EVER!!!

Steve told me last night, as I was giving him updates on my husband’s ETA (estimated time of arrival), that the drama of the house sale continued even through the day with the mortgage company asking for unnecessary paperwork and not understanding why is wasn’t necessary (I.E. lead-based paint disclosure on a house built in 1998).  I mean, really?  Who ARE these people?   And where did they get their crazy rules?

I want to let you know that never, ever, even one time did I doubt God’s promise to be faithful and for the sale of our house to go through.  I certainly was tested.  Our house was never without a buyer for more than 72 hours after it went on the market.  Four buyers in less than one month and the last buyer, whose realtor and mortgage company promised that the financing was in order and then wasn’t.  I could have lived without the roller coaster ride we’ve been on since the beginning of January, but then I wouldn’t have known how trusting of God I’d be and I wouldn’t see just how faithful He is.  Nonetheless, I’m glad that it’s over.

Just a quick post to let you know that Google is closing it’s Google Reader product on July 1st, so if you get my posts via Google Reader, then you’ll need to go to the top right column and click on the “Sign me up!” button.  Enter your email address there and you will automatically get my blog posts in your inbox.

I’m doing another product review. This time it’s Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Peel. I have a love-hate relationship with my skin. I want to love it, but the coloring makes me hate it. Here are my before pictures; first the left side and then the right side of my face.

I’ve been told it’s sun damage and it will go away when I stop getting sun.  But that didn’t work.  I’ve been told it’s due to hormones, but after a hysterectomy and a year with no estrogen, that didn’t work either.  I’m sure some of it is scarring, but that’s not causing the brown spots.

I’ve gotten advise from other women who have had professional chemical peels, but I’m afraid to use something so harsh on my face and they cost a lot of money if you want to go to a reputable doctor.  So, I haven’t done anything about it.  That is until I got this opportunity.  So, this blog post is going to be added on to every week until I finish the product.  Here goes…

WEEK ONE

WEEK TWO

WEEK THREE

WEEK FOUR

In case you see it too, I’ve put the before and after pictures together from the start to the finish.

I used the Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Peel every night after I had washed my face with the Neutrogena bar soap.  Every morning, after I washed my face with the Neutrogena soap, I used Neoteric Cosmetics’ Alpha-Hydrox Enhanced Cream 10% Glycolic AHA Anti-wrinkle before I put on my makeup.  I can match up the patching from the before photo to the patching on the after photo.

It’s my opinion that the Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Peel DOES NOT do what it advertises.  I will continue to use my bottle because I have so much left and I will correct this statement should I be proven wrong, but I would not spend the money on product that doesn’t deliver.

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Peel for free from the BzzAgent. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”