Do you ever use a product for a period of time, and then, it just kind of stops working? Like a favorite shampoo or conditioner? Well, this Degree deodorant has quit on me. It just doesn't last the whole day like it should. I begin to smell, what the man and I affectionately refer to as, "a little French". Yeah, I know that is not a terribly politically correct thing to say, but I do mean it affectionately. Really. Honestly, I tend to agree with people that Americans are a little too obsessed with deodorants, germs, etc. I don't really mind my smell, but I would like to earn it first, you know? Like if I don't shower for 2-3 days, I expect to smell a bit and that's fine. You can even sort of delight in the natural-smelling funk, I think. But a deodorant, by its very American nature, should last more than 4-5 hours in my opinion. I think it has something to do with this Invisible Formula not having as much oomph as the regular Degree. It was time for something new.


That said, on our recent trip to the grocery store, I bought some different deodorants. I saw that Degree had changed its look -- its probably the same shit in a new package -- but I am optimistically hoping that maybe they have improved the invisible formula and it will go back to working for me. I am giving them another chance to continue deodorizing my fabulous armpits because this one is "little black dress approved". Alrighty then, I ask you, how could I go wrong with that?


In the meantime, I also thought I would try out something completely different. I have seen the commercials for this Dove deodorant in which the "real women" tried it for 7 days and their underarm skin was softer, smoother when shaving and the deodorant was also not leaving any white crap on their clothes -- as evidenced by the voluntarily sporting of their current shirts inside-out for the cameras. Wow. Sounds good to me. But, another factor I consider in buying any new products (tell me if you do this too?), I have to smell-test things before I buy. Yes, you will find me in the grocery store aisle, popping off one deodorant top after another and smelling them to make sure they are not too "perfumey", or what I like to call "whoofy". I do this with shampoos, hairspray, whatever. I think it is a form of Product OCD that I do not want to be counseled for. I absolutely hate the intense baby powder smells of many deodorants. I dislike smells that are so strong that they would overpower what little perfume/cologne I may decide to wear that day. I like a nice mild scent that only smells when I choose to stick my nose in my armpit and smell it directly. (You know you do this, too. Don't lie!) So, I tried this new Dove Cool Essentials with Cucumber and Green Tea Scent, and, I am L-O-V-I-N-G, loving it! I have been smelling my armpits off and on all day and it has a perfectly mild, hardly-there scent, that smells great...oh yeah, and it has worked all day...I am not French at all! I endorse this product thus far. It remains to be seen how irresistibly soft my armpits become as a result of its ongoing use. I'll let you all know.

Now, everyone, go smell your pits! Fly that freak flag high! You know you wanna...

Labels: advertising, female, funny, girl stuff, products, testing

I tried to take a picture of my new (FREE!) Twitter T-shirt in the mirror, but then realized it was blurry...which is why I didn't bother to horizontal flip it for you bloggers to read correctly. This is my way of visually expressing how annoyed I am that I did not specify in my request for an XL that it be a MENS XL, not a WOMENS XL!

Okay, here's a better picture pointing the camera directly at my...ahem...twits.

Normally, these girlie-sized tees are fine -- if they are made in a stretchier fabric that gives a little bit when you need to move! And sure, I know the male bloggers (and some of the female ones, too) are probably not complaining about the way boobs look in it...But, it is not very comfortable to wear when you feel like you are in a hot brown straight-jacket.

I wrote Crystal at Twitter Support another email to request an XL MENS so that I can sleep in my Twitter shirt -- like I had originally intended -- comfortably. Hopefully, they will send me another one...Yes, mom, I asked them nicely!




I am boiling -- I need a cool beverage!

Labels: advertising, clothes, cute, gifts, girl stuff, twitter, web, wishes

Oh, so pretty and serene. I love how she looks against my mosaic dish from Pier 1. Nice contrast to her coloring...she really pops against the fiery background...got the inspiration for my background choice from her sunglasses. Annoying reflections on her plastic skin were a challenge.

This is the shot that I used for the comment banner in my sidebar. I needed to retouch the photo so that I could get rid of her pull-string hanging down in the back. Also, I had to do a duplicate layer and flip horizontally so that I could make the background wider for the text area of my banner. I love the way it turned out. What do you all think?

Lighting was a little weird in this one, but I like the way her hair seems to glow and you can really see her green eyes. I should take some more pictures with her other eye colors (blue, pink, and orange), but the green eyes are my favorite.

Labels: Blythe, cute, dolls, favorites, female, funny, girl stuff, pictures, pretty, vintage

I am loving these new items that we got at the outlet a few days ago...very cute cotton, empire-waisted shirts from Old Navy. I got this white one as well as black and navy.


...and my ethnic-looking leather sandals from Naturalizer (very comfy on the tootsies!).


And, as a bonus treat for all of you cat lovers...a picture from Noodle's latest kitty photo session! He just melts his momma's heart --- in spite of how evil he can be...

Labels: cats, cute, favorites, girl stuff, noodle, pets, photos, pretty

This is my friends' (Michael and Lori) new baby fetus! Very exciting ;) Looks to me to be the size of a small kitten at this point...since Lori is not very far along at all.

Congrats to my good friends on their evil seed! Can't wait to inspect it for suspicious birthmarks....

love ya, V

Labels: current events, cute, experiments, family, friends, girl stuff, pictures, towhead

I am sure you have all seen the ridiculous commercial where the girl is sitting on her couch with her laptop computer asking herself, "How do you say so long to a period that is too long?" For those of you who have not seen the commercial, it is for a birth control pill called Loestrin 24 Fe.

I was talking to the Lizzard the other day about how funny this commercial is to me. Because, honestly, who sits around and randomly asks themselves these questions, gets on the internet and types that long bizarre sentence into Google, expecting to get an answer that takes you directly to a website which answers that exact question? The funny thing is...as a test...I typed the sentence into Google, figuring that since it was part of Loestrin 24's marketing campaign, that it would take me directly to their website...But guess what??? It does not!!! It takes you to the MySpace page of a girl named Mandi0459. Hilarious! Someone dropped the metatag-keyword-search-ball on that one. Their whole campaign is based on this absurd question and the question does not even lead you to the product??? Priceless.

Finally, I found the web page by doing a search for "shorter periods". Once I got to the website, I read a little bit about the Loestrin 24 pill. Fine. It can shorten long periods down to 3 days. Great. Of course, this begs the question, would shaving 2 days off of, say, a 5-day period really make that big a difference in a girl's life? I mean after 3 days...haven't you really already gone the distance? You can not endure 2 MORE DAYS to finish things up?? Really? Whatever. Maybe some therapy to get over those "dirty genital" issues would be more useful...no? Like I said, whatever.

But it gets better...there is a section on the site called Meet Cammie and her dog, Shorty. You can see the commercial, read Cammie's Story, see her apartment, look in her closet, see her neighborhood [she lives in a loft off of Avenue A!], meet her friends, her dog, find out what music she likes. Ummm, hello? What is this, "The Complete Guide of How-to-Stalk Cammie"? I am surprised that they did not provide us with a chart of her menstrual cycle so that her stalkers will know WHICH 3 DAYS not to show up for the rape...Christ.

For anyone who is interested in having only 4 periods per year, we have Seasonale. Need I say more? Ugh.

Labels: commercials, female, funny, girl stuff