Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Watkins skin and body care products

http://www.WatkinsOnline.com/


Watkins carries several lines of natural products, including spices and extracts, body care products, home remedies, and plant-based cleaners.

I am most familiar with their line of personal care products: hand and body lotions, body creams, daily cleansing cream, gentle pore scrub, day cream, night cream, hand and cuticle salves, beeswax lip balms, lip tints, foot creams and scrubs, body oils, and bath soaks. Products are available in different fragrances: aloe and green tea, lavender, lemon cream, mango, and vanilla.

If you don't understand (or cannot pronounce) the chemicals present in your cosmetics and self-care products you would probably be better off using natural products such as the ones formulated by Watkins.

While I've enjoyed using most of their skin and body care products, one of my favorites is their hand and cuticle salve in the lavender scent. It comes in a generously sized 2.1 ounce container and has a beeswax base. When your hands are in and out of water all day--and especially if you are doing heavier housework--your nails, cuticles, and hands may suffer. I use this product every night before going to bed. Shortly after I started using it I noticed a marked change in the health and appearance of my hands and nails. Just a few moments, at night, helped to undo the damage done throughout the course of the day. In these days, when one is so often disappointed in products that promise much more than they deliver, it is indeed refreshing to come across a line of self-care products such as those created by Watkins.

At $7.49 the cuticle cream is also good value for money. I'm sure there must be any number of pricier brands, with flashier and more expensive packaging, that don't do the job nearly as well.

I've been so happy, in fact, with their line of creams, cuticle salves, and other products that I have, on occasion, made "gift baskets" for birthday presents, grouping together several products of a particular scent. I was sorely disappointed when I realized my local Duane Reade was discontinuing this line of products--it's not often you find products free of sodium lauryl sulfate, parabens, chemical sunscreens, pthalates, dyes, and propylene glycol.

However, after Googling them, I was pleased to find that they have both an online presence and a printed catalogue (which introduced me to their other product lines).

Watkins Incorporated
P.O. Box 5570
Winona, MN 55987-0570

1-800-928-5467

http://www.WatkinsOnline.com/

Sunday, August 09, 2009

Back to School

Well, it is already August, and time to start thinking about "back to school" purchases. I've been looking for a "Clone Wars" lunchbox/thermos and think I may have found just what I am looking for--for quite a reasonable price--at http://www.diapers.com $7.99 (not including shipping and handling, of course).

I still have to tackle reviewing the boy's wardrobes and seeing what each of them will need. In any case (as always) I'll be on the lookout for bargains!!

One source of frustration for me has been the holes torn in the knees of (practically new) jeans. What to do with these?? Patch them? Let them disintigrate further?? Cut them down into shorts? What I suppose I really need to do is find jeans with reinforced knees.

My adventures in stain removal continue.....the last being black marker "drawn onto" a pair of khaki pants. No, I didn't get the stain out, but I gave it my best try.....plenty of hot water, OxyClean, Tide, and, as a last resort, bleach. No dice. You can still see the marks.....

It's been a busy summer so far. Visitors, doctor appointments, the fundraiser at the Hawthorne Country Day School, a christening......

I'm looking forward to the fall, though, and to cooler weather and my birthday in October, and (dare I say it) our two older boys returning to school (the structure is good for them) and to planning for our Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations.

I'm hoping to find replacement cushions for the sofa, maybe a new slipcover as well, to brighten up the livingroom.

Well....I'll close for now.....