Revival Time

Exciting news! I've decided to revive this blog. It was too much fun to let go of forever.

I apologize to those of you who got hooked on reading about the crazy As Seen on TV products I decided to try out. Unfortunately, I started the blog as something to do while I searched for a full time job. Well, I got said full time job and sort of just lost track of writing. My time escaped me. But, I'm back! I'm ready to go.

I'm hoping to get a little more interaction from readers and even pick up more followers. I need suggestions. I need your discarded products or even your own personal experiences with certain products.

So, I need ideas. I need a running list of items under $20. Ready! Set! Go!

In the meantime, I have some fixing to do. You'll notice that all my photos have been replaced by awesome black squares. I blame Google + for this error. (And so do a LOT of other Blogger users.) When I created a Google + profile, my blog photos showed up in it. Well, I don't really want random product photos in my profile so I deleted them. (Again, a LOT of other Blogger users did the same thing.) Well, turns out the accounts were linked so I deleted all my blog photos. Oops. (Oh, and a LOT of other Blogger users did too-We're not so happy about this, I'll call it a glitch.) As I have free time and await suggestions, I will search my hard drive for the original photos and re upload them to their proper home. I mean-this blog depends on photo and video evidence.

Cheers to infomercials!

Styrofoam Bead Pillow

 For Christmas, I wanted a new pillow. I asked for either a memory foam or Sobakawa pillow thinking it may help me sleep better and toss and turn less. I received the latter.

Christmas night, I tore the pillow out of the box and tried it out. It came with the bonus pillow case which saved me when the little styrofoam beads began to leak out of the pillow--a week after I first got it. I can't seem to find a hole anywhere and just assumed they work their way out of the seams. It can be messy when taking the pillow case off to wash it as the beads go everywhere, including all over the inside of the washer and onto your clean clothes.

I was surprised by the size of the pillow. The box seemed a lot larger than what I pulled out of it. Also, the commercials on television show the woman lying on what appears to be a full-sized pillow. The Sobakawa pillow was actually much smaller. My head fits right in the middle of it, leaving a few inches left on both sides that tend to fold up around my cheeks. I did feel the extra supposrt but only when my head was perfectly situated in the middle of the pillow. Sleeping on my side was not very comfortable with the pillow.

It definitely took a couple weeks to get used to sleeping on the pillow. My back and neck ached twice as bad as using my regular pillow until I adjusted. I really didn't feel much of a difference with my body between the Sobakawa pillow and my regular TJ Maxx cheapie pillow.

As for the claim that the pillow stays cool, I really didn't feel any difference I still woke up with sweat on the nape pf my neck and my hair damp and matted.

Rotating the Sobakawa with my regular pillow seemed to work the best for me in terms of comfort. It's sort of like rotating your shoes so your feet don't hurt. Overall, I would give the $19.99 Sobakawa pillow a B-.

Who needs an iron? Call Mr. Steamy

It's a new year, and I am armed with an arsenal of "As Seen on TV" products. It's time for a fresh, dedicated start to this new year. I hope you are as ready as I am.

To kick off the new year and the first of many new posts-I am going to try for a new product once a week-let me introduce you to Mister Steamy.

I was shopping at Target and decided to check out the section of the store with the "AS Seen" products. I saw a blue box that caught my eye. It was a two pack of balls that claimed to do the work of an iron. I hate to iron so I thought the $14.99 would be an investment in time saving.

As soon as I got home, I opened the box and read the instructions. The ball inside the box reminded me of one of those bumble ball toys minus the bumble motor part. I then ran to the closet. I hate ironing dress shirts so I pulled one out of my boyfriend's side of the closet. It was one that had the wrinkles from being stuffed in a tightly packed closet.  I threw it in the dryer with the steamy ball and in 15 minutes it was wrinkle free. Now, for some dress clothes and severe wrinkles, you're going to have to bust out the iron and ironing board. Mister Steamy is for the little wrinkles and the person on the go.

The box said the Mister Steamy ball could do the work of fabric softener as well. It showed a picture of a stack of towels dried with the ball. I decided to duplicate this. To my surprise, the towels came out of the dryer fluffier than when dried with a dryer sheet. I had also been having problems with soured towels. I don't know if it's the fact that I have well water or not, but I tried vinegar which yielded ok results. A few drops of fabric softener added to the water in the Mister Steamy ball helped with the smell.

I have been using the Mister Steamy ball for about two months now. I haven't used an iron for anything. Beyond using it to get the wrinkles out of clothing, I have used it as an at home dry cleaning solution. For my sweaters and dress clothes that I am not quite ready to pay to have cleaned or my jacket that I wore out to a smokey bar. I just add a few drops of fabric softener to the steamy ball with water and in 15 minutes, my clothes smell fresh and are ready to be worn again.


I find the price to be fair, especially when you get two steamy balls. The ball will eventually wear out because the sponge like material inside shrinks over time. After two months, mine appears to still have quite a bit of life to go. If you're one of those people that hates to iron and wants a quick, freshening up of your clothes, the the Mister Steamy ball is perfect for you.

It dices like a wizard

To my audience: My apologies for the broken promises to write about a product once a week. My wallet is empty and sometimes my mind feels the same. All I can say is that I will try to keep up with this, however; I am a winter writer so it may be a few weeks in between before I get back on a steady writing schedule. I do enjoy my summer days as I am sure you all do as well.

So, I return with the Vidalia Chop Wizard. It was a gift from the boyfriend's mother. She picked it up from CVS. I think it sat in the cabinet, fully packaged for almost a year before I pulled it out to use. I was chopping onions for pasta and had grown sick of using the slap chop. It's such an aggressive product, but I'll save that explanation for another blog.

The chopper came with two blades and a small comb for clean up. I think it cost around $9.99, although it sells on the official site for $19.99. (Of course, you get two of them.)

This product worked great! It dices an onion in about two seconds. It's so much better than chopping by hand. Unlike many products where the clean up process isn't worth the time saved originally, the Chop Wizard can be thrown right in the dishwasher. Just knock any stuck pieces off with the comb and place on the top shelf.

Before I knew it, we were using the Chop Wizard for all kinds of food. It makes salsa in seconds and you can even slice potatoes then put them in to be diced for hash or soup. This product is definitely worth the price and lives up to the claims it stands behind.

Steam me up Scotty

I am a bad blogger. I know in my last post that I promised there wouldn't be a huge lapse in time between posts. I lied a little but not on purpose. So here we go.

Steam cleaning devices seem to be taking over the household appliance industry by storm. How well do they really work? I inherited a Monster steam cleaner. It very closely resembled the Shark cleaner.  I thought I would try to create a video blog of me using the Monster to clean, but it required both hands, and I am a solo act without a tripod.

I looked over the attachments to my Monster-a few brushes, a nozzle, an upholstery steamer and a window cleaner. Oh, and it requires some kind of antibacterial solution that you can only order from Monster. If you buy the product online, they'll include the sanitizing solution for free whenever you need it. I was lucky enough to have inherited quite a collection of the sanitizer.

I decided to clean my bathroom using the upholstery steamer because it most looked like the attachment used in the infomercial on the Website. Water dripped out the bottom and everything was covered in a layer of saturation. I used a towel to go over everything making the instant dry and sanitized look you see on television not happen at home. So if you use one of the steamer mops, you may want to watch your step as to not slide across the kitchen floor on your fannie.


The steam did get my bathroom sink and counter top clean. It even seemed to work on the toilet, but again it left everything sopping wet.


The upholstery steamer would work great to steam the wrinkles out of clothes but again, the water dripping issue would just make a wet mess.

I tried to use the steamer to clean the brake dust grime off my wheels that the car wash missed. The steam didn't do anything to cut through the dirt. The cloth I pulled out to wipe the wheels off worked 10 times better than the steam power.

The Monster is small and lightweight yet bulky. It almost requires using both hands, and you can only go as far as the cord lets you. By the time you fill the steamer with both water and the sanitizing solution and wait for it to warm up, you would have been better off just grabbing your regular cleaning tools and chemicals. Just a thought-if steam powered cleaners disinfect then why do I have to add a sanitizing, antibacterial solution to the steamer? That just doesn't make sense to me.

I would say the Monster steamer is probably just a waste of money and time. If you're into not using any type of cleaning chemicals, avoiding the clean smell and wanting to spend three, wait two easy payments of $33.33, then maybe this could be for you, however, I think I'll just stick to my sponge and scrubbing bubbles.

A return with scratched lens resuscitation

First I would like to apologize for my lack of blogging lately. I started a new job and needed a little transition time. The good new is, I am back. Also, a new job means I can now afford to start purchasing products for my blog again. It's a win for everyone-but please, feel free to send me products, any little bit helps.


My return to the As Tried By April blog starts with a product called Lens CPR. I had seen it on television in the past but almost forgot about the product until I saw it on sale at Meijer. I was picking up a few grocery items and saw the Lens CPR box nestled on a shelf among a few other As Seen on TV products. The tag said it was only $4.99, a fair price and one within my almost minuscule budget. (Of course when I got home and looked at my receipt, I noticed I was charged $9.99 for it. Always pay attention when things are being rang up at the register-silly me.)

I was a little excited about trying this one. I love sunglasses and had at least three pairs in need of lens mending. I started with my pair of Oakley glasses. These are my sporty glasses and have really taken a beating over the years. The lenses were covered with small scratches-scratches Lens CPR claimed it would make disappear.


I read the instructions and prepped the lenses by spraying them with the included cleaner, then ran them under water and dried with the provided lens cleaning cloth. I then used the applicator, which looked like a lip gloss wand, to apply the scratch coating. I applied even streaks that slightly overlapped as instructed. At first glance, I saw every single line. I wasn't worried though because the instructions said the scratch coating formula was self leveling and after the glasses were set to dry and cure, the lines would be gone.

I let them set all day. The lines did not disappear, the scratches remained on the lenses and now I had glasses with a weird film on them. I was pretty upset because I thought I had ruined my glasses until I read that the lens cleaner included in the kit would remove the coating and should never be used as a regular cleaner for the lenses once treated. I cleaned my glasses, removing the coating. Thinking I did something wrong, I re-read the instructions and tried again. This time I also tried the product on a second pair of glasses. Again, I was left with the same results. Actually, my other pair of glasses, REVO's, looked like I put a rainbow clear coat on them. The glasses actually had a rainbow swirl across them. I used the lens cleaner on both pairs in order to return them to their original, scratched yet coating free state.

This will be the second time I have boxed up a product and promptly returned it. (Always save your receipt. I keep mine in the box the product came in until I have decided on the products success or failure.) The best scratch repair is scratch prevention.


Take care of your glasses by rinsing dust off with water then patting dry. Once the dirt is removed, used a clean microfiber cloth that is designed for glass cleaning to wipe the lenses clean. Finally, keep lenses stored in a hard case. I know, so simple.


LensCPR=FAIL

What should I try next? Looks like you guys chose the Shark Steamer.

A pedicure for the furry one

I know I said I would be trying the detox foot pads next. For the last three weeks, I have searched just about evry store in town looking for them. I have been to CVS, Walgreens, Target, Meijer, GNC... The list goes on. No one seems to carry them. It looks like I may have to put an order in via the Web. This also makes my skeptisism of the product very high.

Speaking of being a skeptic, I picked a product that I have doubted since the day it appeared on the market in the form of an infomercial. I was standing behind the cash register at PetSmart trying to figure out what my next product would be when staring at me was an entire shelf of PediPaws. At their retail debut, it seemed like they flew off the shelf. Then like most fads, sales slowed and the price came down from $19.99 to $12.99. The product can be purchased at most drugstores for $9.99 now.

I was razzed at first by my co-workers for my purchase but later their curious minds wanted to know if PediPaws actual worked.

Now why such a skeptic? Well, I trained in the grooming salon as a bather, meaning I did a lot of nail trims and grinds-two things I am not a hug fan of doing-two things most dogs despise as well. In the salon, I used a Dremel tool with a file tip to grind down the nails. Why grind when you can clip? Well, the grinding is less painful because there is no squeeze factor. Grinding the nail also pushes the quick back, allowing the nail to eventually be quite short. Finally, no little razor blades scarring your legs and arms when your furry little friend wants to say hello. The downfall of grinding-getting the hair from a long-haired dog tangled around the file or small burn injuries from the squirmy pups. Sometimes those burns end up being on you.

When I got home, I decided I just had to try it out right away. I would know in seconds if this product was going to be a total failure. I flipped through the directions even though I was quite confident I could use this product. There is even a Website that can be accessed that shows a video how-to. The PediPaws is long and slender. The file has a guard with a guide cut into it. To my surprise, it's very quiet, quieter than a Dremel in fact. The PediPaws also has a safety feature that prevents the user from pushing the file down too hard on the pet's nails. It will automatically stop when too much pressure is applied.

PediPaws took a little practice. At first I decided to use it without the guard. I tried to grind my dog's nails, holding the PediPaws like I would a Dremel tool. It didn't work so well and Zoe wasn't enjoying the funky grind. Actually, Zoe hates getting her nails done. I was able to grind one nail before having to give up and wait for my boyfriend to come home and hold her. When I take her to the salon, it usually takes two people to do her nails, so her attitude problem was nothing new.

When the boyfriend got home, he held, ok sort of tackled the 14 pound dog. She is a squirmer! I placed the guard back on the product and proceeded to grind her nails. I kept putting the nail in the larger part of the opening and it did an ok job. By the last paw, I realized all I needed to do was set the nail in the smaller part of the keyhole shaped opening and just roll it to smoothly grind around the nail. It worked great!

I am sure that after a couple weeks, Zoe will get used to having the two of us grind her nails. It's so much easier to just do it at home rather than drag her feisty little self to PetSmart every two weeks. It will also save me a huge amount of money. It's $11 every two weeks to get her nails done and the PediPaws cost just as much. No longer am I the skeptic about this product. I think it's great for pet owners and could be used to safely grind down most pet's nails. (dogs, cats, rabbits, ferrets, birds)

I am going to have to give the PediPaws an A+.

At the request of a friend, my next product will be DepilSilk. I am hoping to find it in a store if not I will order it and find something else in the meantime.

ShakeWeight Update: I am at the end of my second full week of use. I am doing it every day with the exception of Sunday. I can't see a difference yet, but I feel one. My arms still ache a little every evening which is amazing from a two pound weight. They are starting to feel a little firmer though. I am hoping it's not just wishful thinking. Only time will tell.