Scotch Brite - It's really Bright

About a year ago, I decided it was time to get a new toaster & kettle. So we used our fly buys + cash to get them both. I have NEVER been a fan of Stainless Steel appliances, I actually LOATHE them because they don't clean easily like white ones! But these looked cool, and the sales guy, as always, said stainless doesn't get dirty, it's dirt resistant, or whatever baloney they say! So we got them, and for the first few weeks, I was vigilant at cleaning them and then drying them, nearly every day, and they looked good. Then our dishwasher died. And good luck trying to find a dishwasher you like in anything but stainless steel! So we got a brand new SS dishwasher, which is obviously at kiddy level, and quickly became covered in dirty finger prints! Eventually, cleaning my SS appliances became time consuming, and quite honestly a waste of time, so I'd given up, I haven't cleaned them for about 6 months. Last week I'D HAD ENOUGH!; I was sick of the water marks, dust marks, dried crumbs, fingerprints and general grime.

I went to the supermarket for noodles and stainless steel cleaner - not really sure if there was such a thing, and wondering if they would be expensive and just hype-in-a-bottle. I couldn't wait to get home with my new cleaner, too bad the kids needed afternoon tea, and dinner needed preparing! So after the kids were in bed, I pulled out a micro fibre cloth and my SS cleaner, I should have popped some popcorn! It worked! IT WORKED! My kettle looks like it's never been boiled, my toaster looks like new (apart from the crumbs you can never shake out - no matter how hard you shake it), and my dishwasher, well, I just wish the kids didn't have to get up in the morning to put fresh prints on it!

BEFORE:

AFTER:

So I would fully recommend this product to anyone with any SS in their house! I'm planning on getting a new kitchen soon, and wanted a massive fridge, and was reluctant to get a SS fridge, and there are only small whiteware ones... but after using this product tonight, I am getting the fridge of my dreams, and I will enjoy cleaning it! P.S. I also used this on my rubbish bin, which I just saw as I was taking photos, and it came up great too!

My Groceries, Our Groceries

By Stefany at The Life of Stefany

I had an iPod Touch, and LOVED it. But I still always wanted an iPhone. My dream came true about a month ago when my husband upgraded his iPhone to the newest model and I got his old iPhone! So today I am going to review an app called "Our Groceries".
I use this app on a daily basis.
Here is a list of awesome features:
✤ You can have different shopping lists, so I have: Countdown, New World, Home Shopping (which is stuff I want for the house or myself that could be from The Warehouse, Kmart, Spotlight, Briscoes etc etc), and Paul to Get - that's for the husband if I want him to do a quick shop on his way home from work.


✤ The great thing is, you can get anyone else with an iPhone/iPod touch to sync their shopping list with yours - ideally your husband/wife/partner/flatmates
✤ When I get to the supermarket, my list is arranged in order of the aisles! And when I have 2 kids in the trolley, I need to be organised at the supermarket! and the mall!

✤ If you use 3G, and go shopping with your other iPhone user/s, you can start at different ends of the shop, and it updates you and your husbands list as you cross items off - I never use 3G, so have never been able to do this.
✤ When husband is at work and remembers he wants Capsicums, or he's in the bathroom and he's just run out of hair gel, he can just add it to the list and it just updates on my list. FANTASTIC!
✤ You can add ingredients lists of favourite recipes, so you look at the recipe for "chocolate truffles" you can see you need 150g butter and just click on it to add it to your shopping list.


It takes a bit of time to set up, but you can arrange it to your local shop, mine is set up for my local Countdown where I do 90% of my grocery shopping - I had to go into the store and I wrote down what each aisle had, and then transferred it into the Our Groceries app. So now when I add "bread" to my shopping list, it automatically puts it in aisle 12.
The time it took me to set up was minimal to how much time I now save with this app. I could not live without this app!

Review: L'oreal Paris Perfect Clean Foaming Cream + cleanPad

Review by Ms Kate of Mummybrain ~ The How-Not-To-Do-It Guide of Marriage Miscarriage Children Divorce Step-Children

I've been looking for a face cleaning product for a while, my skin has been feeling dry and tight, and I thought a good cleanser might be good.

It comes with a neat little cleanPad thing, that attaches through the bottle with a little sucker thing that lets you attach it to the bathroom wall. It's soft and flexible, and has lots of tiny little rubber bristles on it.

 The wash itself makes me feel clean, and fresh. It is for dry and sensitive skin, and as I  have quite sensitive skin, I am quite a good test for this. I have used it several times now, with no side effects. It's nothing particularly special, but it's ok.

Oh but I must gush about the cleanPad, it is just so neat! It really makes my skin feel clean! It kinda feels like a mini-massage! I'd buy this product again, just to get another cleanPad.

Review: Fix Bumps And Bruises

Review by Ms Kate from Mummybrain ~ The How-Not-To-Do-It Guide of Marriage Miscarriage Children Divorce Step-Children

We found this stuff at the supermarket, and I was looking for something with Arnica in it, so bought it.

Having used it several times since, I feel it's worthy of a review. This stuff is just awesome! It smells lovely, goes on nicely, and eases the pain at the time, and I'm sure makes the bruise clear up faster then it would without it.

It's even made in NZ, which is pretty cool.

Copied from container:

Directions for use: Massage liberally into the affected area as often as required. For external use only. Don't use on open wounds. Avoid contact with eyes. Keep out of reach of children. Don't use if pregnant.

Ingredients: sweet almond oil, aloe vera gel, polysorbate 60 (vegetable oil), cocoa butter, apricot kernel oil, menthol crystals, arnica oil, st johns wort extract, shea butter, calendula infused oil, vitamin E, manuka honey. Essential oil blend of peppermint, lemon and kiwi seed extract.

Their website kind of sucks, but it's found here http://fixmenaturally.com/

Borne Naked Liner

Review by Ms Kate from Mummybrain ~ The How-Not-To-Do-It Guide of Marriage Miscarriage Children Divorce Step-Children

I recently received a product, called a Borne Naked Liner. Basically, it's a clear bag, that you place your items in, and then put the liner into your handbag. I was sceptical to say the least, I thought it sounded like a complete and total waste of time and space.

Before:

I had thought about clearing my handbag out, just so that you couldn't see the state of it before I cleaned it up. *blush* As a mum of 5 I have an awful lot of crap that I carry around with me, and end up with bits of food, daisies by the bucketload, used wipes, and various other indistinguishable items. So here are the 'before' pics.

Yeah I know, it's awful, but I'm a mum - that's  my excuse. LOL


The Borne Naked Liner:

The package arrived and I was really impressed! A nice box, and this beautifully wrapped liner, in soft pink paper. Ahhh it made you feel like a woman LOL
My first impression was that it was really stiff, hard plastic, that it was going to be very heavy in my bag.
It did however appear to be very good quality, nice sized pockets, and zipper worked well. None of this cheap crap here!
So then I got down to the business of moving all my handbag stuff into the liner. I didn't think everything would fit.

From the top looking down

Side

Side

Everything fit perfectly, and everything had a place. Still sceptical, I placed it in my handbag.

The finished product

The final word:


It wasn't anywhere as heavy as I thought it looked, and the stiffness I was worried about meant it stayed nicely in place.
3 weeks later, I still have a nice tidy bag, and use it every day! I am a convert. It is amazing, and I have no idea how I coped without it.
Everything has it's place, and I know immediately when something is missing. I am able to find a pen at a moments notice, and can even get out chewing gum while I'm driving (something I would never do, honest copper).

ProfessioNAIL, Westfield Pakuranga, Auckland

Review by Ms Kate from Mummybrain ~ The How-Not-To-Do-It Guide of Marriage Miscarriage Children Divorce Step-Children

I was lucky enough to be pampered, with a Mother's Day voucher that had been given to me by the kids, at a place called ProfessioNAIL.

My contact with them started with a phone call, made by me, about 9 o'clock in the morning. The phone was answered promptly, but there the good things stopped. The lady on the end of the phone couldn't speak English very well at all. I asked what the latest appointment of the day was. She replied 'whenever I liked'. So I asked how late they were open, and she seemed thoroughly confused. I asked if I could come at 8pm, knowing that the mall shut at 6pm, and was told I could. She then told me they didn't take appointments, that you just turn up.

So turning up at 5.30pm, this lovely lady took me through, and speaking clear English asked me what I'd like done. I explained I had a voucher and no idea what I wanted done. She showed me various options, and I picked a French Manicure, a total value of $23NZ.

Sitting down, in a comfy seat, with nice soft music in the background, she started with tidying up my cuticles, this included a massage of my hands. It was very pleasant.
With nice little fans, to blow away the smell, down to nice smelling moisturising lotion, it was all very nice, until 15 minutes in, a vacuum cleaner was started up, and the place started to be cleaned. This included various towels and other washing being picked up from around me, chairs being moved around roughly to allow vacuum cleaner through, and the workers talking in really loud voices in their native tongue.
So that kind of ruined the nice relaxing atmosphere that had been there, and what I'd been looking forward too.

The end product was lovely however, and I'm really impressed with how nice it looks.

Panasonic Lumix DMC-FH1 12 Mega Pixel Camera

Review by Ms Kate from Mummybrain ~ The How-Not-To-Do-It Guide of Marriage Miscarriage Children Divorce Step-Children

To start with, I know nothing about camera's. I can point and click. Sometimes I take a good photo, most of the time they suck. I seem to be good at getting angles but that's about it.

Pros:
This is a very straight forward camera, heck, even I can use it. Within a few moments of using it, I was able to take photos. The menus are clear to use, and easy to navigate.
It takes pictures quickly, which is great, specially when trying to take photos of moving objects, you know, like kids. It has an auto shutter on it. Takes SD cards that are cheap and widely available, not one's specific to a brand of camera.

The size of the camera is excellent, it's small and light, but the screen is large enough to be able to see clearly what you are pointing at.

The battery last ages, I use it for a few weeks, snapping a couple of pictures a day, before it'll need charging, and even then, it's only a few hours on charge and it's full again!

Cons:
This camera is useless in situations where it's not great lighting. The photos come out very grainy.

So yeah, all in all, a great camera, that I'm very happy with!

Mockanificent

Posted by Angela Noelle of Striking Keys.

Esky's movin' on up!

Farewell, traditional swinging tray highchair, hello sitting at the table with the rest of the clan! After shopping around for boosters online, I settled upon a classier and sturdier alternative - with better longevity to boot!

Behold, the Mocka Soho!

What makes it Mockanificent:

• It will grow with Esky (the seat and footrest have multiple heights).
  
• Esky can get up and down by herself - whereas many boosters would've required the rigmarole of lifting and/or strapping still.
• The price; I was looking at boosters in the ballpark of $100. Getting an uber-stylish, pull-up-to-the-table wooden high chair for $99.95 from a Christchurch family business instead? No-brainer. (Woah - lots of hyphens, sorry!)
  
• It's so much easier easy to clean than the padded, PVC-covered highchair I was accustomed to using...no more little creases lined with crumbs and mystery goop.
• Assembly was lemon squeezy easy (there are picturrrres).
  
• The Mocka website allows you to pay via internet banking - you don't have to use a credit card!
  
• Delivery was free! (and I live rurally even!)
  
• I only have to wipe one surface after meal-times.

The only thing I didn't like about the situation:

• Not having two of them! Ivy will be on solids in 3 short months, and once you go Mocka, there's no going back.
  

So I asked Mocka if they would give me another, because I sincerely wanted to sing their praises in return...

...and they said "yes!"
(can you believe it!?)

Now that's good business.

Go Mocka! You make rad stuff;
There's a sale on balance bikes right now, I couldn't help but notice, putting that covet-collage together.
We ended up buying one for Esky as a result (Christmas = done).

Yes, our tax credit for charitable donations came in, can you tell?


P.S. This review was 100% on my terms. If I am asked to review something, I am always truthful about the product or service. If I ask to review something (as is the case here), it is because I already know it's stupendous and feel compelled to tell you so.

Product Reviews - Sleep Ease Blend from Le Esscience

By Nikki Bollen from Multi-Tasking Mummy

http://www.leesscience.co.nz

I started using the Sleep Ease Blend, at Gillian's suggestion. I am a very restless sleeper, after 9 months of pregnancy and then a further 9 months at least of waking 3+ times a night, almost every night, thinking I had smothered my baby (who wasn't even in the bed) as well as 18months post-baby of back troubles, I was getting a bit past the point of being over tired. This is a record of my first 7 nights. 

Night 1 - I woke up feeling not the best, but I know that it will take awhile to kick in. Also, I only had about 6 hours sleep due to being up late working, so this was never going to help. I was also apprehensive about using a new product, which made me a little edgy.

Night 2 - I woke up feeling a little better, I know I slept more soundly last night that I have been, but the difference was only mild.

Night 3 - I didn't wake up the entire night! I know this because I am shocking at checking my phone everytime I wake up, and this time there was a text on my phone that had been there since 11.30 the night before. I was much more productive today, I got heaps of housework done and my mood was a little better.

Night 4 - I actually woke up not feeling like I had been hit by a truck today! I had the house tidy before morning tea time, and my little boy got a lot of playtime out of me.

Night 5 - I went to bed at a reasonable hour, and didn't wake until 8.30 when my little boy decided to wake up. This is the most sleep I have had in one block in well over 2 years.

Night 6 - I went to bed really late and was so tired that I forgot to use my Sleep Ease. Whoops. 

Night 7 - Used a little more of the oils tonight, more under my nose. This seems to have helped a little and I had another great nights sleep.

Bring on more good nights sleep, I might start feeling like an energetic mummy again soon!

New Section to Blog About: PRODUCTS!

BY SIMONE FROM GREATFUN4KIDS

I never thought I'd include a product section in our Undercover Blog... but lately I've been thinking, why not??

I don't blog about products on my regular blog... so many products are relevant only to New Zealand readers... but the readers of THIS blog are mostly Kiwis, so now I am thinking WHY NOT?

The principle remains the same... we aren't soliciting free stuff for the purposes of "review", we are sharing things with others that we love to use - or warning each other about the things we have discovered are a crappy waste of money.

So let the product blogging begin...

For myself I am going to start with a story about gluten free products. Everyone thinks going Gluten Free is expensive. Or bland and yucky. But I've been discovering some gluten free gems, which I want to share with you all.

What do you love? Have a favourite kitchen appliance/cake mix/cleaning product? Had a bad hair-dye job? Been sucked in by advertising? Wasted your money on the latest gizmo only to be disappointed?? Ahhh yes, I am looking forward to hearing your stories...

{Make sure you use the label "Products" and then a sub label e.g. Kitchen, grocery, beauty etc so we can easily find your stories in the contents.}