O'Keeffe's Working Hands

** I received a free product from Smiley360 and O'Keeffe's in return for my honest review. All opinions are my own. **

I have always had an issue with dry skin. Especially my hands and feet! Since being diagnosed with RSD Type 1 and 2, I have experienced some of the most terrible and most sensitive and dry skin I have ever had experience with. RSD does affect your bones, muscle, skin, etc, so, while I understand why I have such an issue, I don't get why so many products I have tried in the past, don't seem to help as much.

I am also a mom and even though I am no longer working at the bar (due to my disability, unfortunately, I had to stop working last March.), I am still scrubbing, washing, handling cold, wet laundry, giving bubble baths, assisting with showers, and since I love super hot water, my skin seems to be even worse then before! (I find that hot water provides much needed relief from several different pain layers, so, giving this up is definitely not an option.) You will find several hand creams and foot creams, throughout my house and truck! I have them on my bathroom shelf, my purse/backpack, my center console, my computer desk, a shelf in my kitchen, and in my PJ drawer. I sometimes wonder if some of these brands are made to dry your hands and feet out even more, so that you keep using bigger gobs and buying more!

See? The color matches perfectly with my wallets and purse!

The first thing I noticed about O'Keeffe's Working Hands, is the cool green color and the easy to use and open container. (Having to unscrew and open tight lids when you have dry hands is not only painful, but also sometimes causes your skin to crack even more!) I love how they fit in several different places, they are the perfect size! Not to mention, they stack quite nicely!

The local pharmacy sells both the hand cream and foot cream and at a very sweet price! Which is great! Because, I have been stocking up and using both of these religiously! Even without my smalltown pharmacy and their deals on O'Keeffe's Working Hands and Healthy Feet, I can find them at several locations and also at a reasonable price. My husband is a truck driver and often talks about how he hears truck drivers talk about how awesome O'Keeffe's Working Hands is and how he sees them being sold at every truck stop he has ever been in. Which is why I used to just assume that this brand was geared more towards truck drivers, construction crews, mechanics, factory workers and people who work outdoors. It really never occurred to me, that they would be especially useful for busy moms! (But, they are! I promise!)

While this isn't a cure all, miracle cream, it will certainly help hydrate and help by putting up a barrier to keep water from hurting your skin even more. Any little bit helps and the fact that Working Hands helps with their fancy barrier, makes perfect sense! I also enjoy learning about how this product works, and the fact that they don't have claims like, "Oh, this is a cure all!" BLAH BLAH! Nope, just honest and reasonable and this, my friends, is what I personally look for in a brand :) O'Keeffe's Keepin it real!

One more cool thing about O'Keeffe's, if you find them on social media, you just may have a chance at winning 1 of 5 O'Keeffe's prizes, every Friday! Ok, I'll give you a few clues as to where to find them :)

You can follow them on Facebook....
Twitter
and Instagram!

Wet Ones Review (Did You See The Package Choices?!)

* I received free products in return for my honest reviews through Smiley360 and Wet Ones. All of my opinions and statements are my own. Receiving a free product or sample does not change my honest opinion and thoughts of the product. *

One thing I am a little nutty about, is, cleanliness. Now, my house may not always look super clean, or my truck, lol. But, it's usually just clutter. Mostly very organized clutter but clutter nonetheless.
I can't stand sticky, gooey, spills, drops, food, dirt, grime of any kind whether it's on my hands, my kid's face or the counter. (Or anywhere!) So, I'm kind of an addict when it comes to cleaning products, especially wipes.
I always grab cleaning wipes and baby wipes, oh and bathroom wipes. However, those don't do the job as good as I'd like them to when it comes to actual hands, faces, legs, elbows, even kid bellies. They may "clean" those spaces for the time being but as soon as I can get to a bathroom or kitchen sink, I have to rescrub with warm, soapy water.
Everybody has heard of, Wet Ones by now, I believe. I know they have been around for quite some time and I have used them in the past, but I never really ran out to stock up or refill very often. It just wasn't something I really thought I actually needed so much. I just settled for using the baby wipes or harsh cleaning wipes that I already had lying around.
One day, I received an email about a new Smiley360 mission with, Wet Ones. I thought, "Hmmm, this may turn out to be interesting. Besides, I'm actually kind of in the market for something like this." Since, I mean, everybody has messy times, whether there are little kids involved or not. I've spilled coffee on me while driving or just while drinking it and needed to rush to a bathroom when I arrived at my destination to not look like a slob!!
Luckily, I was accepted in the mission and started reading about this brand I knew about for several years but unfortunately, never paid much attention too.
I was pretty surprised to find out so many things I didn't know.
For instance, Wet Ones kills 99.99% of bacteria. Did you know this? I never realized it but I also never thought about it. I did know that the baby wipes that may smell so lovely, weren't killing any germs and they leave a residue on surfaces and sort of cause my hands to slip on the steering wheel. (Which is NOT good!)
I also didn't know that, Wet Ones has aloe! I do love aloe and I know that works well for my skin and is super good for my little kiddos' skin.
Ok, so, the day came when our new mission box arrived from Smiley360! Deegan is usually with me throughout the day while his siblings are at school, so, we opened the box together. (He's an awesome helper because the tiniest things make him so happy!)
He also loves trying all of the samples and things we receive, even lip balms. But that is about where he draws the line for beauty products!
We received a stack of coupons to hand out. (High value coupons too! $1 off any 1 Wet Ones) We also received a canister of citrus scented Wet Ones, a travel pack and a box of single use Wet Ones.
My kids love having their very own things. Like, eyeglass cleaning pads, sprays and cloths, lip balms, little hand sanitizers, cough drops, tiny tissue packs, whatever I can throw together for them to take care of themselves and share with friends if need be, they love it. It makes them feel like a big person. (Note: Yes, we teach the importance of sharing, however, sharing lip balm or any product of the sort is not recommended and we do tell our children not to share those types of products.)

These individually wrapped antibacterial hand wipes are a great addition to a kid's care pack and fit perfectly in a little sandwich baggie, backpack, lunch box, pocket, wherever your child likes to pack their special little care package, these are seriously cool!

They are also easy to open and smell so pleasant, you'll almost want a kid to get some sort of dirt or slop on them, just so you can smell them ;) (No chemical smell!) 

That shocked me too. It actually smelled fresh and clean and very "citrusy". There wasn't a bad odor or any chemical kind of smells that you sometimes get with cleaning cloths. These just smelled, clean.

I really am quite fond of the canisters! These are packaged so well and I love the pretty designs! I also am a fan of the reasonable prices and availability of sales!
These work in any room of the house. I switched back and forth from the kitchen, to the bathroom, to the living room and back to the bathroom again.
The kids have gotten used to using these often and they also like the fresh, fun scent of citrus. It just smells so much nicer than chemicals. I even sometimes find that "unscented" wipes still smell like something, I'm not sure what, but, I'm not liking it.
Remember I said these have aloe?! Well, you can certainly tell they do because they actually keep your skin super soft and are very gentle. I especially have a hard time with my hands in the winter but I am fascinated with how much these actually help keep my hands soft. Using these for a quick, "handwashing" doesn't feel like I just stripped my skin of all of it's moisture and that makes me feel safe about using it for my kids too.
What was once considered a "luxury" at our house, is now something I like to have around all the time. Even if we are near a sink, these are sometimes perfect for quick spot touches and even to sanitize since I don't always use anti bacterial soaps in the bathroom or kitchen.
That's another thing! You don't have that stickiness after using these. You know, the kind that makes you want to run to the nearest place with running water and some sort of soap?? These really feel like you just used warm, sudsy water and there is no need to redo anything!
Do you purchase/use, Wet Ones at your house?
What do you think of them?
I would love to read comments about these products. I know we will be using them all the time now. Especially the individually wrapped wipes.
(PS...if you are not a member of, Smiley360, you should check them out!! You might qualify for missions like this one!)

Trees Rock!

** I received a sample and coupons from Scotties and Smiley360 in return for my honest review. Receiving free samples does not affect my thoughts, feelings or review of this product. **





I am always looking for brands and businesses who give back in some way, especially in the form of saving our future! (We have children and grandchildren to grow up here yet so this is kind of important!)
I have to say, I wasn't aware of the, Trees Rock campaign that Scotties Facial Tissues has been doing but thanks to, Smiley360, I was given the opportunity to try Scotties tissues and we are grateful we were given the chance to learn about them.
 I never really thought about the brand of tissues we use, if they give back, if they plant trees, if they help our schools, I mean, they are tissues and sadly, I just never thought to question this. ( I know, it is sad,right?) I try to stick with as many organic and green products and brands as we possibly can and I don't know why, tissues just weren't ever on my radar!
Here is what I found out: Scotties actually plants 3 trees for every 1 that they use! How is that for starters? They are also environmentally considerate and are dedicated to responsible forestry. So, because of all of this, they decided to create, Trees Rock! (Yes, I know right? Just when you were thinking, "What?? A tissue brand does all of this?" Well, yes, they do and it gets even better yet!
So, Scotties hosts a contest called, Trees Rock and they have some really sweet prizes!
All you have to do is have your child (or children) create a video or write an essay about, why trees rock. That shouldn't be to hard. There are tons of reasons why trees rock! (I live in Pennsylvania, so, I'm kind of used to being surrounded by lots of trees!)
I know you can ask your kids this one simple question.... "Why do trees rock?" and like all kids, their little brains start moving and they come up with some extraordinary stuff! The same with videos! Our little ones have wild and crazy imaginations! (This is a good thing!) But, maybe even pitch the idea to your children's teacher, maybe grab a group of friends, I'm sure your little ones can come up with something spectacular! (As of this post date, the video entries are no longer being accepted. However, they are still accepting essays!)
Now let's get to the prizes! There are many, many, many prizes and Scotties splits this into 2 categories. One for video entries and one for essay entries. Then, they narrow it down by grade! There are seriously prizes per grade!
For the grand prize video entry, Scotties will award your school with $10,000 AND a Trees Rock Entertainment and Planting Event!
One winning school from each grade category will be awarded cash for their school!
 There are also the essay winners! These winners will be awarded with a $250 gift card for themselves, along with a $250 gift card for their teacher. (Think of all of the school supplies and Scotties cubes that their teachers can buy with that!)
After all of this, I started to feel really bad about the fact that I never really bothered to look into brands that sell things we all need and use. I definitely learned not to take anybody for granted anymore, no matter how "simple" they may seem, it really isn't very simple at all. This brand truly pulls more than their fair share!
That's right! I guess I should add our review of Scotties tissue cubes!
Well, Genevive thinks they are the greatest because they have these 2 tiny kitty cats on the package! Kitty cats are always adorable!
I like the cubes because they fit in places where I need them to fit. They are the perfect size and they have a lot of shades of blue and designs in blue. (blue happens to be my favorite color!)
We like that the tissues are as soft as the kitty cats on the package and I like that there are 70 sheets in a cube! The price is very reasonable, under $2 a cube at my local stores.
Actually, Scotties has more tissues per box versus the leading national brand. Not only are you getting more for your money, you are helping to make sure there are more trees planted! I don't know what more you could ask for?
Has your child entered the Trees Rock contest?
What do you think your school would do with a grand prize of $10,000?
I would love to hear what your thoughts are! Do you use Scotties? Did you know they plant 3 trees for every 1 they use?