Product review: Drill brush for cleaning bathtub

These brushes worked better and easier than scrubbing by hand, but don't think it is easy or fast.  You are using a screwdriver (your own) to clean so you are moving around something that is fairly heavy.  It takes many many passes if you are working with some caked on dirt.

I was glad I got the three brush set, because I thought I would use the flat brush most, but turns out I liked the round most. This is because of the angles the brush attached to the screwdriver gives you.  Holding it perpendicular to the surface (which is what the flat brush does) was not very uncomfortable.  The small brush was also useful to get into corners where the large brush simply did not fit.

I took me about 30 - 40 minutes to clean the tub (medium dirty tub, not terrible but it had some scum that was really stuck on).  After I was done the bristles were still in good shape, not mashed up, so I will be able to get multiple uses out of this set.

Finally, there are many vendors offering exactly the same sets that very in price by about $10 so shop around.  I almost paid twice as much for a set because it was offered on Black Friday promo, when I noticed this set at a better price.

Ali Julia review

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Allied Tools Portable Work Station

This work station has a nice size and shape. The gap between the particle boards can be adjusted. The work stations folds up for storage. I like its overall design.

The legs are made out of metal and the top particle board. Unfortunately, the metal parts are extremely flimsy. How flimsy? The corners of each leg got bent during shipping and the metal is so soft that I was able to straighten most of the pieces with my bare hands. And I have very weak hands! This workstation is not for heavy duty work.  

I purchased this work station in the summer of 2017.  I am not using it for anything heavy so it held up fine through several summer projects. 




You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★☆☆

Product review: Wideskall Heavy Duty Bike Storage Hooks Set Ceiling Mount

I selected these hooks because they seem to have the best price per hook among many options for the bike hooks.  I purchased many bike storage hooks for hanging various things on the rafters of my basement.  These hooks are exactly as I expected.

The hooks are 6" long and 2.25" wide.  The steel of the hook is covered by a silicone coating.  The package had 4 packages with 2 hooks each for a total of 8 hooks. The hooks are made in China and are distributed by a California company. 

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Swiffer Sweeper Heavy Duty Mop Pad Refills for Floor Mopping

I have been using Swiffer sweeper for many years, and I love using my swiffer sweeper - it is effecient, light, easy to use and quiet. 

Recently I saw a TV ad that featured Heavy Duty Mop Pads and decided to give them a try.  The pads fit my original mop head without a problem.

After trying the heavy duty pads I decided that I am not going to buy them again if the price is higher then the original pads. I did not think they did any better job then the originals, and frankly if the pad is holding a lot of dust I rather switch to the new pad then risking the dust bunnies jumping onto the area rugs when I get to close to their edge.
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Swiffer 360 Dusters Extendable Handle Starter Kit

I have been using Swiffer duster for many years.  This my first experience with extended handle and 360 duster.  The extended handle is a little flimsy by comparison to the regular handle, but it is very convenient. I am able to reach things without bending or standing on a step stool.

The assembly was easy - all I had to do was pull out the handle and let the nobs settle in the holes to hold the extension.  The handle collapses easily for storage.  The head can be locked at any angle.

Both the original dusters and the 360 dusters fit the extended handle. Neither one slips out during cleaning.  The old handle has a clip that holds the duster very well.  The extended handle does not have a clip, but I have not noticed a difference in use.

Even though I liked the 360 dusters I do not think they worth the extra cost and I will continue using the original dusters with the extended handle.  The extended handle is great, definitely an upgrade. It allows me to get done faster.  In addition I have a bad back so anything that allows me to get stuff done without bending is a good thing.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Book review: How the World Sees You: Discover Your Highest Value Through the Science of Fascination by Sally Hogshead

This book was rather boring to read because it has a lot of "fluff", a lot of platitudes, a lot of self promotion, and self branding.  The book could benefit from a good editor that could trim out the redundant text and highlight the main points so they are not lost among all the platitudes.

Putting aside the annoyances I had with the style of the book, what about the content? I found it interesting in the beginning.  However, it became less and less interesting as the same idea was repeated over and over and it became more boring with every page.

I have a good understanding of who I am, my strength and my weaknesses. I had hard time fitting myself into one category. It felt to me that the model was oversimplified. 

The take away from the book is to concentrate on your strength and ignore your weaknesses and that seems to me to be naive and unpractical in the real world.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆

Product review: Burt's Bees 100% Natural Moisturizing Lip Balm, Pink Grapefruit

Burt's Bees pink grapefruit is my favorite lip balm, with Mango flavor being my second favorite. Before I settled on Burt Bees lip balms, I tried a large variety of lip balms keeping notes on what I liked and did not like about them.

In this review I am including a comparison of 5 lip balms as I experienced significant difference in satisfaction with them, and I thought a comparison between them might be useful to others.

For many years I used the original Chapstick, which provides a very good moisturizer, it spreads well and provides long lasting effects. Its flavor however is pretty boring and led me to seek out alternatives. Blistex raspberry lemonade has a strong but nice flavor. When you just put it on it taste like a burst of lemon and raspberry almost like licking a candy. This strong flavor does not linger however, it mellows out pretty quickly. I liked the flavor, but found that the moisturizing effect on my lips did not last as long as some of the other balms. It also has many more chemical ingredients than the other lip balms. Mentholatum Natural Ice had a flavor that I really did not like, it was hard to spread, and the moisturizing effect did not last. Then I tried Burt Bees Mango Butter and it combined everything I was looking for - taste and longevity.


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Burt's Bees Pink Grapefruit
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Sunblock: None
Taste:.................Grapefruit, slight sour and slightly sweet
Effect:................Long lasting
Stick:.................Fairly soft and easy to spread
Cost:..................2.98 per stick, sometimes on sale at 2.00
Ingredients:...........Ingredients: helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, cera alba (beeswax, cire d'abeille), aroma (flavor)*, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, lanolin, citrus paradisi (grapefruit) seed oil, rosmarinus officinalis • (rosemary) leaf extract, tocopherol, ammonium glycyrrhizate, canola oil (nuile de colza), glycine soja (soybean) oil, limonene natural flavor

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Burt's Bees Mango Butter Burt's Bees Nourising Lip Balm
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Sunblock: None
Taste:.................Mango, light and very pleasant
Effect:................Long lasting
Stick:.................Fairly soft and easy to spread
Cost:..................2.25 per stick
Ingredients:...........helianthus annuus (sunflower) seed oil, cocos nucifera (coconut) oil, cera alba (beeswax, cire d'abeille), aroma (flavor)*, ricinus communis (castor) seed oil, mangifera indica (mango) seed butter, lanolin, ammonium glycyrrhizinate, tocopherol, rosmarinus officinalis (rosemary) leaf extract, glycine soja (soybean) oil, canola oil (huile de colza), limonene, linalool. *natural flavor
________________________________________________________
ChapStick, Original ChapStick, Original
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Taste:.................Light almost not noticable
Effect:................Long lasting
Stick:.................Fairly soft and easy to spread
Sunblock:..............None
Cost:..................1.40 per stick
Ingredients:...........Active Ingredients: Padimate (1.5%), White Petrolatum (44%). Inactive Ingredients: Arachidyl Propionate, Camphor, Cetyl Alcohol, D&c Red No. 6 Barium Lake, Fd&c Yellow No. 5 Aluminum Lake, Fragrance, Isopropyl Lanolate, Isopropyl Myristate, Lanolin, Light Mineral Oil, Methylparaben, Octyldodecanol, Oleyl Alcohol, Phenyl Methicone, Propylparaben, Titanium Dioxide, Waxes.

________________________________________________________
Blistex raspberry lemonade Blistex Raspberry Lemonade Blast
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Taste:.................Strong raspberry lemon, burst of nice flavor, almost like candy for a second
Effect:................Not long lasting
Stick:.................Fairly soft and easy to spread
Sunblock:..............SPF 15
Cost:..................1.21 per stick
Ingredients:...........Active ingredient: dimethicone 1%, octinoxate 7,5%, oxybenzone 2.5% Inactive ingredients: alumina, beeswas, diethylhexyl adipate, ethylhexyl palmitate, ethylhexyl stearate, flavors, glyceryl stearate, hydrogenated coconut oil, isopropyl myristate,
isopropyl palmitate, isopropyl stearate, jojoba esters, microcrystalline wax, myristyl myristate, phenoxyethanol, phenyl trimethicone, polyethylene, polyhydrixystearic acid, saccharin, silica, tetrahexyldecyl ascorbate, titanium dioxide, tocopheryl acetate.

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Mentholatum Natural Ice Medicated Lip Protectant SPF 15 Mentholatum Natural Ice Medicated Lip Protectant
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Taste:.................Medicinal and Minty
Effect:................Not long lasting
Stick:.................Hard and hard to spread
Sunblock:..............SPF 15
Cost:..................1.17 per stick (note when I bought it on sale for 60 cents per stick)
Ingredients:...........Active Ingredients: Dimethicone (1%), Octinoxate (7.5%), Octisalate (5%). Inactive Ingredients:..Fragrance, Lanolin, Menthol, Mineral Oil, Ozokerite, Petrolatum.
________________________________________________________

Burt's Bees Grapefruit lip balms is my winner. It is all natural, great flavor, and it works well as a long lasting lip moisturizer. With Burt's Bees Mango a close runner up.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★