June 04, 2008

recommendations!

i've been tagged by kass to provide 4 word-of-mouth recommendations for the benefit of the Internet At Large. i adore this idea, because pretty much 70% of my purchases these days are due to blogger recommendations. bare escentuals? my camera? philosphy face wash? the last three books i've read? seeing SATC on opening weekend? all due to bloggers suggestions. also all AWESOME. so! here we have some suggestions of my own. the first 2 are pretty generic, and probably also in use by the vast majority of humans, but JUST IN CASE, i want you to know how fantastic they are.

#1:
spray-on sunscreen. i swear to you, this product has CHANGED MY LIFE. spray-on sunscreen is, after contact lenses, the invention that has most improved my life. no joke. we all know i'm a little, uh, burn-prone? shall we say? so i was a little hesitant to put my skin in the care of a misty not-rubbed-in spray... but y'all, i am CONVERTED. this stuff works AMAZINGLY well. a rundown of the benefits? why certainly, i'm glad you asked!
*coverage is great. it's way harder to miss weird patches when you can just mist all exposed skin
*no weird handprints in your burn/tan from rubbing in lotion unevenly
*you can cover your ENTIRE BODY without help. really! you can reach the MIDDLE OF YOUR OWN BACK.
*you know how much it sucks to reapply suncreen when you're at the beach, and you've got sand on your legs and on your hands, and it's like rubbing in sunscreen using sandpaper? PROBLEM SOLVED.
i'd say the only downside is that if you reapply frequently (uh, like some people i know...) it can form a kind of inpenetrable layer o' sunscreen on your skin. obviously good for blocking sun; not so awesome if you're planning to throw on a cute dress and go out after the beach without showering first.

#2:
angled measuring cups. i assume everyone and their mom already uses these, but just in case? GO GET THEM RIGHT NOW. you won't know how you managed without them.

#3:
rick steves' guidebooks. i first stumbled across one of his books when i was planning a solo trip through italy, and i got various guidebooks out of the library for each city i was hitting. the only decent one i could find for Rome happened to be rick steves', who i'd never heard of at the time. BRILLIANT, i tell you. he gives fantastic walking tour suggestions, with loads of interesting historic information about what you'll see on the way. it drives me nuts when i'm walking through a city, and my guidebook points out the famous consulate on the town square, built in 1609.... and that's it. rick steves will tell you WHY it's famous, fun facts about people who were thrown off the walls, and where to look to still see the canonball marks from that time the british invaded, or whatever. every other guidebook i've tried since now pales in comparison, and i only travel with rick these days. i highly, HIGHLY recommend his guidebooks to anyone with an upcoming trip. the only downside is that he only puts out books for Europe.

#4: the dc monuments
at night. everyone who comes to DC does the requisite monument tour - and it's totally worth it - but nearly everyone goes during the day, since, you know, it's light out then and stuff. a few years ago, some friends came into town and we had very limited time to show them around, so we ended up walking the monuments after sunset, and WOW. dc actually does a really lovely job of lighting the monuments, and with so many of them incorporating water, the effect is stunning. those pictures in the link were taken years ago with a crappy camera and very little technique - i'm thinking sometime in the next few weeks i'll head out again with my real camera and maybe reshoot the set.

of course, the mother lode of all recommendation websites is that gem maintained by
swistle and linda, sundrybuzz. ooh, can that be my bonus recommendation? i recommend you go check out their recommendation website. and also use spray-on sunscreen. your skin will thank you.

21 comments:

  1. That spray-on sunscreen is a LIFESAVER with a small, wriggly child. (but it's COLD, so be forewarned!)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What did you think of those books? I've only read Lamb, but I have the other two. Just haven't motivated to start them yet.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Do you like any and all brands of spray on sunscreen or are you partial to only one? I ask because I almost bought some Aveeno the other day but wasn't sure if it was the best one. I usually use Neutrogena Ultra Sheer (non-spray).

    I need sunscreen for Orlando so this is very timely!

    ReplyDelete
  4. I've never seen the angled measuring cups! What is the deal? What is that oval band inside of it? WHAT AM I MISSING OUT ON (*panic*)?!?!?! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Okay Torsten is the one who turned me on to spray-on sunscreen, and honestly? It might be part of what made me fall in love with him.

    ReplyDelete
  6. the angled measuring cups blew my mind

    must. have. now.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've avoided the spray on sunscreen. I have questions - How do you do your (or a child's) face? Does it damage clothing if it (inevitably) gets on it?

    ReplyDelete
  8. I have a friend in town and am doing the DC monuments tonight!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Same happened with me and seeing the monuments at night! I've given so many day tours of them, but a friend of mine came into DC late with her brother and boyfriend so I just met up with them at the Washington monument in the evening. And you're so right, they are amazing!

    Let me know if you like the Georgetown Cupcakes!

    ReplyDelete
  10. I get 90% of my product ideas from other bloggers too. And occasionally, when someone emails me to say they bought something I reccomended? My heart smiles.

    ReplyDelete
  11. I am right there with you on the spray-on sunscreen. LOVE IT!!!! Also great, the sticks. They're like chapstick, but bigger around. Great for faces (especially kids').

    ReplyDelete
  12. I like spray on sunscreen too. I have no clue why I would need an angled measuring cup though.

    ~Jef

    ReplyDelete
  13. We did a tapas tour by Rick Steves in Madrid and it hit the mark. Perfect. His recommendations are great!

    ReplyDelete
  14. Um so I was totally unfamiliar with angled measuring cups and now I MUST have them.

    ReplyDelete
  15. I've been complaining on my blog how all the good bloggers are leaving so on the recommendation of Kass, I have broadened myself to you! Sweet find, you're definitely on my radar now.

    I have to say, Philosphy face wash is awesome-I've been using On A Clear Day for 6 months now and my skin loves it!

    ReplyDelete
  16. if only I could REMEMBER to buy and use sunscreen...but then again, I rarely go anywhere....

    ReplyDelete
  17. I'm very intrigued by this spray-on suncreen idea. A friend of mine used it and said he got burnt in tiny little spots all over his body from the spray. I am totally prone to the handprint sunburns though, so maybe I'll try it.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I LOVE RICK STEVES...every time i go to europe i buy his books

    and spray on sunscreen..before it came out i would just burn because i hated the feel of the goopy traditional sunscreen

    ReplyDelete
  19. I had never seen an angled measuring cup, and I am intrigued.

    I wish for a booth I could just step into and close my eyes and it would do a huge all-over spray of sunscreen.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Love the spray sunscreen. Also the stick variety for faces. Love!

    ReplyDelete
  21. Rick Steves is da bomb. My mom lives about an hour from his headquarters (Edmonds, WA) and goes to seminars there. She could do commercials for him. We used his books when we lived in Germany. Art Museum 101 was terrific!!

    Monuments at night, huh? One of these days...

    ReplyDelete