Everyone has a favourite product or two, or more. Yes, generally I'm anti-consumerist and ridicule people who rely on brand names and designer goods to establish/convey a sense of self/identity, but there's no avoiding the fact that we need certain things to get through our day. So my favourites tend to be things that are good quality, do what they say they'll do (if they have any advertising), and are a good value. Off the top of my head, my favourites include AlphaHydrox skincream (by far the best exfoliating cream, better than Roc and all the other AHA creams and cheaper, available at Longs), my Canon S600 printer (5 years old and going strong, cartridges only $6 or so), Glysomed for really dry skin (the thick cream in a green tube, the richest most effective moisturizer EVER and cheap), Reactine allergy meds (nothing else works, available in Canada only sorry), and Gold Toe sport socks (nice and thick, don't lose elasticity, fit snug, cheap at Marshall's yup).
Stuff I generally think is a rip off and a joke - anything Clinique (except the men's face scrub because nothing is as abrasive and I like it that way), Palm (talk about lack of progress and shitty UI), Nike shoes (cheap construction, poor support, fall apart fast), Essie nailcolor (overpriced for shitty nail polish that goes on dull and chips easily), Aldo shoes (I'm still bitter about several pair of poorly constructed shoes I got in the mid 1990s that they refused to exchange and insisted on half assed repairs). Anyways, speaking of bad skincare products, I read this book over the summer and I recommend it. She has her biases (e.g. not liking shiny eye shadows) but a lot of the beauty industry myths she busts seem well informed and her review of products she discusses that I've tried seem bang on so far. Read it before you shell out any more money at the department store beauty counter. I don't like the fact that she started her own line of products recently but she doesn't peddle them as hard as Dr. Phil (though I still like Dr. Phil).
So I'm curious, what are your favourite and least favourite products?
9 comments:
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i like astroglide.
spam from a cat jewelry peddler and some perv. great.
Trader Joe's has some badass shaving gel I really like. Works great and makes me smell loverly :D
Oh, and Charmin ass-wipes are the shit! (literally I suppose). I'm a big fan of anything that de-dingles!
Not sure if i'm any better than the jewelry peddler and some perv, but those are my two recs on products ;)
OH dont forget Viva paper towels, thick and soft like cloth.
I'm going to check out that book you recommended. I've always been extremely curious if the cost of say, $100+ for La Creme is really worth all that. The people who say it is, also happens to be label whores, so I can see the bias in their opinions. But I do find Shiseido to be good. SK-II found in Asia is amazing. It's also amazingly expensive.
Ok, my fav's. I used to love Nike shoes, until they hiked their prices and came out with weird looking space shoes. Mizuno's and New Balance are my fav's.
Burts Bee and Soft Lips chapstick.
Nalgene water bottle.
Least Fav.
Victoria's Secret (thought i'm guilty of shopping there). Aldo, I stopped shopping there since highschool. Neutrogena facial products.
I agree about the Clinique Men's Face Scrub...anything else is just ineffective and a big waste of money. Clinique sun block is also nice.
In terms of computer peripherals, I like Logitech because of their range of products which are modestly priced and can be used for a long time.
Even though I don't know what cat jewelry is, I would probably hate it ;-)
JON
My New Balance shoes. Not because they're New Balance, but because they are so well fitted for my feet that I have walked in them for 8 hours straight in Taiwan and not had sore feet. Probably around $90 USD, I dunno, because it was a gift.
My BR t-shirt. The material is just so light and cool, and the fit is nice and comfy. I think this one was only $15 USD.
My Braun MultiQuick handblender. It's one of the few kitchen gadgets I've carted around with me wherever I move. It's doubles as a blender, mixer, chopper, ice crusher, etc ... and it makes yummy crepe batter. $99 USD a year ago.
My Kenwood micro stereo set. it's compact, and sounds awesome. $300 USD some 5 years ago.
My Mac. But not right now because the harddrive is dead.
I am not picky in general, but I know what you mean by having my favourites and least favourites!
I'm a diehard Fuji digital camera fan. Had to buy a Canon in a crunch due to weird lack of Fujis in Japan, but that lil' cam got dropped so many times but kept on truckin'.
Love my Logitech optical mouse. Just the right size for small hands, love the color scheme (navy blue / silver), scroll wheel, and best of all, low maintenance. My Logitech bluetooth headset, even though it looks like a leafblower on my head. Logitech in general, I like. [waves to JON]
Touch scrolling on my HP notebook.
I usually think of OXO as an excessive and unnecessary luxury, but I love my OXO can opener. You have to try one to know what I mean.
Hanes socks and underwear. Cheap, good quality, long lasting.
My Canadian must-have is original Labello chapstick. (I'm a Canadian too. Yay!)
I'm anti-Motorola cell phone because of their general poorly thought out user experience, IMHO.
I'm mostly anti-Sony because of their penchant for coming out with products that use proprietary (and therefore more expensive) memory / peripherals / attachments. However I am mostly satisfied with my Sony Ericsson T610 cell phone.
Not too much on this end in terms of skin care / beauty. My geekiness is showing through, and this comment is competing with your post in length. Signing off! :)
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