Prenatal massage is an excellent way for a pregnant woman to relax, unwind, and relieve stress safely and naturally.

Here are some of the top reasons to enjoy a prenatal massage today:

• Reduce Anxiety: Studies have confirmed that regular massage treatments throughout pregnancy can help to reduce anxiety and even alleviate depression. Most prenatal massage is done through the lighter therapy of Swedish massage, which helps to relax tension in the muscles and improve circulation using mild pressure applied to the muscles. Swedish massage is the recommended form of prenatal massage since it will help to alleviate discomfort without causing any harm to the baby.
• Relieve Muscle Cramps: For any pregnant women suffering from muscle cramps, spasms, and lower back pain as a result of carrying around extra weight, prenatal massage may be the answer. Prenatal massage is safer and much more effective than taking over-the-counter pain medication to manage pain. This will help a pregnant mom to feel more balanced and serene to improve her overall health. The act of relieving physical stress during pregnancy is a powerful tool to relieve emotional stress at the same time. This pain relief can work hand-in-hand to reduce even more stress and anxiety that a pregnant mom may be carrying around without knowing it.
• Reduce Swelling: If a pregnant mom is struggling with swelling of her joints later on in pregnancy, this is often a result of reduced circulation that occurs when the uterus places pressure on major blood vessels. Regular prenatal massage will help to stimulate soft tissue and reduce accumulated fluid to ease swelling. This will help to flush toxic waste from the body and aid in hydration.

Women who enjoy prenatal massage can greatly improve their circulation to relieve minor aches and pains, like headaches. If a woman is having difficulty sleeping at night, a prenatal massage can often help to put her body back into balance so that she sleeps more deeply to get the rest that she and her baby need.

Prior to considering prenatal massage, make sure that you work with a licensed prenatal massage therapist. It’s also important to discuss with your doctor beforehand to ensure that you are a candidate for prenatal massage.

Photo by vincentmeloche1

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

Yesterday we talked about the new at-home teeth whitening product Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips that promise a whiter, brighter smile in just two hours. So, do they actually work? Take a look at the picture above to see my partner’s smile before using the new whitestrips and after.

As you can tell from the picture, there is a subtle difference in his smile after using the new whitestrips. For the most part, the changes are subtle; the areas of mild yellowing he had going on near his gums have been lightened, but is still there nonetheless. The most drastic change is in his front teeth, which I expected regardless of the fact that the whitestrips do reach to the side teeth.

The process of using the strips is quite easy. Each package of Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips comes with four treatments and each treatment includes a strip for the top teeth and another for the bottom teeth. All you have to do is peel each strip away from the packaging and they attach easily to your teeth, able to bend and contour to your mouth and each tooth’s unique shape.

While in use and doing their teeth-whitening thing, they can be a little tough to get used to. Who is really used to having their teeth wrapped in plastic strips, anyway? My partner had a slight sensitivity issue a few minutes after he had placed the strips onto his teeth, saying that it felt like he had a cavity. Luckily, that not-so-great feeling subsided as he became used to having the strips on. Removing them is even easier than putting them on; just peel them off your teeth, rinse your mouth with water to remove any excess gel that may have been left on your teeth from the strips and look at your moderately brighter smile!

What was really surprising was that immediately after he removed the whitestrips from his teeth, we noticed the subtle changes in his front teeth and along his gum line. The outcome was just that–subtle. However, a day after the treatment, his teeth have gotten even brighter, which is pretty awesome! Also, the information that comes with this product warns that people may experience teeth sensitivity for up to two to three days after a treatment. This has not applied to us as my partner said his teeth do not feel any more sensitive than normal, but if you already have sensitive teeth, this is something you want to keep in mind.

Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips aren’t going to give you the super white smile we have all lusted after while browsing through magazines (those pictures are photoshopped anyway), but they will give your teeth a substantial pick-me-up.

Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips are currently available at drugstores and mass retailers nationwide. Each package is $54.99 and contains four whitening doses. This may not seem like a lot, but one box will last you an entire year as each treatment lasts for three months! To try them out for yourself, be sure to advantage of this $7-off coupon!

Giveaway

Now that we have had the opportunity to try out the new Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips, now it’s your turn and thanks to One2One Network and Crest, we are able to give one lucky Woman Tribune reader a package of the new whitening strips to try for themselves.

Required Entry

Leave a comment telling us what life event you would whiten for in just two hours with Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips.

Extra Entries

Leave a separate comment for each additional entry and be sure to include your username for Twitter and Facebook entries if applicable.

• “Like” Crest Whitestrips on Facebook
• Subscribe to Woman Tribune
• Follow Woman Tribune on Twitter
• “Like” Woman Tribune on Facebook
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post and details about Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips. (This entry is worth 2 entries so leave 2 separate comments with the link to your blog post.)
• Stumble this post (using the button below) on Stumble Upon
• Tweet about this giveaway (This can be done once per day, leave a link to your tweet in your comment)
  

  What would you whiten for in 2hrs? Win new Crest 3D White Express Whitestrips from @WomanTribune shar.es/b1rgx ends 10/6

This giveaway ends Thursday, October 6th at 11:59 p.m. ET. This giveaway is open to all U.S. residents over the age of 18 at the time of entry. The winner will be randomly chosen and contacted by email; they then have 48 hours (2 days) to respond to that email or another winner will be chosen.

Full Contest Disclaimer

This giveaway is now closed and the winner is…

Congratulations!

Disclosure: I am participating in the Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips campaign hosted by One2One Network. This is a sponsored post and all opinions are 100% mine.

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

For most of my life, my teeth have been an almost constant source of aggravation, medical problems and at times, severely low self-esteem. My genes have not been very kind to me in the dental department and as a result I have always had crooked and crowded teeth and I was diagnosed with Periodontal Disease at a young age. This one ailment has since led to a whole host of medical problems. The point is that those feelings of insecurity is something I totally understand. One of the most common issues people have with their teeth is that they lose their sparkle over time and their smiles aren’t as white and radiant as they should be.

At-home teeth whitening is not a new, untapped market; there have been numerous specialty products as well as toothpastes and mouthwashes all advertising the message that they can make your smile whiter. Most of them do very little or nothing, making those who try these products turn their backs on at-home teeth whitening all together and if possible, they will opt to make an appointment with their dentist to achieve the white smile of their dreams.

Crest is looking to change those negative thoughts about at-home teeth whitening with new Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips ($54.99, 4 treatments). My partner was extremely interested in trying these new whitestrips out and because of my teeth-related issues, I let him. He is a musician and guitar instructor who often needs to be on-camera with students, teaching group lessons and he also goes out to the studio of the company he works for to record video lessons. Having a bright, white smile is important and the possibility to having a whiter smile in just two hours is extremely convenient for the kind of work he does.

Here is a picture of his big, teeth-showing not-smile before-whitestrips. Tomorrow I will be posting about our experience with using Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips (along with a special giveaway for you!) and of course, we’ll see how well they worked from the after picture evidence.

What life event would you whiten for in just two hours with Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips?

Disclosure: I am participating in the Crest 3D White 2 Hour Express Whitestrips campaign hosted by One2One Network. This is a sponsored post and all opinions are 100% mine.

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

If yoga helps anyone the most, it certainly is women. In reality, yoga is not gender specific. Yoga is for men, women and children, the sick as well as the healthy. Certain poses and postures are known to relieve stress, especially brought about due to hormonal changes in women, adolescence, young women, pregnant women, lactating mothers, women undergoing menopause, older women and so on.

Today, health- and figure-conscious women all over the world practice yoga. Madonna is a classic example. She has proudly declared the benefits she has accrued through yoga.

Women resort to yoga not only for health reasons or to maintain a proportionate body weight, but also for cosmetic reasons. It is a proven fact that women who practice yoga regularly have a better complexion, shiny hair and sparkling eyes. Yoga is a beneficial for one’s body as it is beneficial for one’s spirit. Practicing yoga and meditation regularly facilitates integration of mind and body. Women who practice yoga are reportedly self-contained, poised, have a high tolerance level, are better focused and are flexible physically and mentally.

Physical Benefits of Yoga

As mentioned, yoga is useful to women of all ages. With a rich diet having replaced a well-balanced one and obesity being the norm even at an early age, yoga is the panacea for all ills. Even young girls as young as five can be trained in some basic yogic postures. Another malady that affects young children is hyperactivity, although it is more common among boys. With no outlet to expend their energies, young children become restless too soon. Here yoga training assists their bodies to expend extra energy and enables them to focus. It also enables flexibility, making young girls nimble and their minds agile. Such girls grow to be more confident and self-reliant.

Preadolescence and adolescence comes along with its own challenges. Yoga at this stage definitely lends grace to the body, erasing the awkwardness in gait. Correct posture is also an important aspect to yoga. Different postures facilitate blood circulation, rendering a luster to the skin and hair.

Yoga undoubtedly is known to help women with an irregular menstrual cycle and those experiencing a heavy flow. Yoga is also known to relieve lower back pain that occurs during or before a menstrual cycle begins. Some yogic postures are meant to prevent muscle cramps and abdominal cramps and women prone to experiencing PMS have also reported to be calmer.

The following yogasana is known to alleviate cramps: Trikonasana (the “Triangle Pose”)

Stand with your feet at least three feet apart. One can also sit and practice this. Rotate only the feet at a 90-degree angle both towards the outside as well as the inside. Now inhale and stretch both hands with palms facing upwards. Reach out with your right arm and bend to touch your right foot. Your left hand will automatically be raised towards the ceiling. Then, stretch your left arm to touch your left leg, automatically raising your right hand upwards. Hold still.

This tones the muscles of the arms and legs, improves flexibility and promotes slow breathing.

Paschimottanasana or “Two Legged Forward Bend”:

Sit down with both legs stretched and flex toes towards you. Inhale and raise your hands upwards. Exhale and move your hips to touch the feet. Try to hold your toes with your hands. If this is not possible, just stretch your arms to where they reach. Bend your head and breathe for a minute. Look up, inhale and return to the normal position.

Women in a relationship cope with different kinds of stress levels and hormonal imbalances. Women on birth control pills have to face a few challenges. Here, yoga comes to the rescue. During middle-age, women experience a lot of upheaval including the demands of a job, juggling career and family, as well as pregnancy. Many women also experience inadequacies of sorts. Regular practice of yoga helps a woman focus and aids in rhythmic breathing.

Yoga masters advocate the Asthanga yoga for pregnant women. This again regulates digestion and prevents heart burn that is common during pregnancy. Practicing yoga regularly, of course under the supervision of an experienced guru, eases delivery, thereby easing pain. Some asanas (postures) are known to open the cervis, thus facilitating quick delivery.

Postnatal yoga is also quite popular among women who want to lose weight and shed extra weight from their bellies. It is especially advantageous to women who experience arthritis and hormonal imbalance during menopause.

Photo by Go Interactive Wellness

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

While some will tell you the recession is behind us, I still find myself waist-deep in coupon clippings, shopping lists detailing what items are cheapest where and then figuring out the amount of money spent on gas and if it makes sense to drive further to save money on something or not, deal hunting and scouring freebies. Pretty much any and all ways you can save money, we’ve been trying our best to do it because every little bit helps. While you can find a lot of great deals for stuff you need around the house, deals for items you need for your health are a little harder to come by.

I have worn glasses since I was in the first grade and my partner also wears glasses. The problem with needing glasses and being on a tremendously restricted budget is that it can realistically be a difficult scraping together enough money to get an annual eye exam and then purchasing frames that, if you’ve ever looked for frames yourself, can run a bit pricey.

When I first stumbled upon Zenni Optical, a site that sells stylish frames for everyone that start at just $8, I thought there had to be a catch. No set of frames on the site exceed $30 and shipping is also extremely affordable at just $4.95. That is shocking and amazing, especially after I did some research and found countless happy customers of Zenni Optical who absolutely swear by them after receiving high-quality frames at an affordable price.

Getting your new pair of frames is super easy; just get your regular eye exam at your family eye doctor’s, bring home your prescription and order your frames. There are so many awesome frames available on Zenni Optical, but at their prices you can easily afford to get an extra pair or two as backups or switch it up every once in a while. My favorite frames are pictured above; they are one of the more expensive frames on the site (of course), but they’re just $25.95, so you’re still saving a whole lot of cash on your frames. I love the cutouts and how chic they are and I’m a sucker for black frames, I love them!

If you’re in need of some updated frames, you should definitely check out Zenni Optical.

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

By the drastic number of women who are currently wearing bras that don’t fit them right, it is abundantly obvious that women, especially women who are plus size, are severely lacking in the support and freedom to know their bodies inside and out.

While professional bra fittings are available, the first place that pops into my head when I think of places to get a professional bra fitting is Victoria’s Secret and we all know the demographic that VS caters to–the very, very thin demographic. With this same mindset, the women are typically employed by VS (as far as I have seen, at least) are also very thin, modelesque women and when it comes to body shaming and woman shaming in general, no one can be harsher on a woman than a fellow woman. Going along this same wavelength the movie Mean Girls immediately comes to mind, but the cattiness and ill feeling towards other women sadly, does not stop in high school and can in fact escalate through adulthood. When you get right down to it, while VS is a store that provides free professional bra fittings, when plus-size women enter the store and are greeted by someone half their size, women of a certain size are not going to feel completely comfortable and at ease stripping down for a fitting.

Enter: Playtex! Here to save the day! Well, here to save you from your ill-fitting bras, at least.

I have always looked at Playtex as a company who knows real women come in all sizes and they don’t always fit into a certain box. A bra that works for some is not going to work for all and they continue to surprise me with the styles, fits and visual appeal of the products they put out. Playtex knows real women and they know real women have real bra problems.

To help more women find perfect-fitting and comfortable bras that will make them feel supported while also feeling sexy throughout the entire day, they have recently launched a new website and contest.

Playtex Bra Makeover is a site where women can go to apply for a bra makeover or they can nominate a friend who is in desperate need of finding a bra that fits them that they can feel good in. Out of all the nominations, Playtex will pick 10 lucky women to fly out to New York to receive a personalized bra makeover with style expert Alison Deyette.

Alison Deyette knows what goes into making a fabulous look and feeling beautiful. She is a fashion and trend lifestyle expert and has been featured on Bravo’s Millionaire Matchmaker, TLC’s Ten Years Younger, as well as in Good Housekeeping, The Washington Post and O Magazine.

The 10 women selected by Playtex will also star in their very own webisode for the Playtex Bra Makeover website. Not to mention they will also walk away with some awesome Playtex products.

The last day to enter for the Playtex Bra Makeover is this Friday, May 21st, so head on over to PlaytexBraMakeover.com and enter today!

Disclosure: By posting this information, I am entered into a contest to win a free bra from Playtex. I did not receive any compensation for this post and thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

We all have lives. We all have families, regardless of whether we simply live our lives as people who have grown around, with and because of a group of people, or whether we are taken care of our own. We all have responsibilities and that last episode of LOST to catch up on before the next episode airs. Very, very few of us take time out of our days and nights to indulge in purely recreational, self-fulfilling activities that are completely and utterly selfish and one-sided. While words such as self-fulfilling and selfish may latch onto you as very negative things to do, when it comes to relaxation, it is just about the best thing you can do.

We have all heard of the term “mental health days,” but the term is often tossed around as a joke between women as to what they wish they could do–if only they could afford the day off or were able shirk their daily duties to a fellow co-worker for the day. When it comes to women actually taking a true mental health day to do something fun and fulfilling for themselves, we may as well be living in a fantasy world because we just don’t do that and if they do, they take that dangerous day off of work to catch up on their list of errands that must be completed in order to live in a house that doesn’t smell faintly of gym socks or for functions or other obligations we really couldn’t fit into our schedule, but tried to convince ourselves we could.

I did not post on Woman Tribune yesterday. I thought about it and really sat down at the computer with the intention of writing and putting more content out there, but when it came down to it, my head and my heart wasn’t in it and the worst kind of blogging you can do is forced blogging when you’re just not feeling it. Through the years, I’ve noticed that when I forced myself to put content out there when I really just didn’t feel like it and wasn’t passionate about it, my hits would decline over time and my number of subscribers would follow suit. I was creating the same amount of content, but really, I knew it was all filler–and so did my readers. So instead of posting here yesterday, my partner and I hit up the store (in the middle of a snow storm, woops,) and filled up on the most junk food we have bought in a very long time. When we got home, we both went to our computers, but instead of working, we decided that it was time to spend some time together doing something we both love–play video games. And yes, we do consider him sitting in his office upstairs at his computer and me sitting downstairs at my computer “spending time together” if we’re both logged into the same video game and talking through Skype. We’re nerds like that.

We ended up playing Empire Builder with a friend of ours last night for over nine hours. That sounds extreme and of course I do not want to imply that everyone has nine hours to sit at the computer getting nothing but high scores on a video game accomplished, but being such a creature of the computer and such a video game nut, I needed a day of nothing but gaming to let me relax, rid my head of my absolutely insane list of things I need to accomplish, have been wanting to accomplish and have been trying to make myself accomplish. After last night and sitting here today, I don’t have to force a thing and I’m back to my normal, workaholic self.

So, in conclusion, regardless of your list of errands or the amount of minutes or hours you have to spare in a day, take some time to do something that you genuinely enjoy doing; something you may even feel guilty about because it is so self-indulgent. Do it and when you’re through and you have allowed yourself that time, you will come back to your list of errands, because they never do just disappear, regardless of how much we may want them to, an you will feel refreshed and be ready to get to work.

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

Because disposable menstrual products are the norm, most women do not know that they contain harsh chemicals that are bad for your skin and bad for your body. Most women who hear about reusables are very skeptical when it comes to giving them a try; change is not something that is always welcome and why disrupt the way you go about dealing with your period every month? Because of this skepticism, we were thrilled to be able to give one lucky Woman Tribune winner her very own color pad sampler kit.

The winner is Jacquelynn who left comment number 10!

Congratulations, Jacquelynn!

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

GladRags is a phenomenal, woman-owned company in Portland, Oregon. GladRags was started by a mother who was inspired by earth-friendliness and comfort and who expanded her business into what it is today–an awesome and respected business dedicated to giving women an alternative to disposable menstrual products.

Because disposable menstrual products are the norm, most women do not know that they contain harsh chemicals that are bad for your skin and bad for your body. Most women who hear about reusables are very skeptical when it comes to giving them a try; change is not something that is always welcome and why disrupt the way you go about dealing with your period every month?

Giveaway

To show you just how comfortable they are and how once you try them, you’ll surely not go back to your disposables, we are giving away a Color Pad Sampler from GladRags! (a $75.99 value!)

Required Entry

Visit the GladRags website and leave a comment on this post telling us what product you would be most interested in trying.

Extra Entries

Leave a separate comment for each additional entry.

• Leave a comment on this post telling us one fact you learned from the GladRags Information Center
• Follow @GladRags on Twitter
• “Like” GladRags on Facebook
• Subscribe to Woman Tribune
• Follow @WomanTribune on Twitter
• “Like” Woman Tribune on Facebook
• Blog about this giveaway with a link back to this post and a link to the GladRags website. (This entry is worth five entries, so leave five separate comments with the link to your blog post.)
• Tweet about this giveaway. Feel free to use the following tweet or write your own. (This can be done once a day, leave a link to your tweet in your comment.)
  

  Win a @GladRags reusable pad sampler from @WomanTribune http://tinyurl.com/yjg8t5s Ends 1/6 #giveaway

This giveaway ends Wednesday, January 6th at 11:59 p.m. ET. This giveaway is open to all residents worldwide over the age of 18 at the time of entry. The winner will be chosen via random.org and contacted by email; they then have 48 hours (2 days) to respond to that email or another winner will be chosen.

Full Contest Disclaimer

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

What you wear under your clothes can completely change the way you feel about yourself when you’re strutting down the street on your way to work, running errands, or just spending the afternoon shopping with your girlfriends and stopping somewhere really fabulous for lunch. What you wear closest to your body can make you feel incredibly sexy, regardless of what you’re wearing on top of it, or it can make you feel matronly and really not the best you can feel about yourself. Even if you’re bundled up from the scarf on your neck, a snow suit, a winter coat, several pairs of socks and a pair of clunky boots, if you’re wearing a seductive bra and a sexy thong or cheeky panties underneath, no one will be able to miss the confidence you carry yourself with.

Being a full-figured woman, it is sometimes very difficult to find intimate wear that makes me feel sexy and seductive and most of all, confident. As you may know, if you walk into a lingerie specialty store (and I won’t name any names here!) it is ridiculously hard to find the bras, panties, garters and everything that goes into your under-look that makes you feel great about yourself for a size 12 figure. I have been into these stores and have actually even been treated like an outsider, as if I didn’t belong there, by the sales staff when asking for my size. I have been directed to their websites to shop instead of being able to shop in-store and still had trouble finding my size in the items that I feel would compliment me the best.

Luckily, there are some boutiques and online shops in particular that do cater to all sizes of women and not just that, but present amazing styles and sexy items that also look fabulous and make you feel great.

Bras are much, much harder to find in a style that makes you feel your best mostly because a great deal of companies that make bras to make you feel sexy and confident, they often don’t realize that women who are bigger than your average B-cup deserve to feel sexy, too! So I was pretty thrilled when I found some great companies that care about all women of all sizes and who make quality intimate apparel.

Wacoal bras are practical bras in a variety of sizes that will fit every woman’s lifestyle and fashion preferences. Chantelle bras are more on the sexier side, which I absolutely love! They have various styles, even styles you don’t see very often but love the most, which for me would most definitely be the racerback bras because they give me the most support for my cup size. I was absolutely blown away by their selection, so they are definitely an intimate apparel resource to check out!

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

While my survival skills are definitely honed when it comes to taking care of myself and making sure there’s a roof over my head and food in my belly, one skill that has not been exercised nearly enough is keeping a conventional, steady, and reliable job. I have been working from home, freelancing as a web designer and developer as well as freelancing articles on a myriad of different topics for pretty much anyone who is willing to give me money in return for my writing. I am not exactly cut out for the work force and never have been. The only three jobs outside of my home that I have kept, I have walked away from due to living with social anxiety and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder; with those two disorders combined, you don’t want to take me to the grocery store because there is a chance I won’t be able to take the amount of people shopping in the store at the time, never mind actually leaving the house every day and going to a job for 8+ hours a day. So that is why I started freelancing from home. However, if any of you out there have tried the freelancing from home thing, you know how difficult it can be to come across steady work and most of the time, it’s difficult to make ends meet. Even when you think you have a steady position working from home, even if you’re with a company, you can wake up one morning and suddenly have that position pulled out from under you without warning. That’s how freelancing goes.

Because I’ve been a freelancer for basically my entire adult life, I’m always planning my next “move,” if you will. And here I am again, planning; but this time, I didn’t have a plan directly up my sleeve to whip out at a moment’s notice. For the past few days I have been feeling like I could merely continue grabbing up any work I can get as a web designer and developer, but I think I need a fresh start. Something new; something exciting that makes me eager to get out of bed and start doing it! I’m sure a lot of other people out there feel the same way, if not right now, then definitely at some point in your life you have or, I promise, you will. The feeling is fine. I feel bored with myself and with my life quite often, I’ve always been someone who wishes they could be a drifter, but instead I just squeak by doing what I have to do instead of what I am passionate about doing.

I need a fresh start and now is about time I get on with it, already!

As if Mom Central saw this turning point in my life coming, they alerted me to Carefree’s Fresh Start Fund; a fund that is giving women a chance to win $10,000, $5,000, and $3,000 to go towards their very own fresh start. The fresh start in your life can be a myriad of different things; from your personal style, health and wellness, relationships, or a career change.

You may think that a career change now, in this economy, is a horrible idea. I mean, who wants to change their career or the focus of their career when money is tight as it is? And there certainly aren’t a lot of companies giving it out to just anyone, so you better hold on to that job for as long as you can, right? Well if you’re an entrepreneur, then you’d be wrong. Entrepreneurs flourish in a bad job market so now is the time to adapt to that “the sky is the limit” mentality, especially if you apply for (and win!) funding from the Carefree Fresh Start Fund.

Carefree isn’t doing this alone, though; they have partnered up with Ariane de Bonvoisin, a change expert and author to provide women with advice on how to make a change in their lives. First 30 Days, who are experts at helping people through change, are also getting in on the excitement with a new program to help women turn their common wishes into a reality.

To apply for funding, all you have to do is visit Carefree Fresh Start and share why you want a fresh start, the plans you have for reaching your goal, and how the funding would help you in your personal endeavor. The top three winners will receive $10,000, $5,000, and $3,000, as well as a personal consultation from Ariane and a three-day/two night trip to New York City to be honored at the Carefree Fresh Start celebration event in partnership with Step Up Women’s Network, the national, nonprofit membership organization dedicated to strengthening community resources for women and girls. All other finalists will receive $1,000 to help begin making their fresh start. The deadline for submissions is July 10, 2009.

So what motivated Carefree to start this amazing fund? While Carefree has always aimed to give women the confidence they need to manage life’s everyday obstacles, they have gone above and beyond with this fund to run in conjunction with the unveiling of their brand new Carefree Ultra Protection pantiliners.

Mom Central sent me a 16 pack of their new pantiliners to try out, which I was pretty excited about. Usually I hate disposable pads. If I use disposables, I opt for tampons because typically, they’re more comfortable for me. Most often, however, I stick to my reusable, cloth pads. They have a fleece overlay on them, so they are incredibly soft and I don’t feel them after a while, which I like. Only one other brand of pad (that will remain nameless) has surprised me when using it due to my apprehension of the feeling of the pad against me. These new pantiliners from Carefree were very comfortable to wear, which I chalked up to them being pantiliners, so of course they’re going to be more comfortable; they’re drastically thinner than your standard pad. Carefree’s Ultra Protection pantiliner, however, is a little thicker than a standard pantiliner because as it says in the name, they are giving you ultra protection… for a pantiliner.

Do not be fooled, these are not pads; even with the words ultra and protection on the cover. I bleed very heavily on the first two days of my period, so I did not attempt to use them during those days and instead, waited until I was bleeding moderately, or in cases of normal women without a menstrual cycle that enjoys reinacting Carrie, I waited until it was a “normal flow.” It held up quite well on my normal/moderate days and left me feeling very comfortable. This should go without saying, but you do need to change it several times throughout the day if you are using it when perhaps you should be using a pad, but if you’re using it on the last day of your period when your uterus can’t make up its mind on whether or not your period has left for the month and just to spite you starts up again as soon as you stop wearing a pad (or maybe that’s just me?) you can be a bit more relaxed with how often you change it; but not too relaxed.

Overall, Carefree’s Ultra Protection pantiliners are great for standard use when you’re nearing the end of your period, but I could not suggest it be used throughout the week. If you’re interested in trying Carefree’s Ultra Protection pantiliners but don’t know if you’re ready to commit, get a free sample here!

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

Ask Melissa is THE lifestyle resource for women interested in a myriad of different topics such as art and culture, beauty, style, health, travel, and so much more! It is really a website that should be on your radar. With summer’s official start this past weekend, you may be scouring your favorite stores (and their websites!) for the perfect summer fashion and while you’re taking tips from magazines, tabloids, and visual media, Ask Melissa alleviates your concerns about perfect summer footwear with a list of must-have summer shoes from a variety of different retailers. Because summer is also a time where we are outdoors more often and we are taking our vacations from our jobs and generally have more interest in our health and fitness (and the time to dedicate to it!), Ask Melissa has also provided their readers with the very best, tried and true workout DVDs from Tracy Anderson. But in my personal opinion, we women work hard enough throughout the rest of the year; summer should be spent relaxing and doing the things that we want to do the most; which is why I was so thrilled to see that they have featured information on the Exhale Spa. What hard working woman wouldn’t want a lovely retreat at a spa to be pampered and rid herself of the daily stresses that have been packing on since your last vacation?

All in all, if you want a community that truly understand and speaks to women, you cannot go wrong with Ask Melissa.

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

So Always, a brand of menstrual pads that have been on the top of the charts for as long as I can remember when it comes to feminine products and have had an extremely dedicated following for years now, has come out with a new and improved menstrual pad.

Yeah, I know, we’ve all heard that before; a lot of companies say that they have a new and improved product when after we try it, we realize we just paid more money for the same product and the only thing that is different is the packaging that we’re throwing away anyway. To prove to us consumers, because they know that we are getting skeptical of buying anything with the recession and financial crisis the US is currently in, Always has set up a specific site dedicated to just the Infinity pad and why it is different. In fact, they have a video that shows you how this pad is different from others from other companies and from their other products and best of all, you can request a free sample of Always Infinity before it even comes out in stores.

All you have to do is go to their website where you can watch the video on how Infinity is different and also videos of women who have already tried it and what they thought of it and also text-based testimonials of the new product. On the right hand side of the website there is a form. Fill out the form and your free sample of Always Infinity will be on its way to your house!

For those of you who have either tried Always Infinity and loved it or for those of you who have been die hard supporters of Always and their menstrual products and know that you don’t need to try this new pad because you think you’re going to like it already, hold your horses because Always Infinity doesn’t hit stores for another week!

Order your sample now!

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

We all know about pads and tampons, but what a lot of people don’t know about them is that the biggest companies producing these products for women are run by men. It’s true! Men! What do men know about what really goes on in there? Well, apparently not too much since standard pads and tampons contain synthetic fibers and bleach; yes that’s right, bleach. If you look at a container of bleach it will tell you several times throughout the container that you should not drink it and if you do, to contact a poison control center. Bleach is made up of very harsh chemicals that if you drink it, it could very well be fatal, so why are we putting it up inside of ourselves? Sounds dangerous, doesn’t it? So dangerous that tampons also have a little warning you never paid much attention to that tells you about Toxic Shock Syndrome, which women under 21 years of age are most prone to getting.

When it comes to pads, we’re talking about the same ingredients here–Synthetic fibers and bleach. While we’re not shoving pads up inside of ourselves, the synthetic fibers and bleach that are in pads are rubbing up against us all day which is not good for our skin, especially considering that the skin ‘down there’ is very sensitive and makes up the beginning of our entire reproductive area. Women think that pads and tampons have been sterilized, when in fact, no feminine hygiene product has ever been sterilized; meaning we’re more than likely putting dirty synthetic fibers and bleach inside of us. So to recap, synthetic fibers and bleach are bad for us!

Moving on to the environment. There are approximately 85 million women in North America who are menstruating. After pads and tampons are used once, they are disposed of and add to environmental pollution.

According to the March-April article in E Magazine, 6.5 billion tampons and 13.5 billion pads and their packaging end up in landfills and even in sewer systems. That is a whole lot of waste that is clogging up the planet that could be avoided.

Avoided? How!?

If you are a woman who feels most comfortable using pads, Lunapads are reusable pads. With a life expectancy of 5 years, Lunapads is a pad alternative that is great for the environment. Made with a dual layer of 100% cotton flannel and an additional layer of ultra-thin, breathable nylon. They come in an array of different sizes, sure to fit any woman, if you’re a teen, in your 20s, 30s, or even middle-aged with five children under you belt. Best of all, they work with any type of menstrual flow and they are made of something that will not harm you or your reproductive organs in any way. To make it even better, Lunapads are amazingly cute and come in a myriad of different patterns.

If you are a woman who feels most comfortable using tampons, Lunapads also offers the Diva Cup, made of medical-grade silicone.

Both Lunapads and the Diva Cup are great alternatives to pads and tampons that are good for you to use and great for the environment.

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!

According to US News and World Report, 11 different abortion bans have been introduced to states legislatures just in the past year. With that and with the upcoming election, anti-abortion activists are introducing a variety of ballot initiatives in hopes of abolishing a woman’s right to have control over her own body and reproductive rights.

In the state of Missouri, The Elliot Group, an anti-abortion group which is based out of Illinois, is attempting to introduce a ballot entitled Prevention of Coerced and Unsafe Abortion Act; nice name, huh? Because women are not able to make informed decisions about their bodies and uterus without being coerced.

If The Elliot Group is successful in receiving their mandatory 90,000 signatures on a petition to instate this initiative, it will appear on the 2008 voter’s ballot and the state of Missouri will face an initiative which would require doctors to review abortion-related “medical literature” which will undoubtedly consist of myths made up and enforced by anti-choice activists and literature that is commonly used in crisis pregnancy centers to scare or enforce the so-called immorality of the act of abortion. The doctor will also be required to investigate the background and lifestyle of women seeking abortions as well as prove that it was medically necessary to perform the abortion to save the woman from death or disability that would have occurred if the abortion had not been performed. Furthermore, they take the extra step to insult women across the country by saying that abortion causes long-term physical, psychological and emotional problems; none of which can be scientifically proven. This legislature would also provide absolutely no exception whatsoever for rape and incest victims.

Colorado for Equal Rights, whose name itself is laughable, is working towards adding a ballot initiative to the November 2008 ballot that will amend the state constitution to define a fertilized egg as a person.

Ah yes, fertilized egg–person; omelet–living, breathing, talking, functioning, college-bound human being! Yes, I can definitely see how they go hand-in-hand.

If this initiative is passed, it will then threaten the use of emergency contraceptives used by literally millions of women across the country. Voters in Colorado will have that to think about if Colorado for Equal Rights gains their needed 76,000 signatures in order to place this initiative on the 2008 ballot.

So think hard women voters of Missouri and Colorado. Even if you do not live in those two states, there are a number of different bans on abortion in a total of 15 different states.

Photo by someecards

Related Posts:

• None yet, check back soon!