My other posts from this series:

Furnishing a Nursery

Choosing a Stroller and a Car Seat

Choosing a Jogging Stroller

In this post I am going to focus on other baby gear that I personally found important to have and why. If you’re about to have a baby shower for your first child, walking through the baby store’s isles can be overwhelming. So many articles, they all seem important and possibly necessary. Monitors, crib mobiles, swings, playpens, bath tubs, changing table pads, diaper disposals etc, etc… I think it’s important to separate these items into three categories, “not needed”, “I could possibly use that” and “I definitely need it”! From that point you can make a decision for what you need to purchase based on the necessity level and the budget.

Even with my first one, I used careful judgment at picking baby items (yep, I’m a minimalista!).  I evaluated how long I would be using the item, how much it costs and what is its necessity level. And since I knew ahead of time that we were planning on two kids, I picked the colors to cover either gender.

This is a list of items that I’m glad I got, since they were well worth getting.

Playpen/bassinet combination with changing pad is a definite necessity and will serve your child from birth until 2 or 3 years old. I decided not to purchase changing table, see why in my previous article and started using playpen from the time my daughter was born. I didn’t use it as a bassinet, since it’s bulky and not easily movable. When my daughter grew up a little, I got rid of the changing pad and started using it as an actual playpen. It’s definitely a lifesaver when you need to leave the room to take a shower or if you’re cleaning the house or when they simply misbehave! Since it can be folded into a compact bag, it served as a bed for her when we went to visit relatives overnight. She outgrew its bed purpose at around two, when she got too tall for it.

Bassinet is a very convenient item to have, but not worth buying brand new. It’s only great for the first 3 months of your baby’s life. It’s small and portable. I used to wheel it around the house everywhere I went. At night the bassinet was next to my bed for the convenience of breastfeeding. During the day it sat next to me in the family room. When I went on the porch, I brought it along as well. Since its use is limited to only first three months, I saw no point of getting a brand new bassinet. I borrowed it from a friend. If it’s not an option, look for a used one. Just make sure it’s stable, the base is not missing any screws and the wheels are in working condition.

Baby swing is a definite necessity. I used it from almost time she was born until about a year from then. The motion kept her quiet while I was able to get other things done.  She would often dose off in it.

Shopping cart cover got its use for the ten bucs I spent on it. I used it from the time my daughter was about 6 months until she was a little over a year. You can definitely use it longer than that, I just didn’t seem to have a necessity for it.

Baby carrier/sling (0-3 months) for newborns. We used it quite a bit to walk around the neighborhood for the first 3+ months of her life. I left it up to my husband to carry her around in it. The weight was a little too much for my back for the whole stretch of the walk.

Baby gym is a little on the pricey side for a brand new, but it had a good run with my first one and will be with my 2nd as well. She started to interact with it at about 2-3 months of age until we decided to pack it up around the time she started walking. She enjoyed the lights going on and off with the sound of the music. She didn’t start grabbing the toys until few months later, but it kept her entertained overall. Even now, at two years old, she sneaks into her closet (that’s where we store it), closes the door from the inside and turns on the music with blinking lights. It’s like she’s having her own little party in there, no parents invited .

Baby intercom is a definite necessity if your baby is sleeping in a separate room. I would recommend purchasing the one that is running on high frequency, the kind that the cordless phones use, rather than the low radio frequency. At first we got the low frequency one, and it drove us nuts at night. It was making all kinds of static noises, and we were just having a hard time sleeping. Also, if your neighbors happen to come across the radio frequency you’re using, they can listen in on your conversation in the nursery. After a few days I bought the high frequency intercom and had no problems with it. No static noises, just the baby! Some people complain that they’re having a hard time hearing the baby, but I didn’t find it to be a problem at all.

Crib Mobile/Crib Aquarium are not the “can’t live without” type items, but they are nice to have. My daughter was enjoying them since infant until we moved her to the big girl’s room at 2. Even then she couldn’t part with her musical aquarium.

Infant bath tub (0-6 mo) I found to be very useful. You could definitely use other means to wash the baby, like the sink or a regular bathtub, but it can be a bit tricky in the early months, having to support his head and washing him at the same time. So with my first one I played it safe by getting a special bathtub, and it worked out very well.

There is no way to cover absolutely every baby item. This is just my take on the things that I consider important and  personally use to make my life easier. If you have something to add, please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I love to learn from others how they do things.

In my next post I’ll focus on the items that I consider unnecessary based on my personal experience and judgment.

After two unappealing reviews of Seacret’s Eye Cream and Age-Defying Eye cream I received a message from the company’s marketing manager with an offer to try out their Restore Age-Defying serum and Refresh Vitamin-Rich moisturizer. I happily agreed.

It’s been at least a month since I’ve been using the products. The goal is to use them at least once per day, preferably before going to bed. First the serum needs to be applied over face and neck, followed by the moisturizer. This is exactly what I did!

I can not say that I saw much of a difference in my skin. I’m attaching some pictures of my face. It’s possible that some blemishes have faded, but it’s hard to tell.

As far as wrinkles are concerned, I don’t believe I saw much change either. See pictures below.

Though, in Seacret’s defense, I would like to quote a comment that Vera left on my previous review of Seacret Spa’s Age-Defying Eye cream:

“I have been using Seacret Eye Gel, night and day cream as well as the mud mask and I found all of them fantastic. I have been getting comments about how much younger I look and did I have a  face lift? Maybe it does not work on young skin or if it does it is not noticeably as all you would need is a good nights sleep and some concealer. Unfortunately they only come to my part of Australia once a year, before Xmas so I have to buy a years supply.”

I also heard good reviews from the mothers of my peers. They seem to love this line. So maybe it works better on older skin?

Here is my take on it: if your skin is still in decent shape, and if you are under the age of 35 or possibly 40, you probably won’t see much difference. If your skin has more damage or age under its belt, you will probably see improvement.

Each product will cost you $80 at the mall. I believe you can find them cheaper on Ebay or other online retailers (just watch out for the expiration date). The good thing is you get a lot of product for the money. The company estimates that they should last for a whole year. I believe the 1.7-ounce jar of moisturizer might last me that long, but not the 1.o-ounce bottle of serum. I estimate serum to last about 6 months, if I use it once per day.

I would like to know what you think about these products. Would you be willing to pay this much? Do or did you use these products? What was your experience?

This giveaway is closed, the winner is Storm, the owner of comment #35, congrats Storm! Thanks for participating everyone!

There isn’t a more perfect time to use Skin MD Natural Shielding lotion than in the winter.  Even though I live in Florida, as the temperature drops below 60F and subsequently does the moisture in the air, my skin feels it big time! My hands suffer the most. Being a mommy to a toddler, I wet my hands close to every hour throughout the day. When the temperature outside is warm, the skin on my hands seems to hold pretty well. But as the cold hits, same skin gets extremely dry and rough. I’m a 32-year old woman, but by looking just at my hands, you would probably give me all 55 or more. I can’t even imagine how folks up north deal with their dry and itchy skin. Besides my hands, my elbows and my knees take #2 place in dryness. During such times I try to use very rich moisturizers, petroleum jelly and even olive oil! They help a little, but feel extremely oily. I have to rub them in forever and then wait a while for the oily feeling to go away.

When I tried Skin MD Natural Shielding lotion, one of the first things I noticed is how light and non-greasy it feels. Just a few moments after rubbing a small amount into the skin, the skin feels very soft and moist, yet without a hint of grease! I also like the fact that it’s odorless, therefore it’s prego and allergies prone friendly. Did I mention it’s hypoallergenic?  Another plus for me is that many of the ingredients are plant derived, like the aloe leaf extract, extracts of arnica montana flower, comfrey, chamomile, yarrow.

The reason the lotion is called shielding is because it protects skin from the environmental effects and the every day chemicals that tend to strip the skin off its natural oils. Soaps, shampoos, paint, furniture polish, cold weather take moisture away from the skin, causing it to dry, itch, peel and even crack. Continual application of this lotion will restore skin’s natural moisture usually within a few days.

So now is the best part:

The company will send the giveaway winner his/her own bottle of Skin MD Natural Shielding lotion. All you have to do is visit their website and leave a comment HERE about why you would like to have this product. A retweet of this post counts as a separate entry. Just make sure you include my twitter name in your retweet, @malikarisley.

The winner will be randomly selected by the random number generator. The contest ends within four weeks from today, which falls on midnight (Eastern Time) of February 16, 2010.

This giveaway is also posted on

Online-Sweepstakes website

GJ’s Sweepstakes Crazy – Your Source for Online Sweepstakes and Contests
– Detailed listings to hundreds of free sweepstakes, contests, games, and lottos you can enter on the Web.

Thank you and good luck!

After unsuccessfully trying out Seacret Regain Age-Defying Eye Cream for under-eye darkness, I decided to go back to the mall and exchange it for the Eye Gel. I didn’t have much choice, they don’t give refunds, exchanges only for 30 days after purchase. After explaining to the suave salesman that the product didn’t work and showing my receipt, he agreed to do an exchange for me.  The salesman convinced me that in order for the Regain product to work, I have to use the Eye Gel as a base (even though I was told otherwise when I purchased Regain). He was trying hard to up sell me on the facial serum as well, but after my experience with their Regain Eye Cream I wasn’t willing to spend any more money on any products from their stand. After I expressed my opinion, he proudly showed me a few impressive before and after pictures of people using their products. But how can I trust a picture if the product didn’t work on ME?

His next move was to show me how the product works on me. He dabbed quite a bit of gel under my eye, handed me a mirror and asked whether I could see the difference. The only difference I could see at the moment was the excessive shininess under the gelled eye. His verdict was that it looked lighter and smoother. In any case, I accepted his advice and decided to try out the Gel.

As I did in my previous review of Seacret Regain product, I treated only one eye for 16 days in a row. I took daily pictures of my eyes to see whether the difference can be noticed between the treated and the untreated eye.

So here are my picture results:

So here is the test for you. Can you see which eye I was treating? What do you think? My opinion is that I can’t see any difference between my eyes at this point.

Since I didn’t even get a receipt for my exchange this time around, I don’t think I will be successful at exchanging the product. But honestly, I don’t have much confidence at this point in Seacret line anyways. I guess now I see why they don’t take refunds!

If you have a success story with your eye cream (mainly removing/lightening dark circles) please leave a comment. I’d love to know!

Related Articles:

Seacret Spa Age-Defying Serum and Moisturizer Review

I decided to start looking into under eye creams to help lighten up the dark circles under my eyes. When I was in my mid twenties, I tried a couple of the drug store brands, but didn’t get much satisfaction.

Now in my early thirties I am on the quest again. The most bothersome thing about my eyes are the dark circles. Luckily I don’t yet have the bags or the aging crow feet. But whenever I look at myself in the mirror without make up, I can’t help but be bothered by the reddish-brown circles under and slightly above my eyes. The raccoon eyes are staring back at me, screaming for attention!

I am not exactly sure why I get these ugly things. I think heredity got a lot to do with it, thanks to my mother’s side. Otherwise I feel like I have a reasonably healthy lifestyle as far as sleep, diet and exercise are concerned.

My friend loves Seacret under eye cream and her eyes look great. She swears she doesn’t use any concealer.   So I decided to give it a try. We have a couple of Seacret booths at the local mall, and I approached one of them to learn a little more about the secret of  Seacret. A smooth talking young Israeli lady explained to me that the company uses minerals from the Dead Sea in each of its products. Dead Sea is reach in minerals and helps heal problems like joint pain, arthritis, swelling, etc. She insured me that all of the ingredients are natural and her mom is in love with this line.

I explained to her my problem and she recommended that I try Seacret Regain eye cream. It supposed to help with dark circles, wrinkles and swelling. She told me that one ounce of cream costs $140, but since I wasn’t willing to spend that much, she said she’ll give me a special deal of $74. So $80 later and full of hope, I headed for the try. I also found out that the special deal I got still doesn’t beat the Ebay’s price of $60. She’s was also trying really hard to push the face cream, the face scrub and the serum, but spending $80 on a beauty product was plenty for me.

My directions were that for the best results, I need to use the cream every night before sleep for the first two weeks and then every other night after that. She also noted that I should be able to see the difference within first two to three days.

So here is what I decided to do. I decided to apply the cream every night to only one eye consistently. This way I can definitely see whether the cream is working by comparison. I took a picture of my eyes almost every night for 14 nights in the row after applying the cream. Enough talking, because a picture is worth a thousand words. In my case it’s ten pictures.

The true test of whether the cream is working, is whether you can see which eye I was treating. So see for yourself!
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7
Day 9
Day 10
Day 14

Can you see which eye I was treating? Personally I am disappointed. I can’t see any color difference under my eyes! On the positive note, I think the skin under the eye that I was treating got a little smoother. So when I smile, the wrinkles are a tad smaller. But this wasn’t a problem for me to begin with! The problem that I was trying to fix, was not improved, even by a tiny bit.

Unfortunately I can not return the product and get my money back, but I can exchange it for another product withing 30 days from purchase. I think that’s what I’m going to do.

Maybe you can let me know what products you used or are using that help you with the dark cirles.

Related Articles

Seacret Eye Gel Review

Seacret Spa Age-Defying Serum and Moisturizer Review