Burt's Bees Natural Toothpaste Giveaway!

It's that time again. In honor of Earth Day (April 22nd), I'm hosting Make Me Feel Like A Natural Woman Week - a week-long celebration of natural and organic beauty products that will help you green your beauty routine. Even more exciting is the week's worth of green giveaways goin' down here at Spoiled Pretty.

For our first giveaway, I'm partnering with one of my favorite eco-friendly beauty brands, Burt's Bees. For 25 years, Burt's Bees has been offering distinctive earth-friendly, natural personal care products. The brand offers 150+ products for total skin health that keep The Greater Good™ top of mind.

This week, we've teamed up to gift one reader with a set of Burt's Bees new Natural Toothpastes.

Burt's Bees Natural Toothpastes are natural, effective toothpastes clinically proven to improve oral health. With regular brushing, they prevent cavities (fluoride versions only), reduce plaque, whiten teeth by removing surface stains, and freshen breath. They feature natural ingredients like plaque-fighting cranberry extract and calcium & phosphorous to promote strong healthy teeth. The toothpastes are SLS-free and don't contain any artificial colors, flavors, preservatives, or sweeteners.

One winner will receive:

Natural Toothpaste - Multicare with Fluoride
Natural Toothpaste - Multicare without Fluoride
Natural Toothpaste - Whitening with Fluoride
Natural Toothpaste - Whitening without Fluoride
Natural Toothpaste - Kids Orange Wow with Fluoride
Natural Toothpaste - Kids Berry Bee without Fluoride

To enter the giveaway, leave a message in the comments section; make sure to leave your email or another way for me to get in touch, just in case you get lucky. Contest is open to U.S. residents only. The giveaway ends at noon (EST) on Monday, April 26, 2010. Good luck!

And don't forget to enter Spoiled Pretty's other Earth Day-inspired beauty giveaways!

Vampire Veneers?

Check out this video from my local CBS affiliate...

For some teenagers, the Twilight Saga book series and New Moon movie tickets just don't cut it. So their parents have taken to buying them removable "vampire veneers" that start at $250!

I Can't Believe It's Not Lip Gloss: Clinique Butter Shine Lipstick

I haven't worn lip gloss in almost three weeks. This is huge news for a lip gloss junkie like me...and probably a new record.

If you're a gloss loyalist who rarely breaks out anything in the stick variety, I've found a product that might just change your tune. For almost a month, I've had Clinique Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick on lockdown. It's a sheer lipstick with gloss-like tendencies that "drenches lips in moist, lush color that glides on buttery-soft, and feels luxuriously smooth."

I'm partial to Raspberry Rush, which is described as raspberry with a hint of gold pearl. Paired with a few swipes of black mascara, it lends my face an easy yet polished look.

Clinique recently enlisted the help of a dentist to identify lipstick shades that instantly make your teeth look less mother of pearl and more pearly white...and Raspberry Rush is one of them. These shades are proven to make teeth look at least one shade brighter – it was confirmed using a dental color guide. The Clinique brightening lipstick shades include:

*High Impact Lip Colour SPF 15 in After Party, Go Fig, Peach Pop and Red-y To Wear

*Colour Surge Butter Shine Lipstick in Cranberry Cream, Pink-a-Boo and Raspberry Rush

*Different Lipstick in Ice Bloom, Raspberry Glace and Shy

*Long Last Soft Shine Lipstick in Twilight Nude

I've found my perfect shade. Find yours at Clinique.com.

Arm & Hammer Does Infomercials?

Was up late (again) last night...blogging into the wee hours. And guess what I saw? An infomercial from Arm & Hammer.

I'm still not quite sure why such an established brand needs to be running commercials at 1:30am during an episode of Escaped on the Investigation Discovery channel, but here's what they were hocking: Arm & Hammer Whitening Booster, "the new secret in teeth whitening."

Apparently, you apply it to your toothbrush, on top of your favorite toothpaste. For the low, low price of $19.99 (plus S&H), you receive the following:

* 2 Arm & Hammer Whitening Boosters
* 1 Arm & Hammer Advance White Brilliant Sparkle Toothpaste (4.3 oz)
* 1 SpinBrush Classic Clean Toothbrush
* 1 SpinBrush Travel Case
* 2 Arm & Hammer Advance White Brilliant Sparkle Toothpaste (travel sized)

Would you purchase this product?

Colgate Wisp: A Moment On The Lips, Several Lifetimes In A Landfill

In the past few weeks, it seems like I’ve seen Colgate Wisp in countless magazines and on every site on the Interwebs. But if you've been living under a rock and you haven’t yet heard about the Wisp, I’ll bring you up to speed. Here’s the Cliffs Notes cheat sheet:

Colgate Wisp is a single-use mini-toothbrush with a breath freshening bead to give you a clean, fresh mouth with no water or rinsing required. Smaller than a lip-gloss, you can keep Colgate Wisp with you for anytime you may need it. Colgate Wisp has cleaning bristles which gently remove food and plaque from between teeth and along the gum line, giving you a just brushed clean. As you brush, a refreshing, liquid filled bead (available in three mint flavors) releases a burst of freshness in your mouth. No need to rinse, just brush and go.

Available in a pocket-sized package, each brush is individually sealed, making the Colgate WISP an all-in-one convenient solution that allows you to clean teeth and freshen breath away from home.

Sounds like a clever and convenient product, right? I mean, no one is actually born with minty fresh breath, so it’s easy to understand how the Wisp would appeal to the masses. But I can’t be the only person on Earth who finds this product’s timing incredibly ironic. With Earth Day on April 22nd, it seems very foolish to launch a product that is meant to be tossed after just one use. Whatever happened to the Three R’s (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle)?

And get this: even if you wanted to reuse the Wisp and be mindful of Mother Nature, Colgate puts the kibosh on your tree-hugger tendencies. In the FAQ section of the Wisp website, the brand says, “No. Colgate Wisp is designed for a single use. Keep in mind, each pack comes with four brushes, so you can freshen up multiple times a day.” Awesome answer. Don’t bother trying to go all green, ladies. Just buy more Wisps and hand over your greenbacks to Colgate. Brilliant!

Think that's bad? Oh…it gets worse. The website also states, “Because Colgate Wisp is comprised of more than two different types of plastic, it’s categorized #7 for recycling - which is not recycled by most municipal programs in the United States.” Ouch.

Well, there you have it, straight from Colgate's mouth...

Wisp: a moment on the lips, several lifetimes in a landfill.