Sometimes marketing claims are legit, but sometimes they’re just a lot of empty hype and it’s hard to tell the difference. Since I’ve been around a while now and since I’m always looking for the best products in just about every category, I decided to share a few reviews of well, stuff that really works. Your mileage may vary.

First, a few items for the ladies. Best hair styling device. Hands-down, it’s the InStyler. Listen, ladies, we’re all very busy and don’t have a lot of time to be fixing our hair. The InStyler originated as an infomercial item, and as usual, I was skeptical about the claims. I mean, it’s just another curling iron, right? No, it’s the mother of all curling irons. It works exactly like they say it does. It’s easy, it’s fast and you can use it on wet or dry hair. It’s expensive, but worth it. I probably wouldn’t have spent that much money, but my daughter gifted me one on my last birthday and now I’m pretty sure I couldn’t live without it. And guess what? I spotted them recently in Target so it’s much easier to obtain one now.

By a landslide, the best mineral makeup I’ve found (and believe me, I’ve sampled nearly all of them) is Arbonne’s About Face Mineral Powder Foundation, SPF 15. At $34, it’s a bit spendy, but if you want your skin to look flawless while not looking like you’re wearing a lot of foundation, you’ll love this. It’s quick and easy to apply, and a little goes a long way so it lasts a good long time. If you’re going to wear makeup anyway, might as well wear something that’s actually good for your skin.

And while we’re talking about skin care here, Arbonne’s NutriMinC line for (ahem) mature skin cannot be beat. Again, yes it’s pricey, but it lasts a long time and it does work. And it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than a face lift, girls. I’ll give up food before I’ll give up my Arbonne. Hope it doesn’t come to that because I also really like food.

Favorite bronzer: Physicians Formula Shimmer Strips in Sunset Strip. There are other colors, but none of them gives quite the same effect. Know what I love? Aside from the fact that it really does give you some natural looking color in the winter time, you can also use it as eye shadow and blush. Easy to apply and stays on all day.

Best computer speaker system: Bose Companion® 3 multimedia speaker system. It’s compact, the controller is about the handiest control device I’ve seen, and they just sound great.

Best Personal Computer: I’m not even going to answer that because you all know how I feel about it. Get a Mac.

Best all-in-one ink jet printer: Pick any off the Canon PIXMA line and you can’t go wrong. I have the PIXMA MP610. The ink lasts a really long time, the scanner works well, there’s a quiet mode, and I have never had to clean the print nozzles in over a year, which we all know sucks up a lot of ink. There are 2 paper trays: a sheet feed on top and envelope feed on the bottom. Simple controls, nice software package.

Best consumer-level cookware: Rachel Ray’s 10-Piece Porcelain Enamel Cookware Set. It’s sturdy, lightweight, heats up quickly and evenly, clean-up is a breeze, and hey, it’s just pretty to look at in all those fun colors.

These are just a few off the top of my head, but watch for future reviews in this category. At first glance, the prices for some of these items might seem a bit self-indulgent, but when you consider quality and longevity, they really aren’t that expensive in the long run. I’m all about searching for stuff that makes life easier and gets those have-to chores done quickly so there’s more time to do what I really love. (Which, by the way, does not include cooking, washing dishes, curling my hair, or cleaning clogged ink jet nozzels for a half hour every few days.)

Just my Lynnterpretation.

Three friends married women from different parts of the Midwest.

The first man married a woman from Wisconsin. He told her that she was to do the dishes and house cleaning. It took a couple of days, but on the third day, he came home to see a clean house and dishes washed and put away.

The second man married a woman from Minnesota. He gave his wife orders that she was to do all the cleaning, dishes and the cooking. The first day he didn’t see any results, but the next day he saw it was better. By the third day, he saw his house was clean, the dishes were done, and there was a huge dinner on the table.

The third man married a girl from South Dakota. He ordered her to keep the house cleaned, dishes washed, lawn mowed, laundry washed, and hot meals on the table for every meal. He said the first day he didn’t see anything, the second day he didn’t see anything but by the third day, some of the swelling had gone down and he could see a little out of his left eye, and his arm was healed enough that he could fix himself a sandwich and load the dishwasher. He still has some difficulty when he pees.

-Author Unknown. If you wrote this piece, let me know so I can shake your hand, girlfriend.