Commence By Brooke Shields

Commence, the brand developed by actress and Princeton graduate Brooke Shields, is top-notch haircare. The products target hair concerns for women over 40. The 3 most popular products in the line -- a 2-in-1 instant shampoo, a 3-in-1 leave-in conditioner, and a root serum -- are formulated to promote healthier, thicker, and more voluminous hair.

Let's take a closer look at each one:

The 2-in-1 Instant Shampoo - Cleans and balances dry hair, adds volume and leaves the hair more squeaky clean, lifted, and full. Cost: $21 for .75oz/21 g.

The 3-in-1 Leave-in Conditioner - Hydrates, tames frizz, adds shine, and contains ingredients like alfalfa extract and quinoa peptics to protect hair from the heat of blow dryers, straighteners, and curling irons. It is a lightweight formula that supports hair growth and thickens hair strands. Cost: 26 for 5  Fl oz/150 ml

The Root Serum - Is designed to nourish and support the scalp microbiome. It calms, hydrates, and strengthens hair from its roots to its ends. The result is softer, smoother, and stronger hair. Cost: $30 4 fl oz/ 120 ml.

While testers are pleased with how the products improve the texture of their hair, the products are costly! You could probably splurge to try them, but you must decide how much you can afford to continue using them. Ask what sum you are comfortable spending on your hair over the course of a year. The Commence haircare line adds up to a pretty penny!

I won't lie, I'll spend more on skin products than hair products. Over time, I've found budget-friendly drugstore brands to match expensive luxury brands, and T.J. Maxx stocks amazing shampoos and conditioners containing botanicals. Enter T.J. Maxx in the blog's search box to read about some of those.

On Commence's website, look for coupon codes and the kits to lower costs. If using the whole line isn't in your budget, I'd zero in on the hair serum. The brand really delivers!

You may also enjoy:

Trendy Rapunzel Hair

Difeel Shampoos And Conditioners

Garnier Hair Honey Repairing Serum

The Beauty Products I Use Right Now

6 Canned Produce I Like

Most of us would agree there's no comparison of taste between farm fresh fruits and vegetables and canned or even frozen produce. Living in a city, I buy plenty of frozen vegetables because food experts tell us they are frozen soon after picking and retain their nutrients. It's a compromise I make since frozen is more convenient though less scrumptious than farm fresh.

But guess what? There are canned foods I don't mind or like better than their fresh, or refrigerated, or frozen versions. I'll list 6 of them below.

6 Canned Produce I Like:

1) Sauerkraut - Canned sauerkraut isn't as raw as it is bagged and refrigerated at the supermarket. Still sufficiently sour yet not as intensely sour or crunchy as unblanched bagged sauerkraut.

2) Refried beans - I see little difference in taste or texture between canned beans and dried beans you soak and tenderize yourself. With refried beans, I like the convenience, and unless you cooked a huge amount, the extra cost of buying them canned is minor. For soups or sometimes chili, I will use either canned or dried beans depending on how much I'm making.

3) Pumpkin, puree - Who in their right mind would unseed, clean, cook, and scrape the flesh out of a fresh pumpkin to use in a dish? Oh, the many steps and mess!😳

4) Tomatoes, whole plum, diced, or crushed for cooking - Cheap and you have the same consistency every time when making sauces.

5) Pineapple, diced - Since pineapples don't grow outside of Hawaii or South America, it is doubtful I have ever eaten a fresh one, so I opt for the convenience of canned pineapple. I don't detect enough of a difference after cleaning and cutting up a whole pineapple that may (or may not) be fresh after it arrives at the supermarket.

6) Spinach - This one is debatable. I do prefer fresh spinach and buy it to use as a dip, pizza topping, part of a salad, or to add to soup, but since a 10-ounce bag of fresh spinach cooks down to nothing in seconds, I also buy canned spinach to eat as a side dish. The taste and texture of canned spinach is fine, plus there seems to be more of it in a can than in a bag. In Manhattan you can't buy a bushel of fresh spinach, or grow it sans a plot of soil, so it's another compromise I make.

So there you are, my list of 6 foods I buy and like canned. Often our sense of taste is subjective. Is there any produce you would add or subtract from my list as unedible? Let's discuss... it's all in fun.🌴

You may also enjoy:

Skillet Chili Con Carne

A Dream Pumpkin Cake

9 Ways To Save Money At The Supermarket

Greenmarkets, Community Gardens And CSA's

Mainstays Is Walmart's Private Label

Mainstays is Walmart's brand of home goods offered at affordable prices. A wide range of furnishings includes bedding, bath, furniture, home décor, kitchen, dining, patio and garden, mattresses, and arts & crafts. The products are probably made by different vendors for Walmart.

In helping my senior Mom, I've had to buy several home goods that she has overlooked in her elder years. I found some of her kitchen tools to be either outdated, inconvenient to use, or simply in need of replacement. So, I've become familiar with Mainstays' line of kitchenware and am duly impressed! You get decent quality without breaking the bank. In making decisions for her, I am relearning a lesson in getting good value for the money! 

A Mainstays kitchen tool is a great deal! Buying the top-of-the-line isn't always the right decision. Good value for the money is based on an item's purpose and frequency of use, as well as our judgment of "do we need the top-of-the-line or an item that's good enough?" If a good enough article can be replaced 25-30 times before reaching the top-of-the-line's price, we will come out ahead even if we must replace it.

Speaking from experience, we've replaced 2 12-cup  programmable Black & Decker coffeemakers with a 12-cup programmable Mainstrays coffeemaker which was offered for a rollback price of $12. The former is a great brand and we can say the same for Mainstrays, which was 1/3 of the price. Our latest coffeemaker does everything a customer needs it to do! You couldn't pay me to be in the same room if my mom sips anything less than a hot cup of good coffee in the mornings!😳

Some of Mainstays' prices seem too good to be true. We haven't tried its full line of products, and yet we haven't bought anything from the brand that has disappointed us! I'd recommend Mainstays as comparable to name brands of like commodities. When we need good enough housewares, we'll always consider Mainstrays.

You may also enjoy:

Laytner's Linen & Home

Washcloths, Save Or Splurge?

Home Goods As Gifts For Less

The Best Places To Go For Antiques And Home Decor

Dry Food Storage Containers & Cookie Jars

THE SAVVY SHOPPER loves to write about jewelry, luxury bags and the occasional fad, but it's the less costly, less sexy (to borrow a financial writer's term) things we buy every day that can raze through our paychecks!

If you need dry food containers or cookie jars, you don't always have to buy them. You can easily repurpose the containers from some of the food items you buy. Occasionally I buy tomato sauce that is sold in a Mason jar. Repurposing it is one less Mason jar, I have to buy. As it turns out, I already use Mason jars to store my rice, dried pasta, cornmeal, oatmeal, and ground flax seeds. They work very well to keep bugs out and the grains and ground seeds fresh! I also like the transparency of seeing the contents to know what to grab.

Glass jars with screw-on lids are my preferred dry food storage containers, but lately I repurpose Premier Protein Powder plastic cylinders to hold 4 pounds of white sugar, 2 pounds of dark brown sugar, bags of chocolate chips, bars of baking chocolate, and 64 ounces of dried powdered milk. I'm a buy-in-large-sizes to forget about it for a while type of gal! Like Mason jars, these much bigger plastic cylinders with screw-on lids keep my food items fresh and free of pests that crawl into dry food boxes. I like the ease of unscrewing the tops and scooping out the dried food when cooking or baking. Larger with a bigger opening and lighter than glass, the plastic containers are easy to lift from my cupboard.

Lacking counter space, I don't have to worry about the uniformity of my storage food containers, however, if you collect Mason/Bell jars or one type of plastic receptacle, you can achieve a uniform look. An Ambitious Artistic Repurposer can also decorate a set of repurposed plastic tubs. I can't claim to be so ambitious, but I do have a helpful tip. If you write the name of the dry food you're storing on the lid instead of on the side of the cylinder, you can simply replace the lids and not the containers if you change the food inside in the future. Nonetheless, whenever you wish to replace the tubs, they're free after you consume the protein powder!

Buying a set of specially made storage containers isn't cheap. Repurposing is good for the environment, your time, and your wallet! Use the money saved for a rainy day, a more expensive need, or a fun splurge!!!

You may also enjoy:

Celebrate Earth Day

Do You Repurpose Your Things?

What Can You Do For Earth Day?

Plastic Food Containers To Repurpose

Splurge Like A Savvy Shopper

How does a Savvy Shopper make decisions about a splurge? I'll use 2 emerald rings that (as of now) are on the market for sale to illustrate the thinking involved in whether (and if, yes, which ring) to spend your money on. But feel free to fill in the blank with designer shoes, bags, clothes, or whatever your temptation tends to be.

Let's start with: Don't tell yourself an emerald ring is an investment. Jewelry isn't, a Chanel double flap bag isn't, and Manolo Blahnik pumps aren't investments ... or even needs. All these pricey items are splurges, not necessities. We buy them because we want them, not need them, and more often than not, if we were to sell them, we won't make a profit. So never confuse a splurge with a need or a true investment! No and no!

That said, if you can afford a splurge sometimes it makes a hard working person happy and is well worth the money.

To demonstrate, let's say we decide to splurge and spend our money on an emerald ring. It allows me to post some lovely images today.😛😁

The next question to ask is what's our budget?

This 1st emerald ring is a stunner. It's a 6.14 carat natural Columbian emerald in a 4-prong setting of 18 carat gold. The emerald is surrounded by round brilliant and baguette cut diamonds. For average wage earners, the pricetag is a stunner too! Cost: $32,000.

So Savvy Shoppers who earn regular salaries, do we forget about a splurge? Heck, no ... if you can afford to treat yourself, you should every once in awhile! However, as a Savvy Shopper you should search for a ring that has a similar effect within your personal budget. Use the out-of-your-budget temptation as inspiration! 

Be flexible and willing to compromise to find something similar that you can afford. Many people who don't wish to go into debt wouldn't pay $32,000 for a single piece of jewelry just because they have the money in the bank. Ask if this ring is worth 32,000 smackers leaving your bank account? Proof!

THE SAVVY SHOPPER way is to be a dreamer, then a realist! Obviously someone with deep pockets wouldn't have to deplete their savings to spend $32,000 on jewelry. But one day perhaps your $32,000 will have to cover unexpected expenses. Know and stick to your own budget. Spending like high rollers doesn't make us high rollers. No one should break the bank on a splurge. A splurge is meant to bring us happiness, not worry and insecurity. So let's take our dream ring and shop like a Savvy Shopper!

The 2nd emerald ring is what an ordinary wage earner might end up buying. It's a 2 1/5 carat natural (origin not stated) emerald in a 4-prong setting of 14k yellow or 14k white gold. It is surrounded by brilliant round diamonds with additional baguette cut diamonds to equal 1/2 carat of diamonds. Cost: Full retail - $5,000. Ebay price $2,900. Macy's sale prices - $1,499 and sometimes as low as $1,049.

The compromises are 2 1/5 carats vs 6.14 carats, 14k gold vs 18k gold. Both are natural emeralds but I would bet that the $32,000 emerald is a higher color grade. The emerald likely has a more desirable saturation of color. Both emeralds have inclusions, which are accepted in the gemstone.

Between the 2 rings, the 6.14 carat emerald is deeper and the 2 1/5 carat emerald is shallower, but much of the bigger stone in this design cannot be seen. The 6.14 carat emerald has a higher setting. You'd have to try on both rings to know if you'd get more finger coverage and if bigger or smaller looks better on your hand. A higher ring setting is not de facto more desirable.

Finally, there's the cost of insurance. Whether to insure a ring you pay slightly more than $1,000 for is debatable because you likely could afford to replace it. However, more risk and pain would follow not insuring a $32,000 ring that was lost or stolen, which a Savvy Shopper takes into account before making the purchase. How pricey should your splurge be? Sales taxes and insurance add up. Total expenses can slap you in the face!

In summary: Splurges should make us happy, not penniless! If a material thing would burst your budget, figure out what you love about the article but compromise to bring the cost down. Find something affordable that gives you the similar effect as your temptation. First a dreamer, then a realist is THE SAVVY SHOPPER way to buy all things -- needs and splurges.♥

Extra Tip: If you wait for Macy's promotions, you can get a ring, earrings, and a necklace for less than the price of the 1st ring, but will you wear them all? It's a beautiful collection. Still buy only the pieces you know you'll wear often. Never buy jewelry that stays in a box.

You may also enjoy:

7 Tricks For Saving Money

Is Jewelry A Waste Of Money?

Buying An Emerald Ring: The 4 Cs

Did You Know Red Emeralds Exist?

THE SAVVY SHOPPER Is 16 Years Old

Photos: Abobe

THE SAVVY SHOPPER is 16 years old today. It's unbelievable how time flies. 

Sixteen years ago in 2009 Barak Obama served as the first African American president. Lady Gaga and The Black Eyed Peas were new artists, and eggs cost $1.34. Times change! Life is like a pendulum that swings back and forth. Do we ever learn the lessons of history? Hopefully we can, do, or will sooner than later.

Dear readers, you are awesome for spending time with me! Thank you for stopping by and/or returning.

If you'd like to learn more about a subject or something related on THE SAVVY SHOPPER just let me know and I'll do my best to write about it.

Thinking of time gone by, I remember my 16th birthday. That day made my 46-year-old Father feel old. It's all relative! After he came home from the office, he took me out for a drive because he knew I was eager to get my driver's permit, which I did a week after my 16th birthday. I missed one question on the written exam and later scored 100% on the road test after taking 3 lessons at a driver's school. To show me the basics, Dad had me drive around 2 telephone poles in an empty parking lot for a couple of hours. He said since he had no breaks on the passenger side of his car, it was best to attend a driving school. I agreed! If I ever wanted to leave the parking lot and learn to drive under real road conditions, I needed to learn from a professional. Sweet 16 began, fortunately without a bang with no car crashes!

Still after passing the tests and getting your driver's license, it takes time to become a confident driver. Out in traffic I remember thinking, "WOW, this is incredible. They let ANYBODY get behind the wheel!"😳

Over time I became an excellent driver. Practice does it.

And now my blog is Sweet 16 also! Where does the time go?

Since the beginning of humankind, poets have thought about it. We all know the Ecclesiastes verses. Let's end with a lesser known poem addressing the idea of ...

Time

By Tony Avila Sampson

TIME born with all the sky?
Can TIME suffer and also die? 
Is TIME flat? Or is TIME round?
Where is TIME? Can TIME be found?
Is TIME there with each beat of the heart?
Was TIME there from the very start?
Must TIME go to that being made?
Does TIME show by that being fade?
Can TIME give and also take?
Must TIME be for that to make?
Is TIME real? How is TIME there? 

Can TIME be found in a breath of air? 
Does the portal of TIME drape the eye as it blinks? 
Can TIME be more stranger than a brain that thinks? 

Does TIME provide a way dimensions are spaced?
Are all creatures of TIME somehow inwardly paced?
Is all manner of TIME with all matter that be?
Does TIME flow endlessly?
How does the future with TIME flow past? 
Does TIME move slow? Can TIME move fast? 
Does TIME have a speed limit we call 'now'?
Is something 'like' gravity pulling TIME? How?
Is TIME bound? Or is TIME free?
Is TIME that what is meant to be?

Happy 16th Birthday, THE SAVVY SHOPPER!🎈🎂🎊

You may also enjoy:

TIME's Person Of The Year

When Time Marches On Without Us

THE SAVVY SHOPPER Is 14 Years Old Today

A Happy 9th Birthday to THE SAVVY SHOPPER

My Favorite Oscar Dresses 2025

All photos courtesy of Getty

Here are my very quick picks of favorite Oscar dresses for 2025. I want to publish them this year before the award winners are selected. I went with the classics.

A few attendees not on my list of favs wore gowns that fashion editors might choose because they are look-at-me different, but I'm sticking with timeless.

There's nothing wrong with an actress having quirky fun with fashion, but I'd always want to look beautiful if walking across a world stage. Sometimes you can't have both, fun and glamour, so the latter would be my ideal. 

Some of the gowns which appear black on television are dark blue or dark green. Now perhaps you'd like to share your Oscar gown likes too? 

🎥 🎭  🎭  🎭  🎭  🎭 🎭  🎭🎥

Since it's so early I'll give you my predictions on who'll win.

Best Actor: Timothée Chalamet in A Complete Unknown
Best Actress: Cynthina Erivo in Wicked

Why? Impeccable acting combined with their ability to sing (and sing so well!) as their characters gives them the edge to win.

10:41 Update: Oh, the Academy didn't agree with me. I have no doubt these talented and deserving young actors will win in the future.

You may also enjoy:

Oscar Looks For Less

My Favorite Oscar Dresses 2024

My Favorite Oscar Dresses 2022

The Oscars 2021: Red Carpet Favorites

Southern Lunch Lady Coleslaw

Recipe Friday is here! Every time someone brings this dish, people ask for the recipe. It was featured on a cooking show called Tim Farmer's Country Kitchen. According to the host, the recipe is now in the public domain. Here is the exact recipe, but know that when making it I drastically cut back on the sugar and use low-fat (not fat-free) mayonnaise. Our family prefers savory to sweet, so we also add salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. But try the original recipe at least once as a treat ... and to taste it as it's meant to be. The rest of the time, I'd reduce the sugar to about a tablespoon for a large head of cabbage. Frankly, once familiar with healthier fare, it's delicious too.

Southern Lunch Lady Coleslaw

Ingredients:

A big head of cabbage, shredded

2 large carrots, shredded

2 cups of mayonnaise

1/3 cup sugar

1/3 cup white vinegar

1 tablespoon mustard

1 tablespoon pickled jalapenos

Directions:

1) Shred and combine the cabbage and carrots in a mixing bowl.

2) Combine the mayonnaise, sugar, vinegar, and mustard in a separate bowl.

Photo/recipe

3) Pour as much or as little as you like over the coleslaw. Some people like it dry and others like it wet. I like enough dressing to be creamy without the coleslaw swimming in mayonnaise. Pour and stir until you get your preferred consistency. 

4) Top with pickled jalapenos.

A huge batch of homemade coleslaw is a delicious dish to serve at a potluck gathering! No one would go home hungry. Enjoy.

You may also enjoy:

Healthy Fast Food

Real Italian Cooking

Let The Barbacues Begin

Baked "Fried" Catfish And Chips