Cottonelle is hosting the Namast’ay Clean Sweepstakes In honor of National Yoga Month

It's National Yoga Month throughout September, but your last chance to enter to WIN amazing prizes from Cottonelle is here. Don't miss this!

Here at ChiIL Mama we're pleased to partner up with Cottonelle once again, on a sponsored post. We have been compensated for sharing this fabulous sweepstakes with our readers. As always all opinions are my own.

Enter Cottonelle's Namast’ay Clean Sweepstakes for a chance to win a VIP-access trip to Wanderlust Miami. Prizes include two VIP tickets, $1,000 in spending and access to VIP bathrooms (stocked with Cottonelle, of course!). Enter through Sept. 15! 

Research from the larger Cottonelle Go Commando commercial program suggests that nearly two in five people (38%) have gone commando for fitness. Whether you choose to or not, Cottonelle wants yogis to know that only CleanRipple Texture is designed to clean better so that you can go commando in confidence.

Thanks to Cottonelle for sending us a fun box of Fitness Must-Haves based on Giuliana Rancic's Fitness Styling Tips 

My husband, a location sound engineer, worked with Giuliana Rancic and her husband on the Giuliana And Bill Show, back in the day, and said they were a pleasure to work with. He came home with some amazing cell phone shots from inside their home including a stunning collection of celebrity photos lining their walls. 

My gymnast daughter and I are enjoying her post workout tips for going from sweaty to chic. I've got the mascara, lip gloss, dry shampoo, and Cottonelle flushable cleansing cloths in my gym bag. 

My 13 year old has happily claimed the black baseball cap, travel Cottonelle wipes pack, and hair ties. 

She was thrilled to find out that the Emi Jay hair ties were created by Julianne Goldmark & Emily Matson, teen entrepreneurs who donate 20% of their profits to charity!

Here at ChiIL Mama we're pleased to partner up with Cottonelle once again, on a sponsored post. We have been compensated for sharing this fabulous sweepstakes with our readers. As always all opinions are my own.

REVIEW: My First Girl Razor, the Gillette Venus Swirl

My 13 year old daughter just began shaving and I'm happy to say, the Gillette® Venus® Swirl is her first razor. I've been shaving for 35 years and... don't laugh... it's MY first girl razor too!

Disclosure: ChiIL Mama's thrilled to ChiIL out this summer in Chi, IL and beyond with the Gillette® Venus® Swirl™! Thanks to Influenster & Gillette Venus for the complimentary review sample. As always, all opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any other way for this review.

When I turned 12, many of my peers began to shave their legs and the kids in junior high began to make fun of the girls who still had hairy legs or (gasp) fuzzy arm pits. My very first razor was a generic, navy blue disposable, and I nicked, gouged and scraped myself more times than I can count while learning to shave with that. 

In the intervening decades I moved to better quality razors and away from disposables entirely, but most of the "girl razors" were cheesy, more expensive than the boys versions, and a heinous shade of pink plastic that reminded me more of a flu remedy than something I'd ever want to shave with. I went with the cool, black or silver metal ones instead. When I married, my husband and I each had our own metal boy Gillette® razors and shared the blades. 

Now that my daughter's ready to join the ranks of the shaving, I stared at the razor displays till I went cross eyed, trying to find out if the girl razors' claims of curves, colors, control and motion actually made one wit of difference in actual shaving quality. Do the wider handle, swivel ball and five smaller blades really help while balancing flamingo like on one soapy foot and contorting to shave shin bones, ankles and knees? I really couldn't tell in the store.

That's why I was elated to be chosen to try out and review the Gillette® Venus® Swirl. My daughter and I were both able to shave easily without drawing blood. The swivel ball actually does glide over those tough, bony spots easier. Thankfully technology has improved quite a bit in the field of razors since the early 80's, and not just superficially, like curves and freakin' pastel pink! 

We both dig the blues of the Gillette® Venus® Swirl™ and the cool color palette of the packaging with purples and multiple blues. The fan detailing is fun. And most importantly, it works great. Highly recommended.

Disclosure: ChiIL Mama's thrilled to ChiIL out this summer in Chi, IL and beyond with the Gillette® Venus® Swirl™! Thanks to Influenster & Gillette Venus for the complimentary review sample. As always, all opinions are my own and I was not compensated in any other way for this review.