During a visit to my family’s house this year I noticed that the water felt… extra slippery. That was my first impression, but after taking several filtered and softened showers, what I really noticed was how much softer my hair and skin were and how nice the water smelled. As one reviewer of the Bath Tub Filter Ball said, after using this product pretty much every other bathtub or shower is going to smell like a pool! That’s because chlorine is filtered out as well as lime scale, mold, mildew, dirt, sediment, and odors. Most water filters for bathing are designed to work with your shower head, but this one rests below your faucet and filters water to fill your tub for a bath. Many people take baths for soothing and detoxing purposes (just add a little epsom salt or essential oils), and adding the Bath Ball Tub Filter into the equation is an easy way to create a more pleasant bath experience. With a lifespan of 1 year, that’s just $4 month for clean, soft water.

$49.95

Acacia also offers gift certificates in case you can’t decide on the best present.

Give yourself or a loved one the gift of clean, fresh air! There isn’t a home in the world that won’t benefit from using an air filter, and this Baby’s Breath/Healthmate Jr. model from Green Nest is perfect for many uses. Larger models are meant to filter the air of an entire household and come with a pricetag to match. At just $300, the Baby’s Breath aggressively filters an area up to 700 sq. ft, which is perfect for apartment dwellers or for one large room. Ideal for allergy/asthma sufferers, those with chemical sensitivities, and smokers. It’s also very energy efficient, drawing an average of only 1 cent of electricity per hour. There’s a PDF that explains why this brand is far superior to other air purifiers on the market, but there’s a 30 day money back guarantee and a 5 years parts and labor guarantee in case you’re not satisfied. Additionally, the filter is built to run for 5 years without replacement, making the Baby’s Breath even more cost effective and convenient. And with colors like pink and blue (along with white, silver and sandstone), who can resist?

$299.99

Green Nest also offers gift certificates in case you can’t decide on the best present.

Recently, a contest to win a Healthmate Air Purifier caught my eye, and got me thinking about the myriad of other sweepstakes that are on the internet. I’ve skipped the ones that require more participation (like submitting an essay) or a purchase, so you should be able to enter all these in less than 5 minutes. Remember, the only guaranteed way to lose is by not trying, so fill out those quick little forms and good luck!

Sign up for their newsletter, and be entered in a drawing for a free air purifier ($299 value).

Win a trip for 2 to join Master Cameron Shayne for an intensive Budokon week-long retreat in the pristine Turks and Caicos Islands valued at $5,000.

Monthly drawing with a grand prize winner (prize value is always big; for July it’s a $1,000 scrapbook package), and either a $100 or $50 gift card from Joann’s.

Become a registered user of Zappos and you’ll automatically be entered into their weekly drawing for a pair of free shoes.

Monthly drawing for a tabletop water fountain from Serenity Health.

You heard it right: Free gas for a year from Mental Floss.

As I write this post, I’m on day 2 of a cleanse, and am already feeling better. People “cleanse” or “detox” to combat fatigue, pain, and inflammation, to improve circulation, increase metabolism, enhance quality of sleep, reduce tension, and for a general sense of well-being and health. Unfortunately, toxins contaminate our systems on a daily basis. They are unavoidable. They exist in our water, our air, our food, and our surroundings, no matter who we are or where we live. But how do we maintain the benefits from a diet-based detox, or what if you need a diet-free detox solution? Aside from choosing organic, whole foods, and avoiding nasties like cigarettes, alcohol, and caffeine, there are a lot of products on the market that can assist you in a natural body detox. One that is rapidly gaining a reputation as a convenient, superior detox product is detox foot pads. You simply place the white sticky-backed pads onto the sole of your feet before you go to bed, and in the morning you will find they have turned a dark brown or black color due to all of the toxins absorbed from your body. There are many brands available, some with a lot of filler ingredients and hokey animal-based extracts like chitosan, and a few of truly high quality. Do a little homework by reading the ingredients before you buy!

How do they work? The abbreviated explanation is that properly refined wood vinegar (or bamboo vinegar in some of the lesser quality brands) absorbs and “draws out” heavy metals and other toxic substances from our bodies through channels in the soles of our feet. If you are familiar with Chinese medicine, then you know that our bodies are a highway of energy-filled meridians that connect our organs and tissues. Even if you subscribe to western medicine, you can see for yourself how points in our feet directly connect to other areas of the body. If you are not allergic to garlic, cut a clove in half and rub the fresh garlic side on the sole of your foot (for approximately 45 seconds). Within a few minutes, you will be able to detect a garlic taste in your mouth! If you’re still skeptical, manufacturers offer lab reports which show the following substances in the used pads: benzene, isopropyl alcohol, methyl alcohol, aluminum, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury, nickel, thallium, arsenic, asbestos, DAB dye, fast green dye, sudan black dye and PCB (plastic byproduct). That’s a lot of toxins! Many users report feeling drastically better after just one night’s use, so if you’re still not sure if detox foot pads work, just one set may be able to show you their rapid detox abilities. Additionally, one manufacturer, BodyPure, offers free used pad testing when you buy 3 or more boxes so that you will know exactly what toxins were absorbed. There is further information on how these detox pads work, which includes far infared emittance, measurement of alpha brain waves, and a “minus ion effect”; all of which are too far reaching for this article, but are available online.

Which brand do we recommend? The BodyPure+ pads (NOT the original BodyPlus formulation) contain quality ingredients, but the Yuan Qi foot pads appear to be the most superior pads on the market right now. Now only do they contain just 3 ingredients, but their triple-distilled wood vinegar is created from annual prunings rather than by the exploitation and destruction of healthy trees, which means they are produced in a sustainable, eco-friendly way. For more information on their production and benefits check out this PDF file.

At the end of my current cleanse I plan on testing them myself and detailing my results on Mable’s Blog. Until then, happy detoxing everyone!