If you’re uncomfortable with big, noteworthy earrings, skip the flashy ones and chose smaller — or none at all.
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Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Now that I wear glasses most of the time, I find it sometimes seems like too much to wear earrings as well. Do you think no earrings or smaller, more minimal earrings are better with glasses?
— Liz W.
Dear Liz: I love big earrings. And I wear them no matter what. With glasses or without them. At the beach or pool. At weddings and funerals. Wherever. But the single most important factor in any style decision is how does it make you feel. If you’re uncomfortable with big, noteworthy earrings, skip the flashy ones and chose smaller — or none at all. The same goes for skirt length and so many other fashion decisions we make. Taking chances and experimenting with what you wear can be fun and you might find that you enjoy it. But if you spend the day (or evening) fretting about what you decided to wear, that’s no fun at all.
Dear Answer Angel Ellen: Generally speaking (my experience, anyway), all the toothpastes on the shelves have some sort of minty flavor. While I can appreciate the aftertaste and sensation of feeling that your teeth are clean and your breath is fresh, it’s not such a great idea when I then try to eat or drink something (such as orange juice, to mention one example of many). Does anyone actually make an unflavored toothpaste, one that will do the job and leave my teeth squeaky clean, yet allow me to enjoy the foods and beverages I then consume without having to contort my face as though I’ve just eaten a lemon?
— Paula H.
Dear Paula: It is pretty rare for me to be asked about a product that I have never heard of (or thought about). But you got me on this one. It turns out there are flavorless toothpastes out there. You probably won’t find them at your neighborhood drugstore or grocery but you do have some options. When buying these online, be sure you choose “unflavored” and read the fine print since many brands also make mint and other flavors:
• Sensodyne fluoride toothpaste for sensitive teeth unflavored (amazon.com, 3.4 oz., three-pack, $17.49)
• cleure original natural toothpaste (no flavor, no fluoride) (cleure.com, 4 oz., $11.95; sample, $3), (amazon.com, 4 oz., $12.95)
• Dr. Bob Unflavored Toothpaste with fluoride (amazon.com, 4 oz., $9.99)
• Tate’s No-Flavor Toothpaste, fluoride-free (amazon.com, 6.4 oz., $14.88)
• oraNurse unflavoured toothpaste 1450 (walmart.com, 2-pack, $15.67)
• Squigle Tooth Builder sensitive toothpaste fluoride-free, unflavored (amazon.com, 4 oz. 2-pack, $22.89)
• Simply Sooney unflavored tooth powder (amazon.com, 3.5 oz., $17.99)
Angelic Readers 1
Joyce’s solution for softening up rough-feeling, irritating T-shirts and other clothing: “Soak it in the washing machine with a healthy dose of liquid fabric softener. Then I put them through a regular wash cycle with another goodly amount of softener. After the load is finished put them in the dryer with two fabric softener sheets. Hope that helps!”
Angelic Readers 2
Mary Lou J. reports that her household keeps track of the multitude of different types of light bulbs required for all the appliances, lamps, etc., along with the website on where to purchase them, using an Excel spreadsheet. “Problem solved!” (From Ellen: Not so fast! Some readers would first have to conquer the challenge of mastering the Excel spreadsheet. I confess that I gave up on that a long time ago.)
