Confession: I purposely don’t buy a lot of white shirts or tanks to work out in because, well, they just get gross in the armpit region. And yellow. And did I mention gross? I’ve heard my girlfriends complain of this, too, but it’s a huge bummer to have to ditch some of your favorite white workout apparel just because of some yellow armpit stains. Well, turns out, a company has a solution to this unsightly little problem, and we got to try it!

I was seriously skeptical of Deo-Go at first. No way something that doesn’t have bleach in it can get the yellow out—even on color garments. But apparently I was wrong because Deo-Go stood up to my gnarliest of tests. I busted out my favorite white workout T (from The Fit Pit!), which sadly was covered with a good six months of old, yellowed deodorant in the armpit zone. And after spraying the Deo-Go until the yellowed area was really wet, scrubbing it like crazy, letting it sit for 20 minutes and then washing it by itself on a normal setting, my shirt came back de-yellowed.

Seriously. Proof is below:

Now, I will say that Deo-Go smells a bit like paint, and it says to wash your hands right after use, so gosh knows there are some strong chemicals in there to de-yellow the yellowist of armpits. And having to do each shirt one by one in the wash is some work, but for those favorite white shirts that have been ruined, this is certainly a way to revive them. I still don’t see myself going to an all-white workout wardrobe (for reasons other than yellow armpits), but for the ones I really, really love? Well, this is a shirt-saver indeed. And at about $10 for a bottle of Deo-Go (much cheaper than a new white shirt!), the company says you can expect to save about 15 shirts from Yellow Armpit Syndrome per bottle.

Do you get really bad yellow armpit stains, too? Would you try Deo-Go to get them out? Share your armpitty truth! Ew… —Jenn

I didn’t used to take a lot of baths. They always seemed too indulgent—just sitting there and getting pruney for 15 minutes or so. (Not to mention that I usually spend half the time thinking about how I really, really need to clean my tub more thoroughly.) But then the peeps at Dr. Teals sent us an email asking to try their new collection that revitalizes achy tired muscles, and I really had no choice but to get my soak on. It’s a tough job, but someone has to do it. Read on for my thoughts on the three products I tried from the line!

Dr. Teal’s Epsom Salt Sleep

In junior high, FBG Tish (we’ve been buds for a long time, yo) had this lavender spray that I swear would put us to sleep no matter how much Dr. Pepper we had guzzled down or how loud we had the Spice Girls cranked up on the stereo. And those memories flooded back to me as soon as I opened this package of Dr. Teal’s Epsom Salt Sleep.

A mix of magnesium and sulfate, which are known to help tired, achy muscles and refresh skin, this bath soak is part therapeutic, part pamperific. The lavender smell seriously calms you the heck down on its own. So when you add a hot bath to the mix, it’s pretty much a recipe for relaxation. You just sprinkle into your hot tub and zen out. After using the Epsom salt the night of a really hard workout, it didn’t take my soreness away totally, but it certainly helped. And I smelled wonderful. At $15 for a big bag of the stuff online (cheaper in stores—$5!), it’s a luxury worth the price.

The FBGs are no experts on beauty products. While we’ll quickly comment on the latest fitness fashion trends or whether or not a cleanser works, when it comes to actual beauty products like mascara, facial masks and the like, we’re a bit out of our comfort zone. So, when Emilie and Jen of Running with Mascara, the official blog of FitandFabLiving.com, offered to write up a few tips on beauty and the gym, we were game!

According to the gals, Running with Mascara was created to promote healthy living and beauty tips. The blog also focuses on giveaways that are related to health, wellness and fitness, as well as fashion and beauty in the news. Overall, Running with Mascara is a healthy living and beauty blog, dedicated to sharing helpful tips to look and feel your best! Sounds like something we can dig!

Top Beauty Tips and Fave Products from Running With Mascara

Mascara is a must, say the writers of Running with Mascara! Makes sense... Credit: _overanalyzer

My name is Emilie. I was a runner in high school and college, and I am slowly making my way back by training for a 5K. It’s hard to get back in the habit, but given my personal experience, I can help others reach their goals and provide motivation for people who have reentered the world of fitness. Growing up playing sports (ice hockey was my favorite!) and loving academic life, I have always appreciated people who have a healthy interest in both. It’s important to keep a balance!

When it comes to beauty, I love Sephora and the amazing sales they have at Ulta. I truly believe that not wearing mascara is a sin, but I keep it pretty bare during the week. On weekends, I dial it up. I have perfected the smoky eye for nights out. In terms of beauty products, I swear by Origins 10-minute mask called Drink Up. It is the best hydrating product I’ve found. My skin has gotten progressively drier with each fall/winter season, and this product keeps me fresh and clean. Who doesn’t love feeling that automatic change in their skin after using a product? You can see and feel the difference.

Our other awesome editor is Jen. Jen and I are both pop-culture and fashion enthusiasts. Jen loves being updated on all the trends, such as what colors are seen on the runway and what shoes are in for the season. Trying new makeup products and exercises keeps her daily routine interesting, and finding clothing and makeup on sale especially makes her happy! Her favorite beauty product is Essie nail polish (in a variety of colors). She also loves the foundation and powders from Clinique. She really has an eye for color and is always changing her nail polish.

Our best tip for a post-workout makeup refresher? Carry face wipes or use a towel with cool water to dab your face of any sweat. And keep a tinted moisturizer handy—it will even out your skin and hydrate it so that you can go from the gym to a coffee date. Keep it simple and you can’t go wrong!

I’ve so committed a sin with the lack of mascara many days…but I am DIGGING the product suggestions and top beauty tips. Thanks, Emilie and Jen! What’s your favorite beauty product? —Jenn

This post brought to you by TRESemmé. All opinions are 100 percent ours.

There’s nothing like getting done with a killer workout, only to have to rush back to work or to the next to-do on your list looking like a hot, sweaty mess. While we haven’t found a way to look as fresh as if you just showered after leaving the gym, we have found a way to help your hair style out tenfold: TRESemmé Fresh Start Dry Shampoo.

At one time, dry shampoo was only offered by the super-expensive beauty brands out there, making it a pricey post-workout-hair fix. But TRESemmé created a complete line of affordable dry shampoos that are uniquely formulated to absorb excess oil and remove odor, rejuvenating your hair without a drop of water. (And if you need to go a day without showering, it’ll revive your style’s look and feel, too!)

The full line includes four dry shampoos for all hair types. Strengthening Dry Shampoo has B12 vitamins and keratin, which helps strengthen hair and leaves it full of healthy body. The Volumizing Dry Shampoo has mineral clay and citrus to remove oil while injecting hair with salon-gorgeous volume. Smoothing Dry Shampoo contains vitamin H and silk proteins, which refreshes your straight style by removing excess oil, impurities and odor to ensure your smooth look lasts. And Moisturizing Waterless Foam Shampoo includes witch hazel, citrus and aloe vera to refresh your hair by removing excess oil, impurities and odor, all while moisturizing hair. With a renewing burst of citrus extracts infused into every product in the line, it leaves hair with a clean, fresh scent.

I tried the Volumizing Dry Shampoo after a workout and loved it. It soaked up oil near my scalp and left my hair looking like it hadn’t been in a high sweaty ponytail for a three-mile run. The dry shampoo is super easy to use, too. Here’s a quick guide on how to get the most from your TRESemmé Fresh Start Dry Shampoo.

• Do shake vigorously before use and in between spray bursts for best results.
• Do lift sections of dry hair and spray lightly at roots
• Do spray in short bursts, holding 8-12 inches from head
• Don’t spray it like hair spray (all over and continuously)
• Do leave in for 1-2 minutes.
• Do use fingertips or a brush to distribute product evenly
• If clogging occurs, remove nozzle and rinse the nozzle under warm water, then reattach.

If you’d like more tips for making the most of your TRESemmé Fresh Start Dry Shampoo, check out this Top Hair Products for School video by YouTube Celebrity Elle Fowler. She recently teamed up with TRESemmé to teach you how to use TRESemmé Fresh Start Dry Shampoo properly. Check it out!

See? Easy to use and it totally works! Have you ever tried TRESemmé Fresh Start Dry Shampoo before? Will you? Do share! —Jenn

We’ve been rather verbose about our, ahem, odor from time to time. Be it wet-dog smell after a run, pits that could use extra deo or workout clothes that get rank after a Bikram yoga class, getting sweaty can get stinky. We’ve tried special laundry detergents that are made specifically for laundering workout clothes, but we haven’t really tried an entirely natural one. Because we’re always looking to make the earth a little fitter along with our booties, we decided to give the Vaska line of detergents a go after they hit us up with an email.

I tried two different Vaska formulas. The first was Vaska Herbatergent in lavender, which is a liquid laundry detergent that uses real lavender and “botanical-cleaning agents” to clean clothing and linens without harmful chemicals. To give it a fair shake, I washed just about everything in my home with this stuff: clothes, a sports bra I ran in, sheets, towels, all of it. Unlike more commercial brands that are very viscous, Herbatergent is like water—lovely lavender-smelling water. Add a cap-full to your wash and let it work its magic. It left my clothes feeling soft, looking clean and smelling just slightly of lavender. (Love.) It didn’t appear to be any more or less efficient than my usual Tide, but it certainly didn’t irritate my sensitive skin—and I felt good about using a product that was more natural and eco-friendly. At just about $10 for a 48-ounce bottle (32 loads), it’s not cheap, but it’s not super-pricey either.

The second Vaska product I tried was Spotoff, the natural line’s version of Shout stain remover. In what I’m considering a small miracle, for the entire month I tested the line, not once did my husband or I spill anything that needed Spotoff. So, on a Tuesday afternoon, I popped a bottle of Two-Buck Chuck open and spilled it on a white dish towel that I wasn’t particularly attached to. And then I poured myself a glass and did some laundry. (You know, for work, people.) Although Spotoff didn’t get all of the Shiraz out in one washing, it got A LOT of it out. The stain-remover spray can be used on spills on rugs and upholstery, too, but I didn’t go splashing my wine around to test. That’s more of a Friday night thing. At just about $10 for a 22-ounce spray bottle, unless you have a gaggle of kids or puppies running amok in your home, one bottle should last you a few years, making the cost (and lack of chemicals) totally worth it.

Overall, these natural products seem to do as well as the commercial stuff—minus the chemicals, dyes and overpowering fragrances that can irritate sensitive skin and tick Mother Nature off. When it comes to washing your clothes, do you spend more on more natural products? —Jenn

Is the Invisibelt really invisible? We test it!

Today’s post is written by the new FBG in the house: Kelsey Brazelton! Kelsey is FBG’s official intern and an all-around sweet girl with a background in journalism and a love of running and food. (You can see why she fits in so well, eh?). Please give her a warm welcome readers—you’ll be reading more from her in the future!

As much as we try to beat the body-image blues, we women are self-conscious about our bodies at some point or another in our lives, right? After all, it’s human to want to put your best foot forward—including your best look. And having a big, bulky belt popping out from under your sweater isn’t always the most of flattering looks. That’s where the Invisibelt claims to help. It says it will hide under fitted tops and be able to hide any muffin top you might have going on.

I recently tried the Invisibelt, testing it under a number of clothing options. The results? Well, it’s certainly not the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn; the plastic is kind of hard and doesn’t really shape well with your body. Also, the main selling point of the belt is that it’s invisible, but I found that when wearing it, the adjustable part still poked out of my shirt. The snaps on the belt were definitely less noticeable, but still popped up a bit under fitted tops. And the slimming effects? Eh, not so much on me. I figure if I want to wear a belt, it’s going to be because I want a belt on and for it to show, not because I want it to disappear. But that’s just me.

While it adjusts from sizes 0-14 (a good range, for sure), Invisibelts for Plus Size women and young girls are also available. The belt goes for $22, which seems pretty high to me. While it is less visible under a longer shirt than a usual belt is, if your goal is to smooth your profile, I would venture to say that traditional shapewear would probably take care of that issue and fit under clothing much better than the Invisibelt. Although, at least the Invisibelt doesn’t make sure you feel like a sausage…so there is that.

Have you tried the Invisibelt? Would you? —Kelsey

Whether you’re out camping, hiking or even just going from the gym to work, it’s easy to not feel your freshest after getting your sweat on. No matter if you’re going an hour or, ahem, six days without a shower, we put these two get-fresh products to the test to see how clean they really make you feel!

Paper Shower

About two nights into my trip, the name of this one alone was enough for me to praise it. A shower of any kind? Yes, yes, YES! While no product will ever be as glorious as a real shower, this Paper Shower was definitely better than nothing. Taking a Paper Shower is a two-part process. After securing a secluded place in the woods, you get half-naked and wipe yourself down with the moist towelette. For me, it was amazing/gross to see just how dirty I was after two nights in the backcountry. Next, you dry that moistness off with the dry towelette.

In theory, the two-part cleaning process makes sense, but in a dry climate like the Rockies, it wasn’t really necessary as just about as soon as you wiped yourself down the first time, Mother Nature took care of the drying part. The towelettes themselves were unscented and didn’t exactly make you feel squeaky clean, but they definitely improved matters. They also didn’t commit the biggest cleaning-wipe sin of all: leaving a gross sticky film. At about $1 a Paper Shower, they’re more than worth the money. Of course, I probably would have paid just about anything for a real shower by night four…

Playtex Sport Body Wipes

Not to get too, er, personal, but after a long, hot workout or, again, six days without anything but a Paper Shower, things everywhere on the body can get pretty fragrant…and not in a good way. While out on the trail, I also took a few of the new Playtex Sport Body Wipes that are alcohol-free and safe enough to use on the “entire body.” So, that I did. I wiped myself down on nights three and six and had very different results. The first time I used these, I loved them. With a nice fresh scent, they took off sunscreen and dirt from the day, and my skin and nether-region felt about 20 times better. When I tried them later on in the trip it was a little different story. Granted, I was a lot more gross by night six, but these wipes seemed to leave more of a film than a clean feeling, leaving my skin slightly sticky. Not what you’re looking for in a sleeping bag, let me tell ya.

My advice on these Playtex wipes? They are best used as they’re marketed (duh, Jenn, right?!): after a workout. Don’t rely on them as a shower, paper or not. Great for the locker room and packaged in a cute and inconspicuous-looking sleeve that easily fits in your purse or gym bag, they are a good refresher that’s more grown up than baby wipes.

Do you use products like these to freshen up? Love ‘em? Hate ‘em? Tell us about it! —Jenn

Credit: Joe Shlabotnik

As I’ve mentioned in passing, I am a fair, fair, fair redhead. My entire life, I’ve spent summers wearing a hat, covered in a T-shirt and lounging under an umbrella applying multiple layers of sunscreen. What can I say? It’s what I know. Just a few years ago, my fair skin became even more particular, breaking out with the application of most sunscreens and completely rejecting sunless tanner with full-out itching and hives. (A fair girl allergic to sunless tanner? Oh, the cruel irony. Also, oddly enough, FBG Erin has the same strange problem. I am not alone in my paleness.)

Now to add to the craziness and my own personal fear of the sun and anything in a tube, the Environmental Working Group put out its newest list on the best and worst sunscreens. According to the report, 92 percent of sunscreens either don’t adequately protect skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals—or both. Some can even accelerate skin cancer. Oh joy. This is why, obviously, I offered to review this natural sunscreen.

Tips to not get burned—literally or figuratively.

—Jenn

Originally published on August 11, 2010.

Credit: diongillard

Cellulite…we all have it. (Or at least 80 percent of us do, according to recent statistics.) While we on FBG are all about loving our bodies no matter what our mothers have passed down to us, there’s no doubt that with shorts and swimsuit season in full swing, ya’ll might be a little more aware of the “texture” of your legs now than you are in the winter months.

So with that in mind—and because there are so many freaking cellulite creams and products on the market that claim to pretty much solve the problems of the world—we wanted to share a recent article that gives the honest truth about cellulite. From understanding what cellulite is to looking at possible ways to rid yourself of its bumpy appearance, it’s a no-nonsense guide to all things not perfectly smooth.

Read on for the real deal on cellulite.

—Jenn

Ever since I attended this Luna event and was introduced to the Breast Cancer Fund, I’ve been waaay more choosy about what beauty products I use. I skip the nail salon and give myself a pedi and mani at home with nail polish that doesn’t smell like it’ll start a chemical fire. I read the ingredients panel on everything, and I usually check these tips before purchasing most anything that goes on my body. Granted, I’m not perfect, but I do what I can when I can.

One of the most recent beauty products I’ve fallen in love with are the super-convenient and super-natural Kaia Juicy Bamboo Cleansing Cloths. Kaia sent us a package to try as a pre- or post-exercise beauty fix for your face, and I have to admit that although they are totally convenient enough to carry in your gym bag, I liked them enough to keep them at home.

Although they smell a little sweeter than I would prefer and don’t remove every little bit of mascara on my lashes, they’re super soft and you can pronounce every word on the label. Plus, they’re 100 percent biodegradable, they didn’t freak my sensitive skin out, and they cleanse, tone and remove most eye makeup in just one cloth (one side is for cleaning and toning, the other for makeup). Albeit a touch pricey (okay a lot pricey—a package of 30 cloths will run you about $18, which is way more than my Target off-brand budget for face wash), it’s certainly a higher quality product—and one I feel good about using. —Jenn