2 products I love -

- very different yet share some common virtues.
They both are:
1) cheap
2) smelly
3) do exactly what they promise

Product number one: Lestoil. My daughter was painting a picture with a neon pink polish (please, do not even ask) and made a stain on her white cotton T-shirt. It would not be a big deal, but the shirt has been borrowed from her teacher. So I've tried all chemicals possible - from a polish remover (left an ugly pink halo) to Oxyclean (did nothing). Lestoil was my last resort - and I did help! I have just a couple of pink freckles left on the T-shirt, that's it! I swear, this stuff works like a charm on almost anything, from perspiration marks (not that I ever sweat) to old gum. It's a Stain Remover Almighty - I tried it on a long settled dry-erase marker stain, and - again - it helped! And it works on colors as well!

But the smell is truly horrendous. People keep calling Lestoil "an old-fashioned cleaner", so I guess it's a polite way to say "The smell of the stuff will make you barf". No, it's not an exaggeration - my husband, who's used to pure acetone, polishes, top/base coats etc. - asked me to open the door, because the smell gave him a headache. It smells like some kind of a gas by-product. So - WEAR LONG GLOVES, treat your garment outside and rinse it thoroughly before tossing to the washer.

I'm sure it's capable of cleaning a polish stain from carpet, but I have no idea how to get rid of the smell on carpet.

Lestiol is available in Ace Hardware and from Amazon, for $4 plus change for 28 oz bottle.

Product number two: Podiatrist's Secret Total Foot Recovery cream. Also knows as "the one with an orange cap" (shown on the pic has a white cap, but it's the same cream). 4 oz will cost you about $5 in Sally's Beauty Supplies. This cream contains urea (despite a common belief, nowadays urea has nothing to do with urine; it used to, but now it's a product of gross-free chemical reactions) and lactic acid. These ingredients work excellent together, moisturizing and exfoliating your skin. I wear flip-flops 90% of a year, weather permissible, and it's a rough regiment for my heels/toes. I apply TFR after shower, put cotton socks on, and just go to bed. Two-three night in a row - I have perfectly pink toes and heels. A very nice side-effect: the cream also works as a cuticle eraser.

To the smell: I've read people complaining about "burnt tire stench". I'd rather say, it smells like some kind of an expired medicine. It's a bit offensive, yet absolutely bearable; and effect totally worth it.