Las Vegas

They did not ID me. I played and lost. I don't want to talk about it anymore. What happens in Vegas, right?

My uncle got us amazing suites. I think he must have played/won/lost a lot of money at the Wynn casino because we got a lot of special treatments there.

OH AND CONGRATULATIONS SPAIN! I cut your winning picture out of the New York Times today. :) Take those Dutches down!

Disney Land

I didn't get to meet Donald Duck. I am so disappointed. I wanted to tell Donald that I am his biggest fan. I think he would have been flattered. Goofy was not nice to us. He did not pay attention to us and kept walking away from the children. I dislike him.

I have been in California since Saturday night. How is it here? It is... cool, literally. I was expecting LA to be hotter than Philly, but it does not feel like Summer here. It is July but everyone wears jackets and things. I would love to be able to do that in Philly. I don't think I have seen the sun lately either. I don't know if I made it to California or got stuck in some weird sunless state. I like it. Too bad I am going to Vegas tomorrow. And I can't even gamble.

Equate: Exfoliating Cleansing Towelettes

Ingredients: Water, Cetearyl Isononanoate, Ceteareth-20, Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, Glycerin, Cetyl Palmitate, Ceteareth-12, Propylene Glycol, Chamomilla Recutita (Chamomile Matricaria) Flower Extract, Centaurea Cyanus Flower Extract, Cucumis Sativus (Cucumber) Fruit Extract, Camellia Oleifera (Green Tea) Extract, Tocopheryl (Vitamin E) Acetate, Aloe Barbadensis (Aloe Vera) Leaf Juice, Fragrance, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, Disodium Edta, 2-Bromo-2-Nitropropane-1, 3-Diol

These ingredients are almost identical to Pond's exfoliating wipes. Although I have never tried Pond's exfoliating wipes, I have used their cold cream without a problem. The Equate towelettes are supposed to be extremely similar to the Pond's one except that it only costs a few dollars. The problem with this? I am extremely allergic to it. I wiped my face with the towelette once before going to bed the other night. I woke up the next morning with hives all over my face and neck. Benadryl and Benadryl cream did not work. I received a shot from my doctor and some more medication and creams. They are helping, but at a very slow pace. As of now, I am still itching from the allergic reaction. This has been the worst allergic experience of my life. I went online and did a little search and found at least 10 other people who had a major allergic reaction to this thing. I do not recommend anyone trying this wipe, although most people seem to be fine with it. Dish out a few extra dollars and get something better. St. Ives apricot scrub is pretty good. As of now, I will avoid Pond's and anything similar to Equate. I can't risk going through this again.

In addition to all the trouble that this towelette has caused me, I would like to add that these wipes are not very moist. That may be a good thing for people who like a little napkin to wipe before bed, but I prefer something damp and cool on my face. I may be bias on this one, but this wipe just felt dry.

I emailed Walmart yesterday to report my problem because Equate is a Walmart manufactured brand. They called me this morning and left a voice mail. When they call back I will have a word with them and see where it leads.

.edit// The Equate people called me back and asked me a ton of questions. They are reporting the incident to the manufacturer. I just want to know which ingredient is causing my problem. They said that the manufacturers may contact me in the future if they decide to recall the product. Most likely though, they will not. I did find out that Equate is manufactured by Nice Pak Products. That does little for me. I will live in constant fear of face products and hives.

.edit//* Equate did call me to ask for the product, so I gave them the lot number. I should be receiving a letter from them soon. I am glad that they are going through the trouble of "investigating," if that is truly what they do with the information. I hope they will provide me with some sort of information on the allergen. A check for all my trouble would be nice too, but we know that won't happen. Maybe I can sue them.