Let’s face it: We all know that most infomercial products don’t live up to the hype. In fact, many of them are just well-packed scams trying to get your $20. And because we know this, we tend to ignore all As Seen On TV products because we assume none of them work.

But despite the screaming pitchman and the too-good-to-be-true testimonials, some infomercial products actually work. To help you make well-informed buying decisions, I’ve come up with a list of some of the best-performing infomercial products.

• Fasta Pasta—Like its name implies, Fasta Pasta is designed to help you cook pasta faster and easier. You simply measure the pasta, add water, and cook it in the microwave. In many instances, Fasta Pasta cooks pasta twice as fast as it’d take if you were to boil it on the stove top. And believe it or not, most pasta actually tastes pretty good when you cook it with Fasta Pasta. For the most part, there’s no stirring with Fasta Pasta, and you don’t have to clean a lot of dishes or worry about your water boiling over. At under $15, this is a pretty good deal.

• Snuggie for Dogs—Okay, so you probably remember the Snuggie craze from last year, and you might be rolling your eyes at the thought of a dog wearing a Snuggie but hear me out. For small dogs that aren’t built to withstand the cold, I think the doggie Snuggie is the perfect solution. It’s much easier to put on your dog than a typical sweater, and it doesn’t seem to itch my dog like other sweaters.

• Oxiclean—When you think of Oxiclean, you probably think of the late Billy Mays screaming about how this product gets any stain out of clothes in the wash. Well, it appears Billy was telling the truth, because millions of people swear by Oxiclean. I’ve used it on a few occasions, and it has gotten the stains out while being gentle to the clothing. If you have kids who like to make a mess on their clothes, you should consider trying Oxiclean.

Tips for Buying Infomercial Products

Whether you want to buy the products listed above or some other infomercial products, you should always proceed with caution and common sense. Here are a few tips you should follow when buying infomercial products. These could help you save a lot of money and headaches.

• Read online reviews—Never trust the pitchman or the “real life customers” who claim the product works wonders. Always do your research before buying. I recommend hitting the internet to look for reviews submitted by real users. When reading customer reviews, never take any single opinion too seriously. Instead, read a lot of reviews so you can get an idea of the general consensus.

• Make sure you understand the return policy—A lot of infomercial products claim to come with money back guarantees, but there’s always restrictions and a lot of fine print. Before buying, always make sure you fully understand the return policy so you don’t have problems later on should the product not work.

• Beware of shipping and handling costs—While the $19.95 price point seems attractive, it usually doesn’t tell the full story. Many infomercial products come with exorbitant shipping and handling costs that can milk another $10-$20 out of you. Pay attention to the fine print before buying!

• Try to find the product in a local store—A lot of infomercial products are now available in local grocery and department stores. There are a couple of advantages of purchasing these products at a local store rather than over the phone. First, you eliminate the costs of shipping and handling. Second, you can simply return the product for a full refund at the store if it doesn’t work, rather than dealing with trying to get your money back over the phone.

Which infomercial products have you had success with? Share your favorites by leaving a comment.

When it comes to shopping, being a woman is fantastic. It’s not that we just want to spend money. In fact, we can easily go out and spend less money than our male counterparts. It’s the thrill of the hunt that gets us every time.

Beyond hunting for that perfect deal, companies know that every now and then women just want an excuse to spoil themselves. There are more bath, beauty, and other “girly” products out there than we could ever possibly try — and believe me, we’d love to try an awful lot of them! But every once in a while I stumble across a product designed for women that leaves me scratching my head and thinking “they can’t be serious, can they?”

Here are five of the absolute craziest products for women I’ve ever seen advertised. Have you ever used one of them?

1. GoGirl

Go ahead ladies, admit it. For years you’ve secretly been jealous of a man’s ability to urinate standing up. Go ahead. Say it. I promise I won’t tell.

You can finally drop the penis envy thanks to GoGirl — a portable funnel-like product that serves as a makeshift shaft to let you pee standing up. Yes. You heard that right. You are now officially eligible to enter all the pissing contests you please. Watch out boys!

But seriously, why would any company assume this product was a good idea? What kind of freakish focus group told them this would be the next big thing in women’s hygiene products? I have to imagine they were kidding, and the joke went over someone’s head.

For a moment (and just a moment!) I even thought “well, maybe” when I saw it mentioned on Go-Girl.com that the GoGirl could be ideal for women who like to go camping. It almost sounds plausible, no? Then common sense came wandering back from the woods and it said “you must be friggin’ nuts if you think I’m going to clean this thing around other human beings on a camping trip!” After all, that would be more humiliating than squatting to piss in the surrounding brush while everyone gathered around cheering you on.

I don’t know. Maybe it’s just me, but the GoGirl seems like a mess waiting to happen. And really, who wants to be bothered with washing their phallus-like funnel every time they want to take a quick leak? More power to you if you have the time or ambition to be bothered, but it’s just not for me thanks!

Credit: Go-Girl.com

Credit: Go-Girl.com

Credit: Go-Girl.com

2. Mooncup Menstrual Cup

I can’t remember exactly where I first came across menstrual cups like the Mooncup other than remembering that it was in a magazine. Just the thought makes me cringe. I mean really — I have a disgusting wave of “eww” come over me when I think about the Mooncup.

What is it? Basically it’s a substitute for pads and tampons during your menstrual cycle. Rather than using disposable products during your period, you can now shove a little cup-like product up inside of you to collect the blood and tissue. Then you get to remove it and clean it all up. Yay.

Look. I’m all for giving Mother Nature a hand with environmentally-friendly products — just not when it comes to my more “delicate” areas it seems. The beauty of a tampon is that you use it, it does its job discreetly, and then you make it go “poof” when you’re done with it. Who in their right bloody mind (pun intended) wants to be bothered with washing out a disgusting tissue-filled cup when they’re already feeling like crap during their period anyway? Not me. And come on. The cup really does look kind of scary! I envision poking.

Credit: Mooncup.co.uk

3. Tinge Razor

Let’s take a look at one more incredibly strange product for women, designed to be used “down there.” This innocent-looking razor is anything but (okay, it is really a razor, but it doubles as a vibrator). It’s exactly what I’ve always wanted — a way to masturbate with blades! How about you?

When I first came across the Tinge razor / vibrator, I was flat out confused. Could a woman really have come up with this idea? I almost felt like the creator had betrayed her sex… had betrayed me! But then I found out the Tinge was developed by a guy. Ah, that makes more sense.

Don’t get me wrong. I completely admire the fact that a young guy out there truly cared enough about getting women off to try to create a product to help (or was it just because men are too lazy or incompetent to do it, so they’d rather we deal with it ourselves?). But at the same time I almost have to wonder if this product stemmed from a true desire to be helpful or from deep-seated mommy issues meaning there was a subconscious desire to see blades all up in our personal business (and to be serious for a moment, I’m not actually accusing the guy of having ill intentions — I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt).

But look ladies — safety features and all, this just isn’t something to take chances with. First, get yourself a decent vibrator if you want one — one designed solely for that purpose. Second, if you’re that concerned about being discreet, either buy a little purse-sized model (you can get them to look like lip stick containers for goodness sake — it’s not that hard!). Or here’s a thought. Just leave the toys for the privacy of your own home where they can be safely stashed away when not in use, and you’ll never have to worry about what they’re masquerading as. I can’t imagine you’ll have an easier time explaining to the kiddies who walk in on you what you’re doing with an upside-down razor down there than if you were caught using a more traditional vibrator anyway.

Credit: MyTinge.com

4. LATISSE®

What woman wouldn’t love longer, thicker eyelashes? After all, we’ll spend a small fortune on constantly buying mascara or even fake lashes for special occasions. So why not use a new prescription-only product like LATISSE to grow better lashes of our own, no makeup needed?

I first came across the product through a commercial airing on Hulu.com (sidenote: great site if you’re in the U.S. and want to catch up on a show you missed). On the surface it really didn’t sound like that bad of an idea. Brooke Shields was the spokesperson, and she wouldn’t lead us wrong, right?

Then I noticed something. Shields’ eyes looked oddly strained and watery in the ad. They didn’t have a bright, beautiful look to them — what we go for when we use makeup to perk up our lashes. That made me second-guess the product. Why on earth would we want to use something that’s supposed to make our eyes look prettier only to have them look watery and / or bloodshot? Isn’t that counter-intuitive. But I stopped myself. “Maybe she just has allergies or something,” I thought.

Then we got to the part of the ad where they start reading off potential side effects. (And let’s face it, that’s the best part of any prescription product’s advertising!) LATISSE apparently “may cause eyelid skin darkening which may be reversible, and there is potential for increased brown iris pigmentation which is likely to be permanent…. The most common side effects after using LATISSE solution are an itching sensation in the eyes and/or eye redness.” Ah, so maybe it wasn’t allergies after all.

Look. LATISSE is designed to treat a condition called eyelash hypotrichosis — not having enough eyelashes. But that’s not how the ad I saw came across. While, yes, it’s clear that it’s a prescription product and that you’ll need to see a medical provider first, it seemed to be more or less marketed as a beauty product for women in general. That concerns me. It concerns me a lot.

In the end, I’ll stick to mascara. The application procedure isn’t that different anyway, and at least if my mascara screws around with my eyes, I can just switch brands — no high costs, doctor’s appointments, or other hassles necessary.

Credit: Latisse.com

Face Slimming Mask

Leave it to the Japanese to put the emphasis on getting smaller, and smaller, and smaller, no matter what we have to do to get there. This face slimming mask is a somewhat eerie example of what we do as women to try to impress men. (Why do we endure one torture device after another for people who openly scratch themselves in public again anyway? I think I missed a memo somewhere!).

I’m not even sure where to start with this face slimming mask. Okay. Yes I am. How about being able to breathe? Is it just me or does this rubbery sac over your head scream “potential suffocation?” Sure, there are air holes, but it still looks pretty restrictive to me.

Now let’s be realistic. I’d hope no woman honestly believes that strapping on a mask will actually melt fat away. While the products for women above might be equally insane in this gal’s opinion, at least I have little doubt that they can actually do what they claim to be able to do. This face slimming mask on the other hand is nothing but a waste of money (and since I still can’t figure out what company released it or where you can actually buy it anyway, you won’t have to worry about that for now).

I guess it does have one redeeming quality though — Halloween is coming up!

Credit: Geekologie.com

Disclaimer: All images and other material used in this article are believed to be covered by fair use rights under U.S. copyright law, being used for the purpose of identification in the context of reviews or critiques.

Comparison shopping is one of the hottest things you can do online. No need to spend hours driving from store to store, ask experts’ and friends’ recommendations to find the best product to suit your needs and wallet.

Find the best free online tools below that offer handy ways to compare any product prices, user and expert reviews and specs.

PriceGrabber lets members add and see others’ reviews and ratings.

The site offers a very handy search option: you can sort the search results by price, popularity or rating. The sidebar lists multiple options allowing you to refine the results: top manufacturers, price range, item specifications, etc. You will also be able to see top searches others users are likely to use.

Alatest has a very handy search suggestion option that provides you with the list of search hints as you type.

The site also saves your recently viewed items and allows to compare them any time.

You will also be able to compare prices for one product across several stores.

Overall comparison is performed in the form of a huge table allowing you to compare all core features, user ratings and reviews and, of course, the prices.

BeatThat lists user-submitted deals and allows you to compare deals with Amazon and BestBuy.

CNet represents product comparison in the form of a table containing item photos, prices, ratings, descriptions and core features.

With it you have the least customizable options but it provides plenty of information in a user-friendly interface:

PriceRunner allows to compare prices offered by different retailers (just click “price range” link). You will be able to see each retailer’s user rating, price and even product availability.

The site lists both users’ reviews as well as reviews given by ‘experts’ (aggregated from other product review sites). The site also offers a handy “compare side by side” feature listing product features and letting you choose.

Search results can be customized in a number of ways: view results in a table, grid or list. A number of sorting options are also available: by popularity, retailer’s name, price, user rating, etc.

NexTag has a pretty nifty advanced search option that allows to narrow search by price, by brand, by product specifications or suggested keywords.

You can also set the price alert for any product you want and get notified when the item’s price reaches or falls below your target price.

When registered, you can add items to your shopping list, compile your wish lists and save your recent searches. Apart from that you can also see other members’ product lists.

Another cool feature is called “Recent price drops” listing products with recently dropped price. What’s more, you can see how pricing has been changing for each product in a graph:

More Fun With Each Tool:

eCommerce has been a very large part of the internet since its inception. Hard to find products or sizes are always available online, and the stores never have lines or close. Now, online consumers want more than clear pictures of merchandise and snazzy descriptions. They want reviews.

Product reviews are nothing new. Consumer Reports has had a magazine dedicated to reviewing popular products for years and industry magazines report on products or merchandise constantly. Then a new trend started online.

Consumer Reports and other sites still had expert reviews of products. These sites were heavily searched for comparison shopping and information. But visitors were starting to look at a new form of review. They wanted to know about other buyer’s actual experience with the product.

The User Review
Amazon was one of the first to take advantage of our need to know a firsthand experience. The website allowed consumers to post their own review of a book or product. Now, almost every eCommerce site allows and encourages the same. And if they don’t already, the comments are in the pipeline, or should be.

Consumers want reviews. Industry experts can’t be trusted in our skeptical day and age. They might be bribed or otherwise paid for a positive opinion. But the mom down the street will tell you how it really is in the minivan, or if one stroller is better than another. Sure a book or movie might be an award winner, but is it totally boring? Readers will tell you the truth – they aren’t looking for awards or exclusive interviews with the author.

Not only do we like to read the reviews of others, we like to offer our own – especially on products that did not meet our expectations. Of course this might skew the review reports, but over time and with enough reviews, the numbers balance out.

Review Breakdown
The user review generally consists of two parts. The user is encouraged to pick a rating from stars or numbers; the higher the number, the better the rating. Then, the consumer is strongly encouraged to write out a little review of his own. These blurbs are often more useful than stars or numbers.

The little paragraphs, or sometimes pages, of information under a product can let you know in a matter of moments if multiple people are having the same problem with a product or if the overall quality is shoddy. Multiple glowing reviews can help offset the negative write-up by the person who couldn’t figure out how to turn the darn thing on.

Even if there is only one measly review, some high level studies have shown that the reviewed product will sell better than a non-reviewed one – assuming the review is positive, of course. For such a skeptical society, it’s ironic how much we value the opinions of others. Perhaps the collective experience of others like us simply has more bearing in our world than that of the expert. After all, what really makes an expert anyhow?