Has anyone else been singing “Happy Birthday” multiple times a day, every day, as a way to ensure that you’re washing your hands long enough? I probably need to switch to a new song soon. There’s something rather therapeutic about lathering up with soap and rinsing away the suds. If there’s any bright side to the crazy times we live in, it’s that maybe we’ve come to respect—and even enjoy—the simple but necessary act of washing our hands to protect…

Once in a while, as I’m winding down my weekly Whole Foods grocery shopping, I treat myself to one product from the beauty section. As part of my lifelong fascination with generic store brand versions of name brand products, I usually like to try something from 365 Everyday Value, Whole Foods’s house brand. So far, I’ve tried the fragrance-free shampoo and conditioner, gentle face cleanser, and glycerin soap bar. Today, I’m reviewing the Whole Foods Moisturizing Lotion,…

Store-brand dupes of drugstore mainstays never fail to intrigue me. Why not get the same thing for less moolah? But oftentimes, the items they’re duplicating aren’t exorbitantly expensive in the first place. So the question is: Is it worth splurging just a little more to get the name brand, or should you save a little bit of money and go with the dupe? I don’t have a definitive answer for you. The quality of store-brand dupes can vary, and name brands are under pressure to…