SkyMall Monday: Temperature Regulating Sheets

by Mike Barish on

For many people, it can be difficult to sleep comfortably. Whether it’s because of stress, noise or horrific night terrors, sleep does not come easily to everyone. One of the biggest challenges to sleeping well is simply getting comfortable. Sleeping in a cold room will cause you to shivver. Sleeping in a hot room will make you sweat. It can be a constant struggle. Here at SkyMall Monday headquarters, we struggle with the oppressive heat that our building pumps into the space during the winter. It can make sleeping terribly difficult (and sweaty). How can we combat this climate controlling scurge that makes rest allusive and sleep a pipedream? The same way we address all of life’s problems: with the SkyMall catalog. Finally, we have a solution to all of this sleep deprevation. Feast your eyes on these glorious Temperature Regulating Sheets.Opening and closing windows are tedious tasks that can lead to back and shoulder injuries. Adjusting your thermostat will result in higher gas and electric bills. Kicking off the sheets or adding a blanket just seems exhausting. Why not just relax and let the sheets do the climate controlling for you? Being in bed should be restful, after all.

Think that sheets should be simple and just lay there? Believe that if you’re cold you should just put on a sweatshirt? Well, while you layer up, the rest of us are going to read the product description:

Using a fabric developed for NASA to help astronauts adapt to extreme temperature fluctuations, these sheets prevent overheating and eliminate chills to create an optimal sleeping climate. Imbedded in the sheets are millions of invisible microcapsules that absorb excess heat when you are hot and release the stored heat when you are cold, ensuring a comfortable bed temperature and humidity. Unlike an electric blanket, the microcapsules adjust independently to an individual’s climate, allowing two sleepers with different temperature preferences to remain comfortable throughout the night.

I have no idea what any of that means, but NASA sends people to space and that’s awesome. If these sheets can get me to space, then count me in.

Sleep is essential to staying healthy. Rather than struggling with drafty windows and expensive air conditioning, pick up some space-aged sheets to keep you comfortable. It sure beats buying new pajamas or gimmicky pillows. Get them for all of your bunk beds today!

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

SkyMall Monday: Relax ‘n Nap Pillow

by Mike Barish on

I tend to love almost all SkyMall products. My reviews are favorable because the SkyMall Monday headquarters is full of useful products that have solved problems that we never knew we had until SkyMall told us about them. However, there was always one product in the catalog that I avoided reviewing. Whenever I would flip through the pages or scroll through the website, I would avoid it at all costs because it simply looked too horrible for me to imagine ever using it. However, the time has come for me to address this product. This week’s edition of SkyMall Monday is going to be a bit different than usual. Instead of a glowing review, you may see some harsh words. We’re all adults here and I think you’ll agree that what I’m about to share with you needs to be said (or written). Get comfortable. Lay down if you’d like. But do not attempt to read this while using the Relax ‘n Nap Pillow.The Relax ‘n Nap Pillow is intended for people who want to sleep laying face down. You know who sleeps like that? Dead people. Or, I suppose, people getting massages. I’ve gotten massages. I love massages. You know what bothers me about massages? How weird it is laying face down with my head through a hole. I know that I should close my eyes and relax, but I can’t help but open my yes from time to time only to see either the floor or the masseuse’s feet. It’s boring and weird. Now imagine laying face down, opening your eyes and just seeing your sheets. Unless you have some epic bedsheets, that’s going to be weird and boring.

I also find that the face down sleeping position promoted by the Relax ‘n Nap Pillow poses a major security risk. Laying face down with no peripheral vision leaves the user vulnerable to sneak attacks by home invaders, the boogieman and older brothers who think that wedgies are funny. If you normally sleep on your stomach (which I do), you keep your head cocked to one side, allowing you to either sleep with one eye open or quickly see what’s happening should a noise startle you awake. Every second counts when poltergeists or sadistic siblings try to make their move.

To be fair, I’ll give the product description the chance to make its case:

Our Relax ‘N Nap Pillows allow you to rest face down in blissful comfort! The memory foam provides proper spinal support plus patented air portal ventilation.

Blissful comfort? Sure, if you’ve already gotten your affairs in order and welcome death’s sweet embrace. As for the spinal support and air portal ventilation, well, invest in a decent mattress and open a window.

I’ll continue to sleep on normal pillows with my eyes pointed at the door, thank you very much. Sleeping face down just ain’t right.

I’m sorry that you had to experience such a negative review of a SkyMall product. I know that this must have shocked and frightened you. I can only hope that next week brings us back to the usually joy and whimsy of our favorite airborne marketplace. Until then, watch out for wedgies.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

Photo of the day – arty rooster graffiti in Portugal

by Meg Nesterov on


Many of us have a certain “thing” we like to photograph when traveling. For some, it’s food. For Gadling blogger Mike Barish, it’s amusing signs, as well as himself with various SkyMall products. Personally, I like graffiti, like today’s photo from Portugal taken by Flickr user Rita Moreno. The graffiti is practically arty in it’s framing, colors, and even the tears in the paint seem thoughtful and eye-catching.

What do you like to photograph on your travels? Send your best shots to our Gadling group on Flickr and we might just pick one of yours as our Photo of the Day.

SkyMall Monday: iRestore Hair Laser

by Mike Barish on

No man wants to go bald. As a man who shaves his head because it’s the only hair style that looks good anymore, I can tell you that I frequently feel pangs of hair envy when I see a guy with thick, luxurious locks. That’s why I often just sit around the SkyMall Monday headquarters wearing a wig. That said, I’ve never pursued any type of hair treatment or restoration because I’ve always believed that you should just make the best of what you have. Thankfully, my parents never dropped my on my head, so I look good bald. That’s helped me avoid any urge to use those potent pills that can’t be handled by women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, as well as any strange topical ointments, salves and creams. All of those remedies sounds frightening and messy. However, recent innovations in the hair restoration industry have led to developments that include lasers. Lasers make everything cooler. If anything can bring back hair that has been lost for years, it’s lasers. That’s why I am completely on board with SkyMall offering the iRestore Hair Laser.Historically, the problem with lasers is that they’ve been dangerous and often used by aliens to enslave the human race. Now, however, lasers have been put inside a helmet so that bald men can use them while doing anything from sitting around on the couch watching TV to eating a rack of ribs to sitting on the couch watching TV while eating a rack of ribs. It’s about time lasers became convenient for lazy bald men.

Think that you should play with the hand that nature dealt you? Believe that lasers are dangerous, precise instruments that are best left to professionals? Well, while I shine these lasers into my eyes, why don’t you take a look at the product description:

Adjustable Laser Dome for full scalp coverage!

That’s all you really need to know. Well, that and the fact that you’ll be able to tell your friends that you have an adjustable laser dome. They’re sure to feel stupid for being stuck with non-adjustable laser domes. Fools!

So, if you’re bald, wish you had a full head of hair and enjoy standing around reading books in an infinite black emptiness, then the iRestore Hair Laser is for you. Or, it might not be for you. To be certain, check out this handy and not-at-all amusing chart on iRestore’s website.

Stop being bald and laserless when you could be hairy and laserful. The choice is yours.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.

SkyMall Monday: Handy Cooler

by Mike Barish on

This week’s edition of SkyMall Monday comes to you from Bali, Indonesia. I’m on the tropical island attending a wedding and, while doing so, am also sweating on a professional level. It’s not that Bali is all that hot (it’s been in the high 80s since we arrived) but, SkyMall Almighty, it’s humid. As cliches go, “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” is one of the more accurate turns of phrase. I’m constantly wiping sweat out of my eyes and seeking out water (or another ice cold Bintang). After a long day of exploring, I’m a damp, lethargic mess. When we finally arrive back at our house, I scurry into our air conditioned bedroom to get my core temperature back down to something that allows my internal organs to function properly. What I wouldn’t give to take that cold, climate-controlled air with me everywhere we go. Paper fans just move hot air around and asking people to gently blow on me gets lost in translation. Thankfully, SkyMall has come to the rescue. Now, when things get hot we can all stay cool thanks to the Handy Cooler.Strapping a commercial air conditioning unit onto your back is simply impractical. That’s why you need to think small when it comes to staying cool. Being able to carry around a personal cooling system is the key to comfort whether you’re in Bali, at a barbecue or eating kung pao chicken.

Think that a little heat shouldn’t slow anybody down? Believe that staying hydrated is all it takes to push through a heat wave? Well, while you pass out from heat stroke, we’ll be reading the product description:

Trying to stay cool is not always easy. Misting fans will get you too wet. Cheap personal fans only move around the air that is already hot. Now, your problems are solved with Handy Cooler, the first ever battery operated, handheld evaporative air cooler that uses a water-soaked cooling filter to provide a continuous flow of cool air. Stay refreshed at the gym, office, home, anywhere you go. Compatible with your favorite aroma oils to double as a diffuser.

It’s about time that evaporative air coolers – like microchips, cell phones and my chances of dating Shakira – got smaller. Surely no one at the office will mind you cooling yourself during the weekly budget meeting. And your fellow passengers on the bus will love it when you pop in some aroma oils.

If you’re still unsure of whether you should strap the Handy Cooler to your palm before heading out into Hades, take a look at this informative video:

I sure wish I had known about the Handy Cooler before I flew halfway around the world just to sweat like a whore in church. Learn from my mistake and pick up the Handy Cooler today.

Check out all of the previous SkyMall Monday posts HERE.