Beauty Product On-the-Way Joins Web’s Best at smallflower.com

Chicago, IL, March 20, 2007 --(PR.com)-- Boasting the best in personal care from over 30 countries, the inventive Body Buddy™ lotion applicator is on the list of distinguished products now offered at smallflower.com. The impressive product selection known since 1875 at Merz Apothecary in Chicago is carrying on 130 years of tradition at the newly renovated online apothecary site www.smallflower.com.

Rated as the Web’s Best by Time Magazine, In Style, Vogue, Elle, and Allure, smallflower.com makes shopping online a pleasure and a place to easily discover something special like Body Buddy products for oneself or a loved one.

The Body Buddy applicator was originally shown to the experts at Merz by a customer who, after years of searching, found the perfect way to independently apply all of her skin care products to her own back. She immediately recommended it to them and Merz began stocking it for others. Listening to customers is directly shaping the information and product selection on smallflower.com.

The Early Show’s Stylist David Evangelista demonstrated Body Buddy as a “Beauty Product on the Way” live from the International Beauty Show (NYC). The buzz started about the simple solution to one of life’s little annoyances when the product “sold out” on QVC’s Decade of Discoveries Tour. Now reviews and comments can be found from happy customers on websites and magazines all over the world.

Finding unconventional problem solving products like the Body Buddy non-absorbent lotion applicator “band” is what Peter Merz, a Chicago pharmacist, began doing in 1875, when he opened Merz Apothecary on the city's North Side. Now owned by Abdul Qaiyum, it still serves as a source of information and remedies for common ailments, the store sends packages to customers around the world and has been featured often in local, national, and international media.

As the saying goes “necessity is the mother of invention.” This age, size, and gender friendly product is exactly that. Created by Shiolett Meier, a mother and grandmother of 4, it’s a product that makes you slap your head wishing you’d thought of it first.

Michelle Meier Graves, one of the owners of the mom-daughter owned Body Buddy Company, based in Oklahoma, says one of the biggest challenges has been getting people to understand the truly innovative product, and often requires some demonstration. When people think “lotion applicator” they think sponge on stick which is absorbent and requires an awkward or less than graceful application. The Body Buddy applicator provides a totally different experience. The patented product makes independently applying skin care products to one's own back not just possible, but easy, even with limited range of motion. It is non-absorbent, thanks to its soft vinyl surface, about 30 inches long, has cotton elastic handles and can be used to apply body care products for beauty or medical necessity.  Dab lotion, sunscreen, sunless tanner, or medication in the center of the applicator band, flip over the shoulder, grab handles and move back and forth like drying off. No spot is missed. It hangs conveniently in any bathroom, folds neatly to travel, and is machine washable.

Once customers experience it, they love it, realize how much it is needed, and tell everyone they know, like the woman that showed it to Merz.

Reach Every Spot with Body Buddy applicator. Available for $24.95 in a variety of colors at top hotels, spas, and retailers like smallflower.com as well as the 2 great Merz Apothecary locations.  Visit www.bodybuddy.com for more information.

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