I come from a long line of women who don't "do" makeup. My mom couldn't have taught me if she wanted to. My younger sister went through a phases of funky bright eyes and fishnets, but none of us could even tell you how to use mascara. Fairly recently, I've noticed how my age is catching up to me, along with some genetic dark circles (you'll get to see those later...). Earlier this month, I went to see the amazing Max with some girl friends who insisted on making me up before we went. I looked cute! I was excited. What bummed me out was getting the stuff off my face afterwards. I was excited to try covergirl when I got the email from influenster that I was selected to receive the voxbox. Inside the voxbox was two new products: Plumpify mascara and oh suagr! (I adore the name!) lip balm. I played around with them both, and found that they are both amazing. I think I may have found my brand after not searching very hard!
covergirl pumpify mascara by blastPRO
I'll be totally honest here: every other time I've worn mascara in my life, someone else has applied it to me. Including my wedding day, and the Max show referenced above. I was totally nervous for this. I youtubed a few videos to see exactly how it was done (while my husband tried not to laugh at me as he got ready for work) and decided to give it a go. Either I have a natural talent for not poking my eye out, or the new larger brush that comes with the plumpify mascara is really amazing (I vote the second one is more likely). I can't promise I did it perfectly (scroll down and see for yourself...) but I thought it looked decent. You could definitely tell they looked darker and fuller. The best part? When I got a bit on my eye lid, it wiped right off with a baby wipe! Easy removal is a must for me after one particular day I spent looking like a racoon. I liked that when I pulled the brush from the tube, it wasn't gunky with extra mascara. it went on smoothly with no clumping and did not make my eye lashes feel heavy or weird.
covergirl Oh Sugar! in sprinkle
Now, lip balm I can handle. I spent most of the 90's up to my ears with bonnie bell chapstick. This lip balm is made with grapeseed oil, avocado butter, and vitamins C & E. It goes on smoothly. It's subtle yet cute with a hint of sweetness. The shade I got is called sprinkle (I am loving everything about this product name!) and it's a light subtle pink that I adore. Other shade names featured on the information card: jelly, punch, and cupcake. What's not to love??
As always, keep scrolling for some fun photos I took during my sampling time! I've also included a link to the mascara ad, as it features Katy Perry and makes me happy.
My newest crowdtap adventure (more coming this month--I've had a great sampling month!) is fast acting Advil® Film-Coated. I've been an advil fan for quite a while (I do have a tad of a bias towards Ibuprofen products as I feel they work better than acetaminophen and other pain killers) and have tried the fast acting film coated a few times before. What was improved this time, was that I didn't get heart burn (I had had that issue the first few times I've tried it). The film is a bit sweet, which makes it go down more pleasantly. True to its name, it works fast. I took some in response to a headache and it went away quickly. I normally feel like all Ibuprofen products are equal (and have a cabinet full of walmart brand to prove it!) but I feel like this product goes above and beyond and is worth the extra price vs. generic. You can also often find coupons in the paper and online (bonus!).
Next up this month: splenda no calorie sweetener, granulated from crowdtap! I am not a huge fan of sweeteners. I've tried, I really have. While I can appreciate some recipes (I made some amazing not-so-naughty egg nog one year that came out amazing!) I have found that mostly, unless you get lucky or prepare something just right, they leave a funky taste. This box said right on it "tastes like sugar" so I decided to test the theory. I had a taste right from the box! And while I wouldn't say the taste is exactly the same, it wasn't bad! No gross after taste (which I thoroughly expected after a straight up taste!), it actually tasted good, melted in my mouth, and the texture was fun (think of fluffy snow candy). One of the fun optional parts of the challenge was to make some recipes using granulated splenda. I opted to do two of the three, with some minor adjustments:
Baby Spinach 'n bacon salad
The first one I did was the baby spinach 'n bacon salad (recipe here). We skipped the croutons and red onion and added in some cheese. I was nervous about the dressing at first because it smelled very mustardy when I was preparing it. However, it ended up being a nice vinaigrette with just a touch of mustard. It was a pleasant dressing with a nice taste. I just had to bring some over to my mom and step dad, who raved about it when they tried it. It was my first time making my own dressing and was very pleased with both the recipe and how it turned out (scroll down for more images!)
peppermint-mocha delight
The second recipe I tackled was the peppermint-mocha delight (here). Since we are a keriug household and my husband had already got a coffee when I did this, I prepared it a bit different. I put the splenda/milk/extract/chocolate mixture in the microwave for 10 seconds at a time as if I was melting chocolate for my molds or dipping. When it was a nice smooth mixture, I put the cup under the keriug and brewed a cup. I skipped the whipped topping. It was smooth with just the right bit of sweetness. As a mocha fiend, I've always bought my mocha coffees since I feel the flavor add ins never are good enough. This recipe was pretty much perfect! I'm excited that I can now make my own mocha coffees at home. It was also quick and easy to do.
Overall, granulated splenda is by far my favorite sweetener. I can't wait to explore more recipes. Scroll on down for more photos! ;)
handy pour spout and a glimpse of the fun texture
ready to make salad!
making dressing
sampling!
"I love it!!!"
someone isnt too sure ;)
bowl o' salad
working on my chocolate mixture for my peppermint-mocha delight
