I literally got my bloom VoxBox (free from influenster!) out of my mailbox just over a half hour ago. I was super excited to find a granola bar from Sunbelt Bakery inside. Mostly because I love snacks and I just got out of work and was super hungry! So right away, I took photos and ate it! Now, I've got four little boys. I buy so many granola bars I should have stock in them. This was literally the best granola bar I've tasted in my life. I've never bough sunbelt bakery brand before--I usually grab whatever is cheap not even looking for a certain brand. Now I need to go find all the sunbelt varieties! The one I tried is fudge dipped chocolate chip (scroll down for my artistic photos!). It was soft and chewy (I HATE hard granola bars) with a great texture. The taste was sweet enough to be considered a treat, but not so much that I felt bad eating it. The wrapper boasts "no preservatives", which makes me happy, as well as "bakery-fresh taste" which is true. This weekend, I'll be hunting down the oatmeal raisin bars. Overall, a great product. At $2.69 for a 10 count box, it's not much more than the "cheap" bars. The quality if definitely worth the extra $0.69!
Hello again, my lovely readers! Two posts in one day. I've just gotten out of the shower and couldn't wait to write about my sampling with Venus (thanks to the influenster glam voxbox). I've always been partial to venus razors, ever since I first started shaving (plus, that jingle!). They seemed to work better than most other razors I've tried. The ones I sampled today are Venus embrace sensitive disposables. Normally when I hear the word disposable I think cheaply made awful razors (in my extreme coupon days I had stock piles of such razors. All of which I've since donated or given away to friends). These razors are not those kind of disposables. They look just like the regular product (minus the little switch to change out blades) and work just as well. This particular razor has 5 blades and a touch of aloe on the protective moisture ribbon around the blades. It glides smoothly with out inflicting any nicks or cuts when I used it (I've only gotten nicked by a venus razor a couple of times in my life). It felt comfortable in my hand.
The
part of the sample I'm really excited to talk about is the Venus violet
swirl shave gel. I was intrigued when I got it in the mail (after all,
what exactly is a violet swirl and what does it smell like?) and I had
to open it right away. It smells AMAZING. It is probably the best
smelling shave gel I've had to date. It smells like the violet jelly I
make in the summer (think: violet flowers and sugar). It's a pretty
purple color and lathers nicely (the most important aspect of a shave
gel for me) and the touch of olay helps the moisturizing. I literally
love this shave gel.
Despite the danger to my IPhone (which made
it through with out water damage. YAY!) I took a few photos during the
sampling. Check those out below.
I recently got the chance to receive a jingly voxbox from influenster (join here!). All these products were given to me for free, in exchange for posting reviews/photos (super easy, right?). This is a great site to join if you want to try different things before you buy (or if you are trying to discover your inner girly-girl like me). Some of these items I never would have thought to purchase. This blog post will outline each product and what I loved (or didn't care for) for each one. the blue links will link to each company's facebook page. Enjoy :)
hallmark itty bittys
Hallmark itty bittys are these tiny stuffed toys. They have a ton of different characters (we got spiderman. There was also other superheros, frozen, princesses star wars...the list goes on). These are super cute and my kids adored them.
Biscoff cookies are marketed as "Europe's favorite cookie with coffee" which is a fair statement. They are pretty decent as a stand alone, though not my favorite cookie. However dunked in coffee (or as part of one of the many recipes you can find linked on their facebook page or on pinterest) they are a pretty amazing cookie. There is also a spread available that I need to try and get my hands on.
Cetaphil moisturizing cream was one of my favorite product I reviewed. I have extremely dry feet that get worse in the winter. I put some cream on before bed and had some good results overnight (and improving each time I use it). The jar reads fragrance free and is pretty accurate. No funky smell that I would expect from a cream that actually works.
Ore-Ida was already a household brand for us before receiving it. We get their frozen fries fairly often. What was fun about this sampling is that I was given some recipes to try, as I normally think of frozen tots as a stand alone side. We ended up making some cheesy tots for my kiddos in a picky mood (check out my blog post on that here) but there was a ton of other recipes that looked good. Ore-Ida overall has great quality and taste, the tater tots are no exception.
NYC 24 hours city proof eyeliner was an adventure for me. I've worn eyeliner before and thought it looked nice, but I've never done it myself. It took quite a few tries to get the line to look decent. Other than my inability to draw a straight line and stop from blinking, the eye liner went on smooth and did last (no make up wipes here, so I had to use coconut oil and tissues to remove). The color was great (dark brown) and once I get some more practice it'll be more fun to apply.
Pure ice nail polish is exclusively sold at walmart. The price is great and it comes in so many fun colors! The one above is called silver star, a fitting name for the shiny color. It lasts about a week before it starts to chip. The only thing I was not a fan of is that it does take a while to dry (I don't often wear nail polish, so that may be a normal thing. I had used some quick drying polish a few years back) and I'm usually running around so I prefer something that dries quicker. For the price and color, it's a great deal.
Kiss nails fake lashes were another interesting adventure for me. I have literally never worn them in my life. After a quick search and a thorough instruction reading, I was ready to try! These lashes (which are not adhesived in the photo above!) are nice and thick and really make a difference. It was fun to try, and I would recommend the brand to anyone who likes to make their lashes full and pretty--it's just not my thing. It was fun to try once. :)
Overall, I had a great time trying these products out and taking the photos you see here. I'm having fun learning what type of products are for me (and how to better use them!) and thanks to influenster, I get to do it for free!
I recently got the chance to try Ore-Ida for free from Influnester as part of the jingle voxbox. I've got four kids who are all potato obsessed: mashed, fries, hashbrown, tater tots....any way they can take it. My original intent was to make loaded tots: load those puppies up with cheese, sour cream, and bacon (check out that recipe, alone with some others over at kraft!). Note to self: do that up for the next get together. Since it was a side dish for the kiddos who were in a "ewww sour cream???" mood, I just cooked the tots based on the cooked directions in a casserole dish and piled on the cheese immediately when it came out of the oven (to melt it a bit. yum!). I also sprinkled on a touch of raspberry salt to season (a local farmers market find--try a touch of sea salt!). A very kid friendly and simple recipe that takes almost no extra time.
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.
I got to participate in a fun sample share that I got to involve my kids in: Apple & Eve organics & quenchers! Influenster hooked me up with these samples, and I couldn't have been more excited!
included: one full size organics & three quenchers juice boxes :)
First up: I opened up the box with my oldest. He got wicked excited when he saw the juice on the box!
next up: let the kids go wild ;)
The quenchers we sampled were three different kinds: razzberry apple splash, berrylicious lemonade, & fruit punch burst. My eight year old was not a fan of the lemonade kind (the lemonade was more prominent than the berry), but my two year old finished that up quickly. The other two were huge hits! I may have sampled the first sip from each box--I deem razzbery apple splash my favorite. My kiddos will be wicked excited to see these in their lunch boxes! Now that the kids are taken care of...
I got the 33.8 oz orange pineapple kid to try. It's a blend of 6 organic juices and made with 100% juice (and vitamin C!). It was a sweet yet tangy blend of orange and pineapple. It was very tasty-it may be one of my favorite juices! It even included a $1 off coupon on the package. ;) If you are looking for a yummy juice to fit into your kids lunches or your own-definitely try apple & eve organics out! (and scroll down for some artistic sampling shots ;))
I recently got the chance to receive the wellness vox box from influenster. It had a few different full sized products to try. I really enjoyed this box, and wanted to share the products with my readers! Some of these products are ones I never would have bought until I tried them. Now, I'll be hunting for some good deals to keep these products in my stash!
my vox box products!
There are two items in the box I did not get to try out yet-the sample size of attitude dish soap (way excited to open that up! I loved the shampoo!) and the yaye app (I have zero storage on my phone for new apps!). So the focus of this blog will be on the product I tried and loved: urgent rx fast powder, olay active botanicals cleansing gel, attitude shampoo, Colgate enamel health mouth wash, and Jergens wet skin moisturizer. Make sure you scroll down to the bottom, I've got a few videos to share! ;)
urgent RX fast powder
The first product I tried was urgentRx's fast powder. (check out their site here for a bogo coupon!) You rip open the package and swallow the powder. That idea was a bit funky to me, so I put it in some water to swallow it easier. The result was alka-seltzer like (you know, after the tablet dissolves!). One really neat thing is this stuff tastes really good. I usually have a hard time with powder and liquid meds/pain killers because of the taste. Not the case here. At it worked really quickly as the name suggests. I took it for a pretty bad toothache. It was gone a few minutes later. It lasts about the same as Tylenol or aspirin for me.
olay active botanicals cleansing gel
This was one of my favorites. I'm not a fan of face stuff, as it usually leaves my face feeling dry. This stuff, however, did not. I left the shower feeling clean and refreshed. It lathered up nicely, which is one of my favorite things about body/face washes. I ended up losing half of this product to family members using the same shower (my husband denies it, but my money is on him! ;)). Check out their site for more info here!
attitude worry-free ingredient shampoo
One of the most interesting things about this shampoo is that it smells clean. It left my hair feeling clean and lighter. I'll need some serious coupons to keep it on hand--it's got a $9.99 price tag. If you're really into the worry-free ingredient thing, it will be worth it. With 6 people in our house hold, it's a tad out of our price range to consistently buy it. I did love it for the few weeks it lasted in my shower!
colgate enamel health mouth wash
I've tried a lot of mouth washes in my thirty years. People love to give the out: the dentist, schools, target (with a good group of coupons, of course!)...this one is by far my favorite. I love it so much that I would actually pay full shelf price for it when this bottle runs out. This mouthwash has a nice minty taste, with out the burn most mouthwashes have. I can keep it in my mouth for the full minute with out thinking I may possibly spit it out every where if the minute doesn't quickly pass. My mouth felt fresh (my husband wasn't around to confirm, so you'll have to trust me on that one!) and clean. The bad teeth I inherited appreciate the enamel health benefits. More info on the enamel health line here!
jergens wet skin moisturizer
This product was pretty neat (you can see a video review below). The idea behind this moisturizer is that it saves you time and locks in extra moisture because you apply it while your skin is still wet (#ApplyBeforeYouDry). It smells amazing (a sure fire way to get me into a product!) and does a great job at making your skin nice and moisturized. I actually tried this on dry skin too, just to see. It worked well as a normal moisturizer too. It's made with something fancy called Monoi oil (according to google, it's a blend of coconut oil and flowers, hence the amazing smell) which accounts for how well it moisturizes--coconut oil is literally my favorite thing.
Overall, a great vox box with some neat products. Keep scrolling for those promised videos! ;)
I recently got selected to receive the Temptations snacky mouse from influenster. We have a 5 year old kitty named Jasper who loves snacks, attention, and playing. She got all three from this toy! It's a mouse shaped toy with a hollow body. You screw the head off and pop in a treat or two. Plop it down in front of your kitty and watch her play with her snack. My kids got a kick out of it, and she enjoyed batting around Mr. Mouse until her treat came out. It was super easy to set up and easy to understand. The toy came with a small bag of treats, and to buy more treats is fairly inexpensive ($0.94 for 3oz at my local Walmart) and are 2 calories per treat and are promoted as helping to control tarter. My kitty has gobbled down every treat so far--safe to say they are a hit! :) Make sure to check out the photos and videos below!
Cute and functional!
unboxing the Vox Box
Jasper exploring her snacky mouse for the first time :)
It's a snow day here in New England. I thought I would take this time to share my thoughts on Vick's cool mist humidifier! I scored this for testing purposes from Influenster.
All set up :)
Let's talk about the things I loved: it hold a gallon of water, so it's easy for me to handle. It's pretty small so you don't have to worry so much about where you put it. It looks nice. This seems silly, but when I was a kid, we had a plastic brown circle shaped one that was not pretty. It works well-I just plugged it in and turned the dial and it started working right away. It's so easy to use! The opening for the cool mist is a good size. The box came with a sample vick's vapor pad, which I have not used yet (waiting for a congested kid or parent!), but I can't wait to try out. The box also included coupons, which is the way to my heart. The fact that this is filter free means no changing out anything (and less stuff to buy!).
A few things I didn't totally love: the dial to turn it on has a little green light (lit up in the photo above). This works well so that you know it's on, but it's a pain when you need total darkness to sleep! The fact that this humidifier is filter free is great, but I am anticipating it will be a bit more difficult when it comes to cleaning. I haven't gotten to that step yet, so it could be easy-peasy.
Overall, I'm pretty happy with my humidifier!
view of my running humidifier-mist coming out (and those are the Vick's coupons in the back!)
close up of the working lit-up dial, and the little pocket for the vapor pads
"I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."
I love trying new products. There's something really cool about trying new things, and getting to spread the word on things you love. My friend Melissa has been a part of influenster for quite some time. I always see her photos of her Vox Boxes and her reviews. I finally decided last month to jump on board. I was pleasantly surprised to get an invite to fill out a survey for my first vox box shortly after joining--and to be selected to receive it. It came in my mail box yesterday.
To be honest, I'm not a huge lotion person. My hands/legs need to be really dry for me to use it (the exception: one of my work girls tells me her lotion smells amazing and I absolutely must try it!). I hate the way most lotion feels-greasy, and seems like it will take forever for my hands to dry with out wiping everything off of them. I was intrigued that the bottom of the label read "non-greasy formula." I was eager to test that aspect out. If I could have nice, smooth hands without the gross greasy feeling, I'm all in! First things first: my vox box came with a "does your dry skin need to be healed" test (pictured above). It was a card with two peelies with black circles on them. You press the circle against your skin for 3 seconds, and it indicates how dry your skin is. I had taken a shower a few hours before testing it out, so I have no clue if that effected how dry my skin was. My results (posted below) were just a tad on the dry side. Somewhere between normal and dry. I then lotioned up. I was very pleased with how soft my hands were immediately. They were not gross, nor greasy. My seven year old walked over while I was trying it out and once he heard me say how soft my hands were, he wanted to try. He kept rubbing his hands together because of how nice they felt! I then took the "after" test circle. It's amazing how different the circles are. Vaseline works! I'm very glad to have tried this product out-it now has a place in my cabinet (now I need to get a fun sized one for my purse!).
