Sugar 'n Spice VoxBox

So yet again I got another one of Influenster's VoxBoxs, this time around it's the Sugar 'n Spice box. I'm so excited, I love getting the email saying I qualified to receive one of these free and them, very impatiently waiting for it to show up in my mail. They now have upgraded their packaging so it is very noticable, a bright orange box with their name, logo and website plastered on it. Which I like, I think it shows they are growing as a company and that means more for their members!

As you can see from the picture us Influensters are being spoiled with some sweets and more. 
The box includes: 
Vaseline Spray & Go Moisturizer Total Moisture 6.5oz can. Which is supposed to be able to be applied and able to go within seconds without feeling greasy or sticky. Definitely look out for a full review on this after I've had time to try it, as I have pretty dry skin and always neglect putting lotion on my body because I'm lazy and don't like waiting for it to absorb. 

Nectresse 40 count box, from the makers of Splenda. This is made from monk fruit and is supposed to be a good zero calorie sugar replacement. I'll see how I like it and if it has any weird taste of after-taste, which is my biggest issue with most sugar replacements. They were also kind enough to supply a small recipe book with a few ideas. 

Dickinson's Original Witch Hazel Oil Controlling Towelettes 20 count box. I am super excited to try these out, I love using witch hazel as a toner and as a girl with an oily t-zone these sound awesome. Plus if I like them I got like 5 $2 off coupons for any Dickinson's product, double score!

Colgate Optic White Regimen: a 4oz tube of the toothpaste, an 8oz bottle of the mouthwash and a toothbrush. So, yeah a full set of their optic white stuff! Which is perfect because I just ran out of mouthwash, lol. I will try these all out and let you know if I see a difference. 

belVita Breakfast Biscuits, I got the cinnamon and brown sugar. When I opened them to take the picture both me and my mom though they smelled like those windmill cookies, for the life of me I can't remember the name. They kind of tasted like them to. I'll do a full review of them later. 

So I am really excite to get to trying all of these out, thank you to all of the brands that supplied their products for us to try free of charge and to Influenster for being awesome enough to put this together for us. 


"I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes."

Kiss Nail Dress

So at the beginning of the month I received my VoxBox in the mail and one of the things I got was Kiss' nail dress in Chemise. Now that I have finally gotten around to playing with it this is what I did.

Simple? Yes! But I like it. I applied the gold to my pinkie as an accent finger and then tipped the others with the black studded sticker. I'm not a big nail person, I do them every so often but not that much really anymore. I tried to think of something really cool to do, but I settled with something basic and classic to test.

How I've liked them so far, its hit and miss. They felt really bulky at first but that quickly passed. I have felt a couple times like the stickers are catching on my clothes, but I am pretty sure that is because I didn't file those ones down all the way. I like them, they have lasted about 5 days so far and still holding on strong. With how easy they are to apply and the fact that they have 21 different styles so far makes them pretty appealing. Would I purchase them? Yes!

Kiss claims that these last about 7-10 days. They come in 21 styles and cost about $7 at most drugstores.
For more information check out Kiss's website and/or Influenster's review page.

*Product was sent to me for my review by Influenster. All opinions are my own. 

The GOODY® QUIKSTYLE™

Okay so I received one of these bad boys in my VoxBox a few weeks ago, and now that I have had the chance to really test it out I am ready to burst. I am in love! This brush is awesome! Okay, enough fangirl...sorry about that.

But really this brush really does help dry my hair faster than normal. I was very skeptical, and a little upset as I use a paddle brush normally so I kinda wanted the paddle brush version of this one, but I really like the half round style. I have now used this every time I have washed my hair in the last few weeks so I finally have a good grip on how well this works. For reference I have thinner but not fine hair, and it is about half way down my back at the moment. I like to just let my hair air dry and only really blow-dry it if I absolutely have to. For me it takes about 30 minutes to an hour to air dry. Using this brush it cut my dry time to about 20-40 minutes. It may mot seem like much but, it is pretty substantial if you take about 20 minutes to get ready, your hair is almost done by then.
 
So I give this a big thumbs up. I'm thinking I know what my sisters are getting as little gifts for thier birthdays. It is about $11-12, not including taxes and you can get either the Half-Round or the Paddle brush. The only downside I would say, would be if you had thicker hair, this might not work as great.
Goody  Influenster

Influenster Holiday VoxBox

So earlier this month I received my very first Influenster VoxBox, the Holiday VoxBox to be exact. In it I received a bunch of goodies. Here I give you a preview of what I got and first impressions.

First up was the Goody® QuikStyle™, I recieved the half-round version.
I was a little apprehensive that this would really do much, but so far I have been pleasantly surprised.

Next up the Eboost Natural Pink Lemonade Energy Mix. I really tried to like this but I think it tastes horrible. I know most energy drinks have their hangups in the after taste department, but I was not a fan. It had a really noticeable rind or vest taste, which I am apparently not a fan of, so if you don't like that I wouldn't recommend this for you.

I received the Chocolate Masque from Montagne Jeunesse, and to be honest, haven't tried it yet. Maybe this weekend.

I got the Kiss Nail Dress in Chemise, which as you can see by the picture is very black, gold and blingy. These are getting put on this weekend as well, for a small family get together. Can't wait to make my sister jealous, lol.

I was rather interested in this one, NYC New York Color Liquid Lipshine in Nude York City, as I haven't every owned a nude lipgloss.

The Quaker Real Medleys sounded good at first until I seen what was in mine, I received the Apple Walnut one. Sounded good, really good, then I seen it has dried cranberries in it and lets just say me and dried cranberries do not go together well. I'm not sure why because I can eat the fresh versions and drink the juice, but dry them and they make me feel stoned. So my husband got this and he absolutely loved it. So thumbs up from him!

Lastly I received a gift code for half off of my first pair of shoes through Sole Society. Honestly I am not sure I will use this, I looked through the site and nothing really caught my eye. Maybe later.

I am really pleased and happy about my first VoxBox. Really happy about the brush, lip gloss and face mask. Disappointed by the Eboost, and sadly couldn't eat the oatmeal. Hoping I qualify for more in the future. *fingers crossed*

*All of these products were sent to me by Influenster. All opinions are my own.

Dollar Store Eyeshadow Finds

So while I was randomly at a local dollar store with a couple family members, I decided to check their makeup out. Just to see what they had and if I could maybe find a hidden gem, so to speak. I was pretty pleased with what I found. They had three eyeshadows from L.A. Colors. The only one not pictured was a white one that I didn't get because I already own a couple of whites, but the other two were just beautiful.

The first and my favorite is the Teal color, it is insanely pigmented to the point it stained my finger when I swatched it for the pic. It goes on relatively dark with just one swipe (the right side of the swatch). I am seriously in love with this color, I love blue/greens and this is the prefect teal in my opinion. A definite win in my book.

The purple while a gorgeous color is so hard to get to show up. The pigmentation is so light that the swatch seriously took me forever to get it even that dark. While it is a soft and silky as the teal it doesn't share the dark coloration I was hoping for. It is a nice light purple color but it looks as if it could have been much better. Not as much of a win but at $1 not horrible, I guess.

This does show that while a hit and miss, cheap makeup can be great (the Teal). So you don't have to spend a ton of money to buy your makeup, you just have to be willing to try looking in unexpected places.

Winter Favorites!

So now that Spring is officially here, at least according to the calendar, I figured I would run down a few of the things I found this last winter and am currently in love with.

I'll start with lip balms. I have been using Blistex for awhile now, but when my lips got really bad my mother turned me on to their Silk & Shine version. It is so smooth and silky feeling, it calmed my chapped lips amazingly quick. One of the plus side for this is that it gives you a nice light glossy look almost like a lip gloss but not as extreme, so it's a nice highlight or pick-me-up for you face after a long day. It has an SPF of 15 so it will come in handy now that the sun is shining a bit more as well.
The other lip balm that I have been using for a couple of months now is EOS Summer Fruit. It smells so yummy and is so incredibly softening, I am seriously in love with this little egg. Plus the packaging makes it fun to play with when your bored, it wobbles around if you roll it. This one also has the added plus of being natural and organic. Both are readily available at drug stores, grocery stores and of course supercenters (like walmart). EOS runs for about $3 and Silk & Shine for about $3-4.

The next products are all for your hair. This is mostly going to be for thinner hair (my hair type) so if you have thicker or curlier hair sorry. Maybe I'll ask my sisters about some good thicker hair products for you. Like I said having thin hair I decided this last winter to finally try some thickening treatments. I bought Beyond the Zone's Thick Enuff Creme back in Sept/Oct during a sale at Sallys. It has a nice almost soapy smell, it's a little weird and sticky feeling but once you put it in you hair it doesn't really feel sticky. I apply it directly out of the shower on towel dried hair. The biggest down fall for this one is while it does make my hair feel thicker it makes it crunchy until you brush it out. So as my hair dries it dries is crunchy clumps, now I usually shower before bed so by the morning it's dry and when I brush it the crunchy clumps break up. This could be a turn off for some of you. This runs for $7.50 at Sallys. The other one I got back in Feb. is Got2B's  Fat-tastic Instant Collagen Infusion Mega-Lift Root-Boosting Spray, it's a mouth full but it's worth it. This is also used right after a shower but it doesn't leave my hair crunchy or clumpy. It is easily sprayed on and brushed through. I have also tried this one on dry hair and it had an instantly noticeable difference. They both seem to work equally well, though I would say Got2b for me is better, though I like both. It's easier to apply, it doesn't leave your hair crunchy and is a little cheaper at $5.99 from Walgreens.  

 Lastly are two random hair products. Beyond the Zone's Last Call. I bought this back when I bought the thickening creme and between the two this is the most amazing. It's a hair masque, for people with either naturally dry, dyed or fried hair. You put it on towel dried hair and let it sit for 5 minutes and then rinse it out. It has a nice fruity scent, which is a plus for me. I don't really do much in the way of heat damage to my hair I do dye it, but my two sisters not only dye their hair but fry the crap out of it with straightening and curling. So I figured I would try it out and if it worked for me maybe it could help with their hair. My hair has seriously never felt as soft as it does after I use this stuff. I will definitely be passing this on to them to try. It is sell for $9.50 at Sallys, but I would say if you have dried, dyed or fried hair it's worth a shot. The other product is Got2b's Guardian Angel Gloss Finish Blow-Out Lotion, they like huge names apparently. This is just a nice heat protection spray, they have another one for flat ironning but like I said I don't really do that. I barely blow dry my hair unless I have to or randomly feel the need to. My hair doesn't really have that dry crunchy feel it used to after blow drying without this. I don't really know how this stacks up to other heat protection sprays but it could be worth a shot at only $5.99 at Walgreens, it won't break you to try it out.

If anyone has any recommendations for me for hair products for thinner hair I would love to hear them, also any for heat protection.
 

The Crisis in Japan

Today Japan has been hit with not one but two natural disasters. The first to hit was a magnitude 8.9 earthquake 80 miles off of the eastern coast of northern Japan. Followed by a 30 foot deep Tsunami. The two together have caused hundreds of deaths already and massive property damage to the majority of the northern part of the country. To help you grasp what is going on, basically Japan has experienced one of the 5 biggest earthquakes to happen in the last hundred years. The earthquake that hit India back in 2004 was a magnitude 9.0 and tsunami and that caused hundreds of thousands of deaths and untold damage to the cities it hit. 

The little red triangles are active volcanoes

Japan is located on the "Ring of Fire" a volcanically active and earthquake prone ring. This is where most of the worlds active volcanoes and 90% of the biggest earthquakes occur, but this is the largest earthquake Japan has seen since 1923 when they dealt with an 8.2 hitting Kanto.

One thing that Google is currently running is a Crisis Response page that is keeping an up to date feed on information as well as a Person Finder. The Person Finder can be used to either help locate or tell the location of people currently in Japan. If anyone has loved ones that they have not been able to contact you may want to try this. Crisis Response Person Finder

Others that may be wanting to help or trying to find ways to help there are numerous organizations looking for support to help the people of Japan:
The American Red Cross is currently accepting donations through their website and by phone just text REDCROSS to 90999 to donate $10.

The Salvation Army  is working on sending a team to help out Sendai, Japan and is taking donations via their website and also by phone just text either JAPAN or QUAKE to 80888 to donate $10.

Save The Children is accepting donations to it's Children's Emergency Fund to help out kids and their families affected by the disaster.

International Medical Corps is taking donations via website and phone text MED to 80888 for a $10 donation as well as trying to get volunteers for response teams.

Global Giving is taking donations to help the Japanese people.

Doctors Without Borders is looking for donations to send in medical response teams to Iwate and Miyagi.

Operation Usa is looking for both monetary donations as well as medical supply donations.

This may look like a huge list of people asking for money but even helping out one of these organizations will make a difference to people who currently need major help right now. Even posting in a blog or on Facebook about helping will get the word out and make a difference. Think of it this way if something like this happened where you live or someone you loved lives, wouldn't you want everyone to try and help?
If you have any questions, ask and I will try my best to answer them.