Thank you, Influenster. #HelloKeurig

Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary from Influenster for purposes of testing and reviewing.

I’ve held off on getting my own Keurig for awhile now, but it was always something I thought I’d like to get eventually. So I was thrilled when Influenster told me I had been chosen to receive the Keurig VoxBox.

 

The K450 2.0 Brewing System looks as sleek as the other ones and comes complete with a 70 oz. water reservoir and a digital screen. It was easy to put together, and the touch screen is simple to use. I brewed my first cup of coffee with it and wasn’t disappointed.

 

 

One of the things that I’d always questioned about the Keurig was how long it would take to brew coffee for multiple people. Brewing time is short, but it seemed like it could be tedious to replace several cups and brew each cup individually. This system, however, comes with the ability to either brew a cup or a whole carafe of coffee using larger K-cups. Even on days I’m by myself but feel like really getting my coffee on (stretches of writing, reading, or hardcore knitting), I can make one full carafe and drink from it for awhile.

There is an option on the touch screen for hot cocoa or other and an option that allows you to pick “strong” for the brew of your coffee. I find many coffees to be strong already, so I might not use that option much, but I do have friends who like it thick. Plus, I like having the option for those super early mornings or those really late nights.

I’ll be using and testing my new gadget over the next few weeks and will have a full product review once I get to know the ins and outs of the 2.0. Stay tuned!

A.

Influenster Review: #GoProFoot Products

Between moving and binge reading, I’ve done a little procrastinating on the review and blogging front, but I finally got the chance to try out my ProFoot products, sent to me from Influenster…complimentary, of course…for testing purposes.

Let’s start with the ProFoot Orthotic Insole. I’ve had some rotten luck with insoles in the past, so I tend not to use them. I’m always up for trying something new, though, and I have to say…these are by far the best one’s I’ve ever tried. They were super comfortable and I found a distinct lack of knee and back pain after walking with them a couple times. My favorite aspect? The fact that they don’t stretch all the way to the toe, which meant I had plenty of wiggle room.

Shoes meet ProFoot!

Because I’m not used to insoles, I did have a little bit of a fitting issue with them, but I have a weird size, and I think I could taylor them a little better in the future.

The second product was the ProFoot Pedi-Rock. First thing to note about this little guy…he’s squishy. I was expecting something a little firmer. However, he felt great on my feet when I gave myself my own personal foot massage.

A different kind of pumice stone.

The squishy part allows the rock to conform to the angles and curves of the foot. It made my feet super soft and just felt good on them. I highly recommend using this after a shower when you’re feet area already softened from the water, but you can use it on wet or dry skin.

These are good quality products and ones I plan on using and purchasing in the future. A huge thanks to ProFoot and Influenster for giving me the chance to try these out.

A.

Kiss Lashes Review and a Mini Makeover

It’s another post! I know, not really that exciting, but I like reviewing products from Influenster, so it’s exciting for me. And let’s face it…I have a habit of making it all about me. This post is going to do triple duty: a review of Kiss Lashes, a mention of John Frieda Three Day Straight, and a tale of girly shenanigans on a Friday night. The two products were received complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. All opinions…and shenanigans…are my own.

I enlisted the help of my friend to help me try out some of my products and she was on board (she’s moving away next week, so girly things kept me from getting emotional and crying all over her and begging her to stay). The wine may have also helped with avoiding being weepy. I’m actually really happy for her, but good-byes are always sad.

The first thing we did was use the John Frieda Three Day Straight Spray and her flat iron to straighten my hair.

I haven’t had straight hair in a really long time, and I wasn’t sure if I’d actually like it, but the end result was actually cute…and more dramatic than I was expecting.

Before..and my regular look (no hair products, no curling…my hair just does this)

The left half has been flat ironed. The right half has been washed and sprayed, but not ironed yet.

After. All straight! And kind of cool looking!

I really liked the straight look, but I honestly don’t know if I’d have the time to flat iron it consistently. Also, I don’t have a flat iron, so that poses a problem. I’m tempted to look into a more permanent means of keeping it straight, but I don’t know if I’m ready to part with the curl…even temporarily (because even a permanent method would grow out eventually, right?). Still, it’s something to think about for a new look.

Next, we tried out the Kiss Lashes. I was originally going to let my friend try these. I have sensitive eyes, and I was afraid the glue would bother them. However, in the end, curiosity got the best of me, and I wanted to see how I’d look with eye falsies.

In hindsight, it would have been fun to take a video of the process of applying these, as I have a feeling we looked ridiculous. My friend did the application, and I focused on keeping my eyes from freaking out. Once they were on, they felt heavy and strange. It took us a couple tries to get them on so that they didn’t look super uneven, but once we did, the results were kind of cool.

Still a little uneven. Had a tough time getting them to adhere to the curve of my eyelid.

Good lash angle and a show off of the straight hair.

Getting a little goofy. Blame it on the moscato!

As much fun as we had with them, I’m not sure if they’re for me, at least not all the time. Maybe for a special occasion now and then if I can get them to stay on. The glue didn’t bother my eyes nearly as bad as I thought it would, but anytime something gets around my eye I tear up.

Also, they didn’t work so well with my glasses. They weren’t horrible, but they definitely felt a bit crowded behind the lenses.

Trying out the Kiss lashes made me want to try some things with mascara and possibly even give contacts a try again. The mascara might happen soon. I’m thinking of making a makeup run to Walgreens soon. The contacts? That will all depend on Jon’s work situation. But with my cafeteria plan, it’s definitely something I’m considering. It will take some practice, though, re: my eyes tear up when weird things come in contact with them.

I rarely end my posts with a question, but if anyone feels inclined to answer, does anyone out there use false lashes on a regular basis? If so, do they get easier and more natural to use with time?

A.

 

Product Review: Boots Botanics Ionic Clay Mask #powerofplants

Things are still quiet, though they’ve started to perk up a little bit. Which was what happened last March if I remember correctly. Maybe January and February are the slow months of the year? Either way, I’m planning on doing a regular update this weekend, but right now I’m hitting you with another product review from my Influenster J’Adore VoxBox (still getting some mileage out of this one). Disclaimer: I received this product complimentary for testing purposes. All opinions are my own. 

Before testing this product, the last time I used a face mask was back in high school. It was an apricot one that peeled off after it stiffened up on my face. It seemed like a lot of work, but I may have been even lazier in high school than I am now.

While I probably wouldn’t have bought a facial mask on my own, the sample reminded me that masks really are another viable skin care option. I was bad about skin care when I was young, so even though I try to keep it up now that I’m older, it’s hard to get into a regular routine. Since I’ve been sprucing things up a little bit lately (makeup, pierced ears, etc), I thought this might be another step in my quest to pamper myself a bit more. 

The first time I tried the mask, I wasn’t prepared for the texture, the consistency, or how fast it was going to come out of the bottle. I ended up with a dark gray mess on the floor. Once I finally started applying it, I really wasn’t sure how much to use, or how thick it needed to be to do the trick. I tried to apply liberally, but it didn’t feel like enough, and my application was pretty elementary.

This is my swamp thing face.

As you can see, I left a lot of areas blank, but I was nervous about eating it or getting it in my eyes. The first time was a little iffy, but the next few uses got easier. There seems to be a learning curve for facial mask application.

1. Apply over the sink and be prepared to rinse the sink after use. It comes out of the bottle quickly.

2. What feels like a thin layer is actually a lot of clay. A thin layer seems to do things just as well as a thick layer.

3. It definitely dries and tightens in the ten minutes you leave it on. It might also make sensitive skin tingle.

4. Pair the mask experience with a good cleaner and moisturizer. I need to use face lotion after each application, but the combination makes for clean, smooth skin.

The burn I felt the first time I used it made me nervous, so I would definitely recommend spot testing this before just slathering it on. The burn/tingle went away after a few minutes, but I still used the lotion and have been pretty careful with each subsequent use.

As for long term clean, I feel a difference for several days afterwards. My face feels less oily. As far as looking better, I don’t honestly see a difference. Somedays are better than others when it comes to my complexion, and a lot of other factors seem to affect what my face does from day to day. For me, though, a lot of my confidence comes from how I feel, and not how I look.

Overall, I really like this mask, and I plan on continuing to use it. When it’s time to restock, I I may look into some of the other products by Boots. I’m kind of digging all this pampering.

A.

 

Product Review: Vaseline Men Spray Lotion (from Influenster)

If you’re following me on various social media outlets, you’ve already seen my mini-reviews on the Vaseline Men Spray Lotion I received complimentary from Influenster. Besides the fact that I’m not a man, I’m still digging on this lotion, and I wanted to give it the full review it deserves. 

Sure, it says “Men,” but I’m an equal opportunity lotion user.

I currently have a whole basket of lotion (go ahead and make a Silence of the Lambs joke…I’ll wait), but a lot of it is just girly and smelly, and only some of it is actually good at handling dry skin, especially in the winter. I’m a very itchy person, so finding a lotion that smells good and takes care of the itchy skin is kind of a big deal. 

I used this before Jon did, and I was sold right off the bat. The first thing I liked was the even spray. Ever went to spray something and you can’t get anything at first, and then all of a sudden you get way too much? I didn’t have that problem with this one. It sprayed evenly, and though it says it’s “fast absorbing,” I still had time to rub it in to the areas the spray didn’t hit. 

The second thing I liked was the smell. It has a potent cologne smell, which isn’t for everyone, but I enjoyed it. Men’s scents tend to be stronger than women’s scents, and I like both. However, I have a lot of friends who can’t do strong scents, so while I want to recommend this to everyone, I can’t recommend to anyone who has a scent sensitivity. In fact, I always forget that Jon has a sensitivity, and it wasn’t until the second night of applying the Men Spray liberally that he mentioned it gave him a headache. 

Finally, I liked that it did what it promised to do. It moisturized and kept my skin hydrated through the next day. Itchy skin was replaced with soft skin (and the smell mostly wore off overnight) . I’ve been a fan of the Vaseline hand lotion (I keep a big bottle on my desk at work) for awhile now, and I think I would have been surprised if this hadn’t met my standards. 

Influenster also suggested I review Jon’s reaction to the product. I already mentioned that the smell bothered him when the product was over-applied, but when a light spray was used, it wasn’t as bad. He also found that the benefits were delivered as promised. In the future, I think he’ll want to find an unscented version. 

I anticipate having a few more reviews from this VoxBox coming soon. I’ve been trying most of the products, though a few are still waiting for friend assistance. Just to reiterate, I did receive these for testing purposes, but all opinions are my own. 

A. 

Tea and Chocolate from the J’AdoreVoxBox

Based on the lack of posts, you can probably tell that things are at a slow crawl lately. That, and I just haven’t been in the frame of mind for blogging. If I remember correctly though, last year was pretty uneventful until March, so fingers crossed that when spring…and the better weather hits…I’ll have more blogtivity.

The excitement for today was that my J’AdoreVoxBox from Influenster arrived!

It’s like Christmas, but for Valentine’s Day

There is some pretty great stuff in there, and hopefully I’ll have the chance to blog about all the things. Today, I started with two of the items…the consumables. Because how hard is it to tear the package open and get to chomping and drinking, right?

Red Rose Tea sent four tea bag samples for my drinking pleasure. Within ten minutes, I was sipping on a cup of their delightful Creme Caramel.

I love tea, but like other things, I go through phases where I drink a lot of it, then switch to something else, like water or coffee (or soda, but I’m trying to curb that habit). I can drink iced tea all year round, but my hot tea moods come and go. However, after trying the Creme Caramel, I think I might be entering back into a hot tea phase. It’s so good! Only slightly sweet, not too rich, and it’s a taste that just makes me happy. I drink tea plain, no cream or sugar, but I can see how this flavor might taste good with a little dash of something else. Having said that, I’ll probably still enjoy it fresh and unadorned.

In the category of things that I love all the time, no phase needed, is chocolate.

The best thing ever

This bag of Hershey‘s kisses is huge! I usually prefer dark chocolate over milk chocolate, but Hershey’s are a huge exception. Their milk chocolate is the best, in my opinion, likely even better than most of the gourmet chocolate brands. Kisses are great because they’re easily portioned controlled, and one little Kiss packs a punch.

Serious side note: my relationship with food has changed greatly over the past couple years. Nothing is off limits, I don’t berate myself for eating sweets and treats, and I’ve realized that the quickest way to binge on something is to deprive myself of it. I also try not to negative self talk when it comes to food, though sometimes I let things slip (old habits die hard). However, I do know that I tend to feel yucky after consuming too much sugar, but if it’s in front of me, I’ll eat it.

Hence, the Kisses will be shared with Jon, and have been put into a bowl and stuck in the fridge to serve as a sweet treat over time, not all at once. I did, of course, already have a healthy serving size before writing this review. No regrets. They were delicious! If I get to feeling bakey, I can also add them to cookies or use them in a bunch of other recipes. But I think they’ll be most effective for a quick craving killer.

Samples, tea, and chocolate…seriously not a bad way to kick off a Saturday.

All products were received complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. All opinions are my own. 

A.

Two Days of Christmas

I hope everyone had a great Christmas Day. Mine was really mellow, as planned. To be honest, my Day After Christmas was more eventful. Either way, it was nice having two days off to just relax and do what we wanted to do without thinking about work (yeah, I know that’s what weekends are for, but an extra weekend never hurts).

After staying up until about 2am on Christmas Eve, I had a hard time waking up on Christmas morning. I finally got up and showered, and after packing up our things, we rolled on out. Our first mission was to find some breakfast. IHOP was open, but they were packed, so we went to Denny’s instead. Our breakfast experience started a little shaky. Our greeter followed her less-than- sincere “Merry Christmas” by telling us that she wasn’t happy because she had to work. but not to tell her boss. While I’m assuming she was trying to be funny…and I understand not wanting to work on Christmas Day…that’s not great customer service.

Our waitress was better and the food was pretty good. As a Christmas gift, we tipped the waitress fifty percent. Our service on the way out was much better, as the guy who rang us up was very friendly and a lot more sincere in his well wishes.

We had a little bit of time to kill, so we tried to find a geocache on campus, but the snow made it impossible. We finally ended up going to the movies, where I made some family calls before we went inside. The weather was nice, so I didn’t mind sitting in the car. Eventually we made it into the theater and saw The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. I liked it, especially the parts with Smaug. That dragon is pretty awesome. I mean, sure, he’s the bad guy…but he’s classy about it. And he’s a dragon, so it’s to be expected, right?

After the movie, we made it to the gym. There were only a couple other people there, so I walked laps and did a zombie mission with the chases, which meant getting over my fear of running around other people. That part didn’t end up being so bad. Doing laps around a circular track was tedious though, even with the zombie mission. I’ve come to the conclusion…and this will surprise anyone who knew me when I was younger…that I much prefer to be outdoors.

The evening was spent finishing out my Christmas calls, watching some Cowboy Bebop (I’ve never seen it before but have heard good things), playing on the internet, and reading.

This morning I slept in, then started the day with some reading, a shower, and then some revision on my book. I also earned some Influenster badges and played Candy Crush. Once Jon got up and got dressed, we headed to town. We had to make a bank deposit, and then we went to Olive Garden for lunch. Our original plan had been to do the unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks, but the Tastes of Italy menu lured us in.

These were like Italian tapas. We got an order of chicken meatballs and a dish that I can’t remember the name of, but was cheese filled bow ties with a parmesan sauce and bacon. They were both delicious, as was everything else. Also, our waiter was awesome! Very friendly and very attentive without being too invasive. To continue our Christmas trend, we tipped him well. We can’t afford to do that every time we go out, but it felt good to do it when it was deserved.

To help with that post-lunch full feeling, we walked over to Best Buy where we picked up a Chromecast as our Christmas present for this year.  We walked back to the car, then went first to the farm supply store to browse jeans, then to Goodwill to see if I could find any newish walking shoes. We were going to go to the movies, but opted instead to go to the library and then home. I’m currently on a Meg Cabot kick, specifically her Boy trilogy, and I needed to get the second  book.

Though we were going to go walk the track, we didn’t make it. When we got home, I was feeling sore and sick, so we just came in and chilled for the evening. Jon played with the Chromecast, and I read (and actually finished) the book I checked out. Since we were kind of tired of chicken nuggets and hadn’t gone to the grocery store, we ordered Gambino’s. The one in Wamego has never messed up my order…until tonight. They sent my pasta with white sauce instead of red sauce, and I hate white sauce in general, but I especially hate the Gambino’s white sauce. To me, it has no flavor and the richness of it nauseates me.

I can be a brat, especially when it comes to disappointing food experiences. Instead of having them bring me a correctly made dish, I just got bratty and sulked for two hours. They added a credit to our account for next time, but that did me no good tonight. Jon now has lunch for tomorrow though. I did finally break down and had Jon make me some chicken nuggets because I was getting sick from not having food, but I’m still a little bit sulky about it. I probably shouldn’t have blogged about it…now I’m just mad again.

Also, Netflix doesn’t seem to be working. Which I guess is okay. It’s nearing my bed time, and I can’t be up late tonight since I have to go back to work tomorrow. It’s Friday, which means I’m looking at another weekend, but it’s annoying to have to go in at all. Of course, if I wake up feeling worse than I do right now, I might not make it in anyway. I’m achy and a little stuffy. However, I just randomly get those symptoms once a week or so, and then I wake up feeling fine, and I’m sure this time will be no different.

On that note, I’m going to drag my tired and ornery butt to bed. Looking forward to this weekend and hoping the sun sticks around long enough to melt some snow so we can get out and enjoy some quality fresh air.

A.

NYC HD Color Trio Review

I mentioned a week or so back that I received my JollyVoxBox from Influenster and was excited to try things out. One of the items was the NYC HD Color Trio eye shadow pack, which comes with three colors and easy applicator brush.

Though  I’m not one to show my own pic on this blog, I can say that the colors were very “me.” I don’t usually wear makeup, so when I do, I don’t want anything loud. I want something that can make a subtle difference and highlight rather than showcase.

After using this eye shadow, I feel I may need to use more makeup in 2014.  The colors blend well together and the consistency of the makeup is smooth. In the past, I’ve had problems with eye makeup being too powdery and getting into my eyes. Not with this. It goes on and stays on. It even came with instructions on which colors to apply to which areas of the eye if you want to blend them, but I’ve also found that wearing one color at a time works for me.

I wear glasses, so eye makeup isn’t always noticeable, but I did a little test and can definitely see a difference. My eyes look bigger and more awake when I take the time to put on my NYC HD.

 

I definitely think wearing more eye shadow is going to be on my to-do list for 2014. Who knows? Maybe I’ll even get wild and try some more colors.

I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. Opinions are my own. 

A.

To-Do Lists and a Box of Goodies

Though lacking in excitement, the day was a really productive one. I managed to get several things off my to-do list over lunch and after work, and though I still have plenty of projects to keep me busy through the rest of the month, I feel a little bit better knowing I’ve finally got a few things off my shoulders.

At lunch, I went to drop the laundry off to Jon, and we used our remaining time to go grab a nearby geocache, marking our first time geocaching on our lunch. My main goal in getting this one, since it was near the cemetery, was to drop off my zombie travel bug. She’s now in the wild and will hopefully move on to big adventures. Since that didn’t take long, we made a quick trip to Kinko’s to grab some boxes to ship some things to people.

After work, we took advantage of yet another nice day and went to walk the rec center track. Unfortunately, tonight’s walk wasn’t great. My mission had me running from zombies straight from the start, and instead of restarting to get my warm-up, I went with it. I had some ankle cramps and my thigh muscle felt strained, so we called it after about a half hour. I didn’t finish my mission, but I’ll redo it next time. It was a good one. Very intense.

When I got home, my Jolly VoxBox from Influenster had arrived, and I opened it right away to see what kind of cool products I would have the chance to review this month.

I’m going to be trying out all of those things over the next few weeks and will be reviewing everything individually as I get the chance to use them. As you may have guessed, those Skinny Cow chocolates have already been sampled.*

Possibly better than regular peanut butter cups….

I spent the evening finishing up the writing project for my mom, which I think came out okay. Sadly, I didn’t get to revise the next chapter of my Nano, but that’s a good project for tomorrow. I also just realized I forgot to put laundry away. As much as I like to get that done, I’m feeling tired, so it might have to wait for tomorrow night.

Time to shower, read, and sleep…in that order.

A.

*I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes