Kiss Lash Pro Review

I was given some lashes to try out in my Influenster VoxBox. Now I have to say that I am a total newbie when it comes to using fake lashes. I had no real clue how to put them on or where to put them on exactly. But I forged ahead and tried my best at it.

The packaging of the false lashes is really well made. The lashes were easy to take off and stuck back on just as fast. The glue was easy to use and hold. I wasn't sure about how much glue I was supposed to use. I think that would have helped when applying. The tweezers were well tweezers that were not too easy to use. They were kind of awkward to use and I ended up using my fingers more.

So I checked the length and snipped a little of the end and got to applying them. Now this is where things got hard, well at least for me. I didn't know where to place the lashes so I gave it my best shot. I put the lash down and let the awkward feeling ensue. I have pretty full lashes so I've never really needed to use them. It felt pretty weird to me to have them on. They felt kind of heavy on my lids, so maybe its too much for me? Not sure but it did help my lashes look longer, which I was happy about!

So when it came time to take them off the lashes came off super quickly. Just a little tug and pull and off it came. It took a few seconds and I was lashless, or at least no more falsies. They were still a little tacky so I placed it back onto the packaging so they wouldn't get lost or messed up. I'll definitely be trying them out again because well, practice makes perfect!

They go for about $8.00 at most department and drug stores so they're really affordable. My overall reaction was that they were nice, but not 100% for me. I saw some other ladies that had used them and they looked fantastic.


**Disclaimer: I received this product from Influenster for the sole purpose of doing a review. All opinions are my own and no further compensation was made.

LARABAR Food Review

So was looking around for a good snack that will fill me up between meals but won't ruin my calorie counting day. I received a sample of LARABAR's Apple Pie bar and thought well this could work. Now I'm actually not a huge fan of apple pie because I'm not huge on baked apples, but this is different. The texture was good as well as all the flavors. It had tons of apple chunks and burst of cinnamon throughout the bar. It is gluten, dairy, and soy free! Can't get any better than that right?

It has 190 calories and was big enough to leave me satisfied till my next meal.


The next bar I tried was from a Klout Perk - it was included in their Fair Trade perk. The bar I got was Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. I was really excited to try that about because who doesn't like choco chip cookie dough!? Well it was fantastic, the texture was good and it was filled with chocolate chips. It wasn't too sweet and kept me going through the day. This bar does have more calories though, 210 to be exact so I ended up cutting it in half to eat during the day. This one did include sodium but it was such a small amount I didn't think twice about eating it.

I will definitely be buying more Larabar Bars to snack on. They're pretty healthy, not too bad in the calories area and most are no or low sodium! They're also pretty inexpensive with a pack of 16 being about $21-$24 making them about $1.30 to $1.50 ea! You can find them at most grocery and drug stores all over.

Have you had Larabar before, if so what is your favorite flavor? Any flavors you recommend to munch on?







**Disclaimer: I received both these bars for free, but all opinions are my own. No further compensation was given other than giving me something to snack on.

L.A. Colors Nail Polish Review

I  love L.A. Colors Nail Polish because they're super affordable, pigmented, and last for about 3 days, which is comparative to other brands. So while at Dollar General waiting in line I noticed the polish rack, or course. So I searched through the bottles and bottles of polishes and settled on two, "Cactus" was one of them. Now I'm not really sure why it's called cactus because it isn't green at all.

It has a dark purplish base with shimmery gold holographic glitter. The glitter is very, very fine and gives you a great look. The colors go from a yellow to an orange for the shimmer. I didn't really even notice it until I went outside to shoot these photos. I am so in love with this polish and know you'll love it too! It went on super smooth and unlike other glitter polishes came off relatively easily. I think because the glitter is so fine you don't have to deal with the huge chunks taking longer to come off.

I added some cute little flowers to it which I also grabbed for $1, they are also made by L.A. Colors. They had a ton of different styles, all cute of course. So wanting to make my nails even prettier I bought a pack. Sadly these didn't perform as well and they were peeling off as soon as I topped them with a top coat. They stuck fine on dry polish, but as soon as I got my top coat the edges curled upwards. I really wanted these to work as I can't do this type of nail art myself. So for this product I had to give it a thumbs down. I think if they could work better on the stickiness on the back then this would be perfect!

 So feeling a little let down I reached for my second polish, "Meadow". Meadow reminds me of a robin's egg blue, or even a Tiffany's blue. It is so pretty and pale, I just love it! I am a huge fan of brighter colors and this one kind of gives me a bright color with understated style. Well if that's even possible, let's just say it is okay? Sadly it bit the dust after two days, but that included some heavy scraping on some pans. Still even if its only 2 days that's more than enough for me because I am always changing my nail color. Its still beautiful and you should definitely try it out. Hey it's only a dollar and so worth it!

WINNER ANNOUNCEMENT

CONGRATS TO THE TWO WINNERS!!

ANGELA WARD HARTNESS

&

MARY BENACK!

YOU BOTH WON A BAG OF PJ'S ALL NATURAL BEEF TENDERS!

Hidden Valley Ranch Review

 

So I was given a great opportunity to try out Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing and Seasoning Mixes. Now I've had the ranch dressing before, tastes great, but never had tried the mixes out. I never really knew what to do with them. 

After I received them though, I started looking up recipes to make with them and settled upon the Baked Ranch Chicken. It was actually to be breaded but with my healthier living diet I thought to skip the breaded part. I opened up the package and sprinkled half of the seasoning mix right onto the chicken along with some pepper. I let the chicken rest for about 30-45 minutes just so the flavor could sink in. I poured a tiny bit of water into the pan and popped it into the oven at 375. Once the chicken was at 140 I pulled it out and served it up! I used chicken breasts the first time around and it came out super moist and flavorful! I've baked chicken breast before, but never were they this moist. I have to say even the hardest person to please, my mom, loved them. That says a lot because she is not a huge fan of chicken at all and will only eat it from certain places. I'd recommend the seasoning mixes not only for chicken but pork too! I used it on some pork steaks and it made them really tender. 

I took the chicken breast and sliced it up into tiny strips and pieces. I then used them the next day to put on my salad for dinner. Of course it was topped off with a bit of Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing. The salad was compromised of mixed greens, and I cheated a bit - I added cheese! Everything together tasted fantastic and I was really satisfied and full at the end of the meal.

Now that you've checked out my review, you can head on over and do this SURVEY. It'll help BzzAgent to know what you guys think about Hidden Valley Ranch. I'm sure you guys love it though!


*Disclaimer: I received these products from BzzAgent in order to review. All opinions are my own and no further compensation was given. 

Goody Spin Pin Review

So included in my Beauty Blogger VoxBox from Influenster was a Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin. Now I've never seen these as I don't really use hair products much. I have bobby pins and some barrettes, but other than that I grab a elastic band for a pony tail or bun. Now I looked at this thing and thought...no way this is going to hold my hair. I've got long hair, really long hair and finding anything that holds it all together isn't easy.

These do the same job as 20 bobby pins!

So with some hope I set out opening up the package, and wow is it packaged really well. Once I got it out I stared at it in wonderment. How can these two little things possibly hold my hair in place. I shrugged, this definitely wouldn't work, not with my almost 30 inches of hair. I told you it was long, didn't I? Anyway I grabbed the handy instructions and got to work. Okay so you make your bun as usual take the pin and spin it into the bun. Simple right? Well it actually was that simple and was so easy to use. The best thing was...IT WORKED! I tugged at my bun, jumped around, shook my head till I got dizzy and nothing, that sucker didn't budge. I love these things and am looking for another to buy for my niece.

The white circle is the hair pin!

What I love the most, well that it works, but that there are no headaches. I wear my hair in pony tails or buns so suffer from headaches all the time. I like my hair tight which was a concern for me. This keeps it tight, but no pain here. You can't even feel that you're wearing them after a while. I went the whole day and didn't have any discomfort at all.

Sorry for the messy bun!

You can find these at most major department stores like Target, Walmart, Walgreens, and CVS as well as select grocery stores. They go for about $5.80 each and they're totally worth it. While looking them out they also make a mini set of 3 for different styles. They come in two different colors: gold and dark brown/brass.





*Disclaimer: I received these in my Influenster Beauty Blogger VoxBox for the sole purpose of reviewing this product. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was given.

Influenster Beauty Blogger Box

Was super excited to know I was going to be receiving the Influenster Beauty Blogger VoxBox. So when I saw the white little box sitting on my doorstep it was like Christmas. This is only my second box from them but with the great stuff they sent the last time, I knew I wouldn't be disappointed. 

 Here it is my Beauty Blogger VoxBox and it contained some great products, some I've heard of and others I hadn't. I've tried some products from Goody, Kiss, and NYC but not the ones included so was a total newbie to everything. Be on the look out for my posts for Goody Spin Pin, NYC Eyeshadow Palette, Boost Energy Drink, Kiss Ever Pro Lashes, No 7 Facial Products, NYM Kinky Moves, and White Barn Black Pepper Mergamot Candle w/Coupon.

*Disclaimer: All these products were sent to me to review by Influenster. All opinions are my own and no further compensation was received.

PetSafe Lickety Stik - Liver Flavor Review

LICKETY STIK
THE LICKABLE DOG TREAT

I was very fortunate to get a sample to try out of Lickety Stik which is a lickable dog treat. At first I was a little put off by the weird smell, but its not for me its for my dog. Dogs are weird because one whiff sent them into a sniffing frenzy. I'm sure they were thinking, "What is that smell and where is it coming from, it smells delish." Yea for my human nose not so delish but decided to suck it up deal with it. My boys deserve a treat, well most of the time they do.

I have two furry babies, Budha who is a 9yr old pitbull terrier and Bear a very rambunctious 2yr old Chihuahua. I am always looking for the newest and best treats for them because let's face it, they're spoiled. If I have 5 dollars left and its between them eating or myself, yup there will be some cans of dog food bought. The Lickety Stick is made by Petsafe and it's exactly that, pet safe. It is all natural dog treat with nothing that they can choke on. We've been there thinking we got out kids a great treat only to see them struggling to chew it or bite it. They have three flavors: chicken, bacon, and liver. My boys got to try out liver because that's a flavor that they really enjoy in their foods. There is only 1 calorie in ten licks which is the lowest calorie wise of all dog treats I've given them.


At first they were very unsure about what to do with it. They sniffed it, then licked it, then tried to bite it. I tried running it over their tongue till they understood that yup, you lick this treat! It took them a few tries but they finally got the hang of it. Budha liked it more than Bear did so that's why there are pictures mainly showing him. He absolutely loved it even though he did try to bite it open. I think he was being just a little greedy and wanted all the delicious stuff inside the bottle.

Budha gave it a 5 out of 5 paws!!  Bear was not so generous and gave it 2.5 paws out of 5. While he did show some interest he wasn't sold at all. I think he is too spoiled and couldn't be bothered to actually take the time to lick it instead of being able to swallow it whole.

You can buy Petsafe's Lickety Stick at Petsmart, Amazon.com, and even direct at the Lickety Stik Store. The prices range so you'll have to decide which is the best buy for you. Either way you should really try it out and see if its a great fit for you and your furry kid.





Disclaimer: I received a sample but all opinions are my own. No further compensation was received.

MORNING GLORIES VOL 1 BOOK REVIEW

MORNING GLORIES VOL 1

FOR A BETTER FUTURE

BY Nick Spencer and Joe Eisma

Morning Glories is a great comic book with an intriguing plot about a group of kids whisked away to a prestigious academy. The first few pages definitely made a huge statement about how the rest of the story was going to be. It was very explosive with a lot of action mixed in with some sci-fi.

You meet all the characters within the first few pages and learn a little about where they are from, and their stories before they get to Morning Glory Academy. They have no clue about how drastically their lives are going to change. As you learn more about them you find out a strange coincidence that had me even wondering about its significance. All the students at Morning Glory have the same...wait I won't spoil it for you. Either way they find out very quickly how corrupt the academy is and try to escape, which doesn't go well.

This is a great read and you really need to get it and read for yourselves. I wouldn't recommend younger children reading this only because of some of the violence. So head on over to Amazon.com and get yourself a copy for only $9.99, this is for a paperback.

Michal's Window by Rachelle Ayala Book Review

 When I received this book I thought it was going to be hard to get through it. I am more used to reading shorter books, but this wasn't going to deter me. Another thing that didn't deter me was the fact that this book is retelling a biblical story. I am not a religious person so was a bit wary that it would be overly religious and turn me off. This was not the case, even though there is a scripture at the beginning of every chapter, the rest of the book didn't have it so in your face.

Michal's Window retells the story about King David and his first wife Michal. You're basically reading the story from Michal's point of view, which was refreshing. The book moved along and I found myself getting frustrated with Michal. How could she put up with David's selfishness? Then I reminded myself that this took place where women weren't so independent. So then I lightened up on her character and just tried to enjoy her little "quirks".

David was a great guy and his character was very likable, well until he kept insisting on having more than one wife. Again, I reminded myself that this was the norm for men of that time. Actually it still is pretty norm for some people, Sister Wives anyone? After reading the whole story I can tell why Michal fell in love with him.

Overall, Ms Ayala did an excellent job of retelling a age old love story in her own words. I enjoyed it and I think you will too! Even if you aren't religious like me, or even if you are this story is sure to hit the spot!





Disclaimer:  I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

LA Colors Color Craze Polish Review

LA COLORS: COLOR CRAZE

COCKTAIL & CONFETTI

While waiting in line to pay for my stuff I noticed the L.A. Colors Nail Polish display and just had to stop and look. I love L.A. Colors polish because they're only $1 and they definitely hold their own against their more expensive competition. I'm all about glitter right now so picked up to really cute and fun glitter polishes.

The first I grabbed was Cocktail which is a cute shimmery pink. It has small pale pink glitter with holo glitter thrown in with a very sheer pink base. I used it by itself and with a very bright hot pink by OPI. Even on its own it looked super cute and shimmery. I loved it more on top of the hot pink though as it really gave it a chance to really pop!




The second was Confetti and it has larger sized glitter in 4 different colors. It has red, white, blue, and a pinkish purple.Then you have smaller glitter in red white and blue with a clear base. It was very easy getting the larger sized glitter onto my nail. There have been other polishes where I had to fight to get the bigger sized where I wanted them. Not so with Confetti, it only took 2 coats to cover my nails with both sizes of the glitter.

You should definitely head out and find some L.A. Color polishes of your own. They're super affordable at only $1 a pop, and they have pretty average wear at 3 days. If you find an awesome base coat and top coat then you're good to go! I really suggest getting Seche Vite because I found it really helps all your polishes go that extra mile.

NYC Individual Eyes Palette

INDIVIDUAL EYES PALETTE: DARK SHADOWS

I was really happy to see a eyeshadow palette included in my Influenster Beauty Blogger Box. I had actually never seen this product from NYC before so was excited to try it out. This palette comes with 4 shadows, 1 primer, and one illuminator. Now I didn't even know there was a illuminator as I didn't even read the cover before I set off to try out. I now noticed I made a mistake and used the illuminator as a base primer instead of the actual primer.

The colors are white, light gray, medium gray, and a black. They are perfect for night time wear, but you could also use them during the day. The colors are pigmented and go on very smoothly. I did have to work a bit with the lightest gray to get the color I wanted. For me it was too light, almost looking like white. Now this could have been my fault as like I said I used the illuminator instead of the actual primer. The medium gray was super pigmented and a little definitely went a long way. It blended really easily and smoothly, it was great! The black..wow the black was just wonderful. It was super pigmented and I just needed a couple of taps of it. I definitely love this black as I have been looking for a black this pigmented. It really is going to be my go to black from now on. With me being a beginner the instructions on the back really helped, now I may not have followed them completely but I still loved the end result that I got.

Now this palette is limited edition so go out and get it before it's gone. The best thing is it is very affordable at $4.99 for this palette. It comes with everything you need to look great! NYC: New York Color is a great brand and makes some beautiful affordable make up products that everyone can use.

PJ's All Natural Beef Tenders Giveaway

PJ'S ALL NATURAL BEEF TENDERS

If you remember my last post on the PJ's All Natural Beef Steaks then you'll be super excited with this post. Because I did such a wonderful job PJ's sent me some of their tenders as a gift. They gave me so much I decided to share a couple bags with you guys! Aren't you super excited like me?! No, well you totally should be!

PJ's All Natural Beef Tenders are exactly that, soft tender strips of beef full of flavor. The pepper looks like it is embedded inside the beef so its an all around spice instead of just concentrated spice. We've all been there, you're merrily chewing away at the competition and then *hack cough* a piece of pepper sneaks in and chokes you half to death. This is a more mellow flavor with not too much heat so if you don't like spicy things you don't have to shy away from these.

Now remember these are not beef jerky so your jaws will definitely thank you for your purchase. Like the beef steaks the tenders are low in sodium and you can have at least 3 strips, either small or large and still stay within the daily limit. Great for a boost of protein and when you want a tasty, less salty snack.

Right now PJ's Beef Steak are having a fantastic sale, buy 3 get 3 for FREE! That's right for less than $26 you can get 6 bags of delicious, low sodium, 98% fat free, high protein beef snack! Don't you really want to head over there right now and buy one of your own. Not convinced yet? Well that $26 also includes shipping, which means no extra costs. They tell you right there and then what you're getting and for how much. Now that comes out to roughly $4 bucks a bag which is LESS than that yucky beef jerky you find in the stores. Have I convinced you yet?

Well see if you aren't convinced yet then you'll definitely want to enter this giveaway because two lucky readers will be winning their own FREE bag of Cracked Pepper Tenders! Yup I love you guys so much I am willing to part, sadly by the way, with two bags out of my stash. Feel the love? Just enter below on the rafflecopter and you could feel the love with your own bag. I'm sure your jaws will thank me!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Pine Bros Softish Throat Drops Review

 I was given a great opportunity to try out Pine Bros Softish Throat Drops. Now I have been asked to review products before, but I was surprised by the amount of product I was given. I received two flavors of the four offered by Pine Bros: wild cherry and honey. I got 16 bags and 16 pucks which was just amazing to me. After I had gotten them all laid out I was able to really check them out.


My first try was with the
wild cherry. I love cherry flavored everything so this is obviously my favorite flavor when it comes to cough drops. Now the flavor was great it didn't have a medicine taste to it at all. The cherry flavor was really deep and it tasted really good, maybe too good? The texture is where the main difference because they aren't hard. They're like a hard gummy that become softer as you suck on them. While they do become softer it doesn't happen to quickly so you still get all the medicine for your aching throat. The "pucks" are there so you can easily take them on the go when you need them. The top twists off so its sure to not open when its in your bag.

Next was honey and I have to admit this is my least favorite of flavors. I don't really like honey in anyway, shape, or form so wasn't really looking forward to trying them. I was pleasantly surprised though. The smell was a little off putting but I went full steam ahead. I grabbed one and popped it into my mouth and... not bad! I've mistakenly gotten honey flavored drops before and it was such a waste. Not so with these, the flavor was very subtle and didn't hang around afterwards. It was downright pleasant and I actually liked it. So if you aren't a huge fan of honey, like me, don't stray from these.

Now there are two more flavors licorice and lemon and I so want to try the lemon flavor. I'm a bit intrigued with the licorice, but I'm not a huge fan of licorice. Overall I really liked these as they had great flavor, they're affordable, and most importantly they work. They are sold in a variety of stores across the country - click HERE to find out where.

Disclaimer:
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.