Cutex Advanced Revival Nail Polish Remover Pads

Thanks to Influenster and Cutex I was able to test these bad boys out for free!

Let me tell you, I typically buy nail polish remover pads – however, I am cheap and buy the generic brand. You know, the kind that fall apart, take 2 pads to get all the polish off and just leave your hands feeling dry after.

Well, I think I will have to invest a little more money next time and get these, they worked SO well. One swipe and the fingernails were free of polish and actually smelling and feeling refreshed. Not sure how, but I guess I dont need to know the chemistry behind it all. They work. Hands down. Definite 10/10 from me!

 

Thanks @CutexNails and @Influenster!#SoCutex, #HealthyNails #contest

#Choosetosmooth Gillette Venus Review

So Influenster did it again, they sent a great GLAMBOX for my review.

One of the products was the Venus disposable razor by Gillette.

Now, I’ve definitely used this razor in the past and have always loved it, but they definitely upgraded since my last use. I swear, this thing is better than the NON disposable razor I tossed aside to make way for this one. They provided shaving cream also, however, I NEVER use it. Yeah, I dont know why, I just dont like the stuff much. The one they provided was great, but I am a quick in-and-out-of-the-shower-in-2min-flat type of girl so shaving cream is just one extra step I dont need. And guess what, the razor worked great both with AND without the shaving cream. I didnt feel dry or itchy after, which is a major bonus, and my knees were actually free of hair (what a major accomplishment that is).

So two thumbs up for these razors, way to go Gillette!

(PS, the products were provided by Influenster for the sole purpose of reviewing, all opinions are my own :))

 

Influenster Product Review – Loreal Paris Ultimate Straight Haircare Collection

First of all, I love Influenster. They have sent a lot of great voxboxes this year.

This one took me  a while to get to due to the wedding activities, but I finally have. And it’s great!

The only not-so-great part? The shampoo bottle completely exploded during shipping – I’m sure that letting it sit in the mail box for a week in 100+ temperatures didn’t help. But hey, that’s how it goes.

See the lower right corner of the box? Yep, shampoo

So let’s get to the review, shall we?

This picture was taken using the products. I know it’s a car-selfie, and not the best at that – but you get the idea.

So a little background on the product –

This haircare system is comprised of 4 products.

First step is the Shampoo – Great smelling, felt good while applying, foamy and rinsed out easily – I’m not sure how else to review a shampoo, most shampoo’s are fairly similar while applying LOL

Second step is the pre-conditioner – I have NEVER used a pre-conditioner. I didn’t really understand this concept when I got the box, like, really? Another step I have to take while doing my hair? – I’m a simple girl. Again, the smell was great and I didn’t mind an extra head massage during the process, but if there was anything I could change about the bundle it would be to remove this step and somehow add it into the conditioner. Don’t know if that’s possible, I’m not a chemist, but it seems like it could be done…

Next came the conditioner – good smelling, smooth, thick… pretty standard stuff as far as conditioner goes. It did rinse out pretty well, which sometimes is the hardest part with conditioner. It didn’t leave residue or anything which was a plus.

Lastly, the straightening balm – This was applied right after towel-drying my hair, before styling. Again, great smelling (see a trend?) and applied well. It didn’t feel greasy or oily which was nice. I don’t like to have to deal with grease-ball hair, which can show easily with my short locks.

I did my standard blow drying process (large round brush for the front, small round brush in the back) and also did a little straightening with the straightening iron with the longer portions in the front.

After all was said and done I feel like this haircare bundle is definitely something I’ll continue to use and test out over the coming months (product lasts long when your hair is short – bonus!). I love that it didn’t leave me greasy, but just with shiny and straight hair.

The claim is that this product allows you to have straight hair for 48 hours; I’m not 100% sure about that since I workout and do have to rinse daily (full wash every other day), but for the 24 hour span it definitely works well. I think it even helps after sleeping a full night on it. That definitely says something!

I’m interested to see how it works with my hair color. I’m a natural blonde and this color fades fairly quickly (I require touchups every 6 weeks). I’ve been using a color lasting shampoo and conditioner so I really hope the color isn’t affected while using this bundle. Updates to follow!

Proper update in a bit.. for now, a review!

So as I’ve mentioned, I’m pay off an online community called influenster. Basically, you review tons of products and add your social media info to your account and once you reach a certain level you get free stuff to review! It’s pretty fantastic.

The most recent product I received came in a small package instead of the “voxbox” they’ve sent before..

When I opened it I was surprised to not only find a cologne sample..

But also a cute Calvin Klein men’s wallet!

Needless to say Tim was already sold on this one..

Then we sprayed the cologne. Oh. My. Goodness. It’s seriously amazing. Not even exaggerating.
In fact, Tim’s birthday was Monday and he still hasn’t decided what he wanted (something small this year since the wedding is pretty much running us dry) do the first thing he said after smelling the cologne.. “Ok, this is it! This is my birthday gift! I want a full sized bottle of this stuff!!”

So there it is, I’m pretty sure it’s clear I’m rating this as a 5/5 on influenster!

*influenster provided this product for me to review. All opinions are my own.*

I May Just Be Cray Cray…

So that 10k my friend and I signed up for 3 weekends from now? We decided to just go for it and make it a half marathon. Not only that, but we’ll be pushing about 70lbs of child in a double stroller.  We decided we’d switch off every mile pushing and we can walk when we need to. We’ll see how it goes… We’re doing an 8-mile test run this weekend.

I’m improving quite a bit with my running and very happy. I don’t have to walk much anymore, although I do take my walking breaks since I’m following an actual program. I’m up to 7min running 1 minute walking… quite a change from my 30s running / 2min walking that I started out at just a couple months ago!

I’m pretty proud of the changes I’ve made mentally throughout this process also. It’s funny, I used to believe that if I wasn’t getting weight lifting in I’d just become flabby, uncomfortable and not be “cool”. Well, I haven’t picked up more than a 15lb Dumbbell in MONTHS and to top that off, it’s been almost two months since I’ve done ANY real weight lifting. I’ve been doing daily (or close to it) yoga, 3-4x per week running and about 15min bodyweight workouts here and there… averaging about 1x per week. I feel better than EVER! I think it’s just all about finding what we want to do, what we enjoy doing, and what makes us happy. I didn’t realize how miserable I was with weightlifting until I allowed myself to just do what feels good and stop listening to the social media guru’s of the world who say YOU MUST LIFT IF YOU DON’T YOU’RE WASTING YOUR TIME!  –  Well, screw you.

Ok- end rant. 🙂

And… onto my last review for this Frosty VoxBox from Influenster.

This post is sponsored by Influenster (www.influenster.com) … the products reviewed in this post were provided to me compliments of the Influenster team for my review. All opinions are my own.

EcoTools Hair Brush: $10.99

This was definitely one of the better items in the voxbox. I have used it daily since it’s arrival and have found it works great for my short ‘do. Although I think I remember reading somewhere that it’s best suited for long hair, I actually find it to be very well suited for my short hair also. It’s a flat brush, so if I want more body I’ll use it ALONG with my round brush, but for most days this brush alone works well. What I love most about it is that it’s designed to allow more airflow while drying, that means less time under the blow-dryer and less time for your hair to get damaged! Since I dye my hair about every 7 weeks my hair tends to get frazzled towards the end of its dye cycle so the less time under the heat the better!

Another bonus is the way the bristles feel on my scalp – I absolutely love it! It’s almost like a massage!!

If I didn’t already have this brush I would go out and buy it for sure!! I rated this brush 5/5 on influesnter.com.

Running, Wedding Planning and Another Review…

I’d venture to say I kind of suck at this whole blogging thing… Oh well, it’s not my job so I’m going to do it as I please!

Wedding stuff:

Last night we picked out Tim’s tux, the groomsmen tux and my dad’s tux colors! I am very happy with the choices.

This Sunday we’re cake tasting – I. Can. Not. Wait.

We get to pick 4 cake/filling/topping flavors. The combos we came up with are:

1. Snickerdoodle with cannoli filling and vanilla butter cream
2. Chocolate with salted caramel filling and chocolate butter cream
   3. White cake with lemon and raspberry cream cheese and vanilla butter cream
   4. Coconut with cinnamon and sugar buttercream and vanilla butter cream

Again… Can. Not. Wait. Eeks!

Running stuff:

I almost ran 20 miles last week. That’s quite an accomplishment for me. I ran a 10k route with my friend to test our abilities to run a local race in March. It’s quite hilly and we wanted to see if we would survive. We did, we walked all the hills and ran the flats and the downhill portions. Our time was pretty slow, but we weren’t really aiming for much other than just finishing. We’re now contemplating doing the half marathon version (more hills) instead.

On top of that contemplation we’re already registered for the 10k San Diego Mermaid Race… and we’re thinking of trying the half instead. It’s a flat course but we’ll have a double stroller with her kids; not sure how well that will go… It’s up in the air at this point.  Our plan is to try doing 8 miles this weekend with the stroller on flat ground, switching off pushing it every mile. I think that will be our decision maker.

And a Review:

This post is sponsored by Influenster (www.influenster.com) … the products reviewed in this post were provided to me compliments of the Influenster team for my review. All opinions are my own.

NYC Expert Last #SugarPlum Lip Color:  $1.99

I’ll be honest. I haven’t been using this product much. But it’s NOT because I don’t like it, I actually love it! I’m just more of a gloss girl than a lipstick girl. I do carry it with me and when I do want a little pop of color I’ll slather some on.

It goes on very very silky smooth and has an EXCELENT sweet taste (just like the name of the color – sugar plum). That was a nice surprise because lipstick taste is not one I like much.

I gave this product a 5/5 on Influenster.com and I may just look into other colors they offer, I think a really light pink or nude color would be great for me!

This week in running, and a review (or two)

I ran FOUR days in a row this week. That’s a lot of back-to-back running for me, I typically am an every-other-day kind of girl. I mainly did this because I missed my 7mi run on Sunday and was trying to make that up PLUS keep up with my running for this week. I didn’t quite make up the mileage, but I was pretty close. And I’m happy to report my legs feel great and I REALLY enjoyed my runs (except for some random knee pain on the treadmill Monday night, which is why I’m short on the distance).

Monday – 3.25mi (random pain in left knee so I stopped, planned 7)

Tuesday – 2.35mi

Wednesday – 3.25 EASY run

Thursday – 3.33 Hard run (6 run, 1 walk – broke my 5k PR!!) – Total 4.5mi with walking

I also did Yoga With Adrienne’s 30 days of yoga challenge each day and an upper body workout on Wednesday.

Tonight I’m going to a yoga class with my bff and her friend. It’s candlelight and should be fun. I haven’t been to a studio class in FOREVER.

I have an 8 mile run (longest to date) on schedule for this weekend. It’s SO Hard for me to break away on weekends and do long runs, I hope this one happens!

We won’t have too much down-time, either. We are going to my bff’s house to pick up a really nice dinner table she’s giving us and then to LA for a birthday party which Im sure will be an all day/evening thing. Sunday is the Colts game and we’re going to a Patriot fan’s home to watch it.

I also want to work on a few wedding related things.

Ok, onto the reviews:

This post is sponsored by Influenster (www.influenster.com) … the products reviewed in this post were provided to me compliments of the Influenster team for my review. All opinions are my own.

Both products are by Rimmel, a brand I haven’t ever tried before I got this VoxBox and I must say I was pleasantly surprised!

Rimmel Gentle Eye Makeup Remover – $7.49 / bottle:

This has to be my favorite item in the box, by far. I have been using the “Simple” brand make up remover wipes which work fine, but I noticed when I use them on my entire face my skin acts up. So using a whole sheet just for the eyes is kind of wasteful. I was thinking of buying a liquid eye makeup remover, but I hate how so many of them are EXTREMELY oily. Thank goodness the VoxBox came before I bought because this is seriously GREAT eye makeup remover. It is light and gentle just as the name indicates and it’s not greasy or oily AT ALL. Wipes away even the toughest eye makeup and waterproof eyeliner/mascara. GREAT product, I rated it a 5/5 on Influester.com

Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner – $4.49:

I think I found a new favorite eyeliner! This stuff is great. I love how versatile it is, I can put it on light and smudge it for a hint of liner around my eyes or I can really cake it on and do a great smoky eye. It stays put but is easy to remove (with the Rimmel Gentle Eye Makeup Remover) at night so there isn’t a lot of scrubbing necessary. I will definitely buy this product again. I rated it a 5/5 on influesnter.com.

Product Review – Boots No7 Protect & Perfect Intense ADVANCED Sachet

This post is sponsored by Influenster (www.influenster.com) … the products reviewed in this post were provided to me compliments of the Influenster team for my review. All opinions are my own.

I was on the fence as to whether or not I’d actually use this product. My skin has been really wonky lately and I didn’t want to add anything new to my regimen… BUT, It was only a sample so I figured I’d give it a go! LOL

So, let’s get to it.

I’ll be honest, how can you REALLY tell if your fine lines and wrinkles are clearning up based on a few-day sample of product? You cant. So I won’t be commenting on the effectiveness of the product, there is no way for me to tell if this works or not. But, I CAN comment on the over-all feel of the product on my skin, and that was great! It really went on smooth and wasn’t greasy or oily like a lot of products.

That said, I am not going to rush out and buy an entire bottle for $30, mainly because I don’t feel I really NEED this product as part of my skin care routine.

I rated this product as a 4 out of 5 stars on Influenster, ONLY because I couldn’t really tell if the product actually does what it says it does.

#FrostyVoxBox Review and A Run

Well I finally got my first VoxBox via Influenster. Pretty cool! I love that most of the items in the box were actual full-size product. There were a couple of things I could have done without, the candy being one of them LOL. I had a few pieces and gave the rest to Tim… hello operation fit-in-wedding-dress!

The other product I could have done without was the anti-ageing cream. I am sure I COULD use it, but with the way my skin has been lately (Acne) I don’t want to risk putting anything foreign on my face right now.  I will give that one to a friend to review 🙂

The items that were shipped to me (and will individually be reviewed in later posts) were:

• No7 Protect and Perfect Intense ADVANCED Sachet (Full Size: $29.99)
• NYC Expert Last Lip Color ins Sugar Plum ($1.99)
• Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Decaf Green Tea
• EcoTools Hair Brush ($10.99)
• Rimmel Gentle Eye Makeup Remover ($7.49)
• Rimmel Scandaleyes Waterproof Kohl Kajal Eyeliner ($4.49)
• McCormick Gourmet Thyme ($4.79)
• Fruit Vines Bites ($1.79)

Not too shabby for being FREE. I am really having fun with Influenster and highly recommend to anyone reading this (www.influenster.com – Free to join!)

So, since I’m on the subject I may as well provide a review; I’ll start with the Celestial Seasonings Candy Cane Lane Tea.

Let me first say, that I already have purchased this tea on my own multiple times, so that definitely shows how much I love this stuff. When I opened the box last night and saw it I immediately warmed up some water and made both Tim and I a mug-full. Tim likes Honey in his, I drink it either plain or with a splash of almond milk. It’s amazing… 5/5!

(Notice the picture of us under the coffee table? That’s actually a Shutterfly book we got for free since I purchased my Dress at Davids Bridal… the book turned out OK, but apparently our quality of pictures wasn’t amazing and some of the pages are REALLY grainy and blurry. Total bummer. But the cover is awesome!)

I read my Runner’s World magazine while we watched HGTV’s Property Brothers (remember that DIY kick I’m on? Yeah.)

Now, onto the running.

I knew it would be a late night last night because I had a hair appointment at 5pm and wouldn’t get home until around 7:30.

I look really enthusiastic, don’t I?

Anyway, so I did something I don’t normally do.. a morning run. It was a nice change of pace, but I can’t say I’ll be waking up early to do that every morning. I walked a quarter mile then did 4 miles (on the treadmill). My plan was to do 4 min running and 1 min walking; goal achieved!

I also saw there was a new episode of Hart of Dixie (a guilty pleasure) available on my CW app, so that was my entertainment for the morning. It was great!

I’m hoping to get in two more runs this week, some walking, some yoga, and some bodyweight workouts. The holidays tend to put wrenches in plans, so here’s to hoping!