Monthly Archives: September 2015

My Influenster Wellness VoxBox

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A few weeks ago, Influenster sent me this awesome box of stuff free of charge for me to review.

IMG_5233I was seriously super excited when I got this box full of stuff!  (By the way, anyone can sign up at influenster.com to get products for reviewing purposes.  That’s awesome, right?) I’ve been using the four full size products for several weeks, and here’s what I think…

Colgate Enamel Health MouhtwashIMG_5293

I completely appreciate what Colgate is doing with this mouthwash.  As a fairly heavy coffee drinker, and a medium wine drinker, I realize that I’m probably doing a number on my enamel every day.  To be honest though, I don’t love the flavor.  I might be in the minority here, but I like a good burning mouthwash.  If my eyes water while I’m swishing, I know I’m getting my mouth clean.  The flavor of this mouth wash was pretty mildly minty and kind of medicinal.  I guess the bottom line is that I don’t really love using the product, but sometimes you have to do stuff you don’t really like just because it’s good for you.  Yay for adulthood. This 250 ml size retails for $2.99.

ATTITUDE Shampoo for Volume & Shine

IMG_5295I like this stuff!  I love that they’ve done away with all of the bad-for-you chemicals and created a product that works well and smells good!  The shampoo itself is clear and a little on the runny side, but I didn’t find that to be an issue.  The fragrance is so nice – sort of citrus-y and herbal-y.  It has that kind of pleasant smell that a lot of all natural cleaners have.  It lathers nicely and leaves my hair feeling clean, but not stripped.  And I think because the formula is a little on the thin side, one bottle will last longer than most shampoos.  I’m not sure if this line is available exclusively at Target, but it’s definitely available there.  This 12 oz bottle retails for $9.99.  I know,  that’s a little expensive for shampoo, but if you’re looking to avoid those nasty chemicals, I really recommend this!

JERGENS Wet Skin MoisturizerIMG_5291

First of all, the fragrance reminds me of something from my childhood, and it’s driving me a little bit nuts because I can’t put my finger on what exactly it is.  I think it might be Petite Nate by Jean Nate.  Does anyone remember that perfume for girls back in the 80s?  I even remember the commercials. Anyway, this stuff smell really nice.  It’s sort of a light floral scent with a hint of baby powder.  Very pleasant and inoffensive.

The way this stuff works is that as soon as you’re done with your shower, before you dry off, you slather this all over, and then you blot dry with a towel or just air dry.  I found that for me, about a quarter-sized dollop covered everything from the waist up, and a dime-size amount worked for each leg.  The directions on the bottle recommend using a bit more than that, but I found that if I used more, I felt like I had this residue on my skin, and that bothered me.  When I used a lesser amount, I really liked how my skin felt right after applying it – super silky and hydrated.

Check out this claim:

IMG_5292What?  The little asterisk says that it takes half the time versus ordinary lotion…  How much time do the rest of you spend applying lotion?  I really don’t feel like this product reduced my “getting ready” time at all.  Really, this product just means that you moisturize before you dry off instead of after.  And even if it takes half the time, how long does it take to apply regular lotion?  Thirty seconds? So lets say it only takes 15 seconds to use this Jergens stuff.  That extra 15 seconds is hardly life changing.  Anyway, that’s the end of my rant.  I just wish they’d take that silly claim off the bottle.

A more serious claim of this product is that you get 2X the moisturization compared to regular lotion.  From my experience, I’ll have to disagree.  Immediately after applying it, my skin does feel really great, but after a few hours, my skin would start to feel dry.  After using this product for about 5 days in a row, I started to develop dry, itchy patches on my upper arms and calves.  After a few itchy days, I switched back to using my normal routine of applying Bath & Body Works lotion after my shower, and within a few days, my dry, itchy patches cleared right up.  Recently, I’ve just been using it once or twice a week, and I’ve been using my regular lotion on most days.  That’s sort of disappointing, because I really like the fragrance and how it makes my skin feel immediately after use.  I think this product would be best for someone who really doesn’t have any issues with dry skin and would just like a really light moisturizer. This 10 ounce bottle retails for $7.99.

Olay Active Botanicals Refreshing Gel CleanserIMG_5289

I really like this product!  It is a clear gel, but when you rub it in your fingers it lathers up really well.  And you only need a pea size dollop.  Well, maybe the size of a big pea. The fragrance is just sort of a generic soapy smell.  This stuff is apparently infused with snow mushrooms.  Okay.  But really, it lathers up so well, and… Do you remember Noxzema?  Is Noxzema still around?  Well back in the 90s, all the teenage girls uses that stuff.  It basically made your skin feel like it was freeing and on fire at the same time, but we were sure that meant our faces were getting really clean.  Well, this Olay cleanser has this mild cooling effect that took me back 20 years to my Noxzema days.  It’s just a mild kind of cool feeling.  Very pleasant, I must say!  And it really leaves my skin feeling clean, but not overly dried out.  I’ve been using it daily for a few weeks, and I’m definitely a fan!  This 3.3 ounce tube retails for $5.99, but that tube is going to last forever, because you only need a little bit to do the job.  Oh, and I should add that my skin can be sort of sensitive, but this hasn’t bothered me at all.

I was also sent a few little samples.  I received one ounce of ATTITUDE Dishwashing Liquid that I haven’t actually used yet.  It’s carcinogen free, which of course is great!  I also got a sample of UrgentRx Ache and Pain Relief To-Go.  It’s aspirin in a flavored powder form that you can take without water.  I haven’t uses that yet either, but it seems like a great product, especially for people who have problems swallowing pills.

So, that’s my whole review of my Influenster Wellness VoxBox products.  I hope you found this helpful!

I will leave you with a super quick nail tutorial:

Paint your nails brown:

2.6.10 412

Add gold glitter:

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(The red-looking glitter is actually just from the reflection of my neon pink phone case. Ooops.)

Top with an orange jelly polish:

IMG_5410

Ta-da!  Super easy fall nails!

August Nails

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In August I was a bit of a slacker in the nail art department.  I ended up wearing a lot of neon polish,.  I was feeling that summer-is-coming-to-and-end crunch, and I felt like I needed to squeeze in as much obnoxiously bright polish as possible.

IMG_5262I found a little bottle of China Glaze – Celtic Sun for $2.49 at Sally Beauty Supply, so I finally added this one to my collection.  Although I have a few neon yellows, this is truly the brightest of the bunch.  This polish will definitely get you noticed, if that’s your goal.

IMG_5195I enjoyed adding some shimmery toppers to my neon polish, too.  Here is an unnamed Sally Girl light neon pink that is really similar to China Glaze – Shocking Pink topped with Valley Girl Lacquer – Profundity.  I opted for a matte top coat, too.

Valley Girl Lacquer is an indie polish shop on Etsy.  She’s got some really  cute polishes.  Check out her shop! (By the way, I don’t have any relationship with Valley Girl Lacquer; I was just given some of her polishes as a Christmas gift by my sis.)

IMG_5185

Here is Orly – Fireball topped with Valley Girl Lacquer – Enigma.  Fireball is a beautiful neon red with a blue shimmer in it.  Unfortunately, the blue shimmer didn’t really show up on the nail as well as it did in the bottle.  Fortunately, I had Enigma on hand, so I added my own shimmer!

IMG_5151I also had some fun with glitter in August.  Here’s a gradient I did using LA Girl Color Pop – Rebel over my natural nail.  I’ve only ever seen the LA Girl Color Pop polishes at Rite Aid, and they are pretty inexpensive.  They are often on sale for two for $4.

IMG_5159While I was wearing this glitter gradient, I was given two of the Essie Silk Watercolor polishes.  Since I was pretty much dreading removing this glitter, I opted to make it last a little longer by topping it with the Essie polishes.  The purple color is No Shrinking Violet and the teal is Pen and Inky.  So fun and shiny and squishy!

IMG_5285I did actually do one bit of legitimate nail art in August.  After all of the bright colors, I felt I needed something a little more subdued, and it had been ages since I had done some simple, classic leopard print nails.  Leopard print is really so easy and takes very little skill.  After applying my base color, I just used the brush of the metalic-y bronze-y brown polish to make my spots.  Then I used a little dotting tool to quasi outline the spots in black. (A toothpick would work just fine for this step.)  Then I filled in any extra spaces with black dots or “C” shapes.  It looks way more complicated than it actually is.

Just a little aside:  This pattern is sometimes referred to as cheetah print, but if you look at actual cheetahs, you’ll notice that they just have regular black spots.  Leopards are the ones who have this circular type pattern.

So, that’s what happened on my nails in August!  My next post is going to be non-nail stuff.  Through influenster.com, I was sent some products to review, so I’ll be covering those items next.

Oh, and just in case you were wondering… I’m not tackling the 31 Day Challenge this September. I just knew that with some of the other things in life that I have coming up this month, I wouldn’t be able to do it justice.  I love checking out what other nail art lovers are doing for #31dc2015, and I’m a little sad not to be joining in.  Maybe next year.

Thanks for reading!