My Little Product Reviews

Reviews of products so you can know the things I didn't.

[meaggiej]

Swiffer Starter Kits

So, I've bought swiffer dusters before. It makes dusting a breeze. I'm not against making cleaning my house easier. When I opened this box, I was expecting the exact same thing I already had. Fortunately, I got a surprise and a long handle on this one. It swivels and clicks into different angles. I can reach my ceiling fan and items on my top shelf and makes dusting a breeze! Really glad I got the opportunity to try this thing out.

[meaggiej]

Kozy Shack Indulgent Pudding Recipes

I got some coupons from Bzzagent for this brand. I used all my coupons (for shame) on myself, my girlfriend's sister, and my girlfriend. My girlfriend's sister ate a salted caramel the minute they were in the fridge. "Mmmm. This is good," she remarked. I looked to the fridge. My desires were churning. Should I eat the pudding now and seem like I'm taking advice from my girlfriend's sister? Or wait and eat some in the privacy of my own experience and judgments untainted by the opinion's of others? I walked away. It was hard to do watching her stuff her face with the delicious tan colored pudding. After she had retired for the night, I snuck in to the fridge and opened one. The delightful taste of caramel mixed with the salty tang of... salt.... sent my senses whirring. When I looked down I realized I had ate the remaining 3. They were so good I couldn't stop myself. Later my girlfriend opened the fridge and asked "Where did the salted caramel go? I was going to try it." I shrugged nonchalantly and left the room. She would never know of my pudding conquest. I didn't even get to try the vanilla bean brand. I wouldn't dare rip it out of my girlfriend's hands. She had just had a tonsillectomy. Out of all the flavors, she proclaimed vanilla bean would be hers. She ate an entire serving of it one night to take her pills. She said, "This is so much better than the boxed jello pudding stuff. " I asked if the little vanilla bean flakes bothered her throat. She looked at me like she wanted to punch me and said, "No. They don't. And I don't need help eating it either." Yikes. When she gets mean about food that means it must be good. I asked her how it tasted. She sighed and replied she had already told me, but if I needed to know more that it was light, creamy, decadent, not too thick, and delicious. There was also something about "Get out of my face and let me eat in peace" after that, but that had little to do with the actual product. So there you have it. People with tonsillectomies enjoy Kozy Shack pudding too.

[meaggiej]

Pagoda Snacks

Bzzagent asked me to review Pagoda snacks with a coupon for a free box and two coupons for 1.50 off. The only thing I buy from Pagoda are their cream cheese wontons. They're the bomb.com. When I showed my sister the coupons she yelled, "YAASSSSS. LET'S GO TO KROGER RIGHT NOW." And so we did. She used all the coupons. She filled the freezer full of cream cheese wontons and made herself some in the process. They are just wonton style puffs filled with cream cheese, but oh they are so good. I recommend eating one box at a time with a friend bc they're addicting. I can't speak about the rest of the line, but I really wish I had a coupon to share with you all. Go get some cream cheese wontons in the freezer section at Kroger. Hurry. Now. Go.

[meaggiej]

New "Ultra Premium" Pet Food Brands at Kroger

I know it's sad, but I'm skeptical of any food my cats huff down like it's fast food flavored. This is the standard for crap food like Meow Mix. Purina isn't known for "ultra premium," but chewy is carrying it so that's a plus in my eyes. They really like the Beyond brand. They gobbled down the chicken and while I was at Kroger, my local one had a few bags of overstock of the cat food marked down. I used my Bzzagent  "get some pet stuff free" from Kroger coupon and picked them up. Hey, the bag says all the right things and they like. Win-win. I've had one throw up incident on the Beyond, which I don't like, but I'm chalking it up to somebody overeating. I'm looking at you, Sophie. They've happily been eating this with Halo Sensitive Stomach. I ran out of Sensitive Stomach earlier last week and they are strictly on Beyond. I hope it lives up to the expectations that I am starting to have for it. They prefer it over Halo, and I want them to love what they're eating. Anyway, back on Kroger carrying these products, because that's what this review is supposed to be about... I'm excited. Mainly because Kroger is cheaper and doesn't make me give an arm and leg for cat food. If they keep it up with the overstock, I'll get fancy cat food dirt cheap forever! Har-har. I have tried a few other brands that I got sent that I will comment on... Stay away from I and Love and You. I've tried it before and the bag is sitting on top of the fridge rotting away. Cats just don't like it. I wanted them to love it bc I loved the name of the brand, but alas- Cats don't give a crap about brand names and I and Love and You is out. I tried the sample with them and the cats proved would rather starve themselves all day and wait for a new feeding time and hope I give them something different than eat I and Love and You. I was super pleased at first with the cat treat, Abound. My one cat loved them. She ate like four treats like it was nothing and the next day she acted like I was handing her garbage. So, I don't know what to think about those now. Temptations has a natural version of their treat that I recommend. Temptations are the ONLY treat I can get Sophie to eat, so I happy to see that little bag in there. Don't pass them up just cause they're cheap. Cats love them. Anyway, glad Kroger is stocking healthy cat food at reasonable prices. ;)

[meaggiej]

Ebay Selling Guides

This is not really a product review, but I posted two ebay selling guides for the influenster and ebay badge. It's part of contest sort of thing to win. 

You can check out my guides here: 

www.ebay.com/gds/How-To-Sell-Your-Damaged-iPhone-on-Ebay-/10000000178830378/g.html

www.ebay.com/gds/Hot-Items-to-Sell-For-Valentines-Day-/10000000178830491/g.html

[meaggiej]

July & August 2014 Bulu Box Review (weight loss box)

Doing these at the same time since I forgot to do it to start with.

July: 

July was a rather large disappointment. 

Pur-Absorb Iron

No iron problems. No need for this product. (It's for women with low iron)

K-PAX Energy

Took these on a hike in my backpack and forgot about them. I really could have used these too.

BSN Syntha-6

Still want to try this one. The name is off-putting but it's supposed to raise your resting metabolic rate and help build lean protein. It's in a powder form

Soap Box Soaps Lavender Body Wash

I've misplaced this. I don't even know where the sample went. 

Toniq

I've been meaning to try this. It's supposed to be a hang over cure. I don't drink enough to remember to use it.

Rutaesomn

This just scares me. It apparently zaps all the caffeine out of your system? I survive on caffeine. 

Shapeology Burn Blend

August: 

This box seemed better than July. It has a lot of good looking stuff to try. Of course, I want to save the energy stuff for long hikes so I will back and add to this as I try them. 

Sleepy Beans

Basically natural ingredients including melatonin that helps you sleep. Haven't tried. 

Volo Vitamins

Energy sticks with vitamins, minerals, and fruit powder. Saving these for a hike. 

Bikini Ready Energy Gummies

Quick boost energy gummies. Also saving for a hike. 

Forgiven

Need to try toniq first. lol. Another hangover cure.

Kay's Natural Tomato Basil Protein Puffs

These taste just like tomato basil soup and are protein packed. Excellent snack. 

Oxytherm Pro

A thermogenic. I probably wont take this one but I might pass it off to someone. 

[meaggiej]

Fish Eye Wine

Some like it good. You know what I mean? Good wine. Like, you drink it and you like the taste in your mouth so you swish it around a little bit before you let the wonderful taste slide down your throat. You can describe what you're drinking as being sweet, luxurious, floral, woodsy. Fish Eye Wine.... You just couldn't meet the standards. I'm not sure what exactly was wrong with you, but a group of wine lovers couldn't find it in their heart to learn to even like you. They picked faucet water over having to consume you. You had so many short comings. I should have known. $20 for a box equivalent of 4 bottles of wine? Sadly, even the poor wine Arbor Mist has you beat. Maybe I shouldn't have gotten Chardonnay... But what option did I have? You were impossible to find. Pinot Grigio has always been a disappointment to me. I thought you'd meet standards. I wish we could do this over again with Moscato, but I don't think you're worth my time to find or money. So sorry, Fish Eye. I don't think we're going to work out.

I brought this to a party where we were drinking wine and painting. I declared that I had gotten the wine for free as I sat it on the wine and cupcake table, quite proud of myself. I also declared anyone who liked it could take the leftovers home. I said this because I thought it was disgusting, but I didn't tell my friends that. I wanted them to like this. My little sister and her boyfriend were the first brave souls. The words, "Liquid fart" were muttered with an exasperated expression and mute agreement was given from the other person who looked like someone has just told him he drank sewer water. My best friend braved up and took a sip. She looked me dead in the eye and said, "This tastes fishy. It's disgusting." She proceeded to pour some for her husband who unknowingly was waiting across the room. As he took a sip, the inappropriate words flew. He didn't like it either. My boyfriend gave me dirty looks and refused to try it. I attempted to convince my other friend to try it. My sister insisted I had lost my mind and no one should make anyone else try it. My friend decided she didn't want any. Another friend showed up late to the party. I made her the free offer speel. This time my sister insisted she try it. I think she just wanted a reaction. My late friend proceeded to gag and cough. When the party was wrapping up, I realized I was going to get stuck with this disgusting box of wine. I ponied up and asked my painting instructor to try it. She did. No reaction. Then, she looked at the box. She said, "Whew. 13% percent. It's alcoholic." "It's yours!" I proclaimed. She thanked me and gave it a funny look.

[meaggiej]

GoProFoot Insoles & Pedi Rock

I've never liked insoles. I've been given a ridiculous amount of them to try. But these.... 3/4 long... Doesn't touch the toes..... Man, awesome! I would recommend giving these a try if your feet hurt and you hate insoles.

And the pedi rock. Awesome. I recommend putting on a pair of gloves to use this. It tends to scrape off some of the skin on your hands too. It's very effective and easy to wash. 

There isn't much to say about these products, I am not passionate about them, but they are pretty great. Definitely would recommend both. 

[meaggiej]

Paula's Choice Skincare Clear

So, Bzzagent sent me a bunch of free Paula's Choice Clear Anti-Acne System for Blemish Prone Skin trial kits. It's a three step process and you begin with Pore Normalizing Cleanser that is supposed to dissolve oil, dead skin cells, and makeup that can clog pores. It dissolved the oil, but the dead skin cells and makeup I don't believe. Next you are supposed to use the Anti-redness Exfoliating Solution. This is supposed to exfoliate, kill bacteria, and reduce redness. Hint, it does none of those things. You finish up with Daily Skin Clearing Treatment. It's supposed to be a fast acting treatment with 2.5% benzoyl peroxide that works "immediately" to reduce acne-causing bacteria. 2.5%.... lol.

The only thing this thing did was dry out my face for a day and the one miserable bump I had coming up under my nose turned into a nasty white head. I had to swap back to my BareMinerals and MD Formulations to get some relief.

I asked another couple of friends to try this stuff out. One girl said it was drying her face out and the others couldn't be bothered enough to try it yet. I guess it doesn't even look that impressive.

So, in short... This product was a huge fail. Don't bother.

All that being said, if you really wanna give it a go, check out paulaschoice.com and use coupon code prclear20 for 20% off and free shipping on your first order.

[meaggiej]

Muller Corner

I got a voucher for a free Muller product from Influenster. Here is my review. 

I buy Muller Corner with choco balls and crispy crunch already so this voucher was wasted on me. As part of my attempt to merge into healthy eating, I'm consuming more yogurt. Muller just happens to have great tasting yogurt and mix ins that are better for you than Reeses Pieces and M&Ms. It's also a larger cup of yogurt and Muller doesn't skimp on the mix ins. I have tons of crispy little bites in every bite I take. My only qualm with Muller is that they only have a few yogurt mix ins that don't contain fruit. I hate fruit and I'd love to see more my style of variety. I've bought the crunchy granola, but I never got to try it before it expired, but I will give it a go. I'm not excited about dark chocolate and pecan granola, but I bought some and I'm going to give it a go. Just don't get rid of the flavors I love and we'll be alright. 

[meaggiej]

GoVoxBox from Influenster

I got another Vox Box from Influenster. This time it's the GoVoxBox. I'm going to review some of my stuff in other reviews. 

The box contained:

Playtex Sport Fresh Balance

The time has not yet come to test these. 

Vitamin Shoppe Next Step Fit N Full Protein Shake

Review can be found here

Blue Diamond Blueberry Flavored Almonds

These scare me and I haven't tried them yet. 

Profoot Triad Orthodic AND Profoot Pedi Rock

The pedi rock is bad ass. It's like a soft squishy rock with pumice all over it. I really enjoyed using it and it was easy to use. No lie, I've got the worst heels of all time. Probably because I strut around in sandals all year and seasons long. I don't know where you can buy the rock in stores, but it's fantastic if you can find it. Beware of your hands though, it started exfoliating those at the same time. 

Aqua Spa Bath Salts

I came down with one of the nastiest colds ever and had the whole achy muscle bit. I drew a hot bath and dumped these salts in. Smelled great and I hate lavender. They dissolved 100% and completely which is really unusual for bath salts. I felt a whole heck of a lot better when I got out of the bath. So these are A+.

1 Voucher for a FREE Muller Yogurt Product.

Review can be found here

[meaggiej]

Next Step Fit N Full Protein Shake

To start, I got this in the Influenster GoVoxBox to try out and get my opinion.  So, I get home from a work out at the gym after a long day of work and I don't feel like cooking and I'm certainly not going to ruin my workout by stopping and grabbing fast food. My solution on workout days is a protein/meal replacement shake. I'm picky. I think Slim Fast tastes like garbage and I force myself to down a bottle of Special K breakfast shake. All that being said.... Holy cow! This is a protein shake unlike any other. It tastes delicious! I decided to forgo the water recommendation and used 2% milk instead. It was super creamy and really delicious. Maybe one day I'll man up and try it with water. Honestly, I have hated every vanilla shake I've ever tried. This was fantastic. Like slurping a melted ice cream or something similiar. I really enjoyed it.  Now, the bad. I use this with the Jax NextStep shaker and was a little disappointed. Aside from my complete fear of that top popping off and my shake going flying (gripping and shaking was 10 kinds of awkward!), I could not get those clumps out! 60% of drinking my shake was inhaling clumps of powder that didn't properly break loose. I'm blaming this on the packets themselves. I think they packed the powder together and they were just stubborn about coming loose in the shaker cup. Good thing the clumps tasted good or I would have been really turned off by the whole thing.  All in all, it's getting 4 stars. Great tasting especially for a protein shake, but the clumping thing sucks. I will buy this again so hopefully I don't have this problem with the big container of powder.  Also, I drank this as a meal replacement for my dinner and it filled me up and I didn't snack at all at night like I usually do.

[meaggiej]

New Tone® Petal Soft Body Wash

Looking at the bzz, I'm beginning to realize everyone got this horrible perfumey scent. I should have realized, because it's their new scent. This stuff smells putrid to me. I'm not a big fan on perfumey scents, but this is not what I would choose for a body wash. If you haven't guessed by now, I got this free to try as part of the bzzagent program and I am NOT impressed. I'm embarrased to even hand out these coupons. This stuff is "old lady" like in my opinion. It also broke me out across my chest in an allergic fury of bumps. So, if you have sensitive skin, stay away from this stuff. It doesn't lather as much I would hope/like. I like seeing the clean on my body.. I have pretty sensitive skin and Axe Anarchy for Her breaks me out less than this stuff. So, with the smell and sensitive skin, I would pass on this. I'm just not a fan. 

[meaggiej]

Private Selection Gourmet Cookies

Ultimate Chocolate Chunk was my flavor of choice when I went with my coupon from Bzzagent for a free box of Private Selection Gourmet Cookies. After a discussion with my boyfriend of how nuts don't do much in the way of helping cookies, we picked the only flavor without them. I was impressed when I read the ingredients. Not many, most were natural. So far, so good. The 230 calories per cookie left a little to be desired, but I was going to roll with it. I bit into the cookie without reading the box. I wasn't prepared for this. This onslaught of chocolate. My immediately thought was, "Did you want some cookie with all those chocolate chunks?" The cookie itself was bland and hard. I was expecting homemade style of gooey, chewy, soft, and melt in your mouth style of cookie. I could taste the sugar in every bite. My boyfriend looked disappointed and confirmed my suspicions when he said, "230 calories for this?" I have the worst sweet tooth in the world. I could probably eat sweets for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and never get tired of it. These cookies were too much. I had to take a bite, put it down, come back, have another another bite, etc. I won't be buying these again. This is the first disappointing item from Private Selection I've ever had.

[meaggiej]

Orajel Cold Sore Treatment

Click here if you're interested in how it works:

http://smiley360.com/2363570.cfm

Anyway, I used this last night, so I don't know how well it works yet. It does a great job of numbing out the spot though. 

[meaggiej]

Grain Free Dry Cat Food Hunger Games

We only have 7 districts left in this blazing competition. Such fierce claims of being the best. How was one to decide? I couldn't, so I bought a bunch. In this epic battle for the fight of the love of two very hungry and precious kitties, the final 7 districts will have to compete to mesmerize the judges taste buds and leave them drooling for more! So, the battleground will be set forth on the food mat of the judges daily. The districts will be going head to head, side by side and have to convince the judges that they are worthy enough to provide nutrients and support for their tiny sensitive tummes. There can only be one victor. MAY THE ODDS BE EVAH IN YO' FLAVAH FLAV.

The judges:

Sophie. Snarky picky will eat only what I want and when I want champ. 

Peekaboo. All Time Eat Whatever Fits in My Mouth Champ.

The competitors:

District 1

Canidae Grain Free Pure Elements All Life Stages Cat Food, 4 lbs.

District 2

Solid Gold Indigo Moon Holistic Cat Food

District 3

Halo Spot's Stew Grain Free Formula Hearty Chicken Cat Food, 3 lbs.

District 4

Natural Balance Alpha Cat Chicken, Turkey Meal & Duck Grain-Free Dry Cat Food

Distict 8

Merrick Purrfect Bistro Grain Free Healthy Chicken Adult Cat Food

District 10

I and Love and You Nude Food Poultry a Plenty Recipe Cat Food, 5 lb.

District 12

Nature's Recipe Grain-Free Indoor Chicken & Potato Adult Cat Food, 5 lbs.

Current contender is District 12 Nature's Recipe who beat out District 5 Nature's Variety Instinct Chicken Meal and District 6 Wellness Core Indoor Formula. (Districts 7,9,11 were eliminated for non-quality ingredients, lack of excellent reviews, or lack of taste determined before the Hunger Games. Those districts were Royal Canin, Blue, and Hills Science Diet.)

Current challenger is District 8 Merrick Purrfect Bistro. Will update when we move on to the next round. 

District 12

vs

District 8

UPDATE: District 8 has fallen. 12 pounded 8 so hard, it wasn't fair. As 12 moved on, it ran into 1. They fought valiantly, 1 escaped with his life. He'll back. 12 is sure of it. 12 runs into 3 next. 3 overpowers 12. 3 shows mercy and lets 12 get away. 3 advances on 4. 4 puts up a fight so valiant, both 3 and 4 run from each other. 3 goes after 2. They are stalemated.

UPDATE: After a rough and epic battle. Terrible things happened that I can't even speak of. District 3 took home the trophy and left two very happy judges. That is all. 

[meaggiej]

Venus Embrace Sensitive VoxBox

So, Influenster sent me a VoxBox that had a Gillette Venus Embrace Sensitive razor in it. These aren't for sale just quite yet, but I got in one for free a little early to give me review on it. 

First of all, I've had a regular Venus Embrace for a while. I actually got sent a Hydro Shick from BzzAgent a while back and I tested it against my Embrace. Both razors have their pros and cons. So, to be fair, I'm going to compare all three. 

In the order of things I noticed.........

First, I opened the package to dig out the razor. When I saw the shower holder, I was pleasantly surprised. Gillette took a page out of Hydro's book and slimmed theirs down. For reference, here is a picture of all three razors hanging in the shower. From left to right, Hydro Shick, Embrace Sensitive, Regular Embrace. 

To be fair, I haven't purchased a new Embrace in a while, so maybe they've slimmed down all of their shower holders. Anyway....

I noticed that the Sensitive itself is slimmed down compared to the regular. At first, I was really excited about it. Then, I started to shave with it. I noticed it felt cheaply made compared to the original. Really light weight, plasticy, etc. The soft grip was as good as the original embrace. 

Down the nitty gritty... The actual shave on this isn't as good. It doesn't dig into your skin like the other razors do. That's the point though, less friction, less irritation. I love this razor for my underarms and the *ahem* pubic area. They are constantly breaking out with razor burn. All my bumps have gone away using this. 

I'm going to stick with my Hydro Shick for my legs though, I need that deep close shave there. 

Another wonderful thing is that this razor doesn't strip moisture away like my others. I find that I'm not dry and itchy after a shave when I used to be. I would have to coat about three or four layers of lotion to calm my skin. Now, one is fine. 

So, on whether or not you should but this.. Yes, if you have sensitive skin that breaks out easy or is extremely dry. This razor will help you solve these issues, but I will keep using all my different razors in the shower so I can get the best of all worlds.