thoughts & whatnots

food, beauty and randoms!

[rxbunnie]

Here are a couple pictures from my starter Now That’s Happy! kit from Origami Owl. I bought the kit hoping for some cute stuff for myself, and this did not disappoint! Love the necklace and earrings, and the May incentive (bracelet) is really cute too! I have a couple more things coming in the mail... can’t wait!

Come shop with me! https://merylcastro.origamiowl.com/

[rxbunnie]

Winter 2017 Walmart Beauty Box: Treat Yourself ❄️

[rxbunnie]

Julep Maven Subscription for February 2017

[rxbunnie]

These awesome wipes are from my Influenster Bloom VoxBox I got last month. They’re thick and claim that you only need one wipe for all 10 nails. As you can see, that was definitely the case! The wipe itself is cushy and soft, and there were three individually wrapped wipes in this one box. My only other experience with nail polish remover wipes are the ones they stock in the hospital and compared to those, these Cutex wipes are quite luxurious! These would be great to carry around in the car as they are very convenient, or in your makeup bag. Thanks @influenster and @CutexNails for letting me try these out for free!

[rxbunnie]

I received the Sunshine VoxBox from Influenster in July and had a few weeks to enjoy the goodies that came with it! The box was supposed to bring a little sunshine in your life, and I think that all of these products were either fun or bright!

For the beauty lover, the Sunshine VoxBox included a sample of Infusium23 smoothing no-rinse conditioner. I guess it’s really useful for those that are hitting the pools or beach this summer, since it moisturizes and smooths the hair. I remember the classic Infusium23 formula from my teenage years and it smells the same, but doesn’t make the hair as heavy as I felt it did back then. I used this after showering and I felt like it made my hair easy to comb and left it nice and sleek.

Another beauty product was Vasaline Spray which I have received in a voxbox before, but this time I got the Aloe version! As with it sister lotions, this product sprays on evenly, dries fast and has a great scent! So helpful on the days you just want to moisturize and GO since it’s absorbency time is almost zero. Spray and swipe, and you’re done! I love it! Love to use it on my kids too because I feel it speeds up the bedtime routine by drying so fast and being fast to apply.

Also in the box was a full sized package of witch hazel wipes with I love for around my face, but not so much near my eyes. It especially soothing after getting my eyebrows done but for day-to-day cleansing I would say that this product isn’t too great as it burns when you get too close to the eyes. I definitely need a makeup wipe that I can use on my whole face... I’ll be finishing up this pack and probably not buying this on my my own. I passed out my coupons to my friends at work.

Last for the beauty lovers was a Sinful Colors nail polish in Southern Belle. It’s a bright magenta cream that was opaque in one coat! Loved that! I used it with a base coat, top coat and followed with a drying spray which left it pretty sturdy for a few days. Sinful Colors usually has great polishes that hold up for a good amount of days, and the color payoff is so nice! Great summery color.

The last two items in the box were yummy treats, Blue Diamond Siracha almonds and barkTHINGS. The almonds were AH-MAZING, so delicious but I wish that the calories were not so high! Almonds are so yummy to begin with and the siracha kick was just spicy enough to make it an interesting snack. I would definitely buy these again.

The last treat was barkTHINS and I chose the dark chocolate with pretzel bits in them for my complimentary snack. I love all chocolate, and this was great since it had the sweet from the chocolate and the salty from the pretzel. Again, the calories were so high in one service, I could only eat a small piece at a time so that I kept in line with my diet. I definitely would try another flavor since they had other interesting ones like blueberry and pumpkin. 

Overall a great box! I loved almost everything in it! Thanks Influenster!!

[rxbunnie]

I finally received my complimentary Dessange Paris hair care products after receiving an email to check in my box! I think this might have been the first time I was surprised with a box before knowing I was qualified with one :)

I received the Oleo Miracle Collection out of the three that are available, the other two being California Blonde and Color Restore. You can find the collection at Target where the shampoo and conditioner retail for $9.99 each and the oil retails for $11.99.

This product line’s claim to fame is that it’s “3 precious oils of argan, camellia and pracaxi nourishes and brings out your hair’s natural beauty while both protecting from aggressors and detangling your hair.”

First off, it smells fancy like those shampoos that they would use on you at a salon. It almost reminds me of my grandma as well, not in a bad way, but I’m a floral, fruity kind of smelling shampoo girl myself. 

I’ve been using these products for about two weeks now and while the results are not out of this world, I am noticing that my hair is smoother and easier to brush through. I love the hair oil after a shower, I feel like I have less fly-aways but my hair is not heavy or oily. The vintage VO5 hot oil smell goes away after a while (yay) so that’s a plus too.

I like rubbing a pump of the oil through the ends of my wet hair and save a little bit for the top to prevent my hair from getting greasy. I didn’t really see any instructions on whether it’s meant to be put through wet or dry hair, but when I did try with dry hair I felt like it didn’t absorb as well. 

I’m planning on continuing to use this product until I finish it up or until my scalp gets itchy again and I have to switch back to Head and Shoulders. It seems like a great product and while it didn’t perform miracles on my hair I can see that my hair is less frizzy and more smooth.

Thank you Influenster for a chance to try out this product! I received all three products (shampoo, conditioner and hair oil) for free and all opinions are mine :)

[rxbunnie]

Ordered this Paloma Leather Clutch from Popbasic after getting referred from a good friend! She got the Isla Collection which is super cute, can't wait to see what they reveal this month! You all know I love a good sub and so far I'm still hanging on to Stitch Fix, Julep (occasionally I skip a month) and Graze Box (I get this weekly and I love it!). A couple of boxes have come and gone through my life, mostly because I felt like I was getting repeats/similar items (make up mostly) so I'm having fun mixing it up with clothes, accessories and snacks. 

The company is based out of the bay area (in Cali, Cali) and they seem really sweet and genuine. I received an email right after my order to see which bauble I would like inside my clutch (worth $100!) and I requested a knotted bracelet. I loved the personalized email and how they took the time to ask how I heard about their company. Can't wait to get my clutch!! I'm planning to use it to keep some stuff organized in my purse 'cuz you know my purse is jam packed with whatnots!

My affiliate link is below if you're interested in checking it out and subbing too :)

[rxbunnie]

#mailmonday Since we were out of town, all these goodies were waiting for me! First up (to the left) are julepmaven polishes I ordered before the weekend. The two single glitter polishes I had ordered for someone's daughter and since I had a coupon I ordered The Wish List set for myself. I am in loooove with the colors of the set, so my shades of polish!! I'm torn between those and my Julep Valentine's box I just got to do my VDay mani with 😅. In the middle you'll see my beautyjunkees Pro Angled Brush that I got for $1 (special price for those on a review team, must review on Amazon!). I've had good experiences with their products and the company and I bet this brush is great. To the far right I have my graze-com snacks for the week. Love the concept of getting little snacks each under 120 calories that I can toss in my bag for work or erranding. Keeps me on track when I want to reach for something crazy like candy etc. I have codes for your first and fifth box free if you're interested! Last is the silpat everything is displayed on. Its a #culinarygenius silicon baking mat I got for $5 (originally $13.99) on Amazon with a code I saw on Facebook. I can totally use it especially with me taking up macaron baking again. Well that's it for #mailmonday besides the usual junk & bills! Laters!

[rxbunnie]

I received the Unilever Dry Spray VoxBox from influenster and in that VoxBox I got a full sized Dove Dry Spray! I think Dove is one of my favorite brands when it comes to deodorants and body wash. I always think of those commercials that have the ladies doing before and afters (body wash) or flipping their shirts inside out (clear deodorant). I know it sounds bad but I didn't really use deodorant until after kids haha! I used to sweat, but not have stinky sweat. Occasionally if I knew I had to do something where I would be nervous (wedding, job interview.. etc) I would definitely wear deodorant because then it was the stinky kind! TMI, I know!

Anyhow, I love spray sunscreen so I figured I would like this too. It smells great, dries super fast and I don't feel like there's an icky residue from the product. However, like spray sunscreen.. I feel like there needs to be an open space or a window open because the product is all up in the air too! My husband didn't appreciate it that much. :(

I was travelling out of town to see family and my son happened to complain about how "wet" (he meant sweaty) his feet. He took of his shoes and OMG, his socks were soaked! My aunt mentioned that I should rub deodorant on the soles of his feet and I thought, ummm spray deodorant!! Why not!?!?!

So here's a picture of my baby's cute feet. Sprayed them down with a little bit of Dove Dry Spray (I feel like I can trust Dove products enough to put them on my son's feet) and while I was at it, a little on mine too haha. It worked great for keeping my toes dry, and my sons too! He didn't complain about having wet feet all day :) 

I like that the packaging is compact, I'm able to toss it in my purse and bring it with me to work (where I've been testing it mostly!). I'm still not too thrilled by the amount of product that gets into the air (my husband felt like it was going up his nose) but I do like that it's convenient and had a neutral smell. 

Thanks again to @Influenster for letting me try this product for FREE!   

[rxbunnie]

A few weeks ago I received a BzzKit from @Bzzagent for Opal Apples. They are bright yellow apples that are available from November through March and are non-GMO. I think their claim to fame are being non-browning (naturally!). A little bit more on Opal Apples (taken from BzzAgent):

Opal® Apples arrived in the U.S. in 2010 and are grown exclusively in Washington at Broetje Orchards

Known as the apple with a purpose, a portion of Opal® Apples’ sales goes to their Youth Make a Difference grants, which support youth-led non-profits involving food, nutrition and agriculture

I was able to find Opal Apples at my local Safeway. I used their website http://www.opalapples.com/ to search for a grocery that carried them and my options were Safeway and Trader Joe's. First stop, and a little bit of searching, I found them! They were going for $2.99/lb and since I got a $5 coupon I tried to measure roughly 2 lbs of apples (it was about 4 big ones). Another goodie in my BzzKit was a flexible cutting board which you can see above. The apple slicer, however, is mine ;).

As you can see, the apple is bright inside, and after a few minutes of sitting out, still bright! It was a really crisp apple, and it took me a little more effort to slice with my apple slicer/corer. I love that the apple is not too sweet, and it is a little tangy like they describe online but not too much that you cannot recognize it as a classic apple. 

I can't wait to cut up some more and give them to my daughter! She loves fruit, and like most toddlers, gets distracted easily so she'll sometimes walk away from her food then comes back to it and is all grossed out that it's discolored. I'm curious to see if this non-browning apple will outlast the rest and be gobbled up by my baby! 

I have a few more digital coupons ($1 off) if anyone is interested... I happened to run into a friend at Safeway and gave her one from my BzzKit and the other I gave to the cashier because he was praising the apples so much! He said, "I'm going to grab one for lunch!" so I said, "Here! Use a coupon!" haha!! 

Thanks BzzAgent for the BzzKit and the goodies! 

[rxbunnie]

My @Influenster Vow VoxBox arrived a few days ago and I'm finally able to sit down and blog about it. Actually, I already DID blog about it and my laptop died and I lost the whole thing. UGH. So, here we go again...

First up, the EcoTools pure complexion sponge. Stiff out of the box, but soft and spongey when wet. It was a little too soft for me, I was expecting it to be more exfoliating. It lathered up well, and the size was comfortable for my had. The shape helped with getting around my nose which is the part I concentrate on the most because I hate getting whiteheads. I would use this when I didn't have a full face of makeup on because it doesn't seem to have the oomph to get everything off.

The Olay Regenerist Luminous Tone Perfect Cream initially seemed too creamy and moderately scented when I unboxed it on my YT video but it was actually fast absorbing and mildly scented. It dried to an almost matte finish. Excited to see how it will help my complexion! A keeper for now in my regular face routine.

The Pure Silk shaving cream in Raspberry Mist would definitely be a scent I would choose on my own so I'm happy to see this in my box. I think shaving cream in general goes perfect with a regular razor whether it has a moisturizing strip or not. This product is gel to foam, and it's fluffy! I sometimes use it with an electric razor.

Also in my box was the Sally Hansen Complete Salon Manicure polish. I love the color, as I thought it was baby blue in the bottle but was more of a Tiffany Blue on the nails. It did, however, take about 3-4 coats to be opaque which I didn't really like. I'm used to SH fast dry polish which is usually opaque in one or two coats, and of course, dries super fast!

The Tide-to-Go pen is a must have for me, so much more convenient than Shout wipes and probably works just about the same. I found that it didn't really work as well on oil-based stains (like hamburger dripping) but does well on other stains. You kind of have to use a lot of product to make sure you don't get that dried ring of dirt when you dilute the stain.

Lastly, the 50% off code for Riley and Grey wedding website is great, but I'll be passing the code to my future sister in law. I guess it's the age of the electronic RSVPs and wedding info but it's great, because it's more convenient and the mobile site looks helpful. Of the three design demos they had my favorite was the black with white flowers on it. Very classy.

Thanks again Influenster for the opportunity to review all these items FOR FREE! Love it!

[rxbunnie]

Made bath crayons using the Ivory bar I got for free from @Influenster! I didn't show the kids yet because the instructions say it takes a few days to dry. Probably less in this Stockton heat lol #sudlife @ivory

[rxbunnie]

Wow!!! I qualified for another voxbox! This is the Vow VoxBox for brides, bridesmaids, wedding guests or wedding crashers :) Lots of great beauty products in this box... I'm soooo excited! I guess its worth the awkward YouTube videos of myself after all lol. I'll probably share the website with my sister in law since I'm already married haha. So thankful for the opportunity to review these products for free thanks to Influenster!

[rxbunnie]

Super excited! I got my TLC VoxBox in the mail today! This box was meant to deliver a little tender lovin' care for selected moms of Influenster Nation. I blogged a little bit about what I saw on the voxbox cheat sheet a couple days ago. There are six items in this voxbox:

Neosporin Neo to Go ($4.97-$7.50): A convenient little no sting spray that I already love for my little toddlers scrapes. I also love that it has a little analgesic to help with pain!

Breyers Gelato Indulgences ($4.49-$5.99): omg, a coupon for a free tub of gelato! I already know I'm looking for something with caramel, chocolate or both!! This is something I'll be eating when the kids aren't watching haha!!!

Ivory Bar Soap ($3.99/10 pack): Such a classic soap, gentle and soft smelling. Love, love, love!

AVON Anew Reversalist Express Wrinkle Smoother ($30): A cream to powder balm that blurs the look of wrinkles on the forehead and around the eyes. I am super excited to try this! Two kids later, I feel like the crows feet around my eyes are horrendous!

Puffs to Go ($0.49/single pack): This is one of my favorite brands of tissue! I go through a lot, especially with allergy season and my super favorite type is the one with lotion.

Shell Fuel Rewards Network Card: It's a loyalty program card to ease the sting of how much gas is lately! I drive an SUV so this is greatly appreciated, and free to boot! Every cent counts when trying to save up on goods we spend on anyways!

All these items were sent to me for testing purposes from Influenster! All complimentary! Sign up today and get FREE STUFF TO TRY! 

[foodandwine]

Whether you’re picking your own, gathering bushels from the farmers’ market or buying in bulk from the grocery store, strawberries by the bowlful are what’s for breakfast, lunch and dinner this time of year (or at least they should be). But stemming and coring the delicious red berry can be tedious. In this week’s Mad Genius Tips video, F&W’s Test Kitchen fruit ninja Justin Chapple shows you how to make quick work of that annoying task—armed with nothing but a straw. Learn more quick and brilliant skills by watching all of F&W’s Mad Genius Tips videos.

[rxbunnie]

My newest @BzzAgent campaign featuring Dr Scholl's DreamWalk High Heel Insoles! The kit came a few days ago, but I've only been able to take a photo and post about it right now. Included in the kit was a pair of insoles for me to try, and a stack of $4/off coupons. The packaging notes that it's meant for heels 2" or higher, and luckily I'm right at that smaller end of the foot size (I'm a 5.5). This will be perfect for the upcoming senior dinner the hubs has to attend, mainly because I think it's a formal dinner which means it's time to bust out the heels! I have these CK black pumps that I LOVE and last Christmas they were a little tedious to wear to church with the two toddlers in tow. Can't wait to try these out!

The insole itself is cushiony, with a dry weave type surface. In fact, the packaging describes it as a "wicking fabric designed to keep feet dry." Perfect for keeping away the stank foot lol....

Thanks BzzAgent!

I got these complimentary for testing purposes!

[rxbunnie]

My @OfficialPureIce manicure for @influenster VirtualVox #contest. I chose the color Heart Break after seeing their mermaid display at @Walmart. I was hoping that it would be a little more opaque than it turned out to be. The top photo shows my thumb with 5 coats, pointer finger with 4 coats, middle finger with 3 coats, ringer finger with 2 coats and my pinky with 1 coat of polish. The formula is thin and dries slowly. It would probably take 10-20 coats to get as dark as the bottle which this mama definitely doesn’t have time for! It would make a nice little top coat for shimmer but otherwise, you get what you pay for. At $1.97 however, its not a bad choice for a party favor in goodie bag at a little girl’s party. I might use this on my daughter if she can sit long enough for it to dry. Thank goodness for speed dry drops!