September 2012 Hits and Misses - Beauty, Craft, Food and Lifestyle Favorites

Is it really already time for this post? I feel like I just wrote up my August Hits and Misses - July's too for that matter! This year is flying by and it seems that in no time at all Thanksgiving and Christmas will be here. If you'd like to see the August list, just click here. Otherwise, it's on with September!

Hits:
Beauty:

Sabon Foot Cream

I was lucky enough to get this foot cream in my August Birchbox, but I didn't actually use it until this month. In order to tell you why this is such an amazing foot cream, I might have to get a little TMI. You see, my feet have this issue where they apparently don't sweat properly (so I was told by a doctor many years ago). Instead of sweating like normal feet should, the sweat pools up under the skin creating little blisters of sorts (not painful at all). These little blisters eventually rub on shoes or socks or just pop on their own and create the grossest peely parts on my feet. I've tried so many lotions and potions to help with this and I think I may have finally found my saving grace, my holy grail. I used this foot cream two nights in a row just before bed and put socks on. That was at the beginning of the month and my feet are just now starting to get the dry, peely patches again - which means I should probably put some more on. The moisture my feet felt was amazing and something I haven't found in any other lotion out there, though many claim to be the best, most moisturizing, etc. The only downfall is the price. It's $16 for 5.27oz.

Birchbox and Color Club Custom Collection in Status Update
I wasn't exactly thrilled when I saw this color in my Birchbox this month. There was at least one other color I had wanted more. However, I gave it a try and I love it! It's a very opaque polish and one coat was all I needed to cover my nails. At first look, I thought it was more of a navy blue, but it's definitely a very dark charcoal gray. Love! It's perfect for fall. About a week after I painted them they were all chipped and gross looking. All it took was just one more coat to cover all the chips and dings and have them looking like new again. It's amazing.

Craft:
I feel bad once again writing that I haven't crafted anything, thus I have no favorites this month. I'm hoping to get my disaster area, I mean craft area, cleaned up soon so I can get back in there making things.

Food:
Red Grapes
I heard something on the news about a local winery. They said that this year's harvest of grapes was not as much in quantity as years past but what was harvested was some of the sweetest grapes they've ever had. This was due to the weather pattern this summer of being super hot for periods of time and lacking rain - or something to that effect. I think this has affected regular eating grapes as well. I don't remember ever getting so many bunches of incredibly sweet red grapes in a row. We bought grapes every single week this month and every single week we got amazing grapes.

Lifestyle:

Glade Expressions Oil Diffuser in Lavender and Juniper Berry 
This smells amazing. If you want to read my full review, you can do so here. Basically I just think this is one of the greatest things since sliced bread. Yes, it was a bit overpowering on the first day but every day since then it has smelled great. It's not too much for our small bathroom and it always smells like someone has just finished taking a shower - like how the bathroom gets lightly scented from their shampoo or body wash.

Fall
Fall is probably tied with spring as my favorite season(s). There are so many awesome things that happen in fall that it's hard not to like. The leaves changing colors, the weather cools off, you can wear sweaters, have big bon fires, and drink apple cider! Also, my birthday is in the fall but I'm sure you'll hear more about that next month.

New Seasons of TV Shows
I'm so happy/glad/excited my favorite shows like Grey's Anatomy and Castle are back! I understand why they have a summer break for the shows, but sometimes I wish they just kept on going. It's nice to actually have new things to watch on TV at night.

Misses:
Beauty:

TwistBand Hair Tie
I received this hair tie in September's Birchbox. In my initial thoughts I stated I was skeptical about its ability to hold my hair. I have fine hair and a lot of it. The normal hair ties I use need to go around my hair three times in order to hold it in a high pony tail. Two times around will hold it in a low, loose pony tail. This band is no different. It needs to go around three times in order to hold it in a high, tight pony tail. The problem comes with the fact that this band isn't big/stretchy enough to do that. I can only use it to wear my hair in a low/loose pony tail. Now that we're in cooler weather it's not such a big deal but my usual preference is that if my hair is tied back, it's up higher, which this band doesn't let me do.

Craft:
Again, see above. No crafting = no hits or misses.

Food:
Jello Pudding Mix Ins (Sorry I don't have a picture - I tossed the package before I thought to take a picture)
I had gotten a great, $1/1 coupon through one of the focus groups I'm part of so I decided to try these out. They come two in a pack and cost about $1.75 at regular retail price at my local grocery store. $1.75 for two little cups of pudding with a little bit of topping stuff to mix into them. Totally not worth the price. Were they good? Yes. Would I buy them again? Not unless the price comes down significantly and/or there are great coupons. For $1.75 I can buy regular packs of pudding and package up my own Oreos, sprinkles and what have you to put on top and mix in myself. Sorry Jello, pudding fail - at least in the price department.

Lifestyle:
Nothing comes to mind as a miss this month, which is good for all the products I used and bad I suppose for the interest of reading this post.

Products mentioned in this post:


Disclaimer: I received some these products complimentary and/or received coupons for free products from the following places: BzzAgent

It's officially fall!

In case you missed it, fall officially started this past Saturday. That means that fresh apple cider, sweaters, my birthday and Halloween are all just around the corner! Fall is definitely one of my top favorite seasons for all of those reasons and more.

Another thing I LOVE about fall is decorating for all the holidays. It's all about bright colors - reds, yellows and oranges - for general fall themes and then even more colors - purples, silver and greens - for Halloween themes. The colors are amazing!

These glittered clothespins make great additions to any fall decor, be it for Halloween, Thanksgiving or just fall in general.

They're mini clothespins so they're great for tucking into other decor you already have and adding just a pop of shine and sparkle.

If a Halloween theme is more your thing, these are perfect too. And really, they could even be carried throughout the entire fall season with the orange and silver. They're mini clothespins as well, so perfect again for a little pop.

Looking for something a bit larger? These large glittered clothespins may be just the thing.

They're standard sized clothespins, but they're significantly larger than the minis. I call these my "Monster Mix" because they remind me of all the colors in the great Halloween monsters - Frankenstein, Dracula, witches, werewolves, etc.

If all this glitter and sparkle isn't quite your thing, Halloween colored crepe paper flowers are also available. They offer significantly less (read, none at all) sparkle - unless you want to design your own in which case they could - and can be used as anything from table decor to scrapbook embellishments.

This Halloween mix set is great for adding just a little extra something to your decor. The texture of the crepe paper adds interest as opposed to being just a flat, smooth paper flower and the colors really pop.

These are yet another example of the kinds of flowers that can be done in Halloween colors. I call this the pinwheel style because of the solid colored bottom layer - in this case white - and the 2-colored top layer - black and orange.

I hope you were able to get some great ideas for your fall decor!

It's almost my birthday...and I need your help

In just one short month (on October 21) I will be 30. The big 3-0. No longer in the 20s. I trust you can keep this a secret, right? So next year when I'm magically 29 again no one else will be any the wiser?

Thanks.

Now that we've got that out of the way, on to the "real" point of this post.

I need your help. Yes, you (and also anyone you care to recruit to help in this project of sorts I'm about to explain).

A while ago while on Pinterest, I saw a pin with a link to this blog and this particular post about a woman who celebrated her 38th birthday with 38 (mostly) random acts of kindness. Simply put, this lady is amazing. I know there are others who have done similar things before and since her post, but hers was the one I found first. I was really taken back by the generosity of others and to be quite honest I was inspired to want to do this for my birthday this year (and really, what better way to celebrate a milestone birthday so many get sad about).

And now here is where you come in. I need your help to get to 60. 60? Yep, 60. I will be doing 30 myself and I'd like to have 30 more random acts done by others as well - not 30 each, just 1 or 2 if you're feeling so inclined.

Here's your official invite to help out:

So how will this work?

It should be very easy peasy to be honest and if it's not, you're trying too hard.

All I'm asking is that at some point during that weekend, you take a moment out of your day to randomly help someone who needs it. If you're really wanting to help a lot, you may want to have a "plan B" in case no opportunities present themselves randomly. If you want some ideas, a quick Internet search for "random acts of kindness" or even "birthday random acts of kindness" will give you plenty of ideas.

During that weekend, I will have a blog post up explaining all of this again. The post will also have something (I'm not sure exactly what yet) that will allow you to fill out a little form telling me about the random act(s) of kindness you did over the weekend (and maybe include a picture if I can figure it out). At some point during the following week I will have a post up sharing all of the wonderful things we were able to do for others during that weekend.

If you have any questions in the meantime, feel free to ask them here. Hope you're already getting ideas and I can't wait to see how you help others!

Birchbox September 2012 - First Thoughts/Impressions

September's Birchbox is all about fall trends and getting started on fall beauty. In addition to the beauty and lifestyle products, also included was a fall lookbook from Birchbox and a $25 gift card good for a purchase of $75 or more from Madewell.

Before I get into the products, I'd like to toss my 2cents out about the above mentioned lookbook and gift card.

First, the lookbook. Honestly, it's a cute idea. I actually sat down and read through most of it. I looked at all of the pictures and read about the ones that caught my eye. If you're listening Birchbox, it might be a cute idea to do one per quarter: Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall. Of course it looks like all of the products mentioned in it are available in the Birchbox store, which makes it easy for those who like what they see and aren't sure where else to purchase them. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong and they aren't all available at Birchbox)

Second, the gift card to Madewell. Birchbox, if you're listening this idea sucks. I understand you've probably got some sort of partnership with them beyond just tossing some info in your boxes and that's ok. However, this is not a gift card. A gift card gets me something for nothing out of pocket (except what I spend over that set amount). This is a coupon. A coupon gives me a certain amount off a purchase - either a set amount of money spent or a specific item purchased. Call it what it is. Also, after doing a little poking around the site, the cheapest thing I could find was a $4.99 shoe clip - it was originally $14.99! In addition, the sizing is ridiculous as well. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm sure I'm not the only one who can't wear any of those clothes.

And now on to the rest of the box!

kate spade new york Twirl - Full size $80 for 3.4 fl. oz. - Sample $1.18 for 0.05 fl. oz.

This makes 3 out of the last 3 boxes with perfume samples. While I do like perfume and I am looking for one that is affordable and one I would like to wear every day, I do not necessarily need to try a new one every month. The info card says this is supposed to be a mix of fruity and floral notes. That said, on first sniff this one is just eh. I really liked the one I got last month so much better.

Benefit The POREfessional - Full size $29 for 0.75 fl. oz. - Sample $9.67 for 0.25 fl. oz.

If you had asked me even just 3 short months ago if I was having a problem with my pores I would have said "yes." Asking me today, however, and the answer would be "not so much." Somehow I've managed to get them under control and they don't seem as monstrous. I already have 2 primers in my mess of makeup and I don't use either one very often. I've heard some pretty amazing things about this one though, so it might be worth a shot.

 

twistband™ Hair Tie - Full size $18 for 12 hair ties - Sample $1.50 for 1 hair tie

I have a lot of hair. It's long and thin, but there's a lot of it. I'm a little skeptical about whether or not this little bitty band will be able to hold up all my hair for more than 5 minutes. I'm also really curious about how well, and how long, it will hold its elasticity. The hair ties I currently use tend to lose their elasticity after just a few uses. Hopefully this one is better. 

tili Bags Small Collection 1 - Full size $8.49 for 12 quart size bags - Sample $0.71 for 1 quart size bag 

I would be lying if I said I was excited to see this pop up in my box this month. Truth is, I'm not. Yes, it seems to be a decent quality zip top bag. Yes, it would be handy for storing any number of things. Yes, it's actually a pretty cute pattern. My real problem with it is that it's just a zip top bag - and it would cost pretty near $1 for just 1! If I really wanted a baggie, I could buy a whole box at the grocery store for that $1. They would be much cheaper in quality and just clear plastic, but still.

Birchbox and Color Club® Custom Collection - Full size $8 for 0.5oz bottle - Sample $4 for 0.25oz bottle

This is the second Color Club polish I've gotten and this is by far my favorite. It's "Status Update" from the Birchbox collaboration of custom colors. It's a slate gray and looks like it might be a great color for fall. I can already see myself using it as a base color and doing some bright colored stamping over top, or even the reverse and using it to stamp over a brighter color. I'm excited to try it out.

boscia Soothing Cleansing Cream - Full size $26 for 5 fl. oz. - Sample $9.67 for 1.86 fl. oz.

This is supposed to be a preservative free cleanser that has a combination of willow herb and jojoba leaf. There was no scent I could detect, which is good. I hate when facial products are overly scented because it tends to linger and get annoying after a while. I'm not sure how quickly I'll be trying this though. My face has decided to revert to teenager status and has freaked out with breakouts. Most of the breakouts have cleared up and I'm just dealing with the scarring, but I'm not too keen on the idea of switching things up just yet in case there are more breakouts on the horizon.

 

Box Total: $26.72

Glade Expressions Review - Lavender & Juniper Berry Diffuser

(Pineapple and Mangosteen pictured above)

It's been a long time since we've had any sort of air freshener or scent in the house, mostly due to allergies. However, when I was sent coupons to try the new Glade Expressions line for free, I couldn't resist, especially since the diffusers come in such cute holders that they barely look like air fresheners.

The diffusers come in three scents: Fuji Apple & Cardamom Spice, Lavender & Juniper Berry and Pineapple & Mangosteen. After carefully smelling each one, and nearly backing up the air freshener aisle, I finally decided to go with Lavender & Juniper Berry. From what I could smell through the packages, it was the most appealing to me given the fact we were going to put it in the bathroom. Plus, I knew the sleek, white cover would blend in great with our bathroom decor.

The first day we had it set up the scent was very, very strong. It was strong to the point it made my nose burn whenever I was in the bathroom. By the end of the day, I wasn't sure it was going to last very long and we might need to move it to another, larger, room or maybe it just wasn't going to work for our house.

The second day was much better. The scent was very much toned down on the second day, though it was still very scented. It no longer burned my nose to be in the bathroom for more than 5 seconds and yet the bathroom had lost much of its musty odor that bathrooms sometimes get.

We're now on day 3 - the package promises 30 days of scent - and the scent is still about the same as day 2. It's there and you notice it, but it isn't overpowering. It really does a great job in both scent and packaging of blending into the background and leaves room for other things in your house to be the focal point.

And the final verdict? Would I purchase this with my own money?

Yes, I would. However, I found the price at Meijer (where I redeemed my coupon for the free started kit) to be quite steep compared to Walmart. Meijer was about $2 more expensive than Walmart so when I repurchase (and try different scents), I will purchase them from Walmart.

Disclaimer: I am a BzzAgent and received coupons to get this product for free

NYC New York Color Liquid Lip Shine Nude York City Review - Latina Voxbox 2012

Before this, I'd never tried a New York Color product at all, so I wasn't sure exactly what the quality would be. I've seen it at Walmart and it's pretty cheap. Sometimes you get what you pay for and sometimes you don't. I was also concerned by this being a nude shade. Nudes are hard for me to wear most of the time and prior to trying this, I hadn't been able to find one I loved or even just worked with my skin tone.

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little apprehensive to try this. As I said above, and in my initial thoughts post, it's been very hard for me to find a nude shade of anything (lip gloss, lip stick, you name it) that doesn't make me look like death warmed slightly. They almost always end up looking too pale for my skin, which is saying something because my skin is pretty light.

However, I have to say that this stuff is amazing (and it's really hard to beat the price). It's nude in almost a clear gloss kind of way, but at the same time it's not a clear gloss. It adds just a touch of color and a ton of shine. The one downside I've found is that despite saying it's a non-sticky formula, it is sticky on my lips. I've heard from others that it isn't sticky on their lips so perhaps it's just the way my lips are.

Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster

August 2012 Hits & Misses - Beauty, Craft, Food and Lifestyle Favorites

If you're interested in my July favorites, check it out here.

Hits:
Food:
Ice water - Yep, it's still on my favorites list. It's really the best way I've found to make sure I drink more water. I hate warm or even room temp water and I find the faucet never gets it quite cold enough. The one problem I encountered this month was I remembered plastic breaks when it gets too cold sometimes. I ended up cracking one of the cups - thankfully the water was all frozen before it broke - in the freezer. I may be considering/looking into these frosty freezer mugs for the future.

Garden fresh tomatoes - I have always loved tomatoes fresh from the garden and this year it's no different. A fresh, summer tomato tastes so much different from your ordinary grocery store tomato in February. Mostly, they actually have a taste. I've been able to get quite a few cherry tomatoes from my plant, but the regular, larger tomatoes are having a rough time turning red apparently as they're all still green.

Life:

Baby bunnies - We had baby bunnies taking up residence in our yard for a few weeks and it was pretty fun. I was so happy we got to see them when they came out of their nest. They were too cute! There are several posts, some with videos if you're interested in seeing more about them.

Beauty:

Bath & Body Works Pink Chiffon Shea Infused Shower Gel - If you happened to catch my Latina VoxBox posts, you'll know that's how I ended up with this body wash. I love it and my bottle is already half or so gone, which makes me sad. I love the sweet, floral scent and the fact that the scent lingers on my skin for several hours after my shower. If you want to read my full review, you can find it here.

Viva La Juicy La Fleur - This was my favorite product from August's Birchbox. The scent reminds me of the above mentioned Pink Chiffon by Bath and Body Works. It's very sweet and floral and I love the way it smells. It's just really too bad that a full size is so expensive.

NYC Liquid Lip Shine in Nude York City - Yet another product from the Latina VoxBox! It's so hard for me to find nude shades of anything that don't make me look like death warmed over, but this is a great shade. It ends up blending into my natural lip color instead of trying to mask or mute it.


Craft:
CTMH Art Philosophy Cricut Cartridge - If you caught my crafty post at the beginning of the month, you'll know that I won this cartridge in a giveaway on a blog. It's amazing! There's so much you can do with it and so many different images to play with. I've made a few things using the images and/or stamps and still haven't seen everything it can do.

Misses:
Food:
Rye bread - My aunt gave us a loaf of rye bread - the kind from a bakery, not the kind you buy off the shelf at a grocery store - and I realized I hate it. There were caraway seeds all over the top and the taste of them was just gross. I feel like I've had rye bread before, possibly at Panera, and it wasn't too bad. This, however, still makes me cringe when I think about it. Yuck, yuck, yuck.

Life:
C25k - There's nothing wrong with the program itself and I'm sure it works for some (maybe even many) people. It just didn't work for me. I tried to start it and made it through half of Day 1 twice before I gave it up. I think I'm just not a runner. I like/don't mind walking, but ask me to run, on a treadmill, in my dark bedroom? Forget it. I may give this another shot in September so any tips anyone may have would be welcome.

Beauty:

Most of August's Birchbox - I don't like when products are targeted to one specific hair or skin type that I didn't say I have in my profile. I do not have curly hair. It's a little wavy, but curly? Nope. There goes 2 of the samples - 1 of which was a good sized sample! I also don't have any problems with the color, length or curl of my lashes. There goes another product. Half of the box ended up being things I won't use.

Craft:
I didn't craft enough in August to find anything I dislike very much.

Products mentioned in this post:


Disclaimer: I received some these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.