Showing posts with label product review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label product review. Show all posts

Friday, May 31, 2013

Review: Tastykake® Kandy Bar Kakes

I received a sample of the new TastyKake Kandy Bar Kakes from Influenster for testing purposes in the Spring VoxBox, but I could not eat it because I have to be gluten free.  My husband, however, took one for the team and volunteered to eat said Kandy Bar Kake.  He's such a trooper.

Being from the Philadelphia area, I am very aware of TastyKake.  And if you haven't tried anything by TastyKake before, they do have a ton of very tasty treats (including some gluten free ones, which is great for me!)

The Kandy Bar Kakes come in 3 flavors: Peppermint Patty, Reese's Peanut Butter Cup, and S'More.  We received the S'More flavor, and my husband really liked it!  They are a bit crumbly when you open the package, so definitely eat these over a plate or something, but the flavors were really nice.  He said it tasted just like you were eating a s'more.  The only thung missing was crunch.  That's what's so great about eating a s'more.  You have all of that ooey gooey chocolate, the warm toasted marshmellow, and it's sandwiched between the crunch of the graham cracker.  Even though the TastyKake Kandy Bar Kakes have graham cracker dusted on top... it needs that crunch when you bite into it.

I hope TastyKake goes further with this new product and comes out with other flavors.  None of these have any caramel... maybe a Twix Kandy Kake? Maybe even a gluten free one?  Yeah???

Overall, if you're a fan of TastyKake, or if you have a sweet tooth, I would recommend trying these.  They are about $1.69 for a single bar, or $4.49 for a family pack.

Thursday, May 23, 2013

Palmolive® Soft Touch Review

I know, beauty blog... talking about dish soap--but hear me out!

I received this soap complimentary from Influenster (and these are all my personal opinions, fyi).  I've been using it for about a week or so.  A bit about me--I have terrible hands and nails.  They are dry, cracked, blech. When I have nail polish on, I must be feeling really fancy because I hate the way my hands look.  I always try to convince my husband to do the dishes because my hands are a mess.

Since we switched to using the Palmolive, I actually really like it.  We have the Vitamine E formula at home (the pink one). It has a really nice smell, and it doesn't dry my hands out at all.  Apparently, they even had a dermatologist test the formula.  That kind of brings the whole "tough on grease, soft on hands" aspect to a different level

I received a second bottle of the Palmolive Soft Touch that I brought into work.  This one was the Aloe formula.  While the Vitamin E is definitely my favorite, I do really like the aloe as well. It has the distinct Palmolive scent.  I'm hoping that sharing my Palmolive with my friends at work, it will encourage them to actually wash the dishes that they bring their lunches in.  I also gave them some coupons, too!

You can find the Palmolive Soft Touch at Walmart.  Read some other reviews of this soap here.  And let me know what you think!

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

To Naked, or not to Naked?

I think the one question I get more than anything when I'm at work is "Is there even a difference between the Urban Decay Naked Palette, and the Naked 2 Palette?" YES.  Yes there is. And many makeup junkies will tell you the same thing.  Yes, there's a difference.  Do you need both of them? Probably not.

The one similarity between Naked and Naked 2 is that they both contain the shadow "Half Baked" which is a light gold color. That is the only shade that is the same. They also both come with a brush.  Naked Palette comes with a shadow brush.  Naked 2 comes with a double ended brush... one side is a shadow brush, and the other side is a crease brush. The important thing to know about the Urban Decay brushes (and this goes for all brushes made by Urban Decay) is that they are made out of recycled synthetic materials... and because of that, you want to clean them with rubbing alcohol.  That's it.  Just rubbing alcohol.

Now, I could go into depth comparing each shadow in both palettes, but I'm not going to do that. The main difference between Naked and Naked 2 is the tone.  The Naked Palette has mostly gold and bronze colors, whereas Naked 2 has a lot of taupe, grey, and "greige" colors (grey/beige).  Basically, my suggestion is if you are a warm-tone, get Naked.  If you are a neutral tone, get either.  If you are a cool tone, get Naked 2.

If you have no idea what tone you are... look at the color of clothing you wear.  If you look great in orange, red, gold... if you wear a lot of yellow gold jewelry... and if you wear a lot of "earthy tones" for your makeup (browns, greens, peaches) then you would like the Naked Palette better.  But if those types of colors don't match well with your skin tone, then think about Naked 2.

Personally for me, I prefer Naked 2.  I do have them both, but I wear my Naked 2 more than Naked.  People who are Urban Decay Addicts will get both.  You don't need both... not really.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Being a Wen Girl

I have been a "Wen Girl" for a little over a year now.  I was lucky enough to go to the QVC Beauty Bash last year, the final Beauty Bash until QVC decides to bring it back (Dear QVC, please bring it back...).  One of the perks of buying the very hard-to-get $75 tickets is that you get a box at the end of the day that is filled with beauty products that QVC sells.  From Wen, I received a small (6 oz) bottle of each of the regular scents that Wen makes: Sweet Almond Mint, Pomegranate, Fig, Aloe & Cucumber, Tea Tree, and Lavender.

It was a nice way to try it out, because each of the scents do something a bit different.  Fig is supposed to be for very coarse, curly hair.  Aloe & Cucumber is for oily scalp.  Tea Tree is great if you have dandruff (and it's great to mix with the others).  Sweet Almond Mint, Pomegranate, and Lavender are all for all hair types.

The Pros: If you use it PROPERLY, your hair does get very soft, and very healthy.  The more often you use it, the healthier your hair will be over time. It also really does protect your color.  I can't tell you how many times I get my hair colored, wash my hair for the first time with traditional shampoo, and see how much of my color is running down the drain.  In the year I have been using Wen, that has never happened to me... and the past 4 months, I've been a redhead.  I've had almost no fading whatsoever.

The Cons:  It is a bit costly, and you have to use a lot of product.  That's what I mean when I say if you use it PROPERLY.  You're going to read the instructions and say to yourself, "Psh, whatever, I can totally use less product.  I'm not using 30 pumps.  I'm using 5."  And then you will hate it. I use less than what Wen recommends for my hair length.  They recommend 30 to 40 pumps for shoulder length hair, and I use about 20-25.  Another con is that to really get the most benefits, this is the one brand where you need to be brand loyal.  Using traditional cremes, blow dry lotions, etc that are not Wen will cancel out the benefits you get from using it in the first place.  But I'll be honest with you... I didn't use Wen styling products until recently, and only because it came in a set that I bought.  

Whenever I buy Wen, I always look for sets and deals.  I think, at the moment, the only place you can purchase Wen is through them directly, or through QVC.  Personally, you can find the best deals through QVC.



I recommend trying out Wen if you don't mind spending a little more money on your hair, or if you color your hair.  Wen is not for the budget conscience.  A regular-sized bottle is 16oz and costs $29 full price (that's the bottle pictured above.  The size at the top of this review is the 32oz, which retails for $49.50).  This is why I only ever buy it when there is some kind of deal.  I would love to purchase Wen all the time.  Instead, I treat Wen as my special treat.  I will wash my hair with Wen for a month, use a sulfate free shampoo for a few weeks, and then go back to Wen.