Rimmel London Scandalash Mascara

Before I begin my review, I will state that I received this product for free from Influenster for the purpose of trying the product and then letting people know what my opiniong is. I always give my honest opinions regardless of getting a free product. So, I was a little skeptical when I first saw this product in my Rose Vox Box from Influenster. I have only ever found one mascara that I really like. It was one from Loreal that I got to try for free, but I cannot afford to purchase it myself. However, I gave the product the benefit of the doubt and decided to give it a try. Boy am I glad I did! This mascara is fantastic! It goes on great with the new applicator and it doesn't clump at all which is very unusual for a thicker mascara. I was very pleased with how the brush separated each last and coated it with mascara in order to make it look like false lashes. Another thing about this product that I like is that it is made by Rimmel. Their products are very affordable and go on sale often, so most likely this is a mascara which I will be able to afford in the future. The only con I found with this mascara is that it feels pretty heavy when it is first applied, but you get used to it in no time. In my opinion the short lived feeling of "heaviness" is outweighed (yes, I see the pun)by the long wear of the fantastic looking mascara. I have always wanted to wear mascara because I have pretty thin lashes to begin with and they tend to fall out easily. I am so excited about a product that actually does what it says it does. In this world of pumped up claims that usually fall short, I am very impressed by Rimmel and its ability to follow through with its claims. This is definitely a product I would recommend and that I would continue to use in the future!! This product hits shelves in November 2013!! Look for it in a store near you!

Kroger deli fried chicken

 My newest campaign for bzzagent was for Kroger brand deli fried chicken. I got a free 8pc. fried chicken, free chips, and free 1 liter coke. The fried chicken was really really tasty!! The batter tasted great and was perfectly crispy. The only complaint we had about the chicken was that some of the pieces didn't have a lot of meat. It was a great convenient meal! All I had to do was go pick it up at the deli counter and as soon as I got home we could eat dinner! I also tried the BBQ kettle chips from Kroger. They were very good! I don't usually like BBQ chips, but I really liked these. And, of course, the diet coke I got was great!!! I love all of the convenience foods that Kroger has available. Their deli counter is full of great and affordable dinner ideas when you are in a hurry. They offer baked, fried, and rotisserie chicken as well as sandwiches, chicken tenders, and wings. I have bought the rotisserie chicken several times. I usually do my grocery shopping close to dinner time, so I will often buy a rotisserie chicken so I don't have to cook a whole meal right when I get home. I am looking forward to trying some of the other selections that are offered at the Kroger deli counter.

Colgate Optic White Oral Care Regimen

A few of the items in my Sugar N Spice Voxbox from Influenster were the items included in the Colgate Optic White Oral Care Regimen. This included the toothpaste, mouthwash, and a toothbrush! I have used the toothpaste and mouthwash before, but not the toothbrush. I hadn't used it in a while however because I only bought it the first time because I got it for free.
  Before I say what I think of it, I will give a brief history of my oral care. I got braces when I was 9 and didn't get them off until I was 16. The orthodontist I had did not do a good job cleaning my teeth during that time, and it is hard to get them as clean as they should be with just a toothbrush when you have metal covering the majority of your teeth. When he removed the braces, my orthodontist told me that the enamel on my teeth had been damaged from the glue as well as from the teeth not being able to be cleaned properly in 7 years. He told me I would always look the way it did and just to take care of them as well as I could.
 Since then, I have been very self conscious about my smile. I have always wanted to go have professional whitening done, but have never had the money to be able to do it! I have used whitestrips with little to no success, and they are pretty pricey as well.
 When I started using this toothpaste, I didn't have much hope of it working like it said it would. I have pretty much just come to accept that my teeth are going to stay this way.
  I have been using this regimen faithfully for the last 7 days and have seen an improvement in the color of my teeth. I am really hoping as a little more time passes that I get even better results! I am going to post a before and after photo, even though it makes me cringe to think of people looking at my teeth because even the after photo isn't great! I am going to continue using this until my free toothpaste and mouthwash is gone, and then I will post another update to see if they look even better then. I am hoping this will continue to whiten my teeth to help me not be as self conscious.  I don't expect it to work as well as a professional whitening, but hopefully it will return some self esteem when it comes to my smile because I love to laugh!!!! :)

Garnier Miracle Skin Perfector Oil Free B.B. Cream

Me and my girl getting ready for church! Doesn't my skin look great! :)

My newest campaign from Bzzagent is for Garnier. I got to try (for free) their Oil Free B.B. cream. Before this campaign I had never even heard of BB cream, let alone try it. So I was really excited to get to try something new. I was surprised when I tried it the first time that it was sooooooo runny!! I applied it with my hands so that it wouldn't get wasted by soaking into a sponge. I loved the coverage that it gave! It covered blemishes very well and really evened out my skin tone! It replaced my usual foundation as a great base for my other cosmetics. It really gave my skin a great finished and smooth look. I was a little surprised at how expensive this stuff is. On Amazon it is selling for over $16. That seems a little steep to me, but I don't typically spend more than 5 or 6 dollars on my foundation and the added SPF isn't that important to me. I also feel that they should have more shade options. I am very fair skinned and the light/medium was too dark for me. It wasn't so dark that it really looked terrible, but it didn't really match my natural skin shade. So, I probably wouldn't buy it again unless I could really get a great deal, but I will enjoy using my free bottle until it is empty!

Kroger Spring Dinner Campaign

So, this campaign was AWESOME! I got coupons for a free (Kroger brand) pork tenderloin, crescent rolls, refrigerated mashed potatoes, cake mix, and cake frosting.

     I have never made a pork tenderloin before. I don't usually buy it because of the expense, and I was so excited to try it for FREE! I decided to do something simple because I felt like anything very strong would overpower the flavor of the pork itself. So, I simply put it in the crock pot with some brown gravy and let it cook on low for 7 hours. It was so delicious! It was really flavorful and juicy! I had heard from many people that it can get dry, so I was really excited to find out that it was so tender and juicy and full of flavor. My husband and I both loved it!

I served the pork with the refrigerated mashed potatoes. They were good, but usually if I buy refrigerated mashed potatoes (which I only do if I have a coupon) I buy Bob Evans. These were not nearly as good as Bob Evans potatoes. They were kind of yellow, which I know isn't a matter of flavor, but it you enjoy food with your eyes first. They weren't nearly as creamy as Bob Evans potatoes! I did enjoy them and they were cheaper, but I have found many coupons lately for Bob Evans potatoes which makes them around the same price as the Kroger ones. I kind of think that refrigerated mashed potatoes are a waste of money when it doesn't take very long to make the flakes.

I didn't have time the night we made the pork to make the crescent rolls, so I decided to make them as appetizers for another night at dinner. I made pinwheels with the rolls. I put salami and Italian cheeses in some of them and put pepperoni and Italian cheeses in some of them. I heated some pasta sauce for dipping! These were so delicious! My husband LOVED them and asked me to make them much more often! The rolls were so flaky and buttery and made a great sort of crust for my pepperoni and salami. They definitely were just as good as the Pillsbury ones and they are cheaper, even with the coupons that I am able to find. I have already bought additional cans of these crescent rolls in order to make some more!












Lastly, I made the cake mix into cupcakes for today's potluck dinner at church! I bought white cake with vanilla icing. I decided instead of making plain white cupcakes, which I think is kind of boring, I would make m&m cup cakes. So, I added M&M's to the mix and then frosted them and put chocolate powder on top. They were delicious! The cake was very moist and the icing had great flavor! I was really glad the icing was very easy to spread, but it also wasn't too runny! I think they were a hit at the dinner! They even looked pretty! (I will include a picture)
 In closing, these are all products that we enjoyed, and I would probably buy all of them again except maybe the refrigerated potatoes! I can't wait to do another campaign for Kroger! I love these!

Dickinsons Original Witch Hazel Oil Control Towelettes

 

I got these to try for free in my Influenster Sugar N Spice Voxbox! Dickinsons Original Witch Hazel

Sugar n' Spice voxbox from Influenster

I just received my 2nd voxbox full of fun new things to try out for influenster! I am going to tell you about the products in this post and after I have tried each product, I will update. The first thing I noticed in this box is the Colgate Optic White toothbrush,toothpaste, and mouthwash! I LOVE THIS STUFF! I already use it faithfully and am so excited to get some for free! It really does help me to have a whiter smile. I will write more about this product in a later blog. The next thing I noticed was the Nectresse by Splenda no calorie sweetener. I already use sugar twin on a regular basis, but will be replacing that with the Nectresse over the next couple of weeks so that I can compare the 2. I am a HUGE fan of Sugar Twin, so I am not sure I will like anything better, but we will see. Also in the box was a package of Cinnamon Brown Sugar Belvita breakfast biscuits. I am not too sure about these. They kind of look like pieces of cardboard, but I will be trying them as well. I will make myself try them even though they don't look very appetizing! :) There was also a box of Dickinson's oil controlling towelettes with botanical extracts. I am excited to try these! I have tried other brands of wipes in the past and have not been really pleased with their performance, so I am interested to see how these work. The last thing in the box was a bottle of Vaseline's spray on moisturizer. It claims that it dries very fast and that you can get dressed easily right after application. So, after I try each of these products I will give you further information on what I think of them!

Kroger Good For You campaign

This most recent campaign from Bzz Agent was for the Kroger CarbMaster and Kroger Greek Yogurts and Kroger CarbMaster milk drink. I got a $10 gift card to purchase these items. I bought the CarbMaster milk and 2 flavors of the CarbMaster Yogurt (Cinnamon Roll and White Chocolate Raspberry). I was extremely skeptical about the CarbMaster milk drink. Anything called "milk drink" can't be good,right? RIGHT!!! It brags about being lower in sugar and carbs than regular milk, but it doesn't brag about how it tastes. There is a reason for that! It is terrible! I tried it first in my mashed potatoes because I wasn't brave enough to actually drink it. It wasn't bad in those because you don't really taste it anyway. I guess if you want a way to make healthier potatoes that would work. I eventually worked up the courage to actually taste the milk and it was not good! It didn't taste like milk which is why, I suppose, that it is called a "milk drink". Also this stuff is really expensive! It is 4.59 for a half gallon, which is even more than my favorite Smart Balance milk which is 3.99! So, I definitely wouldn't pay for this so called "milk drink". If you had to drink low carb milk for some kind of special diet, I suppose this would do the trick though! Next we come to the yogurt. The Cinnamon Roll flavor was GREAT! It really tasted like a cinnamon roll, but it was very dry. It was similar to Greek Yogurt in that aspect, which is one reason I am not a huge fan of Greek Yogurt and I didn't buy any for this campaign. The flavor of the White Chocolate Raspberry was not quite as good as Cinnamon Roll, but it wasn't bad. It still had the same dryness though. So, I guess I am not a huge fan of this new "CarbMaster" line of products from Kroger, but, like I said, if you have to be on a low sugar or low carb diet these products would be helpful!

Morningstar Farms - Join me for Meatless Mondays

Well, one of my most recent bzzcampaigns was for morningstar farms veggie burgers. Morningstar also has veggie dogs,ground beef style crumbles,sausage, and more. With the campaign I received a coupon for a free Morningstar item and several $1 off coupons. When I went to Meijer to get my free veggie burgers, I noticed that all of Morningstar Farms' products were 3 for $10. So, I decided to use my free coupon and 2 of the $1 off coupons to buy 2 different kinds of veggie burgers as well as a bag of crumbles. I was really excited to find out that each patty is only 3 WW points!
    The first thing we tried was the spicy black bean veggie burger. I actually got my husband to eat these! I was amazed! So here is my recipe for the spicy black bean burger.

Mexican Veggie Burger
1 spicy black bean patty
 1 100 calorie slimwich bun
 lite ranch dressing
 salsa
 shredded lettuce
 fat free shredded cheddar cheese
 sliced jalapenos

 mix ranch dressing and salsa spread on both sides of bun heat patty for 1 minute in microwave pile with lettuce,cheese, and jalapenos
   This was so delicious! My husband said that it would have been the best burger he ever had if it had been beef. Which I suppose is a compliment considering he absolutely LOVES beef! I thoroughly enjoyed the veggie burger and am looking forward to trying new recipes with this flavor.
   Then we tried the ground beef style crumbles. I decided to use them in my spaghetti sauce. They were great! I am not going to lie and say that they had the same flavor as beef, because obviously they wouldn't because they aren't beef. I will say that they added protein and flavor to my sauce, and I enjoyed it. Here is the sauce that I made with them:

                                 Spaghetti Sauce
1 jar Hunts spaghetti sauce
 1 can of diced tomatoes
 red,yellow,green peppers - chopped
 onion - chopped
 garlic stuffed green olives - diced
 Extra virgin olive oil
 garlic powder
 parmesan cheese
1 bag of Morningstar Farms Ground Beef style crumbles

     saute peppers and onions in olive oil with garlic powder and olives when vegetables are soft,add tomatoes and spaghetti sauce and parmesan cheese and crumbles then heat through

    Then I tried the Tomato and Basil Pizza Burger. It was really delicious! This one I just made for myself after church on Wednesday. It was something quick and delicious! Here is my recipe:

Pizza Burger
 1 Morningstar Tomato and Basil Pizza Burger patty
1 100 calorie slimwich bun
 red, green, and yellow peppers - chopped
1/4 c spaghetti sauce
 chopped onion
 Extra virgin olive oil
 fat free shredded mozzarella cheese

     microwave patty for 1 minute then top with spaghetti sauce mixed with sauted peppers and onions and then add cheese. DELISH!! I can't wait to try more things with these delicious veggie burgers.

    I have more $1 off coupons if anyone wants to join me for meatless Mondays. I have taken the pledge, not because I am against eating meat, because I LOVE meat! I have decided to pledge because I am trying to lose weight and stay healthy. Cutting out meat for one day out of the week is going to help me meet my WW goal! It helps that these are so delicious that I don't mind eating them instead of an actual beef burger. So, if you are interested in a coupon, I might even be willing to mail one to those who live away from here. That is how sure I am that you will thoroughly enjoy these burgers! :)

Kiss (R) nail dress

This review is about another product I received for free in my influenster Holiday Voxbox. It is called Kiss Nail Dress. They are strips of nail polish that you press on without the mess of regular nail polish. I had seen these kind of products before, but I was pretty skeptical about whether they would work or not. So, I was really pleased to be able to try the product without spending the money (just in case they didn't work). They were a little more difficult to apply than it states on the package. None of the strips exactly fit my finger, so I had to make them fit. They did go on without a mess, which is one of the things I hate about nail polish, especially because my hands tend to shake pretty badly, and I can't do much with my left hand. I wore them to Christmas Sunday at church and got quite a few compliments. I wasn't crazy about the design because I thought it was kind of boring, but I have seen the other designs available and would LOVE to try a different one! They also lasted as long as they claimed, which is pretty unusual. They lasted the 10 days and when they started to come off, all I had to do was peel the rest of them off. I didn't have to use any nail polish remover, which is great because I can't stand the smell of it! This is a great product and I am looking forward to trying other designs of this product! GOODBYE MESS!!

Goody (R) QuickStyle Flat Brush

I recently got a box from Influenster that included a Goody QuikStyle flat brush. The idea behind the brush is that it shortens your hair drying time by removing 30% of the water from wet hair. It has (antimicrobial) microfiber bristles that absorb water to help you get your hair style done faster. When I got the brush, the first thing that struck me was the size of it. I got the flat brush and it was HUGE, which is not ideal for someone with short hair like I have. They do make another size which would have been better for me probably. My hair (because it is so short) doesn't take all that long to dry anyway, but I did notice that this makes it dry even faster! I was pretty skeptical, but to my surprise it actually worked. I have used it every time I have hair dried my hair and the microfiber bristles still look good. I half expected them to start looking dingy and nasty after a few uses. It didn't get tangled in my hair, which was another thing I was a little concerned about. Again, I have short, thin, and straight hair so I don't know what it would do to someone that had long curly hair. I don't know if it would get tangled in the bristles or not, but it would be worth trying. All in all, I LOVED the brush! It does what it is supposed to do, which in the world we live in is a nice surprise! :)