Remington 2" Straightener: Straight up Great

Remington First Look gave me the chance to try their T|Studio LUXE 2" Straightener. A little background before I start. My hair is frizzy-I'm not talking a little static on a humid day, I'm talking full blown Van de Graaff generator frizzy (well pretty close to it). It's also wavy to curly, not quite coils, but not straight either-somewhere in between. A straightener is pretty much a necessity at this point. So of course, I was thrilled to be able to try Remington's 2" straightener.

The straightener was a light lavender color, which I really liked. It was built well and was very sturdy-I could see this lasting a long time. 

Let's start off with the pros:

1. Fast heat up time: The package says the flat iron heats up to it's set temperature in 15 seconds. I found this claim to be true. I had the temperature set at 380 degrees Fahrenheit and it reached that temperature within 15 seconds. I was beyond pleased because the faster it reaches the set temperature, the faster my morning routine goes.

2. Easy to read digital setting: The digital light is very easy to read. I usually need glasses when the script gets too small, but in this case, I didn't have a problem at all.

3. Easy to use: I'm not that great with technology most of the time, but using this flat iron was a breeze. It was literally just plug it in, set temperature, wait 15 seconds, presto done. It required no work from me and I figured it out within minutes.

4. Works very well: My hair is wavy on good days and a frizzy, curly mess  the rest of the time. This basically constitutes 360 days of the year. A flat iron is a must at my house. This was a lifesaver. It's very simple and I felt that it did a very good job with my hair. I found less frizz (pretty much non-existent) as well as leaving my smooth and silky to the touch. This has definitely become a staple in my morning routine.

5. Fast: Did I mention how fast it is? From heat up time to actually using it, I found that the flat iron is incredibly fast. I didn't have to straighten parts of my hair over and over. I ran it over once and I was done. This really saved me a lot of time.

All in all, I was pleased with the flat iron: it was durable, high quality, was easy to use and left my hair silky. This makes for a very happy me and I would definitely recommend this to anyone who would like to straighten their hair. 

*Disclosure: I received this product for free from Remington in exchange for an honest review. As always, my opinions are my own and unbiased. 

Arla Dofino: Did Someone say Cheese?

A few weeks ago I got an invitation from BzzAgent to sign up for their Arla Dofino Cheese campaign. Now let me start by telling you how much my family loves their cheese. We have to have cheese in at least 1 dish a day, whether it be pasta, mac and cheese, pizza, quesadillas, etc. You get the picture. If it's not in a recipe, I'll find my the various members of my family (including me) raiding the fridge and cutting a piece of cheese to eat. String cheese doesn't last long and whole blocks of cheese disappear within a week. Basically, we love our cheese.

Having said this, I was ecstatic to try Arla Dofino cheese. I had seen their products in stores, but for some strange reason (especially being a cheese lover) had never actually bought them. Well, getting a free product coupon was just the catalyst I needed. Once I got my coupon I rushed over to the Kroger in my area and searched. Weirdly, I was only able to find 1 type of Arla Dofino cheese: the Chipotle Gouda. Fortunately, this was the one I had wanted to try. However, it would have been nice to have a selection of different cheeses-I'll have to check in other stores nearby to see if they offer a greater variety.

Regardless, that night I made quesadillas as a side dish. It was an instant hit! The slightly nutty, smoky flavor of the gouda balanced with a hint of spice really was just the ticket for my family's palate. I also made grilled cheese and added the gouda to some veggie pasta to see what it would taste like and both were wins! At around $5.00, the cheese is relatively inexpensive for the quality and I definitely think it's great value.

Overall, I was impressed with Arla Dofino's cheese and have bought more of their cheeses since my campaign. More Gouda as well as Havarti have become household favorites and I know I'll definitely be seeing more of them in my kitchen in the near future.

The one bad thing about having tasty cheese is that I completely forgot to take a picture of the meals I prepared with them and by the time I remembered, they were sitting snugly in our stomachs!

*Disclosure: I received a coupon for a free product in exchange for a review via BzzAgent. As always, all opinions are my own and unbiased. 

Chloe + Isabel Review with a Surprise

About a month ago I saw and decided to enter a giveaway for a Chloe + Isabel piece from Life With Angie. It was a pleasant surprise when I got the email from Ms. Angie that I won! This was my first experience with a Chloe + Isabel piece so I was excited to see what their jewelry was like. Well, about a week later Angie sent me my necklace and I was definitely impressed.

As you can see, it came with a cute burlap type drawstring bag and the necklace itself is so delicate and dainty. It's gold tone and is adorned with a very elegant feather. I'd have to say my favorite part is actually the little bird on the end of the necklace near the clasp, which is a staple it looks like with all C + I pieces. The simplicity of the necklace has me sold and I know I will be wearing this often-dressed down and dressed up!

C + I pieces come with a lifetime warranty. How many other jewelry companies can say that? The jewelry is high quality and can be worn alone or with other jewelry you own. They also have free shipping with a $100 order.

Angie and I have decided to run a pop up shop. This is basically like a party where you can check out all the great products C + I have to offer and if you like something, you can buy it. To sweeten the deal a little more Angie is graciously providing a giveaway for $25 off a $75 purchase to a winner. Imagine the things you could get with that.

The giveaway ends on October 8, when I'll pick a winner and give them the code so they can order whatever they'd like from the provided link.


Browse C + I's gorgeous selection of jewelry and if you'd like,
Order here

You can always join Angie's C + I group to see the special deals and offers she'll post.

Enter below:
a Rafflecopter giveaway

Check out some of the other pieces C + I have to offer, these are some of my favorites:

*Disclosure: I was not provided with product for review purposes, however, I did win and receive it for free. 

Blogger Opportunity

This is your chance to Review and Giveaway an ESSIO Aromatherapy Shower! Yup, that's right. Just fill out this form here and you could be on your way to an amazing shower.

Note:
1. This is open to the 1st 100 bloggers
2. Your kit will be mailed to you after you provide your address
3. You need to complete your review within 30 days

If you can do all that, why not give it a shot?!

Vitamin C Serum Review

It seems that these days natural products are making a bit of a comeback and it's all you really hear about. There are just so many, especially when it comes to beauty products. How can you be sure a serum or cream lives up to the hype? Or that it will even work? In many cases, you really don't, but word of mouth is one way to either corroborate or demolish the statements made by these companies.

I was given the chance to try out the Vitamin C Serum from La Beaute Pure and was excited to see if it lived up to the claims on Amazon. My initial reaction was very positive as I received the serum within a week and was given a free e-book and complimentary Shea Butter Black soap with my order. I also received a personalized email from the company to ensure that my experiences with all parts of the review process were excellent. From the ordering to a month after using it, the company made sure that I was pleased with the final result. They have excellent customer and are happy to work with you to resolve any issues. For that alone they deserve a five star rating.

But let's move on: you're here to find out if the serum actually does what it's supposed to do. The package comes with the product as well as a separate eye dropper or lid. This is the same bottle I received:

I loved the eye dropper because I could customize the amount of serum I needed. About 4 drops usually covered my entire face and I usually added a moisturizer on top of it. I found that my skin feels a lot fresher and softer than when I used a moisturizer alone. I can honestly say that it was so much better and faster acting than most high priced store bought products that I had used before. Also seeing that I'm only using about 4 drops a day, I know this bottle will last me a very long time meaning that it is very cost effective. I usually end up buying a new moisturizer every month or so, but I can see this easily lasting me 6 months or more.

I also want to note that my daughter started using this a couple of weeks ago as well and her skin looks great too! She doesn't use a moisturizer with it and uses it alone. La Beaute claims that the serum also lightens the complexion and while I didn't notice this on my skin, I can definitely see it on my daughter's skin. Her skin has definitely brightened and become more even toned after using the Vitamin C Serum.

Essentially, the Vitamin C serum by La Beaute Pure works, is cost effective and the awesome customer service is why I would absolutely recommend this product to anyone.

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

HDMI Cable Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

I love watching Youtube videos: DIY projects, clips from movies, and even the always loved cat videos. It's kind of a hassle though to watch on my phone or computer. Even full screen I just don't get the same effect as if I were watching something on a big screen TV. Recently, I found this great Sherlock Holmes series on Youtube from way back in the day and hated watching it on a tiny screen. I wanted it on my TV, but how to connect it. I don't have a smart TV so all that wireless stuff was out of my reach, but I could use an HDMI cord. Well, this is where Vimle comes in. They offered to send me a pack of 2 HDMI cables that could connect my computer to my TV. Of course, I jumped at the offer.

The HDMI cable can connect not only a computer to a TV, but will also create an interface between any audio/video source. DVD players, Blu-ray players, video game consoles-pretty much anything that has an HDMI port.

I found that it worked exceptionally well! I connected my computer and TV up and voila, I had perfect clarity, picture and sound. I was able to watch my Sherlock Holmes series (and cat videos) with perfect ease and convenience. And since it came in a 2 pack, I could leave one with the TV downstairs and have a spare for another job if needed. It worked out really well. Another thing you should know is that I'm not very technologically capable-my daughter is the techie in our house, but I was able to figure this out and get everything going with ease.

It's not just useful for watching videos on the internet. When I connected it to my computer it had my computer screen on the TV-so I could literally do anything from give a presentation on Powerpoint to play Minesweeper while watching on my TV screen.

I was curious whether it would work with my Roku box and tried that out as well-worked like a charm! So now I have one cable connected between my Roku and TV and the other on standby for when I want to connect my computer. This is definitely a purchase worth making; the HDMI cables are quite exceptional!

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Dead Sea Mud Shampoo Review

Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.

Dry, frizzy hair that never seems tamable or acts up in humid weather-sound familiar? Yes? Me too! In fact, my hair is one of those things I have to spend most of my morning routine on just to avoid looking like a crazy loon in public. I hate that I have to spend so much time trying to simply tame my hair. This is why I jumped at the chance to try out Adovia's Dead Sea Mud Shampoo.

Now I'd heard about the benefits of Dead Sea Mud shampoo and how well it's supposed to work on hair. In fact, this is what Adovia says about their product:

Helps to Relieve Itching from Dry, Flaky Scalp & Dandruff
Helps to Relieve Symptoms of Scalp Psoriasis & Seborrhea Dermatitis
Made with Pure & Natural Dead Sea Mud for an Infusion of Essential Minerals into Scalp & Hair
Specially formulated for dry, itchy scalps & Dandruff
Also Contains Olive Oil, Shea Butter, Vitamin E & Chamomile for a Natural Formula that gets results.

The first time I used it, I didn't really notice a whole lot of difference between my regular shampoo and this shampoo. After about a week of using it is when I really started to notice a bit more of a difference; my scalp didn't seem as dry and while I don't have a problem with dandruff, I can see how it would help someone who did. In terms of my overall impression of the shampoo, I have to say I do like it, but I don't love it. Without question, it cleaned my hair well and I could only hope that the Dead Sea minerals were doing a good job on my hair. However, I didn't feel like it blew me out of the water in terms of how well it worked. I didn't look like I just came back from shooting a shampoo commercial or like I could drive a convertible and still have smooth waves of hair falling down my back. It just wasn't meant to be.

Basically the pros and cons were this:

Pros:
Cleans hair very well, Dead Sea Mud is very beneficial for the scalp and hair, Lathers very well, Has a clean fresh scent (not muddy smelling like I may have been expecting), relieves dry scalp and has 100% absolutely wonderful customer service (see note at bottom).

Cons:
Works like any other shampoo I've used, Smoothness and silkiness of my hair didn't really improve that much.

One thing I wanted to point out was that the Adovia customer service is incredible. I would bump up a star just for that! I was having trouble checking out on Amazon using the code they gave me to review the shampoo. When I emailed them about the trouble they immediately emailed me back and tried to fix the issue. Eventually it came to a point where I just couldn't get Amazon to accept the code and so Adovia sent me the shampoo without having to use Amazon. They simply got my info through email and a couple of days later I had it. Now they could have said, "if it doesn't work, maybe you can do a review next time" or "sorry there's nothing we can do", but they went above and beyond to make sure my experience with their company was a good one. For that reason alone, I know I will be buying more of their products, because I know they work just as well as other products out there, but I also have that additional security that if I'm not satisfied with something, Adovia will fix it.

I've also come to realize that Adovia sells Dead Sea Mud Conditioners as well so I think I'll be trying that next with the shampoo to see if I can try to duplicate that shampoo commercial hair ;)

I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.