Product Reviews – Page 4 – Not Content to Crawl

4-Day Weekend & Game Night

Posted onApril 13, 2015

Another fantastic weekend is over. So sad! Joe took Friday and Monday off work so we got to spend four days together which was nice.

Friday we did some shopping, including a trip to Costco. Joe got ice cream at their cafe.

I got some much-needed beauty accessories at Target.

The elf brush on the left was only $3, the set in the middle was $7 and included a case, and the latex blending tool on the right was $5. The Caboodles organizer at the top was $8.99 and there was an offer in iBotta or one of those rebate apps so I got $1 back (which was a pleasant surprise as I check the apps after I buy stuff, not before).

Here’s what it looked like after adding my most-used makeup (which is almost all of it since I don’t own that much).

I also grabbed some Maybelline foundation from Walmart that came highly recommended by the girls whose YouTube makeup videos I watch.

I’m not so sure I like it, though. I feel like my years-old Covergirl foundation looks better. Confession – I’ve been using it even though it’s super old. Other than a couple of little dried up pieces that fell in, it seems fine. I think it changed color as it’s pinker than most foundations in the store, but I like that because my face looks less washed out. Soooo… I guess buy foundation and let it sit for a few years for the perfect skin tone? Ha!

We also hit Savers since I had a 40% off coupon burning a hole in my pocket. Joe got a t-shirt and I got this cute Clinic makeup bag for $1.80. You could tell it had never been used because the inside is white and had no marks on it. It’s the perfect size to hold a bunch of stuff in my purse. I ended up combining three smaller makeup bags into this larger one.

I also bought this dress. I’m not even sure what occasion I’ll wear it but I wanted to get a dress and it was only $7.80 with my coupon.

Saturday we had some people over for game night. This is the same group of friends we hang out with around 4th of July every year when one of them has a party. We met at a restaurant first and then came back to our place around 7 pm and played Uno Attack and Cards Against Humanity. One couple had to leave before we started playing games because they weren’t feeling well but our other friends stayed until 2 am. We had a blast, and had way more food than anyone could eat. Our friends all brought stuff and refused to take any home with them so we have a bunch of veggies, fresh fruit, and cookies. Joe had also made his signature italian stuffed jalapenos which came out sooooo good. Here’s a shot of the leftover ones we snacked on today.

Joe also made strawberry martguerita jello shots. OMG, they were amazing! You couldn’t even taste the alcohol. There wasn’t much in them either since I felt no effects from consuming so many. Sorry there’s no picture of them – we gobbled them up way too fast. We will definitely be making those again!

It was a great time and everyone agreed we need to get together more often which is funny because other than the annual party, the only time we get together is if I organize it. I guess I just need to accept the fact that I’m the outing organizer and come up with some ideas. I’m thinking maybe a BBQ at our place in May so I can set up the Bears bags and badminton set.

On Sunday we slept in and just did nothing. We didn’t have much to clean up after the party and the rest of the house is still clean after spending Friday and Saturday prepping it for our company.

Today we decided to go out for an early lunch and run some errands, including buying a bunch of food for the backyard birds.

Bonus – the rats will enjoy the mealworms too.

Makeup

Posted onMarch 30, 20151 Comment

This weekend I went a little nuts buying makeup. To spend $25 in two days on personal care products is definitely more than usual for me. I blame it on my recent obsession with certain women’s YouTube pages where they talk about their beauty hauls. So here’s what I got:

The elf and Wet & Wild cosmetics and Clean & Clear face wash were purchased at Target on Saturday. While I like the consistency and look of the matte lipstick, I’m pretty bummed about the color since it is more purple than the packaging implied.

Do they even look the same? No, they do not!

I noticed that the blush doesn’t match the color on the packaging either, although I could at least tell beforehand and was ok with that. I didn’t realize the difference with the lipstick until after I had opened it. The concealer is a bit disappointing because it makes my skin shiny under my eyes. I don’t see how that helps conceal anything, but whatever.

This is why I don’t typically spend a lot of money on makeup – half the time I don’t like what I end up buying, or I find something I like and it’s discontinued. Or, in the case of the foundation I bought years ago and was looking to replace (before you think ew, she’s been using the same bottle of foundation for years, I just stopped wearing foundation and recently decided I wanted to start wearing it again), they change it so I can’t figure out what my shade is anymore. I have what Covergirl refers to as their “Clean Liquid Makeup” except mine says it’s 115 – Natural Ivory. No such number exists now even though they still produce the Clean line. So am I now considered Classic Ivory or Creamy Natural? How many of these stupid bottles will I need to buy to figure it out? Ugh! And this, my friends, is why I don’t wear much makeup – it’s frustrating and expensive.

Getting back to my “haul”…

I haven’t tried the eyeshadow trio (made by Wet & Wild) yet, but I love how it is packaged as one complete look. The bottom color goes on your eyelid, the middle color on the crease, and the top color on your brow bone. I’m not great with that whole thing since I very rarely wear eyeshadow, so I figured I’d start small (and cheap) to see if I even like the look.

I love the Clean & Clear Night Relaxing deep cleaning face wash which I tried for the first time about a month ago. It smells so good, so I bought a second bottle this weekend.

I found the Clean and Clear Blackhead Erasing Cleaning Mask at Ulta on clearance. They stopped carrying it at Target which bummed me out because my tube was nearly empty. I love Ulta’s clearance section – I found the cute purple eyeshadow there for only $2 whereas it regularly sells for $6. The nail polish was on clearance for $5 instead of $9 as well. It matches another bottle of the same brand I already have so I can wear it on top of one nail for an accent, or on all.

Speaking of beauty hauls, I don’t know if I ever mentioned that I subscribe to Walmart’s Beauty Box. It’s $5 per box which is sent out once a quarter. I didn’t really care for the latest box. A lot of other people were unhappy with it as well, and I learned that anyone over 35 got the less desirable products. So I changed my age to 21 (LOL) on my profile so I can get less eye cream and crap that I don’t want. I’ll stay subscribed for at least one more box to see what the summer version will bring. I hear Target’s beauty box is much better but you can only get it when they announce it’s available and it quickly sells out.

I decided to try Birchbox since it’s a monthly subscription with better products and you earn half the of the box’s price back by reviewing the products you’re sent. Plus they customize it based on your preferences. I’m excited that I’ll be getting my first box in less than two weeks!

New iPhone Accessories

Posted onFebruary 27, 2015May 18, 2020

I recently did a month-long survey that paid $200. Much to my annoyance, however, was that when I went to pickup my payment from the survey company in early February I was given a $200 VISA prepaid card with an expiration date of March 2015. WTF? But I decided that instead of trying to find something to quickly blow $200 on, I’d be smart, so I went to Amazon.com and used the card to buy a $200 gift card that I sent to myself. We buy stuff from Amazon here and there (and more often now that we have a Prime membership) so it made sense since it never expires.

Tuesday I finally got around to researching some iPhone accessories on Amazon so I could use my credit. I hadn’t been in a hurry to pick anything out since battery life hasn’t been an issue with the phone but it’s nice to have some backup power and an extra cable just in case.

RND Lightning Cable & Anker Portable Battery

The battery came with a mini usb cord and a carrying pouch.

The lightning cable is even thicker & sturdier than the one that came with my phone.

Each cost me $15 (I got the blue battery since all the other colors were $20) which was cheaper than other options I’ve seen.

Starbucks

Posted onDecember 6, 2014

I’m starting to feel like I want to break up with Starbucks. I don’t go there often but when there’s a deal I usually treat myself. Today I decided to try their hot chocolate, but since they use milk and I’m lactose intolerant (and wasn’t interested in trying the soy milk), I only got a short.

That’s my drink on the right. Apparently it’s also considered the child’s size.

Anyway, it was not very good and I was disappointed. My cousin later mentioned that she adds sugar to hers; I hadn’t even considered that but I’m guessing it would have improved it as it definitely wasn’t sweet enough.

It just seems like one of two things happen when it comes to Starbucks drinks:

1) It’s a huge disappointment.

2) I love it and later get the worst stomachache (even if I opt for soy).

So it’s just not meant to be. It’s not you (every time) Starbucks, it’s me.

But hey, I still entered the win Starbucks for life contest because Joe loves his vanilla lattes and I do like them too but I only take a couple of sips to spare me any intestinal misery later.

iPhone 6 Camera

Posted onOctober 19, 2014

The more I use the iPhone 6 camera, the more I hate it. It’s gotten to the point I’d rather go out and buy a new point and shoot camera than mess with it because I am so disappointed with the resulting photos. The only promising thing is that based on this article, plus comments I’ve been reading online, most of what bothers me would be fixed via a software upgrade. But will Apple do it, and if so, when? I’m just extremely annoyed that my 4S took nicer panorama photos than my brand new $400 phone. I love taking photos so this is no small thing.