Chuao Chocolate Review

Sweet & Salty
This flavor was just okay for me, I ate it but it wasn't special so it isn't as memorable as some others. It tasted like nice milk chocolate with a hint of salt.

Will I buy again? Maybe

Maple Bacon
At first I thought this was going to be a good one but I found myself almost gagging with the flavor. I did not get any maple flavor just overwhelming smoky, salty, nasty mess in dark chocolate.

Will I buy again? No

Potato Chip
This is the one flavor I have seen raved over by dozens of people but I just didn't see the why it is good. Imagine taking a kettle cooked potato chip and a piece of dark chocolate and putting both in your mouth at the same time. That is what it tasted like and I didn't like it one bit.

Will I buy again? No

Firecracker
This is by far my favorite of all that I have tried so far. I love the little hint of chipotle with the popping candy. This chocolate was so much fun to eat and I plan on ordering a full size bar in the future.

Will I buy again? Yes

Spicy Maya
This is sounded good and after I tried the Firecracker, but I was disappointed. The dark chocolate had way too much cinnamon in it and it overpowered the flavor of the chocolate. The chiles added some heat but if they added anything to the flavor I didn't notice.

Will I buy again? No

Honey Comb
This one was pleasant, the honey flavor was there but subtle and the crunchy bits were mixed in at a perfect ratio to the chocolate so that the flavors didn't really compete. This is one I plan on buying in the future.

Will I buy again? Yes

Salted Chocolate Crunch 
This is the second time I have tried this particular flavor and I am still on the fence about it. I love the breadcrumb texture but they don't seen to add much in the flavor department. The salt does add a little bit extra to it but other than the texture of the chocolate I wasn't too blown away.

Will I buy again? Maybe

Gel Eyeliner Review- Revlon vs. Estée Lauder

Recently I have been trying to find the perfect eyeliner that I can use easy everyday. I have tried liquid (Eyeko), loose mineral (Everyday Minerals) as well as using eyeshadow as liners. The one type I hadn't tried was a gel liner so I went looking for some. Since I haven't found any good makeup stores off post yet I was stuck with a limited selection of drugstore brands and a few high end brands.

Out of all the drugstore brands the only one that had a gel liner was Revlon. Yes, I know there are other brands out there that have gel liners but this was the only one available to me. Since I already have black and brown liners I wanted to try a purple one.




At first I thought that this one was great I tried it for about a week to see if there was really a learning curve but there wasn't.


Likes:
Attached brush
Color
Staying power

Dislikes:
Brush
Takes several swipes for good color payoff
Dries too quickly
Size
Opening to small

Since I wasn't loving the Revlon liner I went searching for a higher end liner, originally I was looking for Lancôme since they have a large selection of colors but I couldn't find a single one and there was no Lancôme sales ladies working that day. I did however find that the Clinique/Estée Lauder sales lady was working she helped me look but when we didn't find any Lancôme liners she recommended an Estée Lauder one. She even offered to let me try it out before making a decision, she never once pressured me into buying anything which ultimately helped me pick this one.



I have never tried a single Estée Lauder cosmetic before but the brand always reminded me of my late Grandmother, I may have thought of this brand as an old lady brand but my opinion has now changed.

Estée Lauder has only 3 colors: Black, Brown, and Blue. I went ahead and bought the blue one because they were out of the other two.


Likes:
Color
Applies smoothly
Can be smudged before it sets
Staying Power
Size

Dislikes:
Brush is not attached
Price

 Each swatch is 1, 2, and 3 passes with the included brush. 

The Revlon liner needs two to three swipes for really good color. I also had an issue with the application, I couldn't get a good clean line and it dries really quick so by the third swipe it starts to tug. I still really love the color a beautiful purple with silver shimmer.

Price: $9.99
Size: 2.3g
$4.34 per gram

The Estée Lauder liner is nice and creamy. I got a really nice line with this one. By the third swipe there was almost too much product. I was still able to smudge it after I applied it so it didn't dry too quickly. The color is a good dark blue with a tiny amount of shimmer.

Price: $23.00 (price paid $19.50)
Size: 3g
$7.66 per gram

The two brushes side by side

I plan on continuing to use the Revlon liner until I use it up then I will be on the hunt for another purple liner. For now my go to gel liner is the Estée Lauder one and when they get the other colors back in stock I plan on picking up the brown one.

Grand Central Beauty S.M.A.R.T. Skin Perfecting Mask

Grand Central Beauty S.M.A.R.T. Mask

I finally tried out this mask sample I got through Beauty Army. I was glad to find out it is a peel off mask because they are my favorite. So how well did it work?

Organic Hydrating Sugar Scrub by Moody Sisters

I was excited to try out this scrub to see how it compares to the scrubs that I make for myself but I found that I both love and hate this one. It is that time of year again where I have to start keeping my skin moisturized because it gets really dry in the fall/winter. One thing that I liked/disliked was that it was from an Esty shop, I like supporting people who make handmade items but I don't like ordering beauty products on Etsy. I would prefer to go to a farmers market or local boutique where I know that the people selling don't have to pay to have their items there or pay a fee for every item sold. So with that out of the way I'll move on to how it actually worked for me. So I was expecting one thing from description on the product listing and kind of got the other. 

"Our Hydrating Sugar Scrub EXFOLIATES and SOFTENS your skin leaving you with a feeling of renewal. For use on normal to dry skin (Exfoliating is not meant for sensitive skin). Scrub daily to see TIGHTER PORES, softer skin and a more even skin tone. This is naturally age-fighting and an essential step for a healthy-glowing look."

So after reading that little bit of information I quickly hopped into the shower and started using the scrub on my legs and arms. One thing that shocked me was the scrub was peppermint scented which was not listed on the sample or on the website at all. I have no problem with peppermint but I don't usually like using it all over my body just on my feet. The scrub worked good at exfoliating the problem came when I went to rinse it off, it left a lot of oily film behind and I instantly felt like I wasn't clean. Normally scrubs like this do leave some oil behind but my skin will quickly absorb it so long as I rinse off and pat my skin dry with a towel. So I did what I normally do with a scrub and towel dried my skin but I still felt icky. I figured I would see if my skin felt differently in the morning. 

Next morning I get up I felt gross and promptly took another shower and washed away the remnants of this scrub. At this point I need to figure out why the scrub left me feeling icky so I turned to the website again and read the ingredients:

"KEY INGREDIENTS
Fair-Trade Evaporated Cane Juice (Sugar), Shea Butter and Coconut Oil

For a full ingredient list, please scroll down and click on the "Show Item Details" link."

Okay so I am used to those ingredients they listed as "key ingredients" so I looked for the other ingredients under Show Item Details and found these ingredients:

"peppermint, mint, Shea butter, coconut oil, cocoa butter, beeswax, castile soap, fair trade evaporate cane juice, sunflower oil, apricot kernel oil"

I found several ingredients that must have been the reason it felt gross, the combination of cocoa butter, Shea butter, and beeswax. This are great products but shouldn't be used in a scrub that should just be rinsed off, they would be great in a lotion but not a scrub.

Now that the mystery was over I still had some scrub let so I went ahead and used it on my hands. I worked great on my hands until I noticed within an hour my hands started to dry out again. Now I don't know why I didn't realize it but the castile soap is the one soap I never use on my skin because it is one of the most drying soaps I have ever used. Why would you pair castile soap with moisturizing ingredients? It is a contradiction! 

If you remove all the unnecessary ingredients you would be left with sugar, coconut oil, sunflower oil, apricot oil and peppermint. Those ingredients alone would make a great hydrating scrub but I think I'll stick to my homemade sugar, olive oil, and grapeseed oil and glycerin scrubs. I now hope that the other scrubs I have to try out will be better than this one.

Indie Lee The Daily Moisturizing Oil

Since I have oily skin I have avoided using it on my face. Also the lavender scent I find is too strong for my face, so I have settled on using it as a cuticle oil. As a cuticle oil it seems to be working perfectly fine. I have been using it after my manicures or whenever I have noticed that they seem dry.  Pairing this oil up with my lavender L'Occitane hand cream has really been keeping my hands and cuticles from drying out from the cold air.

Overall I probably won't purchase the full size version of this but I will reuse the bottle since it is the perfect size to keep in my manicure kit.

Food and Tea Reviews

I think I am going to start off and say I was never expecting food or tea when I signed up for all of these sample boxes. But now that I have started trying most of them I think it was about time to write up a little review.

Le Palais des Thés Tea Bags 

Thé du Hammam
So I was hoping this brand of tea would be a bit better quality since it is from France but I couldn't really tell the difference between this one and regular green tea but out of the two types I tried I preferred this one. I was able to enjoy it without adding any sugar or other sweeteners to it. It seems to have a good enough tea flavor that I might try it again in the future.

Thé des Alizés
This one compared to the first seemed a lot weaker and I didn't enjoy it as much. The flavor wasn't the same but nothing stood out to me from this on. 

Think Thin Crunch

Chocolate Dipped Mixed Nuts
I was pleastenly suprised I actually liked this bar, I always hate how granola/protein bars have a lot of sugar in them. This one wasn't as sweet but it did have a nice amount sweetness to saltiness ratio. I will buy this one again in the future if I find it in a store near me.

Larabar Uber

Apple Turnover
This one wasn't too bad but I did not like how sweet it was. It was really gooey but I did enjoy the combination of nuts and dried fruit. I don't plan on buying any of these in the future.

Bananas Foster
So I am not a fan of bananas at all so I ate this reluctantly for this review. Noting that the last flavor I tied was really gooey, I popped this one in the fridge until I was ready to try it. After opening it and sniffing it (yes I did smell it) to see how much it smelt like bananas ( it didn't really smell like bananas) I took a bite, no banana taste?! After looking at the bar again I couldn't really see any of the dried bananas. I think banana bread would have been a better name for this bar because I'll I could really taste was the walnuts, but the sweetness is a deal breaker for me to buy this.








Madhava Natural Sweeteners

Image from http://www.madhavasweeteners.com

Organic Coconut Sugar Blonde
This is very similar to brown sugar and in fact I liked it just as much. For some reason I thought it was going to be more like white cane sugar but when I opened up the packet to put on my cereal I was brown. I do plan on buying this instead of brown sugar considering it is better for you than white sugar or brown sugar. What makes it even better is that it is Organic.







 Organic Agave Nectar Light
I really did like this I think the flavor is along the lines of honey. Now if I needed to make a recipe that calls for honey more vegan friendly I would find this a perfect substitution. It also works well in teas to give them a little sweetness. I would love to buy this and be able to try it out in different recipes where honey is called for to see if it really would work as a honey substitute.




Yogi Tea

Image from http://www.yogiproducts.com

Raspberry Passion Perfect Energy Tea
I know I just drank this tea but I honestly cant really remember it all that well. I did remember finishing the entire cup but I did not feel energized like the tea is supposed to. It was better than some of the other tea samples I have tried but it doesn't replace my Wild Raspberry Hibiscus Herbal Tea from Stash.







 

Soothing Caramel Bedtime Tea by Yogi Teas

I was really hoping that this one would taste different from the other camomile teas I have tried in the past. This one fail to wow me and I did not enjoy it at all. I don't think I awoke refreshed since I was tossing and turning all night (not from the tea but from the horrible mattress in my hotel room.) Once again I am finding that this tea is forgettable and I would rather have a cup of hot chocolate before bed than this tea.

Tea Forte- Skin Smart Teas
Honey Yuzu
This is not my favorite flavor at all. It doesn't smell good, it doesn't taste good. I even tried sweetening it up and it still just didn't make it taste better. The only redeeming thing about this tea is that it is USDA Organic and Fair Trade Certified. It also doesn't help that I can't really handle green tea as well as some, I prefer black tea or chai teas.

Cherry Marzipan
Before I even seeped the tea bag I smelled it to see what it actually smelled like and I could pick up a hint of almond so that seemed promising. Out of all the different teas I have been trying from my sample boxes I think that this one is the best green tea I have tried. The aroma is actually very pleasant and I found that I could detect a light hint of almond flavor. This tea is definitely on my maybe list for teas that I might buy from birchbox

Cucumber Mint
This one disappointed me a bit more than it should have, I was hoping for a fairly strong mint flavor and smell but it barely had any. It seemed to be a typical green tea with a hint of mint, I usually love mint teas but this one just didn't do it for me at all. I can honestly say that it didn't have a cucumber scent or taste, I won't deny the antioxidant properties of these teas but I would like to find some that actually tasted better.

Tea Forte - Minteas in Reboot
I actually really like these despite the smell. They smell awful but they actually taste quite well. I can't vouch for how well they energize me but I can say that they do give me fresh breath.

Artisana Pecan Butter

I actually enjoyed this more than I thought I would. I at first tried it by itself and I liked that it had a very nutty pecan flavor. I then used it to make a Pecan Butter and Jelly sandwich, not the best use for it but I was living out of a hotel with very limited resources. The nice thing about this particular pecan butter is that it was just pure pecans and cashews, although I did not taste the cashews at all. I would have liked for it to be a bit creamier since it was a bit dry by itself. I highly doubt that I will be able to find this brand in Germany but I will be looking for some other pecan butters or other nut butters.




Well that seems to be all the food and tea that I have received in my Birchboxes and my Eco-Emi boxes.

BzzAgent Glade Expressions Review

So today I wanted to write about the latest BzzAgent Campaign that I have been able to take part in. Once again as a BzzAgent I was asked to try out products and give my real honest review on them. I wanted to make sure to try the majority of the products before writing my review. When I recieved my BzzKit it included a booklet of coupons for $2.00 of the fragrance mist and $4.00 off the oil diffuser, as well as a coupon for a free mist and diffuser. So quickly I went out and purchased all three diffusers, and 3 of the sprays. I was able to locate everything but one of the sprays at Target. It took me a while to try out the diffusers because I was preparing to move so I tried out the sprays to test the scents at first.


First up will be the Fuji Apple and Cardamon Spice: I was hoping that this would smell different than most other apple and spice scented products, I was let down because it smelled just like apples and cinnamon. I did enjoy that the scent was nice and strong so that I didn't have to use much to make my whole house smell wonderful. Using this particular scent it help get me in the right mood for fall.

Next is the Pineapple and Mangosteen: it is a very fruity and smells very good. I didn't use this scent as much because it smelled so strong of pineapples and it just doesn't fit in to my home as well as the others.

Lastly is Cotton and Italian Mandarin: This is my favorite scent by far in the mists because it smells like fresh laundry. The only downside is that this scent doesn't seem to last as long as the others. I just love how fresh this makes everything smell and I found I was reaching for this one the most out of all of them.

Now on to the diffusers! I purchased all three scents in starter kits so that I could have one for each main room in the house. I also did this so that I could have a wood grain diffuser for the kitchen area of the house. I am just now trying out the diffuser because I didn't want to start using it and have to throw out the the oil during the move.

Now that I have moved I pulled out my diffusers and then had the hard choice of which one to choose. I finally settled on the Fuji Apple and Cardamon Spice and at first the scent was much like the fragrance mist but after a week it seems to have mellowed down to a sweet apple scent with just a little hint of cardamon. I definitely prefer this scent as a diffuser than in the mist.One thing I do live about the diffuser is it doesn't require heating and it seems to be spill proof. I do love the look and I have had many complements on it so far.

NowI have run into one issue while trying to locate refills here in Germany, they only seem to have the lavender refill for the diffuser. I was disappointed that I still haven't been able to locate the lavender mist but I am happy that I have found the Cotton and Italian Mandarin as well as the Pineapple and Mangosteen mists.

Overall I think I will continue to use the fragrance mists and the diffusers and I hope to see Glade come out with some different scents for these products in the near future.

Color Club Insta-This and Status Update

In both of my September Birchboxes I  received two mini Color Club nail polishes on in Intsa-This and Status Update. These little mini polishes by Color Club are really starting to grow on me, this brings my count up to 5 now, all of them I got through Birchbox. I actually didn't want either of these  polishes since they are both similar to Gunta and Brandt from Julep. I currently don't have any of my Julep polishes with me so I will have to wait to see how they actually compare. I didn't have any issues with streaking from either polish and they both covered in one coat. I apologize for the messy state of my nails because I forgot to pack my little bushes I use to touch up my nails. Hopefully I can find one soon, but living out of a hotel in a new country makes it hard to find certain products.

Insta-This

Status Update

Simple scotch tape nail art with Intsa-This and Status Update

BzzAgent Unreal Candy Review

As a BzzAgent I had the oppurtunity to try out a new brand of candy called Unreal. As a BzzAgent they provided me coupons to try out the candy for free, I actually wanted to try all the types of candy from this company before I gave my review on it so I purchased the others with my own money. When I finally got around to trying out all 5 different types of Unreal candy, I had great expectations for the candy because my family has been trying to eat healthier and avoid artificial ingredients. Now the flavors aren't going to be exactly the same as the big name brands but at least I could read the ingredient label without having to look up ingredients I didn't know.

First up is Unreal 54, they are the healthier equivalent to peanut M&M's and in my opinion they taste better than peanut M&M's. The colors are amazing jewel tones that come from natural sources. I definitely got a pure chocolate and peanut flavor, and the flavor even pleased my picky husband.












Next up is Unreal 41, they are the equivalent to regular M&M's. I am not a fan of regular M&M's so I wasn't sure if I would like Unreal's version. It turns out that Unreal 41 were not my cup of tea either. The flavor is pure chocolate but it isn't the same flavor as "normal" milk chocolate that most people are used to. My husband tried them and said that they had an after taste that he didn't care for.










Now Unreal 5 was a complete miss for me. It is the equivalent to a Milky Way and there is hardly a comparison between the two. The caramel wasn't as smooth as regular caramel, even compared to my own homemade the taste and texture was off to me. The nougat wasn't as flavorful as a Milky Way.

Unreal 8 was another miss for me. It's equivalent is Snickers and once again it didn't measure up. The only difference between Unreal 5 and Unreal 8 is the addition of the peanuts. I expected more peanuts but I didn't really get much, and I still had all the same issue with Unreal 8 as I did for Unreal 5.











Last but not least is Unreal 77! By far this is my favorite that I tried, since Reese's have fallen out of favor with me I am glad I enjoyed this one. First off I liked that the peanut butter cups do not have the paper cup on the outside. When I bit into the candy the peanut butter filling is smoother than Reese's. The filling didn't taste like it had all the fillers that Reese's has, as well as it wasn't as sweet. One surprising thing that I noticed was that the Unreal logo is on the bottom of each peanut butter cup. Now the flavor was just pure chocolate and smooth peanut butter and I was sold on this one.

Overall the I love the concept of Unreal and I would love to see them make more varieties. But remember you won't know if you like it until you try it! They are currently being sold in Walgreen's and CVS stores across the country, I have even found them in my local Micheal's.

*I was not paid for my review, I was compensated with coupons to try the product free or at a discounted price.

L'Occitane Lavender Hand Cream

L'Occitane Lavender Hand Cream

I never heard of this brand before and I had reservations about the lavender smell. But I have found that is one of my favorite hand creams I have ever tried. It has a pleasant scent and it is not greasy at all. It absorbs into my skin really quickly and I now keep a tube in my night stand and use it nightly. I honestly can say I have fallen in love with this French company and I plan on going to one of their actual stores really soon. Hopefully I can visit one of the stores in France when we visit Paris next year.

Final opinion: I will be buying this and stocking up whenever I can!

Delizioso Skincare Mangosteen & Acai Super Anti-Aging Facial Cream

Delizioso Skincare Mangosteen & Acai Super Anti-Aging Facial Cream

 I don't know how to put this but the smell is sickeningly disgusting. At first I thought okay maybe it is just the mangosteen in it and the smell will fade. No, it doesn't! It lingers forever on my hand and doesn't wash off and since it is a face cream I could never use it on my face. I honestly can say I have no clue how it works because the smell is so bad that I couldn't even use it. And this sample was supposed to be worth almost $20 and in my opinion it is worth less than a dollar. I guess I will have a nice little jar for other samples once I get rid of this stuff.

Final opinion: I will never buy this.

Freeman Beauty Feeling Beautiful Cucumber Peel Off Mask

Cucumber Peel Off Mask

 This is a product that I got interested in after reading a fellow blogger's review. So when I was in my local Wal-Mart I found the travel size packet which looked like it could be use once or twice and I bought it. I went home and tried it that same day and I was thoroughly surprised at the consistency of the mask. The mask is very thick and sticky almost like honey and has a nice cucumber scent. The mask was a little tricky to apply at first because I started out with it going on too thick but once I figured out it, it got easier. As the mask starts to dry it gets really shiny like your skin is made of plastic. Once it dries completely (dry to the touch and no longer sticky) it is time to peel it off. I will say that this is the most entertaining face mask I have, even my husband gets a kick out of it. I start peeling it off (it is the most fun part) and I go fairly slowly because it does grab on to any hair it can find (no matter how hard I try to avoid my hair line and eyebrows.) After the entire mask is removed a quick rinse and my face feels so refreshed, clean, and soft.

Final opinion: I will keep buying this I already found a BOGO sale and picked up two full size tubes. This will definitely stay in my skin care routine unless I find a better mask out there.

Masqueology Pore Minimizing Mask Review

Masqueology Pore Minimizing Mask

clickR Skincare Acne Spot Serum Review

clickR Skincare Acne Spot Treatment

Fortune Cookie Summer Soap Box Review

Fortune Cookie Soap - Summer Soap Box

Julep Nail Vernis - Jodie

Jodie

Revlon Lip Butter Review

Revlon Lip Butter Peach Parfait

Julep Nail Vernis - Kelly

Aquolina Pink Sugar Eau De Toillette Review

Aquolina Pink Sugar Eau De Toillette

Ojon damage reverse Restorative Conditioner Review

Ojon damage reverse Restorative Conditioner