Goody Ouchless Ribbon Elastics

I just love Influenster! Another great product in my Sunkissed Vox Box was the Goody Ouchless Ribbon elastics. Here is what they look like in the package

These hair ties sell for around $4 for a package of 5. They come in various colors to match any outfit. They are soft and very pretty to look at. They have an interesting design with the knot in the end. And they don't pull your hair at all. They are strong enough even for really thick hair like mine.

 And if you're like me and tend to put your hair ties on your wrist for safe keeping, they look like a bracelet! You can find out more about these and other Goody brand hair care items here http://www.goody.com/.

Disclaimer : I received this product free of charge from Influenster to try out and review. The opinions expressed here are completely my own. Interested in becoming an Influenster? Go to www.influenster.com and find out more.

Dr. Scholl's® For Her High Heel Insoles

Another great product I received from Influenster in the Sunkissed Vox Box was the Dr. Scholl's for her high heel insoles. These are a gel insole made specifically for women's sandals or high heels. Dr Scholl's for her has an entire line of insoles and foot care products for women. You can see their products here http://www.drscholls.com/.

So I received the insoles for high heels

Since I don't wear high heels, very rarely I decided to try these insoles in my work shoes. I am a RN and so I am on my feet for 12 hour shifts. Surprisingly these insoles were very comfortable in my work shoes even though they were made for high heels. My feet were less tired at the end of my shift with these insoles. I imagine they would work wonderfully in high heels during the day at work and into a night out on the town.  The Dr Scholl's for her high heel insoles sell for around $10 at many retailers and online.

Disclaimer - I received this product for free from Influenster to try out and review. I have not been paid for my review or opinions on this product and the opinions expressed are my own. If you are interested in becoming an influenster too, go to www.influenster.com

Olay Fresh Effects BB cream

I was lucky enough to be chosen to receive a Sunkissed VoxBox from Influenster this summer. One of the great products for me to try is the Olay fresh effects BB cream. I have been wanting to try out a BB cream so I was super excited to try it!

Olay Fresh Effects BB cream is part of a whole line of Olay products. You can see the whole line here www.olayfresheffects.com.

I received the light to medium shade BB cream. It goes on smoothly, doesn't feel greasy and smells great! The color blended beautifully and easily into my skin. There are 6 benefits from this BB cream...it refreshes your skin instantly, brightens for a radiant glow, evens tone with a splash of sheer color, hydrates for 24 hours, smooths for softer feeling skin and protects against UV damage with SPF 15. It is an all around awesome product for a fresh looking complexion! You can order Olay Fresh Effects BB cream from http://www.amazon.com for $10. If you prefer to shop at your local store, it retails for around $10-$12 depending on the store.

Overall I am very happy with this product and will continue to use it. Olay is a trusted brand that has a long standing reputation for providing quality beauty and skin care products and they did not disappoint with this. I am looking forward to trying out the entire line of Olay fresh effects skin care products for my every day skin care needs.


Disclaimer - I received this product for free from Influenster to try out and review. I have not been paid for my views or opinions on this product and the review is completely my own. If you are interested in becoming an Influenster also, go to www.Influenster.com and check it out!

February Ipsy my glam bag

It's Ipsy glam bag time again! This month's theme is "Red Carpet Ready" and full of great beauty products. If you've never heard of Ipsy, they are a beauty subscription service that you can sign up for at www.ipsy.com and for $10 a month (plus tax in CA and NC) you get a cosmetic bag with 4-5 deluxe or full sized beauty products to try out. This was my second bag and I was not disappointed. Right now there is a waiting list if you sign up, but it seems from their facebook wall that most people are on the wait list for around 3-4 weeks. 
So here is this month's bag....

I was a little disappointed in the actual cosmetic bag this month. It was supposed to look like black patent leather I think, it just looks and feels very cheap. However, my 9 year old daughter loved it so I gave it to her for her small stash of lip glosses.

The first item in the bag is the Pixi Flawless & Poreless face primer. This is a deluxe sample and there is a ton in it. I've never used a face primer before either so I was excited to try it out. It blended easily into my skin and my foundation applied smoothly over it. Full size product costs $29.

The next product is Coastal Scents eye shadow sample quad. I love these colors! This eye shadow is creamy and applies well with an eye shadow brush. The colors are very pigmented and lasted all day. The full size of these colors sells for $1.99 each on the Coastal Scents website. 

The next item is the Pop Smokey Lash Kapow mascara in black. It is a deluxe sample in the color black. This mascara applies smoothly and easily I haven't had any problems with "raccoon eyes" like many mascaras tend to do. Also no clumping. Full size on the website (which seems tobe uk based) and retails for £10.50 on their website. 

 This product is the star of the bag in my opinion! Mica beauty gel eye liner. It is a full sized product, the only difference between this one and one you order from Mica is there is no eyeliner brush included in this sample....no big deal, you can get an eyeliner brush at any drug store for cheap. This eyeliner glides on smoothly and makes crisp, sharp lines and beautiful wings for the cat eye and kitten eye look. It is a long lasting, smudge resistant formula as well. The color we received is black, but it is available in 6 colors. This eye liner sells for $35, but is currently on sale on their website for $30! An awesome deal for only $10! 

The last product is the Lash card. We got a deluxe sample pack which has 4 individually wrapped lash cards in it. I was really excited to try this product out, it seems like a great innovation. These cards are meant to be used behind your lashes as you apply mascara. You hold the card up to your eye line behind your lashes and then apply your makeup. I am not able to use these cards after all. I wear glasses all the time....I'm pretty blind really, or at least that's what I like to tell people LOL. But in all honesty. these cards were very awkward for me to  use because I can't see without my glasses and had to get really close to the mirror to apply my eye makeup. I didn't use the cards after all. I could see how this would be great some people. but for me they weren't. The lash card comes 10 to a pack for &6.99. 

Over all this was an amazing bag....the gel liner alone more than paid for the cost of the bag. I've used all the products (except the lash cards) almost daily and love them. I can't wait to see what Ipsy has in store of us next month :)

Baking up some love

I'm a total Pinterest addict. I love going on there and finding new recipes and ideas for all sorts of things. While perusing Pinterest recently I came across a recipe for strawberry chocolate chip cookies. They are bright pink, and so perfect for Valentine's day! Sally's baking addiction is the blog where the recipe came from...http://sallysbakingaddiction.com/2013/01/23/strawberry-chocolate-chip-cookies/. 
I've never made cookies using a cake mix before, so this was something totally new for me. 

So here are the ingredients....

 

In her blog, Sally uses Duncan Hines cake mix, which I usually prefer and buy that brand as well. But when I went to the store, they were out of Duncan Hines strawberry cake mix, so I chose Pillbury. Honestly, it probably doesn't really make much difference. I also am a sucker for Ghirardelli baking chips. I love their chocolate so they are my favorite baking chip to use (I've made awesome cookies using the 60% cocoa chips before). Instead of buying the semi-sweet ones like the recipe calls for, I got the milk chocolate this time. 

When you mix together all the ingredients you get this really pretty bright pink dough....

 You will notice the Ghirardelli chips are larger and flatter than other brands. I think they melt better, but I could be biased on that. So I use an ice cream scoop to place my cookie dough on my baking stone, this way the cookies all come out about the same size.

Here they are, ready to go into the oven! Sally says to bake them for 10 minutes and not to let the cookies brown. I did that with the first batch, but found they were still too gooey in the middle, and since I didn't want to subject my children to undercooked cookies, I put them back in for 3 more minutes. They browned slightly, but came out great none the less.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Cookies
makes about 2 dozen cookies

• 1 box (18.25 oz) strawberry cake mix (like Duncan Hines)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup vegetable/canola oil
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 and 1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350F. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mat. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the cake mix and baking powder. Set aside. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, and vanilla by hand. Add the egg mixture to the cake mixture and stir to form a dough- stir vigorously until all of the pockets of dry cake mix are gone.  Gently mix in the chocolate chips.
Drop rounded balls of dough, about 2.5 Tablespoons each, onto prepared baking sheet.  Stick a few more chocolate chips on top of the cookie dough balls if you want them for looks, if desired.  Make sure the balls of dough are taller than they are wide. 
Bake for 10 minutes – do not let the cookies get brown.  Allow to cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes; they will  be very soft at first. As they cool, the tops may settle down; press them down gently with your fingers if they are not sinking much. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Store in an airtight container, for up to one week.

 I copied and pasted the recipe from Sally's Baking Addiction.

So there you go, beautiful pink cookies for Valentine's day! I thought they were pretty tasty. My kids loved them and have been asking for more all evening long. Happy Valentine's Day and Happy Baking! 

Julep Cupid's Mystery Box

So I am fairly new to Julep but I love their polishes and have been watching review videos and blogs since before I officially joined. I have seen several previous mystery boxes and how great of a deal they are, so when I saw they would be offering a Valentine's day mystery box I was excited! For only $19.99 we were promised a box valued between $70-$200 dollars, with at least 4 nail polish colors plus either a mystery holographic or a coupon for a free color of your choice. You also could possibly be the lucky recipient of jewelery from Baublebar or a $1000 Visa gift card. Sounds like an awesome deal, right?? Not only that, but I had recently purchased a deal from bloomspot that gave me $50 worth of Julep product for only $20. So I ordered a mystery box as well as some other sale items.

Here is my mystery box, unwrapped:

I obviously received a lower value box, and honestly, I was kind of disappointed when I opened it. From seeing all these great previous boxes with lotions and such included, I think I had a way higher expectation of my box. That said, my box was still an amazing deal! I got 5 nail polishes, which at $14 each regular price, puts the value at $70 right there. I also got a lip gloss, which I can't find lip glosses on the website, but mascara sells for $24 so I figure that the lip gloss would be somewhere between $14 and $24 price....which makes the value of my box somewhere between $84-94!

Here are the colors I got:

Molly - classic red creme (creme finish)
Carrie - classic cotton candy pink creme (creme finish)
Lynn - nude blush pearl (pearl finish)
Maria - shimmering platinum rose (frost finish)

Evangeline (third color in the picture) - this was the mystery holographic color. I'm not sure exactly what color describes it, I've seen some people call it nutmeg....I think it's kind of a rosey goldish color. It is very pretty although I don't think it is quite as holographic as Rebel or Ginger.

Carmellia - light pink, shimmery lip gloss. Smells awesome and goes on smoothly.

I've seen some people complain their colors weren't Valentine-ish enough....I absolutely love my colors and think they are all the perfect shades for Valentine's day....now I just have to figure out which one I will wear this week! Happy Valentine's day everyone :)

**To join Julep and become a maven, go to http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/98609/ and use referral code 7592893 so they know I sent you :) If you use the code FREEBOX in check out and only pay shipping and handling for your start up box!

Julep Maven February box

Hi all. I made a new blog for all my reviews and random thoughts. I decided that since I never really blogged about anything mommy related, the title mom on the run didn't fit my blog. If you care to see any of my old blog posts, they can be accessed here http://mommieontherun.blogspot.com/

Anyways, on to the topic of this post...Julep! I discovered Julep after Christmas and have become a total addict! This month was my very first Maven box. Julep has a monthly subscription service for nail polish and manicure/pedicure products. Each month you receive a box of 2-3 polishes and a product for only $19.99 with free shipping. You also have the option to purchase add ons (other color polish and things like polish remover and lotion), upgrade to the entire wardrobe of colors or skip the month without canceling your membership or penalty. 

My profile is "Classic with a twist" but this month I chose the "American Beauty" box instead.  The theme this month is called Get on the A list and it is inspired by Hollywood glitz and glamour. They included a bonus item this month too, the Freedom top coat! More about that later. So here is what I saw when I opened my box....

 And when I took off all the pretty wrapping.....

 So I knew to expect the Oxygen treatment, and the Freedom top coat with my colors, but I was pleasantly surprised they included a travel sized eye lash curler (for red carpet ready lashes) and two chocolate hearts! Julep is so good to us mavens!

The oxygen treatment is a treatment that restructures and strengthens your nails. It says to use it twice a week. Oxygen has a slight pink tint to it as well. Let me tell you, it looks beautiful on my nails. It is not recommended to use polish over oxygen, so I have used it when I took off polish and didn't have time to repolish. Here is a picture of oxygen on my nails....

The two colors that came in my American beauty box are Joan and Sally. Joan is a really pretty raspberry color with gold shimmer. Sally is a classic ivory cream. I also purchased Rebel as an add on. Rebel is a silver holographic. Another possible add on (that I purchased previously) was Jane which is a rose gold glitter. Here is a picture of Jane, Sally and Joan swatched....

Lastly is the Freedom top coat. Freedom is a polymer topcoat that dries to a hard gel like finish with crazy shine, without the damage of gel polish and without special UV lighting in only 5 minutes. The only downside to freedom is that you have to apply it to dry polish....it will not dry your polish for you. But that is a small price to pay for the beautiful shine and long lasting finish. I literally changed my 5 month old son's diaper 5 minutes after applying freedom to my nails and no smudges! 
Here is Freedom on top of Rebel. Rebel is a beautiful holographic that I just can't seem to capture the effect of fully on camera....but here it is....

 Well my review was a bit longer than I planned but I hope you enjoyed it. If you are interested in trying out Julep, please use my referral link http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/98609/ with my referral code 7592893 so I can get credit. You can use the code PENNY to get your sign up box for only a penny plus $4.98 shipping. Thanks :)

My next reviews will be the February IPSY bag and the Julep Cupid's Mystery box.