I Live with a SMOKER--But Get FREE STUFF!

I'll confess something to you if you promise not to tell.  When I divorced my first husband I SWORE on the heads of my future children that I would never, EVER date, much less marry, another smoker.  Now, many years later (never mind HOW many), I have to admit to having discovered one universal truth--never say never. 

My husband is a smoker.  God, it looks worse in print.  He doesn't smoke in front of me, or in the house, or in front of the kids.  He does, however, power smoke when he's outside working in the yard or tooling around in his mid-life crisis convertible.  I never thought I'd see a benefit.....until....UNTIL....Marlboro.com.  Yep, hubby smokes Marlboros, so I logged into the website to talk smack and forward hate mail.  Much to my surprise, I found......OMG, FREE STUFF!   I immediately signed up under my husband's name (what?  I didn't want to lie!) and have never looked back.  Over the past few years I've received flasks, spice rubs, lighters, butt holders, tshirts, and more.  Today, however, came the gift I know the hubby's going to LOVE--a gift that was, again, totally free, and unbranded.  Take a look!

 

WEIGHTED CUSTOM DARTS!  These little gems have pencil shaped barrels, smooth ring-grooved grips and standard black and white striped flights.  I would gauge them to be about 20 g. 

 

So out of my husband's dirty little not-so-secret habit has come some enjoyment for me in the form of great little packages haunting my mailbox.  Who would have thunk it?  ;)

Beauty Box Sample Society Subscription - April 2013

This is my second month with Sample Society, a $12 beauty subscription box service, and to be honest, I have yet to be impressed.  I don't expect dancing elephants and juggling mice, but I do expect to receive products I feel I can use--or comfortably gift.  Unfortunately, no dancing elephants, juggling mice OR me-friendly stuff in today's little black box.   I've listed the contents for you here, along with my witty (not) narrative.  Feel free to agree or disagree!  For the record, this is labeled box "C".

So....let's look at the box!

 

One thing I do have to say is that Sample Society makes a great presentation!  The nifty black box is filled with crinkly black paper, and the products themselves sit on a sheet of tissue.  I'm assuming that's due to the complaints last month regarding black "dust" on all the products.

 

 

 The first product is a 3g sample of CoTZ FACE Natural Skin Tone.  It's not exactly a generous sample, and, in fact, the card says "Try this 'free' sample".  Fail.

Next was a 2 ml. tube of an anti-aging treatment, Caudalie Premier Cru.  I'm actually anxious to try this, but I'm praying to the makeup gods not to like it, as it's $155.00 for a 1.7 oz. tube! 

 

 

The third product pulled from the box was .5 oz tube of Borghese Gel Delicato Makeup Remover.  I've heard good things about this, but I use simple Oil of Olay wipes for a fraction of the cost and find they work just fine!

 

 

Fourth on the list is a 10ml tube of Hanskin's Super Magic BB Cream.  I'm not sure why that name just tickles me, but I honest to God giggle every time I read it.  I can't almost hear the board room discussion.  "Let's call it BB Cream!"  "No, let's call it MAGIC BB cream!"  (collective ohhhhh).  Finally, "I've GOT IT!  SUPER Magic BB Cream!"  (Mad applause).   Ok, maybe not.

The next little gem was two hair clips (one barrette and one bobby pin) from Jane Tran.  Cute and useful, but don't these things usually come in pairs?  Ok, when "I" was young....wait, that sounds like my mother.  :: sigh ::

The last product I plucked from the crinkly black paper was a Hanskin Hydro Sheet Mask (obviously named by a different group at Hanskin).  I've read mixed reviews on this one, so it might sit awhile before I give it a go.

As always, there is a code for $15 off of a $50 purchase, providing one of the purchased products is made by one of the brands in the box.  I think this month I'll pass.



I'm a MAVEN--(ish) thanks to Julep!

So according to Wikipedia, a maven (also mavin) is a trusted expert in a particular field, who seeks to pass knowledge on to others. This wasn't exactly my mission when I recently joined Julep, but as a member, I am now officially labeled a maven.  With that in mind, allow me to share with you my "mavenish" experience (don't hate--the word worked).

First, a little about Julep.  Julep is a company that caters to the nail lover in all of us--the place that exists "at the intersection of beauty and fashion".    The company specializes in marketing nail polish in enough finishes and shades to assure every fashionista is fulfilled.  In addition, the company offers a monthly subscription box, and this, my friends, is where it gets interesting.  First, readers take a quiz that leads to a Maven "label" based on the answers.  You might be a "Modern Beauty"; shimmy barefoot into "Boho Glam"; vogue your way into being a "Bombshell"; or walk with dignity into the label "Classic With a Twist."    Next, you are introduced to  "your first Julep Maven Box with at least two gorgeous polishes and other beauty favorites chosen just for you."   What if you don't like the selection?  You can manually choose whichever profile suits your fancy. (The first box is an "introductory" box, followed the next month by a regular box, which you elect to either receive or skip based on the contents that are listed.)  Finally, enter a credit card number, and for $20 a month you can call yourself a "Maven" and receive a box delivered right to your door. 

When I took the quiz, I found myself in the "Classic With a Twist" category.  After looking at the boxes, I decided that I was happy with the Classic With a Twist selection (which I got for just $4--more on that later!), entered my PayPal info and waited for the haul to hit my inbox.  Within a week, my stash arrived. 

The first item out of the box was a generous 3.5 oz. tube of Julep's "Instant Warming Foot Scrub".  The product contains not only pumice for exfoliation, but also chili pepper oil to "stimulate circulation." I'd never really thought about seasoning my feet, but I'm saving this for a coolish evening when I have some time for pampering.

 

 The box also contained a packet of glycolic hand scrub.  (Ok, less than impressed with this addition).



Finally, I received two full sized Julep polishes--Helen (described as a light lavender) and Claudette, a "smoky brick". 

To be honest, the Helen looked more taupe to me in the bottle, so of course, I immediately wanted to try it!  Before opening the bottle, however, I noticed a "Swatch Me" sticker affixed to the top of the polish. 

 

 

Ok, so I totally get the idea--you swatch the polish on the sticker so you know what the color actually looks like, right?  Also, I'm guessing if you have a huge polish collection, swatching in this way would make it easier to identify polishes that were packed closely together.  GREAT idea, I'm thinking.  So I unscrewed the cap to find that the sticker was on TOP of the cap! Now I'm not genius, but I don't think I'm the dimmest bulb either.  Color me confused, however, as to how one is supposed to paint the top of the lid when the brush is attached to the lid!  GRRRRRR.   I eventually peeled the sticker off, painted it with polish, waited for it to dry and stuck it back on the lid.  OK, let me retell that little story.  I DID take the sticker off, and I DID paint it with polish.  What I DIDN'T do was wait for the paint to dry.  Instead, I tried to carefully replace the little sticker without touching the wet polish.  EPIC fail.  I had polish on my fingers, the bottle, and even my makeup counter.  ::sigh:: 

 

Once I got the swatching right (or at least finished), I decided to try the Helen polish.

 

This photo shows what I thought was the case--the color, for me, reflected NO lavender whatsoever.  Instead, it was a beigy taupe that was VERY transparent after the initial coat.  I did love how easy the polish was to apply, but it took three coats to get decent coverage. 

 

All in all, I realize this was just an introductory box, and the fact that I only paid $4 for it made it that much more appealing.  I will say, though, that I am not over the moon about the polishes in either consistency or coverage, and the swatching thing is just really still bugging me.  I am, however, going to give it one more month so I can see what comes in a regular box.  If I'm still unimpressed, this is one sub that will have to go.

 

TOTAL VALUE:

2 polishes -  28.00

Foot scrub - 22.00

                   $50.00

 

TOTAL PAID:

$4

 

If you'd like to try Julep, here's a link. 

http://www.julep.com/rewardsref/index/refer/id/100200/

 

Note that I will get credit for you signing up if you use my link. Also, use the code COLOR2012 or JULEPVIP to get your first box for just $4, including shipping.

 

If you decide to go for it, let me know what you receive in YOUR box--and I promise to update when my first "real" sub is delivered!

Ipsy My Glam Bag April 2013 SPOILERS!

Another of my guilty pleasures--ipsy! This fab service delivers a monthly subscription with four to five awesome beauty products, as well as a new makeup bag, all packaged in a super sparkly hot-pink envelope.   I've found their boxes to contain more makeup than other beauty subs (i.e. Beauty Army, Birchbox, Beauty Box 5, etc.), and their customer service to be TOP NOTCH.

While ipsy does release one-at-a-time sneak peeks via their website and FB page before the boxes are shipped, this month the ENTIRE cat may be out of the bag!  

So here's the first pic actually released by ipsy:

The consensus seems to be that the photo shows "Be a Bombshell" blush just in front of THE CUTEST white trimmed in hot pink bag! SO EXCITED ABOUT THIS ONE! Now for the spoiler that appeared earlier via Jessica Harlow's Instagram:

WOWSA! Mica Beauty Shimmer Powder, Sation polish, and Healthy Sexy Hairspray!  If this is a look into the April future of ipsy, I am THRILLED.  Have I mentioned I LOVE YOU IPSY?!

If you aren't already an ipsy girl, SUBSCRIBE NOW!

ipsy My Glam Bag Subscription 

Also, if you're just cruising through, please leave a brief comment so I know you were here!

Added: April 1, 2013
Ah..the mystery deepens!  Ipsy has published another official sneak peek, one item which bears no resemblance to the items in the "leaked" photo!  Has ipsy switched gears or have we been misled!?  Is the one on the right Mica's shimmer?   Here's the most recent hint!

The hint suggests this is a shadow!  Now I'm really intrigued!

For the Love of Books: Why I Covet My Kindle

When I was a child, we had a single bookshelf in the hallway where the entrances to all of the bedrooms met. It was all my parents could afford, but it was stocked with dad's tattered paperbacks, a complete set of Nancy Drew and the odds and ends mom would pick up at garage sales. Once a week, we would also visit the local Book-Mobile, where I was permitted to take out as many books as I could read in a week. I would devour them well before the week was up, and it was always with a heavy heart that I would return them. Sure I got to take out new ones, but parting with those I had read seemed a betrayal--I wanted to covet them; protect the characters within and revisit them on occasion. Instead, however, I would see the ones I had read previously sitting lonely on the shelves. I would go home and look at our single bookshelf which housed my most precious possessions--the books that BELONGED to me. I swore that one day I could own a huge library and cover the walls with the books I read. I would provide a safe place for the settings and characters who had befriended me through the pages.
As time moved on and I grew up, my love affair with books grew more passionate. Perhaps it was the childhood memory of the characters I left on those shelves, but that feeling of some sense of betrayal at returning a book remained. Rationally, I knew it was a ridiculous and a wholly immature view of the world, but I still longed to be surrounded with the comfort with which those books had provided me. My first apartment was furnished on a shoe-string, but the thing I initially sought was a huge bookshelf. I adorned it with dad's tattered paperbacks and the Nancy Drew series from my childhood. From there, I searched garage sales and flea markets for other books I remembered having read as a child and added those. In college, I was loathe to sell back my textbooks, and instead made them a part of the collection. By the time I left college, I had acquired a plethora of books I couldn't possibly afford to move with me. At that same time, I went through a reverse-renaissance of sorts and tried to convince myself that I needed to minimize the clutter in my life. The books went into boxes and off to Goodwill--including dad's paperbacks and the precious set of Nancy Drew mysteries. It wasn't until months later that I realized, with great horror, that I had parted with things that meant more to me than I could have ever realized at the time. My reversal of self had a devastating effect that left me feeling lonely, sad and ultimately somehow deprived.
Eventually, I married (a couple of times in fact) and settled into my career as an English teacher. My longing to be surrounded by books resurfaced, though with it came a wholly limiting environ--no room for much beyond, again, a single bookshelf for myself. At school, I had the pleasure of being able to line my classroom with literature, but at home, with the empty spaces ever filling with "needed" things, the single bookshelf sufficed.
When I was first introduced to the Kindle, I rebelled. I wanted the feel of a book in my hands--I wanted to SMELL the pages. That quickly dissipated, however, shortly after I downloaded my first book. When I finished it, I purchased my second--then a third, fourth, etc. I realized that I was suddenly able to have the comfort of being again surrounded by familiarity while at the same time I now had no limitations as far as space! I looked back at the ten or so books I had read on my Kindle and felt RICH! I had the characters and stories with me. I could glance at the titles and remember being immersed in those worlds. It was liberating. I had the opportunity to create the library of my childhood dreams and finally make good on my promise to those characters I had abandoned on the shelves of that Book Mobile so many years ago.
And so, my Kindle carries on it every book I have read since it was purchased--a library that has been transferred from my K2i to my K3. I buy them one at a time, read them voraciously, then allow them to assume their rightful place on the virtual shelf. I see them every time I open my Kindle, and I will often browse the pages, smiling as I recall the stories those titles hold. They haven't been relegated to collections or archives; they haven't been deleted or held in someone else's library--they are mine and stand at the ready to, at any given moment, again reveal to me the treasures within their covers.

Mani-Mania Sneakpeeq Mystery Box

I've recently developed an addiction to subscription and mystery boxes.  While it's certainly preferable to the other habits I could have readily acquired, it's also one that I can see easily becoming larger than life.  Until that happens, I will enjoy my daily trips to the mail box.

Today's trip yielded GOLD, my friends, as my Mani-Mania Sneakpeeq Mystery Box arrived!  If you're not familiar with Sneakpeeq, dear GOD, what are you waiting for?  Think of the best gaming site on the web, couple that with shopping, and the result would be Sneakpeeq.  They add daily boutiques in which to shop, you are awarded badges for "peeking" at prices (clicking on price tags to reveal the discounted price of items) and rewards abound when you share the love with your BFFs. 

At any rate--on to the reveal!

First up, a $10 Sneakpeeq gift certificate as well as a $10 off of a $30 purchase at Laqa and Co. topped the box.  I can't wait to use both--Laqa are some of my FAVORITE polishes!!

Next up, 75g  of Steamcream moisturizer for hands, face and body in a Kukka tin.  The texture is a creamy butter, and it smells DIVINE!  According to the Steamcream website "Kukka is Finnish for flowers. It's a bright and breezy name for a kooky tin decorated with multi-coloured anemones." 

The second product out of the box is my absolute FAVORITE--Duality Cosmetics .8 oz. Nail Pak in Ellen.  I first saw Duality on Shark Tank and knew it would be a hit--at least at my house!  On top is a 3-free polish (the Ellen is a FAB mint green); while on the bottom is a nail file and 40 pads presoaked with polish remover (I KNOW!  Genius, right?).

 The third product rescued from the depths of the crinkly black packing paper was another hit for me--Laqa and Co.'s Topcoat pen!   Laqa uses artists' work on their boxes, and according to their website, this packaging artwork was created by Martin Sati. "Martin is based in Portugal and is truly awesome at anything visual. The topcoat illustration represents Martin’s vision of Bambi’s mother and her loss of innocence."  Ok, not liking the whole "mom died and I'm all alone" vibe, but I LOVE the polish!

Next up was a Cala Beauty on the Go Manicure Set.  I saw these on Sneakpeeq some weeks ago, but before I could place an order, they were gone in a poof of cyber smoke.  I was THRILLED to see this in my box!  This goes right into my Sneakpeeq Big Buddha purse.

The next to the last product in the box was a polish mini by Forsythe Cosmetics.  I had to Google this one (don't you LOVE the fact that Google is now a VERB??!) to find that this is a Color Club polish.  The name on the bottom is Total Mystery, and it appears, at least in the bottle, to be a brilliant sapphire blue. 

Finally, nestled amongst the great products was this gold organza bag, containing a gold, brown and turquoise beaded bracelet--a beautiful addition to an already over-the-top box!

So there you have it! Total value I calculated below:

Sneakpeeq GC:        10.00
Duality Polish:         15.00
Color Club Polish:     1.95
Steamcream              19.00
Manicure Set              6.00
Laqa Top Coat          15.00
Bracelet                       5.00

Total Value:    71.95
Total Cost:      29.00! (I am one happy beauty addict)

Check back soon for reviews of these products in the near future.  If you'd like to join Sneakpeeq, you'll need a Facebook account, but it's SO worth the effort!  Here's a referral link as well:

Join Sneakpeeq!

Just a Small Town Geek and High Drama Gadget Queen

I am a gadget queen.  If it has buttons, lights up, spins or plugs in; if it's electronic, connects to the web or plays music; if it projects a picture, takes a photo or prints, I need it.  I don't just "want" it, somewhere deep in my psyche, I NEED it.  At some point, I began to share my gadgets with friends.  From there, I began to share reviews.  Suddenly, I found myself here, blogging those reviews.  As I'm also a makeup fanatic and a voracious reader, it seemed like a natural progression to include those as well.  What?  I'm nothing if not eclectic.  :)  

Feel free to chime in--in fact, I encourage you to agree, disagree, or just say hi.  ;)