My first indie polish

I have nothing to disclose.

Today is a good reminder of why I stopped doing nail art. I spend hours on my nails just to have them ruined by cleanup or because I'm me ruined five minutes after I've finished them because the polish hasn't dried. I'm never going to be the person with perfect looking nails so I don't know why I keep trying. Anyways...

I've seen many other bloggers jump on the bandwagon this week of supporting indie polish by posting their first indie polish. I wasn't sure what mine was so I had to go back through my old posts to find out and it turns out mine was a polish by Custom Nail Art called Blue Diamonds. As far as I know, Custom Nail Art no longer makes polish.

I decided to do something different for this manicure and unfortunately it didn't turn out as I had hoped :(

I started with one coat of Trust Fund Beauty Elegantly Wasted with one coat of  Blue Diamonds on the accent. I followed this with one coat of Blue Diamonds over Elegantly Wasted. EW came out pretty well with just one coat though I probably could have done two. BD is a very thick jelly base and I think I may actually get some thinner to thin it out a bit because it is a bit difficult to work with. For some reason it lifted EW in a few spots as well but I'm not really sure why. 

Moving on I decided to use my Shany black nail art polish to draw in some diamonds. I used LA Colors Circuits to color in the black. Here's the end result and all I can say is I tried :P

This one feels like a fail to me so unfortunately I kind of just want to clean off my nails and start over again another day :(

What do you think?

Update: my right hand turned out awful as in I was swearing off all nail polish awful so I decided to clean it off and do a quick redo. Pardon the mess as the black polish stained my hand.  I applied one coat of Wingin It Lacquer Little Black Dress and then sponged on Elegantly Wasted. 

Now my nails are happy and yes I feel better because I have two separate manicures on my hands. At least they're similar colors?

The ever changing Betta

Jasper has changed a lot over the past few weeks since we got him so I wanted to capture these changes here. It seems like every day I look at him and notice a small subtle change. It doesn't seem like much just to the casual observer but having known Jasper as I do it really is fun to watch him change. 

Here is day one. His colors were so washed out back then.

Day 2 other side because his sides weren't symmetrical 

Day 8 brighter colors

His colors are so much brighter but you can also see he's starting to become more blue and turquoise at this point. 

Day nine

He started getting blue on this side as well.

Day 12 after a few really hot days his fins started becoming more cellophane again. I think it was about now that I noticed he was starting to get more little black spots on his fins. It's hard to tell from the pictures because his fins look black in some places but it's actually the cellophane effect. 

This is a good example of how he looks just plain dull blue and white when the light isn't shining on him.

Day 17 this happened 

His colors are finally almost symmetrical.

(Jasper doesn't want me to photograph that side :P )

And that brings us to day 20, yesterday. His nice pretty little black spots have taken over and his tail fins are turning black. The areas which looked black before but were actually cellophane are now black.

At this point I'm just happy to see he's getting some color on his head because I really don't like the piebald look. I just took these last pictures last night but looking at him this morning it looks like he has even more color on his body now. I really thought he was pretty when he was more cellophane but I've gotten used to him with color now which is good because it seems to be spreading like an infection. 

I think this is a good example of what proper care and good quality water can do to improve betta colors. I do feed him some betta food with color enhancers but I've never experienced such a dramatic color change in any other betta I've had although he is my first marble. 

I realize his colors aren't so dramatic as other betta I've seen, where they go from being a blue fish to a red one overnight. Still, I'm having so much fun watching him change and I hope you've enjoyed seeing Jasper's transformation as well. I'm going to continue to document his changes here in the future. :)

My somewhat routine beauty routine

I received most of these items in exchange for an honest review. The face wash my boyfriend purchased for me.

I have to laugh at myself a bit here. One of the really difficult things about being in chronic pain is just adapting to any kind of routine and sticking with it. So often I find myself trying to stick to routines, but then I get sick or I'm just having a really high pain day and so the routine goes out the window. Since I'm a homemaker and my schedule typically revolves around whatever schedule my boyfriend works, it's even more difficult when he's off work or changes jobs, whatever. If he's home, for whatever reason I just tend to relax and forget about any kind of routine. That's not exactly helpful when it comes to maintaining an exercise routine, which is one of the things I'm right in the middle of doing right now: trying to balance out his new work schedule with my work, getting back to exercising again after taking a few months off due to a leg injury, getting used to the idea of starting to volunteer at my local senior center soon, and trying to ignore the growing feeling in my chest that I'm coming down with bronchitis (yeah, volunteering may have to wait if I don't get better soon!) All of that, all at once, while dealing with my usual chronic pain is, quite frankly, exhausting. So I'm doing my best to take care of myself, and today I will be sharing with you a few of the tools I've picked up to help myself do that.

This is going to be a long post :D

Here is what my morning looks like: wake up about 4 am, make coffee and wakeup. After Mike leaves for work, I exercise, do dishes and whatever cleaning needs to be done. 7 am I feed the pets, and usually myself. After the cleaning, cooking, etc. is done I have the rest of the day to myself to blog, work on genealogy, whatever, until I have to start thinking about making supper. None of that is really relative to the subject at hand though. This is the morning beauty routine I'm working on getting myself used to:

1. wash face using Lather ultra mild face wash
2. rinse and massage face using Konjac sponge
3. dry face and apply jojoba oil

I want to talk about each of these products for just a moment. The Lather face wash I received as part of my first Ipsy bag. I'm not really crazy about the scent, but it lathers well and seems to do the job so what else can I say? The only thing I don't like about this soap is because it's in a sample size bottle, the bottle itself is really thick plastic which I've found impossible to squeeze! I just take the cap off to pour the soap into my hand which usually means I get too much out at a time.

My Konjac Sponge

Blurb:
MY Konjac Sponge is the highest quality konjac sponge in the market. Our products are proudly carried by Whole Foods Market, King's Food Market and major online retailers.

MY Konjac Sponge are made exclusively with the konjac fiber, a pure vegetable fiber taken from the root of the Amorphophallus Konjac plant.
Konjac plant, also known as konnyaku potato or elephant yam, is a plant that is native to eastern Asia.
Konjac root is rich in minerals, vitamins, and it has been traditionally used as a beauty treatment for a long time in eastern Asia.

MY Konjac Sponge is made to the very highest of standards, using the purest volcanic rock filtered water and food grade konjac. All of our products are hypoallergenic & fragrance free.

All of our products are never tested on animals, and they carry the Vegan Society logo as well as Leaping Bunny logo, the highest standard of cruelty-free status in the cosmetics industry. 

 Review:
I kept seeing these sponges everywhere online so I was excited to get the chance to try it. The texture of my Konjac sponge reminds me a little bit of Styrofoam when dry, which I found to be a bit weird. I had read that these sponges normally have to soak in water for about 15 minutes when you first use them. I was delighted to find I only had to run this one under water for about 30 seconds before it began to soften. It works well, and I like that it comes on a string (which is a bit cheap but it does the job.) You're supposed to store this in a dry place, but it's so humid here this really isn't an option for me so my sponge never fully dries after I use it so I haven't had to really "soak" it again at all. This sponge is supposed to last about 3 months so I haven't been using it long enough for it to degrade. With two weeks of use, it still seems brand new. This particular sponge is made with charcoal and I can't say whether or not I've noticed any effect this has had on my skin. It did seem like I started breaking out a bit more once I started using this, so I think the sponge brought out some of the nasties temporarily before my skin began to clear.

You can find out more about My Konjac sponges here or you can purchase one for yourself on Amazon. This one is $10 and qualifies for free shipping on orders of $35 or more. My Konjac sponges also come in green, red, and pink clay sponges as well as full body sponges.

Deluxe Botanicals Certified Organic Jojoba Oil

Blurb:
The Hidden Secret to Naturally Luscious, Healthy, and Hydrated, Skin and Hair.Deluxe Botanicals Organic Jojoba Oil for Naturally Healthy Skin and Hair, 4 Fl. Oz.

- Superior Quality Certified Organic Golden Jojoba Oil, originating from the best available seeds.
- Lab Tested to ensure 100% Purity and Undiluted with Nothing added or taken Away
- Cold-Pressed lightly, to optimize quality, not to maximize yields.

With the constant torture your hair and skin goes through you're in need of a gentle alternative restore your hair and skins beauty naturally.

- ALL PURPOSE USE - Jojoba oil can be used as a Face Moisturizer, Hair Conditioner, Facial Cleanser, Makeup Remover, Body Lotion, and so much more.

- HEALTHIER, HYDRATED SKIN AND HAIR - Our Organic Golden Jojoba contains almost all of the essential vitamins and minerals like, Vitamin E, B-Complex, Copper, Zinc, Selenium, Iodine, and Chromium all which aid in healthier skin and hair.

- GREAT FOR DRY AND SENSITIVE SKIN - Because our 100% Pure Jojoba oil mimics the natural oils our skin produces, it is gentle enough to be used on sensitive skin without causing your skin to overdo it.

- HIGHEST QUALITY OILS IN THE USA - We pride ourselves on providing consumers with the highest quality products on the market. Each product goes through a strict screening process to ensure only superior quality. 

 Review:
I like to add some moisturizer to my face after washing it because soap just always dries my skin out so much. According to the directions, this oil can be used as a cleanser by applying a few drops and then rinsing it off with warm water, then adding a few more drops to be used as a moisturizer. It can also be used as a makeup remover and as a hair conditioner. I haven't used it in either of these ways yet, but I've been very happy with this oil as a moisturizer. It's left my skin feeling very soft, but best of all it has helped my chronically chapped lips heal. I've tried just about everything I can think of to treat my chapped lips, and this is the first thing which has seemed to really help. It's even worked better than coconut oil, which is supposed to be a go to oil for chapped lips. I've also used this oil a few times as a carrier oil, which worked well. 

At four fluid ounces, the bottle is a nice size, and I am happy this oil comes with an eye dropper. Further, I like that this is 100% organic, chemical free, comes from the USA and is not tested like animals.

Deluxe Botanicals Jojoba Oil can be purchased on Amazon.com for $12.97 for a 4 fluid ounce bottle. 

My evening routine looks quite similar with a few key differences:
1. spa home facial steamer
2. rinse with cold water
3. use My Konjac sponge
4. dry face, apply Jojoba oil

Spa Home Facial Steamer with essential oil

Blurb:
The Spa Home Facial Steamer is our latest addition blending science and technology of skincare rejuvenation while removing dirt and grime from your pores. Using powerful steam generated from our steamer, in just 1 minute you will feel a warm wisp of steam coming from the included funnel to hydrate your face to open up the pores.
Includes a bottle of Frankincense and Myrhh essential oil the 2 most sought out for their anti-aging and antibacterial properties. Frankincense is used in skincare for aging and dry skin, also improves fade stretch marks and scars.
Myrhh oil is made from Monoterpenese a material known for relieving pain and stiffness, also mild antiseptics. The oil is anti-infammatory, an expectorant & antispasmodic making it useful for breaking up mucus, coughs, bronchitis and colds. Along with the facial steamer when absorbed through the skin it helps disinfect bacteria and improve the growth of acne.
The facial steamer has 2 levels of power, low and high to adjust to your needs.

Review:
First of all, let me take about packaging. This facial steamer arrived in the manufacturers box, wrapped in very light brown paper. That translates to a very banged up box which you can see from my picture.

 I was excited to try this because it comes with frankincense and myrrh. However, I didn't realize it was one bottle of the oils combined together, not that it really matters much but I was expecting two bottles. I was very disappointed because the bottle I received was just over half full! I find that completely ridiculous and I would have been quite upset if I had paid for this product. The bottle claims to be 20 mL so you don't get very much, but it does seem to be fairly good quality oil and it did work well.

Edit: I was offered a replacement bottle by the company.

Moving on, I had never used a facial steamer before so I spent about half an hour trying to figure out what the spare piece was. The directions which came with this were absolutely no help whatsoever, but after watching a few YouTube reviews I learned it is apparently a nose piece which I guess you just place inside the steamer and rest your nose in to focus the steam there. This product was made in China, so let's just say the directions are not the best.

To be honest, I found the concept of placing my face over a thing of boiling water mixed with oil to be scary at first. You hear so many things about product accidents and whatnot, but after a few times of using this I got used to it. This steamer has two heat settings, low and high. I found the low setting to almost be too hot. Hopefully once I use it more, I'll get used to the temperature a bit. This does work very well on clearing out the sinuses. I found after I used this, my eyes and nose were runny and I had to grab a tissue. Also, after the first use I did have an outbreak of acne but after that first use my skin seemed to begin to clear up.

I'm grateful to have this on hand at the moment since I do have a sinus infection and whatever other funk is going on with my body. This definitely helps. So despite the few problems I had with this product, I am very satisfied with it.

The Spa Home Facial Steamer is available on Amazon for $36.22 and shipping is free.

As one short last worthy mention, I want to briefly talk about Health Shield essential oil from Healing Solutions.

I've been using this oil to treat my sinus infection and whatnot, and I did use it in the steamer as well. The scent is very strong, so much that yes my cat hates it and runs away from me when I have it on me. This oil contains cinnamon, clove, eucalyptus, lemon and rosemary. It is supposed to be comparable to Thieves oil by Young Living, which I just happen to own. The base oils do appear to be the same, just in different portions I would assume. My Thieves oil is a few years old, so I can't really compare the two but the Health Shield is definitely a stronger scent but that's probably because my Thieves oil is so much older. This oil works well, so I'm happy with it.

Health Shield is available on Amazon.com for $9.99 and is available for free shipping on orders of $35 or more, and it is also available as part of a subscription service at a lower price.

Whew that was a long post and if you read it all, thank you very much! I think you deserve a virtual cookie :) I'll be back later this week with more product reviews, I'm sure. As always, thanks for reading!

The Time Stopper (Mind Dimensions Book 0) review

I received this item in exchange for an honest review.

I have another e-book review today, the first one I've posted in quite awhile. Today I will be reviewing The Time Stopper by Dima Zales. This is the prequel to Zales's Mind Dimensions series.

Blurb:

I can stop time, but I can’t change anything.

I can access memories, but not far enough.

My name is Mira, and my life is about finding the Russian mobster who killed my family.


Review:

I may be partial to this story because I can see similarities with the character and some of my own characters, but regardless I did enjoy this very short story. I would say I read somewhat slowly, yet I was able to finish this in just over an hour. It definitely makes for a good, short read on a rainy afternoon. The level of details in the scenarios and conversations really made this story interesting, and I can definitely say I was left wanting to read more. The only thing I didn't like about this story was the atheist view of the main character, which got old quickly but fortunately it was also dropped rather quickly. This story felt a bit unfinished and I do hope Mira's story will be continued on in the series. I most definitely am not a fan of mob stories, but I didn't mind the mob theme in the Time Stopper.

Time Stopper is free to read on the Kindle or also available in audio and paperback formats. 

Nail polish haul

I went to Walgreens today and of course they finally have some of the new Sinful Colors. I refuse to pay full price though so hopefully my store will still have them next time there's a ninety nine cents sale happening. My next stop was Family Dollar. I normally don't bother even looking at their nail polish because my store always just has the same old few polishes. But today I just happened to look and they had LA Colors polish on clearance for eighty cents a bottle so I decided to get these two glitters.

I got Fruity which looks to be a pink gel base with pink, green and yellow hex glitters. I also got Confetti which is supposed to be a clear polish with red, blue and white glitters. It dried kind of matte looking on my swatch stick so I'll have to try this some time to see if it just dried goofy, reacted with the plastic oddly or maybe I got a bad batch and that's why it was on clearance. 

Regardless not a bad find for two polishes which are now unique to my collection.

Peppermint and Tea Tree Oils Reviews

I received these items in exchange for honest reviews.

So I was going to just post my review for Radha Peppermint oil today, but I've mostly been using it in combination with Sun Essential Oils Tea Tree oil so I decided what the heck.. I'll just do a double review. I mostly used the peppermint oil as I had been, for treating my headaches. However, about a week or two ago I woke up one morning with ants everywhere in my living room. After a quick Google search, I found out both peppermint and tea tree oil are good for keeping bugs away. So I put a few drops of these oils on a cotton ball, rubbed the oil along my door (I had no idea where they were coming in at due to the carpeted floor) and left the cotton ball tucked into the door crack. The next morning I woke up and they were pretty much all gone. We've had a few stray ants here and there but in general they've stayed away. I tried this trick with flies, and gnats as well and it seemed to work really well to keep them away.

Additionally, I have what I guess is heat rash on my right arm. I thought immediately to try the tea tree oil since I've used it in the past for bug bites. However, after another Google search I found peppermint is a good oil for heat rash and sure enough this oil seems to have not only reduced the itch but helped heal the rash. I've only been using this peppermint oil on my rash for about two days and the rash is almost gone now, whereas I've had it for about a week or so and it hadn't shown any sign of improving prior to using the oil.

Radha Peppermint Oil
Blurb:

• PREMIUM PEPPERMINT OIL - 100% Pure & Natural Essential Oil Therapeutic Grade- The best Peppermint Oil on the market produced through steam distillation of fresh leaves. This versatile oil can be used in oil diffuser, household cleaning & much more! 4 ounce bottle!- GREAT ROOM REFRESHER!
• PREMIUM QUALITY PEPPERMINT OIL -Scientific studies suggest Peppermint Oil is know to relieve headaches, migraines, muscle pain, joint pain, nausea and much more! Great to mix with carrier oils such as Radha's Fractionated Coconut Oil to relax and soothe sore muscles. Another benefit is that it has a pleasant aroma and opens the sinuses and bronchial tubes for easier breathing, which results in deeper relaxation.
• WORKS OR YOUR MONEY BACK - Our Guarantee: We back our products up with a LIFETIME hassle-free money back guarantee, no matter where you buy our product. There is absolutely no risk to you when you order now! If you are not completely satisfied, simply contact us and we will give you a full refund, no questions asked (you do not even have to return the bottle). Our #1 priority is to make sure our customers are completely happy.
• AMAZING AROMATHERAPY EXPEIRENCE- Add a few drops of Radha Peppermint Oil into your oil diffuser to inhale the ultimate serenity while refreshing the room with the crisp scent of Peppermint Oil. This spectacular scent will also open your airway and fill you with an invigorating fresh, renewed feeling.
• - WORKS OR YOUR MONEY BACK - Our Guarantee: We back our products up with a LIFETIME hassle-free money back guarantee, no matter where you buy our product. There is absolutely no risk to you when you order now! If you are not completely satisfied, simply contact us and we will give you a full refund, no questions asked (you do not even have to return the bottle). Our #1 priority is to make sure our customers are completely happy.

Review:
This oil seems comparable to other peppermint oil I've used. It has a strong, pleasant scent. This oil came with an eyedropper which unfortunately is too small so it won't screw onto the bottle as normally expected. I contacted Radha Beauty about this, but I never received a message back from them. In fact, I've had to contact them numerous times about another product and after over two weeks I still have not heard back from them at all. I'm less than impressed with their customer support, obviously. That aside, as mentioned above this oil did work well so I can recommend using it (I just hope you don't need assistance from support :P)

This oil is $10.95 on Amazon for a 4 fluid ounce bottle. That makes it almost half the price of my other peppermint oil, at the same size bottle so pretty good deal.


Sun Essential Oils Tea Tree
Blurb:

• GET BETTER RESULTS WITH SUN ESSENTIAL OILS - With what we believe to be superior sourced and harvested ingredients, we think you will agree that our oils are by far the most effective on the market - a wonderful smell that can't be beat!
• SUN PROVIDES THE BEST ESSENTIAL OILS - Yes, it's a matter of opinion, but we believe our oils to be the best and will provide anyone who doesn't feel the same way with an 100% pure, unconditional manufacturer refund, anytime. We think you will feel that you have never smelled an oil this wonderful...and that after you have smelled this oil other brands may have a distinct alcohol or chemical smell with a 'dry' scent and noticeable lack of depth.
• LOVE THE SMELL AND FEEL GREAT - Fatigue and irritability are often a result of many factors that are difficult to pinpoint.  Clear your mind and relax with the wonderful smell of Tea Tree (Melaleuca alternifolia)

Review:
This oil seems to be comparable to my other tea tree oil, although the scent is definitely not as strong. As mentioned above, this oil does work well. Let me talk about packaging for a minute. I've gotten many different oils from this company now and the packaging seems to be different for each one. I've had quite a few issues with the outsides of the bottles being completely covered in oil when I received them.

This is a picture of how I received this particular oil, and I have received maybe one other oil from this company with this kind of bubble wrap. Seriously, this is some crazy bubble wrap. It's almost like a little case you have to open up and pull the bottle out of. I was really impressed with this bubble wrap and I wish they used it on every single package. Unfortunately, if memory serves correctly, I do believe my bottle arrived with just a little bit of oil on the outside of the bottle regardless.

Additionally, notice the little plastic pipette in the picture? I've gotten one of these with each of my oils so now I have about ten of these little things floating around the house. They easily get lost and of course you can't just keep them inside the bottle or anything like that so I find these to be a very cheap and lousy alternative to an eyedropper with a screw on lid. I much prefer that. As it stands, I have all of these pipettes and there's no way I'm going to be able to remember which one I used for which oil so it's likely I'm going to contaminate my oils by getting them mixed up. Not good. In truth I found it easier to just unscrew the cap and not use the pipettes at all.

This oil can be purchased on Amazon.com for $13.49 for a 4 fluid ounce bottle. This is only a little cheaper than my other oil, and if I had to pick one to purchase, I'm afraid I would buy the Radha Beauty Tea Tree oil simply because I prefer the eyedropper cap, and it has a stronger scent making me think the oil is better quality plus I haven't had any packaging problems with Radha Beauty.

August Glam Bag First Look

So I'm excited to say I got my first Ipsy bag today! I'm even more excited about this because looking at the Website I wasn't supposed to get a bag until next month but for whatever reason I got one early :)

Here's a look inside my bag and I have to say for ten dollars I'm pretty happy. 

First of all I got Trust Frund Beauty nail polish in Elegantly Wasted. I'm almost positive I have a dupe of this color somewhere in my collection but this is a new brand for me so I won't complain. This retails at $15 so right there I got more than my money's worth.

Next to my love of nail polish is my love of lip gloss so I was ecstatic Hikari Merlot was included in my bag. Just from the packaging this reminded me of a Julep lip gloss I have and don't use much. I was very surprised by how thick and creamy this is. It actually makes me think of like a creamy lip stick instead of a gloss if that makes sense. Fortunately I'm one of the people who can pull off wearing berry lip colors. This retails for $13.

 I also swatched my Starlooks Pro Luxe Longwear eyeliner pen. In my opinion it's just too hot and yucky right now to be wearing makeup so I'll probably wait awhile before actually using this. Just from the line I drew on my hand I can say it handled nice and smoothly and I was impressed by how fine the line came out. This retails for $19.

I also received the Briogeo Blossom and Bloom gingseng and biotin volumizer and the Lather ultra mild face wash. I'm definitely not a fan of gingseng scents but  I look forward to seeing how my hair deals with this. I'm probably least thrilled with the face wash simply because I usually just use plain old bar soap to wash my face, nothing fancy here. But I still feel like it's an Ok addition to my bag. The volumizer retails at $18 for five ounces but I only got one ounce so we'll just call it worth $3.53. Again the face wash sells at $19 for 6 ounces but I got one ounce so let's call it $3.17.

So by estimation I received $53.70 worth of products for just $10. Not too bad at all!

Ipsy is a monthly personalized service. Interested ? (Affiliate link rewards me with points.) Join here for just $10 a month.

The Miracle Comb Pro Grooming Brush Review

I received this item in exchange for an honest review.

I know long haired cats are supposed to shed a lot but if you ever read about Siberian cats let me assure you their shedding habits are grossly under exaggerated. Our cat Winslow is a Neva Masquerade also known as a color point Siberian. These cats are known for molting in the spring and again in the autumn with minimum shedding in between. I typically brush Winslow just a few times a week and normally I just have to vacuum every other day or so. During molting season (which should be coming soon) I have to vacuum every day because his fur just gets everywhere. I never knew one cat could shed so much. I swear I'm going to start saving his fur and make a new cat :P

I was planning on getting a new brush for grooming him because his old brush just wasn't cutting it and fortunately I got the opportunity to review the brush I'll be sharing with you today. (Pictured below with some essential oils which I also got for review.)

Blurb

• ★ STOP THE EMBARRASSMENT - The unsightly shame of fur all over your clothes and furniture. Our brush reduces Shedding By Up To 95% and more importantly reduces allergic airborne elements! Compare that to 30% with an average brush or comb.
  ★ YOUR PET'S HEALTH - Bristles help stimulate the skin to promote healthy circulation and increase coat shine. Leaves a shiny and healthy topcoat. Use on pets that have short, medium or long hair. Gentle on your pet. The special bristles are comfy for your dog but firm enough to get out the toughest tangles and mats. No discomfort so your pet will LOVE getting brushed. Brush massages, allows air to your pet's skin and stimulates the release of healthy oils.
  ★ DESIGNED FOR COMFORT - The soft, un-breakable and ergonomic designed grip prevents hand and wrist strain no matter how long you brush your pet. The Pivot Point handle gently flexes to follow your pet's contours.
  ★ SUPPORT PET SHELTERS - When you buy this brush we donate $1 to animal charities. Help us help the many abandoned animals waiting for someone to help. These donations help rescue animals from their abusers, provide need medical care, food, shelter and love.
  ★ ACT NOW - Sale Ends Soon. 5 Year Guarantee! Just contact us if you are not 100% satisfied for any reason and we will replace it or issue you a full refund.
  
   

Your search for the best Pet Grooming Brush is finally over. When you purchase your brush today here's what you should do...
When that cute little box from Amazon arrives, rip it open. Take out the brush and remove it from it's packaging. Grasp it in your hand and note the feel of the contoured grip. It's soft but allows you precise control and won't wear your hand out. You are now ready to start removing all the loose fur from your pet. A few gentle strokes and you will begin to see all of the fur that would have ended up on your clothes, furniture or floor. Now all that fur can be quickly and neatly be thrown away. Your pet will love being groomed.
What separates the barkOutfitter Miracle Brush from the competition?
It starts with quality. Unlike other brands that have hard grips which quickly become uncomfortable ours has a soft ergonomic handle. Traditional Deshedding Brushes have fixed handles. Our Pivot Point handle gently flexes to follow your pet's contours. That why professional groomers love this type of brush. If you use this brush regularly your pet won't need to visit the groomer as often which saves you $$$.
It's because of this we're able to make a guarantee unlike any other you've seen for grooming brushes.
Try our Miracle Brush for five years. If during that time your pet doesn't love it, it fails to perform or you don't feel it was worth every penny of your investment today, we'll refund your money or replace it

Review

I was a little hesitant about this brush after reading that it can be used for dogs and horses as well as cats but it turns out to be a good size and works just fine.  This brush is very sturdy and I expect it to be long lasting. However because it's made with metal this brush is much heavier than expected and definitely more heavy than I'm used to. I think this might be a problem for some people who have difficulty holding things. As for functionality it works perfectly. I found I only had to brush Winslow for about a minute and it removed so much fur. Fortunately he likes being brushed and even likes to brush himself. 

Here's an example of how much fur is removed during a typical brushing session. The day I took this picture I brushed him three times that day each time getting about the same amount of fur so I kind of wonder if he isn't beginning to molt a little bit early. This is the results of literally about five minutes of brushing!

Since pictures speak louder than words here is a video of me brushing Winslow 

He apparently wasn't shedding much the day I filmed this as you can see at the end of the video there isn't much fur on the brush.

The Miracle Comb Pro Grooming Brush is available on Amazon.com for $27.95 (list price is $49.95) with free shipping on orders of $35 or more.

Blueberry body scrub review

I received this item in exchange for an honest review.

Blurb

• Certificates FDA THAILAND - NET 5.07 ounces / 150 G.

JAOWYING BEAUTY BODY SCRUB BLUEBERRY-Smooth away bumps and flakes with this delicliously nourishing organic body scrub. Packed with antioxidant-rich blueberries, anti-aging vitamin, skin-brightening berries. It will leave your skin glowing, healthy and silky-soft.
How To Use : Apply to entire wet body and gentle rub to remove the body excretion and then rinse with clean water.

Our scrub contains VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM FRUIT EXTRACT Results blueberries for vitamin A, vitamin E and vitamin C rich variety AHA skin. Skin smooth and youthful. VITAMIN E Naturally occurring fat-soluble antioxidant that protects the skin against sun damage. Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles and helps prevent the appearance of age spots. Offers greater benefit to the skin when applied topically versus taken orally. Present in Lara Beauty Anti-Aging Daily Therapy and Polishing Microderm Abrasion.

Review

In comparison to other scrubs I've used in the past this one has a very different consistency. It reminds me of very thin yogurt, being very thin but also smelling wonderful and almost good enough to eat. Unlike most soaps this doesn't really foam up at all. I just rubbed a generous amount on my skin and it has a nice grit to it which worked wonders for my skin. I noticed after just a few uses my bumpy skin was becoming smoother. 

The only thing I don't like about this scrub is it cost $15 on Amazon and for that price you really don't get that much. I used almost the entire package within the month I had to review this so it really doesn't stretch very far unless you just want to use this like once a week or something. For daily use there are definitely cheaper alternatives.

This blueberry scrub is available on Amazon.com and it does ship for free on orders of $35 or more.

Wicka by Christy Deveaux review

I received this item in exchange for an honest review. 

Blurb

 Explore the adventures of a shy but gifted teen who travels to Europe, falls in love and discovers that she is a witch from an ancient family. As the Elders-the most powerful coven of witches in the world-begin to hunt her, she must learn to use the powers she possesses to protect herself and the people she loves the most.

Review

It's not often I get stumped in writing a review probably because I am so opinionated. Today however...

At first I really enjoyed this book but towards the end I found the characters relationship grating on my nerves. It's too high school lovey dovey "oh the world will end if I don't have a life of my own." I feel this presents a bad example for young girls. While I more than anyone appreciate going out of your way to be with the person you love, I found the situation in this story absolutely grating on my nerves. The main character was expected to move hundreds of miles away from her family while the boyfriend never once seemed to consider moving to her home country or the two of them moving somewhere altogether more mutual. The entire choosing to attend a college based on the choice of her loved one's choice just really irked me. Not to mention, I would assume in order to be accepted into an English program at Oxford would require some degree of examples of writing which William would not be able to fake on his own. As the story progressed I grew to dislike William as a character because he seems weak yet over protective.

Now all of that aside, the author's writing style took some getting used to. Some of the writing is very short, blunt and to the point (think see spot run.) Once the author broke past this in the beginning the story felt more natural and the style was much improved. However, her transitions, I feel need a lot of work. Throughout the story you expect a chapter break where there is none. Additionally, there are some pretty obvious parallels with this both and Twilight, with a bit of a Harry Potter want to be feel. While sometimes that's a good thing, in this case it was not.

Despite all of this I did enjoy the story and I feel the author has some very interesting ideas to work with. Her writing, however, just needs a little polished. I am looking forward to reading more in this series even with the flaws mentioned.

For more information about this book, check out the author's Web site. This ebook is available from Amazon for $2.99 or free with Kindle Unlimited.

This week's manicure take two

I have nothing to disclose 

It wouldn't be me if I didn't just leave my manicure alone and kept it plain and simple. Me? Of course not.

So I grabbed my black nail art polish and added some lines.

I applied one coat of the Fantasy Makers glow in the dark polish which the exact name escapes my mind at the moment but I applied it immediately on the green nails to blur the black a bit.

It's been kind of a crummy day so nothing better than adding some chaos to my nails to reflect my inner turmoil.

edit: sorry about the night time poor house lighting :P

Playing with Sin(ful)

 I have nothing to disclose.

I have a small mountain of products to review but you know what? I only woke up about ten times last night so I'm super tired and I don't want to :P so I'll just show off this week's manicure instead.

I think my pictures all turned out a little blurry because I'm not used to caffeine at  all so I've been a little shaky from that. 

I did every other nail two coats of Sinful Colors Mint Apple topped off with one coat of Fierce Fiesta. The remaining nails I just did two coats of Fierce Fiesta. I really like these two polishes together because Mint Apple is just so pretty by itself but the glitter in Fierce Fiesta contrast nicely with it.  

Influenster Airbrush Legs Voxbox First Glance

I received this item in exchange for an honest review.

I remember when I first signed up for Influenster it was so awesome because I got this big box full of products to try out. Sure, some of them were sample size but I didn't care. Over the years Influenster has been slowly disappointing me with each box. The worst one was a "virtual " voxbox where I could go to Walmart and purchase a product (at regular price) and then compete to MAYBE get some other prizes. No. Obviously I wasn't doing that nonsense.

Today's voxbox is right up there with the virtual voxbox simply because of how Influenster handled this. A couple of days ago I got a message to check in my voxbox. What? I didn't even know I was getting one and it certainly hadn't arrived in the mail yet. Just looking at their Website I found it hadn't even shipped yet and their website made it look as though I were getting a regular normal voxbox. Wrong. I looked at their Facebook page and they had this photo of sample size products they were sending out. I thought, ok but their Website says I'm getting the voxbox not this sample size.

Days later I got my mail and here it is. The sample size.  Now I really don't mean to sound ungrateful for this chance to try the product. I'm just really disappointed in Influenster and how they've handled this campaign. I wish I would have known I was just getting this little sample because I would have opted out.

Meet Jasper

I am a huge betta fan and today I'm happy to say I finally have a new one. My last betta, Hugo, died quite awhile ago and unfortunately I had to wait til summer to get a new fish because I didn't want to hurt him with the Wisconsin cold. Anyway today I brought home Jasper and I think he was definitely worth the wait.

I hope to get some better pictures soon but for now.... Here's my new betta :P

You can't quite tell from the pictures but he definitely has the cellophane gene meaning his fins are actually see through!  The rest of his fins are various shades of pale turquoise which have some iridescence. His head seems to be typical for cellophane but his body seems to have some light turquoise spotting which I'm not sure if it's a marble, grizzle or dalmation colorization but regardless I'm looking forward to raising him and seeing if my beautiful new betta changes color or not :)

Walgreens Sinful Colors haul

I've really been slacking when it comes to sharing my nail polish hauls with you guys. Which considering I can do it all from my phone now in just a matter of minutes means I'm just being lazy :P

Anyway Sinful Colors is on sale at Walgreens this week for 99 cents a bottle. I had mixed hopes going in because my store never seems to have the summer colors I want but at the same time I was hoping they had the fall colors. Well they had about half of the fall collection aka none of the ones I wanted. Of course. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed that maybe they'll have them next month or next 99 cent sale. But I'm not going to count on it. 

I HAD to get one of the fall colors so I decided to finally pick up Mint Apple even though it's a rerelease so I'll just pretend it counts. 

I did score the last bottle of Fierce Fiesta but I'm so disappointed they didn't have any of the other summer glitters. I have so many polishes now that I only spend money on polish if it truly is unique to my collection so I was really hoping for more of the glitters. Oh well.

Lastly I bought Pink Ansen and I'm ashamed to say I only bought it because I've been dying to see how it compares to Pinky Glitter. I've been seeing a bunch of Pink Ansen comparisons but no one has seemed to compare it to Pinky Glitter! Crazy bloggers!! These two polishes are obviously very different when you see them in real life but I'll never forget seeing Pink Ansen swatches for the first time and thought it was Pinky Glitter.

So anyway I had to compare these two. In the picture above Pinky Glitter is on the left and Pink Ansen is on the right. Even in the bottle these are obviously different.

Above Pink Ansen is on the left and Pinky Glitter is on the right. Pinky Glitter has far more of a pink sheen and truth be told Pink Ansen looks to me like Pinky Glitter thinned down with holo bar glitter added to it. These are both pretty in their own right.

So even though I walked away with just three polishes and I didn't get what I really wanted, for $3.12 it wasn't a bad deal.