Review: Nice 'n Easy Non-Permanent Haircolor #FlirtWithHairColor

I was excited to be chosen to participate in a new blogger program with Vocalpoint.com  from Nice 'n Easy.  They just launched a great product for anyone that needs a little color pick me up for their hair.  New Non-Permanent Hair Color from Nice 'n Easy lets you kind of date a new hair color before you commit.  The color gradually washes out within 28 shampoos so you can sort of flirt with a pretty new shade of color before you get (hair) tied down.  Fun, especially if you are already married because you can still date and flirt LOL!

Vocalpoint and Clairol were so sweet to send me a free coupon so I could really try it out myself. I have light brown hair that I like to keep a bit lighter than that so I chose  #91 Dark Blonde. 

 It was super easy to use and felt very gentle on my hair and skin.  The color came out very similar to what they showed on the Clairol Website HERE.   It even colored those pesky little gray hairs!  It was very easy to figure out the shade I wanted too.  I loved the easy to read directions that came with the package and on the website.  I would definitely recommend Clairol Nice 'n Easy if you are looking to change your shade but not commit too much or too long.  

Try one or even a few shades and take your time deciding on your fave color!   Remember, 28 shampoos and you are all done. No major commitment.  If you love it then do it again with the same Clairol Nice 'n Easy color too or you can switch to another beautiful Clairol more permanent color!  I bet you will love it.  

Don't forget to check out more fun new products and chat with others online and see what they think on Vocalpoint.com.   You can also see what is going on their Facebook page too.  You can go directly there with this link:  Facebook.com/vocalpoint.

You can also follow Clairol on Twitter.  Have fun!

I received a free coupon from Vocalpoint and Clairol in exchange for expressing my opinion.  All opinions and comments are my own.

Review & Giveaway: A Gem Creation Hair Decor

I recently was invited to the MomSelect Swag Suite event as part of a recent blog weekend.  I met a bunch of great brands including Ronit from A Gem Creation.  She had so many beautiful clips, barrettes and more I was stunned.  When I went on her EtsyA Gem Creation page I was totally wowed. You have to check it out.  The colors and designs were so creative too.  Every size you can imagine too!

I chose a Blue Flower Clip as my gift.  It is a beautiful sky blue and clips in my hair easily.  It really adds a lot of flair to any outfit. It is perfect for any occasion too.

You can really see the love and care that goes into each piece that Ronit creates.  She has been crafting for years and has always loved to create things. All AGC items are unique, handmade and rarely repeated which is exciting to me.  She uses a bunch of different fabrics and ribbons, embellishments and hardware which makes each hair item unique. I appreciate that all the clips are lead free and CPSIA compliant.  That makes all the moms comfortable with using them on children too.  She even uses totally non toxic glues and materials. She donates to many causes including families in need.  I really liked that and wanted to support her even more after I read about that.  

You can check out more of her beautiful creations on her Facebook page HERE. Don't forget to visit Etsy to buy any of her pretty pieces too!

Leave a comment about your thoughts on A Gem Creation's hair accessories or tweet about them and a way to contact you in order to be in to win a random piece from their collection!
 a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure:  I received a product sample for review. As always, all opinions are my own.

Soft Scrub Blog Giveaway PLUS Tough & Gentle Sweepstakes and Giveaway

Soft Scrub has a new product line of household cleaners that has recently launched call Soft Scrub Total.   It seems like I never have enough household cleaning supplies so the timing was perfect that Soft Scrub kindly shared some free samples of Soft Scrub Total with me too!  There are three great products in the Soft Scrub Total family that all have a patented trigger that allows you to clean with your own choice of a fine mist or a thick foam.  Great right?  Just know that they clean AND deodorize all around your house!  Those handy little triggers even spray upside down so you can get into all those hard to reach places that the family gets dirty!  They are super tough on stains but very gentle to all kinds of surfaces.  The products are powerful and versatile enough to help you to clean your whole house. 

I have used the Soft Scrub Total to clean my kitchen and bathroom and it did a great job on sticky stains in the kitchen. It did equally well on the bathtub and sinks.  Everything looked and smelled super clean after my cleaning day.  I would definitely buy these again...I just saw them at Target too.  Good to know for next month when I am stocking up.... You can also enter here to win your own coupons for Soft Scrub to get your house super clean!
 a Rafflecopter giveaway


Don't forget to enter the Soft Scrub Tough & Gentle Sweepstakes with over $3,000 in prizes!  There is one grand prize and fifty 2nd place winners will also get $40 in gift cards!  Enter the Tough & Gentle Sweepstakes here.

Soft Scrub provided a free sample of their Total products to me so I could review them.  However, all of the opinions expressed here are my own.

Combat Source Kill Max Ant Bait and Gel Giveaway and Review

It is summer time and everybody is here for the picnics and yummy snacks....except we also sometimes get some unwanted visitors.  Our beach house is no stranger to this problem--year after year we see those nasty and pesky ants. I never really found anything that helped me to figure out how to kill ants.  How do you get rid of ants?  One year they even attacked birthday cupcakes.  That was the worst.  I knew that I really really need to figure out How to get rid of ants! This year I decided to get smart and, thanks to my friends at Purex Insiders and Combat, I was able to calm the situation down almost to nothing with a complimentary package of Combat Source Kill Max products including Ant Bait and Gel!

Combat sent me an fantastic package of Combat Source Kill Max products that including the ant gel and the ant baits.  I set everything up at the beach house quickly since we already had a minor MAJOR ant problem.  The Combat Source Kill Max baits were very easy to set up and not messy at all. They separated very easily and I saw the ants going right in....heh, heh, heh!  Little did they know.  I also opened up the Combat Source Kill Max gel and got that going too since we had a MAJOR ant issue that needed work.  It had a cool and easy to work plunger and I got it into those cracks and crevices in the floor.   More laughing to myself (hee....hee...hee!)  Those ants were eating up that gel in about 20 minutes.  There were crowds of them eating it up all gathered together like a little ant picnic....I couldn't believe it. The next morning I only saw a few little ones.  By the next day it was down to one or two the whole day.  It has been great ever since with only one or two random ants here and there. Phewwww!  Nothing yucks me out more than ants all over the place!

This is what Combat tells you on their Combat website about the  line of products:

Benefits:

• One of the fastest active ingredients you can buy to kill ants
• Insect nerve poison kills ants by contact or ingestion.
• Starts killing ants in hours so you can see immediate results.
• High secondary colony kill. Kills ants in a domino effect, eliminating the source of the infestation.

They haven't been back since with the exception of the occasional one or two.  I make sure I keep the house very clean and tidy up any crumbs quickly as always.  I would definitely buy Combat Source Kill Max products again and they are going on my list.  

Don't forget to enter my giveaway below to resolve your own ant problem compliments of Combat.  You can also enter to win an even bigger contest and get $1,000 from Combat by going HERE!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Combat and Purex provided me with free Combat products to try them and provide my own opinions and experiences. All opinions are my own.

#Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell Party

This past week I got a bunch of my friends together at my house for some exclusive previews and the premiere of #TotallyBiased with W. Kamau Bell. It is a new show on FX but surprisingly, W. Kamau Bell is not a new comedian.  He has been popular for a number of years out west and was recently connected with Chris Rock who produces the new show.  I think Chris Rock saw one of his shows and realized how funny W. Kamau Bell was and thought they could partner to put together a great comedy show on tv. The get together and the exclusive content I received to share was a result of my membership in Crowdtap.  How lucky can a girl get, right?  I love comedy, especially edgy stuff so this was a perfect match for me.  It was also a great reason to cook up some yummy snacks and share some wine and beer with friends.

Homemade Chocolate Chip Rice Krispy Treats

Since the show It was called Totally Biased with W. Kamau Bell so you had to figure the show was based on all our biases that we have as diverse Americans.  It was not quite what we expected but it was really funny.  I was really careful in my invitations because I figured it might be kind of crazy, especially since it was a late night show.  It was not as edgy as I thought--but still very funny. Definitely different.  We thought he was trying to be a little more conservative especially for the first show.  Don't get me wrong, it was really funny I think we just thought it toed the line more than we thought that it would.  We enjoyed the jokes and his comments a lot.   

We all took turns playing comedian as a little party game which was hilarious.  Let's just say that some of us are funnier than others.  It is all about timing and Stacy was the winner.  Her prize was a bottle of wine.

If you are interested in joining Crowdtap, it is a fun way to learn about new and existing brands and get rewards like giftcards and other goodies for sharing with friends.  I have been a member for about a year and I love it.  You can join here.

Gutzy Gear Party #GettingGutzy

The back to school shopping has started....ta da!  I can't believe how quickly the summer went by this year.  It is still so warm so it is hard to believe school starts in just about a month.  We have been slowly buying all our supplies and getting ourselves ready. 

Gutzy Gear arrived just in time to get us a bit LOT more excited to go back to school! What is Gutzy Gear you might ask?  Gutzy Gear is a popular new backpack decor strap with Gutzy patches for back to school 2012 that is for little kids and big kids.  Tweens included too!  Gutzies consist of a strap that goes over the backpack strap and stays on securely with velcro. The Gutzy Gear strap gets decorated with a variety of collectible AND tradeable patches that are appropriate for any age. There are tons of options to appeal to sporty Gutzies , fashionable Gutzies , studious or crazy Gutzies kids. Some of the kids were even saying they wanted to buy extra Gutzy Gear straps and patches for their luggage handles or their bikes....one friend plays the guitar and wanted to decorate his guitar handle too!

We were very happy that we were chosen to hold a Gutzy Gear party.  We have tons of friends from camp and school that were excited to attend so the timing couldn't have been more perfect either.   We had great weather this weekend so it worked out well with all the Gutzy games, the pool activities and the PIZZA!  Everyone was excited to create their own personalized backpack.  Gutzy Gear is THE popular back to school item for 2012!  I was amazed at the selection of Gutzies available...check out Series 1 here.  There is also a Series 2 on their website.  There are Gutzy patches for boys and for girls so everyone can have a really cool backpack.  Perfect back to school gift for those tweens too!

Gutzy Gear is available nationwide and online.   I saw a ton at my local Kmart and ToysRUS.  You can find it at Walmart, ToysRUs, Kmart, Office Depot, Target and even some local specialty stores. Go HERE to find a location near you.

Thanks so much to Gutzy Gear and MomSelect for this super fun home party!

Frigidaire Adventure in Clean Contest plus Stain Fighting Tips

Visit Facebook.com/Frigidaire and share you own personal Adventures in Clean, Frigidaire will donate $1 to Save the Children, as part of its $750,000 commitment to the cause. It’s simple to share your Adventures in Clean – just upload a photo and the online app turns it into your very own movie poster!  Kind of cool, right?  Plus, to help spread the word, everyone who participates will be entered for a chance to win a new Frigidaire Affinity® washer and dryer featuring Ready Steam™. If you want to get more information on all the great products Frigidaire has don't forget to check out their site here.

10 Steps to Cleaner Clothes for Frigidaire by Tara Aronson

1. Immediately rinse or blot away spills on your clothes with cool water to prevent stains from setting.
2. Read fabric care labels before you wash. Your clothes will last longer if you know how to treat them.
3. Sort laundry by color, wash cycle needed, and water temperature required. The Frigidaire Affinity’s Permanent Press cycle washes with warm water and less agitation, resulting in less wear and tear on your sturdy jeans, khakis, and sweaters; the Delicates cycle uses cold water and light agitation to gently clean swimsuits, workout clothes, and lingerie.
4. Before washing stained garments, pretreat or prewash the spot using the Affinity’s Rinse & Spin cycle. If at first you don’t succeed, wash, wash again.
5. To keep snags and lint to a minimum, zip zippers, button buttons, empty pockets, and brush away lint before tossing duds in the hamper.
6. If your clothing is heavily soiled, your load large, or the water cold, add extra laundry detergent. Use the Affinity’s Heavy Duty cycle for sturdy but really dirty items like jeans and towels; choose the Sanitize setting to use the hottest water available to get rid of germs and grime as thoroughly as possible.
7. Check wet garments for remaining stains, and re-treat as needed before drying. Heat will set stains.
8. Dry only full loads. Tumbling a handful of garments prolongs the drying time by reducing the tumbling.
9. Fold shirts and T-shirts to prevent wrinkling. If the shirt has buttons, button it at top, middle and bottom. Lay facedown. Fold both sides of the shirt so they meet in the back, with the sleeves aligned with the side folds. Fold the tail up to the cuffs, making a straight line at the bottom. Then fold in thirds crosswise. For T-shirts: a child’s T-shirt needs only one crosswise fold in half; an adult’s should be folded into thirds.
10. Fold shorts and pants by aligning the inseams and outer seams of the legs and fold so that a crease forms at the front center of the legs. Fold in half or in thirds, depending on the size of the garment.

Disclosure : By posting this informaiton, I am eligible for a drawing. Regardless,  all of my opinions are my own.

Fiber One® 90 Calorie Brownies Contest and Review #myblogspark

If you have been possibly dreaming of a brownie that will satisfy your sweet tooth craving to help you stay on track--I actually have something for you!   New Chocolate Chip Cookie flavor Fiber One® 90 Calorie Brownies, combine your absolute fave  dessert flavors: chocolate chip cookie AND brownie!  When you´ve got brownies dancing through your head, but don´t want to over-indulge, this moist and chewy chocolate chip cookie brownie is the perfectly portioned 90-calorie snack and it won't ruin your bikini body that you worked so hard to get this summer!

Each serving provides 20 percent of the Daily Value of fiber (5g)* Delicious Chocolate Chip Cookie flavor features semisweet chocolate chips in a cookie-batter brownie topped with a dark chocolaty flavored drizzle  3g of total fat per brownie-not a lot at all!  Chocolate Chip Cookie flavor Fiber One® 90 Calorie Brownies make a great afternoon snack with a cup of coffee or a light latte.  It really satisfies those chocolate cravings whether you are at work, at home or even on the go. I stash five one in my purse--you never know! While you are at it check out Fiber One® on Facebook here and let them know what you think. Would you like to try them yourself?  Don't forget to enter my contest below to win this great survival kit with lots of goodies too! a Rafflecopter giveaway  Disclosure:  The product, gift pack, information, and additional sample have been provided by General Mills through MyBlogSpark.”

The Original Dish Drying Mat

THE ORIGINAL DISH DRYING MAT

 

Who likes to be stuck drying dishes?  Not me!  I used to get so annoyed by the dishtowel that lasted about 30 seconds before becoming sopping wet.  The Original Dish Drying Mat is a better way than placing those dish towels on the counter when drying pots, pans, and dishes. It has a laminated design that provides incredible absorbancy and cushions your delicate dishware as it dries.

• Holds 4 times its weight in water

• Cushions delicate dishes and stemware

• Machine washable and highly durable

• Folds and stores easily

It's machine washable and highly durable so you can use it over and over!  It stays fresh and clean that way.  I have had one that I bought last year on my counter and it still looks like new after tons of washes. I was excited to receive a another The Original Dish Drying Mat complimentary through Influenster that was perfect for my 1st floor kitchen sink. How lucky can a girl get?   I find that it is so handy having a dish drying mat there too since I do a bunch of my cooking and washing in that sink there as well.  

It is easy to care for too:   Allow The Original Dish Drying Mat to thoroughly dry between uses. Frequently machine wash with like colors in cold water with a liquid detergent and before first use. Tumble dry low. Do not iron. Do not use bleach, fabric softener or dryer sheets.

By the way, The Original Dish Drying Mat is available exclusively at Bed, Bath and Beyond.  It is very reasonable at $4.99 too!

Review: Woolite Extra Dark Care and a FREE SAMPLE!

I grew up using Woolite^® to wash delicates.  I always loved that luxurious scent and the elegant looking bottle.  My mom always used it on special items such as Angora and Cashmere sweaters, bathing suits and lingerie. I always remember a bottle of Woolite^® in the laundry room growing up!  Of course I always have Woolite in my own home and use it frequently.

I was excited to find out through CrowdTap about a few new laundry products that Woolite has recently  introduced including Woolite^® Extra Dark Care.  It was wonderful because I received 12 very generous samples of Woolite Extra Dark Care to share with friends through CrowdTap.  It was fun to have a real excuse to meet up with friends and neighbors and share my love of Woolite with them! I love that Woolite^® Extra Dark Care was created with  a special formula that gently cleans and helps maintain the original color intensity of all your dark clothes.  That includes my expensive, designer denim.  I don't want my expensive jeans that cost me $200 to fade!  It won't cause fading, shrinking or stretching, so dark colors stay super bright and clothes look like new for longer than with a regular detergent.  I love the way my dark clothes STAY dark--no fading here as long as I use my Woolite Extra Dark Care.

I was excited to see that Woolite has a great coupon available on Facebook for Woolite Extra Dark Care.  Click here to access the Woolite Facebook  page and "like" them to sign up for a high value coupon!  Let me know what you think.  These coupons are usually only available for a limited time so hurry on over to Facebook and grab your coupon before you go shopping!

Review: Lindt Excellence Chocolate Bars Caramel with a Touch of Sea Salt and Coconut

I was very excited to receive two new Lindt Excellence bars at my door this past week.  What could be more exciting than Lindt chocolate??  Nothing, of course!  Both bars were dark chocolate and were two flavors that sounded delicious to me:  Coconut and Caramel With a Touch of Sea Salt. Don't they just sound delectable?  

Well, they were both super yummy.  The Coconut Excellence Bar was fantastic…like a grown up version of a Mounds bar. Definitely more sophisticated and rich though!  The Coconut Excellence Bar consisted of smooth dark chocolate flecked with bits of moist coconut.  It was a family favorite. 

I think my personal fave was the Caramel With a Touch of Sea Salt. I just LOVE chocolate, caramel and sea salt together. There’s something about that combination that just really tastes incredible to me…a deep dark chocolate with a sweet and chewy caramel and the flavor from the sea salt are perfect together.

*I received these Lindt Excellence Bars as part of my membership in the Lindt Excellence Influencers group.  My opinions are always my own.

The Many Uses of Ivory

IVORY SOAP is a great all around soap you can use from top to bottom in your home! 

I received a full sized bar of Ivory Soap complimentary as part of an Influenster Voxbox program.  I was really excited because we all know that this is something that everyone can use.  Who can't find 100 uses for a bar of Ivory soap?

A bar of Ivory soap is the perfect foil for sunscreen covered skin.  Didn't you know?  Here's the secret for getting all that sticky sunscreen off of you and the kids at a bargain price.  No scrubbing or rubbing either.   I love using Ivory in the shower to really get all that spray sunscreen cleaned off my skin after a day at the beach.   Unlike so many other soap bars on the market that strip skin of its natural moisture, Ivory's pure formula cleanses the skin thoroughly without unnecessary perfumes and lotions.  Believe me, it is really gentle on kids and adults alike!  Now you know so go on out and buy a few bars.  Make sure you pack a bar or two for that week or two at the beach house too! 

 I also like to keep a bar of Ivory in the laundry room for laundry stains. I rub it on all kinds of stains (even grass stains) and let them soak away in a little Rubbermaid tub while I relax and read a book.  When it is wash time, I throw everything right in the wash. How much easier can wash day get?

I also love that Ivory is a real bargain--especially in this day of the squeezed economy--we have to try and save everywhere we can. Ivory is one of the least expensive bars of soap on the market per oz!  Try it and let me know what you think.

 

I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster and Ivory as a participant in the Mom VoxBox campaign