Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Product Review: Violife Slim Sonic Toothbrush

I have THE coolest thing to review today. I love it. It is cute, stylish, and functional. Not to mention super pretty. And did I mention how good it looks?? 

It's Violife's slim sonic electric toothbrush. First, just follow the link and go to the website and admire the snazzy designs that they have. Warning: you might want to immediately get one in every style, like I do. Mine is called Mirage and the pictures don't do it justice on how bright and fun it is. I might stop collecting nail polish and move on to these toothbrushes. 

On to more details than just how beautiful it is. This is the back of the box, which just highlights some of the neat features that the Slim Sonic Toothbrush has, like being lightweight and ultra-compact, easy to use (push-button activation), and convenient! 

The slim sonic toothbrush comes with what's shown in the picture: an instruction manual, the brush with case, one free brush head, and a battery. On the website, it's $14.95 with free shipping in the U.S., and when I first visited the site, a coupon for 10% off popped up as long as you join the mailing list! So you can get it for under $15! It comes with one brush head, and I dug around and found a pack of 4 extra heads is $9.95. 

The toothbrush next to its cap. I only found a couple of other travel electric toothbrushes, like an Arm & Hammer one, but it was around the same price as the Violife Slim Sonic Toothbrush. For the same price, I'd rather get the one that looks beautiful in my bag. The lid is a nice touch because you know that, wherever you store it (I put it in my makeup bag that goes everywhere with me), it will be kept clean. 


And this is why it was listed as convenient. It is just a little bit longer than a pen, and it's not that thick. It is roughly the same size as a tube of mascara. It can go anywhere with you, and look amazing while doing it. My only qualm is that I wish it was a little more powerful, I do use this a few times a week, but I definitely wouldn't make it my everyday toothbrush (which I think is the point. It's good if you're coming from the gym, or lunch back to work or school as a quick freshen-upper.) 

For under $15, I'd definitely buy it again. Especially with all of the designs that they have! They also have a Destinations Design series that is super cute. High school graduations are coming up, and I can definitely picture myself giving these as part of a gift. (And no, I'm not a square for giving toothbrushes! Most of the gifts that I give are makeup, beauty, or nail polish related. And this toothbrush would be totally cute in a travel kit gift!) 


Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Review: Lauren B. Beauty Nail Couture

                                 


Today, I'm reviewing two polishes from Lauren B. Beauty.  I had never heard of this brand, but I love to try out new nail polish brands and I'm glad that I did. Here's a little info about the brand and the polishes:
Lauren B. Beauty Nail Couture is a collection of everything you need for a salon quality, do-it yourself manicure that lasts for 2 weeks without chipping or fading. These on-trend colors inspired by the city of Los Angeles. All of the formulas are eco-and vegan-friendly, contain no harsh chemicals, and are proudly crafted right in the U.S. These polishes stay true to the pigment that you see in the bottle and require just one coat! From base to color to topcoat, the groundbreaking treatment system is good for your nails and highly functional and fashionable for the modern woman.
Just reading that, I was eager to try it. More and more nail polish lines are becoming eco-friendly and vegan-friendly, so it's exciting that this one is, too.


The backs of the bottle have a little more information about the polishes. They are "5-Free," no formaldehyde, DBP, toluene, formaldehyde resin, or camphor. 

It's also cruelty free! 


The fronts of the bottle. Each bottle is .50 fl oz. A beautiful glass  bottle with a shiny black cap. The font is cute, and the whole bottle just looks classy! From their website, they have a lot of nail polishes in mostly bright colors that are gorgeous. I just want to get all of them!



Nude No. 2. On the website, it's described as "a champagne hue sweetened with a hint of honey." They have five different nude shades for sale, and this one managed to perfectly fit my skin tone! I hate most neutral polishes, because they very rarely match my skin and usually make my hands look just plain weird. Plus, I love colors. This is one that will definitely become a favorite of mine when I become a professional and have to start wearing neutral-colored polishes. It's a favorite of mine right now! It applied very smoothly, the picture is after two coats. The site says that you can do one coat, which is doable because it's quite opaque, but two coats makes it perfect.













L.A. Smog. The website describes it as "A hazy pale grey with dusty blue undertones – soft, ethereal and exceedingly cool."















I loved it from the first brushstroke. This grey is right up my alley! I would not consider it a pale grey because it's actually pretty dark and reminds me of my former favorite grey, Sally Hansen Gunmetal. But this one applied so smoothly (although it definitely needed two coats). I applied it second after swatching some other polishes because I knew, just from looking at the bottle, that I would love it. Maybe not the most spring-y color, but I think you can never have enough grey toned polishes.

So the polishes themselves. A bottle is $18, which is a little bit more expensive than Butter London (my former standard for high brand nail polish), but this one is amazing quality. I've had L.A. Smog on my nails for four days and it hasn't chipped yet. It applies smoothly, because "the brush is packed with twice the standard amount of bristles." The colors are beautiful, and so is the bottle. I would definitely re-purchase and in fact, I've already been going through the website for polishes to add to my wishlist.

(This product was sent to me for review, but all thoughts and reviews were mine. There are no affiliate links in this post).


Thursday, April 9, 2015

Review: Celsius "Flo Fusion" Pre-Workout On-the-go formula


I have a pretty cool product to review today. Most of the things that I receive to review are make-up or nail polish related, but this one is more health than beauty. It is the Celsius Flo Fusion Energy Drink. It comes in Orange flavor (on the left) and Berry flavor (on the right). 

I've never been one to try out pre-workout powder shakes or drinks because they usually 1) don't taste good, 2) require a blender, blender bottle, or something similar to mix it well and 3) are a hassle to make. The last time that I had a huge jar of some kind of weight loss aid/workout booster formula powder, it cost me $40 and after a few weeks of using it, I felt no different. Then, to top it off, my dog thought that the giant tub was a toy and spilled it everywhere. So, I was out $40 for a supplement that was a waste of money. 

That's why this Flo Fusion is awesome. It comes in these on-the-go packets, so you don't have to worry about a huge mess, measuring anything out, etc. Plus, it dissolves into water very easily. I could even see tossing a few packets into your gym bag so that as long as you have a bottle of water, you can always have your pre-workout drink. 


Each packet is 0.18 oz. and just needs 12-16 ozs of water. I have poured the powder into a plastic water bottle before and just shook it to mix it up, and it works perfectly. It makes it so convenient. And, as the boxes say, it has "No sugar, no high fructose corn syrup, no aspartame, no preservatives, no artificial colors or flavors, and is low sodium." This should be exactly the kind of thing that you want to put in your body before a work out.


I tried both the Berry and the Orange flavor, and personally, I liked the orange flavor better, just because I usually like that flavor. I went in expecting the berry to have an artificial grape after taste (think children's cough medicine), but I was pleasantly surprised. It was not bad! Obviously, it was nothing like eating real berries, but I did not mind drinking it (which only added to helping me get into the habit of drinking it before a workout.)

The back of the boxes have all of the information on why the Flo Fusion is a good choice for a pre-workout formula:

  • Burns 100 calories & more
  • Results in a greater fat loss 
  • Provides healthy energy
  • Is vitamin enriched
  • Clinically proven
  • Increases fat loss 
  • Increases endurance
  • Increases cardio fitness

These last three bullet points are touted by most weight loss drink aids, so I've become wary of listening to them. However, I was determined to give it a good try, and so I diligently drank one packet a day (you can drink two a day if you want) before my workout, for three weeks. I didn't want to just do it for one week or a couple of days, and I definitely didn't want the placebo effect. I kept my workout schedule the same, drank the same amount of water every day as I had done before I started drinking, etc. so that the only thing that was changing was that I was adding one packet of Flo Fusion into my pre-workout routine.



The result: it definitely did give me more energy. Usually I would be dying about forty minutes in and trying to convince myself it was a good reason to stop, but as I kept drinking the Flo Fusion, I noticed that I wasn't thinking about ways to skip out early. I don't count calories so I can't comment on whether or not it actually burns 100 calories.

But when I started drinking the Flo Fusion, I had been working out and eating healthy as normal for awhile, with no change in my weight (a bit of a plateau). I do think that the Flo Fusion helped to kick start the weight loss for me again, and I lost 1 lb per week that I was drinking it. Slow, but steady! I was just happy that it was moving down and not staying still or, God forbid, moving up!

Would I rebuy?

Definitely. I think it's cool to finally have a supplement that is good for me and solves all of the problems that had been keeping me back from drinking pre-workout drinks beforehand. It's very convenient and super portable. It tastes great. It actually works for me (!!!). The price is right.

The orange flavor comes in a box of 14 packets for $11.38 through Amazon, while the berry flavor is $15.23 for a box of 14 packets. While scrolling through their Amazon store, I see that they also have a canister of the orange and the berry flavors, so if you're looking to buy it in bulk (which takes away the convenience, but could be more cost effective), they also sell it that way! I do think the on-the-go packets give you the chance to try it out though to see how it works for you.

(This product was sent to me for review, but all thoughts and opinions are my own and I received no compensation. The amazon links listed in the post are NOT affiliate links.)