A couple of weeks ago I was invited into the Garnier Fructis Hyrdra Recharge Campaign through BzzAgent. I was sent a full size shampoo, conditioner and the Hydra Recharge 1-Minute Moisture-Plenish Treatment.
Garnier describes this new line as:
Infused with superfruits, the Hydra Recharge formula actively replenishes hair for silky-soft hydration that lasts. Hydra Recharge will recharge your thirsty locks and keep your hair super silky and surprisingly weightless for up to two whole days.
I was nervous to try these new products, because in the past, Garnier has caused my hair to feel a bit greasy. I have thin, fine hair and some shampoos and conditioners, tend to create some buildup. I used the entire bottle of this shampoo and conditioner and not once did it make my hair greasy! Awesome job on the reformulation, Garnier!
Up close the shampoo looks like this:
I was a little nervous these beads wouldn’t dissolve like Garnier said and would be all left over in my hair, but that didn’t happen at all! I tested a bit in my hand before I used it in my hair and once the shampoo was lathered up, the beads disappeared. The other neat thing, was the conditioner is slightly tinted a nice blue color. I was a bit surprised by this since I have never used a conditioner that was colored before but it still worked the same!
The scent on these is amazing! Not too heavy, and not quite like their other shampoos. It has a lighter, more fruity scent than their other lines.
Because this is a Shampoo, conditioner and Moisture-Plenish set, I had a little trouble getting used to the regimen at first. I was so used to only using 2 products in the shower, that I often forgot to add the third. However, I don’t think you need to use the Moisture-Plenish every time you shower. I used it about 2 times a week and it worked great!
The back of the Moisture-Plenish said to use after shampooing, so I tried the regimen a couple of different ways. I found that it really worked the best when you use the shampoo and conditioner, following up with the Moisture-Plenish at the end. My hair definitely wasn’t as soft when I used just the shampoo and Moisture-Plenish.
I am glad I tried this because I never would have tried it because of my past experience! However, I didn’t experience any build-up or greasy hair with the new Hydra Recharge set!
**These products were sent for my honest review. See my disclosure policy for more information.
I am currently reviewing the Neutrogena Cosmetics line through BzzAgent.
KEEP READING FOR A $2 OFF COUPON!
I was so excited to get this box! Let me show you what was inside:
Left to Right: I received two eyeshadows in Lasting Taupe and Constant Copper, one Moisture Smooth Color Stick in Sweet Watermelon and one Healthy Lengths Mascara in black.
I was thrilled to try the eyeshadow sticks! I tend to shy away from powder eyeshadow, because no matter how hard I try, I always smudge it and get it all over my face some way or another. Needless to say, I have tried a ton of eyeshadow sticks! Neutrogena’s Crease Proof eyeshadow goes on smooth and will stay put and last all day. The eyeshadow has an easy twist base to push the eyeshadow stick out of the tube.
Constant Copper is up front and Lasting Taupe is behind it. I liked Lasting Taupe the best. I have really fair skin and it definitely showed up the best on me! These eyeshadows retail for around $8.49 on the Neutrogena website and they have some really pretty colors! They are a little on the small side, but I find that with eyeshadow sticks they tend to dry out if you have them too long, so they are just the right size. Overall, the Neutrogena Crease Proof Eyeshadow are very similar to the other brands of eyeshadow sticks I own (Revlon ColorStay, NYX, Sephora, Loreal Outlast and I even have some old Covergirl ones!). As for ‘crease proof’ I did experience some creasing, but the colors really did last all day!
You can see how light Constant Copper is on my skin! It sounds like it would be a bit more brown, but it definitely shows a lot of pink hues. Swatches shown in full sunlight.
Next up is the Neutrogena MoistureSmooth Color Stick in Sweet Watermelon! You can see the swatch above on the right.
I LOVED this! If you have tried Baby Lips, well, this is a THOUSAND TIMES BETTER! I would normally put on Baby Lips, Punch Pink, in the morning before I head off to work, but this color stick has such a nice flavor, smell and color that I have totally switched! There is a nice subtle shimmer to the color, and it truly will last almost until lunch time! These lip shades twist up from the bottom for an easy no-pencil-shaving stick. Awesome! I can’t wait to purchase more! Theres so many pretty shades that I am not sure I will be able to choose! These also retail for $8.49 on the Neutrogena Website.
Last but not least, is the Neutrogena Healthy Lengths Mascara! Now, I didn’t have high hopes for this mascara, since I hold fast to my Covergirl Professional All-In-One with the curved brush. This mascara, did not have a curved brush. But, it actually ended out working way better than my current mascara! I did not experience any clumping, it was easy enough to brush on evenly and it certainly lengthened and defined my lashes in a way my other mascara didn’t. What I liked most about this mascara, is that it didn’t make me feel like I was wearing my makeup too dark and it didn’t make my lashes feel ‘crunchy’ if you know what I mean. It retails for $8.49 on the Neutrogena website.
Overall, I think the Healthy Lengths Mascara and the MoistureSmooth Stick are definitely worth the money (especially with the coupon) but I’d say nay on the eyeshadows and spend the money on another Lip shade instead! 
***COUPON***
This week, until 3.22.13 Target has a $2 off any Neutrogena Cosmetics item! You can find the coupon by downloading their app on your smart phone, visiting the “MY TARGET” tab and clicking mobile coupons!
What item and color shade will you choose?!
**these items were sent to me for review by BzzAgent. All opinions are my own**
As part of my Cosmo Vox Box that I received from Influenster I was able to try the Gillette Venus Razor. As part of the kit I received the Embrace and the Olay blade cartridges. Let me start off by saying, I am really attached to my old razor. Like really attached. Every time I was in the shower using this new razor, I was thinking about my old razor tucked away in the back of the cabinet (see what I did there?). I really wanted to like the Venus, and I did give it an honest go. I swear I didn’t go back to my razor once and I tried both cartridge refills. But I hated it. Maybe it was a combination of missing my old razor dearly or I simply just really didn’t like it. But you can decide!
Here is my old razor:
The Gillette Sensor Excel
And the new one I got to try:
The biggest difference between the Sensor and the Venus was obviously the handle and the number of blades. The Sensor only has 2 blades and the Venus has a whooping 5 blades! >.< I was scared about that! But, I am happy to report I didn’t cut myself once! I did notice that I got quite a bit of a closer shave than I was getting with the Sensor, which was a plus. The other neat thing about the Venus was that the head sort of pivoted to the contours of your legs.
However, I found that the handle was really slippery when I had soap on my hands and I had a hard time hanging on to the thing. And when I dropped it, the blade always disconnected from the handle. If you’re like me and are about as blind as a bat, this causes a small problem when you have to fish around the bottom of the shower looking for the head. I liked the shave I got on this razor and I liked the pivoting head so I kept at it, hoping I would get used to the handle. I didn’t.
The cartridges I tried looked like this:
Olay Cartridge
Embrace Cartridge
The Olay one was definitely the better of the two. The yellow and white pieces surrounding the blades were bits of soap. It was neat not having to use soap to shave! However, I didn’t think that the soap lasted that long. I only got about 2 weeks, if that, out of it. The soap ran out before the blade needed to be changed, and the refill packs retail at about $15.47 at Walmart for only a 3 pack!! Kind of a waste if you ask me.
My other qualm with the razor was the real deal breaker for me. Take a look at the Embrace cartridge and notice how FAR AWAY the blade is from the top of the razor head. WHY IS IT LIKE THAT? I’m not sure, but it definitely made it really hard to shave any small, concentrated or hard to reach places. For instance, my bikini line. I swear every time I tried to shave my bikini line, I was basically just shaving my legs. Look at how far away the blade is from the edge! All I can say is thank goodness it isn’t summer, because my old razor would have come right out of the cabinet.
Did you try this razor? How did you fair on some of the issues I had?
I’m currently reviewing the Schick Hydro Silk Razor and so far, I like it SO much better!
I just joined the BzzAgent campaign to test the new Schick Hydro Silk* razor for Women. Who knew Schick made razors for women?! I had no idea! When I first got invited to the campaign I thought for sure the Schick razor was for men but this razor won best razor in the 2012 Cosmo Beauty Awards and best hair removal in Fitness Magazine! I recently reviewed the Gillette Venus razor that I received in my Cosmo Vox Box from Influenster and was less than impressed, so I figured I would give this one a go! You can read my review of the Cosmo Vox Box HERE and the full review on the Gillette Venus razor HERE.
I have high value coupons to share if anyone wants to try this razor! (Razor retails for $9.49 and I have $5 off coupons!) PM me if you would like me to send you one!
I was immediately impressed when I received this razor in the mail. The packaging was really nice and it included 1 razor, 2 blade cartridges AND a suction cup holder to hang your razor in the shower! I was psyched the kit included a holder!
However, I was a little wary to try a razor with 5 blades, considering the razor I have been using for the past 13 years, when I first began shaving, only has 2 blades.
I have previously been using the Gillette Sensor Excel, which has since been discontinued, however they do still sell the blades, so I was never forced to give it up. There are a lot of things I love about that razor, so read on to see if I think the Schick Hydro Silk measures up!
My first concern about the Schick was that I wouldn’t be able to hold onto it when my hands were soapy. As you can see from the photo above, I was used to having a pretty large handle to hang onto. With the Gillette Venus, I had a tough time getting a good grip on the handle and I was worried this one would be the same. Fortunately, that was not that case AT ALL! It was so easy to grip, even with soapy hands!
I think this razor was a lot easier to grip than the Gillette Venus because the handle was quite a bit thicker and was made from a different material.
My second biggest concern was that I wouldn’t be able to shave concentrated or small areas such as my bikini line. Lets face it, that is an important area to maintain, especially because summer is just around the corner! This wasn’t hard with the Sensor Excel because the head was so tiny with only 2 blades. The Gillette Venus was rather challenging to shave with down there and was simply impossible if you check out the overall size of the blades below. However, I experienced no such problems with the Schick Hydro.
VS.
Not quite evident at first, but take a good look! Whoa! I swear with the Gillette I never got anywhere close to my bikini like with that thing. Notice the cartridge on the Schick is oval…this definitely makes a difference when shaving small areas.
There are several other things I like about the Schick Razor. The little white spots you can see in the above photo are small beads of moisturizing serum. These work really well, almost to the point where you don’t need soap. I still use soap which causes a little bit of a soap overload, but it still works really well. I also get a super close shave! I haven’t really noticed if I have to shave less than normal, but once my hair started to grow back I noticed it was quite a bit softer than normal. I LOVED that this was the case! I absolutely hate it when the hair on my legs starts to grow back and it makes my legs so itchy, but this didn’t happen with this razor!
Have you tried this razor? What did you think?
If you want to try this razor I have high value coupons to share! (Razor retails for $9.49 and I have $5 off coupons!) PM me if you would like me to send you one!
*I was sent this product for free to review by BzzAgent. All opinions are my own.
I signed up for Influenster a couple of months ago and I was lucky enough to receive my first VoxBox from them shortly after. I was chosen to review the Cosmo Vox Box.
In my box I received the Bath & Body Works Red perfume, a Gillette Venus razor with 2 refill cartridges (Embrace and Olay), a Ghiradelli Sea Salt Escape chocolate bar and 2 pens from Pilot FriXion, which are ERASABLE!!!
I was most excited to try the Gillette Razor and the perfume, since I LOVE Bath and Body works and purchase all my lotions and candles from them. However, the product I fell in love with and have enjoyed the most since receiving this box was the Pilot FriXion pens. I will Review each product below:
Bath & Body Works Forever Red Perfume: This perfume is described as a “Passionate blend of pomegranate & red Osmanthus with a sexy surprise of vanilla rum” on the B&W website. I liked it, but it wasn’t my favorite smell from BW. The vanilla was a bit strong for me as I tend to like more flowery smells. I did wear it several times to work and I got several compliments. The smell seemed to last throughout the whole day, which is definitely a plus for any perfume. As for wearing this regularly, I’m not sure I would make the switch from my regular Paris Hilton or Very Sexy from VS, but I might consider trying the lotion and definitely the candles. The small bottle of perfume retails for $10-$15 and they have expanded the line to include lotions, creams, lip gloss and candles.
Gillette Venus Razor: I was certainly excited to try a new razor since the razor I have been using is the same one I learned to shave with about 13 years ago. The Gillette Sensor Excel for Women. Fortunately for me, they still sell the blades long after they have discontinued the handle. My old razor had 2 blades, and the Venus Embrace has 5, which made it a little scary to try!
I tried the Venus Embrace and the Olay refill cartridges. I did like that ANY refill cartridges fit the Venus handle, which is a pretty neat feature. I also liked that the head of the razor sort of pivoted to the contours of your legs. The Olay cartridge was awesome because you didn’t need to use soap when you shaved because the refill came with small bars of soap attached (see below yellow photo). However, the soap didn’t last as long as the blades could have and I do not like to waste blades since these are not the cheapest. I did get a very close shave and my legs stayed smooth for a longer amount of time than normal (vs my previous razor). Unfortunately, there were few things I liked about this razor. First off, I couldn’t hold on to the thing very well while my hands were soapy. And if you, like myself, use soap to shave your legs, this is a problem. My old razor, below, had a nice easy handle to grip.
Second, if you notice the size of the heads of the blades below, compared to the head of my other razor above, you will see quite a BIG difference. The larger head on the Venus made it really really hard to shave small areas, like your bikini line. As a regular beach and water baby, this would be a really hairy problem for me in the summertime. This small lapse in the design on the head turned me off of the razor completely. I would not purchase this in the future. I recently received the Shick Hydro Slick razor from BzzAgent. I like it so much better than the Gillette Venus. You can read my review of that razor HERE.
Ghiradelli Sea Salt Escape Chocolate bar: I don’t really like chocolate. I know, I know, how can that possibly be?!?! I am more of a sweet candy kind of girl. I imagined this chocolate bar, sitting on my desk for weeks. However, that was not the case. This chocolate was so tasty I have looked everywhere to buy it, but I have not found it! Anyone know where I can pick up this delicious treat?! This bar had bits of salty crumbs in it along with small bits of roasted almonds. Oh so delicious! I loved the salty taste along with the bit of crunch with the almonds. I couldn’t get enough of it!
Pilot FriXion Erasable pens: Yes, yes you read that right, ERASABLE pens. And not those erasable pens from when we were little that left eraser marks and bits of paper everywhere, or worse tore holes into your report. These erasable pens use a special heat infused ink that disappears when heat is applied (using the rubberized erasable tip). Supposably, according to their website, the ink does indeed ‘disappear’ but if you put the paper in the freezer it will reappear. I will have to test this! Let me know if you do and what happens! I loved this pen to death. I received a black and pink ink. I liked the black the best and simply cannot stop using it.I have become the envy of the office! Everyone wants this pen! The pen has a nice thickness to it, with a grip and has a neat design on it. It is a gel ink, ball point pen, so it writes pretty nice and smooth. Took me a couple tries to get it going when I first uncapped it but I haven’t had a problem since. Not only does the FriXion pen come in several different colors, but they also have erasable HIGHLIGHTERS! No way! I have searched high and low for more of these amazing pens and highlighters and found them at my local Rite-Aid, although I suspect your local Office Supply shop will have them too! The highlighters work pretty well…however, I don’t like them as much as the pens.
Have you or would you try any of these products? What do you like the best?
I just recently was able to try the Neutrogena Norwegian Formula Hand Cream through BzzAgent.
This lotion has been around for more than 40 years and was used primarily by outdoorsman and fisherman because of its glycerin rich formula. So, why do I want to be using a lotion that fisherman use? Because just one dab helped repair my dry, cracked skin, but not only that it smoothed out my cuticles and kept my manicures lasting longer. As a slight nail polish fanatic, nice cuticles and longer lasting manicures is what I really care about. You can read my previous post about nail care HERE.
I haven’t been able to find a great moisturizer for my hands and nails that isn’t super greasy. My previous lotion always caused me to end up with cat fur all over my hands as soon as I got into bed! Thankfully, this lotion starts out quite thick, but after just 5 minutes it absorbs into the skin leaving it baby powdery soft! I saw improvements in the overall look and feel of my hands in just one use. It even continues to work after I wash my hands. As a bonus, this lotion can also be used on elbows, feet and even as a lip balm!! This lotion smoothed out my alligator skin elbows overnight! I actually didn’t care for it as a lip balm because the taste wasn’t the most pleasant in my opinion. You can find this lotion for $3.99 at Wal-mart. Have you tried this lotion (or will you)? What did you think about it?
I can’t stand the sight of grubby nails. It is one of the first things I notice about people. Chipped, peeling, dirty and all around uncared for nails really bother me. I often get asked how I care for my nails so I will detail what I do to prep my nails for pretty polish!
If your nails are particularly grubby because of a day digging in the garden or building monumental sandcastles at the beach then you should probably use a nail scrub brush (below) to get the dirt out from under your fingernails. If your nails are clean, then skip this step!
While rinsing your hands under the faucet, scrub the tops of your nails and get underneath by scrubbing the tips of your fingers. Use soap if needed. Rinse and dry your hands. Next, gather all the tools necessary to prep your nails. I use the below:
From left to right: Nail Files, Cuticle Clippers, Cuticle Pusher and a Nail Buffer. You can obtain all of these things at your local Drug Store, Grocery Store or Beauty Supply Store. You can proceed to prep your nails in any order but I usually start with filing my nails to the desired length and shape. I like my nails to be sort of square, but there are lots of choices. This page might help you decide: Nail Shapes. Choosing an “Almond” Shape is never a good idea, in my opinion.
Use the roughest side of the nail file first, until you achieve the desired look. Then use the other side of the file to smooth out any rough edges. Don’t forget to file the sides of your nails to prevent ingrown nails. I then get to work on taming my cuticles. I use the cuticle pusher to push my cuticles back off of my nails. Doing this helps elongate your nails, and it will also make the base of your nails look much cleaner and neat.
If your cuticles appear to be taking over your nails, then it will be harder to push your cuticles back, and it may be slightly painful. If this is your case, then the best idea is to wait until after you get out of the shower to do this step. While your hands are damp and warm, it will be easier and less painful. The good news is, if you regularly keep up with your nails, your cuticles will hardly ever be overgrown.
After I push back my cuticles, I cut off any excess that is hanging around with my cuticle clippers.
This can be a scary tool. You want to make sure you only clip the excess cuticle, if you accidentally clip too close to your skin, you can start bleeding. This can take some practice, but it is easy to get the hang of. Clip the cuticles all around the base of your nail bed.
I like the tops of my nails to be smooth and without ridges. There are many ridge fillers (a base coat polish) on the market now to smooth out your nails, or they can be buffed with a nail buffer.
This step does not need to be repeated every time you prep your nails. It is an as needed step. If your nails have started to grow out and are showing lots of ridges, then go ahead and do this. I follow the steps that are printed on my nail buffer. I use a nail buffer I found at Sephora.
I only buff the base of my nails. I don’t want to make the tips of my nails any more thin than they already are!After you are finished, your nails should be smooth and shiny. If you are not going to put polish on your nails, you should now use a moisturizer. I use Neutrogena’s Norwegian Formula Hand Cream. I love this stuff! It leaves my hands so soft and smooth! Make sure to rub the moisturizer into your nails and all around your cuticles. If you are planning to paint your nails, then save this step until your nails are dry. Adding a moisturizer after polish will help keep your manicure looking fresh longer!
If you skipped the moisturizer step and are planning to paint your nails, you should most definitely use a base coat! A base coat will help strengthen and harden thin nails. But it will also prevent any staining from the polish you chose. I use Sally Hansen’s Maximum Growth base coat, since my nails are always very thin and bend easily.
One coat does the trick. It dries very quickly, so once it is hard to the touch you are ready to pick your polish!
Did you like this post? Follow my Nail blog, Possibly Polished, HERE and like me on Facebook HERE! Check back often!
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