Treatsie June review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , ,
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I got my very first Treatsie box for this month and I’m super excited! I love sweets, especially chocolate, caramels, fudge, and the like. Exactly what Treatsie offers. 🙂

Treatsie got started recently, after being successfully funded on Kickstarter. They’re down in Arkansas, which is refreshing to see since you don’t get many startups from the south. They cost $15 monthly and they send a lovely box of artisan candy from confectioners around the country.

Each box comes with artisan candy from 3 brands. That usually means 5 or 6 different flavors of treats. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral link program.

Here’s what came in the June box:

treatsie carboard box with sticker logo branding

treatsie box tissue paper wrapping with sticker

june treatsie box contents with liddabit sweets, askinosie chocolate, and lambrecht gourmet products

june treatsie box contents laid out with lollipop, caramels, toffee, and chocolates

june treatsie box contents backs including lollipop, caramels, toffee, and chocolates

I loved the fig caramels the most due to the fun chunks of fig in them. I’ve yet to try the lollipop and I’m slowly working through the toffee, which is huge! I love how it’s crisp but has soft portions. The chocolate is super cute and rather bitter. Great little bite size.

So far so good! I would definitely want to get more caramels and toffee if they’re not too hard to find or expensive. I can’t wait to continue discovering amazing confections through Treatsie!

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Goodies Co. June Taster’s Boxes

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The June Goodies box just arrived and I am loving it! It’s full of crunchy delights.

goodies co june taster's box contents

The box came with Pringles Baked Crispy Cheese Stix, Lay’s Stax Que Rico Adobadas potato crisps, gimMe Honey Dijon Roasted Seaweed Snacks Crumbles, Duchy Originals from Waitrose Highland All Butter Shortbread biscuits, Dream Water SleepStat Nighttime Nectar Sleep & Relaxation Shot, and Pastitas Black Pepper Onion Pasta Chips.

The Pringles Stix are a very strong cheese flavor and I think they’d be great with something else, but on their own they are overwhelming for me. The Lay’s Stax are delicious and a wonderful texture – definitely something I would eat again in the future! I love the taste that is salty with a hint of sweet and some fragrant herbs. I’m pretty sure they’re baked since they’re not greasy at all. The gimMe seaweed crumble smells fabulous and tastes good, though the dijon flavor is a bit strong. This would be perfect with a bowl of rice or something a bit bland. I’d love to try their other flavors! As for the only sweet thing in the bunch, the Duchy shortbread cookies are lighter than I expected and less crumbly than most shortbread I’ve had. There’s a rich butter flavor and I would love to make a cup of tea to pair these with. I am saving the Dream Water to try when I need help sleeping, but I expect it to be mildly sweet and hopefully effective. Finally, the Pastitas pasta chips are such an intriguing crunchy-ending-in-chewy texture with a lovely pepper and onion taste. They’re light and not greasy, flavorful but not too salty. A great replacement for your current fried potato chips!

Goodies Co. included a lovely assortment of crispy, crunchy items this month and it very well could have been their theme. Now the June box has become my favorite from them thus far, since I was interested in each and every item included! Some hit home more than others, but I am glad I got each to try. Bravo!

Powerbank backup battery & USB noodle chargers review

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3

I’ve been using these two sets of products for the past two weeks or so and I can finally go out for the day without a single worry about how long my phone might last and when (not even if) it will die on me. You see, whenever I went out and needed to use navigation, the camera, and some other apps, my iPhone battery would quickly drain. At best I’d get about 4 hours of use out of it. Certainly not enough for a full day out, where I’m trying to get places and take pictures/videos and maybe play some games too.

iphone charging accessories including purple car charger, wall plug, flat noodle cable, and powerbank backup batteryWhen Panda showed me a deal on this site called nomorerack*, I was intrigued. The site looked legit enough and the prices were excellent. I figured for about $30 it was worth the risk to order them to try out. I decided on the Powerbank 5600mAh Cell Phone Battery Backup Emergency Power Source to recharge my battery on the go and the 3-pack 8-pin to USB noodle cable set for iPhone 5 to connect to a car or building’s power source. This way I could charge up in the car while driving, but I could also have an external battery source when I couldn’t just plug in somewhere. It has freed up my phone usage so much and I can now wear out my phone however I please! I never have to worry whether my phone can last the day anymore.

Powerbank 5600mAh Cell Phone Battery Backup Emergency Power Source

The external battery was something I had been considering, so when Panda saw a deal for it, he sent me the link and I began to explore what nomorerack had to offer. At first I was looking at the 2600mAh models, which are about the size of a tube of lipstick. Upon doing some research, I found that 2600mAh is about enough to charge up my phone once over, but when you factor in some of the energy lost in conversion, I feared I’d only get a 75% charge out of it. Better than nothing, but not good enough. So, I opted for the 5600mAh one that could charge my phone twice over, or maybe a little bit less than that. At the least I was sure I could get one full charge out of it. The size is still very compact and really doesn’t make much difference to me compared to a lipstick-sized one.

So far I’ve been able to consistently get 1.5 charges from it, but I’m hoping that a few more uses will help maximize the performance to just about two charges. Even if it doesn’t improve, I am very happy with having that extra charge because it actually extends the time my phone can be used beyond just twice as long. So let’s say I’m out all day and my phone dies after 3 hours of use. Usually, that would have been it for me, unless I could tether myself to a wall outlet for an hour. Well now I can use my Powerbank to charge back up over the course of an hour and a half or so, during which I can be using my phone. Then it can last me another 3-4 hours, totaling 7.5-8.5 hours! At that point, if I’m still out, I can charge it for another 30-45 minutes and use it for maybe one more hour after that. That’s a good 9-10 hours compared to the 3-4 I was getting before. Awesome!

3-pack 8-pin to USB noodle cable set for iPhone 5

Then there’s the 3-piece set of charging accessories I have. I had gotten a very cheap car charger before, only to find that it got rejected by my iPhone. I was afraid that might happen with this one as well, but so far so good. That means that whenever I’m in a car I definitely have a power source to charge up my phone. Also, I absolutely love the flat noodle cable. My original cable was getting kind of beat up and this different design looked like it might be more effective against the bending pressures put upon it when plugged in. I love how it rolls up a lot easier than the round cables and is less likely to tangle. What a great design! And finally, I have an extra USB plug charger head to use for charging my phone and the Powerbank. To top it all off, I got this set in my favorite color!

As you can tell, I am very pleased with both these purchases. If you struggle with the battery power your portable devices, I’d definitely recommend getting either or both of these sets of accessories. It frees you up to spend the entire day out and about as you please! On a similar note, nomorerack offers a ton of awesome products and I would definitely recommend buying from them if you’re in the market! Excellent quality and performance on the products at highly discounted prices. In fact, nomorerack will be making an appearance later as the 365great of the day. 🙂

 

*referral link – if you’re interested in signing up, send me your email and you can get a $10 credit to use (I believe the order minimum is $30)

Ipsy June 2013: On The Wild Side

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
2

I was deciding whether I wanted to get Ipsy again when I inadvertently missed the deadline to unsubscribe, so I figured why not keep going with it for another month? I mean, for $10 I’m getting a bunch of products and if I don’t like them I can always trade. I was eager to find spoilers but as each one was revealed I got more and more concerned, since none were products that I use. However, I’m actually enjoying discovering this new stuff and maybe even starting to use some makeup?

Ipsy is $10 per glam bag and comes with 5 or so beauty/skincare products. Bags are sent monthly with no option to skip. There’s usually a waitlist to get the subscription. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards free products.

ipsy june 2013 bag items with card including cailyn gel eyeliner in iron, chella ivory lace highlighter pencil, nyx rouge cream blush in bronze goddess, j.cat sparkling cream palette in volta, and starlooks lip pencil in bare

I liked the texture of the bag a lot more than the previous one, though I don’t like the pattern as much. Still, I didn’t think I’d like it at all when I first saw the spoilers, so I’m glad it impressed me more than expected. As for the products, here are my thoughts:

ipsy june 2013 bag items including cailyn gel eyeliner in iron, chella ivory lace highlighter pencil, nyx rouge cream blush in bronze goddess, j.cat sparkling cream palette in volta, and starlooks lip pencil in bare

Cailyn Line-Fix Gel Eyeliner in Iron – trade. I’ve never tried applying gel eyeliner before, so I might as well go all out and get it in my favorite color (purple). I’m definitely putting this up for trade so I can get all wild with purple eyeliner.

Chella Ivory Lace Highlighter – keep. I’ve been noticing how my eyebrows look more recently, so I’m totally ready to experiment with this highlighter and see what it can do for me. At the least it should be able to help calm down some of my redness.

NYX Rouge Cream Blush in Bronze Goddess – trade. While I like the shade of this blush and I’m super curious about cream blushes, I just don’t use blush so it’d be such a waste. I’m sure there’s someone else who can make good use of this and trade me for something I’d actually use more than once.

J.cat Sparkling Cream Palette in Volta – trade/keep. I’m going to list this up for trading but if nobody wants it (and it seems most people don’t really care for glitter), next time I go out at night I’ll use some of this to add playfulness. I don’t mind being silly with some glitter!

Starlooks Lip Pencil in Bare – trade. I don’t think I will ever want or need a lip pencil. It’s just not my thing. Definitely going to swap for something else with this one!

What would you have done if you got these products? What are you planning on doing with the ones you did get? Let me know and definitely reach out if you’re interested in a trade. Don’t forget to see what else I have up on my FSOT list.

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this bag and wanted to share what I got!]

Goodies Co. April & May Taster’s Boxes

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
0

Here’s a quick review of the last two Goodies boxes as I wait for my June one!

I totally forgot to take a picture of the April box since I got caught up filming the unboxing, so here’s an awkward screenshot from the video.

goodies co april taster's box contents

It came with Angie’s Popcorn in Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn, True Bar Coconut Cashew bar, Celsius Sparkling Cola energy drink, Zone Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough bar, Green Giant Multigrain Sweet Potato chips, Olomomo Cherry Vanilla Dream Almonds, and a $50 gift card for nakedwines.com. The kettle corn was a little sweet for my taste, but great for anyone who likes their popcorn sweet. The sweet potato chips tasted quite good, though they were a bit greasier than I expected. The Celsius drink tastes funky to me, probably due to whatever they use to sweeten it, plus I don’t drink energy drinks, so it was just “meh” to me. The Zone Perfect bar was a bit too dense and energy bar tasting (vs. like a snack bar). I haven’t tried the others yet and I have no use for the gift card since I don’t drink! I think they probably could have included one more salty item rather than so many sweet treats, but otherwise it was good to try out these snacks.

Then there was the May Taster’s box, which was my favorite so far (probably due to the candy ;)):

goodies co may taster's box contents

This was also the most varied box of products, with not only snacks and drinks, but dips/sauce and kitchen items! It came with Zico Coconut Water, Sour Power Straws in Pink Lemonade and Blue Raspberry, Beanitos Black Bean chips, Numi Moroccan Mint tea, California Olive Ranch Olive Oil packets, Wholly Guacamole chip clip and coupon, and Bronco Bob’s Mango Chipotle sauce. Oh yeah, there was also supposed to be SuperSeedz Sea Salt Pumpkin Seeds, but mine was missing and I just got it – haven’t had a chance to try them yet. As for the rest, I tried to enjoy the coconut water but I’m just not into it, the sour straws were yummy (pink lemonade all the way!), the black bean chips were kind of bland, and I haven’t tasted the others yet. I’m looking forward to cooking with the olive oil and sauce, once I figure out what I can actually cook, haha. The chip clip has been quite useful for my snacking and I do believe I’ve had the Wholly Guacamole brand, which is good.

I’d say the May box was their best yet and I hope they continue like this for the coming months!

Blissmobox: Namaste box

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Let’s go back to six months ago, when I got the December blissmo box – I had chosen the Namaste one because I enjoy yoga and was definitely interested in products related to that lifestyle.

blissmobox is just under $25 per month with shipping (or as discounted as just under $120 for 6 months) and comes with eco-friendly products in themes like beauty, snacks, home, pets, and more. Each month you choose from two or three themes, or skip if none of them appeal to you. They do not offer a referral program.

the choices for december's blissmobox: namaste box, feel good snacks, or skin appeal

The three choices for the December blissmobox.

I opened the box at night because I couldn’t wait for daylight, so the lighting on these might not be so great.

opened blissmobox december 2012 with information card

collage of yogavive popped crisps peach apple chipsYogaVivePeach Apple popped chips – Let’s start with my favorite product! These apple chips with peach flavoring were amazing; the perfect amount of sweetness, crispiness, and not a bit of grease, thankfully. I once bought apple chips thinking they were baked only to find they were fried and greasy – totally gross. These are fat free as well! I was pretty excited when I saw them at Whole Foods not long after, so I bought a full-sized bag and devoured it. This is just about the only way I could ever eat more servings of fruit.

collage of manduka soothing citrus mat renew sprayMandukaSoothing Citrus Mat Renew spray – I’m really happy I got this! I had seen it being sold at YogaWorks and it was on my list of things to try, so this is perfect. I haven’t practiced yoga since then, unfortunately, but the moment I do you bet I’ll be spraying down my mat with this. I can’t wait to try it! I think their frog logo is super cute too, not that it means anything towards the performance of the product. Still, I’m liking this brand! Now I just need to get back into yoga…

collage of star essence flower and gem essences yoga mind mouth mistStar Essence, Luminously Present Yoga Mind Mouth Mist – This is another item I’m holding on to until I get back into yoga. Apparently you spray it in your mouth and it helps balance you and hold in “vibrational frequencies.” Perhaps I can try meditating with it as well. It consists of various flower and gem essences, with some citrus essential oils so I’d imagine a sweet, fragrant scent/taste. Very interesting concept that I will have to test out.

collage of esutras ayurvedic digestif in puffed coriander and raw jaggeryeSutras, Ayurvedic Digestif kit with Raw Jaggery & Puffed Coriander – I should probably eat more of these to help with my digestion, but I don’t really know how to incorporate them! Eating them straight is a little odd and the flavors are strong for me. I could sprinkle it in my salads if I ate those (probably should add that to my diet as well). I thought it was really interesting that coriander is supposed to help with bad breath. I definitely felt these working through my system so if you have digestive issues, this kit would be great.

collage of aura cacia rejuvenating argan oilAura CaciaRejuvenating Argan Oil – Argan oil is useful for skin and hair care, so I’m sure I will enjoy using this. I currently have another bottle I’m using so I haven’t tried this particular brand yet but it’s organic and sustainably sourced from Morocco, so I already like it! I mostly use it for my hair but I should probably start applying some to my skin as well.

This yoga-themed box definitely felt appropriate and included items that I can incorporate into my practice. I’m looking forward to when I can make it to yoga classes again!

Yuzen November 2012 edition

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Let’s go back in time to the fall, when I got this AMAZING smelling Yuzen box.

Yuzen is $26 per month and comes with around 5 or 6 eco-friendly beauty, skincare, food/snacks, and home products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. Sometimes there’s a waitlist to get the subscription. They do not offer a referral program.

*Disclosure: As a super fan, I was invited to be the Yuzen Ambassador to help them spread the word about their brand. Starting with the October box, I began to receive them for free. I was not compensated otherwise and all opinions are my own, irregardless of my relation to Yuzen. I just happen to think they’re awesome (as does everyone else I’ve heard from). :)

collage of unwrapping of november 2012 yuzen box

The conversion to organza bags instead of shredded paper is official. Looks great!

Click on the pictures for the full sizes so you can enjoy all the details of each product!  You can even zoom in to read all the messaging.

collage of shea radiance kalahari melon whipped shea butter included in the november 2012 yuzen boxShea Radiance – Kalahari Melon Whipped Shea Butter: The first thing that I pulled out was this tub of very thick whipped shea butter. I liked the idea and the texture, but I am not a fan of the smell. For some reason the smell of shea butter doesn’t appeal to me, though I love the product. I can’t quick pick out the melon scent, or possibly I’m mistaking it for the shea’s natural scent. The butter is also not as soft as I expected – it’s actually pretty solid, though it is fluffy. I’m going to pass this on to someone else to use because I think it’s a good product.

collage of zents bath salts in mandarin and earth included in the november 2012 yuzen boxZents – Mandarin & Earth bath salts: As soon as I could get these out of the bag, I reached for them! They smell fabulous! I didn’t even want to use them at first because I loved getting a whiff of them just by putting them in the room. It was a great way to scent my room and promote a relaxing atmosphere. When I finally did get around to using them, I was enjoying the aroma so much I hardly even paid attention to how it made my skin feel. It was definitely a very pleasant experience to bathe with these salts and I actually liked the combination of their scents a lot so I mixed them. There’s a sweetness and earthiness that make a lovely blend.

collage of savane protective moisturizer with baobab, manketti, and yangu included in the november 2012 yuzen boxSavane Organic Skincare – Protective Moisturizer: This is a brown-colored lotion that is more runny than most I’m used to. It comes come in an elegant stainless steel bottle and incorporates exotic ingredients I haven’t heard much of, like baobab, manketti, and yangu. It has a scent I can’t quite place that is very unique. It goes on smooth and doesn’t leave any greasy residue and the small bottle and pump are great for putting on your desk, keeping in the car, or even in your bag if you are careful the pump doesn’t get pushed.

collage of keeki lip shimmer balm in ooh lala included in the november 2012 yuzen boxKeeki Pure & Simple – Ooh La La Organic Lip Shimmer Stick: What a cute little lip shimmer! It’s a fun oval shape, which I’ve never seen before and I’m a sucker for unique packaging. It reminds me a lot of the Burt’s Bees lip shimmers – almost the same color and “shimmeriness” to it. There’s even a hint of minty freshness as well. It goes on well and is very smooth. I’ve been using it a lot whenever I need a lip balm or want to spruce up my lips.

simple squares cinnamon clove whole food snack bar included in the november 2012 yuzen boxSimple Squares – Cinnamon Clove Whole Food Snack Bar: I ate this up so fast I forgot to take pictures of the actual bar! That’s a good sign for its taste. It has a chunky sort of texture so when you bit in it wasn’t just some mushy bar. I liked that, as well as the flavor. Great little snack to have whenever you need a sweet boost that won’t leave you thirsty. I would get more if I ever ran into them.

collage of gaiam tv free trial offer info card included in the november 2012 yuzen boxGaiam TV – Free Trial Offer & Info Card: Gaiam TV (.com) provides all kinds of streaming videos to promote wellness, whether it’s exercising, eating well, meditating, or taking supplements. It’s a great place to find videos to inspire, motivate, guide, and teach anyone who wants to live healthier. I actually haven’t tried this trial, but I had tried a different one previously and if I watched TV I might get it, but I just wouldn’t use this site fully.

Another great box that provided a diverse selection of products! I love how everything had a warm feeling and really set the mood for the fall.

Julep hand care review

laelene Posted in reviews
3

Last month, I received a set of Julep hand care products to test for a focus group. While I already shared my feedback in the surveys for the company, I figured I might as well share it with you too. I was sent a bag with five products, three of which were the ones I was to test and two of which were supplements to ensure all my hand care needs could be met by Julep products.

side by side collage of julep reusable bag and julep products including hand cream, glycolic hand scrub, oxygen nail treatment, cuticle serum, and nail polish remover wipes

They came with a reusable bag. I received the hand cream, oxygen nail treatment, mighty nail and cuticle cream, glycolic hand scrub, and nail polish remover pads.

julep hand care products including hand cream, glycolic hand scrub, oxygen nail treatment, and cuticle serum

Four of the items out of their boxes.

I was only testing the three items in white boxes, but let me share my thoughts on all the products.

open packet of julep one-step polish remover pad with pad peeking out of packagingOne-Step Polish Remover Pad – The very first item I tried was one of the nail polish remover pads because I had some nail polish that I needed to remove before I could start testing. It was a pretty fibrous pad that was very wet and it almost got all of my nail polish off, but the solution evaporated a bit too fast so I couldn’t quite get all ten nails. It performed better than the La Fresh travel wipe nail polish remover (which has acetone), but nowhere near as well as the La Fresh eco-beauty nail polish remover acetone-free pad (my all-time favorite nail polish remover). Would I buy these? In a pinch, maybe, but as long as I can get my acetone-free, amazing-smelling La Fresh eco-beauty wipes then I have no need for others.

comparison of la fresh nail polish remover wipes on left, la fresh eco-beauty nail polish remover acetone-free on right

The wipe on the right is my fav.

small drop of julep glycolic hand scrub in palm of handGlycolic Hand Scrub – Every morning of testing, I got up and exfoliated my hands with the glycolic scrub. It is a thick creamy texture and you only need a small dollop. The little exfoliating beads/grains are actually from apricot seeds and the product smells fabulous! The scrub was smooth and created a slippery sensation as I scrubbed my hands. I really enjoyed this product and I definitely noticed a difference in my skin immediately after use. My hands were softer and the skin felt very supple. It was fantastic! I would definitely continue buying this product and I have actually used it for my body as well, which feels wonder as well. This was my favorite of all the products.

drop of julep oxygen nail treatment on brush hovering over bottle openingOxygen Nail Treatment – Every three or four days, I was to apply the oxygen nail treatment and keep it on until the next application. It’s very similar to nail polish, except that it is less drippy. I found that because of this thicker consistency, each layer on my nail was much thicker than nail polish would have been. You brush on two layers of the treatment and your nails have a subtle pink finish – they call it “nail makeup” – and it’s nice whether you want to feel like you have nail polish on or you want it to be practically invisible. My nails definitely looked brighter and whiter after using this, but I didn’t feel like it made them stronger. In fact, a split I had in my nail got worse so it didn’t seem to help slow down damage. I might consider repurchasing if I found my nails were really yellowing, but if I needed to strengthen them I’d try something else.

julep mighty nail cuticle serum brushMighty Nail & Cuticle Serum – Once the nail treatment dried, I could brush on the cuticle serum. Now here’s where I got confused – first, what should cuticles look like? I tried searching around but got no satisfying results. I think mine look pretty healthy, so I really didn’t know what to look for in terms of improvement. I did have one of those weird bits if skin on the side of my nail that was sticking out, so I wondered if it might help that? That seemed too ambitious though. Second, the serum is supposed to help with nail ridges and strengthening them as well, but now could I do that when I already applied the oxygen nail treatment? Alas, it’s a mystery to me. I was never sure how much I should put on (so I erred on the side of too much) and I had no idea how to determine if it was working, so I don’t know what to make of this product. The good thing is that I still have plenty, so now that I’m not using the oxygen nail treatment, I will apply it directly to my nails to see if it helps with the ridges.

drop of julep hand cream in palm of handHand Cream with SPF 30 – Once everything else was applied and dried, I finished off with the hand lotion since the scrub makes your skin more vulnerable to the sun. This hand cream has SPF 30 protection and it really minds me of a thicker version of sunblock. Luckily, it doesn’t have that weird smell but it is the same kind of white. It applies non-greasy but I felt it wasn’t as hydrating as I would like. I would probably pair this with one of my non-SPF but more moisturizing hand creams to get the best of both worlds.

All in all it was great to test these products and get a chance to find out if I’d ever want to buy them. Depending on your needs and preferences, you might want to purchase some of them to use as well.

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review, though I did receive compensation for participating in the focus group and providing private feedback.]

Influenster Spring Fever VoxBox

laelene Posted in reviews,Tags: , , , ,
3

got it from influensterAfter a very long wait, I finally received my Influenster Spring VoxBox yesterday! It included five items ranging from hair care to lip gloss to a snack and it came in a cute little box. Check it out:

influenster voxbox

The Influenster VoxBox.

influenster spring fever voxbox card insert

It’s Spring Fever time!

influenster spring fever voxbox product information card

Information on the items included.

influenster spring fever voxbox contents including nyc new york color glossy lip balm, secret antiperspirant/deodorant, schwarzkopt professional osis dust it, broadway nails press-on manicure nails, and tastykakes snack

Ta-da! The box and all its contents.

collage of secret antiperspirant/deodorant clear gel in completely clean

Secret antiperspirant/deodorant clear gel in Completely Clean.

collage of nyc applelicious glossy lip balm in big apple red

NYC New York Color Glossy Lip Balm in Big Apple Red

collage of tastykakes s'mores snack

Tastykakes snack in S’mores.

collage of broadway nails press-on manicure nails in just say yes

Broadyway Nails press-on manicure in Just Say Yes (part of the Nicole Scherzinger Signature Series).

collage of schwarzkopf professional hair osis dust it

Schwarzkopf Professional Osis Dust It.

This was a nice box and I’m really enjoying it! Still trying to figure out the hair dust thing though…

Book recap: The Zappos Experience

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Ever since I graduated college, I’ve been trying to get back into reading. I was doing pretty well in Singapore since there were a bunch of books at the office and I was pretty inwardly focused for a bit. I’ve only managed a book every month or two, but I’m still chugging along the best I can. I often take a bunch of random notes about things I want to remember and then of course it either a) doesn’t make sense when I look back or b) is rather illegible so I can’t figure out what I wrote. Sooo I figure, why not put it all together into something a little more coherent?

the zappos experience book

Photo credit: Michelli website


The Zappos Experience is authored by Dr. Joseph Michelli, who analyzes great organizations and breaks down what they do to be successful into a blueprint for how you can adopt those strategies for your own organization’s success. He spends time within these organizations and interviews a ton of people from all departments and levels to gain his insights. I’ve actually read all his books so far and each has been useful in thinking about what behaviors create a good environment for great work to be done consistently. Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos, actually wrote a book of his own (Delivering Happiness) and I think he puts it very well in his foreword for The Zappos Experience: Delivering Happiness shares the why of your business while The Zappos Experience share the how. For that reason, I think you should read Delivering Happiness first, if you haven’t already. Oh, and if you have no idea what Zappos is… you might want to read Delivering Happiness.

What I got out of The Zappos Experience is that culture is vital. You tap into people’s feelings, get them invested in the company, and have a set of rituals to engage them. By creating a vibrant culture filled with coworker interactions, celebrations, and discussions, you offer something that everyone can connect with. Zappos refuses to hire those who do not fit into their company culture. They carefully evaluate the fit of the person throughout the interview and training process and even offer new hires something like $1000 to leave if they don’t feel like Zappos is home. I think a lot more companies should put more emphasis on their culture because when you do that, the entire company feels more like a unit and it lessens the potential for drama.

Another important thing you can do is investing in your people. This could be anything from offering a library of books that they can borrow from the office to sending them on training programs. When you care about your people, you should care about their development, both personal and professional. Taking care of them not only builds loyalty, but it prepares them to continue to take on greater roles. Sure, some people might take advantage of this to get the most out of it and bail, but the majority of people will really appreciate being appreciated.

Finally, I really like the idea of rituals, whether daily, weekly, monthly, or otherwise. Rituals in this sense create a predictable pattern that everyone can expect. For example, I’m sure most companies have weekly meetings, maybe even a monthly retreat. This can also cover the way you celebrate – maybe you make it a habit of having a small party whenever it’s someone’s birthday, or taking a new hire out to lunch to socialize with the team, or throwing a nighttime soiree when there’s a holiday coming up. Whatever you choose to do, I think being consistent is key. You don’t want someone left out and feeling less important! Beyond celebrations, there are the day-to-day rituals that set a tone for how work can get done as well. I was in a hair salon in China when they gathered for their morning pep talk, which included a shared chant and opportunity to point out someone who had done a great job the day before. This quick meet-up doesn’t take long, but it can start off everyone’s day on a better note and offer a chance to discuss things.

Oh and one side note that’s kind of its own topic: customer service is basically problem-solving. So if you’re the type who likes to resolve issues, a customer service-focused role might be good. Customers come to you with a problem, whether something went wrong or they just have a question. You have your own database of information and knowledge to tap into, a certain amount of resources and capabilities, and you use those to help match up what the customer wants with what you can offer. It’s often a compromise, but with some creativity, you can solve a problem in an unexpected but delightful way. Zappos is great at doing that (and even delighting when customers don’t have a problem). I love it when a company goes above and beyond to delight me and I think that sort of service really takes things to another level!

For those of you looking for ways to improve how your business (or even your life) is run, you’ll find some really great tips and thought-provoking questions in this book that will get you well on the way to a more engaged, inspired, connected experience.

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