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Kaia Naturals Bamboo Tapioca Beads & Cleansing Cloths review

laelene Posted in reviews，Tags: eco-friendly, green, pictures, products, reviews, skincare

13 April 2014

I’ve been subscribed to Kaia Naturals for awhile and saw a deal from them recently as they promoted their new Bamboo Tapioca Beads product. Since they were offering a sample for $5 and free shipping with the code “tapioca” (now expired from what I’ve seen), I decided to give it a whirl. I’ve been curious about this brand ever since they showed up in a sub box that I do not get.

brown paper envelope from kaia naturals in canada

When I got the quaint package, I was confused for a second before I saw it was from Kaia.

kaia naturals bamboo tapioca beads and juicy bamboo cleansing cloth sample with thank you note

A nice note and sample of the cleansing cloths came with my order.

kaia naturals bamboo tapioca beads sample tube

The little tube of bamboo tapioca beads.

I like the idea of having a powder you can mix when you’re ready to use some. It’s pretty clever to use different liquids as the base so you can get other benefits out of the product. I tried cleansing my face with some tea and the Bamboo Tapioca Beads. I liked the grainy beads and I might have just imagined it, but the powder smelled slightly chalky to me. I got overzealous with the amount of tea I used so my first try was way too watered down. You really just need wet hands for this one, lest the blended powder just gets wasted in a watery mess. My skin felt tighter afterwards and I’d definitely need a lotion to follow. This would be really useful for travel, since it takes up so little space.

I also tried the bamboo cleansing cloth, which I really like. The size of the cloth is not too big and the saturation of the essential oils and honey is perfect. It smelled somewhere between fragrant and medicinal. Since it claims to remove waterproof mascara with ease, I had to test that out. With a little extra focus rubbing my eyes, the mascara came off just like that. Great performing product that I totally need to get my hands on once my current pouches of cleansing cloths runs low. I’m really liking this brand, though it’s definitely a more premium product than I usually spring for. I’m a sucker for something eco-friendly though.

I had no idea they were in Canada, so online ordering is probably out of the question unless they happen to be offering free shipping one day. Instead, I’ve found some stores within 20 miles or so that I can go visit sometime. It’ll be a fun adventure!

24ClearIt Acne Therapy review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: acne, beauty, beauty box 5, boxes, pictures, products, reviews, skincare, subscriptions

10 April 2014

In lieu of the April Beauty Box 5, I opted for the 24ClearIt kit that they were offering. I received it today and I’m ready to see if this is a solution that will work for me! I’ve tried a bunch of products before and various things have worked better than others, but none have truly calmed my skin for that long. Part of it might be that I moved on to other products. I’ve never been very good at committing to one set of skincare. I just like variety too much!

Beauty Box 5 is $12 per box (or as discounted as $99 for an entire year, with an option in between) and comes with 5 cosmetic products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. You also have the option of buying it as a gift your box to a friend. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards products or boxes. This was a special promotional box in partnership with 24ClearIt.

Step 1: Cleanse. Active exfoliating cleanser to be used in AM and PM. This is a more liquidy cleanser than I expected, so I accidentally squeezed out more than I wanted to. I like the scrubbing feeling of the beads – just enough without feeling too rough on my skin or too weak to do any exfoliating. It had the slightest scent that was vaguely medicinal. I massaged it in until it started to get sticky from all the water evaporating.

Step 1a: Target. Advanced treatment mask to be used as spot treatment or full mask. A few times a week, there’s the option to add the mask to the regimen. It is very thick and smells a bit of the sulfur that is in it. I tried a little spot of it and it tingled a bit. It sure feels like it can help zap away trouble spots. I’m going to have to see how the entire face mask feels and I’ll probably only do it once a week.

Step 2: Clear. Essential clearing toner to be used in AM and PM. The toner was very watery as expected and smelled quite nice. Once again just a very light scent and it felt very refreshing on my skin. I patted it over my face and let it dry. It felt really good!

Step 3 AM: Treat. Clarifying treatment to be used in AM. I tried this for the first time at night, so I just tested a little bit of it to see what it was like. It felt tingly and I think this is the harshest of the products and might have the potential of drying out my skin. We’ll see when I apply a full face of it tomorrow morning. It definitely awakens the skin and I feel like bacteria is being killed off right then and there.

Step 3 PM: Restore. Recovery treatment to be used in PM. This is a really nice lotion that is far more soothing and healing than the daytime one. I can see how it would be perfect to restore the skin while you sleep. My skin felt wonderful after this and completely hydrated for the night. I felt no need for any other products, which I like.

So based on first impressions, I am liking this line of products. I took a picture of my skin before and I’ll compare it to how things are looking in a week or two. At the least, these products feel good on my face, which is nice. Only time will tell how effective they are for their purported use. I’m really glad I decided to try this and skip the standard box Beauty Box 5 sent out for April!

[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!]

Homegrown Collective March 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, cheese, cutting, food, homegrown collective, kitchen, knife, knives, panda, pictures, products, reviews, subscriptions

09 April 2014

You know, I’ve been wondering about the dry spell in sub boxes lately and I thought this GREENBOX should have arrived awhile ago. Whatever the case, I’m pleased to have received it today. This month’s cheese theme is very intriguing.

The Homegrown Collective GREENBOX is $39 per box + $9 shipping (or as discounted as $429 for an entire year, with options in between) and comes with fun and easy projects to live a more sustainable lifestyle. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program you can apply to join.

Project #1, knife sharpening: I love this! I’ve never sharpened my own knives before, but I’m sure I could use them better if I did. It’s also nice to get another knife since sharing one with Panda can get tricky when we’re both trying to cook in the kitchen. I’m going to have fun with this one. For some reason it makes me feel like a Japanese sushi chef. I’m sure the gloves and goggles will also come handy in other work around the house in the future.

Project #2, mozzarella cheese-making: I’m generally not that into cheese, but I’ve been getting into it more. This is a perfect chance to explore that type of food and feel like a scientist in the process. I’m also really glad to have a thermometer I can use for food, so I can check the temperature of meat I cook in the future! I’ve never owned this pen-looking type of food thermometer before and I feel so professional just having it. I also had no idea herbs can go into mozzarella cheese, so I’m curious how that will affect the taste.

No third project this time (a first). I wonder if it was because it was hard to keep with the theme or if the costs of all this was already reaching the value they could afford to send. No matter! Onto the info card talking about cheese for this month’s theme:

To get your own awesome green projects, subscribe to the Homegrown Collective today. You’ll feel so much craftier!

Pike’s Peak Rocks geode review

laelene Posted in reviews，Tags: colorado, escape monthly, geodes, nature, pictures, products, projects, reviews, rocks, stones

30 March 2014

I got this super cool “break at home” geode in my January Escape Monthly box and I finally decided to break it open today! It was my reward for cleaning up my room and getting more organized. Nearly all of my boxes upon boxes of stuff have been put into categorized boxes: face, body, bath, food, etc. I even have ones for packaging materials, paper goods, and other random stuff.

plain looking rock that is actually geode

You’d never guess what’s inside based on appearances.

hammer and two screwdrivers used as tools to break apart geode

It took quite a bit of pounding to break this fellow.

geode broken into four large pieces and a pile of small pieces

I wonder of they offer different colors or if all these break your owns are white-ish.

pieces of broken geode arranged on towel

I wish I knew how to break it into two halves! Looks better like this, don’t you think?

It was fun breaking this apart and seeing the beauty within revealed. I would have loved it more if it was a cool color (*ahem* purple), but it’s still a fascinating phenomenon to partake in. For a few dollars, I would totally get another to attempt to break into just two large pieces – I’d go for a strategy of a flat blade going around instead of alternating flat and pointed on a concentrated area like I did this time. I look forward to playing with these pieces and finding a nice way to display them.

NCLA Nail Wraps review

laelene Posted in reviews，Tags: beauty, nail wraps, nails, pictures, products, reviews

28 March 2014

So I’ve been trying out the nail wraps I got in my Petit Vour March box and I thought I’d share my experience. The design I got is called Aly Still En Vogue. I applied them on Sunday afternoon as instructed: start with clean nails, apply a coat of clear polish, and let dry. Then find a good size for your nail, peel it off, and place the rounded side against cuticle. Stretch the wrap, flatten against nail, and remove all air bubbles. Finally, file off the excess and apply additional coat of clear nail polish.

Here’s how they looked right after application:

As you can see, I wasn’t very good at aligning them on my nails (and I don’t think I was all that great at finding the right size either). I do think I could have stretched the nail wraps to better fit my nails, but at a glance, nobody would notice the slight imperfections in matching my nail size and shape. I thought the colors were great and the design is bold and fun. You definitely can’t achieve a look like this with polish, so it’s quite unique.

Here’s how they look on the strip. There’s one side with a tab that’s supposed to help you, but I found it somewhat difficult to get the strips off the no matter where I tried to peel from. Oftentimes I’d get some of the paper too, which made it challenging. With 26 strips, there is plenty more for another full manicure!

I had it in my head that these guys were supposed to last two weeks without chipping, but a few days in I started to see wear on them. Granted, I had not cleared all the bubbles and they weren’t sticking perfect to my nails, so water must have gotten in as I washed my hands and took a bath over the course of the next few days. I even had to remove one from a nail because so much was starting to come off. At least they’re easy to peel off!

All in all, these were fun to try and very convenient, but still took some skill to apply. I like how you can get all kinds of crazy designs with this type of product, but for the price I think I’ll be sticking with normal nail polish for the most part.

Escape Monthly March: Ireland Box Review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, chocolate truffle, guide book, ireland, irish, pictures, plants, products, remedy cream, reviews, shamrock seeds, shortbread, soda bread mix, subscriptions, tea bags, travel

24 March 2014

Ok, so the March Escape Monthly box had no sheep, but I still loved it. It was very much food focused, which is perfect for me because I can always use more snacks. We eat far more than we use other products, so this helps prevent an overstock of items. I’m sure Panda will be happy about that. 😛

Escape Monthly is just under $40 per box (with code for 20% off your subscription – see end of post) and comes with a variety of food, home, skincare items themed around a city. Each box comes with a Moon Handbooks guide for that region. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a lovely recurring referral commission program.

(click to enlarge and read full messaging)

Of course, who doesn’t think of green when you think of Ireland (particularly around St. Paddy’s Day?). I was actually surprised at how much green all the products have, giving it a very strong theme feel. I so wish I would have won this vacation… alas, hopefully I’ll win one eventually!

Here’s what came in the box:

Moon Handbooks guide to Living Abroad in Ireland – What a wonderful guide to have for any American looking to spend extended time in this beautiful country. I’ll certainly be keeping it handy for when Panda and I get a chance to go visit. And hey, maybe we’ll even be lucky enough to live there for awhile.

Human+Kind Family Remedy Cream – The fun packaging already sets the right tone. Then when I saw it’s all-natural and made in Ireland, this immediately got more bonus points. This cream is meant for all kinds of skin conditions, ranging from burns and scars to stings and sores. You can even use it for brittle nails! It has a cooling, herbal sort of scent that includes tea tree oil. I certainly feels soothing, but I’m going to have to use it more to see if it actually does anything to reduce irritation.

O’Neills Shamrock Shortbread – Mmm, what rich and buttery shortbread! I love the crunchiness and the sweet aroma. The shamrock shapes are large so there are only four cookies in the box, but each one makes a sufficient snack. This makes for a fantastic bit of Ireland that is just wonderful.

Butlers Mint Truffle – It says milk chocolate truffle on the card, but I actually got the dark chocolate mint. It’s a dark chocolate shell with a soft truffle center and little bits of crispy mint pieces. Yum! Certainly a very luxurious treat that tastes fabulous. Wow – it’s like a super fancy mint patty. I don’t usually even like mint chocolate!

Bewley Gift of the Gab tea – I can smell a strong tea through the plastic baggie inside. I haven’t yet brewed this, but it’s definitely the kind of tea I’d drink on an afternoon as a pick-me-up. If I was a breakfast person, it’d be a fabulous substitute for morning tea. Seems like it’s similar to Earl Grey.

Bewley’s Ground Irish Creme Coffee – Well, I don’t drink coffee so this is all Panda’s. I find it quite unique that the coffee grinds came in a can! I half expected them to be soaking in some creme or something. I’m sure Panda will like having a pot of this coffee – maybe we’ll even wait until his brother’s back so they can enjoy it together.

Hogan’s Brown Irish Soda Bread Mix – I’ve heard of soda bread, but I have no idea what it is exactly. I’m not even sure I’ve ever tried it, but it looks wonderful. As a huge fan of bread, I’m sure this will be much enjoyed (if I can make it well enough). I look forward to trying my baking with this product.

Auld Sod Shamrock Seeds – The bonus product is just precious. Shamrock seeds?! I love it and I can’t wait to get a little pot to plant them in. As soon as the plague of winter weather leaves us for good this year, I’m going to plant these! Think I’ll get any four-leaf ones? 🙂

I thoroughly enjoyed the items in this box. I actually discovered that there are variations and I’m quite happy with mine. The other type I saw had marmalade, soap, and a seaweed bath instead of the guide book, tea, and truffle chocolate. I already have the seaweed bath, own way too many soaps, and probably wouldn’t get around to opening a jar of marmalade for ages. What do you like most in the Ireland Escape Monthly box? If you want to sign up, try one of these codes (not sure which ones are still active): MEXICOESCAPE or YOURESCAPE for 20% off the lifetime of your subscription or GIFTESCAPE for 25% off.

Next up is Mexico next month! How wonderful that we’re getting another international theme. I love it! I expect some wonderfully bright colors and festive flavors.

Treatsie March 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, caramels, chocolates, pictures, reviews, snacks, subscriptions, treats, treatsie

20 March 2014

This month, the new premium version of Treatsie (which you’d get if you signed up after they changed their pricing) had a deluxe TCHO bar in addition to what I got. These bars are larger than the set of minis I have and include fun flavors like Galactic Gelato and Strawberry Rhubarb Pie.

Treatsie is $15 per box + $4.95 shipping and comes with artisan candy from 3-4 brands (I am grandfathered in for $15 for 3 brands and fewer items). That means about 6 or 7 different flavors of treats (or 4 or 5 for me). Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral link program.

CocoaPlanet Salted Caramel and CocoaMint chocolate bars: I didn’t understand the “pearls of flavor” until I bit in and found wonderful little pockets of caramel or mint scattered throughout the salted caramel and cocoamint bars/discs. It’s a nice round chocolate “bar” and there are directions on how to make hot chocolate with it. I think that’s a fabulous idea! I enjoy eating them as is too.

Big Picture Farm Cocoa Latte, Maple Cream, Chai, & Sea Salt & Bourbon Vanilla caramels: I’m not sure about the two with coffee and alcohol flavoring, since I like neither, so I think I’ll share them with someone else. I loved the chai, which tasted wonderfully of chai and gave me a nice warm sensation. The maple cream tasted like a pretty normal caramel to me and it wasn’t until I’d been chewing it for awhile that some of the maple and cream was noticeable. If subtle was their intention, they got that down.

TCHO Minibar Assortment: These are packaged beautifully and each comes with a fun description of the taste notes: there’s the PureNotes dark chocolate – extremely rich and “chocolatey,” the SeriousMilk “classic” milk chocolate with caramel notes, the PureNotes dark chocolate with layers of “fruity” notes, the PureNotes dark chocolate with light and “bright” notes, the SeriousMilk “cacao” milk chocolate with lush and fudgy notes, and the PureNotes dark chocolate with subtle “nutty” notes. Well, I know exactly what to expect with these! I’ve enjoyed the flavors I tried and I think these bars are a perfect little treat.

I’m still glad I’m locked in for the original box for now. I was plenty happy with the contents of this box and don’t feel too bad about missing on a large TCHO chocolate. Do you like the contents of the box this month?

Homegrown Collective February 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beeswax, boxes, face scrubs, honey, lip balms, pictures, reviews, subscriptions, sugar scrubs, wood butter, wood polish

18 March 2014

I’m so thrilled about this GREENBOX! Honey is such an awesome theme and this one also incorporates beeswax. Not only are there items for your skin, there’s a really cool wood project too.

Project #1, honey lip balm: This sounds lip-lickingly good. Honey in my lip balm seems like a great idea for soothing, creamy stuff. The honey dipper is so cute! I’m not sure if I want to get it all sticky and wet. For the tubes, I’m thinking I can decorate them and make my own blinged out versions. Sharpies and gems at the ready!

Project #2, honey sugar face scrub: What a simple, wonderful scrub. I’ve known that honey is good for killing bacteria and I could certainly use that for the acne on my face. It’s a strange sensation to put something so gooey on my face and it’s amusing that it’s such a sweet concoction. I’m a sucker for a scrub!

Project #3, beeswax wood butter: Now that I have a home, I am always looking out for ways to add personality to it with home goods. Coasters are certainly a welcome project to make and having a wood butter to help care for wood is fantastic. I’m looking forward to polishing things up! [update: check out the completed project!]

Then there’s the info card explaining the bee theme for this box:

If you want some of these kinds of projects for yourself, subscribe to the Homegrown Collective now!

Ipsy March 2014: The Destination Beauty review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: boxes, ipsy, makeup, pictures, products, reviews, subscriptions

16 March 2014

Wow, quite possibly the worst bag I’ve received to date. Not a single item that I would use or plan on keeping. I’m also not sure why there were only 4 items this time – that’s never happened during my subscription. I might have to consider cancelling this and going exclusively with Beauty Box 5, which has been impressing me far more.

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.

be a bombshell eyeshadow quad in bora bora – I do like this palette better than the other one I could have received, but that’s the only upside. I mean, how else can I make it clear on my profile that I don’t want eye products? I indicated in multiple places in my profile, but IpsyMatch doesn’t seem to work.

Vita Liberata Luxury Tan Lotion – I’ve never tried tan lotion and I’m really not interested in it. There were three other items I could have gotten instead of this and I would have preferred ANY of them. This is the only item I don’t want – bleh.

bareMinerals marvelous moxie lipstick in Get Ready – Adorable little lipstick, but not a product I use. I’ll go for lip gloss, lip balm, even lip stains, but lipstick just doesn’t work for me. The other item I could have gotten instead is a lip gloss… why didn’t I get that? 🙁

Chella eyeliner pen in Indigo Blue – What a cool color, but way too bold for me. I might try eyeliner on a night out (which happens like once a year), but not something quite so bright in color. I could have gotten a BB cream or nail polish instead and I would rather have received either. Hopefully I can trade for something I’ll use.

The bag itself was decent and I like the concept of featuring artists, but everything inside was disappointing. If you want to trade, check out my FSOT list.

Beauty Box 5 March 2014 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: beauty, beauty box 5, body butter, boxes, facial pads, hand creams, makeup bases, nail creams, pictures, products, reviews, skincare, soaps, subscriptions

15 March 2014

Time for the March Beauty Box 5, with the theme of spring cleaning. The focus of this one is to achieve clean, gorgeous skin and I’m loving the items included!

The month of spring cleaning!

beauty box 5 march 2014 information card

Info on the products with prices of their full sizes.

Jane’s Pick All Natural Soap: They didn’t mark the variation on the sample pack, but based on the pictures on the site, it looks like I got Kind (orange, tangerine, vanilla). It’s a sweeter scent than I would have imagined but I like the lightness of the scent it leaves behind. It foamed up quite well and didn’t dry out my hands! That’s a win in my book.

Tree Hut Shea Body Butter: I got this in a blissmobox awhile ago and I love it! So happy to get another one, since I was just running out of it. The Coconut Lime scent is fabulously refreshing and the texture is amazingly bouncy in a way no other lotion is. I love how it absorbs in the skin and is not greasy at all. Plus, it’s supposed to have anti-aging properties to keep my skin in tip top shape.

Bellapierre Cosmetics Makeup Base: I’m not really sure how to use this since I’m not a makeup user, but I think it can help lighten the redness of my breakouts. I tried a bit and even though it looked a lot lighter than my skin tone, I think it blended in quite well. Could be good to use before I apply my BB cream, which I’ve found rubs off during the day and leaves my face looking redder.

H2O Plus Hand and Nail Cream: I love this brand and this hand cream smells so good. It also absorbs really well and doesn’t have any greasiness. I like that this is for hands and nails, so I don’t need to worry about a separate nail or cuticle cream. It feels great on my hands and keeps them nice and soft. I hope they sell travel sizes, because I’m going to want to bring this around with me!

Swissco Dual-Sided Facial Pad: Yes! These types of facial pads are a new staple for my beauty routine. I currently have one on the shower and one by the sink, but I’m delighted to have another one as they wear out and I want to replace them. I’m starting to be quite a fan of the brand in general, after the exfoliating gloves we got in the Jan box and now this facial pad.

What an awesome box this month! I love skincare products and each of these will be great for my skin. They did a wonderful job with the theme and including quality products that I would absolutely get more of. Which product stands out to you? If you sign up for Beauty Box 5 by 3/31/14, you can even opt to swap the April box for a 60-day 24ClearIt kit (valued at $59.95). It’ll come with five items as outlined below and I’m totally opting for it. Anything to try to get rid of my acne!

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((little fat notebook))

Kaia Naturals Bamboo Tapioca Beads & Cleansing Cloths review

24ClearIt Acne Therapy review

Homegrown Collective March 2014 review

Pike’s Peak Rocks geode review

NCLA Nail Wraps review

Escape Monthly March: Ireland Box Review

Treatsie March 2014 review

Homegrown Collective February 2014 review

Ipsy March 2014: The Destination Beauty review

Beauty Box 5 March 2014 review

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laelene

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