I received my first Influenster VoxBox in the mail this month, and I was excited to try it out! I first heard about Influenster while blog surfing one night, and ending up on a blog that I had never read before. After looking around for a bit, I found that the writer was an Influenster member and the concept was intriguing.
After signing up at the website, I shortly received an invite to join and was able to look through the full scope of the website. It is fantastic! A wide range of subject matter to chose from (and focus on the things that are most interesting to you) and within those specific subjects, tons and tons of companies and products - with feedback from other Influenster members and the option to leave your own as well.
I personally signed up to focus on the fashion, beauty, home decor, and mommy areas. These are areas that I find most applicable and most interesting in my life.
After looking around in the fashion section for a bit, I was excited to find a section for Louis Vuitton reviews! (Score!) Of course this was right up my alley, and was able to contribute quite a bit of my material I already had on my Bags4Bubbles YouTube channel, as well as submitting my own written review.
There was a secondary opportunity that was optional if it was something that interested you, called a "VoxBox". This is not paid monthly box service, and instead... if you express your interest that you would be interested in trying out a "VoxBox" Influenster judges whether you would be a good match to receive and review the boxes - and if they do indeed believe that you would be a good match to receive the box you are selected to receive one complimentary.
The only obligation on the Influenster's part is that you agree to fill out an end of program survey on the products in the box, letting Influenster and the companies know what you thought about each of the products that you tried. Talking about the products elsewhere is optional, but of course - trying out new things and talking about them is fun... so where we go!
First Impressions & Final Verdicts
First Impressions (YouTube video form):
Final Verdicts: Vaseline Spray & Go Moisturizer - $7.99 for 6.5 oz. can
** Well known company with a great new product! I was thinking of trying a spray sunscreen this summer, so this was a great product to test out to see what I thought of the "spray" concept. While you still need to use your hands to rub in the moisturizer, I love that it doesn't leave your hands greasy and still leaves you with nice soft skin! I would purchase this for sure in the future. NECTRESSE - $3.99 for box of 40 packets
** LOVE these! These were great and timely! I had just been in the process of eliminating non-natural artificial sweeteners from my diet and was using the other type of popular natural non-calorie sweetener on the market, so these were great to try! I have to say, they work great and I would definitely repurchase them in the future. They taste very similar to other all natural sweeteners and have just the right effect in my tea. I prefer them in iced tea over hot tea. Dickinson's Original Witch Hazel Oil Controlling Towelettes - $5.99 for 20 ct. box
** While the smell on these isn't necessarily "bad"... these do use the same main ingredient as the products they give you after you have a baby. And while I won't go into the fine detail, apparently my nose has a memory sense. I was unable to continue to use these on my face based on the scent, they were nice and cooling, as witch hazel is known to be very soothing. This is not an item I would purchase for myself, but would recommend to anyone that would like a soothing towelette for their face and doesn't have any particular associations with the potent witch hazel smell.
Colgate Optic White regimen: - Toothpaste, $2.99 for 4oz tube - Mouthwash $2.99 for 8oz bottle - Toothbrush $2.99 per brush
** These products worked just "okay" for me, the toothbrush was probably the best out of the three and something I would consider for traveling. (I normally use an electric toothbrush.) I already use a regular Colgate toothpaste, so trying this product wasn't too far of a stretch for me... however I did feel that the Optic White toothpaste made my teeth too sensitive, so I will be sticking to my "regular" Colgate toothpaste that has whitening effects in it, but isn't a full "whitening" toothpaste.
The mouthwash was a bit too harsh for me as well, the taste was something close to hydrogen peroxide with no additional flavoring and I just couldn't get past that. (Disclaimer: I normally use a mint flavored mouthwash, so I might just need that flavor to it to be able to use it.)
Overall, I would purchase the toothbrush in the future. I will be sticking to my regular Colgate toothpaste and other brand mint flavored mouthwash that I was already using. belVita Breakfast Biscuits - $3.69 for a box of 5 packets of 4 biscuits
** Love these breakfast biscuits! They were delicious and would be great for breakfasts on the go! The taste was very nice with a hint of cinnamon - not too sweet and didn't taste like cardboard either! I will be looking for these the next time I'm at the grocery store and would definitely purchase them in the future! FTC Disclaimer: Items in this blog post were sent complimentary from Influenster for purposes of review. All opinions are my own.
Week 12 of preschool at home was in celebration of Spring - "Beautiful Butterflies"! To talk about all of the wonderful things we could look forward to in the Spring (albeit, no warmer weather where we lived yet) including more animals showing up in our outside environment, warmer weather, and green on the trees!
The letter craft for 'B' was an adorable little bear! Cupcake had a great time putting this one together!
Our Easter parties began this week, so we did have a craft playdate at a friend's house where we did some Easter crafts. The girls also had their pictures taken by our friend and had a great time posing with their stuffed Easter friends!
(Thanks to our favorite crafty mommy for taking these photos for us!)
Be sure to follow me on at the places below, to follow our Pre-School at Home activities and see what inspires me at Pinterest!
Week 11 of preschool at home was all about "Telling Time"! In honor of the "Spring forward" time change that we had this week in the United States, we talked a bit about the clock and what the time change would mean for us.
Our art activity was a "T is for Tree" letter activity:
She was also very into painting this week, so I had her paint the back of a paper plate green... and we made a turtle out of it!
We also had a clock that Cupcake decorated and we practiced moving the hands around. (Since she is still only 2 years old, I focused more on the general concept of telling time... rather than an explicit instruction of it.) We counted up to twelve and talked out our schedule, and how telling time helps us be places... on time!
Here's how our letter wall is shaping up!
Be sure to follow me on at the places below, to follow our Pre-School at Home activities and see what inspires me at Pinterest!
I've been using Sibu Beauty skincare items for some time now and was happy to receive the offer to review a few complimentary items from Sibu that I had never tried before - the exfoliating scrub and age defying eye cream!
I also had the rest of the daily skincare essentials by Sibu Beauty on hand, so I decided to do a full skincare line review!
Balancing Facial Cleanser - I've been using this product the longest, for over a year now, and I consider it to be one of the best cleansers I've ever tried! It has a nice light scent, and just a light bit of beading in the cleanser, so you feel like you are refreshing and doing a daily exfoliation at the same time. The balancing facial cleanser is 100% natural, so it works great for sensitive skin like mine and while I normally cannot use products with any fragrance on my face - the scent comes from natural lemon and orange oils - so they don't aggravate my skin. Retail on the cleanser is $17.95.
Clarifying Toner - This was a item that I recently purchased from Haute Look and had been wanting to try out. I love the spray pump applicator. It is a light toner, that is great for basic daytime toner and feels very fresh on the skin. Retail price on the toner is $24.95.
Exfoliating Scrub - Sibu sent me an exfoliating scrub to try, and I do love my exfoliators! It looks like it is going to be a lot more gritty than it feels like, but once it is on your skin - it provides a nice light exfoliation that I would not hesitant to use weekly. The scent is slightly strongly stronger than with other items from the skincare line, but still isn't overpowering. Retail price is $19.95.
Repair & Protect Facial Cream- The repair & protect facial cream is a light daytime moisturizer that is especially good for warmer months. I've found that my container has lasted for a long amount of time with daily use and made my skin feel especially nice when used in conjuction with other Sibu Beauty skincare items. Retail price on the repair & protect facial cream is $20.95.
Age Defying Eye Cream - The age defying eye cream was another item sent to me by Sibu Beauty, and I have to say... it is a new favorite! I occasionally get dark circles under my eyes when I haven't had enough sleep, and I found it to be effective. It was nice and light, absorbed into my skin nicely, and didn't feel greasy at all. Retail price on the eye cream is $24.95
Final Verdict:
- I love that Sibu Beauty skincare line brightens my skin and makes it feel nice as well. My favorite products from the line up are the balancing facial cleanser and the age defying eye cream. The cleanser has been a favorite for a while, and the eye cream is a new favorite! The eye cream seems to give me nice results, and the retail price is less than comparable eye creams that I've tried that give similar results! So overall, this skincare line has been a great find for me and I really enjoy using it!
Giveaway!
Check out my YouTube video for how to win a full size balancing facial cleanser by Sibu Beauty! Giveaway ends April 4, 2013!
FTC Disclaimer: Items in this blog post were sent complimentary from Sibu Beauty for purposes of review. Those items were noted in the text. All opinions are my own.
Week 10 was another fun week about reading! We'll be focusing more on numbers in week 11 since we've been talking a lot about reading, but since we had so much fun during Dr. Seuss week (see our previous blog post) - we decided to keep the colorful, imaginative reading fun going with "Rainbow of Reading" week!
We focused on reading again this week and had fun reading some of our favorite bright colorful books, like "Rumble in the Jungle" by Giles Andraea.
Our crafts included making a fun circle rainbow, shamrock snake, and "R is Rabbit" art!
The weeks have been flying by and we've been keeping busy with play dates, lessons, and more! It is shaping up to be a busy Spring for us!
We've continued Pre-School at Home, even through our busiest weeks. Here's an update on the last few weeks of preschool at home.
Week 8
Week 8 was the final week in February and all about "Outstanding Opposites"!
We had a lot of additional activities, so we used week 8 as a reinforcement week for a concept that Cupcake had already been introduced to. We talking about opposites, read books about opposites, and also did an adorable "O is for Owl" craft!
Week 9
Week 9 was a celebration of Dr. Seuss! One of our favorite children's authors around our house! Dr. Seuss' birthday was March 2nd. Week 9 was "Incredible Imagination" and also appropriately... Seuss Week!
We had lots of fun reading all kinds of books by Dr. Seuss, making Seuss crafts, and even sharing some of our favorite Seuss quotes!
Some of our favorite Seuss books:
The Truffula Tree craft was one of my favorites!
The "Thing 1 & Thing 2" crafts with pictures of the girls' faces were also quite adorable! (Their hand prints are the hair! Check out our video blog above for details on how to do the crafts!)
And our letter art of the week was "I is for Ice Cream"!
Following the crafts we're completing and more at Pinterest:
