B&BW new Bubble Bath gets a HUGE THUMBS DOWN!

I got an e-mail the other day advising Bath & Body Works had $3 wallflower fragrance bulbs which was a pretty awesome deal & so I wanted to go get some.  That plus they just released a new signature collection guaranteeing the world's best fragrance & so if you purchased $10, with a coupon you could get 1 signature item for free.  I already wanted to go to Sephora for my free birthday gift, as I had 1 day or so left to get it, so I had my boyfriend cart me to the mall.

I was so excited to see that they are transitioning their wallflowers & candles to their winter scents already.  So after about 1/2 hour of sniffing all the new candles the wallflower bulbs were picked out.  My boyfriend bought those & used a 20% off coupon, making them even less than $3!  WOO!  Plus we used another coupon to get a free mini Snow Day candle!  For my coupon I got a small Cranberry Woods candle at $10 exactly & then, when looking for my free signature item I got SUPER EXCITED to see they came out with a Pink Chiffon bubble bath!  Love the scent & I think I already have everything else in that scent that they make, so the bubble bath it was for my free item!

I get home & decide I want to use it right away.  The 1st thing I notice is that the consistency is very runny.  It is also clear, not shimmery, opaque, and thick like their old bubble baths.  I dissolve it into the running water & it bubbles up, then almost immediately the bubbles start dissipating.  By the time the bath was full almost all the bubbles were dissolved.

I looked at the bottle again because I could have sworn I bought the shower gel instead of the bubble bath.  Nope.  I got the right product, or so the bottle says.  The scent is fine, doesn't seem any stronger or better than their old products.  So I'm really not understanding what they are advertising with these being so new or better.  Scent is the same, lingers the same, overall product is much, much WORSE!  And so what if the look of the bottle changed.

Just to make sure, the next night I pulled out an OLD bottle of their Carried Away bubble bath & used that.  Just as I thought.  It was thicker, it bubbled up thicker & LASTED THE WHOLE BATH!

So, here is your WARNING!  DO NOT BUY THE NEW BUBBLE BATHS FROM B&BW!  They retail $14 compared to their shower gels only at $12.50 and both are 10 oz.  You will be wasting your money when you can get the same bath experience by just tossing in a cap of the shower gel instead.  Seriously!!!  Why pay more for a product when it doesn't provide what it's supposed to & there's something else that costs less, smells the same, and will give you the same results?  I also noticed their priced had increased.  Shower gels went up by $1.50 & the bubble baths increased by $2.  I'm thinking this may have been within the last year though I'm not really sure.

I am so glad I got this for free otherwise I would have taken it back.  Whatever they did they really need to go back to how they made their old bubble baths.  I hope they do.

Now onto other things...

September is usually the month in Western NY where you start to see dramatic fluxes in temperatures and you start to anticipate the arrival of fall.  Then comes October, the temperature drops, we have cold rains, air that smells of burning fireplaces, occasionally snow (that doesn't stick), & just the perfect autumn weather.  This year we've had a few of those days that make you say, "I love this time of year!"  Oddly enough, with the leaves changing and falling, we were hitting temperatures in the 70's and even 80's.  So it feels like a never ending Indian Summer.  Even through the next week the highs are being predicted in the high 60's & low 70's.  What our average temperature should be for October are highs around 59º & lows around 43º.  I feel like I'm back in Los Angeles.

Now that I'm off the prednisone I'm still waiting for that day that I start feeling normal again.  All my doctors kept saying to me was that I'll probably start getting the results I'm (they're) looking for once I'm off of it.  It's been only a week & I still don't feel any different.  I kind of wish right off the bat, before & after the surgery, they would have told me that this recovery could take a long time.  Instead, everyone kept saying 6 to 8 weeks.  So 6 to 8 weeks was drilled into me & my expectations of this were high.  Upon talking with others who have had a thyroidectomy, some advised it shouldn't be long before I felt better, and others have been suffering the awful side effects of hypothyroidism for years.  I don't want to be one of those people.  Still trying to find my normal after years of suffering.  I've already been suffering for years being incorrectly diagnosed & treated.

I haven't really been having night sweats anymore.  Yay!  Except they have kind of become more random throughout the day.  Boo.  Still having a hell of a time getting a full night's sleep.  My patterns are all messed up.  I'm exhausted & can't seem to sleep more than a few hours at a time, though I'm sleeping all the time.  Since the day after my birthday I've felt awful.  In pain, tired, cold, hot, diarrhea, acid reflux, nausea, sneezing.  I've pretty much been confined to my couch & this is the 1st time I've really sat at my computer desk for this long.  Though the couch & another nap are calling for me right now.  Also, randomly the skin on my fingertips, no where else, decided to peel.  I have no clue if this is associated in any way to my hypothyroidism, though it's not unheard of.  It doesn't hurt or anything, it's just annoying.

Looks worse than it actually is.

I'm almost wishing the temperatures would drop here so I know what to be expecting with my hypothyroidism & the cold.  I already have a hard enough time handling food in the freezer.  It feels like my fingers get instant frostbite when I touch frozen stuff, & no I do not attribute my peeling skin on my fingers to handling frozen food.  The other day I curled up under a blanket on the couch & just couldn't get warm.  I could have sworn the temp inside my home was in the low 50's & my furnace was broken so I got up to check the thermostat.  Heat on, inside temp & set to temp the same, 69º.  What the flip!?  Now, remember how I've complained before about how 71º was too cold for me.  Ugh.  I knock the temp up a degree & am able to get a few hours of sleep, wake up, then get another hour of sleep in.

I feel like crap.

My 2nd Birchbox Review & Randomness.

Overview of the Birchbox I got: 

• Nail lacquer in Fox Hunt by Ruffian.
• Bon Genre Eau de Parfum by BCBGMAXAZRIA.
• Ultimate Youth Power Eye Serum by Racinne.
• Intense Repair Complex by Airelle BERRIMATRIX.
• This is a Sea Salt Spray by Davines.
• Savings coupons for Birchbox purchases.

I'm going to start off by just saying that I really dislike the ruffian manicure.  I think no matter which way you do it it's weird looking & there's no way you can make it look good.  Perfect example?  Look at the first picture here.  It looks like her cuticles are bleeding orange.  It looks like you screwed up painting your nails, the coat of polish shrunk, you have some weird complex & color showing underneath around your cuticles, or your nails are growing out diseased or with some off color after you painted them (depending which colors you are using).  I am hoping this trend doesn't last long.  I'm also not too keen on the half moon manicures but they don't look as weird to me. *end rant*
 

• Nail lacquer in Fox Hunt by Ruffian.  Orange is the new black this season or so they say (whoever they are).  It's not my favorite color, especially on me, but this shimmery, bright, orange-ish red has me changing my mind.  ONE coat of this is all you really need & is pictured below.  The picture I took makes it a little bit brighter than it actually is but the links to the product show the actual color much better.  After about a week I had some normal chipping (being the crafty lady I am) around the tips of the nails and it was very minimal.  This was without using a topcoat also because I was just lazy the last time I painted my nails.  I have to say I am very impressed with this polish.  I'm open to buying it in the future.

• Bon Genre Eau de Parfum by BCBGMAXAZRIA.  My boyfriend liked the way this smelled on me but there are days I like this and days I dislike it.  Birchbox described it to have top notes of lychee and red berries, middle notes of tiger lily and jasmine noir, and also notes of sandalwood with golden amber.  Other sites I have found also describe the fragrance as having bergamot, tuberose, cardamom, black pepper, patchouli, and black vanilla.  It reminds me of a much more floral version of Yves Saint Laurent's Baby Doll though the notes are completely different.  I feel like I am picking up more on the amber and tuberose though I do get a bit of the berries when I wear it.  It's very strong so a tiny spritz will last you the entire day.  Don't go heavy on it!  This just reminds me of too many other perfumes on the market & it's not my style.  I'll keep the sample & use it, but I wouldn't buy it in the future.
•  Ultimate Youth Power Eye Serum by Racinne.  I have awful dark circles under my eyes & I've had them for years so I was a bit excited to get this.  Just a bit because I've tried almost everything to get rid of them & nothing has ever worked.  It claims to have plant stem cells, amino acids and all sorts of things to cure your dark circles, enhance production of collagen, moisturize, brighten, firm skin, and stimulate blood flow around the eye.  There isn't really any scent to it & it goes on wet but within a few minutes it seeps in and is unnoticeable on the skin.  I've been using it for a few weeks now and the skin around my eyes feels fresh and moisturized.  I think the collagen production worked a bit too well as my eyes seem more puffy than normal especially around the eyelid.  Nothing too drastic though.  I really don't see any difference at all with my dark circles.  I can't find the insert that came with the bottle to see if they listed a time frame for maximum results, considering I've seen some products say 2+ months.  There might be a slight difference but I really can't tell & I'm not going to fork out $32 for minimal, unnoticeable difference in my dark circles, puffiness I don't really want, and a good moisturizer for the eyes that I can find for less in other products.  I wouldn't buy this. 

• Intense Repair Complex by Airelle BERRIMATRIX.  I got a teeny tiny sample of this that lasted me about 2 weeks & boy was I upset when this was gone!  I used this as a moisturizer after washing my face in the morning & night every day & it was FANTASTIC!  So this is said to be packed with antioxidants, be based on a phytonutrient found in blueberries, improve circulation, and help reduce lines & restore rough or dry skin.  It was very watery for its consistency and absorbed extremely quickly.  After just a few days of use my skin felt fantastic & very balanced!  My combination skin felt normal and even for once, and I had NO breakouts!  It also had a nice, light scent that didn't linger long after application.  The instructions advised to use a dime sized amount, so I did, & a little does goes a long way.  The only real downside to this product was the price.  $116 for 1.7 fl oz.  I would definitely buy this (if I could afford it)! 

• This is a Sea Salt Spray by Davines.  Sea salt sprays were the new "in" thing this summer for hair giving nice, beachy waves.  I was a bit surprised to receive this considering I put in my profile that I had hair that was dry/damaged and too short for a ponytail.  I even had to question Birchbox on Facebook their decision to send it to people who listed what I did in their profile, & also questioned if anyone else with short hair liked it & how they used it.  I got mixed responses & Birchbox's response was that it was moisturizing so it should help.  My hair is still extremely short but there's enough length where I felt I might be able to enhance my natural waves that I do have & get a good use out of the product.  And I REALLY tried to get it to work with my hair but it just wasn't happening.  I tried using it with hair oils, with hair cream moisturizers, with no additional hair products, on dry hair, on damp hair.  My hair always frizzed up & felt terribly dry & even more damaged when using this product.  Even with the moisturizers that I tried applying at different times before and after applying this product.  Every time after use, I couldn't wait to wash it out of my hair.  I doubt it was the length of my hair but I'm almost positive it was the fact that my hair is bleached blond.  It's smelled great, but that was about it for me.  I'll be giving the rest of the sample away to a friend.  This product may work well for others, but I wouldn't buy it.

Now for some random chatter.

Today is my last day on the prednisone!  I'm still not feeling any better, though I'm not feeling worse which I guess is a good thing.  Within a day or 2 I'll most likely have the awful withdrawal symptoms I usually get with stopping the medication.  Hoping that lasts only a week.  I'm still not getting much sleep at night & I'm insanely exhausted & symptomatic throughout the day.  Can't wait for this to end.

I did get my new prescription glasses though.  I'm supposed to wear them all the time & I was told that it might take a few days to get used to them but I think the script may be a little off.  It's amazing how well I can see with my left eye through them but now the right eye seems blurred a bit through the glasses, which makes the overall vision seem a bit off.  *sigh*  Not really sure if I need this adjusted or if it's something that I'll just get used to.  I have the feeling I need an adjustment.

My birthday is coming up shortly.  I'm not going to say how old I am turning but I can say I am not upset about it.  Though some of my friends were upset turning this old.  Which I found funny.  People keep asking me what I want.  I don't really want, nor need anything.  I jokingly told my friend on the phone yesterday I wanted the $116 bottle of Airelle.  If anything I need either money to pay bills right now, or I need things done around my home like having the doors replaced, having my entire kitchen and bathroom redone, replacing my carpets & window blinds.  Stuff like that.  To me though it's just another day.  Nothing special.  I'm most likely going to spend the day on my couch in pain, writing letters, reading a book, ignoring phone calls, & staying away from the internet.  Just like most days lately.  And that's how I want it to be.

Found out our little mew was peeing outside the litter box again.  It only happened a few times and so we were able to clean it up right away.  It's been over a year since we got her & since we had the initial problem of her doing this so I knew something was up.  I got a vet appointment right away & found out she had a UTI and blood in her urine.  Poor girl.  She got an antibiotic shot & I have to take her back in soon for another checkup.  We had one more incident the night after the vet visit but she's been back to using the box regularly again.  I am still keeping an eye on her though I think she's doing much better now.

'Alohi tuckered out after the vet visit.

I was getting an insane amount of spam comments on this blog for a while.  They were mostly on my post about the Kashi Hummus Crisps so I'm kind of curious as to what was leading them there.  Really weird comments having nothing to do with the post or this blog & then links to God knows what.  I got 7 or more in one day & so I decided to turn off the comments to that post.  Every now & then I get another on some other post of mine & I just delete them.  Am I the only one getting these?  I can't be.

If you haven't noticed yet, The Body Shop is selling their Honeymania online already!  I've been trying to save money until I can get back to work again though I'm kind of kicking myself for not buying some when they had a 50% off promotion going on.  So I've been on a honey kick!  Last night's bath consisted of:

• Flying Saucers bath foam by Lush Cosmetics (no longer available)
• Killer Beez soap by Villainess
• Honey moisturizing shampoo by The Body Shop (no longer available)
• Honey & Orange body wash by The Body Shop (no longer available)
• Honey & Almond lotion by The Body Shop (no longer available)

Target currently has a sample up on their samples page for Simple Skincare.  You have to fill out a short survey & then provide your address & you should have it in a few weeks.  These go quickly so act fact!

Well, I feel like a before noon nap now.  Take care everyone!