About Me

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Atlanta, GA, United States
Showing posts with label Blogs to Follow. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blogs to Follow. Show all posts

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

YC Mixology, sales & coupons, Halloween, & Aveeno product review.

I posted in the past how I just LOVE my Yankee Candle Triple Mixology votive holder (apparently they have the same thing in white but call it the "Relaxing Rituals" votive holder) though I haven't been using it much lately.  It was put on the back burner as I had a lot of jar candles taking up space.  So I've been trying to burn through the jars that have already been started to make some room.  Possibly for new candles.

Now you don't need to own those votive holders for mixing scents.  Though I do find them very convenient & they come highly recommended by me because I love mixing, there are other ways to do it.  You could just burn 2+ jar candles or different votive/tea lights in different holders.  Place them near each other to have the mix stronger, or even further away from each other for a slight mix of scent or different scent experiences depending on where you are in the room.

I actually had a triple votive holder I got from Party Lite a while back that I never used, though it has been out for decoration the entire time.  I decided I was going to use this for my next mix.  It being autumn, I went through my votive box looking for some autumn scents & came up with this mix:



Many people don't think of grapes as an autumn fruit but they are!  I think these were good choices considering this time of year most people go overboard on the pumpkin & spices.  Not that I don't like those scents.  I do!  I just like to be different.  I do think the Vineyard was a bit overpowering of the 3 so if I go this route again, I'm not sure what I'd swap it out with.

I'm sure you've noticed in the last few years YC has been putting out some... well... different & odd choices for candles.  Their MMM, Bacon, for example, was NOT one of my favorites.  The scent was more of a sweet bacon smell & I choked on it after getting a whiff.  The other week I got a new YC catalog & I just love how they have their pages that you can sniff!  So I'm flipping through & see a new, odd scent that they have come up with.  Turkey & Stuffing!  It actually smells REALLY good!  Going through the reviews with the bacon candle, it seemed either a hit or miss if you liked the scent or not.  For the Turkey & Stuffing candle, the reviews seem to point out a lack of strong scent to it, not that the scent is bad.  The catalog gave an amazing scent of roasted turkey with perfectly herbed stuffing!  Only problem is that it will give you a hankering for some turkey & stuffing (or tofurky if you prefer) so it may be disappointing when you don't have a turkey dinner to nosh on after burning this candle.

We did end up checking out the candle in the store & the reviews are spot on advising of the lack of a strong scent. (Too bad!)  Since I had a B2G2 large candles coupon we ended up getting the Cranberry Chutney for our home and 3 others as gifts.  If you want the deal online, just enter the code CANDLES at checkout.

FYI, tomorrow starts their Veteran's Day sale & they will have $1 tarts & samps.  Also, if you have a YC store in your area see if they are participating in the Holiday Open House on November 9th, 10am-4pm.  They will have giveaways every hour & food!

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I'm really trying to get in the fall spirit but it has been hard.  We finally had a week where the weather was cooling down but last week we were in the mid 60ºs!  I had ladybugs swarming all over my building & even saved one inside my home from the cats.

On Halloween it rained and the wind picked up.  65º and rain is better than 40º & rain, at least for trick-or-treaters.  I remember trick-or-treating in the snow once.  A few inches of snow actually.  We never get any kids here.  :(

My Halloween consisted of carving pumpkins & listening to some Halloween rock music with Chris.  Then we put on the Sabres game to listen to.  Milton had his Oskar & Klaus tie on & was (what we call) "helping" Chris carve his pumpkin.  We set the carved pumpkins on the table on my back porch facing the glass door so we could see them & lit a candle in them.  Chris roasted the pumpkin seeds & then blended some of the pumpkin innards to use in yummy pumpkin cream cheese muffins he made a few days later.  We ate some of the roasted seeds & drank apple cider while watching the glow of the jack-o-lanterns.  It was a good night.



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So one of my BFFs, Colleen, has now started a blog of her own called Let's Stick Together.  She's a go-to for craftiness & also has a love, like I, for fine soaps.  (She also introduced me to my new addiction, Trader Joe's Chicken Pot Pie Bites!) Check her out!

http://letssticktogetheronline.com/

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While at Target the other week I found an Aveeno product I wanted to try.  Skin Relief Shower & Bath Oil.  There was only 1 left, I had a coupon, & it smelled of almonds!  Target currently has a promotion with most Aveeno products where if you buy 3 you get a $5 Target gift card.  It was tempting but I decided against it.  This one would be enough for now.

http://www.aveeno.com/product/aveeno-+skin+relief+shower+-+bath+oil+.do?sortby=ourPicks&from=fn
The product advises to shake well before use.  In the bath it's recommended to use 1-2 tablespoons to running water.  If used in the shower, after cleansing, apply to skin, rinse & pat dry. 

This product is EXTREMELY oily.  Luckily I have treads on the bottom of my tub, but even with those, exiting my tub I almost slipped.  This is one of the oiliest products I have ever used & you will still feel greased up after drying yourself off.  I would recommend this for winter use or you will feel very sticky in the summer.  In the bath I tried it with 2 tablespoons & it seemed like too much.  1 tablespoon, or even just 1 cap full (what I used the 2nd time), was more than enough for me.

I mentioned, in the bottle it smelled like almonds, but there is no almonds or almond oil in it.  The 1st ingredient is mineral oil, then oat kernel flour.  When you add it to the running water the scent changed to something not very attractive.  It was on odd, damp smell that it gave off.  The reaction in the water was also strange as the oat flour created this oily, frothy, white foam in patches here & there.

Overall, even with my dry skin, I felt kind of gross and sticky after using it in the bath & I'm one of those people who usually doesn't mind using oily products.  After my bath I wanted to take another shower to scrub myself clean of it.  Maybe it would wash off better, or feel better on my skin if I used it as directed in the shower instead of the bath?  I'll have to try that later.  But, for $6 a bottle it's not a bad find if you have extreme eczema, psoriasis, or scaly skin.  Personally, I wouldn't buy this again.

Thursday, September 19, 2013

You can't love everything.

I'm still testing some stuff out from my Birchbox before I get into the post of everything I received & what I think of it.  I noticed some beauty bloggers out there tend to do posts right away when they get it & it's like, "Hey!  This is what I got!  Here are the colors (if it's makeup or nail polish).  I love the colors & they are so in right now!  I'm not wearing anything because I just opened the box.  Let me tell you about the product from what's already listed about it on the package or online, not from my personal experience because I haven't even tried it yet."  EVERYTHING is great, & they love it all already without even having used it.  Let me tell you, putting a dab of something on your hand doesn't mean it's going to look good on your face.


So there's a blog I really like called Beauty Test Dummies.  On products they give you their star rating up to 5 stars, normal retail price, the "skinny" on the product & how it worked (or didn't work) for them, if they would keep or toss it, and more information on the company & product they are reviewing like links to the company's websites or where you can buy the products.  It's kind of the direction I'd like to go with my blog though I think if there's a product out there that I personally don't like, that product had to go through a lot of initial testing in the 1st place to even make it on the market.  So even if it's not a fit for me, it has to be a fit for someone out there!  I even found a review they did for the last product I reviewed!  The Rosemary Mint shampoo.  They wouldn't buy it but I loved the stuff!  See, everyone's different, & if you're looking for good & true product reviews, instead of a blog where everything reviewed they love, love, love (all the time) you should follow them!

I've been really down the last few weeks which I have been attributing to my hypothyroidism.  I did end up calling my OBGYN about my hot flashes & possible low estrogen causing it, who said to call my endocrinologist.  I'm so sick of this back & forth.  I'm not even looking for treatment because I know things can just eventually even out once I'm off the prednisone & on the right dosing of thyroid hormones.  I just would like answers if that's really the problem or not.  As soon as any of my doctors hear that I had Graves' and a thyroidectomy, they just pass off any other symptoms I'm currently having as a possible hypothyroid problems without even really looking into it on their end.  "Talk to your endocrinologist."  Well, my endocrinologist doesn't think it has anything to do with my hypothyroidism. "It could, you need to talk to him.  We can't help you."  So, more sleepless nights to suffer though with no answers.  I just have to hope & pray it eventually goes away.

As of yesterday I started my last 2 weeks of prednisone.  Down to 5mg a day & boy am I feeling it with aches.  I go through this every time I lower the dose & it will probably be the worst when I completely go off the medication.  I like to describe the feeling as either (a) being hit by a car or (b) being beat up with a baseball bat.  I feel like I'm bruised & battered all over & it hurts to be touched.  Even my hair.

One good thing about yesterday was I got a new script for glasses!  The first thing they did was an automated perimetry visual field test.  I had to cover one eye and consistently stare at an orange dot in front of me that reminded me H.A.L. 9000, then little flashes of light would randomly come up on the screen around the orange light & if I saw them, I would use a clicker to register it.  It's very annoying & sometimes I wasn't sure if I was seeing dots that were being administered by the machine or if they were floaters.  After that came a long process of, "Put on your current glasses & cover this eye & read this line."  Then, "Cover your other eye & take off your glasses & read that line."  Then, "Is this better or worse?  Is this sharper or is this one sharper?  Which one is more clear?"  Over, and over, and over again.... until.... OMG! I can read everything CLEARLY!  Upon leaving my doctor told me that the script is quite different than what I currently have.  Surprising how much it changed in a years time.  He also joked, "The easy part is over.  Now here comes the hardest part of all this.  Shopping for glasses."

I also got my 1st Ipsy bag yesterday!  I can't wait to give everything a try.  They must get some super deal through DHL to be using them.  It took 13 days to get from NC to me in NY.  Seems kind of excessive considering it came from the same coast I'm on.  It took Ipsy 6 days after it shipped to even notify me that it had.  What really confused me though was they gave me a USPS tracking code that advised it had been already delivered to some place in CA back in August.  This was updated correctly once DHL handed it off to my post office.  I'm so used to using USPS when I ship stuff that if it's within the continental USA it's there within a week.  Well, now I know what to expect as far as a time frame with them.  Give it a full 2 weeks.

Well, lots to do today though I feel like curling up under a blanket and sleeping.  I'm sure that will happen at some point soon.  More later!

Sunday, August 18, 2013

Ginger warms the soul.

Yesterday was a good day.  In my boredom I have been scoping out a bunch of other beauty blogs, entering contests, reading a book, working on art projects and reading up on my disease (which will never end because as soon as I think I have something figured out I don't!).

I don't feel like I got a lot done but I won a Super Minty Soap'N Scrub by Bliss from The Beauty of Life blog. (Don't forget to also follow on Facebook & Twitter.)  Chris & I went to see Kick Ass 2 finally & it was awesome & funny!  ("I Don't like reboots!"  LOL!  I really am a geek & I am ok with this!)  Then I had my amazing ginger bath.

I love ginger!  I love the potent way it tastes, I love the pungent, strong smell of it.  Once Chris even got me these chocolate covered gummy ginger candies that were SO spicy I really didn't know if I liked them or not... though I ate the whole box!  So yeah, I ended up loving them.  Couldn't get enough!  I especially love the way real ginger makes me feel.  Considering I still feel like I am being doused with ice every day.

Ginger is known to help with digestion, increase circulation & blood flow and also help as an anti-septic.  Ginger can also thin your blood, which I found out one year after getting subconjunctival hemmorhages in both eyes after feeling ill & drinking ginger tea all week.  (Please don't google that because it's a horror show!)  People take baths with fresh ginger cut up or ground, ginger tea, and even ginger essential oils for these effects.

My bath last night consisted of:


Winter Bath

OMG did you KNOW there is a LUSH WIKI!?  Well you do now if you didn't!  :)

I'm almost a bit concerned about the coldness that has been rushing through me.  I know, I know... AGAIN I just have to be patient!  But I can't even go into my freezer & touch things in there without feeling the "burn" of the cold.  It's THAT bad.

I'm still going to get that Bliss Minty Soap'N Scrub & use it!  I have a lot of minty stuff that is more geared toward the holidays, sweet & candy-cane like.  If all else fails & my body cannot handle it, I'm positive Chris will like it & I'll get his opinions on it in addition to my own.  Plus it will be a new experience to write about for those of us who suffer from Hashimoto's or hypothyroid & are obsessed with good smelling things & fine soaps like I am.  

It scares me and saddens me in a bit.  In a few months the weather will get colder, though this summer has been unseasonably cold regardless High 40's-mid 50's at night.  Highest temp this week is supposed to be 84º and 77º next week.  I got a bit annoyed the other day when I went out and it was 71º, said it was "cold" and Chris corrected me how it "wasn't cold."  I got upset & I feel kind of bad about it because he really has no clue how this feels.

I want to enjoy my autumn & winter.  I lived in CA for a few years &, believe it or not, I YEARNED for the seasons back, the cold, the snow.  I missed it so much.  Sure, I could have went up into the mountains during the winter months but when you live in Los Angeles & are working to get by, not vacationing, & losing $, it's not that easy.

So this is another depressing feeling I am getting.  If I am not better by this time HOW will I be feeling?  How will I react to the cold winters now?  How will my skin be considering I already had a problem with dryness & eczema due to my medical condition?  Will it get better?  Will I be much worse even if I'm feeling "generally" better?  Will one thing end up worse than the other?

I think a lot.  I like to plan.  Can you tell?

Time for me to plan my bath for tonight!  Happy bathing!