Sample Society Box- September

Yes, I subscribed to another box. Should that really surprise you? :) This box is kind of confusing because its called the Sample Society box, the website is BeautyBar.com/SampleSociety and then on the box and the cards it says "with Allure". When you visit the site, it has this weird pop-up thing at the bottom that you have to minimize, and it advertises that you can shop several sites under one "roof" (those other sites being diapers.com, soap.com, wag.com, yoyo.com and casa.com). You can review the products you get, but it does not earn you bonus points like with Birchbox or Glossybox.

 

(Blogger is, yet again, turning my photos. Sorry guys!)
















With your box, you get a code for $15 off your order, which is awesome. The box is $15 a month, so if you find something you want to buy, it pays for itself!

So this month I got 5 products to try. A facial cleanser, mud mask, perfume, eye liner, and lip gloss. Here are the reviews on the products:

• Cellceuticals Extremely Gentle Skin Cleanser- I received a 2 oz. sample of this skin cleanser and full size is 6.7 oz. No idea what this tube is worth. The information on this cleanser is that it takes of facial and eye make up, leaves skin feeling supple, and irritant tested. After trying it,  I really liked this cleanser! It took most of my tinted moisturizer off my face, it foams up a little bit and my skin was soft and not dried out. Product did just what the company claimed it would. It does not have a fragrance and it is a clear gel. This would be an awesome cleanser for sensitive skin.

• AHAVA Purifying Mud Mask- The tube I got  is 0.9 oz and after some research I found that this is the travel size and it goes for 7-8$. AHAVA says to use this to brighten and even your skin tone, root out grime and blackheads and prevent blemishes. I tried this right after the Cellceutical cleanser. The mud is a fine grit, which is a really nice texture. It is grey and does not really have a scent. After covering my face, I waited for 2 minutes. While waiting my skin felt tight and dry but when it was time to rinse my skin felt wonderful and had a nice pink glow. I have not used a mask like this before, but for only $27 for the full sized and having my $15 off....I might have to get this one!

• Diptyque Eau de Toilette- This is just a little sample of perfume that came in a rather large box. I got the Do Son scent, and on the website the scent is described as "Tuberose asserts itself, expressing all its sunny, hazy, creamy, indolent seductiveness. Anyone with blood in their veins will succumb to the irresistible temptation of this insolently seductive white flower." In my world, this was a very strong, rose scent, that gave me a headache behind my left eye...I kid you not. I tried it again the next day and guess what, another headache :(

• Borghese B Gloss in Fiore- I do believe this is a sample gloss as well but I can't find the size on the container. The color is a shimmery dusty rose which I really like. The consistency of this gloss is really sticky though. It is very thick and applies well, but when I put my lips together they stuck that way and it was a bit disappointing. I may have to top this gloss with a clear one to make it more slick.

• Stila Smudge Stick in Black- I love Stila products so is it weird that this being the smallest sample in the box was the one I was most excited about? I did my research and the Smudge Stick is a waterproof, highly pigmented eyeliner. I tried this on just the outer edge of my eye and it is seriously dark! I will need to play with it more to learn how to get a nice line (as the stick itself is pretty thick) but this eyeliner stays in place once you put it on. I couldn't smudge it once it set which was neat. I did find this YouTube video where this adorable girl does a review on this eyeliner and I am glad I watched it. She said that you can smudge the liner right after you apply it (which is helpful for me) but after you let it set she showed how it does not budge. This may be a purchase for me as well especially since they have it in 8 different colors at Sephora.

 

Here is a close up of my eye after I used the Stila Smudge Stick. It is super black! I wish I could get a better picture. I played around with it and right after I apply it I run an eyeliner brush over it to smooth out the line and make it more uniform.

Here is a picture of me with the lipgloss. I am not really this pale, I promise, but I needed the flash for the lip color to show up. As you can see its a dusty rose color with shimmer. I tried to take a picture of just my  mouth, but do you know how creepy that looks?

 

 

So that's it! All 5 products used. While this is my first box and it did not blow me out of the water, it did introduce me to 2 awesome products :)

Jenn

Some Interesting Biology Information

So I volunteer at the hospital in the imaging department and one night the techs I am friends with were talking about Throckmorton sign. Having no idea what this was, and clearly not getting the joke, I asked them to explain it to me. I was told its an occurrence in men when their penis is  pointing to the side of the body that is injured. You can see it in an x-ray, which is why we were talking about it.

impactednurse.com

Clearly the penis is pointing to the leg that was stabbed....cool right? A site where a nurse talked about this, joked about this giving a new meaning to "dick driven" and I had a good laugh. I'll take it to the next level and say: women if your man's penis leans to one side, that might be the side that he has brain damage  :)

 

 

Now that I gave you your new medical term for the week and a new reason to look at a penis, let me share with you something I discovered today that is applicable to women.

 

Birchbox had this article on their facebook feed today and it was about face mapping and where you are breaking out.



 

Currently I have a nasty break out in area 11, so I looked it up and it said this :"Zone 11 & 13: Hormones — Stress and hormonal changes can sometimes be alleviated with more water and a few extra servings of dark, leafy greens but if breakouts in this area persistent, make an appointment with your doctor to look into a possible hormonal imbalance. Additionally, breakouts in this area also indicate when you are ovulating (and which side).

Um...cool! Nice to know that my break outs actually tell me things about my body and since it is "that time of the month" its kind of neat to know that is the side that is causing me all these miserable cramps! If you read the article, it tells you that a break out in area 12 means you need to add more fiber into your diet and if you break out in 1&3 you need more water.

 

There you go!

 

Jenn

Miss Jessie's Original for Curly Hair

I received a sample of Miss Jessie's Quick Curls in my August Birchbox and I was intrigued so I went to their website. I found that they have 2 samples that can be shipped to you for free so I ordered Creme de la Creme Conditioner and Pillow Soft Curls. I was super surprised that the samples are so huge! I can see why they keep a record of your IP address so you can't order more (yes, I tried to get more).

I tried Creme de la Creme Conditioner first and since I didn't get Creme de la Curl Shampoo, I used Organix Moroccan Oil Shampoo instead. I ended up using the entire packet to cover my hair evenly. This has a nice clean smell, like laundry.  I was hoping less of the product would go further so I could try this conditioner twice. I left the conditioner in my hair while I finished my shower, so about 10 minutes. When I rinsed it out, my hair had a wonderful texture. It felt thick, soft, and not oily.

Then I got my packet of Pillow Soft Curls out. I was really excited about this product because this is the one that I always look for but its sold out. I put a little over a quarter sized amount in my hand.....and it smells like straight chemicals :( Yuck. Such a disappointment. I slathered the stuff in my hair careful to cover every inch, from the root to the tip.  Then I broke out the diffuser....


I have no idea how to do this correctly, so on the picture in the left my hair is still wet. I diffuse my hair on the hot and high settings. When my curls start to take some shape and hold their own, I switch it to low so it doesn't blow the delicate curls into fluffy little messes. I stop when my hair feels dry, even though I know it is not, it ends but being just a tad damp when it cools off. So I let it air dry as I continue to scrunch it until its dry all the way through.

It did not take long to get the curls to set and to dry. Usually it takes forever, but I think the Pillow Soft Curls helped with the dry time. The curls were, as it says on the bottle, large and relaxed, and they are soft and not crunchy. Unfortunately, they still had a chemical smell :(

It was rainy and humid today, so I guess it was a good choice to go curly. The curls held well. I dried my hair around noon and when I got home from school at around 11 pm they were still curly and bouncy. My hair did go a little flat though. I think the sheer weight of my hair just weighs it down but since this stuff stays a little malleable it was easy enough to flip over and shake some volume back into it. It does leave a little bit of a residue on your hands if you touch your hair at all (and I have a habit of playing with it) but my hair did not get frizzy at all. The curls stayed separated and the shapes stayed nice and round. While driving home from class I started humming the tune to Rick Springfield's "Jessie's Girl" but the words in my head were "I wish I had Miss Jessie's Curls!" ha ha ha, I guess that proves how exhausted I am.

I will up date this when I can use the Quick Curls product sample I got from my Birchbox again with a diffuser but for my air dry review you can check here and its the fourth product down.

Jenn

Pinterest Test: Low Fat Pumpkin Spice Choc Chip Cookie and more!

With all the pumpkin recipes I have been trying lately, I am surprised my whole family is not turning a bit orange. It's just so good for you and has fiber in it.....who doesn't like to poop? LOL Especially when I can package that pumpkin into delicious baked treats.

Well today I had a dilemma: I wanted to make these Low-Fat Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Chip Cookies that I found on Pinterest, but the recipe only called for 2 tablespoons of pumpkin. So I would have almost an entire can left! So I decide to do another version of my 2 Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Muffins but this time with Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix. This way no pumpkin goes to waste and I get two delicious and nutritious goodies with only a few more minutes of work :)

I gathered my ingredients for the cookies first.

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, melted
1 egg white
2 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

 

Then I gathered my ingredients for the muffins.
(Jesus Blogger, you are KILLING ME with not uploading pictures correctly!)

Anyway, ingredients are the left over pumpkin from the cookie recipe and a box of Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge cake mix.








What do you know! Both recipes call for preheating the oven to 350 degrees- what luck! So I set that sucker and got to work mixing up my cookie batter.

As per the directions on SkinnyTaste.com, you mix the dry in one bowl and the wet in another bowl and then wisk the dry into the wet. If it is crumbly when you are finished, put a few drops of water in the mixture just until it is smooth......and it tastes amazing! (Lecture me on the danger of eating things with raw eggs later, I am too busy basking in the after glow of awesome cookies)




Then I tossed in my half cup of chocolate chips and emptied the rest of the bag in a Ball jar. My mom and I are trying to get away from plastic so when we can use up the glass jars she collects, we do. (That's why you see the all-purpose flour and the brown sugar in canning jars in the picture above)

After mixing in the chocolate chips, lining my cookie sheet with parchment paper, and dropping my batter on the sheet in 12 even little clumps, I popped those amazing-smelling blobs in the oven for 10 full minutes.

But while these little guys were cooking, did I rest? Of course not! I cleaned my glass mixing bowl, emptied the rest of my pumpkin can into the bowl, topped it with the bag of cake mix and started stirring!

It turns out I needed a bigger bowl....oops! Even though I was careful, I managed to make a mess of the counter. I did end up putting in about 1/8 cup of water in with the batter so it would be smooth. This batter was a lot thicker then when I did it with the spice cake mix. The batter tasted just like chocolate, you could not really tell there was pumpkin in it. At this point I was not sure if that was a good or bad thing......

But there is nothing wrong with anything chocolate! So I forged on and filled my cupcake pan with the batter and put it in the already hot oven for 21 full minutes. They came out looking delicious! One of the reasons that I like cooking with pumpkin is that it does not stick to the pan like things with sugar and oil do. These things pop right out of the pan and don't stick. You can pop them out right after they come out of the oven and on to a plate too cool and they won't lose their shape because the pumpkin is so dense. I love it when shit is this easy!

And there you have it! Yeah, it is about an hour of baking, but at least 21 minutes of it is resting, especially if you are like me and you clean up as you go.

My parents loved the cookies and I have to say they were worth the effort. Next time I will have to make a double batch to share because at 2 cookies for 171 calories, they make a great dessert. The fudge muffins come in at 172 calories per muffin and have way more pumpkin in them so they are an awesome choice for dessert (or breakfast) as well.

The muffins tasted just like chocolate fudge, you could barely tell there was pumpkin flavor! That's not bad if you are trying to hide it, but we love the pumpkin flavor! Well, these will be enjoyed as well. And baking with pumpkin puree has revolutionized how my family enjoys baked goods. I have a feeling that year-round we will be subbing oils, butter, eggs and water for one can of vitamin and mineral packed pumpkin puree.

 

Well there you go! I hope that helps any of you wondering what to do with that can of pumpkin when you only use a few tablespoons!

 

Jenn

Marilyn Minter Project and Frank Beddor's LGW Review

Here is my baby boy, Bentley, cuddled up with what my family refers to as my "woobie". It's one of those NAP blankets from Brookestone that I have had for years and it is the perfect size and keeps me at the perfect temperature :) Bentley is constantly balling it up and laying on it or pulling it between his feet and putting his head on it. Little goof-nut.

I have my mug of Soothing Caramel Bedtime Yogi tea and I am recovering from a very successful Sunday. Not only were my mom and I able to slip out of the house with the two boy-dogs for a walk, but I also completed all but 2 problems in my statistic homework and started my research on Marilyn Minter for my modern art class.

I had to email my instructor and ask her if I could choose Marilyn because her name was not on the 2 page list the instructor provided, and after a week of waiting she said it was not a problem. Then in class the day after her response she says to me "yeah, I was kind of surprised you knew who Marilyn Minter was"......I know her work is kind of obscure but lady, you don't even know me! I have never once taken any of your classes LOL! I thought that was a kind of strange response but I am going to knock her (and the rest of the class's) socks off with my awesome powerpoint presentation. Marilyn's work impresses by itself, so it is going to make my job a lot easier :)

Just to share, here are my 3 NEW favorites that I recently found:

Marilyn Minter

 Glisterine, 2011

Salon 94, NY

Marilyn Minter 

Heavy Metal, 2011

Salon 94, NY

Marilyn Minter

Meltdown, 2011

Salon 94, NY

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am NO ART EXPERT by any means, I just like to appreciate pieces that I feel an emotional connection with. These are just so striking with the colors, the foreground v. the background with the water blurring the shoes in Glisterine and Meltdown, and the sharpness of the shoes in Heavy Metal. Every time I look at them I notice a different detail like another color, something hidden by the water blurs, or the ripples in the liquid metal.  I realize I will have to beef-up my art terminology for my presentation, but luckily my instructor included a sheet with terms and definitions. I am going to try to use as many as possible so I might be able to fake an "arty" background.

 

I recently finished Frank Beddor's The Looking Glass Wars Trilogy and I was seriously disappointed in the ending of the series. The first book was alright, the second book was great and I wouldn't read anything else until I got the third book. That one started off strong but then fizzled to non-remarkable ending. The series is about the "real" Alyss in Wonderland and it was on the New York Times Best-Sellers list so I thought it would be a good read. I won't give anything away, but I really enjoyed the Hatter Madigan character and Bibwit (who I think is the White Rabbit) and it was very neat to have a constant struggle between Alyss Heart and her Aunt Redd for the throne of Wonderland. Feel free to read it, just don't get excited for a good ending.

 

Well time for me to snuggle up to that sweet puppy and think about what Pinterest-crazy things I am going to try on Labor Day!

 

Jenn

POPSUGAR Must Have Box- August

Holy....shit. This is the best box I have EVER gotten! Well worth the $35 a month. Here's the link, go and join, and then you can come back and tell me how much you appreciate me sharing with you :) This is my FIRST PopSugar Must Have box and it made a smashing debut!

I am diligently working on some very boring Statistics homework when my mom brings this box to me.....
Isn't it adorable!? I love the simple box, the tissue paper with the "enjoy sticker" and the pamphlet for what was in the box is right on top. Awesome presentation.








Then I opened the tissue paper......and WOW! Check out all this awesome stuff! I was amazed at the selections, that there was everything from home to fitness, food to beauty, free trial stuff and discount codes!

 



First up the govino wine glasses. I received a box of 4 stemless 16 oz glasses.....but they are not glass! Nope, these little beauties are made from a BPA-free polymer that acts like crystal by reflecting your wine's color. They have a little groove on the side to make it easier to hold onto your glass. Not only are they reusable, but they are recyclable. They reccomend hand washing, but you can put them in the dishwasher. I was so excited to get these since I just moved my wine bar into my bedroom....don't judge me :P In fact, this picture is taken on top of my wine bar LOL.
This set that was in my box goes for $12.95. Wine festivals and picnics just got a little more fun for me.




To go with the wine glasses, there were these 2 cute little coasters included in the box with a note to take 15% off through September 30th at Benziger Family Winery! This winery uses bio-dynamic, organic, and sustainable farming methods. How cool is that? With a merlot from $37 and pinot noir's from $50, I think that I will pass. However, if any of you would like to make an order message me and I will share the code :)

As you can see in the wine glass picture, I also got an Alora Ambiance reed diffuser. The scent I got was Isola and it is a nice mix of gardenia, tuberose and fig......yum. It is a clean scent, not too flowery and it is light. The bottle is 8 oz and the label is actually a cloth label like you would find on clothing that is stuck to the bottle. It made it look really nice. The bottle I received in my box goes for a whopping $60 on their website and it supposed to last for months.

The next little goodie is the BAGGU tote in electric purple! I have recently fallen in love with BAGGU products and had purchased some pink zipper bags from Birchbox. These bags are not that expensive, come in a rainbow of bright, awesome colors, are reusable, can fold up very small for storage, and are tough! This tote I received in my box can hold up to 50 lbs! It is $9.00 for this awesome tote they included in my box. This is going to make quite the statement at the next farmer's market or wine festival! (Sorry the photo is upside down....Blogger is hating me again today)

Food? Yes please. Healthy food? Double yes! I got a full sized 7.2 oz bag of these Pretzel Crisps in my box and they are awesome! They are crispy, salty, and 110 calories for 11 of them. I am thinking these will be good with some tuna, or cottage cheese with dill, or just by themselves. On their website there are a bunch of ideas on how to dress these up with bacon, hot dogs, pizza toppings or even as a cucumber tea snack! My afternoon snacking will not be the same after this. I love the resealable top for the bag because these will make an awesome snack for when I am at class. The website says you can find these at Bloom, Wal-Mart, Wegmans, and even 7-11 so I will be keeping my eyes open. The bag I got goes for $3.49 but they do come in 14 oz bags for about $5.

I was confused about this little card at first, but then I read that you can send personalized postcards from your phone around the world using the Postagram app. With my box, I received 10 free postcards! At $1 a piece, I just got $10 worth of postcards to send to my brother while he is at school. This was a super addition to the box. You take pictures with your phone, add a little message and even import the address if it is saved with your contact and send the card directly. The picture is perforated in the card so the person receiving it can pop it out and frame it, tack it up, scrapbook it or whatever they want.

I thought this is a fantastic addition to the box! I mean, honestly, I need more motivation to get off my butt and move and the fact that this showed up in my box was great. The videos are by Pop Physique and their motto is "come cheat on your gym"....sure! I do that on a daily basis :) So when I had a homework free evening, and before I popped open my wine and started carrying around my govino glass, I tried this DVD. It is a very neat concept, small movements targeting muscle groups. This is not a cardio work out, this is a "squeeze your muscle until you can't squeeze it any more" kind of work out. It is low impact, but I had to keep modifying things so that I could do them. I paired this DVD with an hour long walk and felt pretty good. The instructions in the video were very clear and the girl was not annoying, which is a huge help. This is the first DVD in a set of three and this one alone retails for $13 on Amazon.

I love any beauty products I get, and I love ones that are 100% natural or organic so these were very cool to see in the box. This is an exfoliant and cleanser by Sprout Skincare and very awesome to read on their site, everything only had 5 ingredients or less and they only use essential ingredients. Each of these came in a little glass bottle and are 1 oz a piece. They are considered sample sizes and are worth $10 a piece on the website. I tried the exfoliant first. It is dry and says to add a little water and then apply to face. I did so, but all the granules fell off and I had to do it a second time. It did not have a very pleasant smell (the almonds were a bit strong), but it did not linger after the cleanser. The cleanser says to apply with clean cotton and then rinse. WHOA! I had already cleaned my face this morning and had not worn make up all day, so I was really surprised to see all the junk that came off my face! I rinsed as instructed but still could smell the rosewater that was in it, which was nice. I tried this again the next morning and I think I mastered the exfoliant a little better this time so it didn't just fall off my face. This may help with acne as well because where I was broken out, the sea salt made a stinging sensation.



Also for beauty, there were these TATCHA beauty papers. There are 30 papers per pack and they go for $12. These say they leave you with petal fresh skin that is dewy and do not overly absorb oils or disturb make up while removing excess oil from the face. The sheets have these little gold flakes in them and they are a nice large size. After watching the video, I found you could use both sides of the sheet. These are going to be awesome to keep in my beauty bag in my purse and touch up my make up. They hold a lot of oil, and since I don't get that oily I think I will cut these in half so I can get at least 120 uses out of them!

Last up is this 1.35 oz sample of Bear Naked Fruit and Nut granola. For this little pack, it is 170 calories and has cranberries, almonds, honey, raisins, and coconut. It was not bad tasting, had a nice texture, but I would have liked more cranberries in it. I looked on the website and they have a Bear Naked Fit line with Vanilla Almond Crunch and for about the same size serving its only 120 calories. I liked this enough to buy the Fit version, if I can find it. I did a search on their website and with in 15 miles there are no know locations to purchase the Fit Crunch. :( Also, their bag is made out of sustainable packaging and if you get a form on their website and send in your empty packages, they will give you points towards t-shirts, totes, and stuff like that. Very neat way to get people to recycle. No point value was listed for this tiny little bag, so I did not partake. I would have sent this little thing in though if they sent me a discount coupon to shop in their online store! Then I could have ordered their Fit Crunch and saved myself money on the shipping! LOL

 

PHEW! Well that is all the items in the box,  doesn't it make you want to sign up for next months? I hope so! This box has over $140 worth of items in it, and I paid $35 so clearly I made out like a bandit!

 

Jenn

 



Two Ingredient Pumpkin Spice Muffins

After a botched trial of 2 ingredient pumpkin muffins from Pinterest, I talked to a friend of mine at the hospital where I volunteer and she told me her mom had an amazing recipe for using just pumpkin and cake mix.....oh how I was intrigued!

The next day, my mother and I went to the grocery store and she reminded me that I was supposed to try the recipe (if it wasn't for her remembering, this might have never happened). So we picked up a box of Duncan Hines Spice cake mix and a 15 oz can of Libby's canned pumpkin. Luckily they were right across from each other in the aisle, so I did not have to hunt for either of them.

We came home, put away the groceries, and I got to work. While putting away the groceries, I realized that I had never discussed with my friend the cooking temp or cooking time.....no matter! I figured I would just follow the directions for that stuff on the back of the box and just keep an eye on it.
So I set the oven to pre-heat for 350, got a bowl, in went the pumpkin puree, in went the cake mix, I blended it very well and spooned it into a non-stick cupcake pan. The batter tasted so amazing! and as my mother caught me cleaning the spoon I mixed it with she says "You don't want to eat that Jenn, it has raw eggs in it and can make you sick." Ha ha ha, silly mommy, didn't we discuss we were using canned pumpkin? She did not like the laugh I had at her expense. When the oven was ready I popped the pan in and then patiently had to wait for about 23 minutes for these little gems to finish. I was secretly praying the muffins were as good as the batter....














And they were even better! You can not even tell that I didn't make these with all the crap the box calls for! They were moist and fluffy and tasted just like pumpkin spice muffins should. Yeah, ok, so I kind of ruined it by putting some butter cream frosting on top, but think of all the fiber and healthy stuff you are getting from the pumpkin! They were delicious with and with out the frosting :) With out the frosting they came in at 182 calories a piece.

This is your new Fall muffin recipe, I guarantee it......and you are welcome! Lol And a HUGE thanks to Kristin for sharing this with me. She says you can also do this with fudge chocolate cake mix, so of course I picked that up at the store as well and will be trying that soon.

Jenn