Some of My Favorite Products

It is storming! Which means that I am snuggled in bed with Bentley and my other dog Madison has made her way to my room so we can protect her from the thunder.

So I figured I would take some time and post some of my favorite products, what I use them for, and where you can get them. As you can see, I have quite the collection of products and this is what is not under the sink and on a shelf outside of my bathroom. I won't even post a picture of my make up collection because it is actually quite embarrassing how many make up products I own.

First up is Body Dew body moisturizing spray in vanilla passion. Admittedly this was introduced to me at a sex toy party, but this stuff is worth the money. Its light enough for Summer, but essential in the Winter. You spray this light oil on your body after you are done showering and before you towel off and rub it in. A little goes a long way, a bottle will last quite a while. It is not greasy, it smells wonderful, it takes care of that ashy look especially on your shins and elbows, and you can layer lotion over it for more moisture. Did I mention that it smells wonderful? :P

Next is hair moisture! I found this on accident and I am so glad that I did. Orofluido hair oil is a mix of argan oil, linseed oil, and cyperus oil. I saturate the ends of my hair with this oil (the ends of my hair are fried from the ombre coloring) and it really brings them back to life and keeps them from looking so damaged. Between my bottle of Moroccan oil and this, Orofluido gets way more use. Its fragrance is to die for as well. Like a mix of vanilla, a floral note, and some musk. For days when I don't wash my hair (with curly hair, I just can't wash it every day or it will break into a million pieces) I can add this oil to the ends every day with out it looking oily.

Out of all the hair styling products I own, this gel is always a go to for me. This TIGI Bed Head Creative Genius gel is available at Target and even in some drugstores and grocery stores. It is awesome for both straightening your hair and keeping it that way, curling your hair and holding the curl, finishing and texturizing in dry hair.....you name it, this is good for it. I am a huge TIGI fan. I really think all of their products to include shampoos and conditioners are freaking amazing, however this this is the one product that I have bought over and over again through the years.

Yep, its a hair sock. You knew this was coming right? This versatile tool is available in your very own house! A tube sock works best, so if there is a man in the house, find one of the miss matched ones and put it to good use! Cut just the tip of the toes off and start rolling from that end until you make a donut. You can use this sock to curl your hair, or put your hair in a bun. The bun can be sleek and chic, messy and fun, on the top of your head, low on the nape of your neck, or off to the side and accented with a flower (my personal fave). I often use this handy dandy thing just to get my hair out of my face and out of my way.

Here is the messy bun I was rocking today while I was writing this :)

I wore my hair curly today and decided when I got home that it needed to go up. I pinned my bangs back and to the side both for comfort and to make the front of the bun look a little better. I believe that every woman should have at least 2 of these on hand.

On to make up! On the left we have my all time favorite, MAC Studio Moisture Tint. I am not a foundation type of girl, never have been. This tinted moisturizer has enough pigment to even out my skin tone but its not so thick that it completely covers up my freckles. It is a very natural looking finish for my skin and it has SPF 15 in it which is great.  On the right we have Too Faced Tinted Beauty Balm. Yep, I jumped on the train when I heard about the BB creams and I went out and bought one. Why not? In addition to moisturizing properties, it has anti-aging ingredients, minerals and can double as a primer. The only thing I find odd about this product is that on the box it says "apply every 2 hours".....seriously? You really don't need to, one application is enough.

 I just picked this product up from Target, but it has quickly become a staple in my beauty routine. PIXI Line Relax Serum is proving to be pretty damn awesome! I use this with my MAC tinted moisturizer and I think layering the 2 ends up making a beauty balm LOL. Basically this serum alone has a cooling effect on your skin which helps relax it and help with fine lines, de-puffing around your eyes, soothing irritated skin, and helping combat dark circles around the eyes. It goes on so smooth and thin you would never know it was there. It also has this luminescent finish to it which makes your skin glow. You can use it by its self (you know we all have those days when we only have the energy to put one thing on our face!) or you can put this on under your tinted moisturizer or foundation! It can act as a primer. One half of a pump covered my whole face, so this bottle will last....and thank God because its $32. Yikes.

Since I received this in my $10 Birchbox, I swear by this bronzer. And yes, I received this Stila One Step Bronze worth $32 in my $10 box....and yes you should immediately join if you have not already :) This stuff can go on a make-up-less face to add a nice bronzing touch to your already gorgeous face or you can put this on over your tinted moisturizer to add to your Summer glow! Again with this, a little goes a long way. I use about a pea-sized amount which is about a half a pump. The first time I used it I fired off an entire pump and was so sad when the rest went to waste. Its a thin formula, goes on smoothly and evenly, easy to blend, dries to a matte finish and helps control oil! Since I apply this to my forehead, nose and cheeks, and chin, I can really say that I love that oil-controlling factor. Instant Stila fan, and it was all thanks to Birchbox.

 Ohhhhhh I am soooooooo in love with this palette :) I am not a palette person, I have no idea why, but I never have been. Over the years MAC had warmed me up to the idea of a palette and when I bought this Urban Decay Naked2 Palette it was freaking love at first use. All of the shadows have a fantastic consistency. By just lightly dabbing the brush on the shadow, it picks up the fine pigment and the pigment on your skin is really soft and easily blended. You do not need much of these shadows to have them show up on your face, although I do recommend using a primer. All the colors in this palette work wonderfully together to create a number of nude, natural, or smokey looks. Every single time I have done my make up with this palette I get multiple compliments on how amazing my eye make up looks....and trust me I am spending about 3 minutes applying it.  Worth the $50? Yeah, I would say so.

To finish off the eye, every girl loves a great mascara. In fact my local Sephora has a little kiosk dedicated to finding the right mascara. I have 2 favorites and they are both by Benefit Cosmetics. I don't think this is a coincidence! Starting on the left we have Bad Gal Lash in plum. This mascara is one of my favorites for 2 reasons: consistency and color. The formula for this is awesome (so check it out in black too) and it really creates full, thick, long lashes. The color is this awesome rich plum which pairs wonderfully with a nude or natural eye! This color makes my eyes look greener, pulls out plum undertones in some of my eye shadows, and is not your boring old black so it makes people look twice. My other favorite is they're REAL! mascara which is a glossy finish formula. While this one does not make my lashes appear thicker, the brush grabs every single lash and coats it so it makes all of my lashes appear dark and long.

Now, take it all off! Yep it is another product from Benefit Cosmetics. Gee...that was quick! eye make up remover is oil-free and tends to get the job done with out making me rub my eyes. I used to use Mary Kay make up remover that my mom gave me, but it caused my face to be oily and I would get make up particles in my eyes. This works much much better and doesn't make the area around my eyes shiny.

Terrible picture, I know, but if you can't tell this is Chanel's Coco Mademoiselle perfume. This is my signature scent and has been for the past few years. This perfume is feminine, fun, flirty, not over powering, and fresh. It is in the oriental family and it is just clean, simple, and straight forward....much like me! Its great for year-round use, scent stays with you all day, and its what I always put on for special occasions.

There it is, a list of most of my favorite products! As you can see Sephora, Ulta, Birchbox, and Target get a lot of my money. I'd love to work at either Sephora or Ulta for the discount, however I am fairly positive that any money I earned there would go right back into the store :P

Jenn





Curling Wand...Worth Every Penny

Pinterest strikes again! I have been seeing hair like this all Summer and I have been foaming at the mouth to get curls like these.

 I have the ombre coloring in my hair  and my awesome hair stylist told me "it looks way better when its curled".....to which I agreed. Now, I have naturally curly hair.....

....but I don't like to always have the curls close to the root of my hair because it looks huge and unruly. So, I have been trying to supplement with a curling iron and it has not been cutting it. I had previously seen the Remington T- Studio Ceramic Curling Wand at Target and did not get it when I saw the goofy glove that needed to be worn.....but I should have known that this was the magic tool that would change curling my hair as I knew it!

While shopping for my brother who is going off to college, my mother who is such a generous woman, picked one of these wands up for me at Khol's. 

I was disappointed to see that there were no instructions on how to use the wand in the box. There was a pamphlet on the buttons, functions, parts, and setting the temperature, but it would have been nice to include some basics. I like that it heats up to 410 degrees, it has a temperature lock feature, the wand is coated with this awesome pearl finish and my hair slid right off of it,  and the glove fit perfectly.

Basics I learned by trial and error:

• Always have the smaller end of the wand pointing down
• You will get a different type of curl if you twist your hair and wrap it around the wand or if you wrap your hair flat around the wand (like you would a curling iron)
• The larger the section of hair you wrap around the wand, the looser the curl. The smaller the section of hair, the tighter the curl.
• You need to wrap the very end of your hair around the wand, if you don't it sticks out and looks funny. If you wrap the end of your hair around the very tip, it will be tight but if you wrap the end of your hair around the larger part of the wand it looks more natural
• It only takes a few seconds to get the curl, so don't hold your hair on there like you would a curling iron because the wand is much hotter
• You can use the wand to straighten your bangs. Hold your bangs out straight and just run the wand along the hair. This keeps your bangs from getting that stick-straight look that happens with flat irons.

I have not burned myself yet, however you still have to be careful with the glove on and holding the end of your hair on the barrel. Also, the coating on the wand is awesome, but it can be a bit difficult to get your hair to wrap around the wand evenly and not slide to the smaller end. This takes a bit of practice. Using the skinnier wand my hair ended up having very tight curls which when separated made my hair get very big. I had to spray them with my sea salt texturizing spray to get them to relax and it looked wonderful. I received a ton of compliments that day and wish I had remembered to take a picture! I really love this spray. I found it at CVS, for under $10, and you can find it on drugstore.com. It smells like coconuts, and definitely gives you that beachy hair!






On a more recent visit to Target, I picked up the larger size wand so I could achieve a looser curl. My mother graciously allowed me to try it on her hair and I was able to get some pictures of the end result!

Here is my mommy's hair before we got started. I took some gel and evenly covered my hands and ran it through her hair to help hold the curl.

Using the technique of wrapping the hair around the wand flat and not twisting the hair before wrapping it, I started on the right side of my moms face and worked my way around the back. I alternated between wrapping some curls forward and wrapping some backwards.

Pardon my finger in this picture, but when I was finished I had these nicely shaped cylindrical curls.

I gently pulled the curls apart so they looked like they were more natural and there you have it! My mom loved it and although she would never do this for herself, I am sure she will be asking me to do this for her in the future :)

There you have it! The two things I am loving about the wands are that the curl sets quickly and the curl actually holds for longer than a few minutes! The curls stay bouncy, keep their shape, and look wonderful all day. This was never the case when using a curling iron. I am so glad that I invested the money in these. <3

Jenn

August Birchbox

FINALLY my Birchbox showed up today! Yeesh, it felt like it took forever this month. Well here we go!



Not the usual bright pink this month! Instead it was the color of a school bus.....

.....and its because its a "Beauty School" theme! Man, all this back to school stuff is increasing my loathing of having to return to class on the 20th :(
Also, this box had a card in it saying that Birchbox is raising money from your purchases this month to build schools overseas. Sadly there was nothing in this box that inspired me to purchase anything this month.
In this box there's a Schick Hydro Silk Razor with coupons for replacement heads, 2 oz. bottle of Miss Jessie's Original Quick Curls, full sized PIXI Beauty Lid Last Shadow Pen,  a sample of Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy La Fleur, and 3 Beauty Fixation Make Up Removers.

First up is the PIXI Beauty Lid Last Shadow Pen.....try saying that 3 times fast! I received the color "Gilded Mink" which is like a lighter, shimmery brown. It is supposed to double as a shadow pen or an eye liner and it has a great consistency. It slid on to my skin evenly and the color is going to compliment my neutral make up (Urban Decay Naked2 palette) wonderfully. I had to look up how you are supposed to sharpen this pen. I looked to see if it twisted up (nope) or if I had a sharpener to fit it (nope) so then I trusted Google and found this article which explains that you have to have the PIXI brand sharpener to access the rest of the product.....well that's a bummer. PIXI products are sold at Target, so if you are near one, you can probably pick one up there. I am going to check for one on my next visit.  :)

I spritzed some of the Juicy Couture Viva la Juicy La Fleur perfume on my wrist and its actually not to bad. It is definitely a floral scent....duh, La Fleur, but it also has a powdery note to it. I might have picked up on some of the mandarin, but did not pick up on the wild berry notes. Not being a fan of the original Viva la Juicy, I was surprised that I liked this one.

Ah yes, the Schick Hydro Silk razor....how the hell did this end up in a Birchbox? The only thing I can think of is we are heading into Fall and Winter and Birchbox is secretly letting us know that it is not ok to stop shaving our legs and arm pits  LOL. The only thing on me that needed shaving when this box came in.....was my girly bits. (Yeah, I don't keep that shit trimmed up any more because I am single. Admit it single ladies, you don't either!)  I hopped in the shower to shampoo my hair to try the next product and used this little razor to take care of my nether-region. I love how large the handle is, I love the hole for your finger so it doesn't slip, and it did give a really nice close shave. I am comparing it to my Venus razor, which has a smaller head, which I prefer. I will hold onto this razor and try it on my legs next. If it ends up being the cat's-ass, then I will bring my Venus to the lake house and use the coupons that came with the Schick to get more heads.....we shall see!

This was not a full sized product, but 2 oz. of Miss Jessie's Original Quick Curls is going to go a long way (the full size is 8 oz.) So I shampooed and conditioned my hair and then used the Amika Hair Mask to prep my hair for curling. This creme is kind of thick, smelled clean with a hint of something minty, and was kind of a pain to get through all my hair. Directions say use one tablespoon, which I started out with, but I had to add another half tablespoon to cover the rest of my hair. Because this creme is thick, you really have to make sure its covering your hand evenly before you go in for the spread so you don't get a huge product deposit in one place. FYI you can visit Miss Jessie's here and get free samples of products! You do have to enter your credit card for verification, but they tell you that it won't be charged.

This is my hair wet with the product in it. My hair is long, medium thickness, and naturally curly. So decided for my first test I would let my hair dry naturally and I headed off to the tanning bed with my wet hair (yeah yeah yeah, I have no one to impress LOL).



When I came home, my hair looked like this! (Forgive my no-makeup, post-tan face) Not too bad for just letting it air dry huh? The pros to this creme, is that I got great volume, defined curls, and it did not take as long as it usually does for my hair to air dry. The cons were that my hair didn't really feel that soft (not that it was hard or crunchy, I guess I just expected softer since it says its packed with moisturizers and that it doubles as a rescue treatment for fried hair) and it didn't smell girly. It has a bland, uni-sex kind of smell to it and I love when my hair products smell girly and nice because my hair tends to take on the scent of whatever the hell it comes near. I think I am going to give this a second shot with a diffuser and see what happens.



Lastly, Birchbox included these little beauty fixation make up removers. I have tried these before from a different brand and did not care for them. It is a nice concept, but I am still at a loss on what to really use them for. You can't use them to remove your eye make up because just one of those little ends doesn't really work well enough to get all the eye make up off your eye. It kind of smears it around and you have to use a cotton round to clean it off your face. You can't really use them for fixing eye liner that you messed up, because once that make up remover is on your face, since its an oil, it kind of spreads out and starts breaking down your make up or it keeps it moist so when you inevitably touch your face, your make up smears. I am also confused because both ends are covered with cotton, but you can only use the end with out the color ring.......huh, its a mystery.

There you have it! This box paid for itself this month because the PIXI product alone is worth $18 (even if I will have to purchase a sharpener), not to mention the Schick Hydro razor which is probably worth a few bucks. If you want to get your own Birchbox so you can share your feed back with me, sign up here!

Jenn



Love with Food- August's Box

I wasn't sure about this box at first, I mean, I am chubby so do I really want a box of deliciousness mailed to me every month? With my first box, August's box, I decided the answer is YES!!
Not only does the purchase of every Love with Food box provide a meal for a hungry child here in America, but not everything is the box is bad for you!
I have a feeling that I will be giving these as gifts in the future :) I am trying to talk my mom into getting this box sent to my brother while he is at college. I figure he may appreciate the foods to snack on as well as try some stuff since he is going to culinary school.



Now on to August's box! This month's theme is "Travelin' Treats" so all the foods were a snack food. The box is packed to the brim, which was awesome to see, and the sample sizes were enough to be able to share some of the items or pack them as a full on snack. There were pretzels, mustard, dried cherries, peanuts, cookies, little candies, and some gum. There was also a little card giving you a hint of what next month's box theme is going to be.

First out of the box to be tried were the Gin Gins candy. I am not much for ginger stuff, so I shared the ginger candy with my mother and I tried the ginger caramel. I wish they had sent a couple of each, but it really wasn't a big deal. My mom said the ginger candy was delicious and that she had had them before. I did not much care for the ginger caramel due to the ginger flavor, but the texture was wonderful. I liked to see that these candies are also used to help motion sickness! I will have to keep that in mind.

The next thing that caught my eye was the Key Lime with Ginger Mustard by East Shore. Holy deliciousness! I love anything key lime flavored and this did not let down. I tried it with the Skinny Dipping Pretzels by East Shore and it was the perfect afternoon snack. The mustard was nice and tart with a touch of sweetness and I did not get much of the ginger flavor (but hopefully I will get the health benefits from it). I would definitely buy this to use on hot dogs, burgers, chips and pretzels :)

Up next was the Vegan Lemony Lemon Cookie by the Sun Flour Baking Company. While the flavor of this cookie was awesome and super lemony, the texture was not that of a normal cookie. It was more dense and harder to chew. It was not totally unpleasant though, and I would purchase these as a healthy alternative to my sweet stuff.  The Vegan Peanut Butter Cookie by Sun Flour Baking Company was also delicious and had a better, more "cookie like" texture. I wouldn't have known this one was vegan if it wasn't on the packaging!

Next I tried the Dried Montmorency Cherries by Cherry Bay Orchards. I don't know if I am a fan of dried cherries, the taste wasn't there for me with these, but the texture was wonderful! My mom and I had a few, but I think I am going to give these another shot by chopping them up smaller and putting them in a salad.

Later I broke out the Tangerine Glee Gum which was awesome to see that it is made with sustainably harvested rainforest chicle. The flavor was great, but unfortunately it lasted all of about 2 minutes. The gum kept sticking to my teeth so I had to spit it out. Love the concept, but the execution needs some help.

And the last thing I tasted was the Coconut Toffee Peanuts by Sconza Candies. Delicious! These were so good! Great texture, great flavor, not to sweet, the toffee shell was not too thick, and the peanuts did not taste stale or waxy. I am so glad they packed a decent sized bag because I shared these with everyone in the house. I could totally see myself packing these on a road trip or for a flight!

My first Love with Food box was awesome! I am excited to see what is coming next month.

Jenn

Pinterest Test: Cleaning Shower Head and Nail Repairs

Boredom struck again so I decided to clean my shower head with vinegar.

I have a theory that my back is breaking out because of the mineral and chemical build up in my shower head. I know it hasn't been cleaned for a year (because I just moved home after a year) so I thought this would be a more creative way of cleaning the shower head.

I gathered my tools: Some white vinegar, a ziploc baggie, and a hair tie.

I took my shower caddy off my shower head spout before I started. I then made sure the bag fit over the shower head, then I filled the bag with the vinegar and submerged the head. This took some skill, but I pulled the hair tie around the bag and spout and pulled one end through the other end. To keep it from coming apart, I used a small face wash sample. Some of the vinegar did spill out of the top, but as you can see the entire head is nicely submerged. Then I waited overnight!

When I woke up the next day, the bag of vinegar did not look any different :( I was hoping that the vinegar would have changed colors with all the minerals and chemicals it was breaking up, but unfortunately it was anti-climactic. There weren't any funny colors to the water that came out of the shower head either, so I have no idea if this worked.

Only time will tell!

As for my nails, I had noticed some discoloration from painting them so much and so I pulled up a post from pinterest on how to get whiter nails.

As I did not take pictures of the nail whitening I will start with that. I took a hot bowl of water, threw in 4 tablespoons of baking soda and 2 tablespoons of peroxide and let them soak for about 3 minutes. While letting them soak I used the baking soda to exfoliate my cuticles as suggested.
.........Result: It worked! I wish now I had done a before and after, but I was pleasantly surprised with this easy at home nail whitening solution. I had some stains on my nails from continuously painting them and this really lightened or eliminated the stains.

Now that my nails are growing out longer, I am starting to get stress cracks on the sides right where the quick meets the nail. Story of every natural-nail girl's life! So when my middle finger got a small crack, I tried to super glue it and paint my nails over the glue. That held for about a day, until the crack got a little bigger and started making me nervous. Back to Pinterest! This time I found how to fix my nail with a tea bag. I really got a laugh reading this blog and the directions were very clear with pictures.....not what you are going to get on my blog!

So I started by finding a tea bag that was never going to be used in my house, in this case it as blueberry green tea. I cut the top off the bag, emptied out the tea and then cut the bag near the seam so I could save what was going to be left over the the next time I needed it. I then headed to my manicure kit where I took out some nail scissors, gel super glue, buffing block, and of course my butter London Horse Power nail fertilizer.

Then I removed the gorgeous nail polish with super glue that I had just put on the day before, my butter London in Snog. To get both the polish and the 3 layers of super glue off, I let a cotton ball soaked in nail polish remover sit on my nail for a minute or two. When the polish and super glue sandwich did not come off the nail, I took some tweezers and gently picked it off... ta-da! I would have attempted to get a picture of the cracked nail, but it is less than a centimeter long and I wanted to keep it that way :)

So following the instructions some what, I put more super glue on the crack of my nail. In the blog instructions she covered he whole nail, but in my case I thought that was a bit excessive. I made sure that the super glue covered the crack and the area around the crack for a good seal. Then, I trimmed out a strip of the tea bag that went almost to my cuticle and past the length of my nail, again deviating from the directions of the blog. Since I was using gel super glue, which takes a bit longer to dry, my tea bag strip was easily placed over the still sticky glue and pressed into place. After in place, I trimmed off the end right at the end of the nail and added more super glue to saturate the tea bag strip. It makes the paper almost transparent which was really cool.

After letting the top coat of super glue dry, I took the buffing block and as directed I smoothed out the roughness of the glue.

It only took a few passes of the block to even it out and I did not want to try to get it perfect and sand down to the paper. I did skip the polishing step with the block because, again, I did not want to file it down to the paper or mess it up.As you can see here, the tea bag patch is barely noticeable. Then, after removing all the polish from all my nails *weep* I put 2 coats of my nail fertilizer on my nails and 3 coats on my repaired nail. This helped smooth out the nail more and you can not notice the patch unless my hand is 6 inches from your face. Since I don't like to be even 12 inches close to people, this works out tremendously!

I did take the more rough side of the buffing block and buffed off the super glue that had gotten on the side of my nail and after the clear polish had dried, I treated all my nails to some butter London Handbag Holiday cuticle oil. This stuff smells delicious! And it replenished the moisture that was lost to my fingers when I removed the polish and buffed them with the block.

This might have been the highlight of my day today :) Not only did I save myself from having my nail ripped down to the quick, but I learned a fast and relatively easy way to repair any stress cracks in the future! My mother laughed at me, but she will be taking that shit back when I am fixing her nails that are always breaking.

Yey Pinterest!

Jenn

Bentley- The Love of My Life

It was a lazy Saturday for my mother and I. We are both reading pretty good book series and are pretty absorbed in the books right now. She is reading a series by Diana Gabaldon about a woman who goes back in time in Scotland and I am reading the Frank Beddor series called "The Looking Glass Wars".
So as we were hanging out together in the living room, my sweet dog Bentley crawls up into my lap, lays his head on my chest and I fell right to sleep with him. It made me think how lucky I am to have such a sweet boy and the story of how he became mine.
Originally, he was adopted by my ex-boyfriend when we were in the beginning of dating. He really didn't have the time, money, or attention span to get a dog, but of course he picked him up anyway.

A few times, he brought Bentley over to my work to visit me when he was just a little guy and it was love at first sight. My ex estimated that the was about 3 months old. He had never bought a kennel for the little guy, but decided it was a good idea to lock him in the half bathroom and use that as a kennel.....obviously not a good idea. He adopted the dog and then the next day left him alone in the bathroom for over 8 hours and then was surprised when he came home to find that Bentley had pooped all over the bathroom and gotten it on the walls and all over himself.

I couldn't take it any more and I was able to find an old kennel for a friend and though it was too big, it was better than his current situation. I came over to visit my ex and Bentley, and the little guy was so happy when I sat on the floor with him, played with him and snuggled him. I am assuming not a lot of that was going on in that apartment since he seemed starved for attention. I also found that he had ticks in between his toes and on his legs. I had to give my ex a crash course in checking your pet for this stuff, removing them, and told him he needed to schedule a vet appointment which he had failed to do. From that visit on, Bentley was stuck to me like glue. When I would come over, Bentley would be in my lap, next to me, following me to the bathroom and then eventually sleeping on my side of the bed when I moved in.





Naturally when I left my ex I was determined to take Bentley with me.... and so I did! Over the year that I was with my ex, Bentley was my best friend. He was the one the snuggled with me when I would read or watch my shows, the one that was always happy to see me when I got home on my lunch break and then again from work for the day, and he was always following me around when ever I got up.

I was the one that took him to the vet on a regular basis, cleaned his ears, played with him and bought him toys, took him to training classes, and took him out for walks. If my ex had done even a fraction of these things, maybe Bentley would have taken to him as he did to me.

I couldn't leave to go to class in the evenings with out Bentley having separation anxiety and I found out why....when I would leave and he was alone, my ex basically gave him no attention and watched TV and played on his cell phone (story of our relationship). When I would come home a few hours later, Bentley was about to piss himself because my ex couldn't get up off the couch to take him less than 10 yards to go make his business.

Enough was enough, for both of our sakes I knew we both needed to go. So here it is 2 months after I left (to the date) and it made me thing: maybe I was meant to go through that relationship to end up with my best dog-friend. Bentley is, by far, the best thing that came out of that relationship. Since we moved back home with my parents, he is a happy guy, has other dogs to play with, my brother and my dad to snuggle and wrestle with, my mom to keep him company and let him out to potty while I am at class, and he does not have to be kenneled as much.

He still has his problems that were created by my ex though, and I am not sure if they can be fixed. Bentley is about 17 months old, he does very well with his potty training (sometimes he does pee in his sleep and I am not sure what causes that) and he listens to his commands. However, ever since before I moved in with my ex, Bentley has been aggressive with his food. I don't know what caused it since I was not there during all his meal times in the beginning, but I have tried everything to curb the aggression. We are currently feeding him in the garage, away from the other dogs, and while that works because he can eat in peace, he still gives warning growls if he is not done with his food and you come into the garage. He plays too rough with Tucker and the other dogs. I think this is more due to the fact that he is still a young pup and was raised for over a year in a single-dog household. While he has gotten better, he still has his moments when he is really excited and plays very rough.

No matter his faults, I would never think twice about getting rid of him. I am sure that if he ended up in an animal shelter they would put him down simply due to the fact that he is aggressive around food, and that is not his fault and was how he was conditioned by my ex and his sister. He is like my child, and you do not give a child up just because they have their problems.  You love them, you work with them, you try to teach them the right way, and you keep them out of trouble so they do not injure themselves or others.

So that is the story of my love, my friend, my child. While he might not be perfect, he is mine and gives me back more than he will ever know. He is my friend who will always be there for me, never ignore me, is always happy to see me, and will never say anything to hurt my feelings. He is my work out partner who takes walks downtown and around the neighborhood with me, gets me off my ass to play fetch with him, swims in the lake with me, and has even paddle boarded with me. He is my snuggle buddy, keeps me warm, never lets me sleep alone, and shoves himself under my head so I can use him as a pillow. He is my protector and keeps strange people and strange dogs away from me with his large stature and deep bark. He is part of my family, he is my brother's friend, my mom's crazy canine kid, and my dad's snuggle buddy when I am in class.

No one has been able to pull on my heart strings the way he does, and maybe no one else ever will. Here is to my buddy, I love you Bentley.

Jenn





Eco Emi July Bonus Box

I had been interested in the Eco Emi box for awhile and when I saw they were selling an individual July Bonus box, I went ahead and bought it. For $29 I got a large box stuffed with samples and full sized products sent to my house. This is the first box I have received or purchased from Eco Emi.....and I am not quite sure how I feel about it, to be honest.

I loved how much I got for the price I paid, don't get me wrong. There were beauty and personal care products, tea samples, food and vitamin samples, and a candle. (The sample of all natural fair-trade honey leaked, but it easily wiped off with some water)

Here is a snap shot of the food stuff:

From top left: There is a sweet & smokey rub, bag of chai spices and sample of chocolate, health smoothie, small jar of honey, 3 packets of liquid and powder vitamins, 2 health bars, envelope with agave sweetener and coconut sugar, and a bunch of packets of stivea sweetener.

Tea samples:

I am not much of a tea person, but I will love to try these.

And the healthy, beauty and personal care stuff:











From the top left: Acai vitamins, 2 different toothpastes, hand sanitizers, candle, calming shot, shea butter moisturizer, shampoo & conditioner, body wash, moisturizer, deodorant pot, lip exfoliator, 3 different soap bars, 3 different lip moisturizers, and deodorant towelettes.

Phew! That is a lot. I am not going to review all of this, as it would take me forever. Instead I am going to try a bunch of the products and just review those few.

I received the box August 9th and tried the following products on that day: (and of course this photo won't upload the correct way....go figure! Work with me....)

• Beeluxe Beeswax and Coconut Candle- I received the pineapple and mangosteen scent, which is not really for me, but I love candles so I immediately started burning it. It is pretty strong when you open the tin, but I found you have to be right on top of the candle to smells it.
• The Seaweed Bath Co.- I received 4 samples from this company...here goes
• Shampoo- it has seaweed and argan oil, it is unscented, and is a clear gel. It lathered up well in my hair and didn't leave my hair feeling like straw afterwards.
• Conditioner- it also has seaweed and argan oil, it is citrus scented, and is an orange cream color. I needed more than what the packette had to cover all my hair, but I made do with what I had. I left it in for 3 minutes while I washed my body with the body wash, but my hair didn't feel super hydrated afterwards. When I blow dried my hair, it was not pretty. Not only was my hair more difficult to round brush, but it looked dried out and uncontrollable. It had tons of fly-aways and was not shiny. I was highly disappointed.
• Body wash- it has a eucalyptus and peppermint scent which was a bad idea. At first it was refreshing, but quickly the scent became overwhelming and breath taking. You do not want to use this body wash near your girl parts either, it is like putting Vick's vapor rub on it!
• Body cream- it has a pleasant light Lavender scent, but it was difficult to rub in and that packette only covered up to my knees on both legs.

• Shea Radiance Whipped Shea Body butter- this has some sort of a melon scent, which is not very pleasing and it was difficult to rub in. It left my skin feeling pretty greasy and when my dog licked my arm he did not like the way it tasted LOL.
• Crystal Essence Mineral Deodorant Towelette- this actually smelled pretty good, the towelette easily covered both of my underarms, and had a pleasing scent on the body. About an hour and a half after putting it on, I realized this is a good theory, but I need some real deodorant.
• Tangerine Lip Exfolient- I actually really liked this. It did not take very much product to do the job, it had a very citrus flavor (because you will end up getting this in your mouth) and afterwards my lips were smooth, soft, and plump. I will definately be using this in my daily face routine.
• Dr. Collins All Natural Toothpaste- I got the Vanilla Mint and Goji Berry flavor and it was yummy. I don't really know what to say about it, other than it did a good job getting my teeth cleaned. There are no whitening properties like my Tom's of Maine toothpaste, and also unlike Tom's, this one is not approved by the ADA. I think I will stick with Tom's and just use this one in my travel bag.

On August 10th I tried the:

• Vitacare Toothpaste- it comes in clean mint + acai flavor, is white with little flecks of purple in it, and worked well and tasted great. Like the other toothpaste, it is not approved by the ADA so I will not be using this one on a regular basis either.
• Dr. Cleangreen's Instant Hand Purifier- which has a very "organic" smell, but worked great and is in a small container which fit great in my purse. I will definitely be using this.
• Genesis Today Acai Vitamin Super Chews- I ate one on the 9th and one on the 10th and they are pretty decent tasting, chewy, didn't stick to my teeth, and my dog even ate a little bit. If I can remember, I will eat one a day for the remaining 8 days. I might actually purchase these so I can take a daily vitamin.
• Lauren Brooke Cosmetiques Glow Bronzer- this was an awesome surprise! The texture of the bronzer was great, the color was wonderful and would work well on many skin tones, and it dusted on my cheeks evenly. I am probably going to use this every day.
• Rainwater Botanicals Natural Deodorant in Jasmine Wind- This came in a little pot so it had to be put on by using my finger, it smelled very fresh and a bit flowery, and it went on easily. It does not have anti-perspiring ingredients in it, so I am sure that if I wore this all day I would have had some wet arm pits.
• Burt's Bees Lip Shimmer in Plum-  this lip shimmer has a great texture, but the color is as dark as a lipstick. It is a dark color so I may try it as a lipstick one night in the fall. I would love to try this in a lighter color though.
• Ecotints Naturally Glistening Lip Moisturizer- I received this in "coralyte"and at first I thought this was going to be a gross color that was very pigmented, but it ended up being just like it said "naturally glistening". It was a sheer shimmery color that was not too bad, although I would have never purchased that color for myself. The moisturizer had a nice texture and made my lips feel soft.
• Endangered Wildlife Organic Lip Balm in Vanilla Polar Bear- I have a bit of an obsession with lip balms (meaning I have a shoe box full of lip smackers, eos lip balms, and other lip stuff) so this was awesome to get! The texture was nice and moisturizing and made my lips slick, it tasted just like vanilla should taste, and when I found out that 25% of the profits went to saving the animal it featured, it made me want to find more of them at endangeredwildlifelipbalm.com and buy them all!
• Yogi Tea in Soothing Bedtime Caramel/Catalyst Gourment Chai Finishing Sugar- yummy! I am really not a tea person but I made this for bed. Alone it was ok, but with the finishing sugar and some concentrated milk it was delicious!It almost tasted like bedtime and warm caramel milk. I am definitely going to pick up a box of this at the grocery store. I have a feeling this is better for me than Ambien.

Well that's it for this box! I am afraid if I reviewed any more that this post might go on forever :)

Don't forget, if you liked what you saw here, add Eco Emi on Facebook and check out their website so you can get your own monthly box.

Jenn