Coffee Stack and Spice Stack

January 2, 2013 by Leave a Comment

If you have watched many of my YouTube videos you might notice that i have quite the collection of kitchen gadgets and appliances. So many in fact I honestly don't know where to put them at the end of the day. Although I love my current apartment vs my old apartment the one thing I am lacking is kitchen cupboards and my pantry. This is where I used to store many of those gadgets I accumulate, So of coarse that only leaves my counter-tops for storage.

This has probably been the craziest year I have had in all my life. Several life changes, mother to a 2 year old (who is now almost 3),  new jobs, and the most traveling I have ever done in a single year. But the point of mentioning that is to further explain how important it is to have consistency, and organization. I also spent the last year and a half housekeeping privately, and  for about 7 months of 2012 cleaning for a local green cleaning agency in Seattle. During my time there, it became increasingly frustrating to go in someones house, on a strict time limit, and have to clean their house from top to bottom. I would have to say my least favorite part of the job was to clean for people for had excessive amounts of clutter on their counter-tops. So in a way it really pushed me to strive for better organization within my own home. After all there is nothing worse than cleaning professionally all day and coming home to clean as well.

 

This is where the Coffee Stack and Spice Stack Come in super handy. Like many of the houses I have cleaned, and like many of your homes, I had a counter-top standing spice rack as well as a counter-top K-Cup carousel for our Kuerig coffee maker. Each Product probably took up about a cubic foot of space. it might not seem like a lot, but in my tiny kitchen, to be able to clear off that much space makes a world of difference.

In addition to space saving, the Coffee Stack and Spice Stack actually hold more K cups and Spice bottles than my old storage products. For example, my K cup Carousel only held 32 K cups, and with the Coffee Stack I'm able to store 40 K cups in a drawer like storage system that pulls out and lowers so you can easily find your K cup of choice. It has four drawers which each hold 10 K cups. I find this especially nice to designate shelves between myself, my husband and our roommate/nanny.  They also both feature non skid rubber feet to keep the device securely in place so you never have to worry that it might fall out of your cupboard, and they are also stackable! The Coffee Stack measures:  9 1/4" H x 5 1/4" W x 10 7/8" L.

My old spice rack only held 15 jars, and my Spice Stack now holds 18 full size bottles, or 32 small bottles! That's a huge difference! that's up to 2 times as many spices! It even comes with 48 pre printed labels that you can easily place on the outside of each drawer for easily locating the spices you need in a pinch. The Spice Stack measures: 8 1/2" H x 8" W x 10 3/4" D. and also has non slip rubber feet like the Coffee Stack and is also stackable.

 

I actually love these products so much I plan to get one of each for my mom and step mom, because like myself, they also are in need of some better organizational tools.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Filed Under: Storage & Space Savers ·

Sticky Buddy Review and Demo

June 29, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 

So early March of this year, I was super fortunate to be able to attend the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago. Through some awesome contacts with Telebrands, it turned out to be one of the best experiences in my life (aside from getting married and having my amazing daughter of coarse). So while I was in Chicago,  I got to meet Telebrands CEO and infomercial king,  AJ Khubani, Aj’s wife Poonam, Pitchman Anthony Sullivan, and the inventors of the Sticky Buddy themselves, Cindy and Tylor Ross. I even got to see the live demo with Anthony Sullivan himself pitching the newest Telebrands product.

I have to admit, of all the infomercials I see, I’m probably as much as a skeptic as all of you out there. I suppose I would rather like to consider myself an optimistic skeptic. But my desire to know if the products actually work and my undying curiosity is what drives me to test them out so I can share my answers. Because of this rare opportunity I had, I can honestly say, seeing the demo live and in person, and being able to hold the product and touch it and test it for myself I immediately knew this product to be true and good to their claims from the very start.

Over the last several years, I have owned, and seen many different sticky rollers, but this was something all its own. This was one of a kind. Unlike all other Sticky rollers, this has little stiff cone-like “rubber fingers”. Why are these important? Simply because they dig deep into your carpet to pull up the crumbs, pet hair, and anything else you have settling down in there.

You can use the Sticky Buddy on any fabric or surface, it will last you a lifetime, and it’s extremely affordable. Many years ago I used to use the sticky tape lint rollers, but they used to be so expensive, they would never last, and they would often break. Not to mention I would prefer to be more environmentally friendly. Why waste paper on something I’m just going to keep throwing away? It’s essentially like I’m throwing my money away.

So anyways, for those that don’t know, my daughter is 2 ½ years old and when I come home from work, some days its like a tornado hit the inside of my apartment. There could be hundreds of toys spilled over, and anything from chips to crackers, to popcorn, to her piggy bank being opened and coins everywhere, to cookies or goldfish being smushed into my carpet. Yuck….. I don’t even know how it gets that bad, but as Anthony Sullivan said in his pitch, it takes less time to clean a mess with my Sticky Buddy, than it does to get out my vacuum. Not to mention, you can’t even vacuum coins without damaging your vacuum…

I have mentioned several types of messes I encounter as mother to a toddler, and my Sticky Buddy can handle cleaning all of them ( except the large toys of coarse). There are even other messes I didn’t mention. For instance, my daughter got into my pantry and took out a new full bag of California rice and spilled the rice EVERYWHERE. Oh yes, that happened. I’ve also had to clean up an entire full size bottle of baby powder she squeezed empty all over her bedroom, and even an entire bag of flour that covered our livingroom. Oh, and then there was the time she spilled a box of macaroni noodles all over. As frustrating as you might think it would be, in those particular times, I can’t help but laugh. After all, she’s only 2 ½. What can I expect? And there is nothing more adorable than seeing her happy face spreading all that rice around, brushing it with my makeup brush as if it’s a dinosaur bone excavation site. Or when she’s white as a ghost covered in so much baking flour I can’t even see her eyebrows. Those are the moments I live for and I love every minute of it.

I think of the three different size Sticky Buddy’s we have that came in my set, I honestly couldn’t tell you which size is most often used or which is my favorite. I use the full size roller for the big messes, I keep the travel size in my purse, and the medium one I use all over. Most often I use the medium one in my car for all those crumbs we aquire, and the occasional trip to the beach sand that tries to come home with us. But more importantly, since late March, I started working a new job at Green Cleaning Seattle for an eco friendly cleaning company. Since working there I have learned a lot about what it means to be “green”. I recycle a lot, I reuse whatever I can, and I try not to use harmful chemicals as much as possible in my home life. I have found my Sticky Buddy to be such a great help, I recently started taking it to work with me.

You see, although I only have one cat, and pet hair doesn’t ever seem to build up in our home, a lot of the other people I clean for do have that problem. Especially people who own more than one furry friend, and it is especially great to use on furniture which sometimes it might be difficult to vacuum. Or for example small entryway rugs where pine needles, or pet hair gets embedded deep within making it difficult for even most vacuums to get it out.

This is a great product, It lands within my top 10, and all I can say is Sticky Buddy For The Win! I hope you love it as much as I do, thanks for reading ;)
 
And I hope you enjoy my video, which I filmed while I was in Chicago

Filed Under: Cleaning ·

Lo-Bak TRAX Review

April 30, 2012 by Leave a Comment

So if you hadn’t already heard or read, I was very lucky to be able to attend the International Home and Housewares Show in Chicago, March 10th-12th. This was one of the best experiences I have had in my adult life. It was almost unreal. Anything you could possibly imagine for the home was there. All my favorite companies, brands, products, people, you name it, they were there.

One of the biggest reasons I attended, was to get to meet Telebrands CEO AJ Khubani, and see all the great As Seen on Tv products they had to show off, as well as many of the other As Seen on Tv companies. Through some wonderful contacts, I was lucky enough to be invited to sit in on Telebrands inventors day on Sunday and see actual inventors pitch their ideas and inventions in 5 minutes or less ( very much like the show Shark Tank) to Aj Khubani,  Aj’s wife, Poonam as well as Pitchman Anthony Sullivan.

I saw several great inventions, but one of my favorites, of coarse was to see inventor Roland Berthiaume pitch his invention Lo-Bak TRAX. What is Lo-Bak TRAX? It is a portable spinal traction device. If you don’t already know what spinal traction is, its method of treating back pain that is meant to pull and separate the vertebrae apart from each other. The purpose of doing so is to create more space for your nerves where they exit the spinal column and/or to help relieve the pressure on the discs between the bones.

So if you haven’t already read in some of my other reviews, I suffer from lower back pain. It’s pretty much a daily issue. Its also one of the biggest reasons I hate to cook. In fact, up until recently, my back was hurting me so much I had to get my husband to give me massages almost daily. (I know it doesn’t really help with the discs and nerves and all that, it just felt good and was a good excuse for a massage).

Just over a month ago I started a new job working for an Eco friendly housecleaning company. For about a year I had already been housecleaning, but boy was it a totally different ball game. I had to work with entirely different products, which being eco friendly/ eco safe, they don’t have all those harsh chemicals to help do the work for me. So when it comes to the nasty gritty grimy stuff, it takes a whole lotta elbow grease to get the job done. You want to know what? In all my life, I have never been so physically sore and exhausted. As each week goes by, the soreness becomes less and less. Its starting to feel like that good kind of burning feeling you get after an awesome workout. I definitely feel like I’m getting more in shape.

Right around the same time I started this new job, Roland ( Lo-Bak TRAX inventor) found me on Twitter by way of a photo I had shared from the Housewares Show. You couldn’t imagine how happy I was! Because of course during the Telebrands Inventors Day, I never got a chance to ask any questions about the device. I knew immediately that his invention could be the key to my back pain relief. You see, not only did Roland invent this product, but he is a chiropractor! If I had the chance, you can believe I would have asked for an adjustment right there. Lol. No joke

With some simple and easy positions, we were shown how to use the Lo-Bak TRAX. Its just as easy as laying down, knees bent, ankles near your buttocks, and all you had to do was push down on the product as it sits on your thigh. As if the possibility of relief wasn’t enough to perk my interest, Lo-Bak TRAX is FDA approved. One of the other things that really stuck in my mind was when Roland showed us all some great stretching exercises you could also use Lo-Bak TRAX for.

Anyways, so after Roland found my on Twitter, he generously offered to send my a Lo-Bak TRAX. For just under a month I have been using my Lo-Bak TRAX on a regular basis. ESPECIALLY, before and after I go to work. Because my job is so physical, and involves a lot of bending and squatting, and running around, often times when I get home from Seattle, just sitting in the car, my muscles tense up and its extremely difficult to get out of my car even. But the first thing I do when I get home, is get my Lo-Bak TRAX! After I finish a few reps of traction on my lower back, I give my legs and hips and everything a good stretch. A few minutes later after I finish up, not only can I move easier, my muscles are not nearly so sore, but my back pain is nearly gone!

You have no idea how happy I am to finally have a product that actually helps relieve my pain. Seriously! I have actually been trying to get in to see my chiropractor for a very long time, but since I haven’t had health insurance in over two years, I would have to pay out of pocket. And at $45 a visit. It would have cost me just under $200 a month, which is nothing near what I can afford right now.

In the short amount of time I have been using my Lo-Bak TRAX I’m glad and thankful to say it has definitely helped my life for the better! My husband no longer has to give me daily back massages and I have even started to cook more often, and for that my husband is thankful ;)

 

Filed Under: Wellness ·

Clean Step Mat

March 13, 2012 by 5 Comments

This was another one of those impulsive purchases that came on the first snowy day in Seattle mid January. It could not have come at a better time than that particular day. It was looking like a blizzard outside and the weather forecast had said this will be a record snowstorm likely to rival the worst that I can recall in my entire childhood (or even adulthood) at age 7/8.

We had decided to take one last trip out just as the roads started to get bad to head out to our favorite shopping place ( none other than The Beyond) to get last minute sodas, and then to the grocery store to stock up through the storm. To our delight we stumbled across the Clean Step Mat. I’m actually quite surprised we hadn’t stumbled across this before.

If you have read my other reviews and have started to learn more about me, you will know that I will do anything to protect my floors and save money when it comes time to move and preserve as much of our damage deposit as possible. With all our wet weather we get here in the Puget Sound area, this is probably a product I should have had for the last couple years. Or at least since we moved into our current apartment…

Anyways, the first thing you want to do its wash it in the washing machine and hang dry as per instructions. Then place in desired location. Of coarse we put ours on the inside of our front door. Since we put our Clean Step Mat down, it has greatly reduced the amount of tracked in mud , dirt and rainwater my floors are staying much cleaner.

Unlike many other rugs, the Clean Step:

•    is made of extremely absorbent fibers which attracts and removes the water or mud off your shoes (other rugs just don’t do that)
•    Has thick latex backing that prevent the mud/water from seeping through onto your floors
•     the backing is non slip so it stays firmly in place (wont curl up or create tripping hazards)
•    because its so sturdy, its machine washable ( other rugs get destroyed in machines)

I have been using my Clean Step mat for about 2 months and I love it. I actually just had an idea while I was thinking about this…. They should make this mat in different colors specifically for use in bathrooms. I couldn’t tell you how many bathroom rugs we have replaced because they get destroyed in the washing machine. I understand that there are all sorts of bathroom mats with memory foam, soft cushioning, etc, but as I think harder, over time their rubber backing will all deteriorate. And they always curl up or I trip on them. Or they just hold the water in and keep the moisture at the floor, only to ruin the floor.

 But I think that would be great for getting out of the shower, or even for those who have pools or hottubs and don’t want to track the water inside. It isn’t just for a front door, you can use it at any door. Heck, I almost think they would make great car floor mats during the winter. Have you ever tried washing a car floor mat in a washing machine? Yup, you wont catch me doing it. I think most people just hose theirs off or pressure wash them or something, and I guarantee you it isn’t an easy task. And while I’m on a roll, I might as well say that additionally they would be great as floor mats in case you have ever spilled sodas or whatever while driving. Spilling sodas or any sort of drink on the floor of your car pretty much bites the big one, it gets everywhere, under the mat, it is sticky, and without a shop vac, it isn’t going to be an easy clean…

 

Filed Under: Cleaning ·

Chef Basket Review and Demo

March 13, 2012 by Leave a Comment

 

Ok, so I almost forgot I owned this, and for some reason I always had it in my mind that it was mostly for deep frying and cooking pasta. Sure, you can use it for those things, but it actually has several other uses as well. You can use it to boil, steam, poach, for blanching, it can be used as a colander, for washing fruits and veggies, draining, straining, and you can cook so many other things with it.

So far I tried it for cooking spinach and mozzarella filled ravioli and I have to say I am pretty happy with how easy it is to use. The handles stayed cool as was advertised, and it literally took mere seconds to drain and have it dished up onto my plate. And even more fantastic, after I was finished, I folded it up all nice and flat and it took up no more space in my dishwasher than your average dinner plate.

This morning I decided to try and make hard boiled eggs with the Chef Basket, and as happy as I already was with my results from last nights ravioli, I love this product even more with each use I find for it.

I think the hardest part about using this product will be trying to decide what to cook and learning to try new things. As always, I am going to share a little about myself and reveal a confession or two. The first thing I will admit is that I have owned my Chef Basket since last May….. Nearly 9 ,months ago! And yes, this was the first time I tried using it. The next confession, is that I don’t particularly care to cook. Throughout my adult life I have always been fortunate enough to have a man that did all the cooking. So I never really needed to cook. I suppose there was a short period between age 22 and 23, I was on my own and I had to fend for myself, but still, I never really cooked. This is not to say that I can’t cook, or that I’m a terrible cook, I just choose not to. I guess I just feel like I lack the creativity and inspiration to make amazingly creative dishes. I am definitely creative, just not when it comes to cooking….

So because I forgot all about this product, I wasn’t quite even sure I remembered all the uses until I rewatched the infomercial just now. Let me tell you what, inspiration has definitely hit!

Oh my goodness, I think I have just planned out the next weeks worth of meals! Shrimp, crab, fried Chicken, steamed asparagus, boiled red potatoes, egg salad, steamed artichokes, more of that delish ravioli, and I cant forget my favorite weekend snack attack treats where I might make my amazing homemade onion rings, deep fried breaded zucchini, and everything fatty and delicious. Heck, I have always wanted to try and make my own mozz sticks… I’m on a roll and I might just give it a try. So as soon as the week is over I will be adding to this review.

Update: out of my above mentioned list, I did in fact test it on steaming asparagus, carrots, I boiled potatoes, steamed quite a bit of seafood, and my results yet again, were fantastic. Unfortunately, I haven’t gotten around to deep frying all those fatty dlights as I have been on vacation and then shortly after attending the International Home and Housewares show in Chicago this last weekend, but you can rest assured soon enough I will be filming all of those in a supplementary video demo for the Chef Basket. Stay tuned
 

Filed Under: Cooking ·

Big Top Cupcake Review and Demo

February 10, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Big Top Cupcake

Ok so confession number one is that I don’t actually own this product. I have been meaning to, but I was lucky enough to borrow it from a friend.

I didn’t happen to have the instruction booklet, but I was able to find a PDF file online of the booklet, so that was really awesome! I couldn’t tell you how many times when I have been browsing products online I see people asking where to get replacement books or recipe books for “As Seen on TV” gadgets that they bought and have lost. So this was a huge relief to me.

I had been having a craving for some lemon cake all week since Superbowl, and I finally found the time to make it. So I followed the packaged cake mix, Ninja’d  them all together in mere seconds completely lump free, and started to preheat my oven.

Oven was set for 350 degrees, and I sprayed the BigTop with non stick cooking spray really well. Now, while reading the instructions, it says to divide the batter in half evenly and distribute in the top and bottom half of the Big Top Cupcake. There were a couple lines in the bottom half so I kind of eyeballed my batter while pouring and stopped right at the line.

I did read that if you want a slightly larger Cupcake, you can use two boxes of cake mix and when filling the mold, you only want to use 2/3 of your batter. I will definitely be trying that next time, and had I read the directions before I impulsively decided to fulfill my lemon craving I would have been more prepared and had two boxes on hand.

Actually, maybe I should ALWAYS have several boxes on hand…… Yhea, I think that’s a better idea.

Anyways, so the directions said to have your Big Top on a baking sheet, and at 35-40 minutes to check the top piece of the cupcake mold. I checked mine at 35 to be safe, and it did in fact need to full 40 minutes. After I checked it with a knife ( I was out of toothpicks so I improvised) it was ready to come out of the oven. The bottom part of the mold still had another 10 minutes to cook. It Too came out completely done at exactly the amount of time specified in the instructions.

I let both halves cool for about 10 minutes and I loosened the edges of the mold by bending and wiggling the silicone. It was super easy to remove and both pieces came out perfectly in tact. They looked awesome; I was really impressed. Next, I used my favorite Cutco spatula with the serrated edge to level the top and bottom pieces to my big top cupcake. Both my pieces had slight bulges so they needed to be nice and flat to fit properly together.

I put a little lemon frosting in between the two layers and then put the top on the bottom and frosted it up. It looked AWESOME! I couldn’t have been any happier. My own personal giant cupcake! I’m not saying it makes a personal cupcake by all means, after all I used an entire box of cake mix, but lets just say it fit on MY plate nicely. LOL. Oh and to TOP it off, (get it? I know I’m super funny, right?) I added some pretty pink sprinkles. It looked beautiful. Good enough to eat one might say (there I go again crackin’ jokes).

As if this product wasn't good enough, clean up was a breeze since it was dishwasher safe. So that's another benefit to add to the list.

Ok, so this was last night, and just writing about it today is really making me hungry.

As I mentioned before I don’t currently own this product, but after my amazing results, I will be buying one within the week. I love this product and a can surely expect I will be using it on a pretty frequent basis.
 

Filed Under: Cooking ·

The Hair Bean Review

February 8, 2012 by 2 Comments

The Hair Bean

Since I was pregnant and found out I was having a girl I was so excited and eagerly waited for the day she arrived. At first nervous whether or not she would have hair and desperately wished she did. You see, my entire life I have always been reminded that I was nearly bald until I was two years old and how I was constantly mistaken for a boy. I did not want this for my baby girl. Luckily she arrived with a god amount of hair so I was happier than ever. And for the first year of her little life I eagerly awaited the day I would be able to put little barrettes in her hair or give her the most adorable little pigtails.

 Here we are another year later; her hair is just at shoulder length level. Its at the point where it starts getting tangles, and sometimes it stays in her ponytail, and then most of the time gets all messy, covers her eyes and falls out of her ponytail.  There isn’t much I can do about it and I still haven’t decided if and when she will get her first haircut, and if I get her a haircut, and what style would I even choose for her? Since I hate bangs, I guess I will just keep letting it grow until I see a need to cut it.

Anyways, since her ponytails are always falling out, I have to brush Lexi’s hair and fix it at least two times a day. Up until recently she was ok with me doing so, until she realized she hates my hair brush. Now, when she sees me with the brush she runs away. I happened to be at my local Bed Bath and Beyond just last Friday and stumbled across The Hair Bean. An ‘As Seen On Tv’ product, which promises to painlessly de-tangle hair easily while also minimizing damage to your hair.

The only two things I care about when it comes to testing this product, it whether it is approved by Lexi, and whether it brushes and de-tangles as a regular brush would.

I have to say, it didn’t even take five minutes for the verdict to be in. This product is
approved by not only myself but Lexi as well. She no longer runs when I want to brush her hair. In fact, she actually likes the Hair Bean and is even able to use it on herself at only 2 years of age. She even loves the carrying case and the little mirror inside.

After seeing the infomercial for the Hair Bean I noticed that they had women using it. So my test would not be complete if I didn’t test it out on my own hair. For those that have seen my videos, you know my hair is quite long and I assure you it gets a lot of tangles. Well, Even on my hair, the Hair Bean worked wonderfully! It took a little longer to use than my usual brush but it worked and was completely painless.

So here we have it, yet another great product. I could not say for sure how well this product works on coarser hair or on hair of different ethnicities besides my own, but I guess its for you to decide and try for yourself.
 

Filed Under: Beauty · Tagged With: , , , ,

Bottle Tops Review

February 2, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Click Here To Visit the Bottle Tops Site for your Free Bonus gifts

So I have seen these things in store for a very long time. Since I got my SodaStream soda maker just over a year ago, I really didn’t think that this would be a product I would need. But alas I was wrong. Sure I make my own soda at home, but I sometimes forget that during social gatherings, BBQ’s, and even a quick stop at a convenience store while on the road, or even camping these would be a huge help.

My package came with 12 Bottle Tops, in a wide variety of colors. So the first thing I’m going to say is how great it is because I no longer get my soda confused with someone else’s. So that’s a huge plus.

Then I’m going to point out that at just about any outdoor setting you are going to have insects or bugs. From bees to ants they always want to climb in open cans to the sticky sweet deliciousness of my beverage. With Bottle Tops, I don’t even have to worry that if I turn my back I might unsuspectingly drink any 6 legged creatures. Yuck. That gives me the heebie jeebies just thinking about it. Luckily this has never happened to me that I can recall, but I have known a few people who have experienced such a horrible thing. You can’t imagine how glad I was when I bought these just in time for camping this past summer. I only wish these had been invented back when I was a kid when we went camping every summer. I ALWAYS remember finding bees in my soda can, and I always remember inspecting my cans often.

This past summer my husband and I were fortunate enough to be able to purchase a more gas efficient vehicle, and since doing so, we spent nearly every weekend in August/September taking rather lengthy road trips. For those long drives we were always sure to stop as a gas station or grocery store to load up on sodas and energy drinks which as we all know, don’t travel well and often spill. So again Bottle Tops solved yet another problem for us. Not to mention that since they have such a great seal, if I happened to take a short nap while on the road my drink was still carbonated as ever when I resumed drinking it. There is nothing I hate more than soda that has gone flat. YUCK

Anyways, I’m going to jump right to the bottom line, this is an ingenious product and I LOVE it. We love them so much I almost always keep some in my purse or car just in case.

Two quick things I want to be sure to mention, is that you don't want to accidentally put the Bottle Top on your beverage can before opening, because they are incredibly difficult to remove at that point. And In case you dont read the instructions for some reason, I just wanted to mention, that they can be somewhat difficult to remove since they fit so snugly, that when you are finished there is a little trick to removing them. You want to be sure you squeeze the can as you pop off the top. After watching the infomercial, its almost not even noticeable that the actress does this, but because i was looking for it, i could tell.
 

Filed Under: Food · Tagged With: , , , ,

sliceOmatic Review and Demo

January 16, 2012 by 2 Comments


About a year ago my husband and I had seen on tv an ad for a really nice mandolin, and I was very close to buying it. Sadly, we did not end up getting it, and still wanted one up until recently. Last month at my annual family Christmas party, I was preparing a salad and to save time I borrowed my aunt’s mandolin (it actually happened to be the same one we saw on QVC the year before). So I was slicing up my fennel julienne style on her mandolin when near the end it got stuck. Me, being super afraid of cutting myself stood there trying to figure out how to free the piece of fennel without injury. Not a second later, a relative (who shall remain nameless. LOL) peeked over my shoulder to say “Don’t cut yourself!”, then as I explained my dilemma they took it upon themselves to assist in removing the fennel. So what did they do? With the blades exposed, they used their FINGERS, yes I said FINGERS to try to free the stuck fennel! I’m sure you can easily guess what had happened?….. Yup, they got 3-4 gashes in their finger and started gushing blood. So right there, the exposed blades triggered the fear factor in me, suddenly resulting in my complete disinterest in buying the mandolin. Oh, and after my one time use, I realized the mandolin wasn’t as easy to use as they had made it look. It actually took more force than I had expected to slice and dice.

Another quick story I would like to share is that just two weeks ago my husband cut a sizable chunk of skin off his thumb while slicing onions, with blood gushing everywhere, it was so bad it has taken nearly 2 weeks to heal. Funny thing is I got this product review request from one of my readers just days after this happened. I can’t help but think that if we had already owned the slice-o-matic, that probably wouldn’t have happened. Anyways, I can’t even say how glad I am that I got this request because now I never have to worry that this will happen again.

Another thing I want to mention is that I hadn’t even seen the infomercial for it until I got the request. After watching it I definitely saw a need for it in our home. And after a quick reflection on recent events, I decided this was a product I needed to purchase asap.

One confession that I’m going to admit is that I’m terrified of injuring myself in the kitchen. I’m sure that’s nothing surprising and I’m sure that I’m not alone in my fear, but I can’t but help to cringe and look away anytime I even see someone else using a paring knife, or cutting anything with the blade facing their hand or any other body part.

Because of my fear, I have always paid extra special attention and care while preparing any sort of food.

Anyways, so here’s where I get to the good stuff. Now, I’m going to tell you about my first time use of the sliceOmatic.

On this mid January snowy Sunday I have decided to cook up some stew for dinner and to aid me in this I decided to use my sliceOmatic.

The first thing I tried to slice was celery which was super easy to do, so easy I could do several pieces of them at once, then I sliced up some carrots, which was a little harder as it is more dense of a vegetable, so I sliced those one at a time. Next I sliced up my onions and for fun I sliced up some zucchini. This was so ridiculously easy to use, I’m pleased to say that I love my new sliceOmatic! It took just a few minutes to prep all of my ingredients for my stew. I was so thrilled with my results, I definitely had to try cutting my zucchini julienne. Holy cow! My results were equally as amazing as before.

Another quick confession is that I’m a person who doesn’t care to cook since it takes so much time and often results in an intense back pain. No back pain today folks! I will gladly help my husband prepare dinner anytime, as long as I can use my new sliceOmatic.

A few other things I want to mention about this product is that you have to use the chute, don’t use the product without it. It’s also really simple to assemble with locking mechanisms in place to secure the blade and to also secure catch tray. It is also super easy to insert the julienne blade. (You can see me show you how to do this in my demo video).

I like this product so much, the only thing bad I can find about it is that it isn’t dishwasher safe. But with a quick soapy water rinse/soaking , that is in no way an inconvenience.

Filed Under: Food ·

Sheer Cover Makeup Review and Demo

January 12, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Ok, so even though I’m pretty much hooked on Bare Minerals makeup, I figured I would give Sheer Cover a try and see how it compared.

So instead of ordering online or over the phone I decided to get the starter kit from my local Bed Bath and Beyond. Lucky for me I was mailed a special discount price from Guthy Renker for being a ProActiv customer, which Bed Bath and Beyond price matched for me at $9.95.

I figured the best way for me to try it was buying the kit from the store so I didn’t end up getting automatic shipments, which as my husband can attest, I am horrible about remembering to cancel those types of things.

What came in the box:

Three .05oz Mineral foundation jars of three different shades for skin tones light to medium

One .03 oz container of Bronzing Tan Minerals

One .05 oz container Duo Concealer with colors Light and Medium

One Mineral Makeup application brush

One triangular makeup application sponge

Ok, so the first thing I want to talk about is the application brush. I am slightly disappointed that it isn’t exactly a soft as I had hoped. Not to mention its kind of small compared to some of my other makeup brushes. It seems like it provides less coverage since it is so small, so it takes a little more time to apply the foundation. I also feel like it doesn’t provide as even of coverage as I had hoped.

So before I decided to dive in head first I needed to figure out which shade was best for my skin tone.

Buff- when tested on my wrist and also my first use on my face it looked very yellow. It looked like the foundation powder definitely “stuck” more to where I applied the concealer. It looked patchy and I could clearly see uneven coverage. I had this problem when testing out all the shades

Bisque- this was even more so yellow and didn’t match my skin tone very well, so I did not use this after testing it on my wrist.

Latte- this shade was a slightly more orange shade of yellow. The first time I had tried the Buff, and for the sake of testing results, even though I thought this shade was too dark or orange for me, I tried it anyways. I applied the concealer first, used my triangular application sponge to even it out, and then applied the foundation. Even though I used the application sponge, I still saw the same issue I had with the Buff. Because the concealer is a cream, the powder seemed to apply stronger where I had applied it( the concealer), so again, it looked like I had spots of patchy uneven coverage. So even after applying the foundation, once more I needed to use the triangular sponge to even it out. I was slightly surprised that the Latte foundation shade wasn’t nearly as orange as it appeared on my wrist. I kind of expected to look like an Oompa Loompa, but that wasn’t the case.  It did not exactly match my skin tone since I’m so pale, but it didn’t look too terrible, it actually made me look tanner. So I guess my second use of this product turned out better than my first.

The first time I used this product, I had more blemishes than I did today, and as far as the concealer goes, I didn’t really feel like it concealed a whole lot.

Overall, I think I am still going to continue to use my Bare Minerals. I feel like they have a wider range of shades meant for any skin tone. I feel like it gives better coverage, their brushes are softer and apply the foundation more evenly, I feel like my skin is softer after applying. That’s another thing I noticed, because the concealer is a cream, it didn’t feel like I had that natural, soft, clean feeling like I usually get after applying my bare minerals. My face feels more oily and makeup caked.

I should probably also note that since I switched from liquid foundation to my bare minerals several years ago my skin is much clearer and much more healthy. So I was pretty hesitant to even try to use the concealer for fear that it might react poorly with my skin. I did not have any break outs, in case you were wondering.

Another thing I just now noticed is that just upon touching my face, my fingertips are covered with makeup. So if it’s going to come off that easily, I can definitely say I will not continue using it.

Overall I think it’s an ok product, but it’s not for me. I don’t feel like any of their shades truly match my skin tone so it is not something I will buy again. And although I did not take advantage of their online starter kit, which I’m sure comes with more brushes and better brushes, I was not impressed with the brush I got therefore I don’t have high hopes for their others. Also, another dislike I had was how much I truly hate those icky makeup application sponges. They get beyond disgusting and dirty, covered in makeup, they get all brown looking, oily, and they fall apart.

Ohh, and the biggest dislike I had, was that in buying this starter kit, I paid for three different shades of foundation, none of which really worked for me, but even still, if one of them had worked, it kind of feels like a waste since I couldn’t even use the other two foundations. I mean, really?! I paid for three foundations, and I can only use one of them?

 

Filed Under: Beauty ·
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