Kiss Instawave

I have never had much luck with curling irons, flat irons, any kind of product that uses heat to style your hair. I'm accident prone, I've burned myself using these products more times than I can count. I have naturally semi-wavy hair that changes depending on how long I keep it, more wavy when short, less wavy as it grows longer. I love waves, curls, tight or loose. I love being able to change the appearance of my hair as I please.

In comes the Kiss InstaWave. It's easy to use, I had my 7 year old do a couple strands of my hair. You don't put it close enough to your skin that it can burn you. It not only gave me pretty curls but it also smoothed my hair out while doing so, leaving the frizzy out of my style. It was so effortless and took me maybe 10 minutes to do my whole head, and I have a lot of hair. The best part? The curls lasted all day. I didn't even use any hair spray or other styling assistance. The curls just stayed, no matter how many times I ran my hands through my hair or how many hugs I got, the bouncy curls just stayed.

If you want to achieve easy lasting curls you need this product.

http://www.kissinstawave.com

I received this InstaWave iron free in exchange for my honest opinion.

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Elf on the shelf:the creepiest thing kids want

I am going to say it and I will probably have a lot of haters for it: I can not stand the elf on the shelf craze that has hit our country the last several years! It is my least favorite part of an already over commercialized holiday. I may be a Grinch but these are my thoughts. 

I have kids, 5 to be exact. Luckily, three of them are too old to believe in Santa. Unfortunately, because EVERYONE does this gosh darned elf on the shelf deal, my 7 year old is insistent that if we don't have one that means she is a bad kid. She is a typical 7 year old, she had her good days and bad. Why is she so worried? Because apparently the creepy looking elf is sent by Santa to watch over families and cause mischief? Apparently if you don't have an elf that means you are bad? The details are hazy for me as I could care less about this. 

Now, here is why I won't participate in this. First off, I posted something about this on Facebook and was met with the challenge of it being a way for kids to connect with each other and feel like they belong. Now, while I hope my kids never know the pain of being an outsider, I think connections that are worth making do not revolve around material things. Caving in and getting one, in my opinion is teaching my kids that you HAVE to be like everyone else. Keeping up with the Jones' comes to mind. I'm very much anti-fad. They are useless, I'm wagering that in a few years this elf crap will be done with. I have always worked hard to teach my kids to be happy with what they have, to not be envious of others and the only person they should ever be in competition with is themselves. 

Another reason I won't do it is because elves and even the jolly guy in red really have nothing to do withChristmas. Nothing. I'm not a religious person by any means but I try to teach my children of "proper Christian teachings." Christmas is my least favorite holiday. Let me tell you why I like Christmas first. With life as it is, we rarely have time to spend time with our families. I see my grandmother, cousins, aunts and uncles *maybe* once a year, twice if there's a funeral. Second, Christmas is advertised earlier and earlier every year. It's over a month away and they already have Christmas crap out. Seriously people? Can I stuff my face with turkey and pie before you shove jolly St. Nick down my throat? Lastly, the bastardization of this holiday makes me sick. Every part of it. Jesus was not born on December 25th. St. Nick was originally based on a pagan god. And who came up with the idea of mortgaging your house to buy your kids gifts? Now they want to get this elf in my house? Nope! I work hard to teach my kids truths. Yes, I allow them the belief in Santa because frankly, my little one would become the enemy if the state. She can't keep a secret and I don't want or need a lynch mob showing up at my house because my kid spilled the beans about Santa. But more importantly I teach them it's not about gifts, it's not about other peoples traditions. You want a new tradition? We can celebrate Chanukah next year. 

Maybe I'm a Grinch but I would rather my kids try new things instead of own new things. I'd rather them be an outsider with convictions than a follower with none. Maybe the person was right, maybe Christmas is more about the kids but I can't help but feel that if you care about your kids you will give them knowledge, not objects. Besides, I really don't want that creepy elf in my house! That thing gives me nightmares!

Blog Meets Brand

Venus Gillette Sensitive Skin

I have never shaved my legs and not had razor burn. I just accepted the fact that I have sensitive skin. Everything caused burning, bumps, pain...creams, razors even waxing. 

I received the Gillette Venus razor through Influenster and was honestly very skeptical. I've tried sensitive skin hair removers before and still had issues with my skin. 

So simple yet so amazing! From the first time I used this product I noticed the difference. A nice close shave without the irritation and burning from razor burn. I could even put lotion on my skin to combat dryness from the cold weather. No pain! I'm hooked. I think it's the only razor I'm going to use from now on. Why change what works?

#ItsNotMe #Gillette #Venus #Free #Influenster

Fast acting Advil

I was highly skeptical with the claims of super fast pain relief. I thought I had built up such a tolerance to pain relievers since more times than not I would take 2 and have to take more a couple hours later. I got my first headache the other day, ripped open a pack, popped the pills and within 10 minutes it was gone. This is huge considering I have two young daughters at home. I really wish this came out sooner! I had suffered so many headaches that prevented me from enjoying a lot of things. With Advil fast relied I can get back to my busy life.

Beauty by Shea's raw organic shea butter

I received Beauty by Shea's raw shea butter as a promotion through Tomoson. I'll be honest in saying I love products with shea butter but never actually used it in it's raw form. I called in help from one of my friends who often makes lotions and such from scratch. She was very impressed with the quality of the shea butter, said it's very high quality stuff. We made a couple jars of lotion, mixing it with coconut oil and tea tree oil. This is seriously my favorite lotion right now! It leaves my skin feeling silky smooth and it smells amazing!! Unfortunately, as I write this we haven't had a chance to make more products with it but we will. A little bit of this goes a long way and I'm anxious to learn what else we can make out of this. If you want to start making your own beauty products I recommend using Beauty by Shea's raw organic shea butter to get the best results. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/b00llpt4hi #BeautyByShea I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.

Children n Us stroller organizer

I received the Children n us stroller organizer as a review product through Tomoson. To be fair, I don't have kids young enough to use this so I had a dear friend of mine use it. She has two kids under the age of three so she uses strollers and would have far more use of this product than myself. This is what she had to say about it:

So hoping it was going to work on my double stroller as this is my FAVORITE stroller with 2 under 3 years old. But... not even in the slightest bit was it useful with this :( by the way, this is a combi cosmo double stroller.

Too bulky, too much material, too akward to fill up with 2 diapers, a pack of wipes, a water bottle, and a beloved coffee cup

I then remembered i have my single stroller (a britax nimble). 

It worked flawlessly. All the excess bulk and material just went away when it was used on a single stroller. It fit perfectly between the handles. It actually utilized the empty space behind the umbrella. 

To be fair, the double stroller has one cupholder and two giant pockets behind the umbrellas that made the organizer stick out akwardly. What has always been a flaw with my britax stroller was no cupholder, no spot for my phone or water bottle  except the basket underneath that actually held the baby stuff. Im sure that I'll  be going back down to a single stroller sooner rather than later, so it's good to know that now i can take the smaller stroller on a walk to dunkin donuts and be able to set down my coffee.

So while she wasn't happy with the organizer for her double stroller, she was extremely excited on how great it was for her single stroller. 

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/b00kj6a1fe #strollerorganizer I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.