(Review) Olay Fresh Effects {Va-Va-Vivid!} Powered Contour Cleansing System

The last thing that I want to review from my Influenster Feb 13 Sweatheart VoxBox is the Olay Fresh Effects {Va-Va-Vivid!} Powered Contour Cleansing System. Inside the box, Olay included the cleansing brush and the Olay Fresh Effects {Shine, Shine Go Away!} Shine Minimizing Cleanser. I was very excited to try out these two products the moment I saw them. I have always wanted to purchase a vibrating facial cleansing brush, but all the ones that I have seen at the store and online either cost so much or has bad reviews, and since I am a pretty lazy face-washing person, I decided that I will just wait on it. Influenster totally spoiled me with this product! It’s almost like they have read my mind haha ~

When I first saw the box, I was a bit surprised that the product is by Olay. Where is their signature black and red color design?!? Has Olay finally started targeting the younger crowd?!? That is actually very exciting!! With the green, blue and white colors, this design gave these Olay products a very refreshed look, which is totally eye-catching. Besides, the front of the box says that this system can clean your face 400% better than basic face cleansing. Although I did question the products a bit when I saw that, this is still very fascinating to me.

On one side of the box, it says that the cleansing system will cleanse, hydrate, and perfect my skin. Luckily, my skin has always been clear and free of pimples, but one problem I have is that I always find it tough to hydrate my skin. Whenever I put moisturizer on my face, an hour or so later, my face will always get very oily. With these Olay products, they supposedly will clean, hydrate, and help my face stay matte for a long period of time, so I really hoped and prayed that they will work just like they are described on the box.

On the back of the box, it continues to describe the cleansing system and provide directions on how the product can be used. One thing that I saw in the direction area that made me very happy is that the {Va-Va-Vivid} system is actually safe to use in the shower, as long as I don’t submerge it in water. This is perfect for me because I am a pretty lazy person when it comes to washing my face. This way, I can hit two birds with one stone, and just do all the cleansing in the shower. I think this will make me want to, and actually remember to, clean my face everyday.

The one thing that makes this cleansing brush different from all the other brands is that it is in a triangular shape. As it is said on the box, the brush is designed this way to fit everyone’s facial contours. This way, the brush can deep cleans in and around the T-zone, hair line, and nose crevices.

One morning, I decided to try out this cleansing system while I shower. I splashed my face with warm water, so that my pours will open up for an even deeper cleaning. I then wet the brush and put a pea-size of the shine minimizing cleanser on the brush. The cleanser is in a silver color and it smells good, like normal face wash. Next, I turned on the brush and let the magic happen.

I was very surprised how well it worked. I used the cleansing brush on my face for about 2 minutes before rinsing off. To be honest, I would have use it on my face even longer because it felt so good, almost like a mini facial, but I don’t want to over exfoliate to a point where it hurts my skin, so I decided to stop. I rinsed off my face, and to my surprise, the cleanser washed off very easily. In the past, with almost all the other face washes I have tried, they usually take a while to rinse off completely, and afterward, I still have to check whether I got all the soap out. However, this shine minimizing cleanser made my face feel very clean after just one rinse, and I was very happy about that. After I got out of the shower, I immediately saw changes on my face. My skin felt a lot softer and well moisturized. The cleansing brush really cleanse and exfoliated my face very well, and it made my face feel dead skin free. Besides the immediate results, I noticed that for the rest of my day, my face didn’t get oily at all. The cleansing brush and the shine minimizing cleanser kept my face matte for the entire day!! That is AMAZING!!! Because of the mind-blowing results, I decided to continue using the products for 2 week straight, as an experiment to see whether the products really perfect my skin in the long run. After the 2 weeks, I noticed that my pores got a lot smaller, and around 90% of my blackheads were gone. I was just very shocked at how great the products worked.

Overall, I rate the Olay Fresh Effects {Va-Va-Vivid} Powered Contour Cleansing System a 10/10. The two products made me want a face cleansing routine, and as funny as it sounds, I do look forward to using them everyday. With the {Va-Va-Vivid} Powered Contour Cleansing System costing $12.99 and the {Shine, Shine Go Away!} Shine Minimizing Cleanser costing $6.99 for a full size at www.olayfresheffects.com and www.amazon.com, I believe the prices for these two are completely reasonable and definitely a must buy. These two products really did what they were supposed to do, and I would absolutely recommend you guys to give these products a try. I promise you, you will fall in love with them and make them your daily routine, just like me.

For more information on the products above, check out the Olay Fresh Effects website at www.olayfresheffects.com.

* I have received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. I was not sponsored to do this review, nor was I required to write a review. These are my honest opinions and I was not compensated for this review.

(Review) Not Your Mother’s She’s A Tease Volumizing Hair Spray

The next item that I tried out from my Influenster Feb 13 Sweatheart VoxBox is the Not Your Mother’s She’s A Tease Volumizing Hair Spray. To be honest, I was not that excited about this product. It is known that Influenster was either sending out the Not Your Mother’s Beach Babe Texturizing Sea Salt Spray or this one, and I was really hoping that I would get the sea salt spray because I have always dreamed of having nice beach waves. I mean after all, I do live in California, and having beach waves in my hair would just make sense. So when I opened the box and saw that it was the volumizing hair spray instead, I was a bit disappointed. I really don’t remember the last time I have teased my hair, but if I have to guess, I would say it was 5-6 years ago when I did cheerleading in high school, and that is a long time ago! I think I just never liked the idea of teasing my hair because first, it reminded me of Snookie (yes, Jersey Shore definitely ruined it for me haha), and second, I remembered someone once told me that teasing is really bad for my hair. Anyway, since I have the product, I might as well try it out, right?

I really like the design on the bottle. Like I have mentioned in my previous blog posts, I am obsessed with the color pink, and I just love the bottle. It definitely has a design that caught my attention, and makes me want to learn more about it. Besides the design of the bottle, I also really like the name of the product: “She’s A Tease.” I just love it when company takes the time to name their products using word puns. It shows that they are creative and fun, targets a younger crowd, and are serious about their products (because if they are not serious about it, they wouldn’t have taken the time to think of a creative title for it).

On the back of the can, it says, “So you want big & beautiful hair and you’re tired of Mr. Humidity getting in the way, right? Then stop dreaming and make it happen already. She’s A Tease will have the whole crowd gossiping about your huge head errr… I mean hair. Infused with natural apple blossom & bamboo, this salon formula will have you and your hair walking tall.” Underneath the paragraph, it also stated that this product is humidity proof and has firm hold.

Since I haven’t teased my hair for such a long time, and I have never used a volumizing hair spray for teasing before, I have decided to just go with what it says on the bottle and see how it go. The hair spray has a very beautiful scent to it. As it is said on the front of the bottle, this volumizing hair spray is infused with apple blossom and bamboo. I like anything that apple scented, so automatically I just fell in love with the smell of this hair spray. If I were to judge this hair spray based on the scent and nothing else, this might just be my new favorite. However, after I sprayed my hair with this volumizing hair spray, I started questioning myself whether the scent will attract insects just because it smells so delicious. Oh well… I guess I just won’t be using this hair spray when I am going somewhere that tend to have a lot of bugs, like the park or camp sites.

I ended up lifting a piece of my hair around the crown area and sprayed the volumizing hair spray at the roots. I then teased the hair a little bit with a teasing comb, and continued putting my hair in a pony tail. After spraying the roots of my hair, my hair was standing straight up, so I guess it does has a firm hold like it says on the can. This hair spray is very different from the other hair sprays I have tried. One thing I really like about this product is that it doesn’t make my hair feels hard or sticky after applying it. It also kept my hair very smooth, and there were barely an kink in my hair, even by the end of the day.

Overall, I was very happy with this product, and I would rate it 10/10. With the price of $6.00 for an 8 oz bottle, I believe this product is definitely worth buying. The quality of this product is very high and I will definitely recommend everyone to try this out. I can promise you, you will not be disappointed!!

For more information on this product, check out:
- Not Your Mother's website at http://bit.ly/X9D4gH
- Not Your Mother's She's A Tease website at http://bit.ly/VGBXli

* I have received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. I was not sponsored to do this review, nor was I required to write a review. These are my honest opinions and I was not compensated for this review.

(Review) Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response

The second item that I pulled out of my Influenster Feb 13 Sweatheart VoxBox was this Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response deodorant/antiperspirant. When I first saw the product, I was kind of excited to try it out because few weeks ago when I needed to buy a new deodorant, I actually considered buying this one. However, to me, the price was a bit high, and I don’t really have stress sweat (which this product is said to target), so I ended up purchasing another brand of deodorant instead. Now that I have a chance to try this out for free, I was definitely happy. I have always loved Secret deodorant. With all the previous ones that I have tried, they all kept me smelling amazing for the entire day, and better yet, they won’t leave that icky white residue on my body and my clothes.

The Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response is sponsored by Oprah’s Lifeclass. Like I have mentioned before, this deodorant/antiperspirant is designed to target stress sweat. As it is said on the Influenster card, the product is “uniquely formulated to protect you from all three causes of sweat {heat/movement/stress}, especially stress sweat. It is proven 4x more effective at protecting against stress-induced underarm wetness than the wetness protection required of an ordinary antiperspirant.” This sounds like an awesome product for people who do have a problem with stress sweat! Sadly, in my review, I will not be able to truly test out how great this product works on stress sweat because I am simply the type of person who rarely stress OR sweat.

When I first saw the box, I just love it! The color of the box immediately catches my attention, making me want to learn more about the product. This time, I have received the deodorant/antiperspirant in the scent of serene citrus. I think this is why the box is in an eye-catching yellow and orange packaging, which is nice because people can easily choose this deodorant from a full shelf of other deodorants while they are at the store. On the back of the box, right above the drug facts, it listed 3 bullet points describing this deodorant/antiperspirant. It stated that the product is 1) clinically proven, prescription strength wetness protection, 2) odor-fighting capsules that absorb odor, and 3) skin soothing conditioners.

The moment I opened the box, I can smell the strong scent the deodorant/antiperspirant, and it smells amazing!! To me, it doesn't smell much like a serene citrus scent. Before I opened the cap of the deodorant/antiperspirant, it seriously smells like mango-flavored gelatin. I love the scent, and it definitely makes me crave the dessert. When I opened the cap, the deodorant/antiperspirant actually smells different. Now it smells like a mix of mango and peach-flavored gelatin. I think the product smells great; however, I wouldn't consider it a serene citrus scent. Seriously, if someone is to have me smell the product and tell them what it smells like, “citrus” is definitely the one word that I wouldn't consider using.

Two things that I have noticed that this deodorant/antiperspirant is different from the other deodorants are 1) it is in an “advanced solid” form, and 2) you are supposed to put this product on before you go to bed. Normally, I prefer using deodorants that are in solid forms because I hate that wet gooey feeling under my arm. It is why I almost never use gel or liquid roll-on deodorants. I just find it ridiculous that I have to wait for my underarms to dry, just so I finish putting clothes on. The Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response is not exactly a solid or a gel deodorant/antiperspirant. It is in an almost cream-like form, which means I have to wait for my underarms to dry, and I hate that. Another thing that I found it weird is that I am supposed to use the product before I go to bed. Personally, I take showers in the morning before I leave to go somewhere. And to me, the way this deodorant is used is somewhat pointless to me. However, I did try using the deodorants both ways (the box indicated way and the normal way), and it kind of gave me mixed reviews on it.

Like I have said before, I do like the scent of this product. When I first put the deodorant/antiperspirant on my underarms, in the first hour, the scent is a bit strong to me. I felt like I was a walking dessert, and that I might attract bugs or something. On the days that I used the product before going to bed, I noticed that the next morning, I still smell fantastic and fresh. Obviously, the scent isn't as strong as I first put it on, but nevertheless, it still smells great. On the days that I used the product in the morning before going out, I noticed that the scent of the deodorant/antiperspirant does last the entire day for me, which I am very happy about.

Overall, I do like this product. But if you ask me whether I will re-purchase this deodorant/antiperspirant after finishing this one? Maybe not. The price of this product is just a bit high for me. It costs between $7.99 and $9.99 depending where you get it from, and it comes in a size that is ¼ smaller than normal deodorants. Besides, this product just isn't what I need. There is no point for me to purchase a more expensive deodorant that targets stress sweat when I don’t really stress or sweat. To me, the regular deodorant is just fine. However, I would definitely recommend this product to my friends if they do have a problem with stress sweat, or if they just want to try something new.

For more information about the product, please check out the Secret website at  http://bit.ly/XSlF9h.

* I have received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. I was not sponsored to do this review, nor was I required to write a review. These are my honest opinions and I was not compensated for this review.

(Review) Skinnygirl Daily On-The-Go Bar

As most of you guys know, recently I have received a Valentine’s Day themed Sweetheart VoxBox from Influenster. One of the items from this VoxBox is the Skinnygirl Daily On-The-Go Bar. Before I even received my VoxBox, I already knew that I was going to get this snack bar, but I was super nervous about which flavor Influenster was going to sent me. I saw numerous instagram and facebook pictures, youtube videos, and blog posts, and I noticed that many people had received either the Banana Oatmeal Dark Chocolate flavor or the Coco-nut with Peanut Butter flavor. I personally do not want either of those flavors at all. I HATE the flavor of coconut on pretty much anything. The smell of it sometimes make me sick, and I noticed that a lot of the VoxBox receivers said that you really need to like coconut in order to enjoy the bar because it does have a very strong coconut taste. I also don’t want to get the Banana Oatmeal Dark Chocolate flavor because I noticed that in a lot of the previous snack bars that I have tried that are chocolate flavored, there are always an unpleasant artificial chocolate taste to them, almost like they used baby formula to flavor the bars. I simply do not want to get flavors that I don’t like to begin with because then I wouldn’t be able to judge this Skinnygirl Daily On-The-Go Bar in an unbiased way.

When I received my VoxBox finally and I opened it, I seriously thought Influenster has read my mind because they actually sent me the snack bar in Greek Yogurt Blueberry Crisp flavor!!! I was soooo happy when I saw it because I am a huge blueberry fanatic, and this flavor could not be any more perfect for me.

Skinnygirl Daily On-The-Go Bar is a snack made for consumers who strive to maintain a healthy lifestyle while on a busy schedule. Each bar is under 200 calories, making this a perfect guilt-free indulengence on-the-go snack. As it is said on the packaging, each snack bar is natural, kosher, and high in fiber. All the bars now even have more protein, more fiber, less sugar, and fewer carbs.

To be honest, to me, none of those fancy words really mean anything except that it is telling me that it’s healthier than other snack choices. What I consider important when it comes to a snack is ultimately their taste. I don’t care how healthy a certain snack is to me (because I am not a huge snacker to begin with, and obviously not snacking is the healthiest way to go), if it doesn’t taste good in my mouth, I will not eat it anymore. 

The moment I opened the package, I can immediately smell the yummy scent of blueberries. The look of the bar reminded me of the Nature Valley Yogurt Granola Bar, except this one is heavier, thicker, and has additional yogurt on the top of it. Not only does this bar smell good, it also tastes very delicious! The bar has a nice texture when I bit into it, both crunchy and chewy at the same time. It really does taste like I was eating a real blueberry yogurt. This bar does have a pretty strong nutty flavor and an almond-like after taste, but I didn’t mind this at all. To me, this product does live up to its description; it is truly a guilt-free indulgence bar!!

Overall, I enjoy the Skinnygirl Daily On-The-Go Bar in Greek Yogurt Blueberry Crisp a lot. However, at the price $9.99 for a box of 5 bars, this product is just a bit too pricey for me, and I don’t think I will purchase this item and actually eat it daily. I really hope that this product will go on sale someday, and by then, I will definitely re-purchase this. This is definitely a bar that is worth recommending to everyone to try; and if money is not a problem, you should definitely buy this!!

For more information on this product, please check out:
- Skinnygirl Daily website at http://bit.ly/Z82f6r

- Skinnygirl Daily Product page at http://bit.ly/W2l6g1

* I have received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. I was not sponsored to do this review, nor was I required to write a review. These are my honest opinions and I was not compensated for this review.

Influenster Feb 13 Sweetheart VoxBox

Last week, I finally received my very first VoxBox from Influenster!! Ever since Influenster sent me an email telling me that they are sending me this VoxBox, I have been checking my mailbox daily. I am super excited to try out all the items in the VoxBox, and I will do reviews on each of the products in future posts. This is simply gonna be an opening post on what I have receive in this Feb 13 Sweetheart Voxbox.

So you may ask, what is Influenster and what is a VoxBox?

Influenster is a free-to-join exclusive online community where trendsetters/bloggers come together and share their latest feedbacks on places, beauty products, food items, online services, etc. It is a site where people can write reviews on those topics, and also read others’ reviews on items that they are not sure about. This site encourages people to try new things, and provide their honest opinions about them. In return, Influenster gives their active members exclusive access to deals, promotions, and items from brands that people would probably love to try and review.

VoxBox is one of the rewards that Influenster sent out to their awesome members. Based on the Expert Badges that the members have unlocked, and their demographics, Influenster would choose a group of members and they would send them free themed products, so that the members could review them and spread news about the products through social media.

Anyway, back to this Feb 13 Sweetheart VoxBox!!

When I first saw the actually VoxBox, I can immediately tell that it is a Valentine’s Day themed VoxBox because it has a heart sticker on it. I thought it was really cute that Influenster even “decorated” the box a bit, just so it would fit the theme better. Even though this was a Valentine’s Day themed box, most of the members (and I) didn’t receive the VoxBox until weeks after Valentine’s Day. Nevertheless, this is a very thoughtful belated Valentine’s Day gift from Influenster.

I was soooo happy when I opened the VoxBox. Immediately, I saw 4 items in it:

1) Skinnygirl Daily On-The-Go Bar in Greek Yogurt Blueberry Crisp flavor (Retail: $9.99 per box of 5 bars)

2) Not Your Mother’s She’s a Tease Volumizing Hair Spray (Retail: $6.00)

3) Secret Clinical Strength Stress Response (Retail: $7.99 - $9.99)

4) Olay Fresh Effects {Va-Va-Vivid!} Powered Contour Cleansing System (Retail: $12.99) and Olay Fresh Effects {Shine, Shine Go Away!} Shine Minimizing Cleanser (Retail: $6.99)

Underneath all of these products is a little card from Influenster.

On the front of the card, it says, “Valentine’s Day might only last 24 hours, but we’re celebrating love the entire month of Frebruary. This is the first VoxBox of 2013 and lucky you – you’re one of our Sweathearts! Roses, candy hearts, and now, VoxBoxes are all standard when it comes to love.” The rest of the card pretty much tells you what you need to do with the products. On the back of the card, Influenster also provided information about each of the products that were in the box, including their retail prices and descriptions.

Overall, I am very happy with this VoxBox!! It is filled with items that I have definitely considered trying, but simply didn’t have a chance to put my hands on them yet. I am ecstatic that Influenster gave me this great opportunity to try out such awesome products!! Like I have said before, this is simply a post on what I have received in this Feb 13 Sweetheart VoxBox. I will be writing reviews on each of the products in my future posts… so stay tuned, everyone!!

* I have received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

(Nail Art) Spring Time Bunny

Since the month of February has already past, I figure I need to change my nail design into something more suitable for the season, rather than the holiday. No more hearts, kisses, or roses. In the past 2 days, it has been getting really hot in California, and I thought to myself, “Finally!! Spring is here!!” I took this as a great opportunity to change my nail design into something Spring related and fun.

And here it is!!

Many people might say, “Hey it is still pink and purple!!! Hello!!! Valentine!!!” To be honest, I am a girly girl, and I love love love the color pink. It is actually super rare to find me not having any little bits of pink on me. Anyway, back to the nails.

In this nail design, I used Korean Pink Jelly polish, Korean Purple Jelly polish, Sally Hansen White On, LA Colors Black Nail Art polish, a base coat, a top coat and a bobby-pin.

1) Start off by painting all your nails with a base coat. On the point finger and pinky, paint 3 coats of Korean Pink Jelly polish. Since it is a jelly nail polish, it does take couple layers to get to the desire opaque color.

2) Do the same to the thumb and middle finger, but with Korean Purple Jelly polish.

3) After the thumb, point finger, middle finger, and the pinky have (semi) dried, paint the tip of those nails (along the smile line) with the same color they already have on – this way the tip of the nails will be more opaque, and thus the color on the nails will look more even as a whole.

4) Paint the ring finger with 2 coats of Korean Pink Jelly polish. When that dried, paint a half moon on the tip of my nail with Sally Hansen White On.

5) With the Sally Hansen White On, turn the brush 90 degree to its narrow side and draw 2 lines above the half moon. These will be the bunny ears.

6) Open up a bobby-pin and dip 1 end in the Korean Pink Jelly polish and draw 2 skinnier lines inside those 2 white lines.

7) With the other end of the bobby-pin, dip it in the LA Colors Black Nail Art polish and make 2 dots on the white half moon. These will be the bunny eyes. If you want to make the bunny look even cuter, dip the pink side of the bobby-pin in the Sally Hansen White On and make 2 smaller dots inside those black dots.

8) Lastly, use the LA Colors Black Nail Art polish and draw an “X” underneath the eyes to make a mouth. Cover all the nails with your favorite top coat and voila!!

Closer look of the bunny ring finger

Hopefully you guys will like this nail art design. It is super easy and cute, and it is definitely great for someone who wants to try out nail art, but has shaky hands. Sorry I couldn't post pictures of each step on here. It totally slipped my mind while I was doing my nails. But there is always next time!! ^_^ Let me know if any of you are going to try out this design. I would love to hear how it goes!!

(Review) Muji Strawberry Jelly Marshmallows

As a housewife, one of the favorite things I enjoy doing at home is watching Asian dramas online. And what’s the best thing to do while watching these dramas?? SNACK!! To be honest, I am not a huge snacker. I enjoy buying snacks whenever I go to the groceries store, but 95% of the time, they either stay in our snack cabinet for a long time, or my husband would get to it before I do haha~

Anyway, yesterday I went to visit my best friend, and she gave me a bag of these Muji Strawberry Jelly Marshmallows. I was actually really excited to have these because they reminded me of something I had when I was a really young kid. So today, while I was watching the finale of “The Day of Days” (a Hong Kong drama), I decided to open this sucker up and have some.

If you guys aren't familiar with what Muji is, it is a big Japanese retail company that makes pretty much everything, including stationery, books, beauty products, clothing, snacks, bedroom items, kitchen stuff, etc. Their merchandise all have very simplistic design, and most of their stuff has an earthy tone to them. As they said on their website, "Muji is distinguished by its design of minimalism, emphasis on recycling, avoidance of waste in production and packaging, and no-logo or 'no-brand' policy." Personally, I really like Muji’s merchandise and how they packaged them.

So back to the actual candy…

Mmmm…. It seriously smells like fresh strawberries the moment I opened the package. Inside the bag, there are around 30 marshmallows (95g to be exact), and they are in a very light tint of pink. The texture of the marshmallows are super squishy and light, but they do not feel sticky when I touch them… it is almost like there is a light coat of corn starch covering them. Each marshmallow is about the size of a gumball, and they all have 2 little pig’s tail looking ends. It is actually quite cute.

TASTE TEST!!!

The actual marshmallow part is very soft and airy. Unlike some of the other marshmallows, it doesn’t have that foamy feeling to it. It is very light and has a nice hint of strawberry flavor. It is not as sweet as I thought, which is great. After I bit the marshmallow in half, inside there is this delicious strawberry jelly center. The jelly is sweeter than the marshmallow, and it has a very desirable tartness. It is not sour to a point which you will pucker, but more like a little surprise in the middle so that the candy is not overly sweet. It is a nice change of taste; from sweet to sour, then sweet again. To me, the jelly and the marshmallow go quite good with each other.

Overall, I rate Muji Strawberry Jelly Marshmallows a 10/10. This is actually really rare because I am not a huge fan of marshmallow, but this one makes me keep eating one after another. Hopefully you guys will have a chance to try this candy out. I am sure you guys will love it a lot, just like I did. Remember to let me know if any of you guys have tried this before or want to try it in the future. I would love to hear what you guys think about this delicious little treat.