Bath and Body Works Candles

Here I go again, blogging about home fragrance products.  I can't help it!  I am a lover of all things that smell good. 

This one really excites me.  My favorite way to make my house smell good is with candles, and there's no better candle out there than the ones from Bath and Body Works.

My most recent VoxBox from Influenster contained a wonderful mini candle in "Cider Lane".  Not surprisingly, this scent smells just like warm apple cider, but with hints of cinnamon and caramel. 

Those mini candles are only 2 for $5 right now, and I think that's the perfect price to try out different scents and find one that you love, or mix different scents to create your own (Twisted Peppermint and Marshmallow Fireside?!  Sounds good to me...). 

I recently picked up a 3-wick candle in Peppermint Mocha and oh, my, goodness.  From their product description: "Winter's sweetest treat blends peppermint, vanilla cream and cocoa topped with marshmallow. One of eight nostalgic collection fragrances inspired by the Holidays at home."  I could absolutely EAT this candle! 

The best part about Bath and Body Works candles is that when you burn them, they REALLY smell.  I hate when I buy a candle and sure, the wax smells great, but I can't really smell it burning in the next room.  A candle from Bath and Body Works will permeate scent through your entire house.  What makes them so awesome?  From thir website:

Highly fragranced candle exclusively developed and tested by our team of Home Fragrance experts, including the world's best master perfumers

Made using the highest concentration of fragrance oils, an exclusive blend of vegetable wax and lead-free wicks for optimal performance

For $20, it's definitely worth it.  They last a long time, too: burn time on a 3-wick candle is about 30-45 hours.  I pick a new scent for every season.

Another cute bonus with my Peppermint Mocha candle - a recipe for Peppermint Mocha Bark.  A nice touch!  :)

Prefer not to burn candles?  Bath and Body Works also creates their wonderful home scents into Wallflowers (scented plug-ins), Home Fragrance Oils and beautiful Oil Warmers, Room Sprays, and Scentportables (refillable, portable units without a plug, battery, or flame, just clip or set them where you want them).  Whichever you use, you won't be disappointed!

Influenster Beauty Blogger VoxBox

I'm going to show off my latest Influenster program: The Beauty Blogger VoxBox 2012!

 

 

If you missed my earlier posts in Influenster, this is how it works: You now have to receive an invitation to sign up.  Once you have an account, you fill out surveys to earn badges that fit your lifestyle.  When a themed box opens up that matches your badges, you might be chosen to receive it.  If you do, you basically get a free box of really nice goodies to test out.  Your only requirement is to fill out a detailed survey reviewing the products you tried.  There are other opportunities available to do more tasks (like sharing and following brands on social media, posting photos, tweets, creating videos, etc) that give you the chance to win even more free products. 

The Beauty Blogger VoxBox I received includes :

• NYC New York Color IndividualEyes Custom Compact ($4.99)
• This all in one compact comes with everything you need for a complete look: primer, illuminator, applicator, and complementing shadows.  With four colors, specifically coordinated to intensify and enhance your eye color, you can create a look as individual as you are.  Make your eyes pop!

• Kiss Ever Pro Lashes Starter Kit ($5.99)
• Bring the salon home with this eyelash starter kit, complete with eyelashes, adhesive, and applicator.  This latex-free glue has a 24 hour hold, for lashes you can bat all day and night.

• Bath and Body Works Mini Candle ($3.50)
• Mini but mighty!  Bath and Body Works Mini Candles provide an amazing fragrance experience exclusively developed and tested by a team of Home Fragrance experts, including the world's best master perfumers.  The box also includes a coupon to purchase up to 5 3-wick candles at Bath and Body Works for only $10 each!

• Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin ($7.29)
• Never have the time for a great updo?  Not anymore!  The Goody Simple Styles Spin Pin allows you to easily achieve three chic updo styles.  Simply twirl your hair up and spin the two Spin Pins in for a perfect undone bun, side bun, or double bun!

• Not Your Mother's Smooth Moves Frizz Control Hair Cream (Travel-size; $6.00 for full sized 4 oz. bottle)
• Smooth Moves fights out of conrol hair and reduces styling time with coconut and silk extracts.

I look forward to trying all of these products.  Watch for reviews here on my favorites!

Glade Expressions Collection

I'm pretty sure I've established how much I love things that smell good.

My latest BzzAgent Campaign, for Glade Expressions, has definitely delivered!

Have you seen these in stores yet?

I'm posting this one, because it's my favorite scent of the collection, but they also come in Cotton and Italian Mandarin, Lavender and Juniper Berry, and Pineapple and Mangosteen. 

 

The Expressions collection also includes a home spray with available refills, and refills available for the oil diffuser.

 

Thanks to BzzAgent, I got some really great coupons and was able to purchase these for only $2 each (not to mention a great weekly special at Target, which got me a free refill for each diffuser I purchased!).  They retail for about $6 each, and they're worth every penny.

 

Basically, it's a home fragrance item that doubles as decor!  Bonus - it's really potent and lasts a long time.  I've had this Fuji Apple and Cardamom Spice diffuser in my kitchen for close to a month, and it still smells like I just baked an apple pie.  The smell even filters through into my living room some.  I like the way it looks, enough that I just leave it out on the counter. 

 

I want one of these for every room in my house!

 

 



Unreal Candy

Have you hard of Unreal candy yet? 



Unreal is a new brand of candy that promises to "unjunk" our favorite junk foods - available now are healthier versions of Snickers, Milky Way, M&M's (Peanut and Original), and Reese Cups (follow the links for nutritional information compared to the real thing). 

The Unreal candy contains no

• Corn Syrup
• Partially Hydrogenated Oils
• GMO's
• Artificial colors, flavors, or preservatives

And includes

• Over 40% less sugar per serving on average
• Low glycemic index
• Responsibly sourced ingredients that support farming communities and prevent destruction of rain forest
• Dairy from pasture-raised, hormone-free and antibiotic-free cows
• Real cacao and caramel
• More fiber and protein

You might be thinking, that's great... but how expensive is it?  But what's even more surprising is that the candy sells for about the same price as competitors- at CVS, it was $1.19 per package.

Thanks to BzzAgent, I received several coupons to try them for free. 

So far, I've taste-tested the Unreal versions of Snickers, Milky Way, and Reese Cups.  I have to say, I have mostly good things to say.

Unreal8, the Snickers bar, tasted surprisingly similar to me.  I think the only noticeable difference is that the Unreal version had fewer peanuts, I think.  For me, it didn't make me like the candy any less.  Upon label comparison, the Unreal version is also about 10 grams smaller than the Snickers.  I didn't miss that extra bite.  It's also short 80 calories, 13 grams of sugar, 2 grams of fat, and 10 carbs, and contains 5 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein.

Unreal5, the Milky Way, is larger than a real Milky Way by about 7 grams.  The caramel inside was absolutely scrumptious.  It's missing 100 calories, 16 grams of sugar, 4 grams of fat, and 13 carbs, and has 5 grams of fiber and 2 grams of protein.

Unreal77, the Reese Cups, really surprised me.  I LOVE Reese Cups and I didn't expect these to measure up.  In fact, they were better.  The peanut butter inside was so smooth and actually tasted more like real peanut butter, though still sweet like the candy.  I have sometimes found the chocolate on a Reese Cup to be sort of hard, almost crunchy.  Nothing like the wonderful chocolate on the Unreal version.  I'm in love!  Missing from the slightly smaller Unreal version are 30 calories, 10 grams of sugar, 1 gram of fat and 6 carbs.  It contains 3 grams of fiber and 5 grams of protein.

Unreal55, the Peanut M&M's, are also a little smaller portion than the original.  They have 50 fewer calories, 7 fewer grams of sugar, 2 fewer grams of fat, and 10 fewer carbs.  They contain 3 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein.

Unreal41, the Original M&M's, are again, smaller than the original.  The unreal brand lacks 40 calories, 12 grams of sugar, and 10 carbs.  They actually contain an extra 1 gram of fat.  They have 3 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein.

You can purchase the Unreal candy at CVS, Michaels, Walgreens, Food4Less, Fred Meyer, Kroger, Ralphs, Rite Aid, and Staples.  According to their website, they'll be available at Target starting in October. 

I can't wait to see what they unjunk next!  My vote is for a Butterfinger or a 100 Grand.  Maybe they can even branch out to other things:  Oreo cookies?  Ice cream?  I hope this brand takes off.  They're doing something great.

What do you want to see Unreal unjunk?

Scotch Brite Shower Scrubber

My least favorite household chore is laundry.  My second least favorite is cleaning the tub and shower. 

Normally I use a scratchy sponge (about the size of a dish sponge) with a plastic handle to clean the shower and tub.  I spray Scrubbing Bubbles Extend-A-Clean Mega Shower Foamer (which I love and highly recommend) and scrub til it's clean, then rinse with water. 

I have shower doors (which I hate) instead of a shower curtain, so some places seem to be hard to reach.  Kneeling in the floor, leaning over the side of the tub to scrub the inside is also extremely uncomfortable where the track pokes into me.  Those doors are fun to clean, too... especially where the mildew tends to stick in all the little holes.  This leads to me cleaning the shower less often, and therefore causing it to be even dirtier when I DO get around to cleaning it.  Add all of the hair, soap scum, shaving cream, and gritty facial scrub that flies around in there, and I end up with a half-hour of spraying, scrubbing, sweating, grumbling, and wishing there was a better way. 

The other day, I was shopping at (yep, you guessed it) Wal-Mart and I came across an intriguing little tool that I decided to splurge and spend the $7 or so on:  The Scotch Brite Shower Scrubber.

The name makes it sound rather unexciting.  I think it should be called something more dramatic.  Anyway, I used it for the first time today and was, for the most part, pretty impressed.

Basically, this tool is a teardrop-shaped, rough but no-scratch sponge attached to the end of a metal handle.  The handle twists open to allow you to extend its length to 2 feet.  The sponge is disposable and you can buy refills for it. 

It really cut down on the time it took me to clean my shower.  I was able to scrub down all of the surfaces pretty quickly between the larger sponge and the long handle.  I was also happy with the cleaning power of the sponge.  It's nice and rough, so it cuts through the soap scum pretty well.  I hate when I think a spot is clean, only to rinse it off and realize that there's still a layer of scuz there.  I really didn't have that problem with the Shower Scrubber. 

It's not a perfect product.  I did have a few issues with it. 

1 - The sponge head popped off of the handle two or three times while I was cleaning.  I realize that it has to be easy for people to remove (press a button and the sponge head slides off), but this was a little bit annoying.  I had to be careful.

2 - I wish the handle, which bends up and down to the sponge, would also bend side to side.  Do you know what I mean?  It would be nice if it could pivot in all directions.  It would be easier to clean certain places.

3 - I wish there was a way to squeeze the water out of it when you're done.  It tends to drip all over the place, and you can only squeeze it so much. 

4 - This isn't really a problem with the product, but what would have been really nice was if they would have also made a tool for the small spaces, like where the grout is.  You can't really clean in there with this tool.

I am super happy I bought this.  I'm not sure how much the refills cost at Wal-Mart, but there appears to be a regular AND a large size on Amazon, selling for $2.49 and $4.79.  Definitely worth it.  I'll continue to use this as long as I can get refills for it!





The Original Dish Drying Mat

This post is not going to be a product review, but rather about a product I've found that I'd love to try!

Bed Bath and Beyond has an exclusive product line called "The Original", which includes kitchen and cleaning items, and other items for your home and even your pet. 

I've never heard of this line, until some lucky Influenster members received The Original Dish Drying Mat in their Mom VoxBox this summer.  I wasn't one of those few selected to sample the mat, but the more I read about it, the more I want one.

 

The mat is made of foam, but is covered in a very high absorbency microfiber material that dries extremely fast.  It actually holds 4 times its' own weight in water.  It's cushiony, so it protects both your dishes (from being chipped on the counter or dish drainer), and your counter (from being scratched by rough or heavy items).  It's machine washable and is flexible so you can fold it up and store it when you're not using it.  It comes in two sizes, 16 x 18" ($4.99) and 18 x 24" ($7.99), and  it even comes in cream, green, gray, and red - it will match any kitchen :)

Currently I use a dish towel for glasses or other awkward items that don't fit in my dish drainer.  I don't really like it because I think it gets a little gross, and it holds the water and doesn't let the insides of the glasses air out very well.  It also wants to slide around my countertop, so I have to stick the edge of it under the dish drainer to keep it from falling off (I have very little counter space!). 

One reviewer of the product on Influenster mentioned all of the grime that tends to build up on a dish drainer over time.  It's really gross, and impossible to scrub off, even with bleach and a scratch pad.  This would totally eliminate that problem and the germs that come with it. 

We don't have a Bed Bath and Beyond near me, so I've never seen these products in the store and have never heard of them until recently.  Similarly, they also have a veggie drying mat, a boot and shoe drying mat, and a pet bowl mat (does your dog sling water all over the place when he drinks?  I think they're onto something here..).  Other products include microfiber cleaning cloths and a wrinkle release dryer towel. 

So have you tried The Original Dish Drying Mat?  Love it?  I bet there are other uses for it, too... do you know of any?

Quaker Soft Baked Oatmeal Cookies

Recently I wrote about the Mom VoxBox I received from Influenster.  Another great product I received complimentary to test was a Quaker Soft Baked Oatmeal Cookie!

The cookies come in four flavors: Apples and Cinnamon, Banana Nut, Cranberry and Yogurt, and Raisins. They cost about $2.69 for a box of 6.  Each cookie is sealed separately, so they won't go stale. 

My cookie was the Raisins flavor. I devoured it pretty quickly, and I did not share!  It was soft and chewy and tasted delicious! I will definitely be getting some more of these to have on hand for snacks or packed lunches. They would be even more wonderful warmed up in the microwave for a few seconds.

For a cookie, these seem to be pretty healthy.  The Raisins flavor cookies have about 6 grams of fat, 170 calories, and are a good source of fiber, so they can fill you up more than other snacks. 

You can see more information and additional Influenster product reviews here.  They have 4 and 1/2 out of 5 stars!

Thanks to Influenster and Quaker for the chance to test another awesome product, for free.