31 January, 2016

Cobalt Blue Essential Oil #RollerBottles #Review


     I love my essential oils.  I use them to help my anxiety, I use them to wake me up, help me sleep or even to just smell nice.  They're good for cleaners and Febreeze style fresheners.  The only thing I'm not big on is that they aren't super portable unless you get the smaller bottles.  Most of my bottles are the larger 4 oz. glass ones, so they aren't exactly going with me.
     So when I found out that such a thing existed as essential oil roller bottles, I was so excited.  These ones in particular are cobalt blue glass vials with roller balls at the top.  you basically just fill it with whatever oils you want and pop the top in, that's it!
     I decided to go with a combination of Jasmine and Bergamot.  Jasmine for anxiety and help sleeping (I've had a bit of insomnia lately), and also because it smells nice enough to pass as perfume.  I filled the bottle half way with each.
     At first the roller ball seemed a bit stiff, but after sitting for a few days, it rolled much easier.  It works exactly as I had hoped it would and leaves a wonderful smell behind.
     I would definitely recommend these bottles for whoever might want to be able to bring their oils around with them.
     To learn more, check out 2PM Essentials.
Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

24 January, 2016

Professional Water Flosser #Review #WaterFlosser


     My dental hygiene habits are not great.  I blame it on my childhood... can I do that?  I do remember being asked to brush my teeth once in a while and I remember in high school, I brushed almost every morning and tried to get myself in better habits.  But to be honest, I am terrible at anything that's "routine".  My teeth are so bad now, brushing hurts and I hate flossing.  I've always hated flossing.  the picks don't bother me too bad, but the string turns my fingers blue and slips off my finger tips.  I hate everything about it.

     Until now.  Why?  Well, because I have a water flosser.  It's a device that creates a very strong stream of water that blasts through the gaps between your teeth and essentially flosses your teeth for you.  It's amazing.  I'll be honest here and say that if the water isn't warm, it hurts my teeth.  So although I do try to keep the flosser by my bed to remind myself, I can't use it without going to get warm water... room temp water is too cold.

     The flosser doesn't run on batteries like you might expect.  It runs on an internal battery that you recharge by plugging it into the wall, much like your cell phone does.  I haven't charged mine once and I've used it for at least a week on the charge it came with!

     The flosser has three modes.  It has a normal mode, a soft mode, and a pulse for massage.  More brutal honesty, the normal mode actually made my gums bleed a little.  It's a powerful stream of water.  My gums are very unhealthy though, so it's no real surprise.  The soft was fine and I should use it until my gums are more healthy.  The pulse was interesting.  I prefer a more steady stream, personally.

     It holds the water in a removable water tank.  you can either fill it up by taking the water tank off or just flipping up the cover on the top of the machine and using that.  Both work just as well, it's all just a preference thing.

     I would absolutely recommend this flosser.  It even comes with an extra tip for couples and they have separate colors so you can tell them apart.  To learn more, check out Gurin on Amazon.

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

20 January, 2016

Adjustable Wooden Trivet Coaster #Review #NOVART


     I'm always looking to save space in my kitchen.  I've replaced almost all my 'tupperware' lids with silicone fit-all lids,  and I'm swapping out all the cheap plastic measuring cups and spoons that I bought extras of (in case they break) with solid stainless steel cups and spoons.  I'm replacing all my extra cookie sheets with rol-up baking mats and replacing my muffin tins with space saving silicone ones.  I'm hoping this new year will bring lots of changes in the organization area.
     One of those new space saving items are my new trivets.  I used to have bulky wooden ones that I LOVE, but they took almost the whole back splash area by my stove just to hang up.  And forget storing them in a drawer.  Now I have a couple silicone ones that can go almost anywhere and this neat little adjustable trivet from Novart.  You can change it from a round flower shaped piece to a squarish style one.  Or if you only need to protect a small area, you can leave the leaf parts close together.
     I love that it's so adaptable to what you need.  If I have just made bread and I need a long rectangle shaped trivet, I can leave the leaves aligned and just separate them.  I can think of at least five different combinations to make different shapes and sizes.
     The way it works is pretty simple.  You have lots of these "leaves" all on one silicone rope.  You can choose to connect the two rope ends together with it's ball and socket style lock or leave it open ended to create the smaller or rectangle style trivets.
     It's made of lightweight bamboo and has been pressure tested.  It's made to be handy, space saving, and versatile and it certainly is all of the above.  I would recommend this trivet for anyone who prepares meals.  It's definitely going to get used in this house!
     To learn more, check out Novart on Amazon.

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

18 January, 2016

Ivation 1.7 Liter Precision-Temp Electric Kettle #Review #IvationKettle



     "So, what you're saying is that you're making it so you never have to leave the bedroom again."  That was my husband's reaction when I told him my purpose for my new electric kettle.  That's because with my new electric kettle I can cook noodles, rice, and oatmeal, but best of all, I can make tea, cocoa, and coffee.  It holds 1.7 liters of water and heats to temperature in about a minute.  Wanna see?
     Isn't she a beauty?  You pretty much just plug her in and let her go.  There are buttons on the handle that allow you to set a temperature, turn it on, and even ask it to keep the water warm.  The buttons light up as you press them so you don't have to double guess if you pressed them hard enough or pressed the right one.
      After about half a minute you will hear a boiling sound coming from the kettle so you know it's heating up.  When the sounds stops and the lights go out, the water is ready.  No high pitched whistle or anything, you can use this with roommates or sleeping kids without worrying about waking them up.
     What's great is that you get the luxury of having steaming hot water whenever you want with no stove necessary, but you also get it in large amounts, unlike the Keurig.  It stays hot for quite some time and it's such a handy thing.  Especially in the winter when we mostly stay camped in my room with the space heater on and don't particularly care to go into the colder areas of the house.  This is why my husband makes fun of me... we literally just stay in my room all day and have cup-o-noodles and oatmeal.  We watch movies, play on our phones, and do artwork, read, etc.
     I haven't come across a single thing about this kettle that I don't absolutely love.  From the simple base plate that plugs in, to the big kettle with water measuring marks on the side so you know when it needs to be filled... this thing is amazing.  I would definitely recommend it to anyone who's thought of getting a kettle.
     To learn more, check out Ivation on Amazon.
Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

12 January, 2016

Glow in the Dark Star Stickers #Review #GetChildish

     My kids are scaredy cats.  I mean that nicely enough.  But if I'm being honest, they really are.  They're scared to sleep in their own beds, scared to go down the hallway alone, scared to go out after dusk, scared of basically anything in and around the house... I do remember being scared sometimes as a kid.  I lived on the second floor with a window facing the front of the house and I remember thinking that someone could climb up to the roofing below my window and try to kidnap me.  That was my mom's constant telling of horror stories provoking that I think.  I have suspicions for why my kids are so scared.

     One thing we are doing to combat this is to set up night lights and the like.  In Streaker's room, she has a bouquet of floral lights and we have plans for a beautiful Paris painting with white led lights for the stars.  In Punk's room, she has a night light and she also has a rechargeable clip on light she can put on her bed side shelf.  In The Big One's room, she has a TV with that awesome built in blue screen night light.  Where Boog sleeps, there was nothing really.
     Luckily Boyfriend now has his very own set of Glow in the dark space stickers.  They aren't your normal glow in the dark set though.  Most are usually either plastic and green with a gummy paste that sticks them to the wall or ceiling, or they are paper and even sometimes just peeling them from their backing causes rips.  These are the best of both worlds.  You get the self-stick adhesive backing with the rugged durability of the stiffer style.
     These glow in the dark star stickers from Get Childish come in a pack of 100.  There are 50 small stars, 35 big stars, 5 rockets, 5 planets (with rings), and 5 large crescent moons.  The size of them are great.  They aren't super small like a lot of stickers I've had and they aren't the real big ones like others I've had.  These are a nice medium.
     The back has a peel off cover for the adhesive backing.  It peels off really easily, I had no frustrations with trying to get it to peel up or anything.  The stickiness behind the film was sufficient to keep it on the walls.  I don't think any of these will be falling off the walls like the paste stuck stars do.
     On the front of the stickers, there is a second film that protects the shiny surface until it's in place.  Then you can peel it off and the stickers will shine when the room is lit and glow when it's not, it also tends to reflect whatever light is in the room.
     They really did take the best of both kinds and wrap it all into one.  I would recommend these over any other star themed stickers I've ever owned.  If you want to learn more, check out Get Childish on Amazon.

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.

11 January, 2016

APEX SELECT Manual Coffee Grinder #Review #ApexCoffee


     My sister is a big coffee fan, we both are really.  But she likes to put more effort into her coffees, she's got a more sensitive palette when it comes to that.  With me, as long as it isn't burnt and has some cream and sugar, I'm usually good.  Although, since drinking it more often and getting accustomed to a certain way, it is getting harder for me to appreciate it being made differently.  Maybe it's something that just comes with time.
     A couple years ago my sister was going through her storage and she found her electric coffee grinder and gave it to me.  She had a newer one that she preferred and had no need for it.  I found uses in it beyond coffee and I will continue to use it for things such as spices that have hardened, creating spice blends, making powdered sugar, etc.  But for coffee I find that I can't get quite the right size ground.  I prefer my grounds to be medium sized, not chunky, but not powder as I sometimes get with the electric grinder.
     I know it can be a problem with any electric grinder, so for Christmas I got her a manual coffee grinder to add to her ever growing in-home cafe.  It's from APEX SELECT and it comes with a detachable winder handle.  Check this thing out!
     The handle comes unattached and simply slides onto the nut on top of the grinder and stays in place with it's hexagon shaped hole.  It's pretty brilliant, actually.  It means that this doesn't create an awkward storing issue, simply remove the handle and place in a drawer.  TADA!
     Okay, here are some of it's features:

     First of all, it's manual.  So you can have coffee even if you don't have a free plug.  I know one issue in my kitchen is having enough plugs or plugs that are in convenient spots.  One set of plugs is hard for a shortie like me to reach because it's kind of far back in the corner of the counter area.  The other is right over the stove, so cords need to be long.  The other is behind the fridge.  So as you can imagine, it's kind of like being in the middle of the ocean and dying of thirst.  The manual feature is awesome in this instance.
     This also means that it's great to take camping.  You can enjoy fresh ground coffee even in the wilderness.  Yes, please!


     Secondly, you can control the coarseness of the grounds.  If you like fine, set it to fine, if you like coarse then set it to coarse.  It's that simple.  And to make it even better, the conical burrs that it grinds with are ceramic so they will never rust.  To clean it out, just wash with warm soapy water and rinse.

     When you are done grinding the coffee, the grounds all fall into an attached storage cup and you can see the grounds as they fall in through the window in the side.  I think that's a great feature.  You can fill the grinder and only grind what you need at the time without having to keep checking to see if you have enough.

     This grinder works great and took little time.  The grounds came out nice and made excellent coffee.  I would recommend this grinder to anyone looking for a manual one.  It works on things such as peppercorns and poppy seeds too!
     To learn more, check out APEX SELECT on Amazon.

Except for the product(s) given to me for the purpose of reviewing, I received no compensation for this post. All opinions are 100% my own.
 
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