Influenster VioletVoxBox

Been a while that I actually blog! I've been so busy with my newborn +kids that I barely find the time to blog; either I don't have time or else, I'm extremely tired by night time!

A while back, I got an e-mail saying I got in to the violet vox box from influenster! Today (12/6/13), I've received it! I was pretty excited since I haven't had one in a while now. So let's see what I received:

1)Montagne Jeunesse Clay Spa; $2.49 -"Dead Sea Mud Spa"
           I've seen these at Walgreens as well as Walmart and loved them! I usually buy Freeman's just because it's a bit cheaper and you could buy the tube (save $$) instead of a small packet. They're good for traveling, 1 time use depending on which packet, or just to give it out as gift. Last year I gave these out to my 3 sister in laws as part of their Christmas gift.

2) Goody Athletique Headbands: $6.00
   This head band is supposed to provide you hold and comfort so that you can be physically active. What did I think? For $6.00, this headband is not worth it! I have long hair and the headband doesn't seem to stay put. It keeps on slipping up from time to time so not worthy to waste your money on it.

3) Soyjoy: $0.99 ~ received dark chocolate cherry
      I tried this for the first time and as much as I love chocolate, I hate it. The texture is very dry so you'll need something to drink it down afterward. You can taste a bit of chocolate, bitterness, and the sourness possibly from the cherry.

4) Not your mother's clean freak : refreshing dry shampoo $5.99
     I don't do much style on my hair as goes with the use of hair product aside from just using regular shampoo and conditioner so I'll be giving this away.

5) Sally Hansen New Triple Shine $4.99 ~Statemint 260
      The one I received is a light green pastel color. I don't love it, yet I don't hate it. Maybe it's just the color but I find that you have to reapply a few times to not have the streak on your nails.


Thank you so much Influenster for sending the Violet Vox Box for me to try out!


******I received this product complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster
Above are my honest opinion of the product received. 

Aussie moist 3 minute miracle conditioner

I usually use Pantene Volume conditioner but ran out of it about a month or two ago so I decided to try something new. I saw Pantene hair masque and wanted to get it but for $6 it was kind of expensive for me since I haven't checked any review on it whether it makes your hair soft or not. Sooooooo....I found the Aussie moist 3 minute miracle  conditioner for about $3 and decide to try it for now. I've now tried it for almost 2 months now and here's my review on it:

Before use: I have long hair so I usually tie it up in a bun or clip it up. My hair feels really dry and damage along with tons of split ends since I don't usually cut or trim it at all. Even with the use of the Pantene volume conditioner, I feel like it doesn't do much but gives little volume.

After use: I noticed a difference immediately after the first use of the aussie conditioner!!!! My hair feels really really soft and I just can't stop touching it!!!! I couldn't believed it at all. Never in my life have I ever had soft hair before and it feels like a miracle....for me that is. I forgot to take the aussie conditioner out of my room a day ago so I just had to use whatever conditioner that was in the bathroom (the clear conditioner) and omg...my head broke out  and hair feels a bit harsh. Overall, I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Aussie moist 3 minute miracle conditioner. I'm so glad I made the purchase cause I just love the result.

By the way, I'm 37 weeks along and can't wait to meet my little one! Baby's really low (station 0) and I'm 4 cm dilated already but that doesn't mean that I will go into labor anytime soon. It could be another 3 weeks...who knows since I was 8cm at 38 weeks with my 2nd and didn't even have her until the day after her due date. Overall, hubby, the kids, and I are so ready to meet this little gal ( I hope it's a she since I got everything for girls).

Been a while now

It's been a while now that I posted anything. I went for my 2nd ultrasound which was a pretty quick one since the ultrasound tech just need to get some good pictures of what she missed the last visit. I got more pictures but with the moved, it's currently being stored somewhere. I just had my 26 week appointment yesterday and baby's fine...test came back for down syndrome okay. She's a lot more active lately and I've been experiencing tons of back ache + round ligament pain. Still haven't bought any baby items yet and don't plan to until I'm a bit closer to the due date which is only 3 month away! Hubby still can't believed that this pregnancy is going to so fast and I'm already approaching my 3rd trimester.

After my appointment yesterday, I decided to stop my dollar tree to get my 2 & 3/12 year old balloons since they've been wanting one. I found tons of milani lip products that I just had to buy. About a month before that I bought a few of their nail polish too. Just took some pictures BUT my small camera is not cooperating at all! Well, actually the usb cord that's connected to the computer. It's charging the camera but would not connect to the computer....couldn't read it at all. So I guess we'll just had to wait till I figure a way to upload my pictures onto the laptop. I used the sd slot before but the last time I used it, it was really really slow and ruin tons of my pictures.

18 weeks and found out gender!

I just had my ultrasound today and found out that I'm having a girl! Everything went fine since I got a call from my midwife today but just needed to go back for another ultrasound since they couldn't measure everything (baby kept moving). I was told that baby is fine so I shouldn't worry about a thing.



The ultrasound tech couldn't get a clear shot of baby's face since she kept covering herself. There was another picture where she bend her leg and cover the left side of her face while her right arm cover the other side.

Down below is the picture of baby waving hi. She was moving her fingers looking at us.



These pictures belong to me. I crop the picture since there's some of my personal info on there.

2 new addition to family!

On friday, I did some research on parakeet. I used to have one back in highschool but it die 2 weeks later. I feel really bad, blaming myself that I didn't take good care of it so I haven't own a pet since then. Finally doing more research on parakeet, I decided to get one with the permission of my husband since it'll be living with us. Right when my husband came home from work, I ask him if we could get a parakeet. It took him a while (about 10 min) but he could never say no to me (I'm spoiled rotten by him). This time we decided to get 2 parakeet instead of one.

How we choose our parakeets?
   There were 3 different color parakeets at the time when we went to petco. There were light blues with light blue feather, light blue with dark feather, and green. Just looking at them, everyone of them seem distant from one another. They're not even playing with one another except for 2. These 2 were flying and playing with one another. They were grooming each other. Instead do getting one, we got those 2 to keep each other company that way they're not too lonely. My son wanted a green one but we decided to just get those 2 for now to see how things goes.

The two that we got were 3 months and hand fed. They are still scare of us but a little use to the surrounding since they're eating more often and coming up front staring at us. Our family is HUGE (family of 7) and loud but it doesn't seem to bothered them one bit. I also noticed that they're talking to one another. They would look at one another and start talking (not chirping). It usually happen when we have the T.V. on or I'm watching something on my laptop. If I pause it for a bit, they will know and stop talking. I just can't wait till I can start taming them!

                                              (One with blue nose, the other pink nose)










Another news is that I will be finding out the gender of my baby next month! I'm super excited! I see all these baby clothes and those that are on sales but can't buy any since I don't know the sex of the baby. So far I'm 14 weeks and my nauseous has been getting better. I now have more energy than a few weeks ago. I am still nauseous from time to time which I can only eat certain things but with those medication that my midwife prescribe me, I don't puke everything out anymore. So ladies, if you're nauseous and can barely keep anything down, have your doctor or midwife prescribe you some nauseous medication. They are pricey but worth it. Last but not least, I'm just so lucky for have my husband cooked for the family while I'm in this "condition". I have not been cooking since Jan. nor have been cleaning up the place so it's a mess but now with a bit more energy, usually in the morning, I do clean up till I start to feel like I'm gonna wear out, that's when I stop and rest.

Nyx Cosmetic orders from Hautelook

I order Nyx eyeshadow set from Hautelook.com about 2 months ago. It took about 3 weeks before they were shipped out but overall I was pretty happy about the packaging. A while back I ordered Pixie and the packaging weren't so good. There was only a sheet of bubble wrap that wraps everything together which result of having damage eyeshadow. With Nyx, everything was bubble wrap individually along with extra just as a precaution.


The first one is Waiting for Tonight. My 22 month somehow was very fast and got her hands on it so it's a bit messy but this is the one that I use often compared to the others.

Down below will be close up and swatches of each eyeshadow.

                                                         These are the brow powder.

                                                               Blush and Bronzer

As you can see, I was expecting the blush to the left to be a darker pink but it turns out to be lighter then the one in the center.

Overall, since this one is smaller than the others that I got and have brow powder, I tend to reach out for this one often. The eyeshadow are pretty pigmented except for some but if you compare it with the elf, the quality for nyx eyeshadow is a bit better...it feels creamy although it does have fallouts. The only problem that I experience with this one compare to the other palettes that I got is that it won't close! From what I mean, it does close but does not snap close at all. It's the only thing that bothers me the most which means that if I do carry it around in my purse or makeup bag, I will have to tape it shut.


I will be updating the others that I got which will be the soho glam collection, makeup artist kit, and the spring fling later on when I can edit the pictures since the one above are a bit unorganized. I was going to put each picture side by side but couldn't do it without messing anything up so just left it like that.



2/24/2013

I'm finally able to put up the rest of the pictures that I took although it did took me some time since I'm not feeling so well.



 NYX Soho Glam Collection

 NYX Makeup Artist Kit

I didn't do any swatches but they're pretty pigmented like the ones above and some fallouts.

 NYX Spring Fling

       This one is my least favorite out of the others above. I was expecting the colors to pigmented with a slight pop to it but they're really sheer and barely noticeable when on the eyelids. The only thing that I like out of this has to be the blush. Other than that, it's a waste of money if you're thinking about getting this one.

 

Good news, bad news, swatches

I haven't been good at updating my blog and there's just so much things going on. I have good news for my family but have not update them on anything so far and am going to wait until next week after my appointment. There were bad news a few weeks ago from one of my sister in law. She and her husband was really excited about having another girl to complete their family but things weren't going too good after their ultrasound. I'm not too sure of the condition but basically their baby will be disable if born...she might not be able to talk normally or walk...or even live long enough so they had to make a decision during that week before my sister in law goes too far out into her pregnancy. It was really hard for them to make a decision but they decided to not keep her so that she won't suffer when born. It's really heart breaking since no parents want to go through that and usually when it comes to pregnancy, we all usually expect things to turn out beautifully but sometimes there are things that won't always go right and we have to make a decision for ourselves. This has made me appreciate my family more as I'm very bless to have 5 healthy kids. It's because of what happen to them that I'm quietly laying down low before telling anyone about my good news since I don't want to barge in giving the news after their loss. Aside from this, last month I got 2 good deals on Physician Formula at Sears when I visit my parent. They were on sale for $2.75 so why not get it and try out some? Just too bad that some were out of stock but I was lucky enough to buy the last of what's there.
 

 I don't have the covered for these anymore but the lipstick supposedly have mood boosting stuff in it. The gel liner are water proof and comes in three colors: brown, black, and purple. It goes on smoothly and is smudge proof. Before trying this, from the price, I prefer using Elf gel liner but now after trying it, I'm going to stick to Physicians Formula. The brush that came along with the gel liner isn't that bad at all.

 I think I mention the elf studio matte lip color before but I'm going to post some swatch of it. I'm completely in love with these although I do wish they come in more colors. As for the cream eyeliner, it's only $3 which I used to use often. The only thing that I would complain about is when buying it at the store sometime you get dried up cream liner...as for the lipstick, sometime they're broken without knowing.

As you can see from the swatch above, the right (or the last swatch) cream black cream liner is the elf and the one at the left is the physician formula. Just comparing the two of them together. The texture is different and Physican Formula is definitely more darker than the elf but overall they're still both smudge proof.

Redbox Instant by Verizon

I got into the Bzzcampaign for RedBox Instant By verizon Campaign which I got a code for the beta testing. Even with the code, I still have to enter a credit card number in order to be able to sign up for an account.
To be honest, I heard of Redbox; I do rent movies from time to time there, but have not heard of Redbox Instant before. It's an online streaming site like Netflix. What's different is that you're given 4 credits to rent movies which I'm not sure if it's online or not but will give it a try in a few days but I'm pretty sure it's only online. It's $8 monthly so typically about the same price as Netflix.

Since I just sign up I'm going to compare it to Netflix. The selections of movies are not that much. If you compare it to to Netflix, Netflix have a whole tons of a lot. Maybe there's only a few due to beta testing? I'm not sure, but netflix still have that 1 month free trial for new subscriber. I was expecting more and different movies than Netflix but was pretty much disappointed.

One thing that they could improve on is for subscribers to be able to stream it on ps3 or xbox. I haven't tried the app yet and already seen bad comments and rating about it. Another thing is subtitles! I have kids and usually when I watch movie, it's never peace and quiet! I be lost without subtitles! Since it's only beta testing they could improve on all those stuff and by adding more variety of movies. I know that Netflix have improve a lot since I've seen Korean Drama (I'm a fan of Korean Dramas!) and other asian movies/Indian on there and hopefully Redbox instant will have some there too. Again, I'm not going to have that much of a high expectation and probably will unsubscribe if nothing's improve yet. I don't want to be paying $8 monthly for just a little variety of selections as my kids watch tv everyday and even if it's with the 4 credits.

UPDATED: 1/17/2013

I was finally able to get the Redbox Instant app on my phone (Galaxy S3) and can finally compare it to the Netflix app.

The first thing I had to do was to put in the invitation code. So if you have one, remember to have your invitation code otherwise you won't be able to log in or watch movie. After that, find the login and log in to it. To be able to watch it you'll have to click subscription; there's also 2 other option which is "at kiosk" or "rent/buy". There are category like online that you can choose from. All I have to say is that I wished there were more movies in the subscription to be able to watch.

Okay....so now the quality comparison.

Redbox Instant: Watchable. There's a pause and play button along with volume.

Netflix: Image quality is clean and crisp. There's a pause/play button along with volume and the choice to put subtitle on or not.

I'm not siding with Netflix but their video quality is way way better than Redbox Instant. At this point I'm positively sure that I will be canceling the Redbox Instant subscription. Hopefully if they improved and have more movies, I might subscribe but for now, it'll just be Netflix.


UPDATED: 1/19/2013

I finally had the chance to use 3 out of my 4 credits that I received for subscribing. All I have to say is that I'm really pleased at how easy it is! I choose 3 movies that I wanted to rent for the night and checkout. Instead of paying, just press the button that says "use credits" and slide your credit/debit card in. It has to be the one that's in your Redbox Instant account in order for it to you to use your credits. So...I saved $3.60 and pay nothing! I'm pleased at how fast and easy it is but would wished for there to be more movies and to be able to stream on the xbox or ps3; otherwise I wouldn't complain about anything else.