Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Twilight Teeth Whitening System Review

Ive tried a few different whitening products over the past few years. Some worked, some didnt. Some were much too time consuming, some were quick and easy. Some caused sensitivity, some didnt. Some were affordable, and some were ridiculously expensive. It isnt easy trying to find a combination of those things that worked for me.

So over the summer I tried a new product I had never heard of before. Twilight Teeth. It was also a new kind of system that I hadnt used either. Twilight Teeth uses whitening gel, a mouthpiece and an LED whitening light. Everything I had used in the past just used a mouthpiece, I had never used an LED light before. I had heard of it, but thought that was something only used in dentist offices.
The idea of using an LED light at home was so interesting to me. So I did a little more research on Twilight Teeth and found that it was use in a tanning bed, so you can whiten while you tan. You place the mouthpiece in and apply the gel just before getting into the tanning bed.
But they also have an at home version which comes with the LED light to use at home! Which was perfect for me, because I have never in my life used a tanning bed.

Over the summer I started using the system every night.
All you do is (on clean teeth) put the mouthpiece in, apply the gel, then insert the light. Let it sit for 20 minutes and youre done. You dont even have to rinse. I did find that if youre sitting up while using it you will drool an awful lot, so I just do it while Im laying in bed at night.
I had only been using the system for 3 or 4 days when my bestie said to me "your teeth look really white!"

One thing I dont like though is the mouthpiece isnt very wide, so I feel like half of my teeth that show when I smile wont be as white as the rest. I just kind of stick the brush back in there and get some gel on them and hope that its still working!

After a few weeks of using it I went on vacation and had forgotten to bring it with me, so of course when I got home I couldnt get back into the routine of things >:(
So I gave it a break for a little while, and noticed my teeth werent quite as white as they had been, so I think this product really only whitens temporarily. I dont think it gets the deep down stains, so the whiteness kind of fades after a while. So to keep your teeth white you really have to do it on a regular basis. But after you get to your desired whiteness Im sure you could just do it once a week or so to maintain your white! And that is no problem for me, because it didnt cause any sensitivity or discomfort.

While this is a wonderful system that gave me noticeably whiter teeth, I still dont think its the system for me. I am looking for a whitening system that lasts and gets the deep down stains, not just surface stains. I will continue to use it until I find the right system for me!

What whitening products have you used? What is your go to product?

Saturday, January 25, 2014

Wantable Makeup Subscription Box Review

There are a LOT of monthly subscription boxes around anymore. With all those options its hard to choose which is the best offer. I have tried the beauty box five, which is around $12 for 4-5 samples of beauty, hair care or skin care products.

One of the newer boxes Ive recently heard of is from Wantable.com.
Wantable.com offers 3 different boxes; makeup, accessories or intimates. I chose the makeup one, of course. You an get the subscription for $36 a month or a one time purchase for $40. Inside the box you get 4-5 full size premium makeup products hand picked to perfectly match your preference.

Before you order your box, the first step is to take a little quiz. In this quiz you choose your skin tone, category preference (you rate love, like or dislike different categories such as brows, blush, lash products, tools, etc.) then you go into preferences for each category; such as colors, textures and tones.
This allows the people who pack your boxes to choose exactly what products match your personal preference, and each box is personalized to you.

Once I placed my order for my box, I received a confirmation email. The very next day I got a shipment notification. The day after that I got my box in the mail! It literally only took 2 days.





I opened my box and first found a few cool little things. A sweet little note card that shared a great quote! A card telling you about their app. (you know its a great company when they have their own app!) And a paper with info about each product, as well as retail prices.

I was honestly so surprised by the products theyve included in my box! 5 full size products and one little sample. Right away I was like "this is a subscription box I would definitely buy every month!" Most of the companies I had never really heard of before. I think the only company I had heard of was Color Club, the nail polish.

This is the one product I was somewhat familiar with. Ive never actually used any products by Color Club though, so I was excited to try. This color is a really pretty soft greyish brown. Not a color I would normally choose for myself, but once I swatched it on my nail I really fell in love! Its such a soft beautiful color. Great for Autumn. This product retails for around $8.













Next was a sample from a company called Skiin. I had honestly never heard of this company. So the sample is a 'Instant Skin Tightener and Line Filler.' I thought, "well, I dont relaly need this, I dont have wrinkles. But Ill try it anyway." So I put it under and around my eyes. I literally did immediately feel it working. It almost felt like my skin went slightly numb, and I could tell it had tightened up. Im going to be giving this sample to my mom to see how she likes it, since she has more "aging" skin than I do.





So the next products is a lip treatment by another brand Im not familiar with, DEX New York. The box said lipstick, but technically its not really a lipstick, it has no color. Its just a moisturizing treatment with a bunch of vitamins and stuff. I did try it out, and it applies very smoothly and feels soft on my lips. You can wear it alone or under your favorite lipstick. I personally wore it alone and it has a slightly glossy finish, so you can totally get away with wearing it alone. This product retails for $25.





I think I may have heard of this brand, but it apparently didnt leave an impression because I cant really remember. But this is the product I was most excited about trying. I am a big fan of blush and bronzer, so this little duo from Somre was a great product for me to try! The colors are honestly perfect. The bronzer isnt to dark, and theyre not shimmery or glittery. Im not a big fan of having disco ball face..my skin is naturally pretty oily so I like to stay away from shimmery face products. The blush is also a really nice color. Its a great pinky shade and looks nice on my skin tone. This retails for $28.



Next was a felt-tip liquid liner in the color Espresso, a nice dark brown, from the company Be a Bombshell. (who once again, I havent heard of) I usually stick to blacks on my eyes, but its always nice to have a brown liner. So I was pleased with this product as well. I swatched it on my hand and it applies easily and is well pigmented. I could definitely see myself buying this in black as well. (and hello little Darla peeking in in the background :D) This retails for $14.





And the last product in the box was a blue mascara from Golden Rose. I honestly thought to myself, I will never use this. I have never owned a blue mascara, I probably will, and I cant see any situation where I would use a blue mascara. But I will keep it around for a little while and see if it will ever be of use. The one thing I can say though is that I like how the tube is clear so you can see the product inside. I feel like a lot of the time mascaras are like half empty in there, so its nice to be able to see a full tube of mascara. This product retails for around $11.





So the total price of the products if you were to purchase them would be around $86. Making this box a great deal at only $36! I will definitely be subscribing to this box!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Pamper Day!

SNOW DAY! We got about 14 inches of snow yesterday, so what better excuse to stay inside and pamper myself today!


For my pamper days I do treatments for my hair, skin and nails. I deep condition my hair. Exfoliate my skin, do my favorite facial mask, and use a deep moisturizer. And give myself a little mani/pedi. Candles are essential for setting a relaxing mood, as well as filling the room with my favorite scents.


I start out with a relaxing bath or foot soak. I love to use bath bombs and/or bath salts. You dont have to go to places like Lush to find decent bath products, you can find some pretty good ones at your drug store, or even walmart or target. 


While Im in the bath or soaking my feet, I like to do a deep conditioner or mask on my hair, while using a nice exfoliating mask on my face. After cleansing and exfoliating, I use my favorite eye cream, and intense recovery treatment. Im using my Evologie cleanser, Splurge scrub, Merlot mask, Dermalogica eye cream, and RevaleSkin moisturizer. As well as my favorite Fekkai conditioning hair mask.


After soaking my feet, I give them a good scrubbing with a pumice stone to remove any dead skin. Then once theyre soft and dry, I give myself a little massage while rubbing on some foot cream. The one Im using today is by Udderly Smooth.
Then, I move onto the nails. I clip, file and smooth out my nails before applying a few coats of my favorite nail treatments and polishes.


I like to finish off my relaxing day by lounging in bed with my favorite scented candles burning, and a good book to read!


What are your favorite ways to relax on pamper days? What are your favorite pamper products?

This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own.

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

What happened to H.Wood.Beauty?!

A while back I got to try out a free month of Beauty Box Five. You can check out my review here! In the box that month, there was a sample of lipstick from a new brand, H.Wood.Beauty. At the time I hadnt really tried the lipstick much, so I didnt give much detail about the product in my initial review. But, lately, Ive been wearing it more and more often. It has become one of my favorite lip products I currently own!

Photo: Amazon.

Ive tried doing some research, and I cant seem to find a working website for this company. All I could find was a facebook page and twitter account, both havent posted since September of 2012. :( So, I couldnt find out more about the product, and Im not sure where you can find them. Which is a suuuper bummer. Im really hoping the company didnt go under!

This lipstick isnt like any Ive ever tried before, its not super pigmented, it just gives a very light color, and a glossy finish. When I first tried it, Ill admit, I wasnt impressed. But in the past few weeks, Ive been using it more and more, and have honestly fallen in love with it!

The lipstick goes on super smooth, and looks like a gloss. Its a beautiful light pink shade called "rose." Its not sticky at all, and it doesnt feel dry or anything like some lipsticks tend to feel. I think H.Wood.Beauty products are all-natural, but since there is no site, Im not 100% sure.

(Im sorry if anyone is offended by my lip piercings, I know a lot of people dont like them. but I do, so any rude comments I kindly ask you keep to yourself!)

If anyone knows what happened to the company or where I can find their products, I would love if you could let me know! Im very interested in trying out more of their products!

Sunday, January 19, 2014

Curly Hair Solutions Review

Although I wear my hair straight almost every day, my natural hair is actually slightly curly/wavy, and very frizzy. Ive tried for years to find a way to wear my natural curls, but I can't seem to find any products to help with the frizz! And those that do just leave my hair much too stiff and "crunchy."

I recently got to try out some products from Curly Hair Solutions.

The first product I got to try was the RevUp Volumizing System.
The RevUp system comes with a volumizing shampoo and Volumist. The RevUp System is a sulfate free formula, that is supposed to add volume to your hair with the same invigorating energizers that ocean air has on the hair. The "curl building energizers" attract moisture in the air, which is essential for creating extra bounce to your hair.
The shampoo is a gentle sulfate free formula. To use, apply to wet hair from root to ends and lather for at least 30 seconds for the ingredients to activate. The instructions didnt say whether or not to use conditioner, so I went ahead and used it anyway, because my hair needs it! My mom, however, did not use conditioner.
After I used the shampoo, my hair didnt feel clean, so I went ahead and used another couple of drops and repeated the process. The second time around it was much more lathery and bubbly.

Once I got out of the shower, I sprayed the Volumist all over my hair and followed the directions, scrunched my hair and let it air dry.
My mom, who also tried the system (she has much shorter and curlier hair than me, so I wanted to see how it worked on her hair) her hair was so dry she couldnt get a comb through it. She said she didnt want to use a conditioner because she was afraid it would weigh it down.
We both next used the next product I was sent, The Curl Keeper.
The Curl Keeper is a gel like product that controls frizz and defines curls. It is a water based formula, so you can use it every day without build-up, and you can reactivate it with water. Just wet your hands and touch up any frizzy areas. This allows you to go more days between washes!

I tried this product with the the RevUp system, after applying the Volumist I combed the Curl Keeper through my hair and let air dry without touching.
I personally did not like this product, Im not sure if its because my hair is thin/fine, or if its the cut, my hair is also longer. So it made my hair look kind of (for lack of better words) straggly and piecy. I do admit it was mostly frizz free, and pretty curly, but with my hair down it just didnt look nice on me. I never really wear my hair curly, so I dont really know how to style my hair curly, unless Im curling it with a curling iron, but thats a completely different kind of curl.
My mom, on the other hand, does style her hair curly more often, and she liked the way the curl keeper worked on her hair. The only thing she didnt like was the shampoo, but she is going to give it another shot, this time using conditioner, and she is going to let me know how she likes it. (so look forward to an update in the next few weeks!)

I love the idea behind these products, and theres no denying that they define your curls. I just dont like the way they work on my hair, and I definitely need more practice with styling my hair wearing my natural curls.

You can find out more about these products and other Curly Hair Solution products at FrizzOff.com!

Disclaimer: These products were sent to me for free from Curly Hair Solutions in exchange for a review. This does not change my views or opinions on the products! No monetary exchange occurred in exchange for this review!