Reduce plastic waste with Viori hair care bars!

 

I have always been curious about shampoo & conditioner bars so when I was given the chance to work with Viori on a review, I was excited & looked forward to trying them out. Why go with a bar instead of a traditional bottle? This is a great way to help cut back on waste, not only from the amount of plastic that is saved but you'll be able to save some of the product itself as it can be a pain to get 100% of the product out of the bottle. They currently offer three different scents & one unscented option for their bars, they also sell body wash & bamboo bar holders. 

I was gifted a bamboo bar holder along with one shampoo bar + one conditioner bar in the scent Citrus Yao. The products are 100% Vegan, cruelty-free, ethically sourced, plastic-free and sustainable. The bars are $18 each for a one time purchase or you can set up a subscription to get the bars at a discounted price. So we've covered the basics, let's get down to the actual review. The bars are made using traditional longsheng rice water which is purchased directly from the Red Yao women in China.

The bars smell lovely, the scent is well balanced & not overwhelming. It works exactly how a normal bar of soap would, you can get it started by running it under the water then rubbing it in between your hands, or simply apply the bar directly to your hair by rubbing it in small circular motions around your scalp. I find that the shampoo bar suds really well & only a little is needed to get a good application, however I find the conditioner much harder to get a good application. I do not know if it is just due to the different formulas or the shape of the bar. I generally only use shampoo every so often, because my hair always gets extremely puffy & frizzy after I use it and generally seems to do better with just conditioner. However that is not the case with this shampoo. It does give my hair a slight amount of volume, but it still looks good & styled after using this hair care combo instead of just looking messy. My hair can get a bit oily and this has been a big help with that as well. The scent of the bars will stay in your hair for two days or so and even after it fades, your hair will still feel clean.

I have used these bars several times now & it hasn't made a large dent in the bars. I can see these lasting for quite some time which hopefully will also help down costs if you are not buying shampoo & conditioner as often. If you are looking for a new routine for your hair & want to start cutting back on waste this company is a great starting point. 

Disclaimer-  Viori provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Jurassic World Captivz Hatchlings by ToyMonster International!

My kids & I were recently invited to check out some Jurassic World CAPTIVZ Hatchlings from ToyMonster International. We couldn't wait until they arrived, so we could open them up & see who we were lucky enough to get. The Jurassic World movies are great to watch together as a family, and having grown up with the original Jurassic Park movies (the first one came out when I was two), it makes me happy that my kids not only get to enjoy the original movies but the new series as well. Blue is one of our favorites from the movie so we were hoping we would get her in one of our hatchling eggs. Funny enough, she was the first one we found when we had started to open our eggs.

The outside packaging of these eggs makes it seem like when you open the egg you'll find a ball of slime with a dinosaur in it. However, upon opening the eggs I found that the slime is in it's own little bag - dinosaur free. The dinosaurs, a collectable token, slime in a bag & sheet that shows all the possible dinosaurs you could end up with are included in the egg. I am actually pretty happy the slime & dinosaur came separate so that the dinosaurs didn't need a scrub. The egg shells are a hard plastic & they can be snapped back together so you can keep them to re-use, your kids can use them when playing with their slime, as a toy or you can keep them until next Easter & use them to hide candy in.

All of the dinosaurs come in two pieces, you'll need to snap the two pieces together & it is very easy to do. You can even switch it up and swap their parts around to see what kind of new species you can think of. The eggs were fun & easy to open, We liked that they had the little collectors tokens with them, they kind of reminded us of pogs. 

We had ten eggs in total to open up, we ended up with eight unique dinosaurs & two that were duplicates of dinosaurs we already received. Opening the eggs was fun for the whole family, even my husband became invested wanting to see which dinosaur we would end up with next. I was pretty happy we got the cutie shown above, he was one of the two I was hoping we would get. His new home is now on my collectable shelf so everyone else can see how cute he is too. These adorable eggs are available in Hatchlings Single Eggs or purchased in packs of three, they can be found & purchased at Five Below + Meijer.

Disclaimer-  ToyMonster International & Playwise Partners provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Build & Paint your own Bird House!

We recently received a bonus summer mail from Horizon Group USA, they sent use a build and paint your own bird house. I like putting out bird seed for the small birds we have in the area so I am hoping one of the lovely couples decides to make this house their home. This kit comes with all of the pieces you'll need for the bird house itself, along with smaller wood pieces to use as decoration plus glue, paint and a paint brush.

My son put this together and painted it all on his own and he wanted me to make a note about how easy this bird house was to put together. It was one of the easiest kits we've ever used to build a bird house. The little wooden birds they included as decorations are pretty cute, I also like the little fence pieces included. 

Some of the paint colors you will need a second coat otherwise it is a little too thin, otherwise we didn't have any issues or negative points with this kit. Adding the string to hang it from was easy peasy and took less than a minute to do, now we just need to find the perfect spot on the back porch to hang it up on. As a bonus this kit only cost $8 on Amazon! 

Disclaimer- Horizon Group USA provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Doing Good Co. Gift Boxes + Giveaway!

 

Doing Good Co. aims to make gift giving a breeze, whether you are looking to treat yourself or surprise a loved one with a heartfelt gift, Doing Good Co. has an assortment of pre-assembled gift boxes. They have gift boxes in assorted sizes & themes. You can send them a specific message such as "You are beautiful", "Congrats" & even "Sorry for your loss" or you can send a simple theme such as Watermelon or a seasonal themed box such as the bloom box. I was recently gifted one of their Watermelon themed boxes to check out for review, you can purchase one on their website for $34.99. There is an option during check out to include a personal note which will be displayed so the recipient will see it once they open their box. With Mother's day coming up these gift boxes would be the perfect thing to send to let your mom (or wife) know you are thinking of her. You can get 10% off your order by using code Luna10 during check out. 

This gift box comes with eight different products included. You will receive a tumbler with a re-usable straw, a Pura Vida bracelet, a watermelon shelf-sitter, a seed-bearing lollipop, watermelon lip balm, two packets of watermelon cold brew, mini encouragement cards and a postcard. The lollipop is pretty neat, after you have finished your sweet treat you can plant the stick into the ground & water it. Inside of the lollipop stick are basil seeds that will start to grow, such a great way to help reduce a little waste.

I like that the bracelet is waterproof, that way you can keep it on in the shower or in the pool without worrying about it. The mini cards & postcard are a nice touch as well, since the person you gifted them too can then spread the love by sending some snail mail. I haven't tried the cold brew yet, but I am looking forward to it as it sounds quite tasty. I am going to wait until it gets just a little hotter out & have this pool side, in my new glitter cup. This was a nice "Treat yourself" box to recevie, I had a lot of fun opening it and I know I will use everything that is in it one way or another.

 

Depending on which gift box you are looking to purchase be sure to check out the description on each box. The store owner provides you with a list of everything that comes in the box & makes a note in case anything in the box needed to be substituted & she does a fantastic job selecting a great replacement for anything that needs it. For example the cup in this box is shown on the website as having watermelon slices on it, but it is sold out so it was replaced with this really cute purple glitter cup. 

Everything is nicely packaged, the products in the gift box will be snuggly packed into some packing paper. The presentation itself looks great as well, mine came with an adorable Watermelon ribbon around the outside keeping everything together. They also offer custom orders & have singular products you can buy from scrubs to candles.

Prize Alert:

One lucky winner is going to receive a "Sending Sunshine" gift box, shown below. 

This is open US Residents only! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! 

This giveaway ends on 05/03/23

Giveaway entry question: Leave me a blog comment letting me know another product or gift box you'd like from Doing Good Co. 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Doing Good Co. for the review & giveaway free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Circuit Mess DIY STEM for kids!

My kids have always loved hands-on crafts, activities & projects that they can either do by themselves or with their dad & I. So when I was offered the chance to check out one of the DIY STEM projects from a brand called Circuit Mess, I couldn't refuse. We were sent Spencer to put together & do a review on, Spencer is a personal voice assistant that you are able to build & code on your own. Something that is good to know before hand is that some of the kits they have require the use of a soldering tool, if you do not have one they can be picked up at a number of stores locally & for younger children they may need assistance with the project. This specific kit is recommended for ages 11+. We were also gifted one of their shirts which features their Batmobile that you can put together. 

Everything you will need for this project aside from the soldering tool & a screwdriver are included in this building kit. It was well packaged so everything arrived safely for us to start working on. There is quite a bit of information packed into the building guide, so you won't find the guide inside of your building box. Instead you will need access to the internet on a phone, tablet or laptop that can be placed near you & is easy to look at during the build. The building guide not only has instructions on how to build Spencer, but it also includes information on all of the tools you will need for this, links to helpful guides and tips on soldering incase you've never had to solder before & more. I found the build guide to be quite detailed & very helpful, they even have plenty of photos in full color for the visual learners. 

I think that these kits are great not just for teaching your children practical skills such as coding or using the various tools you will need, but also life skills like patients and staying calm & collected while working with small detailed parts. You can purchase a one time box, or subscribe & you will get a new project to work on every one to three months (depends on your plan). Spencer is part of the STEM box which is for ages 11+, but if that is a little too advanced for your child they also have the Wacky Robots line which is for ages 9+ along with working on two other lines that are for younger children as well. The STEM box is $80 per box & is a once per every three months subscription, the Wacky Robots are $28 a box and are delivery once a month. They also sell bundles which have set prices and show you exactly which buildable you will receive, so if you've had your eye on a particular build of theirs then the bundles might be the right place to look for you.

My husband & Son enjoyed doing this project together, this fun to do together and the end results are something your child will be able to work on, adjust and play with for quite some time to come. They have a number of apps and more available on their websites and guides that will allow you to update and create your Spencer how you would like. With summer coming up these kits are a great way to keep your child's mind engaged & entertained over the summer break. My son is looking forward to checking out all of the various apps Circuit Mess has & playing with his voice assistant more. I think this would be a great subscription as well for adults who want to know more about coding.

Is this something you think your kids will enjoy as well?

Disclaimer- Circuit Mess provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

April Beauty & The Book Giveaway!

The last month really flew by! I hope you all had a good March. It was an interesting month for me, some good things happened and some not so great things. This month I have some fun new sponsors to share with you, I will be hosting several reviews along with some giveaways of course. My goal is to hit fifteen posts for this month. For this month's Beauty & The Book I didn't really have a theme in mind, but once I started putting everything together it kind of turned into a berry theme so most of this month's items are a shade of purple or pink. Last month's winner will be announced alongside the announcement for this month's giveaway over on my Facebook page, so if you haven't hit that "Like/Follow" button on my Facebook page, head over to do so and keep updated on giveaway winners + new content. 

Included in this month's giveaway bundle is;

💜 WHEN Rose Coconut gentle scrub mask
💜 Oryza mini eyeshadow palette
💜 By Nature Face Mask
💜 Purple L.A Colors liquid eyeliner
💜 Revlon Mascara
💜 Revlon Lipstick
💜 Black eyeshadow stick
💜 Rimmel London lipstick
💜 Gel nail polish pen
💜 Sugared Berry wax melts - they smell amazing
💜 Moonlit Skincare soap bar
💜 Purple bracelet
💜 A mini flat beauty blender
💜 Two nail files
💜 A hard cover copy of "The Silence"

This is open World Wide! Please remember if you DO NOT leave a comment on this blog post as your mandatory entry into the giveaway then all of your entries will be void. Doing the Daily entries will increase your chance of winning. Winners have 72 hours to respond to the notification email! This giveaway is hosted by ME.

This giveaway ends on 05/01/2023

Giveaway entry question: Leave a comment answering at least one of these questions.

Which prize from this pack are you most excited about?

What is a goal you've set for yourself this month that you are working on?

Is there any movie or show you've watched recently that you love & recommend? 

Do you have any fun plans coming up?

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can complete as many entries as you want, there are several one-time activities and daily activities that can earn you more entries into the giveaway. Be sure to keep an eye on my site & social media pages for more giveaways headed your way.

STMT Designer art studio review!

My kids love getting new art sets, so when we received this STMT D.I.Y designer art studio in our recent quarterly Horizon Group USA gifted box we were pretty excited to use it. This art set comes with a lovely selection of supplies which includes a white crayon, twelve brush markers, four gel pens, twelve tubes of watercolor paints, twelve oil pastels, four paintbrushes, a paint palette, seventeen die-cut designs, four watercolor resistant cards, and a notebook all inside of a golden carrying case. 

This kit can be purchased on Amazon for $24.99, it can also be purchased at big box stores such as Walmart, Target, and Local craft stores. My favorite part of this kit is the brush markers, they write so smooth & each color is vibrant + bold. I also like the notebook included in this as well, the paper is really nice and works well with the rest of the supplies in this kit. 

Along with this set Horizon Group USA sells dozens of other awesome craft & activity kits for a range of ages and interests. Check them out! I will be posting a list of ten of our favorite craft sets soon.

Disclaimer- Horizon Group USA provided the product above for the review free of charge no other compensation was provided. However, no product compensation will influence the outcome of any review. My honest opinions are used in all reviews, they are solely my own & they may vary from others. My reviews are posted for readers in order to provide an informed decision before purchase.

Horrified: American Monsters - Board Game Review!

We always enjoy finding new board games to play together as a family, it is nice to sit down at the table with the TV and phones off to talk, laugh and conquer a board game. For Christmas my mom gifted my husband the board game Horrified - American Monsters and we've enjoyed it so much I wanted to share a review of it with all of you looking for a new game to play.

This game is fantastic in general, but anyone who loves supernatural beings/monsters/cryptids will enjoy the number of creatures that are put into this game. American Monsters is the second game in the series (we haven't played the first) so this one focuses on monsters that are typically found in the US such as Big Foot & The Jersey Devil. You can play this with 1-5 players and it is recommended for ages 10 & up, game time typically takes 45 to 60 minutes. It can be found at a number of stores including Target, Walmart and Amazon, it usually goes for between $35-$40 however you can catch in on sale from time to time. It is by Ravensburger games. 

Monsters included in this pack are: Big Foot, The Jersey Devil, Mothman, the Chupacabra, the Ozark Howler, and the Banshee of the Badlands. Each one has it's own difficulty level which will turn the tide either in your favor - or theirs. The two that are the most pain in the butt are the Jersey Devil because of the amount of work it takes to beat him mixed with him being able to foil your plans, and the other would have to be big foot because you have to chase him around the board. We find that the easiest is the Chupacabra followed by the Banshee. 

You and your investigator team have to work together to save the town and defeat the monsters who have come to terrorize the citizens. The number of monsters you are up against is completely up to the players, they have a guide within the rules that show you how many monsters to use based on the difficulty you'd like to do. Though depending on which monsters you end up with, even the two monster game can be a slight challenge if you guy two of the big boys and I will explain why below. 

Setting up the game is pretty simple, there isn't a ton that goes into the game and each monster has specific items that go with them so if you prefer you can keep the monster along with their items in a baggie together. The game will take a little while to figure out the rules and how each monster works, so you can read through all the rules together prior to playing or figure it out as you go since everything is set up in a way that is easy to understand. Both of our kids who are ten and fourteen play this with us often and were able to pick it up quickly. 

All players will take a turn doing the number of tasks that their investigator is allowed (shown on your player card) to try and collect items needed to defeat the monster you are up against. You'll have to keep an eye on where your investigator is while also keeping an eye on where the monsters are because at the end of your turn, you will need to draw a card from the Monster Deck. These cards allow the monsters to move, this is when they will move and often attack any investigator or town folk that are close to them. It also allows them a chance to potentially ruin some of the progress you've made towards defeating them. There is also a chance that a card will bring out a local citizen out onto the board, this is good and bad. Good, because if you manage to scoop them up and get them back to their safe zone, you'll get an extra card to help aid your investigation. Bad, because if a monster attacks and kills a town folk the Terror level moves up one. If you reach the end of the Terror zone landing on the skull, you are defeated and the monsters win. 

Other ways the terror marker moves up: An investigator is attacked and killed (you re-spawn the next round) or monsters have the ability to roll a dice move that will also move the terror marker up. You will also lose the game if you run out of cards in the monster deck to play.

How to win: Save citizens along the way, while staying alive yourself. Move around the board collection the correct items needed to defeat the monsters, the monster cards will tell you what you need and how to beat a monster. Once the number of monsters on the board are defeated the investigator team wins. 

We usually have a lot of fun with this game and there have only been a small handful of times that we were defeated by the monsters. If the kids aren't feeling up to playing, my husband and I are able to play by ourselves and it can even be played with just a single player, however none of us have tried out a single player game. This is a fun game for families and a fun game for friends, it is worth looking into and adding to your collection.

If you want some other awesome games to check out there is a link on the right hand side of my blog where you can find other board game reviews I've done.

***I did not receive this item for a review, nor is it sponsored by Ravensburger games. This is a product I own and wanted to do a review on.***