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.

Sore muscles? Use a massage gun by Ekrin Athletics.

 

Like most adults I suffer from pain in my shoulders or back from time to time. Part of the reason my lower back tends to hurt is because my hips sit slightly uneven, which can cause a bit of lower back pain. The last time I went to get an adjustment they used a massage gun on one of my muscles for a minute before doing the adjustments due to my muscle being stiff that way they could adjust the spot properly. After having them use it on just that one spot. I wanted to try out one that I could keep at home not only for myself, but for my family as well to use when needed. I've heard a handful of great comments about massage guns & I've seen them all over in various stores near me, especially during the holidays. I was very excited when Ekrin Athletics wanted to work together on a review of the Ekrin 365 Massage Gun. 

First impression? Wow! It is crazy how quickly this helps relieve your sore and stiff muscles. I feel like I get an hours worth of a regular massage in about ten minutes with this. Depending on how stiff your muscle knots are it might hurt just a little at first, but once you work on the area around the spot it will help loosen it up and feel so much better. It is kind of funny depending on where you use it because if you talk it sounds like you are talking into a fan if you start speaking while using it. Have you ever gone for a deep tissue massage that is done by hand, then the next day some of the spots feel like you were hit in them? That doesn't happen with this, your muscles will feel relaxed. If you use it for a long period of time you might still feel a little tingly directly after, however that feeling will go away quickly. 

Everyone in the house enjoys using this, even the kids! Right after we received it I used it for a minute or two on everyone in the house to show them how it works and it was an instant hit. Later in the evening everyone was asking of I could use it on their backs, so I did then I got a turn. I slept so well that night with every thing in my back loosened up & surprisingly the next morning I didn't wake up with my usual back pain despite the odd sleeping positions I usually get into. I also tried this on my foot & even though it tickled it help relive sore feet too, plus you can also use it on legs & arms. It is super simple to use, the attachments just need a slight push and twist to lock into place. Then you'll click "On" and gently tap the top of the massage gun which will activate speed #1, if you want another speed you simply need to tap it again to change the speed.

It charges quickly and it seems to run for quite some time. There are multiple settings along with different speed settings along with different attachments. It comes with a guide letting you know which attachment is best for different areas of your body. The massage gun along with all of the attachments have spots in the carrying case that they rest perfectly in, it makes this quick & easy to put away and very convenient if you want to travel with this. I actually took this with over on a visit to my moms house, her back has been extra sore lately to the point where she thought something else might be wrong. So I told her about this massage gun that I had just received the night before we spoke & asked if she wanted me to bring it over and use it on her back, we figured it couldn't hurt to try. I used it on several different spots on her back and by the end of my visit she was already feeling so much better and wants to get a massage gun of her own as well. The only slight downside to something like this is that you can reach your neck/upper shoulders and also your lower back by yourself but if you have a spot mid-back that hurts it will be harder to reach on your own. Otherwise we love this! If you want to get this same model it can be purchased on their website for $179.99 or they have other models available at different prices. 

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Ekrin Athletics 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.

Help your aches and pains with a Thermal-Aid pack!

 

Earlier this week I shared a post with you about a pain relief cream and mentioned a few other ways to help with muscle, joint and body pains. One of those helpful tools for pain management are hot/cold packs which can be used for a large number of discomforts. I was recently gifted a Medium sectional hot/cold pack from Thermal-Aid, I've used packs like this before so my brain had a image in my mind of what the size was. I should have read the dimensions better! This is a lot larger than I had expected it to be, however it will be great for when my back hurts or when my daughters back is having a bad day (she has scoliosis). The medium sectional can be purchased for $30.95 on their website, along with other sizes, shapes and even packs for children that are shaped like animals.

The packs are made from 100% cotton and the inside is made using a specially engineered corn that helps hold the heat and cold. The packs are washable and can be wiped off if needed, I have been thinking about sewing a cover for this though so the cotton material stays how it looks. 

My medium sectional has a little bit of weight to it which is nice as it adds a little bit of pressure to your sore muscles along with the heat or cold. Packs like this can be used to help a number of issues from sore muscles to head aches, I've used them for a number of issues. I always find that if my head hurts, resting for a little while with a cold pack on my forehead is a huge help. 

Sometime packs like this can easily tear at the seams which makes the beads/corn fall out, I do not see myself having that issue with this particular pack, it seems well made and long lasting. 

What kind of pains would you use a pack like this for?

Disclaimer-  Thermal-Aid provided me with the product mentioned above for free in exchange for a review , 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. 

Pacific Pain Relief Cream Reivew!

 

You always see those funny memes that show people hitting 25+ and suddenly having an assortment of body pains, I feel that that can be pretty true! Thankfully there are plenty of great ways to help reduce and even prevent pains you might get. I was recently gifted a hot/cold pack and a pain relief cream, however today I am only going to be talking about the pain relief cream and will feature the hot/cold pack soon. The Pacific pain relief cream is from the Malibu Brands and it is an all natural fast acting cream. It can be purchased on their website for $39.95 for a 5oz jar. 

I really like the jar this comes in, the lid is set into wood giving it a more natural look. The jar is only 5oz but the cream is so light weight there is more in it than you would think. The texture looks slightly lumpy in the photo, however it smooths out evenly and without any issues over your skin. This can be used any where on your body that is experiencing muscle/joint pain such as your legs, arms, ankles, etc it is advised not to use it on any open wounds or cuts, in the eyes/mouth as with any other pain cream.

Lately I haven't had many spots that have been in pain so I've only used this once or twice thus far, but I did note that it only took a few minutes of rubbing on the spot that hurt before it started to feel better. I think this would be good for after a work out when your muscles are all sore and you could use a little relief when a hot/cold shower doesn't work. Smell wise I can't really say I am a fan of, the scent is hard for me to describe it almost has an earthy feel to it and I can't quite put my finger on why I don't like it. Everyone is different with what smells they like though, so just because I don't like how it smells doesn't mean someone won't. 

A pain relief cream being put into your normal routine can be a big help! I also like using heat/cold packs, doing stretches and using a massage roller on different muscles when I get sore. 

Disclaimer- Malibu Brands provided me with the product mentioned above for free in exchange for a review, 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. 

A review of the collagenic burn pills from Obvi.

Being someone who wants to get into better shape, but lacks motivation to work out I thought it would be interesting to test out these Obvi. collagenic burn pills I've seen plenty of ads on facebook for. Luckily the company agreed to send out a jar for me to test out for a review. They also agreed to let me try them out for 1-2 weeks before posting the review so I can see a slightly longer affect of the pills vs taking them for just three days and putting up a review. Here is how my experience went:

Each container has 120 capsules which is a thirty day supply. You will take a total of four pills a day, two in the morning and two in the evening, the pills are slightly large so I recommend taking them with something to drink. I prefer to take mine one at a time to make it a little easier. It is a weird thing to say about pills, but these smell good! They smell like pink lemonade to me, they also slightly taste like it, however that could just be my nose tricking my brain.

Have I noticed any weight loss? At the moment no, but I do not blame that on the pills. I need to get back into my workout routine that I let fall off track. Energy wise, half of the time I am a giant ball of energy, I like to sing and dance around my house and other days I am just tired from work and don't want to do anything aside from being a sloth on the sofa. These collagenic pills help balance out those energy levels, I am still a ball of energy most days but even on the days I would normally be a bit off from work I still have quite a bit of energy. I also noticed that I had an over all feeling of just feeling better.

It is nice because it helps prevent me from feeling burnt out if I had a more active week at work running around the building. Feeling better energy and body wise is also a great mood booster, I felt refreshed, energized and lighter due to the boost in energy and mood.

These are also meant to help improve your hair, skin and nails. During the time I was taking them, I was growing my nails out a bit and they've been doing pretty good so far. I also noticed a small improvement in my skin which is always an added plus, because everyone wants to look their best. I look forward to finishing the rest of this jar and seeing how I feel at the end of the month using them. 

It has five different types of collagen meant to help different aspects of your body, the different types are listed above in the ingredients list.  All of the ingredients used are natural, however I would check the ingredients list because this contains  a few items people are typically allergic to such as fish & egg.

There is also caffeine in the pills, I haven't noticed any jitters from the caffeine in these even if I have actual coffee during the day.

You can purchase a jar for $34.99 on their website, along with other great products including snacks and drinks. 

Disclaimer-  Obvi provided the products mentioned 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 purchasing the product.

Qur Life balm Review + Giveaway!

 

Your lips can become dry and chapped for a number of reasons, which is why it is a good idea to keep a tube of lip balm handy for when your lips could use a pick me up. I recently received the chance to work with a company called Qur Life who sells two very unique tubes of lip balm. They sell a "360" balm which is a lip balm shaped like a wheel that is compact, easy to open and easy to store. The second style is the clip calm which is a slide up balm with an almost crescent shape. 

Each set sells for $15 plus S&H. I recently received one of their sets to check out along with six more to use for a giveaway! They sell their lip balms of packs of two, both lip balms are a different scent/flavor and they come with a free hand sanitizer + stickers. The two pack I reviewed is the Clip Balm Uplift (Cherry Vanilla) & Rise and Grind (Lemon Coconut). You can find the pack I reviewed on their website by visiting here.

I really like how they packaged everything, the colors are nice, everything has it's own place in the set and it was fun to open. You could even be gifted to someone as a present with how nicely it is presented. They included a few little info packs on the balm and their company, a little sheet of stickers, a hand sanitizer and the two lip balms. I found that the boxes were a little difficult to pull out of their sleeves.

The hand sanitizer has eucalyptus essential oils in it which gives it a light scent that isn't over whelming and doesn't have a harsh alcohol scent. It is the perfect size to fit into the front pocket of my purse to carry around with me when I am on the go and the container is easy to open.

The balms have a clip on the back so you can clip it onto a bag, shirt, belt, etc. which makes it easy to take it with you on the go, to the gym, and more. The cap seems pretty sturdy and I don't see it coming open on accident in your bag or pocket, but it comes off easily when you go to remove it with your hand. I like the unique shape of the balm, it allows you to apply it to your lips quicker and more evenly. They smell great and they don't have a funky flavor if you happen to lick your lips.

The lip balm itself is nice, I didn't feel like it was waxy or greasy, instead it was a nice smooth consistency. It leaves your lips feeling relieved and moisturized.  Both of my kids enjoy using these, I gave the pink one to my daughter and the green to my son. It is easy for them to slide the balm up and down, without the slider getting stuck.

Prize Alert:  Six winners are going to win a balm duo like the one I received. You will receive a random set.

This is open to U.S Residents ! 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 08/16/2021

Giveaway entry question: Leave me a blog comment letting me know what flavor/scent lip balm is normally your favorite? 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer-  Qur Life provided the products mentioned above 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. 

Popsonic faves and flops!

Popsonic sells a variety of self care products such as toothbrushes, skin exfoliators and more for both men and women. Looking around online you'll find mixed reviews on their products ranging from one star reviews to five star reviews, I recently tried out nine of their products and wanted to share my experience with you! So today I'll go over which products worked and which were simply flops. 

My favorite product from them that I tested out is the "Smoothie" which is a small round hair removal deceive that can be used to help remove peach fuzz and hair on the face. It runs off of one AAA battery which is included with the product, and it has a cap for when it is being stored. The device is light weight and essentially works like a nose hair trimmer, you click the button on and the round trimmer on the top will begin to move. I find it is best to use this device in a circular motion to get the closest and most even hair removal, I haven't experienced any hair pulling while using this product. The smoothie retails for $24.99

The "Spade" is also a great product, which is used to help cleanse your skin, massage and infuse your favorite skincare products. It has a duel use, one side has small silicone bristles which are used during cleansing while the vibrations help remove dead skin, dirt and oil. On the back side are a few wave shaped ridges that are intended to help massage and infuse your favorite lotions, serums and skincare products into your skin to help you achieve a healthy glow. The spade retails for $99.99

I'd have to say the Typhoon water flosser is a close tie to being my favorite alongside the Smoothie, and it is the product out of the eight that I use the most. I like that after the water flosser is charged I can use it as a cordless water flosser so I can use it at the bathroom sink or in the shower. It's charge holds for quite sometime, in fact after I charged it the first time I haven't had to recharge it yet and I use it quite frequently. I do wish it held a bit more water because it seems to empty out quickly, however refilling it is simple and doesn't take long. If you haven't used a water flosser it may take a use or two for your teeth to get used to it, you may experience slight bleeding in your gums (happens with regular flossing too) that will stop the more you use it. It comes with four different tips, so you can save the extras to replace old tips with or four different people can use this since each tip has a different colored band. The typhoon water flosser retails for $49.99

Up next is the Go Sonic Toothbrush which is a travel sized electric toothbrush. This one went to my husband to test out, he didn't like how small the toothbrush head was. Otherwise the electric toothbrush part of it works perfectly fine, and it has a nice cap to keep your toothbrush cleaner and make it easier to take it on trips. It is battery operated and the battery seems to last for a good amount of time.  This toothbrush comes in nineteen different colors, comes with one replacement brush head and retails for $19.99. 

Two of the products came as a duo, which are the lip exfoliator and the sugar lip scrub. I enjoyed the sugar lip scrub which helped leave my lips feeling soft and looking smooth, however I didn't like the lip exfoliator as would consider it a flop. It didn't really feel like it was doing anything aside from moving the sugar scrub back and forth, I had better results using the sugar scrub and just my finger.  Prior to trying out the sugar scrub on the exfoliator I had tried it by itself and still didn't notice any difference. The biggest issue I had with this was that the lip exfoliator was a pain in the butt to clean, the sugar scrub just wanted to stay stuck in-between the small silicone bristles and even using my fingers to scrub it made it take a bit to clean. The duo retails for $29.99 or you can buy the scrub by itself for $12.99

Second to last we have the Strawberry 3 in 1 Exfoliator, it has a section of silicone bristles to help cleanse and massage your face and a thin steel edge along the side to help exfoliate and remove dead skin. After washing you can turn use the steel edge at a 45 degree angle to help open pores and lift dead skin for removal of dirt and oils. I suggest using this while you are in the shower, the combination of the steam and the vibration from this product will give you the best results for removing dead skin, plus it makes it easier and more convenient to rinse it off. The steel edge comes with a protective cover and it also comes with a charging cord, the charging port can be a little difficult to find (it is located on the back side towards the middle of the product). This product retails for $79.99

The final two products I reviewed were the Zip compact razor for men (retails for $49.99) and the LED gooseneck mirror (retails for $39.99). I wasn't happy with either of these products because they simply didn't seem to work as advertised. The compact razor is a wet/dry razor that didn't seem to cut hair at all, whether it was dry hair or wet hair. My husband tested it out on his face and I tested it out on my arm, neither of us saw any difference in the area we used it on and we tried using it at different angles/using different amounts of pressure. If it would have worked properly it would have been nice to use during travel, however since it didn't work I tossed it out. The mirror had LED lights on it which are nice and help you properly see what you are doing, however I couldn't get the suction cup base to stick to anything in my bathroom no matter how many times I tried. I even tried getting the bottom of it slightly wet like you would when sticking a suction cup to the inside of the shower, however it still wouldn't hold and kept falling down/over. 

Disclaimer- The products mentioned above were provided by Popsonic 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.

Spa Life Review + Giveaway (12 face masks)!

**This was not a paid post. The products mentioned below have been provided by MySpaLife.Net  for the review & giveaway free of charge however my honest opinions were used. The opinions expressed below are solely my own & they may vary from others.**

Summer has hit here in Arizona which means hot and dry weather which can do quite the number on your skin especially if you aren't staying hydrated. I always go through a bit of a crappy transition from winter to summer when my skin is dry in patches but slightly oily in other spots so I decided to look into some face masks to help balance out my skin. SpaLife or as some may know it MySpaLife.Net is the perfect place to look for masks, peels and cleansers to try out because they offer dozens of different products for you to purchase. For a review I wasn't sure what I wanted to try out so I just provided a long list of things that looked like they would be good to try and they selected random items from the list to send out along with two sets of twelve face masks to giveaway so I decided to do an unboxing video for them. I was super nervous as I've never recorded a review or unboxing video before, I will include a link to it on the rafflecopter form and you can gain extra entries into this giveaway by watching and commenting on the video.

Pore Minimizing Hydrogel Nose Mask pack of 6 - Retail value $25 - These masks are great for those who are prone to getting lots of small black heads along their nose area. I generally don't get a lot of acne on my face expect for my nose where I always seem to have a small cluster of black heads so I was excited to try these out. The nose mask was large enough to cover my entire nose from the tip of my nose up to in between my eyebrows. The masks come individually wrapped and are a bit cold when you put them on, once on you can kick back and relax for 20-30 mins while the mask does it's job. I did notice that my nose started becoming itchy by the end of the treatment but it wasn't uncomfortable, and I did notice a bit of a difference in the appearance of the pores on my nose after using this.

Hydrating Collagen Lip Mask infused with red wine & antioxidants pack of 6 - Retail value $25 - I've never used a lip mask before so this was entirely new for me, I generally don't like when masks sit too close to my eyes or lips. The masks smell nice they have a light rose scent to them and they are light weight so you don't have to worry about it falling off your face. Each one has a small slit down the middle so you are still able to talk normally while wearing these but I found having the slit made it to where the mask didn't sit on my lips properly so I over lapped the top and bottom lip to keep them covered and just didn't talk for 20 mins while I used this. My lips did look a bit more hydrated using this but I didn't notice a huge different in how my lips looked or felt.



Pore Cleaning Bubble Mask - Single $8 3 pack $22 - This mask was so strange to use! When you first place the mask on your face it is completely smooth but as you start to wear it the mask begins to bubble almost making your face appear hairy. You can feel the bubbles working, it gives your face a tingly feeling and the bubbles are fun to smooth out with your hands when you are about to take the mask off. My face felt clean and refreshed after using this and I liked that the mask didn't sit too close to my eyes.

Pore Clarifying Lump of Coal Activated Charcoal Mask + Assorted masks. With the chance in weather and what it does to my skin I didn't want to overload my face by using multiple face masks in one week so I have not used all of these masks. As I use them I can update this post on what I thought about them but based off the other products I've tested out from this brand I have a feeling I will like these masks as well.

PRIZE ALERT:
Two lucky readers are each going to win a set of 12 assorted face masks as shown above. Each mask has a different effect such as moisturizing, soothing, energizing, etc. Value $42

💋 Plus as an added bonus you'll want to be following my Instagram for another giveaway soon where I will include one of the nose masks, a lip mask, a face mask and a few other goodies in a IG only giveaway. (Those who follow just to unfollow after the giveaway then re-follow to enter a different giveaway will be banned from all future giveaways)

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 ends on 06/03/2018
 
 Giveaway winners are announced on FACEBOOK, If you would like to see who won my latest giveaways please visit and like my facebook page.
 
Giveaway entry question: Please leave me a comment letting me know another product you would want to try from MySpaLife.Net

a Rafflecopter giveaway