Tasty Kake Kandy Bar Kake from Influenster Spring Voxbox

Let me start by saying that I am not a fan of packaged snack cake. I prefer to bake when I want cake I just think it tastes better. That being said the pre-packaged snack cakes that I LOVED as a kid and still get the occasional craving for are Tasty Kake's Chocolate Junior and Peanut Butter Tandy Kakes, so I was excited to taste the Kandy Bar Kake.

The flavor I received was Hershey Smores. It has chocolate cake, marshmellow cream filling, chocolate coating, and graham cracker crumbs.  Overall it was ok. It won't be one of my favorites (although I think I might have liked it better if I had gotten peanut butter). The cream filling is overly sweet and the graham cracker crumbles leave a strange after taste. The whole thing also has that packed and preserved taste that puts me off pre packed cakes in general.

My opinion is that if you generally like packaged cake you will probably like these Tasty Kake makes the nicest snack cakes by far, but if you just aren't into the overly sweet highly processed taste of packaged cakes don't bother.

Disclaimer: Influenster and Tasty Kake provided this sample for me free of charge for the purpose of review.

Influenster Spring Fever Voxbox

I was chosen to receive the Influenster Spring Fever Voxbox! Keep an eye on my blog and Facebook for updates about the products inside. In the meantime here is my unboxing.

Palmolive Soft Touch Review

Palmolive Soft Touch dish washing liquids are "mild formulas with a touch of Vitamin E, Aloe, or Coconut Butter. Designed to be soft on hands while still providing powerful grease cutting action, leaving your dishes sparkling clean."

I was really excited to receive the Aloe and the Vitamin E versions of this new Palmolive formula. Washing dishes is very hard on the hands the hot water necessary to clean the dishes and the harsh detergents in dish soaps are extremely drying to the skin and hard on the nails. Washing dishes can cause nails to peel, become brittle, and break. So I was thrilled with the prospect of having a dish liquid that wouldn't damage my nails.

As I said I received the Aloe and the Vitamin E versions. Have a look at my unboxing video.

Now I already have a dish liquid that I am brand faithful to, so when I got these I decided right away that I would do a side by side Battle of the Dish Soaps. I chose the Vitamin E formula (the Pink one) because that is the one I was most intrigued by. The Aloe formula was clear and looked like my regular dish soap but the Vitamin E had a creamy, milky, slightly thick consistency more like you get in a body wash than a dish soap so that is the one I wanted to try immediately.

THE THROW DOWN

I used both my regular dish liquid and the Palmolive Soft Touch Vitamin E on day old breakfast dishes. They were each crusted with dry egg yolk and ketchup. Plus I smeared some bacon fat from the griddle's grease catcher to test the grease cutting power.

1st: The Bubble Test

I love a sudsy dish soap. I don't know if it effects the cleaning power but it doesn't matter I MUST have bubbles. Both soaps were equally bubbly delightful.

2nd: The Smell

I like my dish liquid to have a bit of scent but nothing very strong. My regular one comes in a variety of citrus scents (lemon, lime, and my favorite grapefruit) which I think is perfect. It is light and clean smelling and the smell of citrus seems natural in the kitchen. Plus it seems like a sensible combination in that citrus would help cut grease anyway.

In contrast the smell of the Palmolive soft touch was for me extremely off putting. The Vitamin E oil formula had an extremely strong, heavy, smell reminiscent of body lotion. I know it is designed to keep your hands moisturized but that doesn't mean I want to wash my dishes in hand lotion either. 

The smell of the Aloe formula is a little better in that it doesn't smell like body lotion. It is still very heavily perfumed, so much so that it actually gave me a headache (I am very sensitive to scents) but at least it is a smell that seems normal in the kitchen.

3rd: The Grease Cutting Power

First up my regular dish liquid. It got the plate clean but the egg yolk didn't come off immediately I had to leave the dish stand in the water a bit to soften it. After I was done with the breakfast plate I washed a bowl in the same water to see if there would be any greasy residue left from the bacon fat on the first plate. Nothing. The bowl was as clean as the plate. So a little extra time was needed for soaking but otherwise it was a job well done.

Next up, I rinsed out my dish basin and washed the second breakfast plate in the Vitamin E oil Palmolive. The Palmolive went to work immediately on the egg yolk, no soaking necessary. It also easily dealt with the bacon fat on the original plate and didn't deposit any residual fat on the bowl. It did good job in that aspect. HOWEVER...

The lotion aspect of the Vitamin E oil formula was problematic for me. The Palmolive left my hands feeling soft and moisturized as if I had put on lotion. This got me thinking that if the Palmolive had left a coating of moisturizer on my hand would it have left the same coating on my dishes? The answer is YES. Once dry the plate and bowl I had washed in the Palmolive had a strange slick feel that was I my husband and I found so gross I ended up rewashing them. We didn't like the idea of eating hand lotion. When I did the rewash I used the Aloe formula that one was much better. It had the same great cleaning power but didn't leave the slick lotion like residue.

Finally My Hands

So these new formulas are specifically designed to leave your hands feeling soft and moisturized, do they work? Yes. After washing dishes in my normal dish liquid I always have to apply a good hand lotion to stop them from feeling rough and dry, or I use gloves to help protect my hands and nails from soaking in the harsh detergents. When testing the Palmolive I purposefully didn't use gloves and I didn't apply a moisturizer after so I could see how the dish liquid left my skin. It was really nice my hands were soft and not dry at all.

The Outcome

I will definitely NOT be purchasing the Vitamin E Oil formula in the future. I really dislike the lotion quality of it, I would rather wear gloves and apply hand lotion after doing dishes than deal with the scent and slick residue of this dish liquid. I will definitely be giving this bottle away. The Aloe is better and I will use this bottle but again I found the scent way too heavy and will not be stopping use of my old faithful anytime soon.

No need to take my word for it, if you want to try out Palmolive soft touch for yourself check out my FaceBook page for a chance to receive a $1.00 coupon.

*Disclosure: I was given both bottles of Palmolive soft touch by Palmolive and Inflenster free of charge for the purpose of review.

Influenster

Hey Boos,

Recently you have watched an unboxing video and read loads of product reviews for things I received from Influenster as part of their VoxBox program. Want in on the action? If you're a blogger with a high social media presence you could be testing out new products too. I love being apart of Influenster it's fun, I get to try new things, and it gives me plenty of content for my blog (which I would be writing anyway). 

Check them out at: http://www.influenster.com 

Kiss Ever Pro Lash Starter Kit

Kiss Ever Pro Lash Starter Kit ($5.99), another product from my Influenster Voxbox (<- click to find out more). 

Now I am far from a lash beginner Boos. I have been wearing lashes for a very longtime. I wear light demi lashes to boost my natural lashes and draw attention to my eyes for a day look, and full thick lashes for more drama at night and on special occasions. 

Still I love this kit. The lashes in the kit are thick and dark,  if you are looking for something for daytime this isn't it, these are definitely full drama. Kiss lashes are high quality; if you take care of them, clean them with a decent eye make-up remover, and store them properly you will get quite a few uses out of them (certainly plenty to feel like you're getting your 6 bucks worth).

The glue that comes in the starter kit is latex free so no worries if you have any allergies and lasts all day. The lashes don't slip or come off at all.

The only downside for me was the applicator. It is just a pink pair of plastic tweezers that you are meant to grip the lashes with, but I prefer to use my fingers. I feel like using my hands gives me more control and isn't as scary as poking at my eye with a large piece of brightly colored plastic.

All in all, these lashes are well worth the $5.99 the lashes and the glue are both of high quality, the applicator is alright if you're into threatening your eyes with a good poking. The one negative I would say is that these lashes are full drama and if you are a young beginner you might want something a bit more natural.

Full Disclosure: I received these lashes free from Influenster and Kiss for the purpose of review.

Do you wear lashes Boos? Tell me about them.

NYC New York Color Individual Eyes Custom Compact

The NYC Individual Eyes Compact in Dark Shadows ($4.99) was one of the items I received in my Influenster VoxBox follow the link to see my unboxing video. I love NYC products, they make great quality cosmetics for drugstore prices. I already owned 2 other Individual Eyes compacts (Union Square and Central Park) that I purchased on my own. The palettes come with 4 complimentary colors and their own primer and illuminator. They are a frequent go to for me because I like to stay in bed as long as possible in the morning and having everything I need for a variety of eye looks in one compact saves me a lot of time (these work well for travel too). The custom compacts are also great if you are a smokey eye beginner because the insert clearly labels what colors are meant for your lid and which are for contouring in your crease.

Breaking it down:

The Primer - I am a brown girl and my eyelids are a darker complexion than the rest of my skin, so even when I'm not wearing make-up it looks like I have on brown eyeshadow. As a result I always wear a primer under my eyeshadow so that the color stays truer to the package color. I really only use drugstore primers and this is as good as any of the others I've tried. It evens out the color of my eyelids and helps keep my shadow in place all day. 

The Illuminator - Like the primer the illuminator is as good as any other drugstore illuminator. I pop a tiny bit of the white shimmer onto the inner corner of each eye just to keep them bright, especially when using smokey colors.

The Quad - NYC eye colors are VERY PIGMENTED. I love this because it doesn't take much product to get great color on the eye, especially when used in conjunction with the primer. Sometimes inexpensive eyeshadows can contain so little pigment that I have problems getting them to show up on my skin tone even with a primer. That is never the case with NYC. Usually with NYC eye shadows I have to make sure to use a light touch and build up color in order to get the natural look I like, otherwise it's easy to end up with too much color on. 

The colors in this particular compact were much darker than I am used to wearing, but are great for a night time smokey look. All for colors are shimmery with the heaviest sparkle being in the darkest black color. Again it is really easy to go overboard with this palette so tread lightly, but if you are going out for a night on the town and don't want to spend a lot on your smokey eye this is definitely the way to go.

Full Disclosure: I received this product free from Influenster and NYC for the purpose of review.

Do you own any NYC products? Tell me about them below.

Bath and Body Works Candle

Hey Boos,

So this is the first of my Influenster Beauty Blogger VoxBox reviews. If you haven't seen my unboxing video it's HERE. Have a look so you can see all the great products I'll be reviewing.

One of my FAVORITE items from the box was a Mahogany Teakwood Mini Candle ($3.50) from Bath & Body Works. It smelled so good that I completely burned through the candle before I could even do the unboxing video. Lucky for me Bath & Body Works also included a coupon for the larger 3-wick version the candle (regularly $20.00).

Let me start off by saying I am very picky about candle scents. I don't like fruity candles because I don't like the smell of artificial fruit (I don't like any fruit "flavored" things for the same reason - if I want a strawberry I'll eat a strawberry. Why would I put some pseudo strawberry blech in mouth?) I don't like incense, I find the smell too heavy and suffocating. I also don't see the point in scents like pumpkin pie, they never smell like pumpkin pie, they smell like wax and flaming cinnamon. 

But enough complaining, this candle is bold, earthy, and woody. The 3-wick was big enough to fill my entire apartment with it's scent in just a few minutes. I like to light it at night with the lights off, a mug of tea, and duvet on my lap. There is something extremely comforting about watching the flames dance while surrounded by the thick scent of dark wood. It is so hard to do scent justice in writing, but if you find yourself near a Bath & Body Works pop in and smell the Mahogany Teakwood it will be worth it; even if you aren't a fan of this candle they have DOZENS of other scents in the shop you're bound to find something you'll love. They even have a wide range of the fruit and food scented ones I mentioned before, LOL. With Xmas coming up one of the 3-wicks or a sampling of minis would make a great secret santa gift.

Full Disclosure: The mini candle was provided to me free of charge by Bath & Body Works and Influenster for the purpose of review ;)

What's your favorite candle scent? Let me know in the comments below.

Influenster Beauty Blogger VoxBox 2012

Hi Boos,

I was selected by influenster.com to receive their beauty blogger voxbox! The box was full of some AMAZING products. Watch my unboxing video above then come back here and check out my reviews of the products inside.

*As I write reviews I will edit this post to include links to each products page.

Hawaiian Tropic Review

Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Lotion Sunscreen.

The Claims:
With its ultra-luxurious hydrating silk ribbons, Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration lotion sunscreen nourishes and pampers skin while providing broad spectrum UVA and UVB protection and 12 hour moisturization when out in the sun. Water resistant for 80 minutes.

Let me start by saying that SPF is IMPORTANT, even if you're a brown girl like me. Sometimes I forget that. I always remember to use SPF if I am going to spend any prolonged amount of time in the sun but it never occurs to me to use it if I am just heading out for an ordinary day (although I always, always, use a facial moisturizer with SPF. I am going to be 80 one day and I plan on having the skin of a 60 year old). Then recently I began to notice a pain and irritation on my left arm. We have been having a heat wave and the sun has been really intense, intense enough to give me a driving sunburn (that's why only the left arm - the one that hangs out the window). So even before my influenster box showed up I had placed a bottle of SPF by the front door, so I would forget to apply it on my out. When I found this in my VoxBox I replaced my drugstore SPF with this one.

1) The smell is the first thing you notice about this lotion. It smells like coconut and every time I put it on I could picture myself sitting on a beach. I don't know why that tropical scent immediately brings the beach to mind, but it does and it's divine. The smell doesn't linger too long though, which for me is a good thing. I hate when I am wearing a lotion or cream and I can smell its scent on my hands while I am eating or drinking.

2) As a 12 hour sunscreen its good. It was effective. I put it on everyday on my way out, the heat wave persisted but my burn didn't get any worse. In fact thanks to the protection of the sunscreen it had a chance to heal. The one I was sent is an SPF 30 but it also comes in SPF 12 and SPF 50. SPF 30 is plenty for a brown girl (the melanin in brown skin provides its own protection from sun damage) but if you're pale please choose the 50. My hubby is very pale and we normally keep an SPF 45, 70, and 100 around the house so he can choose one appropriate to our plans for the day. Stay healthy and keep your skin looking young by choosing a high SPF.

3) As a hydrating lotion it was surprisingly effective. I didn't expect much from the login aspect. Most SPFs are creams, but they don't absorb like lotions or offer any moisturizing effects. This one does. When I rubbed it on, it acted just like a body lotion. It was especially nice on sunburn. The skin on my arm was painful and had started flaking, the lotion aspect of this was instantly soothing to it. The lotion also left a beautiful light shimmer on my skin, that I imagine would look amazing on the beach with the sun glistening off of it.

4) $8.99 for a 6 oz. bottle. This is a good lotion for a good price. Most drugstores carry it, so it is easy to find and won't break the bank.

*Note: I didn't have a chance to hit the pool with the SPF so I can not make any statement about the water resistance claims.

OVERALL:
I really loved using this product. For me the selling point is the smell. I looked forward to putting it on everyday. I will definitely be buying a full size bottle once this one is empty.

Disclosure: Hawaiian Tropic and Influenster provided me with this sample for the purpose of testing and review.

What do you think? Leave me a comment below.

Sally Hansen Nails & Cuticles Hand Creme Review

According to the package this is a manicure creme, made with shea butter, that provides 24 hour moisture to soften hands, smooth cuticles, and condition nails. 

Right away I liked this product for 2 reasons: 1) Shea Butter. Shea Butter is my second favorite lotion butter (after cocoa butter). It both moisturizes the skin and seals in that moisture so it lasts. 2) Multi-tasking. I love that this is one creme for your hands, nails, and cuticles.

The claims:
1) 24 Hour Moisture that lasts through hand washing - Honestly, when I saw that written on the bottle I didn't believe it. I wash my hands a lot. My hands get washed after using the bathroom, while cooking, while cleaning, washing dishes, showering and more. My hands get very dry throughout the day, as a result I keep a bottle of lotion in my purse, on a table in the living room, in the bathroom, and in my nightstand. So to test the 24 hour claim I put away all my usual lotions and put this one on the table. When I put it on before leaving in the morning I was so tempted to throw the bottle in my purse, just in case. Surprisingly, 3 hours later my hands felt great. 5 hours later still good, 8 hours later I am still amazed, I went to bed stunned. The next morning, 24 hours later and my hands still felt soft. They were not as soft as when I first applied the creme but I definitely didn't have that dry, uncomfortable feeling that usually drives me to reach for my lotion. I re-applied but I didn't need to.

2) Soften Hands - This is one of the nicest hand lotions I have used. It has a fairly thick texture that absorbs quickly and left my hands feeling really soft to the touch but not oily. More important than soft my skin felt thoroughly moisturized.

3) Smooth cuticles and condition nails - As I mentioned I love that this is a multi-tasking product. I use my hand lotions as nail and cuticle creams anyway, so this product makes perfect sense to me. As a cuticle creme it is good. It worked to soften my cuticles but didn't seem to last as long as it did as a hand creme. I really wanted to put more on my cuticles before the 24 hours was up. It was the same as a nail creme, it was good in that it worked. My nails still feel strong and aren't peeling, but I for regular use I would re-apply it to my nails before the 24 hours was up.

Other points:
The smell is great. It smells of oranges when you first put it on, but the smell isn't overly strong and doesn't linger long enough to become irritating.

The price. $5.99 for a full size bottle. Sally Hansen products always offer great quality for a great price so this isn't a surprise, but it is good news.


Overall:
I love it and will definitely purchase a full size bottle. It is a wonderful hand creme, a good nail and cuticle creme, and for $5.99 it does the work of three products.

Disclosure: Sally Hansen and Influenster provided me with this sample for the purpose of testing and review.

What do you think? Leave me a comment below.

Summer 2012 VoxBox from Influenster.com

Influenster is a market research company. They send out free boxes of samples every  few months to people who fit into specific categories. Some of the categories I noticed on the site are moms, students, brides-to-be, and pet owners. What do you get from them? Like I said a box of free samples. What do they get from you? You promote and review the products you receive on your social network, blog, or vlog. Everybody wins!

I received the summer beauty voxbox. 

Inside:

Hawaiian Tropic Silk Hydration Lotion Sunscreen

Tampax and Always Radiant Collection

Quaker Soft Baked Bar in Banana Nut Bread

Sally Hansen Magnetic Nail Color

Sally Hansen Nails and Cuticles Hand Creme

Clear Scalp & Hair Beauty Therapy

I am really excited about these products (especially the Sally Hansen nail polish!!!). I will be trying most if not all of them out this week and posting reviews next Monday. Stay tuned Boos!

Have you tried any of these products yet? Let me know what you think in the comments below.