Posts filed under 'life'

Personal Reviews: Lush Cosmetics

Silver Cloud - Bath Bomb: As the first bath bomb I have ever used, I enjoyed it a lot. You simply start filling up the tub, then drop the bomb in the water and it will dissolve entirely.

Silver Cloud gave the water a light greenish color that was pretty and quite fragrant. The aroma was not overpowering yet still enticing and lingered on my skin for most of the day afterward. The water was very smooth and relaxing with the aromas. All in all it was pleasant and the smell was really nice. However, for a one time use of $6, I would save it for special bath occasions. Will buy again.

Dreamtime - Bath Melt: This product is slightly different than the bomb in that it merely melts into essential oils and aromas in the water. It did leave my skin feeling very smooth and the smell was very light and relaxing. The fragrance did not linger on my skin for as long as the Silver Cloud bomb, but the bath itself was a bit more relaxing; the aroma was softer. I wouldn’t say it made me feel lethargic or anything but was definitely calming. The same with the bomb, it’s $6 so use it wisely.

Tramp - Shower Gel: I was actually just given a free sample of this at the store. I really was not impressed by the smell. It was a bit heavy and strong and just did not feel very pleasant. The gel itself lathered nicely, like any other shower gel, and had little change on my skin. I wouldn’t spend the $18 on a 8.5floz. bottle but I would be willing to try samples of the other gels.

Karma Komba - Shampoo Bar: I have never used a shampoo bar before but I really like it! Karma is definitely my favorite scent! It is a wonderful light scent that isn’t too musky, floraly, or sweet. It is just a very pleasant scent without being too overbearing on the senses.

To use the bar itself, I simply start at my top of my head on a side, and just run it down my hair about 5 strokes going around my head. I don’t even need to scrub it on there, just rub my hair down a few times, put the bar back in a little soap dish, then lather up! The lather is perfect! And it doesn’t feel like you’re putting a large glob of liquid on your scalp. Also, the bar is much easier for travel than worrying about a messy bottle.

The scent, afterwards is lovely, as well. It lasts in my hair for most of the day and is subtle enough to leave a little hint behind, so it doesn’t knock anyone out. I plan to continue using this and see how long it lasts. Oh, also, with it, my hair does not get as ‘greasy’ as fast! I can easily skip two days without shampooing and my hair won’t be nearly as flat as it was with the Redken, Aveda or Pantene Pro-V I was using. One last thing, I actually haven’t used conditioner with it at all! It seems to keep my hair clean, shiny, free and light without it! Will buy again.

Veganese - Conditioner: Now, I did ask about the scent of this and was told that the scent of your shampoo will overpower this scent - because I was afraid of scent mixing. I used this conditioner with a non-lush shampoo. I liked the texture of the conditioner, the smell wasn’t that bad at all and it did condition my hair. However, and it might be the dry weather, but it made my hair plenty poofy. My hair is thick so it doesn’t need any extra volume. I will continue to use it and work with it to see if it has different affects on my hair in the summer, but for now, I will stick to just using the karma shampoo bar alone.

Skin Drink - Lotion: During the winter months, I have very dry skin on my legs and am constantly looking for a lotion to fit the bill. Surprisingly, in October I found Eucerin. It smells pretty mediciny, but has seemed to do the job. So, when I saw Lush had this super moisturizing lotion, I decided to give it a shot (and it was part of the buy 1 get 1 free deal).

I don’t mind that it is brown. I don’t mind the kinda awkward scent (it’s not a fragrance but also doesn’t stay on the skin, so it shouldn’t be an issue). My skin hasn’t changed at all, so I guess that can say that the lotion works. For if it didn’t work, my legs would be extremely itchy. I’m not sure I like it more than Eucerin, especially with a $6 price difference and container difference but I do recommend it for very dry skin. It leaves my skin feeling soft and is smooth to put on. I do like that it doesn’t feel like medicine. I probably will not purchase this again but if you are on a search for super moisturizing lotions, I do recommend this.

Fresh Farmacy - Skin Care: I still love this stuff! And since it is a bar it seems to be lasting a really long time. I’ve had mine, about $8 worth, since October and I’m not even half way done with it. The pink color is pretty and it makes my face feel very smooth and refreshed after. I use it as a night time cleanser. Will buy again.

Herbalism - Skin Care: I don’t care how icky you think this stuff looks, it is the only effective skin care product I have ever used. I use it as an exfoliator in the mornings/in the shower and it keeps my skin super smooth, super clear, and super fresh. To use, you just put a pinch in the palm of your hand and mix a little water with it, to make it into a paste. Then slather onto your face, rinse, and smooooooth. There isn’t a smell or anything and it doesn’t feel like a “scrub” exfoliator either, so it should work well for sensitive skin. It has an expiration date of three months, but I go through $8 worth in two months, using it almost every day. Will buy again.

Add comment May 29th, 2008 life

Easiest Budget Ever: Take Two

I didn’t always have a budget. In fact, there was a point in time where I didn’t need one. In college, I had one monthly bill and one per semester bill. I didn’t have time to go out and didn’t have the room to store things. I didn’t have time to cook or to take on expensive hobbies. Then. I graduated. I had more money, time, and interests. Basically, now I have more bills.

I have went through tons and tons of different budgets. I keep them flexible but every month I end up tweaking the layout, categories, and allotment. The format I have stuck with the most is based on three categories: 1) Income, 2) Fixed Expenses, and 3) Variable Expenses.

GoogleDoc Links for Spreadsheets: Simple Budget | Expenses

Continue Reading 2 comments May 23rd, 2008 life

Commute Log: Because Driving is Fun!

Just trying to keep track of my morning commute. Mainly to see how many hours I spend in my car and to observe daily traffic patterns. In the evenings, I stop and run errands on my way home from work on most days so tracking that is unnecessary.

January is an odd month because of the beginning holidays and colleges are still off for most of it.

Also, I am using Google Docs because I really have not used it to its full potential yet. You should be able to refresh this post each day to see the updates in the spreadsheet.

Add comment January 22nd, 2008 life, travel

Delicious Tip: One Simple Way to Eat Healthier

Olive Oil. Really. It’s as simple as that. Just use Olive Oil in cooking instead of butter/margarine/cooking sprays.

Easy Examples:

  • Pasta: Instead of a buttery alfredo sauce, make a sauce out of olive oil, sauteed minced garlic and basil.

  • Grilled Cheese: Instead of buttering the bread, throw some olive oil in the pan then cook as normal.

  • Potatoes: Coat potatoes (baked or cut into wedges) with olive oil, then season and bake.

In general, avoid all cooking sprays as their nutrition information is extremely misleading (most of them have a serving size of 1/3rd second of a spray!).

Add comment January 4th, 2008 food, life

Thoughts: All-Time Music Favorites

There are songs that I love and enjoy for absolutely no reason. Although I may not love the artists, or the genres, below are a list of my all-time favorite songs that I enjoy for completely arbitrary reasons. In no particular order!

Continue Reading Add comment December 17th, 2007 life, music

Useful Thing: FoodTube.net

Being the still rather beginner cook that I am, I like to have some sort of pictorial reference while I am trying a recipe for the first time. Just to have an idea in my head, of what the finished product should look like. My favorite cooking site, AllRecipes usually has a couple pics per recipe that I find quite useful.

Sometimes, however, that is not enough. Seeing the end product doesn’t show me exactly how to cut up something or melt something or what the process looks like. Well, thanks to FoodTube, I can watch a video of a million different recipes to see exactly, step-by-step, how something is made.

Even if the video is not the exact recipe I want to try, it provides an excellent point of reference for learning even the basic things. Such as how to cut the wings and tips for buffalo wings or even efficient ways to make cut up apples for pie.

The site essentially provides a visual cookbook, which for beginners, makes the whole cooking-thing much less intimidating!

Link: http://foodtube.net/

Add comment November 29th, 2007 life

Release: Opera 9.5 beta

All of the same features of Opera 9.5 alpha are still wonderfully implemented in this beta version. I was quite excited to see a couple bugs that I had noticed previously, are now fixed in beta! Which mainly just had to do with pages that automatically refreshed themselves.

All seems to be well with the latest Opera version!

Link: http://www.opera.com/products/desktop/next/

Add comment November 6th, 2007 life

Neat Thing: Lost In Translation

Carl Tashian has had this neat little website for quite a long time. This little app basically “babelizes”, as he puts it, any english phrase you input, by then translating it back and forth between english and five different other languages.

The result shows you not only the final translated sentence, but also the translation breakdowns throughout the process. Not only is this a neat example of language differences and similiarities, but it’s also pretty darn entertaining.

Example)
Original Phrase: Sometimes, my cat is very cute.
Translated Phrase: To the times my cat is the very pleasant one.

Some of the translations make sense, but most don’t. Enjoy!

Link: http://tashian.com/multibabel/

1 comment October 23rd, 2007 life

Neat Fact: Graham Crackers

The graham cracker was developed in 1822 in Bound Brook, New Jersey

yum!

Link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_cracker

Add comment October 12th, 2007 life

Super Delicious Food: Girls’ Night In Party

The party was after dinner time, so I did not need any large entrees, and there were 11 women in attendance. I stuck to dips and desserts with only one hot finger food item. I prepared the cheesecake the night before and everything else I did the day of, including the sugar cookie dough. Here’s the final list:

  • Jalapeno Poppers
  • Chocolate Wrapped Croissants
  • Plain Pita Chips
  • Pesto Pita Chips
  • Cucumber Dip
  • Sugar Cookies
  • Plain New York Style Cheesecake
  • Vegetable tray
  • Assorted berries
  • Bruschetta (made by Emily)
  • Hummus (made by Holly)
  • Mexican Dip (made by Melissa)

Continue Reading 1 comment September 24th, 2007 food

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