Review: Nature's Bounty Hair, Skin & Nails Gummies

So, first post back and I nearly killed my movie maker program because it kept not responding and deleting my video. Hurrah! I'm also using a different camera for the photos in this post. For some reason Nikons and I do not get along.

ANYWAY! I was contacted back in February through Smiley360 to see if I wanted to review a Nature's Bounty product. Both my Mother and I have used Nature's Bounty vitamins for years, but I didn't know they were coming out with a Gummy version of their Hair, Skin and Nails vitamin.

I'm actually very familiar with their regular Hair, Skin and Nails vitamin, and have used it before in the past... multiple times.

Lets get straight to it. These are gummies (well, duh Alchemy), and these are the first gummy vitamin that I've actually taken.

The gummies contain 2 Skin and Hair Nutrients, Antioxidants Vitamin C (involved in collagen production and formation) & E (contributes to skin health). They also contain Biotin which according to the label helps maintain healthy hair and promotes healthy nails by acting at the nail matrix.

They're strawberry flavored, which I'll put it this way, my Mother even tried them and she is NOT a fan of anything gummy. The flavor is subtle, and does not over power at all. I did detect a hint of a gelatin flavor, but that might just be me.

The other ingredients listed on the label: Corn Syrup, Sugar, Dicalcium Phosphate, Grape Juice Color Concentrate, Gelatin, Modified Food Starch, Citric Acid, Lactic Acid, Natural Strawberry Flavor, Black Carrot Juice Color Concentrate, Maltodextrin, Fractionated Coconut Oil (Contains one or more of the following: Camauba Wax, Beeswax), Silica

Final Verdict: I've been taking these for about three weeks now, two gummies in the morning per the instructions (you can take them twice a day). I've always been on the fence about the hair, skin and nails vitamins. I do feel as if my hair has gotten stronger since taking them. But it's difficult for me to judge my skin and my nails. I do think my nails have been growing faster though since I started the gummies. Do I think they're stronger though? Not really, they are still breaking and peeling. As for my skin, this is tricky. Vitamin C (for some unknown reason) likes to wreck havoc on my skin. I have absolutely no idea why it happens. I could take just a regular Vitamin C and boom, break out central on my face. I'm more or less on the fence about the skin part of it.

But wait there's more! Another reason why I agreed to do this product review is because I get to give away a full size bottle of the Hair, Skin & Nails Gummies to a reader! I think you gals (and guys?) know the drill with this :D

a Rafflecopter giveaway



The product featured in this post had been sent to me by Smiley360 on behalf of Nature's Bounty.. What appears in this post is my 100% honest opinion on the product, and it is in no way influenced. 

Beauty Parfait: I'm not gone yet! Update

No fancy header with this one folks. Be aware for a long "life" post.

I just wanted to let everyone know, I'm still around. I took an unintentional hiatus without saying anything. I'm not leaving the blogging world though, I'm trying to get myself back into it though!

The last three months have been insanely difficult, especially March.

In January I caught that awesome Super Bug that's flying around. Had to stay home for almost a week because I was running a fever. Basically, I was sick for three weeks.

Then, back in December, I had hurt my back moving something for my next door neighbor. So fast forward to while I'm still getting over the super bug, I get hit with a bad case of sciatica. It was to the point that, I got into work and doubled over from the pain in my side going down to my leg, in tears. I'm not one for relying on prescriptions, so it was trial and error with holistic remedies. Took about a week and a half to find the right "cocktail" of herbal medications and Thermacare back wraps (it heats up upon air contact) to get the pain down to a manageable level. Now, I don't need the back wraps anymore, and the sciatica is only aggravated when the weather changes or I twist my lower back the wrong way.

Then came March, and this will be the hardest part of this post. On March 9th, 12:30am my grandfather came and took my little Prince. If you follow me on instagram, then you'll understand that line. My precious little Prince, Kaos, left us.

Kaos and myself December 1999

We got Kaos back in November of 1999, we had lost our Golden Retriever earlier, and Patch was lonely.

Kay-Kay was my rock when my Grandfather passed, and more of my rock when Patch passed away three months after Papa. He was like a little person. He'd sit up in the chair, resting one of his front legs on the arm rest. We'd even call him Father Kaos, only because if we'd cuss, his ears would go back and he'd just stare at you. You'd have to apologize before he'd go running back around. If he wanted to be picked up, he'd get a vice grip on your arm and would jump up on your feet.

My heart was broken, completely shattered. Sunday I woke up crying and hadn't really stopped. Monday, we went to work, and I would immediately burst out crying. I had been numb when it came to Papa and Patch, but Kaos. He was the little Prince who came back through everything. He was like the little energizer bunny. Everything was setting me off. It got to the point that week, that I was becoming physically sick.

On March 15th, basically a week after Papa came to get Kaos, we adopted a new little guy, named Max, who needed us as much as we needed him. Max is a year and a half old Irish Jack Russell (yes, there's actually three different Jack Russell breeds).

March 2014

We've had people telling us that it was too soon to get a dog. That we weren't honoring Kaos, that we were replacing Kaos.

Our family friend, who is our doctor, said that getting a new dog would be the best thing to do. It's therapy. You can't replace a dog with another dog, what you're doing is just finding a new friend. And a new friend can help you heal.

When I was born, we had a dog. So all my life I grew up having dogs. There was never a single moment where I didn't have a dog or two (usually two). Going a week without a dog in the house was scary. The routine we had was thrown off, our lives were thrown off. And to be honest, I never wanted to go home to an empty, quiet house. It's heartbreaking. Even having the cat inside, it didn't feel right.

March 15th 2014, the day we adopted Max

Max is our little shining light. He actually looks like a combination of both Patch (who had an all brown face) and Kaos (all white with a little black on the ear) and has a combination of their personalities. 

Have I forgotten Kaos? Absolutely not, even after a month I can't look at his photos without crying. It's still fresh and it still hurts, and I get even more annoyed when people accuse me of forgetting him.

I do believe (as odd as it may sound) that someday I will find Kaos again, or a dog with the same personality as him.

I know this is a long post, and I thank anyone who read through it. I'm going to get myself back into the blogging world, just have to find that routine again.

Review: Crown Brush HD Set with Mirror & Tweezer

First off, I hope everyone had a wonderful New Year's. I myself was delirious on New Year's Day with only 3 hours of sleep. I'm trying to get myself back in the swing of things right now, I've been slacking.

Other than that, lets get to the review!

Next up at the plate is the Crown Brush HD Set, which I received from iFabbo. You get a total of six brushes, tweezers and a traveling case which all the brush and the tweezer fits in to. Three colors are available through the Crown Brush website, Orange, Purple and White/Blue (which I think looks lovely). Through iFabbo though, the color selection was random, and I received the Orange set.

6 piece HD Cosmetic Brush Set w/ mirror, Tweezer and case. Made with high grade synthetic fiber. Vegan Friendly. Perfect for applying High Definition cosmetics, liquids, creams, and powders.

via Crown Brush website

Case

The case itself, is a zip around, and dead center is the Crown Brush insignia embossed on it. It's very glossy material, almost reminds me of pleather. I'd say which would make it easy to wipe any make-up mishaps off of it.

Inside the case, the material changes to almost a mattified material. It gives a faux leather look to it. On the left side is a good size mirror which is perfect for travel, and right next to the mirror is the holder for the tweezers. The right side of the case are six different size holders for each brush that is included in the set.

Note: I want this to be known now, some of the brushes here, what they're suggested for, may not be what I use them for.

Tweezer

What can I say? I have only used one pair of tweezers since... forever. Since receiving the set, I have been using this one constantly. I was actually a little surprised that the edge wasn't curved like my other pair, but now I see why, these get the job done and there's no having to go back and redo.

Pro Powder

The big powder brush in the set. I'm not big on powder brushes, only because I don't use powder on my face often, (except to set my under eye concealer) however I have been using this on my powder illuminator/highlighter. This helps give me just the right amount of highlight that I want.

The bristles to me are not too dense, but definitely not flimsy either. They're a nice happy medium between the two.

Tapered Blush

On a scale between Dense and Flimsy, this brush leans more towards dense. The bristles are packed in there, but not overly so. I, however, do not use this for blush. I have been using this brush for setting my concealer under my eyes. It's the perfect size for that job.

Deluxe Contour

The density on this brush is the same as the Tapered Blush brush. I want to say it's about the half size version of that brush itself. I don't contour, however I have used this brush for blending my eye shadow up to my brow bone with a skin tone shade. It does a good job with that. I have also used this as a travel brush to work for when I need to touch up my under eye concealer as it's small enough for the job.

Chisel Shadow

A densely packed eye shadow brush. I love this brush! I have been using it constantly for the base eye shadow for my looks as well as just for a simple wash of color for work. 

Crease Blender

The density for this brush falls into that happy medium category between dense and flimsy. It's definitely perfect for blending. It's my preferred blending brush and also the brush I was most excited about.

Detail Liner

At first, I thought this was a lip brush, wrong! This little guy is the set's liner brush. It's dense at the base, but again that happy medium shows through towards the tip. I don't use this brush for liner, but I use this brush to apply the highlight to the inner corner of my eyes to finish off my looks. I also like to smudge the eye shadow under my eyes for this as well.

Overall Verdict: I definitely like this set and have been using it since. When I cleaned the brushes before using them, I noticed no shedding at all. I also like the fact that they come in a travel case, which came in handy when I needed to take brushes with me on New Year's Eve to work. I really have nothing bad to say about the brushes,

Price: $27.95 via Crown Brush US

Availability: crownbrush.us

The product featured in this post had been sent to me by iFabbo on behalf of Crown Brush.. What appears in this post is my 100% honest opinion on the product, and it is in no way influenced.

Review: Studio Gear Cosmetics Holiday Smokey Eye Palette

Fear not, I am still around! With the holidays and all, it's been a little bonkers for me.

Enough intro, onward to the review!

Up on the review block is Studio Gear Cosmetics Holiday Smokey Eye Palette.

Be radiant on any occasion with this sultry, shimmery palette of dramatic shades – perfect for creating a classic smoky eye look, with a hint of unexpected golden glimmer. This collection of four complimentary eye shadows with matching blush deliver several day to night options that are both seductive and wearable. With pure color, pigment-rich formulations, you’ll be sure to smolder all night!

via Studio Gear Website

Packaging: The palette itself comes in a slip cover that slides off. It's a brilliant and eye catching array of yellows and purples. The palette itself is a chic black and grey color scheme, which I think works well with the slip cover. Inside the palette you find the SG insignia design covering the palette. On the underside of the cover, is a step by step guide (not pictured), opposite that is the actual palette, four eyeshadows and one blush.

Frost

Position: Top Left

This is the lightest shade of the four eyeshadows. A frosty, shimmery white. Perfect for the inner color highlight and below the brow.

Thoughts: Not terribly pigmented, I had to work with this one a bit, it's definitely the sheerest of the four.

Platinum

Position: Bottom Left

Second darkest shade. This one is basically a silver with grey mixed. I actually like to use this all over the eye, sometimes alone or smoking it out.

Thoughts: I'm not normally one for silver toned eye shadows, but I do like this one. The pigmentation on it is better than Frost, easy to work with.

Glimmer

Position: Bottom Right

Hard to describe. It isn't quite gold, but it isn't really bronze either. I'd actually like to say it falls between the two. A happy medium, which to me makes this color unique to the palette. 

Thoughts: Definitely the oddity of the four colors, but I like it. It adds to the smokiness, whether you follow the guide and use this as the blending color, or use it as the base color, or even alone.

Coal

Position: Top Right

A charcoal grey, not a true black, with hints of silver added in.

Thoughts: While a matte black, I think would have worked perfectly for a palette of shimmers, this works as well. It isn't terribly harsh, which a matte black can be, it's soft, but makes the point of the smokey eye.

Snowy Glow - Blush

Position: Center

A soft coral-rose pink blusher with the slightest shimmer. 

Thoughts: I love this blush, at first I was iffy, but this is a blush that is buildable. It's sheer, but you can get a lovely flush for your cheeks as you would during the cold months. 

(L-R) Frost, Glimmer, Platinum, Coal, Snowy Glow

Overall Verdict: I definitely do like this palette, although it has its faults (this is my own personal preference at that), namely the sheerness of Frost. Other than that, it's wonderful. The smokey look that you can get from this varies to the degree of darkness you want at the corner, but I do think this is a palette that you can go from a day look to a night look with no issue. On top of that, Snowy Glow is the perfect compliment to the four shadows. It ties everything together.

Price: $40; receive 10% off your purchase using the coupon code SGHOLIDAY

Availability: Studio Gear Cosmetics and select ulta.com stores

The product featured in this post had been sent to me by Studio Gear Cosmetics via the Brand Backer campaign. What appears in this post is my 100% honest opinion on the product, and it is in no way influenced.

Review: Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation

Review time! Just for the record, photos, save for one, were taken with a Nikon L810 that I'm borrowing right now, and I can say, now I know why Nikon is so awesome.

Anyway, up for review is Rimmel London's Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation. Now, I've used Rimmel concealer before, but never one of their foundations, let alone a mousse foundation. I was both excited and a tad apprehensive due to the fact that when I would try to color match to any of the Rimmel foundations before, the lightest shade would still be too dark for my skin tone.

So, onward to the review!

A feather light, oil free formula with an airy mousse texture that won’t feel heavy or greasy. Delivers all day shine control and blends flawlessly for a natural looking matte finish. Minimizes the appearance of pores. The weight is over – finally, shine has met its matte.

via Rimmel London

Packaging: What you get is a white tube that holds 1 fl. oz of product in it. From the center going towards the cap is what appears to be a close color match to what the actual foundation tone is. The twist cap, along with the text and accents is purple, not an over the top purple, but definitely eye catching.

Ingredients: CYCLOPENTASILOXANE, DICAPRYLYL ETHER, AQUA/WATER/EAU, ISODODECANE, TALC, TRIHYDROXYSTEARIN, DISTEARDIMONIUM HECTORITE, DIMETHICONE/VINYL DIMETHICONE CROSSPOLYMER, SILICA DIMETHYL SILYLATE, ETHYLHEXYL METHOXYCINNAMATE, POLYGLYCERYL-3 BEESWAX, SORBITAN SESQUIOLEATE, TRIMETHYLSILOXYSILICATE, KAOLIN, TRIBEHENIN, ALUMINUM STARCH OCTENYLSUCCINATE, PROPYLENE CARBONATE, PEG-10 DIMETHICONE, CAPRYLYL GLYCOL, POLYPROPYLENE, PHENOXYETHANOL, METHYL METHACRYLATE CROSSPOLYMER, SODIUM CHLORIDE, DIMETHICONOL, LAURETH-4, BHT, TOCOPHEROL.

[May Contain/Peut Contenir/+/-: TITANIUM DIOXIDE (CI 77891), IRON OXIDES (CI 77491, CI 77492, CI 77499)]

Texture/Formula: Smooth, with a lightness to it. Definitely a mousse feel. It is a little thick, but can be sheered out to a medium coverage.

Shades: There are a total of 8 shades available right now. Light Ivory (091), Ivory (100), Soft Beige (200), Sand (300), Light Porcelain (010), True Ivory (103), Classic Beige (201), True Beige (203)

How to Apply: The site suggests that you can use either your fingertips or a brush to apply the foundation, however the best technique for me has been applying it with [clean] fingers then buffing the foundation in with a brush. And just to be clear, you only need a small amount.

Overall Verdict: I was definitely iffy at first when I got this in the mail from Influenster. Normally the lightest shade that Rimmel has to offer tends to be a shade or two off from my skin tone. I received Light Ivory (091), and while I was on the fence, the tone isn't that far off from my own. I really didn't have high hopes though, first application I used my regular foundation brush, applying it as I normally would. For me, bad idea. Too much went on, and I felt like I had a mask on. I didn't go back to it right away, but when I did, I tried it with my fingers instead. MUCH BETTER. Coupled with a simple buffing with my foundation brush made the foundation work perfectly. It is a light-weight formula. While I normally steer clear of Matte foundations during the cold/winter months simply because I have dry skin, and this foundation will pick up on any dry areas. I've noticed though if I put enough moisturizer on and couple it with a primer, it is not that bad then.

Taken 12/4/13 with my Samsung Galaxy S3. No Filter

.

The biggest plus with this foundation is that it can double as a concealer. When I wear this foundation, I normally top my under eye concealer off with this foundation for extra coverage.

Price: Between $4.99 to $7.99; I haven't seen the foundation in store yet, so I'm basing the price on the other foundations that Rimmel offers.

Availability: Wherever Rimmel London is sold.

Disclaimer: Products mentioned in this post were sent to me for testing purposes from Influenster.

Review: Perlier Imperial Honey Body Butter

First off, Happy Thanksgiving!

Second, review time! I'm jumping right into it this go around and reviewing Perlier Imperial Honey Body Butter.

This marvelous melting body butter from the rare honey of Black Bees combined with Royal Jelly, is a true beauty formulation. It nourishes the skin with moisture, leaving it pleasantly scented with the sensual notes of Honey and Oriental woods. Perfect to moisturize the skin in the harsh winter and summer months.

via ifabbo

Packaging: Best way I can describe this, body butter tub. The base that holds the product is a simple white, while the cap is a mirrored gold, accented with black and frosted gold. It's very sleek and elegant. You get 6.7fl. oz. of product in the package.

Ingredients: AQUA (WATER), BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII BUTTER (BUTYROSPERMUM PARKII (SHEA) BUTTER), THEOBROMA CACAO BUTTER (THEOBROMA CACAO (COCOA) SEED BUTTER), ETHYLHEXYL PALMITATE, PERSEA GRATISSIMA OIL (PERSEA GRATISSIMA (AVOCADO) OIL), BEHENYL ALCOHOL, PEG-40 STEARATE, STEARYL ALCOHOL, DIMETHICONE, GLYCERYL STEARATE SE, PENTAERYTHRITYL DISTEARATE, STEARIC ACID, MEL (HONEY), SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS OIL (SIMMONDSIA CHINENSIS (JOJOBA) SEED OIL), CETYL ALCOHOL, ROYAL JELLY, PARFUM (FRAGRANCE), PHENOXYETHANOL, CARBOMER, IMIDAZOLIDINYL UREA, SODIUM HYDROXIDE, TETRASODIUM EDTA, BHT, METHYLISOTHIAZOLINONE, COUMARIN. 

Texture/Formula: The formula for this is very rich and creamy. However, it sinks into the skin very fast.

Scent: This is where I think it comes to personal preference. This body butter has a very strong scent of honey. It was a little overwhelming at first, but I got used to it. It is a very sweet scent though, and it lingers. The Oriental woods scent is a under laying scent that I think the honey over powers.

Overall Verdict: I can see some, maybe not liking this due to the scent, especially if you aren't fond of honey. I'm not fond of a honey scent, but I got over it. What impressed me with this (which is why I got over the scent) is how moisturizing this body butter is! There hard water at work, which dries out my hands terribly, so when I get home, I put this on my hands, and any tightness, dryness, and any cracking; this definitely takes care of it. This is certainly something that I will be using through the winter months. Some lotions or body butters that I've used work ok, but this definitely works wonders.

Price: $40.00 on HSN.com   for $5.00 your Perlier purchase use the coupon code, iFabbo5 at the check out!

Availability: HSN.com



The product featured in this post had been sent to me by iFabbo on behalf of Perlier. What appears in this post is my 100% honest opinion on the product, and it is in no way influenced.