5 months later….

I’ve become fairly horrible at keeping a blog. I keep telling myself that this time it will be different and I’ll keep updating it. I’ve found, however, that if I don’t have my blog in my face every time I log onto the internet, I don’t update it. Hence the five month window where there are no updates.

 

But I’ve decided to change that. Be it an end of the year resolution, or the fact that I happen to miss blogging, I’ve decided to (A) make this site my homepage and (B) make it a weekly task on my to-do list.

It’s not that I don’t love writing. I do. I went to school for it, honed my skills and, yes, am still seeking out a job where I can put those skills to good use. It’s just that motivation seemed to be lacking. But I’ve been doing all these things this summer and, once those tasks were completed, I kept thinking “This would make a great blog post,” yet never got around to it.

Well, that part of life is over. When I blogging here on a (fairly) regular basis, it helped me keep in check. As weird as it sounds, keeping the motivation to blog also helps me keep motivation to do other things.

So here it goes again, hopefully for the last time. I can’t promise another blog within a few days, but I’ll certainly try to get one more up by Saturday.

Review: Crest 3D Whitestrips

 

Ah, Influenster. Sending me sample sized products to try out, that aren’t really sample sized. When I was chosen to receive the oral hygiene product, I was pretty excited. I’m always trying to find new products that work to make my smile a little brighter. I’m one of those weird people that actually enjoy going to the dentist. I mean…I carry around floss in my purse all the time. It’s a little weird, but totally okay. 

So when I received my Influenster box (by the way, you don’t know what you’re getting until you get it), I was surprised to see Crest’s slogan on the box. Even more surprised to open the box and see a full package of Crest 3D Vivid White Strips (Level 4). I was beyond excited. I have been wanting to try this newer version of White Strips for awhile after having a bad experience a few years ago. So I’ve been trying them for about a day (yes, I’m that impressed that I am writing a review about them). I’m hoping to get my teeth a few shades whiter. I’m not looking for pure white, but a few shades would be great, especially just in time for the holidays. 

 

Pros:

• Easy to use. You don’t need to do anything special when putting them on. I do suggest just doing a quick brush of your teeth in case you have some plaque build-up, but I don’t think it’s 100% necessary. 
• They stick. I had this problem the last time I used whitening strips. They just didn’t stick, felt kind of messy, and left a lot of goop on my teeth. These didn’t. After wearing them for 30 minutes, they came off easily and didn’t leave too much goop behind (maybe a tiny dot, but that’s it). 
• They actually work the first time. I’ve noticed a difference already and I’ve only tried them once. We’ll see how it looks in a couple days. 

Cons

• It’s thirty minutes. Granted, you can probably put them on before your shower then take them off once you’re dressed, but it’s still 30 minutes. I wouldn’t go outside in them, but that’s just me. I plan on using them solely at night as well, so it probably won’t be a huge problem.
• They’re expensive. At $50 a pop, they’re very expensive even for whitening strips. If they work really well, I plan on shopping around for a month before buying another set. They’ll probably live up to the cost, but I also just can’t spending $50 per month on whitening strips. 

So we’ll see how this goes. I’ll be taking pictures right after I take them off every night to track my progress. Let’s see how this goes! 

A Totally Selfish Post (That I Think I Deserve)

20. The number of applications and cover letters I’ve written & drafted, then sent out, in the past 12 days. It’s not even that much, when you think about it. I should be sending them out to every person on the planet. But I don’t have the energy for that. A few I would really like, a few I sent out to see if I could even qualify. I guess it’s the effort that counts, right? So long as that effort eventually leads to a job.

But, I digress. This post is purely for me. You see, there’s a website, called Influenster (all beauties go “YYEsssssss”), which is completely free to use. What happens is, you sign up, earn badges & points and then you get FREE stuff.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Well, sort of. You can’t just sign up and expect them to send you oodles of goodies. That wouldn’t be fair to the people who are active on social media and actively trying to get their name out there. I heard about this site through various Youtube Beauty Gurus and decided to check it out. Recently, it went through a re-launch and, as part of their re-launch, they’re giving out a TON of stuff. Which is why this blog post comes up.

Now, before any of you freak out: I was going to do a post about Influenster anyway. Not today, per say, but within ac couple weeks. Since their re-launch, there have been a lot of new changes, of which I’d like to highlight here, be it good or bad.

The Bottom Line: Influenster free-for-all in supplies. You sign up, you earn badges (such as Dog Owner/College Student/Mom/Bride to Be/Environment lover, etc), and you gain points. You can gain points by reviewing services and products (PetSmart, NYC Beauty Care, Dawn dish soap, you name it, you can probably review it). By reviewing products, blogging, youtubing, or basically just staying active on your linked up social media sites, you earn points. These points make more a more influenced member (get it now?) or less influenced member, depending on the time and effort you would like to put in. Mine currently stand at 79, which I think is pretty fair considering I’m not a Beauty or Review guru. You can then take surveys which qualify you for VoxBoxes, which is literally a box full of regular and sample sized goodies…all for FREE. Currently, I’m actually awaiting a sample sized version of dish washing liquid. Am I excited? Of course. I do most of the hand-dish washing in my house so I’m excited to use a new product. And it’s free. C’mon people…FREE.

The Good:

The site is MUCH more user friendly than before. You’re allowed more chances to get products and there are actually a lot more products and services you can review. Before, I didn’t go on the site that often. There weren’t too many badges and I would only go on to see if I ‘qualified’ for a VoxBox. I didn’t, because besides being a Youtuber, it didn’t seem like there was much room to grow.

I’m happy to say that these good folks have remedied this. You can link up all your social media sites and there are a lot more gifts to be given. You gain a lot more opportunities through this site, you can interact with other reviewers more, and it just LOOKS more user friendly.

The Bad:

I wish you could earn more Lifestyle badges. I have a few, but am blocked from getting more as of right now. I’m a complicated girl, Influenster! I love beauty gadgets just as much as I love hiking gadgets! Let me have my badges!!

Overall, however, it is a great program. I’ve known some gurus who’ve signed up for the programs you PAY for then are disappointed with the lack of samples for the price. Samples SHOULD be free you know. So Influenster is getting it right.

 

Want to sign up? Head over to http://www.influenster.com to learn more & get started.

 

(No, Influenster did not pay me to do this. As I said, I wanted to do this, was given an option by Influenster to do this for a re-launch voxbox and decided it was time.)