I subscribe to WagJag not because I necessarily need to buy 78 lbs of ground turkey for 65% off the regular price of my firstborn but because sometimes they'll have something really interesting on offer. One such interesting thing showed up about a month ago, where they were offering a sample box from P&G for the cost of shipping: $6.00. Well, any person who has been reading this blog knows that I love samples, getting stuff for little or no money and I enjoy testing out new products and letting all of you in internetland know how it worked. So, there's the offer: I think they were being a little generous when they posted an 87% discount from a value of $46.00. I did the math and I could only account for $15.21, but this type of WagJag math is not unusual. I believe they were factoring in full-sized product pricing, when the Pantene, Tide and Cascade are all sample sized. Considering I was guaranteed a full-size mascara and razor, I was willing to pay the $6.00 to get it shipped to me. I got my sample box today! Here's what I received: Cascade Platinum Dishwasher Detergent With Dawn Grease Fighting Power sample pack containing 2 packs - estimated retail value of actual product received = $0.78 According to their website: Cascade Platinum Pacs give your dishes the ultimate clean and sparkle. They scrub away tough 24-hour stuck-on food and the advanced formula also helps prevent residue on your dishes and filming in your dishwasher. It's also not available for purchase in retail stores yet, so that's kinda cool. CoverGirl LashBlast Volume Mascara, Very Black 800, full size - estimated retail value of actual product received = $7.79 According to their website: Get a blast of bold, volumizing mascaras! LashBlast's patented volume-boosting hypoallergenic mascara formula and patent-pending brush are designed to max out each and every lash, leaving you with the ultimate big-lash look. Now in waterproof, too! Gillette Venus Embrace Sensitive Women's Disposable 5 Blade Razor, full size - estimated retail value of actual product received = $3.49 According to their website: The perfect match for sensitive skin, experience a closer shave and less irritation with 5 curve-hugging blades and 8 times more glide boosters. Discover why Venus is the #1 razor brand used by dermatologists.
Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Extra Power, full size - estimated retail value of actual product received: $1.68 According to their website: Mr. Clean Magic Eraser Extra Power will help you clean your tough messes inside and out. The water-activated micro-scrubbers reach into surface grooves, lifting away the toughest soils with water alone. And it's 50% stronger than Magic Eraser Original, which means it holds up to tough messes better. Try Magic Eraser® Extra Power on kitchen appliances, tiles and grout, and even grill grates, lawn furniture and more. With such an easy, great clean, you can get on to enjoying your favorite space to its fullest, whether that’s getting cozy in the kitchen or relaxing in the yard. Pantene Pro-V Sheer Volume Shampoo and Pantene Pro-V Sheer Volume Conditioner, 50ml sample sizes (both) - estimated retail value of actual product received: $1.15 According to their website: Don't let your 'do deflate. Give it an all-day lift with zero residue. Get the ultimate in body and style with micro-boosters that provide manageability. Clinically Proven Healthier Hair with Every Wash. According to their website: Get full-bodied style without the weight. Condition for manageability, shine, and 24-hour volume. Clinically Proven Healthier Hair with Every Wash. Tide Pods Free and Gentle HE Laundry Detergent sample pack containing 1 pod - estimated retail value of actual product received = $0.32 According to the P&G website: New Tide Pods Free & Gentle provides a deeper clean than the leading Free detergent and the convenience of single-use pacs. This new entry joins the free & sensitive category, which has grown 20% in the last five years. For people with sensitive skin seeking a detergent free of dyes and perfumes, Tide Pods Free & Gentle provides a deep clean that leaves behind no dyes or perfumes on fabrics, for gentleness on skin. Oddly, the Tide website only lists the powder for this product, not the pods. So that's what my $6.00 got me, and I'm actually pretty pleased. I don't use any of these products, so I'm looking forward to trying them out and letting you know how it goes! All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product(s). The product was fully paid for by myself. The subject of this blog entry has no expectation of a review, favorable or otherwise.
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A wonderful thing happened in my garden. I did not plant potatoes, but I found potatoes growing in my little patch of heaven. I think it's safe to assume that because I throw my fruit & veggie scraps back there that these guys just really wanted to live. I started to pull the plants earlier this summer because I thought they were weeds, but when I plucked the first one out, a little tiny potato was attached to the root. So, I quickly re-buried him and on Saturday I went out a-diggin'. I didn't do too badly either, considering I had enough potatoes for a pot of mash with Saturday's dinner (mmm, ribs) and enough left over to make a yummy soup for Sunday's lunch. The onions are from the store, but the garlic is from my mother-in-law's garden and these are the left-over potatoes from my garden that became my soup. This soup is so yummy on a fall afternoon and you can have it chunky or creamy, depending on your mood. This recipe gives you creamy, if you want chunky, only blend about half of the soup, then add the other chunky bits back and continue from there. Either way, it's warm and delish and pretty simple to make. Serves 8. INGREDIENTS: 4 strips bacon, chopped 3 leeks, greens removed, chopped 1 vidalia onion, chopped 1/2 head fennel, chopped 6 sprigs thyme, stems removed roughly 3 cups chopped yukon gold potatoes bay leaf 1 tetra pak (4 cups) chicken stock 1 cup water 1 cup heavy cream 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp ground pepper DIRECTIONS: 1) Rinse potatoes in cold water to remove some of the starch and let sit in the water until you're ready for them 2) Crisp bacon in a dutch oven 3) Add leeks, onion, fennel and thyme & saute for about 3 minutes 4) Add chicken stock, water, salt and potatoes, stir and place bay leaf on top 5) Cover and let cook on medium heat for about 1/2 hour 6) Remove from heat and take out the bay leaf 7) Using a hand blender, blend until smooth 8) Add cream and return to heat. Let boil for about 10 minutes until soup thickens slightly 9) Add pepper and more salt if required Serve with day old multigrain bread or grilled cheese sandwiches and enjoy! I love coffee. I don't mean I like it a lot, I mean I LOVE it. So it's only fitting that I write an entry on things you can do with it, other than drink it. So here are some great uses for your grounds (mostly) and one for the whole bean: Used coffee grounds make great fertilizer. They’re full of nutrients such as nitrogen, calcium, magnesium and potassium that are great for plants that thrive in acidic soil. Collect them in a container and use them to fertilize rosebushes, azaleas, rhododendrons, evergreens, and camellias. Drip grounds from a standard coffee maker are richer in nitrogen than those from a percolator. Spread the grounds around your plants right on top of the soil to allow for a slow release of the minerals. Be sure you know which plants like the acid and which ones don't (hint: tomatoes don't). If you're looking to grow vibrantly blue hydrangeas, you're probably adding aluminum to the soil. Work coffee grounds in and they'll absorb the aluminum better and be even bluer! Used coffee grounds make a great composting agent. Mix your used coffee grounds (and even the filters) with lye to make a great composting agent. The grounds and bacteria on it are a food source for your worms and the grit helps them digest better. A theme in many posts is what goes in equates to what comes out. Better worms = better soil. Used coffee grounds make a great repellant. Coffee's strong odor helps to keep insects and animals away. Mosquitoes, ants, slugs and maggots all dislike the acidity of coffee and will stay away from areas where there is high concentration of acidic soil. To help keep cats from using your garden (plant or veggie) as a personal litter box, mix orange peels with coffee grounds and sprinkle around your plants. Fresh coffee grounds make a great deodorizer. Make a sachet using cheesecloth or (unused!) pantyhose and ground coffee (not used) and leave it in the back of your fridge and freezer to help absorb strong food odors like onions, and makes it smell like fresh coffee. Fresh coffee grounds make a great steak rub. Toast fresh coffee grounds under a hot broiler for about 30 seconds, shaking often to prevent burning. Add the toasted coffee to other steak spices (try salt, pepper, garlic powder and dry mustard) and rub into the steak. Leave it in the fridge for a few hours and cook as desired. It'll give your steak a nice little kick. Whole coffee beans make a great breath freshener. Whole coffee beans can be used to freshen your breath! Keep a bag in your purse or desk drawer and pop a bean in your mouth after lunch. Sucking on it will quickly give you fresher breath without aspartame! Used coffee grounds help clean dishes. For grease and grime on your dishes, put a little bit of used grounds on a rag and use to clean your dishes instead of scouring pads and SOS pads. Rinse thoroughly. Used coffee grounds help clean hands. Rub a scoop of grounds between palms as an exfoliant to remove dead skin and help eliminate smells from foods like fish and garlic. Also helps get the capsaicin off your hands after chopping hot peppers. Here's a great recipe to make your own coffee ground soap: heart-hands-home Used coffee grounds help moisturize skin. Exfoliating with coffee grounds can help stimulate blood flow, promoting healthier and tighter skin. Just add mineral oil or vitamin E oil to old coffee grounds and apply it to your skin with a loofah. Fresh coffee grounds fight cellulite. All cellulite creams you buy contain caffeine - that's what's fighting the cellulite. You can use used grounds, but fresh has a higher concentration of caffeine, so if you're going to do it - take it all the way! Mix 1/4 cup warm grounds with a tbsp of oil (olive, almond or massage - pretty much anything but cooking oils) and apply to your cellulite zones. Wrap in plastic and wait about five minutes. Take off the plastic, brush off excess grounds and take a warm shower using a loofah. Here's a few great exfoliating recipes: natureshomespa Fresh coffee grounds can give you a facelift. Again - the wonder of caffeine. Mix 1/4 cup of fresh coffee grounds with one egg white, and then spread the mixture over your face. Once it is dry and flakey, rub the mask off and rinse your face. Your face will feel tighter - and no going under the knife or needles involved. Used coffee grounds help your hair shine. Brunettes and dark redheads can benefit from rinsing their hair in coffee to rejuvenate their color. Just steep your used grounds in two cups of hot water and then rinse this through your hair. Blondes need not apply - this will stain your hair. Do you have any tips? Post in the comments below! 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Thanks again for stopping by :) I'm always interested in ways to save money on and DIY recipes for everyday things. I also consider that we're surrounded by poisons and chemicals all day, so why not use more 'green' options to clean your home? Many people believe that if it isn't filled with things you can't pronounce, then it must be formulated especially to do a great job. And many of them do. Along with the fact of the chemicals and what they're doing to your surfaces (did you know that Magic Eraser is actually an abrasive eraser?), the environment and your health, I have a sensitivity to strong scents. Unless the room is ventilated really well, I can barely breathe when using things like Easy off, Windex and Tilex. So I've been using only plain vinegar mixed with water mostly to clean many things in my house. It does a great job, but it's not the correct thing to use for everything. So I did some research and found some great ideas for cleaning products you can easily make at home for pennies. This post will focus on cleaning your bathroom. First off, we'll start with a list of ingredients you'll need. Stock up on these few essentials and you'll never run out of cleaning supplies.
Now for the good stuff, here are some easy-to-make, effective cleaning products which are safe for your health and your home. Just make sure you head over to your local dollar store before starting to stock up on rags, sponges, spray bottles, jars, measuring cups/spoons and adhesive labels. Shiny Surfaces (Tub, Tiles, Toilets, Sinks)
Scouring Powders
Drain Cleaners
Soap Scum, Calcium and Lime Removers
Mold and Mildew Removers
So there you have it - a sparkling clean, wonderfully scented bathroom that didn't kill your wallet, brain cells or the environment!
If you have any suggestions for additions to the list, feel free to post in the comments. Till next time! This "Double-duty cuticle and nail care" mask was part of the Julep Mystery Box I purchased and reviewed earlier this month. I finally had a chance to try it out. I opened the package to find ten little pockets filled with cream. They're attached and tearing them apart is pretty easy, but slipping them on ( and getting them to stay put) is another story. I started with the fingers on my left and that was perfectly fine - however, once I had them on, using that hand to get them onto the fingers of my right hand required a little bit more effort. If you have someone around to help you out with this, I definitely recommend recruiting them. The pockets (for lack of a better word) are one size fits all, so they're not very snug. In fact, I spent the entire half hour pushing them back down. Maybe that was part of the plan, because I also spent that time massaging the cream into my nails, nail beds and fingertips as I tried to keep them in place. While they were on my fingers I felt a very mild tingle going on. It was unexpected, and I'm not sure if that's what it was supposed to do, but it felt kinda nice, like a little massage. There was no scent whatsoever from the pockets themselves. I sniffed the package and all I got was a very faint citrus scent. That's great in my book, because I find that too many beauty products use too much fragrance for no good reason. I also have an issue with heavy perfumes, so this is a product that didn't give me headaches. After about 25 minutes, I peeled them off and massaged the rest of the cream into my fingers and nails. In fact, there was so much cream left on and under my nails that I had enough to massage into my entire hands. The cream was easily absorbed and did not leave a greasy feel afterward. So, did I see any difference? My nails definitely felt softer and look less dry. I change my nail colour often and all the polish removal use can really dry out my nails, so this mini spa felt like the right thing. Overall this product does exactly what you expect. I will definitely purchase and use it again and would recommend it to anyone who cares about their nails. Product Rating: 4 smiles out of 5 Product Website: www.julep.com Product Type: nail care Scroll down for pricing info. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product(s). The product was fully paid for by myself. The subject of this blog entry has no expectation of a review, favorable or otherwise.
I receive a referral reward for purchases made through any link within this entry. Thank you for supporting my nail polish addiction. |
AuthorHi! I'm Sonja and I'm glad you're here! I'm happy to share some recipes and gardening tips with you while I let you know about great (or not so great) products, services, and media I encounter. Visit my online shop at MysteriousDragonfyre.com
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