I had the opportunity to test and review OZ Naturals Vitamin C Professional Anti Aging Serum and I was not disappointed!
First off, let me tell you a little about the serum itself. According to their website, this product:
Our Vitamin C Serum combines the highest quality Vitamin C, and Hyaluronic acid to create this pure, transparent, non-GMO serum that goes on smooth and works deep down below the skin's surface to aid your skin in naturally producing more collagen, something we lose as we get older. In addition, hydration is improved thereby plumping up skin cells to minimize the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Antioxidant formula protects skin from environmental stressors Naturally stimulates collagen creation Hydrates and moisturizes skin Helps nourish cells allowing skin to heal naturally Naturally lifts and firms Made in the USA in our FDA certified facility No Parabens, No Alcohol Behind The Science: Science has shown that the molecular structure of our serum can penetrate further into the skin's layers as opposed to a moisturizer that sits on top of the skin or penetrates just below the surface. OZ Naturals Vitamin C Serum is specifically designed to stimulate new collagen production while also hydrating your skin to make it softer, smoother and younger-looking. 100% vegan, cruelty-free, paraben-free, sulfate-free, mineral oil-free, lanolin-free, gluten-free, and GMO-free. We take pride in making every single one of our products using natural and organic materials. We do not and will never use alcohol or parabens in our formulas. All of our products are created in a state of the art, FDA certified facility located in the USA.
So what did I think?
Well, I always wonder if I'll see any results when I'm given a beauty or health product to review and I have only a week to try it out before I tell you my verdict. I'm actually a day overdue with this review because I had the flu for 3 days and just couldn't look at my laptop. However, I have been using the serum in place of my toner each morning and have definitely seen results. In less than a week my skin feels softer, smoother and looks brighter!
Aside from the positive results I've personally seen, I am really impressed with the natural ingredients such as aloe, vitamin C and jojoba in the ingredients list. And paraben free! The more companies realize that we get better results with fewer chemicals, the better our health and planet will fare. So I definitely give them props for turning to the power of natural ingredients.
Go to amazon.com or amazon.ca today & get your own healthier, more radiant skin today!
Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5
Product Website: oznaturals.com Product Type: Anti Aging Serum Would I purchase?: yes Would I recommend?: yes
All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge from the good people at OZ Naturals with the expectation of an honest review within this blog, favorable or otherwise .
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Yesterday I gave you my review of the Hyperbiotics PRO-15 Advanced Probiotic and today I'll tell you about Hyperbiotics' other major probiotic breakthrough - Advanced Immune Formula. Since I received both sample bottles the same day, I decided to try out the simple probiotic for myself and let David try out the immune formula - mainly because he's always so sickly. He works a lot of late hours and gets stressed and bam! he's sick. He was actually coming down with something just before we received these in the mail, so it was perfect timing to test out if these pills really work. I put him on the 'intense support' program - two pills in the morning and another two in the evening. He woke up the very next morning and felt great. After a week or so, he went down to the maintenance schedule and is now taking only two pills in the morning. He feels great - energized and ready to deal with the workload - and ready to come home and still have something left in the tank for his family. The pills are easy to swallow and do not need to be refrigerated, which is convenient. They also do not need to be taken with food, another nice thing. I was a little concerned about how well they would actually work, considering we have our honey-lemon water every morning (acid?) but they work just fine and there was nothing to worry about. Something I did not mention in my PRO-15 post, but that is really important to our family is that Hyperbiotics doesn't use aspartame or sucralose or any of those other "fake" sweeteners in their products, which is unusual. I avoid products with them whenever I can, and that is difficult in today's market - that crap is everywhere. I actually have issues with them, I get very sick and will know within an hour or two if I consumed something containing artificial sweeteners. Hyperbiotics use stevia, a natural sugar alternative. In case you did not read my PRO-15 review, I wanted to give a shout out to the people at Hyperbiotics. I was having some difficulty ordering them from Amazon.com because I live in Canada - apparently they were not available for shipping outside of the US. I contacted Amazon customer service and although the rep diligently tried to help me figure out why they weren't able to ship them out to me, he wasn't successful. I contacted Hyperbiotics directly and they were so quick to respond and were able to walk me step-by-step through the order process - and their patience was appreciated since I wasn't getting it the first time and contacted them a second time. Customer service is so important and I find that nowadays many companies just can't be bothered. Hyperbiotics understands that helping out a customer (even one who is getting this for free!) makes a difference. Go to amazon.com today & get your own healthier immune system! Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: hyperbiotics.com Product Type: probiotic supplement Would I purchase?: yes Would I recommend?: yes All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge from the good people at Hyperbiotics with the expectation of an honest review within this blog, favorable or otherwise . Knowing how important a good probiotic is, I have tried many different brands, each professing the max amount and strains of beneficial bacteria. Some worked well with my gut, others, not so much. The good people at Hyperbiotics were kind enough to send me a bottle of their PRO-15 Advanced Strength Perfect Probiotic. Before I get into my review, I want to give you a little information about probiotics and why you actually need them. Here's a cute little video illustrating how they work: vimeo.com Hyperbiotics explains probiotics here. Inside your gastrointestinal tract (GI) you have billions of little micro-organisms, namely bacteria, which work really hard doing some awesome stuff for your whole body. They help you digest and pull nutrients from your food. These little guys are also giving a major boost to your immune system, becoming a triple threat as they battle some bad bacteria that can cause you illness. A healthy gut is loaded with beneficial bacteria, unfortunately most of our GI tracts are not as healthy as we would like. If you've been ill recently or take antibiotics, it's especially important to get some more into you so that you can get better faster. Getting some extra help in this area can help you become more regular, digest better, pull more nutrients from your food, help regulate your metabolism and help combat fatigue. I have spent way too many years battling gastrointestinal issues. I won't go into specifics, but that is the main reason I have searched for a great probiotic. Don't even say yogurt. Sorry, not my thing. I always feel like I'm eating baby food. Then I tried Hyperbiotics PRO-15 probiotic. What's different about this one? Here's the info sheet: Cool, right? I knew about the whole 'let's see how many actually live to help you out' thing, so it's great to find something that has a much higher survival rate. It's also a really nice bonus that the pills don't need to be refrigerated - I have enough stuff in there already, and I often forget to take my vitamins because they're in the fridge and I just don't think about them. I've put this bottle in my morning line of sight, and so far I've remembered to take them each day. So enough about the product and more about me... did anything change? When I opened the bottle and took out the first two pills, I was a little dejected. I am not very good at swallowing pills. They stick in my throat, make me gag and I am generally forced to drink a whole lot of water with any pill, even the coated ones. These ones are not coated. In fact, they're the opposite of coated, gritty and chalky. So here's the shocker - they went down super easy! I have no idea how they did it, but the complete opposite of what I expected happened. So, good start. Each bottle has 30 pills, and a choice to made: take one a day for maintenance or take two or three for intense repair. Option one is great if you are a generally healthy person and are looking for just a little oomph. I decided to go with option two for two reasons: first and foremost, I have gut issues, as I've already mentioned. Accelerating the program sounded like a good idea. Secondly, I do have to get my review in within a specified amount of time, so I figured check out what the benefits are, if there are any and check out what the side effects could be. Every single brand of probiotic I took prior to this one gave me terrible gas, painful bloating, cramping and at times, truly explosive diarrhea. I know these are not things you really want to know about me, but I have to tell you that so that you can understand how surprised I am that even on the intense program none of these things happened! I'm guessing this has a whole lot to do with the time-release thing. I waited for the bomb (so to speak) and when it didn't happen I started to think that maybe it was because the pills aren't actually doing anything at all. Since I've been feeling pretty good after meals lately, I'm going to guess something is happening, and the only change I've made recently is taking these probiotics. I find that I'm not in pain with horrible gas and bloating after eating popcorn. My husband actually banned it from the house because of the horrors we encounter when eating it. But we went to the movies two nights ago and devoured a large bag between the two of us. Guess who had no popcorn-related side effects? Yup, yours truly. A second indication that something great is going on in my gut has to do with the big steak dinner I made on Saturday. Now, keep in mind I had only been taking them a couple of days at this point. Anyhow, whenever I have a large, meat-laden meal, a few things always happen: I get terrible stomach cramps, I am hungry again in a couple of hours and even if I have a snack before bed, I still wake up ravenous. This happens every single time, so I avoid heavy meaty meals if I can. I do love steak, though, and I do have to have one every now and then. On this particular occasion, however, I noticed that I wasn't hungry before bed. We had eaten that meal at about 4:30pm and here it was after 10:00pm and I noticed that I wasn't hungry at all. I mentioned it to David, and we figure that I may actually be absorbing more nutrients (finally) from my meals, and so didn't feel hungry. That is amazing. The next morning? Fine. No feeling famished. You have no idea how great this is. Unless you have to live with something, and you've resigned yourself to the fact that this is going to be your life, you have no clue how wonderful it is to feel different - normal. I have to give the credit here to Hyperbiotics and their PRO-15 Advanced Strength Probiotic. My health aside, I wanted to give a shout out to the people at Hyperbiotics. I was having some difficulty ordering them from Amazon.com because I live in Canada - apparently they were not available for shipping outside of the US. I contacted Amazon customer service and although the rep diligently tried to help me figure out why they weren't able to ship them out to me, he wasn't successful. I contacted Hyperbiotics directly and they were so quick to respond and were able to walk me step-by-step through the order process - and their patience was appreciated since I wasn't getting it the first time and contacted them a second time. Customer service is so important and I find that nowadays many companies just can't be bothered. Hyperbiotics understands that helping out a customer (even one who is getting this for free!) makes a difference. Go to amazon.com today & get your own healthy gut! Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: hyperbiotics.com Product Type: probiotic supplement Would I purchase?: yes Would I recommend?: yes All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge from the good people at Hyperbiotics with the expectation of an honest review within this blog, favorable or otherwise . Another great site I was introduced to recently is BrandBacker. This site is a WOMM (Word of Mouth Marketing) company with some great opportunities to work with different companies with different types of compensation ranging from samples to blog promotion to payment and everything in between. There are not a whole lot of companies with sampling available to Canadians, but there are some and although you may not be accepted to each one, it's an enjoyable process and getting free stuff is always fun. I haven't been with them for long, and my blog is still a small one, so I've only completed two campaigns to date. I am waiting on samples for two others, so 2015 is already off to a promising start. The thing that sets BrandBacker apart is the fact that you have interaction with the companies you're working with. So far, I have nothing but glowing reviews. There have been some bumps, but working with the company who's brand you're representing instead of the WOMM company makes a difference - they see you as a customer and one who has the potential to bring in more customers at that. My very first campaign came from Markwins Beauty. You can find them on the web at markwinsbeauty.com, follow them on Twitter @markwins4girls, or find them on Facebook. This was my first one, and my bumpiest. I was originally accepted to a different campaign, but received the wrong samples, so Brandbacker decided to switch me to this one and suggested I contact Markwins in regards to the incorrect samples and also that this campaign comes with three samples (mascara, lipgloss, and nail polish), but I had only received the nail polish and lipgloss. They did not answer or address my issue, but it is what it is and I let it go. Although I mentioned in my blog post that a third product sample was not received and would not be reviewed, I did really enjoy the products and gave the samples I had an honest review. They have offered two campaigns since and I have not been accepted to either. Click here to read my Liquilights Glow Gloss review and here to read my review of Rock Me Nail Varnish. My second campaign is from Kiss Me Organics, who were kind enough to send me a full sized package of organic matcha green tea powder. You can find them on the web at kissmeorganics.com, follow them on Twitter @kissmeorganics, or find them on Facebook. This campaign went smoothly from beginning to end and the people at Kiss Me Organics are delightful to deal with. Read my full review of Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea Powder here. I'm waiting on two samples from Hyperbiotics, and you'll see a review on those once I've tried them.
If you have a blog, I suggest you give them a try. Trying out new, exciting, and sometimes innovative products is great, but getting them for free to blog about is better! You can sign your blog up at brandbacker.com. First up for review is Kiss Me Organics, Organic Matcha Powder. What is so great about Matcha Green Tea? Well, it has four very appealing benefits when consumed on a regular basis: antioxidants, improvement of skin health, energy and metabolism booting properties. According to their website: Kiss Me Organics was kind enough to send me a package of their Organic Matcha Powder and some recipes designed to enjoy the flavor while basking in the benefits of this wonder powder. You'll get the report URL when you receive your order of Matcha! Every morning my husband and I have a warm glass of honey lemon water to kick start our day. Since we started doing that, we have found a positive difference in our digestion, so that alone is worth the price of lemons. When I received my sample pack of Organic Matcha Powder, I decided that the best way that I could make use of this was to add it to our morning drink. The first way I tried was to just stir in a 1/2 tsp into each glass manually. Even with warm water, it did not dissolve completely, but there was no chalky or gritty mouthfeel, so that wasn't really too much of an issue. The next morning I decided to put my Nutribullet to use and gave the powder and warm water a quick buzz before adding the lemon and honey. Magic! It was frothy and smooth and perfectly delicious. I'll add my recipe to the bottom of this post if you're interested in trying it for yourself. So now that I've been using the matcha each morning, have I seen any improvements? We've been making slow and steady improvements to our diet and health in our home this last year, and I believe this is going to become a fixture in our cupboard. I do have more energy and focus these days, which is much needed this time of the year, and since I have been dealing with some lethargy issues lately, I have to give the credit to Kiss Me Organics and their Matcha Green Tea Powder. Since they send a link to 10 recipes with each order, I tried the latte also (delish!) and am looking forward to baking their marble cake - healthy cake? Yes, please! I'll post here once I get around to it, possibly this weekend. So how do you get your own? So easy! Click here (Canadians) or here (my friends in the USA) or here (my friends in the UK) and get your own 4oz bag for less than $30! It may not sound like a whole lot, but you don't need to use very much to get all the awesome benefits and this bag will last the average person about 6 weeks! That is a small price to pay for increased energy, tonnes of antioxidants, healthy skin and a boost to your metabolism! Early Morning Matcha Lemon Drink Serves 2 INGREDIENTS: 1 tsp Kiss Me Organics Matcha Green Tea Powder 1 Lemon 2 Tbsp honey 1 cup hot water 1 cup cold water 2 glasses DIRECTIONS: 1. Mix Matcha into hot water, either by hand or in a small blender, dissolving completely. 2. Add 1/2 cup cold water to each glass. 3. Roll lemon around on the counter, applying pressure as you roll - this will help loosen the juice. Cut lemon in half. 4. Squeeze all the juice out of one lemon half into one glass. Repeat with other. 5. Add 1/2 cup of the matcha water to each glass and 1 tbsp honey - DO NOT add honey to pure hot water - you will kill off all the beneficial elements present in the honey. Add it to the warm water only. 6. Stir to combine and enjoy! You can also add muddled mint leaves for a little change every now and then. Product Rating: 5 smiles out of 5 Product Website: kissmeorganics.com Product Type: Green Tea Powder Would I purchase again?: yes Would I recommend?: yes All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge from the good people at Kiss Me Organics with the expectation of an honest review within this blog, favorable or otherwise . Powered By
Can you say fun? This is one of the coolest products I've had the opportunity to review. One Direction's Limited Edition Rock Me Nail Varnish Kit is so versatile you can really show your fun side and let your creativity flow! Make sure you head on over to Facebook and 'like' the Makeup by One Direction page! They also have Liquilights Lip Gloss available - make sure you click here for my recent review, along with a mini One Direction bio! Read all the way to the bottom! Hint: we're giving away some! Don't worry - no quiz, just a link. I wasn't expecting the results I achieved with this nail polish. The colours and possible combinations when combined with the glitter alone makes it well worth the price! The kit comes with three polish colours: Happily – UV iced blue glitter, Moments - UV neon pink and Diana - UV 3D holographic; and three glitter colours: Kicks - UV snow cone blue, Not Afraid - UV electrified pink glitter and Star - UV holo glitter. The polish goes on smooth and doesn't smell too harsh. The silver glitter polish is fine with one or two coats, but the pink and blue need three for a truer colour. The glitter is fun and easy to use and mats down perfectly. Topcoat is actually unnecessary with this particular glitter, you can use it if you want for a shinier nail, but if you run out, you're still good. Once my nails were dry, the glitter stayed put and was not sandpapery on my nails and doesn't snag on clothing or hair. The polish itself is really hard-wearing and long-lasting. I put it on in the evening and the next day spent about four hours opening boxes, pulling apart plastic and folding sweaters. When I looked at my nails when they got home I was impressed to see that there was very little (less than a millimeter) rubbed off of the tips of my nails and the glitter was intact. Overall, I am very impressed with this polish by One Direction. I was blown away by the quality, variety and value received in this one little package. I would definitely recommend this to anyone, regardless of age! Want more good news, my Canadian friends? Right now these are on sale at sears.ca for $11.55! Regular price is $16.50, which is still a great deal for three different shades of fantastic polish and glitter pots. If you're in the States, you can purchase your own One Direction Liquilights Lip Gloss at any of these stores: Macy's, Dillards, Boscov's, Stage Stores, Beauty Brands and Lord & Taylor. Take a minute and tweet and share this post so your friends and followers can find out about 1D's great new line of Limited Edition Rock Me Nail Varnish and enter to win! Here's what you've been looking for - I know you have! You can win your very own set of One Direction Limited Edition makeup, either the Liquilights Lipgloss (read my review here), a Rock Me Nail Kit (as seen above) or ElectroGlam Mascara, one of fifty that are being given away (sponsored by GoMakeIt Labs) randomly. Fill out your ballot for a chance to win! Click Here for contest entry. Contest is open to legal residents over the age of 18 in the United States and Canada (void in Quebec where prohibited) - so what are you waiting for? Enter now! Contest ends December 4th, 2014. All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge with the expectation of an honest review and promotion of contest within this blog, favorable or otherwise . Powered by:
One of the biggest boy bands on the planet right now is the English/Irish One Direction, consisting of Niall Horan, Zayn Malik, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. Not only are these guys talented singers and dancers, but they've been releasing lines of limited edition makeup which are not only a must have for any fan, but are fun, fashionable and come in a great range of funky colours and styles for women of all ages.
Make sure you head on over to Facebook and 'like' the Makeup by One Direction page!
Make sure you read all the way to the bottom! Hint: we're giving away some! Don't worry - no quiz, just a link.
Okay, enough of the sales talk - what do I think about the line? The colours are gorgeous, they just pop and I love the range we get, you can definitely play around with them to get the look that suits your mood. First up, I'm going to review the Limited Edition One Direction Liquilights Glow Gloss, so called because if you shine a UV light on your lips while you're wearing this product - it glows! Great idea and will definitely help you stand out from the crowd. Although I do believe these colours can suit any age group, I decided to enlist the help of two lovely British Ex-Pats who happen to be HUGE One Direction fans.
Gracie is wearing Through the Dark, an electric glitter poppy lip gloss that glows to neon red-orange under UV light. It smells and tastes amazing, Gracie says it reminds her of cherry bubble gum.
Lilly is wearing Taken, a powerhouse glitter pink lip gloss that glows to neon orange under UV light. Lilly's favorite, it feels light and comfy and tastes and smells like vanilla.
The third and final colour in the set is Kiss You - Gracie seems to be doing just that! This orange glitter rush lip gloss that glows to neon yellow under UV light is also light, comfortable, not at all sticky and smells and tastes like an orange.
Before I sent off the gloss for the girls to try out I put a little on the back of my hand and I can definitely agree that they smell amazing! They didn't feel gross and sticky the way some gloss can, and they came off easily and cleanly. I would absolutely recommend this lipgloss to people of all ages!
Want more good news, my Canadian friends? Right now these are on sale at sears.ca for $11.55! Regular price is $16.50, which is still a great deal for three different shades of fantastic gloss. If you're in the States, you can purchase your own One Direction Liquilights Lip Gloss at any of these stores: Macy's, Dillards, Boscov's, Stage Stores, Beauty Brands and Lord & Taylor.
Make sure you tweet and share this post so your friends and followers can find out about 1D's great new line of Limited Edition Liquilights Lip Gloss and enter to win!
Here's what you've been looking for - I know you have! You can win your very own set of One Direction Limited Edition makeup, either the Liquilights lipgloss shown above, a Rock Me Nail Kit (which I will review tomorrow) or ElectroGlam Mascara, one of fifty that are being given away (sponsored by GoMakeIt Labs) randomly. Fill out your ballot for a chance to win! Click Here for contest entry. Contest is open to legal residents over the age of 18 in the United States and Canada (void in Quebec where prohibited) - so what are you waiting for? Enter now! Contest ends December 4th, 2014.
All opinions expressed in this blog are my own, unbiased after testing the product. The product was offered free of charge with the expectation of an honest review and promotion of contest within this blog, favorable or otherwise .
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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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