Category Archives: Uncategorized

Volumizing Hair Powder Review

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When I was a teenager I had no problem with dropping $50 dollars on 1 bottle of hairspray. Now that I am married, and a mother beauty on a budget is more important than ever!

If you have flat hair, like me, I am sure you have tried the popular, hair volumizing  Bumble and Bumble Powder. You sprinkle a tiny bit of the powder onto the roots of your hair and massage it in. The powder provides a lightweight texture and separation. It gives a soft matte effect with natural movement to your hair. The silica powder and film formers provides for a dry light hold.

Bumble & Bumble

Bumble and Bumble powder rings in right around $45 dollars (depending on where you buy it from). This powder has always been a staple in my beauty box, but at $45 dollars a bottle it really adds up! So, I thought I would give Not Your Mother’s brand a try. At $3 a bottle it was worth a shot! I just picked it up in the hair isle of my local Wal-Mart, I didn’t have to make a special trip to the beauty store. That was another plus!

Not Your Mother's

 

I tried it the minute I got home from the store and was blown away! It worked, and it worked really well! I didn’t even notice a difference between the Bumble and Bumble brand and the Not Your Mother’s brand!

Don’t be fooled by how empty and light the bottle feels.  A little goes a long way, but at $3 dollars a bottle you can afford to use a lot! Overall, I recommend it and think it is the best $40 I have ever saved! I know my husband will appreciate it too!

 

-Laura

Nike Fuel Band Review

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I will start by saying – this is not a sponsored post.  Just information I am dying to share.  I am not even an affiliate of Nike.
The photo above is the Nike Fuel Band.  Over the years I have tried so many pedometers – either I lose them, forget to use them, throw them through the washer – you name it.  Then I bought the BodyBugg – which I will say I loved and the data produced was awesome to see and it easily tracked growth and more.  However, the BodyBugg always left my arm blistered and I needed to pay for an annual contract for the online services.  It is pretty useless without that contract.  So once my contract expired I let it go.  I did eventually by their new enhanced model but again – let it go after the contract expired.  Sad… Next I went to the Fitbit.  I like the Fitbit but stopped using it because my husband lost his – I gave him mine.  Next I bought the ActiveLink.  But it only works through Weight Watchers and I wasn’t doing Weight Watchers.  So I paid for their program and paid the additional $5 per month for the ActiveLink.  I used it religiously but the expense just didn’t make sense.
A few months ago I learned that Fitbit was coming out with the new Fitbit band in the spring.  I have been waiting and waiting.  Spring arrived and still no word from Fitbit about the  grand arrival of their product.  No response to emails.  No newsletter updates.  Nothing.  Silence.  Then all of a sudden they launched the FitBit with mass mailings and within minutes they were indicating the product was backordered for ten weeks.  Seriously?  Why even launch it if you can’t be “live” for ten minutes?
Frustrated and growing more and more impatient I started searching for other companies that may be making accelerometer wristbands.  I found several and after researching each I opted to get the Nike Fuel Band.  I have had it for a month and am not at all disappointed.  It doesn’t have a ton of bells and whistles but it does everything I want – which isn’t much.  I wanted a band that counts steps, calories and can also display time.  My intent was to eliminate wearing a watch.  That didn’t quite work out.  The Nike Fuel Band does all those things but the display is very bright.  Call me Vain but it is a little embarrassing to display the time with this bright LED display.  So I still wear my watch.  Shipping was very speedy – no complaints at all.  The band comes in black or white.  At first I thought for sure I would get white – it is actually awesome looking.  But then I read reviews and a very common complaint is that the white gets grungy looking very quickly and nothing users try to use to clean it works.  I bought black… The band comes with links to insert if you need it to be larger or remove them to make it smaller.  I need it without the links.  It is nowhere near being snug but no matter how hard I try I often (at least half the time) pinch my wrist when I try to close the clasp – and boy does that SMART!  The band has some calibration called Fuel – hence the name.  I don’t quite understand the Fuel but it seems to convert activity into some sort of fuel calculation.  Supposedly you can compete with other band wearers with your levels of Fuel.  At this point I feel that calculation is useless but maybe I will learn more about it as I use it.  To charge the band or sync the data – you can either use the adapter and plug it into a USB port or plug the band directly into the USB port.  On the surface that sounds great but when I plug the band directly into the USB port it presses down on the keyboard and keeps making strokes not allowing the software to open.  There should be a better way to get it to work in the USB port of a laptop without impacting everything else.  That is a huge frustration.  Having said all that though I believe the product is still awesome and that bands in general just have a little bit of progress to make.  It is water resistant – not waterproof.  I don’t think any bands are waterproof yet but maybe they will get there.  I know one claimed it was and it really wasn’t so they had to pull their product from the market, engineer a new model and now they say it is water resistant.  The online software allows you to share your achievements directly on Facebook and/or Twitter – which I am not doing.  You can set a Fuel goal but I would prefer to set a number of steps or number of calories goal – if I can do that I can’t find out where – but I don’t think so.  It has an accelerometer that tracks almost all types of activity.

Now I have noted many things that could be better or aren’t quite what I would prefer.  But I can tell you I am not at all dissatisfied with my purchase.  It is pretty comfortable, easy to read, instant data, and not as overtly visible as things like the BodyBugg. I would have preferred white but just like a white wristwatch – it would never stay clean and I just can’t have that.  Out of all the band options the Nike Fuel Band is the most attractive option.  The Fitbit band is not more attractive but it will come in more colors – but they will most likely have the same cleanliness struggles.

What would I like most in an accelerator band?  It needs to do everything for calories and steps.  Instead of a fuel calculation I would much rather know the aerobic calories and total calories.  I would also love to be able to leave it on 24/7.  I don’t mind taking it of to take a shower but I spend a great deal of time swimming in pools or at beaches.  In order to eliminate the possibility of me accidentally wearing it into the water – I just don’t wear it all on those days.  Problem is those are the days that I am unequivocally most active and the activity does not count in my caloric expenditure at all.  Very frustrating.  But none of them do all of this.  I may review the Fitbit band too and the Jawbone.  Who knows – I may end up wearing all three to have the best of all worlds…

Again – this is not a sponsored post but it you would like to check it out for yourself – http://www.nike.com/us/en_us/c/nikeplus-fuelband .

Newman’s Own Organics Giveaway

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 hosted by Momma Lew’s Blog
 

I am always on the lookout for snacks for my family. There is nothing better than finding a new favorite cookie or cracker!  I have been a fan of the Newman’s Own brand of products for many years and recently became aware of their completely separate company – Newman’s Own Organics.  All of Newman’s Own Organics products have been certified organic by the Oregon Tilth.  Their ingredients have been grown on farms that have not used artificial fertilizers or pesticides for three or more years!  We recently had the opportunity to review quite a few of the Newman’s Own Organics products!



So what did we get to review?




Delicious Chocolate Cups, Licorice, dried fruit like raisins, cranberries, pitted prunes, apples, apricots and a berry blend and mints!  




Newman’s Own Organics created the first fig bar made with organic figs, organic sugar, organic flour, and without hydrogenated oils!  The Family Recipe Cookies comes in well known cookie varieties like Chocolate Chip, Double Chocolate Chip, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, Ginger Snap and more!


There are 10 varieties of pretzels that are all baked!  Spelt • Salted Sticks • High Protein • Unsalted Rounds • Rods Thin Sticks •Salted Rounds • Honey Wheat Mini Salted Thins • Mighty Mini
The Pop’s Corn comes in 3 packs of Butter, Light Butter & Unsalted, all with no trans fats or partially hydrogenated oils.



I absolutely loved everything we have tried so far.  The Family Recipe Cookies are the perfect size for little ones.  The serving size is just the right amount too.  I used the dried apricots to make some of my own larabars (recipe still pending) and the kids enjoyed the licorice at Monster Jam the other night.  My husband’s really loved Fig Newton’s, so he was his favorite has been the Fig Newman’s!



Although all of the products are absolutely delicious, what I like the most is the fact that none of them contain trans fats, hydrogenated oils, or anything else to make you feel bad about having a little snack.


My daughter enjoying some Newman’s Own Organics Pretzel Rods at the Squirt Park! 

I had no idea where you could even find Newman’s Own Organics in the store!  So I did a quick search and found that they are sold in my local natural food stores in my area.  I even saw them in my local Whole Foods today!  If you’d like to try them out for yourself, make sure to print these money saving coupons!



Newman’s Own Organics would like to give one of my readers a Prize Pack full of Newman’s Own Organics!  Because these products are not found outside of the United States, this giveaway is limited to the US only and for readers 18 years of age and up.  To enter, follow the steps on the Rafflecopter link below!

 
 
Good luck!

Holsted Jewelers $200 shopping spree~

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Holsted Jewelers Shopping Spree

Welcome to the Holsted Jewelers Shopping Spree

Holsted Jewelers was founded in 1971 and has a passion for bringing jewelry of the highest quality and the finest design to its customers. Why can’t gorgeous jewelry be affordable too? Not only van you buy online but you are able to buy jewelry in convenient collections, beautifully coordinated by experts, and delivered right to your door at specially discounted prices. These collections always begin with a free piece of jewelry valued at $50 or higher…how can you beat that?

Momma Media Network has teamed up with several other bloggers to bring you this sparkling giveaway of a $200 shopping spree at HolstedJewelers.com. You can also read a Holsted Jewelers review over at The Review Wire.

Giveaway

1 Winner will receive a $200 Shopping Spree at HolstedJewelers.com. See form for Entry Details. Open to U.S. You must be 18 years old to enter to win. Ends 7.2.13

Disclaimer: An email address is required to enter. The winner will be chosen randomly through Giveaway Tools and contacted via email. A reply to the winning email is required within 48 hours before a new winner is chosen. One person entering per household please. U.S. only. This giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST on July 2, 2013.

Momma Media Network was not provided with product for this review and is not responsible for the shipment of prizes.

Companies and bloggers, if you would like to participate in group giveaway events like this one, sign up to be emailed about future events hosted by The Review Wire.