Congratulations!

Congratulations to the winners of the Dial Body Wash Giveaway: Amy Orvin, Avon Shay and Joanna Smith Ovalle! Enjoy your Dial Body Wash and don't forget to enter the Dial $65K Gold Giveaway for your chance to win $65,000 in gold from Dial!

Birchbox August Sneak Peek Video

In my blog description, I told you how much I love subscription boxes. I only subscribe to two right now, and Birchbox is my favorite. I've been stalking the Birchbox Facebook page for the last couple of days hoping for the sneak peek video, but it hadn't shown up yet.  I recently became a Birchblogger. I was SO surprised and happy to find an email from Birchbox this morning. They sent the sneak peek video out 24 hours early to Birchbloggers for us to share on our blogs. I'm so excited!





Do you subscribe to Birchbox? What products are you excited about? Let me know!

Enter My Dial Body Wash Giveaway

Remember to enter my Dial Body Wash giveaway. You can come back every day for more entries. Also, please share the giveaway with your friends. Make sure you go "Like" the Dial Facebook page and enter their sweepstakes also.

Enter here: Dial $65K Gold Giveaway

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Dial $65,000 Gold Giveaway

Dial is celebrating their 65th anniversary by giving away $65,000 in gold to one lucky winner! Also, every day from June 16th to August 19th, 65 winners receive a years supply of body wash. You can enter once each day on the Dial Facebook Page. 

Enter here: Dial $65K Gold Giveaway

Purex provided me with coupons in exchange for sharing the Dial sweepstakes. I'm using the coupons for a giveaway and I will also be doing a review of the body wash. I can tell you though, I really loved the body washes I've already used.

Free Dial Body Wash Giveaway

Each winner will receive a coupon for one free bottle of Dial Body wash with a value up to $4.49.

a Rafflecopter giveaway


Although the coupons were provided to me, all the opinions expressed here are my own.

Broadway Nails imPRESS Press-on Manicure

I really love these nails. I received the pattern "Over the Moon" in my VoxBox and it's beautiful. The nails were really easy to put on and they stayed on for six days, until I decided to take them off. I only took them off because I was ready for a change, it was time for a new color. It was really easy to take them off and they didn't damage my nails at all. The only complaint I have about the nails is they're made a little small. My hands are not very large and the thumbnail barely fit me.

Still, I will definitely be buying more of these. They're very affordable. Prices range from $5.99 for colors to $7.99 for prints and patterns and they're available at CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and more.

                                            

My imPRESS manicure in "Over the Moon"

Check out the imPress website here: imPRESS

I received this product complimentary for testing and review purposes from Influenster.

Bed Head by TIGI BzzAgent Campaign

I'm a BzzAgent, so when I meet the requirements, I get to try out products for campaigns. BzzAgent is a company that promotes products by sending them to people, then we try them out and tell everybody how we feel about them. 

My first campaign was the BedHead by TIGI campaign. They sent us the styling creams that we needed for our individual hair types. My hair is curly, so I received the On The Rebound styling cream. I also received three large sample size packets of Recharge Shampoo and Conditioner and of Elasticate Shampoo and Conditioner.

Before and After

In the first picture, I used my regular shampoo and conditioner, with no styling products at all. I'm actually embarrassed to put this picture up, because my hair doesn't have any styling products in it and my layers are really long. (I actually need a hair cut.) I hate the way it looks. But that's the whole point of this post, it's a before and after shot.

In the second picture, I had used the Elasticate Shampoo and Conditioner.  I let my hair air dry some, then while my hair was still damp I used the On The Rebound styling cream. I let my hair finish air drying and then I used my fingers to style my hair. I loved the results! I was really surprised at how well it worked, especially since I let my hair air dry instead of having to use a hair dryer. I was afraid my hair would be crunchy like it gets with gel when it air dries, but it didn't get like that at all. This is an amazing product!

If you're interested in joining BzzAgent, click here: BzzAgent

As a member of BzzAgent, I received these products free as part of this campaign.

Spring Fever VoxBox Opening Video

Spring Fever VoxBox Opening Video - Also, A Cameo Appearance By Hazel!

I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

Influenster Spring Fever VoxBox

I received my Spring Fever VovBox from Influenster over the weekend. I haven't been able to try anything yet. I still have to do some bonus tasks first and show off the products a little more before I open them, then I can try them out for myself! I will be updating you on everything really soon!

I received these products complimentary for testing purposes from Influenster.

Cinnamon Hot Chocolate With NECTRESSE

This technically is supposed to be a blog focusing on beauty, with a few other things added to it occasionally. Since I've had to focus on doing product reviews lately, I haven't really been able to just blog and add whatever I want. I'm not complaining at all! I'm extremely happy to review every product I'm blessed enough to receive from Influenster and any other products I get sent through these wonderful campaigns I qualify for. Bring 'em on!  :)  
I'm actually sharing this recipe with you just because I want to, because it's so delicious. I do consider delicious food and drink to be a part of a beautiful life, so it belongs on my blog anyway.
I did discover this through a brand challenge through Influenster, so I have to give them credit for that.

Cinnamon Hot Chocolate With NECTRESSE

Serves: 2
Prep Time: 5 mins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups hot skim milk
• 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
• 1 tablespoon semi-sweet mini chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 NECTRESSE Natural No Calorie Sweetener, Packets
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions
STIR all ingredients together until chocolate chips melt.
POUR into two mugs. Serve warm.

I used  2% milk instead of skim milk, because that's what we always use and that's what we have at home. This is delicious! Just the right amount of chocolate and just the right amount of sweetness. The cinnamon gives it a little extra flavor. I never would have even suspected that it was sugar free if I hadn't made it myself.

Find the link for this and other NECTRESSE recipes here:

http://www.nectresse.com/recipes

I received this product complimentary from Influenster.

NECTRESSE Was A Nice Surprise

                                          


I usually don't care for the aftertaste of low calorie sweeteners, so I didn't know what to expect with a NO calorie sweetener. I used it to sweeten my hot tea and I prepared myself for the usual fake sweetness I have to deal with when giving up sugar. But as I took a drink I realized this was different. Not as horrible as the others, tolerable even? Hmm...Could I have been wrong? Then I expected the terrible aftertaste I usually experience with artificial sweeteners. I didn't get that either. There was an aftertaste, but it wasn't as bad as with the other sweeteners I've tried. The second drink tasted better and the aftertaste was less noticeable. Each drink after that got even better until I got used to the taste and I didn't even think about the fact that I was drinking something different. I actually liked it!

I still prefer the taste of real sugar, but this is the best alternative I've tried. It really surprised me. I haven't tried it for cooking yet, so I'm not sure how well it works for that, but I might give it a try.

NECTRESSE is available in a box of 40 packets which equals 3.3 OZ. It's also available in a in a 5.9 OZ canister which holds 

140 servings of

 1/4 tsp each.




Learn more about NECTRESSE here:

NECTRESSE

NECTRESSE on Influenster

I received this product complimentary from Influenster.

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I added All Things Beautiful to Bloglovin, so if you have an account there or already follow blogs there, you can follow me there too. Just click the button on the right side of the page.

Colgate Optic White Review

I was really impressed by two of the products I received from the Colgate Optic White line, the other, not so much. I received the Optic White toothpaste, Optic White toothbrush and new Optic White mouthwash. I really liked the toothbrush. It has little "cups" at the end of the bristles that are supposed to help keep the toothpaste on your teeth longer so it can actually do it's job and whiten your teeth. Great idea! 

I wasn't so sure about the toothpaste at first. I was worried that it may be too strong, because my gums felt a little warm at the beginning the first time I used it. But that only lasted for a minute. And it was totally worth it because this toothpaste works amazingly well! It really whitens your teeth and it starts doing it quickly! There was a noticeable difference in three or four days!

 I was concerned about sensitivity though. My 16 year old daughter started trying out the toothpaste and she has really sensitive teeth. Her teeth started bothering her after a couple of weeks. I looked up  reviews on the Influenster website and most of the people on the site who said they had sensitive teeth said they didn't have a problem with the toothpaste. Some said it had made their teeth a little more sensitive, but they were using a toothpaste made especially for sensitive teeth every so often to counteract the effect. So if you have sensitive teeth, I suggest you try it out and see what works best for you.

I didn't care too much for the mouthwash. It's not your typical mouthwash, that's for sure. This makes sense of course, since it's made to work with the other products to whiten your teeth. Of course, this is just my opinion, you may not have a problem with it at all. You may even love it. The problem for me is the flavor, or lack of flavor. There's some mint to it, but the mouthwash has peroxide in it, and I could taste it. I'm sure I could have gotten used to it too, but I decided to just use the toothpaste and skip the mouthwash for now. The results may be faster if you use the mouthwash too, I'm not sure. The mouthwash is also supposed to protect against future stains. Right now, I'm very pleased with the results from just the toothpaste and toothbrush though. I HIGHLY recommend these products! What are you waiting for? Go get those whiter teeth you've been wishing for. This can help!


Go check it out for yourself:
Colgate Optic White
Check it out on Influenster too:
Colgate Optic White Regimen on Influenster

I received these products complimentary from Influenster.

My NYC Brand Challenge Prize

Influenster has what they call "Brand Challenges" for the individual products that we get to review. Members complete certain tasks, such as sharing information about the product, taking before and after pictures and doing reviews on sites such as Amazon. They pick winners for the brand challenges to win prizes from the companies. One of the products I received in my Holiday VoxBox was a NYC Liquid Lipshine. I was one of the lucky winners of the NYC Brand Challenge and I received my prize in the mail last week. They sent me a black liquid eyeliner! At first I was a little skeptical because I have honestly never worn liquid eyeliner. I grew up in the 70's and 80's, and I have always had flashbacks of women wearing a thick swipe of black eyeliner on their upper lid and no other makeup on their entire face, so I've never really had a favorable view of it. I know it works really well for many other people though, so I'm going to try it out. I'm really thankful and excited to receive it anyway!

Slow Start

My blog has gotten off to a much slower start than I anticipated. I didn't plan to have a six day gap between posts, but I had a three day migraine and it didn't care what I had planned. Now I'm ready to get started again.

Sugar 'n Spice VoxBox From Influenster

If you haven't joined Influenster yet, you should check it out. Influenster is a program that works with companies to send out different products to members. We get to try out all of the products for free in exchange for reviewing them and sharing information about the products on the internet. You have to qualify to receive the products first though. You have an Influenster score and you raise your scores by writing reviews, and doing other things to stay active on the site and on social networks. If you qualify, then you might be picked to receive some of the products. They're sent out in "VoxBoxes". This is the second VoxBox I have received, the Sugar 'n Spice VoxBox. I received it on March 18. It was filled with things I can use. Not just things I would like to have, but things I need in everyday life. The products are all complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes.

My Influenster Sugar 'n Spice VoxBox Opening 

My First Post

I never realized writing my first post would seem like such a big deal. I've been trying to figure out what to write for a while now. I've been working on other parts of the blog, trying to make sure it looks good and getting it set up right, but I had no clue what to actually write. Now that that's over with, it's time to get this going. Welcome to my blog!