Pinch-Me Box 1

Watch the video here.

This week I have a really fun box to share with you. The pinchme box is a totally free sample box that comes once per month. This one is a bit different in several ways.

First and most importantly it is totally free of charge! That's right you don't even have to pay a shipping charge.

Another difference it that you have to pick your samples from the ones that they pick for you. You do get to have up to 5 and the ones that you choose from are based on your profile.

Let's be totally honest here there are a couple of drawbacks to this service that I am noticing immediately. The samples are tiny, they are free but they are tiny. On some of the products I am not sure I can really form an opinion on the product based on the small sample. The other thing is it takes forever to get the box to you. From the day I picked these samples to the day the box arrived was exactly a month. That is a long time but again it is offset by the fact it is free.

Okay so on to my samples and what I thought of them in the order I took them out of the box in the video.

1. the Olay Regenerist. This is a case of a really tiny sample but it does come with a $3 coupon to purchase the product. Since this is only a single use sample I decided to use it first. It felt good going on, but not a lot different from my normal skin cream.
   {follow up} This product does have a fragrance so if those bother you I would suggest trying a sample. Would I buy this based on the sample? I doubt it very much since I really like my skin care products that I currently use.

2. Zzzquil, again a tiny sample, one dose but at least with this type of product one try should be enough to judge it.

{follow up} this product did just what it said it would do, it gave me a good night's sleep. I do use this type of product occasionally so it is nice to try a different brand from what I normally use.

3. Olay Ageless, from the looks of the tube I thought I would get at 3 or 4 uses out of this one.

{follow up} I only tried this product one time because it really didn't work well with my skin. Although the package says it is a moisturizer a few hours after I applied it my skin felt really dry and almost painful. I am thinking there is something in this product that I should stay away from.

4. Allegra Allergy, I was really excited to see this one in my choices because the last few years allergy season has been horrid here. I have tried the store brand version of this product but I wanted to see if the real brand was any different.

{follow up} I have purchased the store brand of this product in the past and not been really impressed. The name brand this time did a much better job than than the store brand version has in the past. I am not sure if that is because the pollen was different this time or what. With a coupon I will probably try the name brand in the future.

5. Muse by Purina cat food. Is it strange that this was actually the product I was the most excited to be receiving??? LOL. We currently have two cats and though they mostly eat dry cat food that is left out at all times I do divide a can of food between them each morning. They love the routine of this and I love finding them special foods. I have not seen this brand in my local stores yet but at the same time I have not actually looked for it either.

{follow up} I gave this to the cats the morning after I filmed the video. One of them loved it (she is our fish lover) and the other ate it but I could tell he would have rather had something with chicken. Now this is pretty much how any fish cat food goes in the morning. Would I purchase this product? If I saw it on sale somewhere I might consider it, especially for a special occasion.

So those are the samples I got this month in my Pinchme box. If you are interested in receiving a Pinchme box go their website (here) and answer the questions to set up your profile. Then wait for the second Tuesday of the month at noon (ET) and see what they offer you.

I am really looking forward to my next box, I hope it comes a bit quicker next time.  

Plan with Me- Butterflies

Watch the video here.

This week I am using a butterfly theme in my planner. I am fairly happy with how it turned out. My only problem with it is I bought all the clip art and papers for this theme a couple of months ago. I liked it okay then too and didn't find a lot else at the time. Since then I have found a set of papers that I am absolutely in love with. So now my problem is do I do another butterfly week this month with the other set because it is just gorgeous. Or do I hold off and hope to find it again next year and use it then.....

So here are some close up photos of each of the pages. Enjoy them and thank you so much for coming to my blog.

 

April Graze Box

Watch the video here.

I do think the Graze Box is my very favorite thing to get in the mail each month. I get excited when I see that it has finally arrived.

This month we have some familiar things and a few new ones too.

The first thing that I noticed was that my very favorite of all the Graze products was in my box right on the top layer, the Thai Sweet Chili Bites. These came a few months ago and I fell in love. I decided not to taste them on camera because I want to save them for when I have the time to really enjoy them. Just trust me they are sooooooo yummy!!

The next item that caught my eye was the Protein Flapjack. These are really just a granola bar and really nothing that I get excited about. They are fine, they taste good, they have a good texture and are a filling snack. They just are not very exciting so they (so far) have never been my favorite item in the box but I always like them, I just don't love them.

Next was the Salted Fudge and Peanut Cookie mix. These mixtures that have the little cookie bites typically are not my favorite either. I think if they found a substitute for those darn little mini cookies they would be a lot better. I mean don't get me wrong I'm not hating on them I again just don't get all that excited to see them.

On the other hand the Cherries and Berries are to die for!! I love dried fruit and this was not a disappointment at all. The mixture contains some lingonberries which are one of my favorites and I don't find them in many things so they were a nice surprise. As far as I am concerned they could just fill my box up with more of these packages and I would be very happy.

The Everything Bagel snack, I am pretty sure this one was a repeat. I do love them though so it was nice to see them appear this month.

The Maple Pecan Granola Topper, I haven't decided if I like these granola topper things or not. They are okay just not something I would go out of my way to get. I do need to get some yogurt so I can enjoy this one this week.

One item that was a bit of a disappointment was the Honey Drizzled Cashews, I was really excited to see them but they were just okay. Again, I don't not like them I just don't love them.

The Italian Herb Focaccia is always nice to see in the box too. I know I have gotten a focaccia in a past box I am not sure if it was the same flavor or not though. I do love these.

You probably did notice that once again with the exception of the dried fruit the savory items are my favorites in the box. I really don't have that much of a sweet tooth, so the savory items are just more my thing.

Remember to let me know what you got in your Graze Box! Did you get the same or similar items? Or was yours completely different from mine?

Plan with Me- Mermaids

Watch the video here.

This week I decided to use a mermaid theme for my planner. I had every intention of using the purple and kind of teal blue that the Erin Condren has for the month of April. However, when I started matching the colors from my papers and clip art I just didn't care for the tones of the purple. The pink was just shouting to be featured so that is the direction I ended up taking this week.

I did some experimenting with my top bar, adding the days of the week. Since this is just for me and I knew what week I was using it I printed the dates on there too. I think it would have been fun to use the bubble clip art to make date pieces for the spread too.

Since I didn't get pwm filmed last week I am including some photos of last week's spread too. I had really been looking forward to filming that pwm but I ended up with a horrid headache all weekend and didn't get much of anything done. It took me all afternoon last Sunday to get the spread done because I could only stand to work on it for a couple of minutes at a time. I do love how it turned out though.

April Ipsy Bag

Watch the video here.

I love the actual makeup bag this month!! It is so pretty and it makes me happy to look at it. When I look at it I think of summer and beaches and fun times. Just what is needed at this point in the ever changing spring weather we have been having. 

The first item out of the bag this month wasn't even actually in the bag it was along side the bag in the mailing envelope and it is a really nice highlighter brush from the folks at Luxie. Their website doesn't show this exact brush sold alone (at least not that I could find) but they have what looks to be the same brush with a different color handle for $24. I really like the brush I got and am looking forward to using it soon.

The real dud for me in my bag was the Anti-aging serum from Skin &Co. I had hopes for it when I saw what it was, then one whiff of the scent and all hope was gone. I can't stand the smell of this, I have no idea what it is that makes it smell the way it does but for me there is just no way I would ever use this one. I think I found this product on the company's website and if I am right this stuff retails for $70 for a 1 fluid ounce bottle. I guess I will be saving a lot of money since I don't like the smell of this product. LOL

The third product to be looked at was the Tarte LipSurgence lip crème in Wonder. I really love the color of this one and I am sure I will probably use the entire sample size up in a short time. The full size product retails for $24.

Next up was the Starlooks eyeliner pencil in Jet. I have been wanting to try this brand so I am very excited to have it in the bag this month. From the swatch I did on my hand it goes on wonderfully, I am looking forward to giving it a try and see how long it lasts on my eyes. I am assuming this is a full size pencil and they retail for $16.

And last but no least was the highlighter trio from City Colors. Just from swatching it on my hand I am guessing that this set is the perfect for my skin tone and a girl can never have too many choices when it comes to highlighters. The sample that came in the bag appears to be about half the size of the actual trio that is sold by the company for $8.99.

So that was the Ipsy bag for the month of April 2016. Overall I am very happy with the contents once again this month. I love getting the new products and brands to try out.

Plan with Me- April Showers

Plan with Me- April Showers

This week I am using the theme April showers for my planner. I love the graphics in this set and the pretty colors.

Here are some more photos of the pages.