Rimmel London #StayMatte Liquid Mousse Foundation Review

• I was recently given the opportunity to test and review Rimmel London's brand new Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation courtesy of Influenster via their #StayMatte VoxBox. 
   

  

  I love the packaging for this little tube. It's discrete and would be easy to pack anywhere for touch ups if necessary.

  This product isn't due to be released in stores until January 2014, so I was excited to be among those selected to try it out and review it. Typically, I only use foundation in the winter and more dreary months of the year or when I'm headed out to a special event etc. I don't usually wear it in the summer at all, I just wear a moisturizer with SPF. I haven't yet found an average priced foundation that I'm in love with and so I was even more excited to give the Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation a try!
   
  The product I received in my #StayMatte VoxBox was #203 True Beige (this is the color I was assgined based on the VoxBox survey process) it is not actually a true match to my skin tone. In fact it's a lot more "orange" in color than I am. 

  

  The consistency of the #StayMatte Liquid Mousse is more creamy than "liquid."

  
  

  

  In fact it's really thick formula, but not at all greasy or oily.

  
  

  
  

  

  It is super lightweight and very fluffy as if it's been whipped like mousse. When mixed in equal part with my moisturizer it goes on like a dream and gives excellent long lasting, shine free coverage. If only this shade was a true match for me!

  If it were summer and I was still tan, this might be a much better fit, but it's at least one if not two shades too dark for me right now. Rimmel London's Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation is available in 8 different shades and you can check them out here. I think that #200 Soft Beige probably would have been a much closer fit for my current skin tone, but that's alright. I still have a good idea of how well the product works, even if it wasn't the correct match.
   
  What I liked about this product:
  • For a foundation it is really feather light and pretty much weightless. You don't remember it's there after you've applied it and it's set.
  • They have 8 different shades, so you should be able to find the correct match for your skin tone!
  • Great coverage, masks blemishes and evens skin tone well.
  • Definitely a Matte finish, no issues with shine or dew after a full day wear, even for a very active user. Of course you need to reply after showering, but mine lasted through a workout, so that's a plus.
  • Not greasy, oily or sticky. It's a very thick cream.
  • Doesn't seem to clog pores.
  •  Goes on easy; don't need to use very much at all.
  • Convenient tube.
  • No need for reapplication, even after a night out.
  • Once it's set it doesn't easily rub off onto other things!
  • It's inexpensive for what it is, making it affordable and it's also readily available in most stores starting January 2014.

  
  What I didn't care for with this product:
  

  • This is supposed to be a liquid Mousse formula it goes on much thicker than any liquid foundation I've ever used. I don't care for the consistency.
  • I found that when I used it alone, it looked dry, caked or even powdery upon application.
  • Even with a very little bit, you really have to work to get it all rubbed in.
  • Had to apply with moisturizer in order to make it look smooth and natural.

  
  Application Tips:
  

  • Apply cream to a clean dry face in upward circular motions. 
  • Make sure you blend into your neck and past your hair line.
  • To prevent the dry powdery look that I didn't at all care for, I found it best to mix this with my moisturizer in equal parts until completely blended before applying it to my face. 
  • Let the blended moisturizer and Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation set for about 10 minutes before applying the rest of your make-up to prevent smudging or uneven distribution of color/coverage.
   
   If you want to see how Georgia May Jagger wears her Rimmel London Stay Matte Liquid Mousse Foundation at a party; flawlessly - it doesn't even rub off on the guy she's with who happens to be wearing a white suit then check this video out here... it's cute. Who wouldn't want to go to that party, right?
  
  
   I think I may give this another try in the right color when it hits stores in 2014. If for no other reason, than it really does give amazing coverage and I love the smooth, clean look with moisturizer and it's very affordable for every day foundation use. I am really partial to true liquid foundations and had hoped that this one would have been more of a liquid and less of a paste or paint consistency, but I can overlook that if the shade is right!

  

  No shine... Totally Matte!

  
  

  
  

  
  

  
  

   I received this product complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. No other compensation was received for this review. All opinions expressed in this post are 100% honest and my own. You can purchase this product for personal use starting Jan. 2014. If you're interested in signing up for influenster leave me a message with your email. I'd be happy to send you an invite, so that you too can review cool products for free!
   
   
   
   
   
   

Citrus Lane September Box

So, I'm a month behind in everything. I feel like I didn't even have a September and that I went straight from the end of August to the beginning of October. Technically, no one is to blame for that but me. Well my husband might be able to take a little bit of the blame, for agreeing to take 3 weeks off and head North to visit his parents and catch up with old friends and such, but I'm the one who let things get so far behind.

Anyway, now that the 15th of October is quickly approaching and I'll have a new Citrus Lane box to review in about a week, I finally decided I'd better do something about the last one I got. So, here's a look at our September CL box for a 20 month old girl.

•  The Purple Poodle Goody Bag from North American Bear Company - okay, so I left all most all of this stuff in the packaging it came in because this is going to be a stocking stuffer. My daughter is obsessed with dogs, she loves the color purple and she loves having her own bag to carry. Talk about win-win-win! 
• Charley Harper ABCs from AMMO Books - I am absolutely in love with this book. Needless to say, it's also been put up to use as a part of a later gift. But it's gorgeous! If we didn't already have multiple ABC books I'd have kept this one out to read now. The images are amazing.
• Playful Wash from Episencial - this seems to be a Citrus Lane staple item. I don't know how many boxes we've received this item or another item from Episencial in. The stuff works, but you can only use so much soap at one time. We're currently still working on another soap from one of their boxes so this will either be regifted or put away for another day.
• Super Toddler Bar from Happy Family - again, this seems to be a go-to company for Citrus Lane. I would love to see them branch out for older kid snacks and send out foods that the whole family might enjoy that aren't marketed specifically to the baby crowd. However, I'm always glad when the snack item sent out isn't a pouch, so I'll take this one.
• Nail Color from Julep - Okay so up until a month ago, I hadn't bit on the Julep train. Then, finally I did. I have a color almost identical to this one from Essie that I love. The Julep polish seems to be really quite good. I was excited to get a non-makeup beauty product for mom this month! While I don't wear tons of face makeup I do love a good bottle of nail polish and this was mom treat I can definitely get behind.

All totaled the value was over the $ money spent on this box and we got an awesome variety of products this month. Some months I'm totally wowed by the contents of our boxes and others seem to be average. That being said, I've subscribed for well over a year now and have countless items from Citrus Lane boxes that we use all the time items I never would have bought on my own. Plus the fun of getting a package for your little one is always a fun treat! 

For those that don't know, Citrus Lane is a subscription box that curates monthly boxes for ages 0-5. They supply a box filled with 4-5 of the best parent-picked and parent tested finds on the market customized to your child's age, stage and gender. Boxes are priced at $25 but if you sign up for a longer prepaid subscription you can get your boxes for as low as $21/month. If you're interested in subscribing you can check them out here if you want to just try out one month you can use the code 'takehalf' and only pay $12.50!

All thoughts, opinions & photos included here are my own. No compensation was received for this post. If you use my referral links listed (I appreciated it and thank you, if you do!) I may receive some credit toward my own future boxes. I have been a subscriber of Citrus Lane's monthly boxes since June 2012.

#ChooseSargentoCheese VoxBox from Influenster

Cheese.... I don't honestly think my family could live without it. I personally, would be okay with less cheese in my life, in fact I don't think I ever ate so much cheese and definitely never bought so much cheese before meeting my husband and his family. They are cheese fiends. They love it and so does our toddler. So I was delighted to be selected to review the #ChooseSargentoCheese Vox Box from Influenster and to get a free package of string cheese from a brand, surprise-surprise I had never tried before. Yippee! 

My husband and my toddler think string cheese is literally one of the best snack foods on the face of the planet. When we were living in Korea there was only one chain of convenience stores that routinely carried single serve string cheese and my husband would go out of his way just to pass one so he could go in and buy one and the look on his face was pure delight.  Well that's about the exact same look that was on my daughter's face the first time she bit into her first Sargento® Sting Cheese!

She absolutely loved it. I suppose, it probably helped that she was starving and our bus didn't come for another 20 minutes and we had just finished our weekend grocery shopping when I magically pulled it out of the bag to give it to her, but still... she loved it! My husband was a teeny-tiny bit jealous so I pulled another one out of the bag for him and then yes, I caved and had one too and I can honestly say that this is my new favorite brand of string cheese! Yummy! I usually find it way to salty and this one was just right. We loved it. It is one of our new go to on the go snacks. We also used it to make perfect cheese rounds for toothpick kebabs mixing the cheese with olives and veggies and used it split length wise in 4 to fill celery sticks. Mmmm.

I received this product complimentary from Influenster. All opinions, thoughts and photos are my own and the review did not have to be positive. We just happen to love cheese.

Misto Box Review ~ Grab Your Grinder!

I think I'm smitten with a little red and brown box that holds a substance very dear to me... coffee! I received my first ever Misto Box {courtesy of a giveaway held by Crazy 4 Subscription Boxes} in the post today and now I can't wait for tomorrow's morning cup of black gold! Seriously, I love an awesome cup of morning coffee and it's one of my favorite ways to start the day. With Misto Box, you get 4 different kinds of whole bean coffee sent to you monthly, along with grinding tips, brewing advice and information about the coffee itself. This is definitely a box for the serious, or light-hearted coffee aficionado! 

Let's take a peak...

The box inside the box.

Open the lid...

Welcome card and information about this month's coffee picks.

 

 

 

 

Under the tissue paper...

BAM! 4 Bags of...  yup, you guessed it; COFFEE!

 

Plus...

Everything else you need to know about them!

The August Misto Box Coffee selections are quite diverse and my husband and I are looking forward to trying them all. I can't wait to try the Guatemala Finca Santa Paula and the El Salvador Las Nubes #11; so might have to flip a coin. My hubs is most excited about the Kenya Igutha. Since that just leaves the Mexico Santa Tersea which also sounds good I imagine that's the one we'll actually end up trying first. I suppose it all depends on who makes it out to the grinder first tomorrow morning.

I really like that they send you small amounts of four different kinds of coffee (this is their small box) they do have an option to receive larger packages of the same coffee each month, which is nice depending on how much coffee you consume in a month. The regular Misto Box at $19/month gives you 4 1.7oz bags of coffee while the Grande Misto Box at $30/month is double that amount, so 4 3.4oz bags of the same picks. I'm pretty sure we might be somewhere right in the middle of those two options, but I'm curious to see just how many good cups of coffee we get out of our 4 small bags! If you're interested in getting your own Misto Box in September, or any other time for that matter, check them out here. You can use the code "COFFEE"at checkout to save $10 off your first box making it only $9 or $20 and then cancel if it's not your cup of tea.

Please note: Post may contain affiliate links. This box was won as part of a giveaway hosted by Crazy 4 Subscription Boxes. A review was not required. I did not pay for this box, nor was I compensated for this review. All photos and opinions are my own.

Weekend Wrap: Bus, Coffee, Farmers Market

My Loves.

The morning light was great. K- loves riding on the back of the bus in her own seat. We went downtown to people watch, have a late breakfast and lots of good coffee and then walked around the farmers market where we bought freshly baked bread to supplement our dinner. Mmmmm.

Sunday we cleaned house, napped and created or CL DIY Bowling Pins. It was a quiet day. Daddy had to work, but we had a wonderful Korean dinner when he came home. All in all it was a great weekend!

DIY Bowling Pins: #CLAugBox

"Play to learn is what's it's all about at this stage, so let the games begin!" 

-Citrus Lane August 2013 Insert

 This month, Citrus Lane included a new trial concept item under the heading of "special activities" in some of the August boxes. They're looking for feedback on whether or not this was appreciated and used and whether or not parents would like to see this sort of item in the future.

•  Do-It-Yourself Bowling Pins - The templates we received in our box were printed on heavy card-stock with letters on one side and numbers on the other. Citrus Lane had a small explanation at the bottom with simple 3 step instructions to create them. You color the pins yourself. I'm going to let K- paint hers since that's what we're into right now and then I'll assemble them. The idea is that you can use them with the ball from this month's box for some good old hallway bowling! Sounds fun, can't wait to see what K- thinks! Personally, I think this idea is a great one, as long as the special activities aren't considered part of the 4 or more items that come in the box each month and aren't necessarily incorporated into the total box retail value. If the activities are bonus items that enhance or build upon the other items in the box than that would be a fantastic addition to the box each month! If it turns out they're really just in the box as filler than I'll be far less impressed and very unlikely to use them.

Painting our Pins

 

 K- is super into paint right now, so we used the good old standard Crayola Washable Watercolors. This was a brand new set and she was so excited to get to use them. K- can name all 8 of the colors and is very decisive about which ones she wants to use. She started with red.

Painting is Serious Business

Testing the Green Paint for Use.

The Two Brush Technique Approach.

After painting the pins we of course had to clean up and we used our new Clean Well wipes from our August box, they worked great to wipe the green paint off her finger quickly and easily. One wipe covered our hands and the table, not bad! Then we had to let the paint dry out.

Once dry, I separated the pins along the perforated lines. Then decided that it made the most sense to tape them together so that we could play with them right away. If I wanted these to last a long time, I would have laminated them. Seeing as I'm currently all out of quick laminating sheets and K- was excited to use them this afternoon, I just left them as they were. If I were still teaching 3 year old kiddos, there is no way these would have gone on the floor without being laminated. As it was we were ready to use them and I just have one kid using them with supervision, so they had to work like this.

Creating a Tab to Easily Attach the Pins Together.

I was a little bummed that there wasn't an easy tab line on the bottom to fold up to either glue or tape these to the other side of the pin and feel like this might have been a bit of an oversight on the part of the activity design, so I just used the bottom of the instructions as an easy line for all our pins and created the tab that I needed to reinforce them at the base. 

Play Time!

We set the pins up in the hallway and used the new ball to try and knock them down. Hooray for hallway bowling! They were definitely a hit!

Getting it all set up.

Successful first bowl!

Missed.

The two hand ball drop.

 Then after bowling we set the pins up like cones and practiced running around and through them and then driving our Green Toys around and through them. I'm sure we'll come up with other innovative uses for them as the week goes on!

Driving Baby Dump Around the Pins... She was careful not to knock them down.

Final Thoughts

If the "special activities" are bonus items that enhance or build upon the other items in the box than that would be a fantastic addition to the box each month! If it turns out they're really just in the box as filler than I'll be far less impressed and very unlikely to use them. I like this idea as long as the "special activities" included are age appropriate and tailored to what's in the box that month. I like that they not only gave us the opportunity to color them, but then we also got to put them to use. I think this is actually helpful and would love to see them include other games, tips and craft activities or suggestions for using the things in the box in the future! Did you get this activity in your Citrus Lane box this month? Did you try it? What did you think?

All thoughts, opinions & photos included here are my own. No compensation was received for this post. If you use my referral links listed (I appreciated it and thank you, if you do!) I may receive some credit toward my own future boxes. I have been a subscriber of Citrus Lane's monthly boxes since June 2012.

Citrus Lane August Box Reivew: Back to School

"Play to learn is what's it's all about at this stage, so let the games begin!" 

-Citrus Lane August 2013 Insert

Our box was a "special size" this month to accommodate the goods inside... made us curious to see just what they were!

Okay, so maybe babies and toddlers don't actually go back to school, although I'm sure some do go back to daycare or have just continued right along with their daycare or if old enough, preschool. But mine doesn't. K- is lucky, or unlucky (take your pick) to be at home with me and I with her. Some days it's the absolute best thing in the whole world and others I'm sure we're both wishing the situation were different. Although that's how it is, she doesn't go "back to school" - at least not yet. That being said our Citrus Lane box this month was loosely based on a "back to school" theme. After all that's what time of year it is for most people and really learning takes place at every age and every stage, so why not?

If you're not familiar with Citrus Lane, it's a subscription box (and a great online community) tailored for kids in the age bracket of 0-5 years old.  All their products are parent chosen and approved! Each month your subscription gets you 4-5 best of products that they feel will make your life with your little one a little easier and more fun. You can try your first box for only $12.50 when you sign up for the monthly option and use code "TAKEHALF" at checkout. Boxes are $25 a month or $21 a month with a longer subscription and if you use my link when you sign up you'll save an additional $10 off any subscription (can't be combined with any other promo like "takehalf" though). So, what are you waiting for? Try it here! Canceling is easy and can be done anytime, right on their website, just fill out the survey and you're done!

The Exciting Part... Our Back to School Box - a first look!

Having no clue what's in the box is half the fun! This month was a total surprise for us and we had no idea what was going to be inside when we opened it up. Yup, it's a fun one! This is exactly what it looked like after taking off the tissue paper on top.

And here's what all was actually in the box this month for a 19 month old girl. You have the option to customize your box for age and gender or if you prefer not to have it gender specific they do have an option to do age and "neutral." We honestly started out with a gender "neutral" box but switched it to "girl" after realizing that the only thing that really changes is the designs on things for most boxes, once in awhile the boxes will have different content, but not often enough for it to really matter. 

Box Contents

• Crocodile Creek 5" Playground Ball - okay who doesn't love balls for their little one? Yeah, we have tons of balls, but surprisingly enough we don't actually have a mini playground ball and this one just happens to be K's- favorite color in the now (it changes; often) PURPLE! Retail price ~ $9.99
• Clean Well All Natural Hand Sanitizing Wipes - This container is huge. It contains 40 alcohol free wipes and they actually smell okay! The scent is orange vanilla. The only way I'd pack these with me is if I transferred them to another container that was more portable. These I think will either sit by our front door for when we come in from the park or go in with our art kit to make for easy hand clean up when we need it most. Retail price ~ $10.47 for 3 containers.
• Octopus Opposites Board Book - We love, love, love Barefoot Books and this new one is no exception! While we have tons of books about opposites and K- can even say "opposite" or her own version of it, we don't have this one! I love the bright, bold, kid friendly and very happy illustrations in this book and know that K- is going to love them too, after all they're animals. I also like that after all the simple sentences are over the last couple pages are pictures with "concept questions" designed for you to talk about the story - a great way to check listening and when they get to that stage reading comprehension. Of course we'll use these pages to make up many of our own questions as well! We couldn't be happier than when Citrus Lane includes a good book in our box! Retail price ~ $7.19
• Ouchies Jr. Adhesive Bandages - Okay, I thought it was a really cool idea to include fun bandages in the box this month! Better yet they are even latex free! I love them so much more than the disposable one time use ice packs from a previous box. K- has only recently discovered the "power" of bandages to "fix ouchies" she's also totally into fun stickers so these will be a definite win. Besides what better way to calm an upset or hurt child than with the distraction of a fun way to patch up their boo-boo? This was a brilliant idea and the tin they came in will be well received as well. Although we may never be able to go back to plane old bandages again.... Retail price ~ $4.96
• Plum Organics Fruit Straws - These will absolutely be well received and honest they're a product that we haven't yet tried by Plum Organics. I've put them up to throw in our carry on bag for our trip to Nana and Opa's in a week as they'll be great for a special treat on the plane or in the airport. I can see them being used to suck down water or just about anything else and as a bonus there is a 1/3 of a cup in each packet or in every 2 straws. I really would have liked it if Citrus Lane had been feeling generous and just sent a full box instead of 2 packets, but I am excited to give this product a chance. Retail price ~ $3.50
• FabKids Free Trial Offer - Okay, so this is a "Special Offer" included in the box an I never add this in as part of the actual box retail value. I just look at it as sort of a bonus or a temptation or sometimes simply recycling. I haven't decided where I stand on this one. We didn't subscribe to Citrus Lane in order to also subscribe to other subscription services. That being said if we are able to claim our free 3 piece clothing outfit from FabKids without signing up for an ongoing subscription we just might. I have heard that they're very hard to cancel with so I assume it's one of those read the fine print and use extreme caution situations. Honestly I would have loved to just been given a gift voucher for $ at a clothing company that we do shop at. I would never pay $39.95 a month regularly for 3 pieces of clothing. So this really isn't at all an attractive offer. Retail price ~ $0.00 (free offer).
• Do-It-Yourself Bowling Pins - These are a new offering this month that were only included in some of the boxes as Citrus Lane wants to test whether or not parents like the idea of an added "special activities" in the box. They're printed on heavy cardstock with letters on one side and numbers on the other. You color them yourself, I'm going to let K- paint hers since that's what we're into right now and then assemble them. The idea is that you can use them with the ball from this month's box for some good old hallway bowling! Sounds fun, can't wait to see what K- thinks! Personally, I think this idea is a great one, as long as the special activities aren't considered part of the 4 or more items that come in the box each month and aren't necessarily incorporated into the total box retail value. If the activities are bonuses that would be awesome!

Final Thoughts

Great box! We'll use everything in it except the FabKids offer, I'm not sure we'll be using that one and would really like to stop seeing those be included in the boxes as one of the items. 

If you're interested in getting your own box in September, make sure you sign up before the 5th of the month! Remember if you sign up using the code TAKEHALF your first box will only be $12.50 and it's definitely worth well beyond that! So, what are you waiting for? Try it here! Canceling is easy and can be done anytime, right on their website, just fill out the survey and you're done!

All thoughts, opinions & photos included here are my own. No compensation was received for this post. If you use my referral links listed (I appreciated it and thank you, if you do!) I may receive some credit toward my own future boxes. I have been a subscriber of Citrus Lane's monthly boxes since June 2012.