My Gold Rush panning party from Tryazon!

I was SO EXCITED when I received the email that I was 1 of only 100 to receive the Gold Rush panning party from Tryazon!! I was even more blown away when I received the party pack….WOW, look at all the awesome stuff!!  I knew that anyone who accepted my invitation would NOT be disappointed. And of course since my husband and a few of his friends and some of  our family members love watching the show Gold Rush, it was no problem getting people to accept and come over for a great time with us learning to pan for our own REAL gold and of course watching the new episode. Because of some scheduling conflicts, we only ended up with 6 adults and 4 children at our party, but we all had tons of fun!

Panning is definitely not as easy as they make it look on the show! But after watching Parker on the video a few times we seemed to get the hang of it, but only had the chance to do some of our pay dirt since we also had to eat and watch the show. But our guests were thrilled to get to take the mini kits home to try again for themselves. And we “raffled” off the water bottles, hats and t-shirt.

My only regret is that I wish I had used my digital camera to take my party pictures instead of my cell phone camera seeing as how my cell phone decided to become a paper weight just a few days after the party. I had hoped that my pictures would have transferred, but I must not have had it set to save new pictures to the memory card and consequently lost quite a few pictures that I am very upset that I will never get back!!

Anyways, we all had a great time and I am so very grateful that they picked me and that we were able to share this great opportunity with our friends and family. There were definitely a few times I heard someone say “these would be great gifts” so I am sure they will be purchasing some kits of their own!

Loreal Extraordinary Oil hair care system from Crowdtap

I am really happy with my results from using the Loreal Extraordinary Oil system so far. The oil complex in this system is made of 6 oils; Argan, Chamomile, Coconut, Amla, Soja, and Sunflower. It smells very nice, it's a light fresh fragrance.

The only problem I had with the shampoo was I seemed to need more than usual in order to get a good enough lather. That doesn't really bother me though because like most women I usually go thru conditioner faster than shampoo so this will even it out a bit.

The consistency of the conditioner was good and comparable to most other conditioners I have used, but I would have liked to have seen it a little thicker. The one (big) flaw I have with it is that once you rinse it out, it makes the bathtub very slippery! But it does a good job to make my hair soft and more manageable. It is easier than usual to comb thru my hair after my showers.

I was surprised that the instructions didn't really point out how much of the serum treatment to use! Thankfully I have used Argan oil in the past in my hair and know that a little can go a long way, so I didn't end up with an oily greasy head of hair!  I really liked this serum treatment, it was easy to apply and left my hair feeling soft and silky without being oily or greasy. It also moisturized my hands and left them soft and silky.

For some reason they didn't send us the Extraordinary Oil Transforming Oil-in-Cream to test/review. It's a bummer because as with most hair care systems it recommends to use all of the elements of the system for best results. Guess I will have to go buy some when I get a chance.

All in all I am pleased with the system. It left my hair hydrated and softer which means it was more manageable. I seem to have less fly aways also.

*I received Loreal Extraordinary Oil shampoo, conditioner, and serum treatment for FREE in exchange for my honest opinion of the products*

Rubbermaid Fresh Works produce savers

I absolutely love my Rubbermaid Fresh Works produce saver! It worked much better than I had expected to keep shredded lettuce fresh. Usually I open a package and it lasts maybe 3 days, but we were still able to use it on the 7th day from the produce saver! They come in 3 sizes; small – 2.5 cups (1 pint of berries), medium – 6.3 cups (1 lb. strawberries), and large – 17.3 cups (1 head of lettuce). They are also very reasonably priced. It is also easy to use in my opinion since it is recommended NOT to cut or rinse your produce before storing it in Fresh Works, just take it from the store packaging and put it right into the produce saver.

According to the package, the fresh vent lid is a patented membrane that naturally regulates the flow of O2 and CO2 to create the optimal environment for the produce to stay fresh. The best part is that the filter lasts a lifetime! There is a removable crisp tray that elevates produce away from moisture and promotes proper airflow to help prevent spoilage. It's even dishwasher safe.

I will definitely recommend these to friends and family, and I will be buying some more of them for myself.

*This post was sponsored by Rubbermaid as part of a sampling activation for Crowdtap. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.*

My experience with the Amopé Pedi Perfect Wet and Dry Rechargeable Foot File

I was so excited to be chosen by Crowdtap to test and review the Amope Pedi Perfect wet/dry rechargeable foot file for FREE!
 
I have ugly feet that have always been dry and cracked, especially my heels and calluses on my big toes. Since I didn’t care much for showing my feet off, I didn’t bother spending much time on my “foot grooming” habits. I had had other manual foot files, even the formerly popular egg type. But I was inconsistent and never saw many results from them. But the Amope foot file does the work for me, and I can use it wet or dry! I love that it is perfectly contoured and easy to use, not bulky or too small to hold onto. It works with ease gliding over my skin and sloughing off dead skin cells. It is rechargeable and even the initial charge did not take that long, only a few hours. And it seems to have a fairly good life between charges.
 

The only downfall in my opinion is the pricing; in our local Meijer store it sells for $59.99 and a 2 pack of file refills is $19.99! I hope the files last long for that kind of price. I am sure it is worth it, but sometimes I myself cannot justify spending that much for a luxury vs. a necessity.

All in all I do recommend it, especially if you have very dry feet like I tend to suffer from.

 
Because of now owning this I have re-vamped my foot care routine and usually take some time after every shower to give my feet a little much needed TLC. I may even wear more sandals this summer J.

*This post was sponsored by Amope as part of a sampling activation for Crowdtap. I received complimentary products to facilitate my review.*

All about my #JingleVoxBox - FREE products to try from Influenster :)

I was so excited to find out I was getting the #JingleVoxBox from @Influenster! I hardly ever get VoxBox’s so it makes the experience extra special when I do ;).

 

This VoxBox contained the following items:

 

*Cetaphil moisturizing cream – I wish it had been a larger sample because this lotion works great on my dry winter skin! It is thick but absorbs very well and doesn’t leave my skin greasy or sticky. Apparently this unique formula attracts water to the skin and helps prevent moisture loss.

 

*Biscoff cookies – Great snacking cookies to go with hot cocoa or coffee, or just by themselves. They are crunchy and have a good but somewhat plain flavor (which is why they pair well with coffee, or I even dipped one in peanut butter…yum!).

 

*Ore-Ida tater tots coupon – I loved tator tots as a kid, and of course my nieces and nephew really liked when I made some for them to go with their chicken nuggets. I still love them, and we picked up a bag of the mini ones which were really good since they had the perfect amount of crunchyness and softness. Making “Totchos” with the kids was fun even though they only wanted cheese and some salsa on them.

 

*Hallmark itty bittys – I received a super cute Spiderman itty bitty. They would be so cute to collect all of, but I can’t imagine doing that with prices starting at $6.95! Yes they are cute, but they are kind of small for that price if you ask me.

 

*NYC City proof 24hr waterproof eyeliner – I really liked this eyeliner that I received in a brown shade, but it certainly would NOT last 24 hours, at least for me anyway. Granted I suffer from allergies so my eyes tend to water sometimes, but I am fairly certain it wouldn’t last that long on anyone.

 

*KISS True volume lashes and strip lash adhesive with aloe – I am not usually one to use fake lashes, but if I were to, I am glad that these lashes were fairly easy to apply and didn’t look fake.

 

*Pure Ice nail polish – For a “cheaper” nail polish, I really liked it. The offer a lot of colors and it wasn’t too thick or runny. It also lasted a good amount of time without chipping off, yet it was still fairly easy to remove when the time came…all around good!

 

As you can see, it was a great opportunity to test these products for FREE from Influenster!  These of course are my honest opinions of the products.

Snuggle bear free from snuggle community

We received a free mini Snuggle bear from Snuggle bear den community. Our nieces and nephews really enjoyed having it tag along when we would go swimming, for a walk, and even camping! He is small, but soft and cuddly still, so the youngest girl loved snoozing with him too 😃. Thanks snuggle community for including us in this mission, we all enjoy having mini snuggle bear as part of our "family".

L'Oreal Ultimate Straight Collection

When I saw commercials for new L’Oreal Ultimate Straight  Collection, I knew it was something I wanted to try. It must have been my lucky day because a few weeks later I was chosen to receive the L’Oreal Ultimate Straight  Collection VoxBox FREE from Influenster!

I was excited to try it out, and started reading the instructions on the bottles and was shocked that it was a 4 step system, something I knew I would have trouble remembering to do all of. First you shampoo, then use a PRE conditioner for about a minute, then add the conditioner over that, and finally after towel drying the hair you put the balm in it. I had trouble either remembering to use the pre-conditioner or putting the balm in after towel drying. And to me the products smelled kind of funny…not necessarily bad, but not exactly light and/or fruity like I was used to.

Unfortunately I didn’t really see much of a difference in how straight my hair was with just using the products and not a flat iron, I tended to still have waves. But it did turn out very nicely with using a flat iron, and I think it straightened out a little easier than if I had not used the products.