Thursday, August 30, 2012

Gerber Graduate Puffs Cereal Snack Review

Hello fellow Mommy's and Daddy's! 

Today I have a review for you on Gerber Graduates Puffs.  A good friend of mine has a son just a few months older than mine and after seeing him eat Puffs, I really wanted to get them for my son Andrew.  However, when I went to the store, I saw on the packaging that babies are typically ready for Puffs when they are crawling, which Andrew wasn't.  So I went home empty-handed.  :(  Wouldn't you know, just a few days later, Andrew started crawling, and one of the first things I did was go get a container of Puffs!

There are a variety of flavors: Vanilla, Banana, Sweet Potato, Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry, and we went with the Strawberry Apple flavor.  They are star-shaped little pieces of puffy cereal about the size of my thumb nail.  Despite my excitement for Andrew to try these, I was also quite hesitant, as he has only been having bottles, oatmeal cereal, and pureed fruits/veggies up until this point, and I was concerned he might choke on them.  I put them on Andrew's high chair tray and he grabs them and puts them in his mouth.  He REALLY likes them.  In fact, I only put them out for him one at a time, otherwise he'll end up with three Puffs in one hand trying to get them all in at once.  :)  When they get to his mouth, they dissolve pretty quickly, which eases my concern about choking.  When the puffs get wet, they also get sticky and mushy.  Sometimes I will find sticky, mushy puffs that missed his mouth in the seat of his high chair.  I am one of those moms who likes to try whatever my baby eats, so naturally I popped one in my mouth.  They are pretty good tasting for baby food!  It is a cereal SNACK though, so I definitely don't recommend making a meal out of theses.  VERY surprising to me, the serving size is 77 Puffs, but I have never come close to giving him that many in one sitting. 

These run around $2.00 per container, which I don't think is too terrible, but if you are a Sams Club member, they sell a 6-pack variety of Apple & Banana flavors for $9.98!  Can't beat that deal!  I am looking forward to purchasing some of the other flavors, and would definitely recommend Gerber Graduates Puffs for those of you starting your kiddos on finger foods for the first time!

To see my YouTube video review of Gerber Puffs, please click here.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

Rubbermaid 2-Quart Carafe Review

Another product review!

Today's product under review is the Rubbermaid 2-Quart Carafe.  I am a big fan of the 'on-the-go' drink mixes that come in the pitcher packs.  Now that I seem to only be able to find Crystal Light in the 2-quart sizes, I was on the hunt for a 2-quart carafe to make and store my drinks.  I stumbled across this Rubbermaid carafe in Target, but searched for it on Amazon.com and found it for cheaper, so I purchased it there.  (FYI - I have since found it in Meijer for cheaper than Amazon if you are interested.)  It is big and bulky in my opinion, in the wrong areas.  I really can't find a decent place to keep it in my fridge.  It is too wide at the base for me to fit it in the door, and too tall to fit on the shelf, rendering it pretty useless, unless I lay it on its side, which I am reluctant to do in the event that it leaks.  It claims to have a "leak proof seal", but I wouldn't like to test that out and find I have sticky drink all over the inside of the fridge.  Additionally, there are two spouts to pour out of: one is open, and the other one is partitioned, so that if you have ice in the carafe, it won't pour out when you pour the drink.  I find both of the spouts to be too wide, and regardless of which side I use, when I pour, the drink splashes everywhere.  The first and only drink I have made in the Rubbermaid carafe is the Crystal Light Mocktails Appletini, and this carafe REALLY retains the smell.  I finished the drink and washed the carafe several weeks prior to doing this review, and the smell of the appletini is still quite strong inside.  My last and final complaint, is that this is not BPA-free.  I tend to buy BFA-free plastics to store food/drink in, and I didn't realize until after purchasing this, that it is not.  Overall, I would not recommend this product.  I was really excited to find a carafe sizable enough to make my drink mixes, but my expectations were not met.  Maybe if you have a huge refrigerator and you don't mind now having a BPA-free carafe, this would be okay for you.  I don't have any idea how to solve the issue of the splashing when pouring.


I previously was using a Takeya 360 Carafe, which is just a little over 1-quart capacity.  Other than it not being large enough to make the drink mixes, I have had none of the issues with this carafe that I've had with the Rubbermaid.  In addition, the Takeya is BPA-free!  Overall, I like the lid/pouring portion of this carafe better than Rubbermaid's, and I have frequently turned it upside down to shake up my drinks to mix them, and never had an issue with leakage.  The size is perfect and fits multiple areas of my fridge.  While it isn't big enough to make the 2-quart drink mixes, I will just do a little math and scale it down to make 1/2 the amount so I can continue using this carafe.


To see my YouTube video review of this product, please click here.


Rubbermaid 2-Quart Carafe on Amazon.com
Takeya 360 Carafe on Amazon.com

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Semi Di Lino Diamante Cristalli Liquidi Illuminating Hair Serum Review

Well is that a mouthful or what?  Good thing I don't talk about this product too much, otherwise I'd be winded!  Many many years ago....maybe 6 or 7 years ago, I was at the salon getting my hair done, and my stylist used this product on my hair.  It smelled great and made my hair feel silky, smooth, and lightweight.  Knowing that it would probably be more expensive to buy it from the salon, I went in search of it online.  I can't remember if I bought it from eBay or Amazon, but I purchased it off one of the two.  I have been using it on and off since then.


This Cristalli Liquidi illuminating hair serum comes in a substantial 1.69oz glass bottle with a pump dispenser.  As I mentioned before, it has a great smell to it; it smells like an expensive salon product (probably because it is).  My hair is quite long and a little of this stuff goes a long way; hence how it has lasted me all these years.  Maybe one or two pumps does this trick.  I just pump it into the palm of my hand, rub my hands together and work it through my straightened hair.  I got rid of the box so long ago, and can't even be sure it was in English, so I'm not sure the variety of ways you can use it.  I have only used it after straightening my hair to seal the cuticles and smooth any flyaways.  I concentrate it on the ends of my hair and just a quick pat near the crown of the head so my hair doesn't look greasy.  I really like how my hair feels after I apply it.

My only complaint with this product is the price.  Right now you can purchase it on Amazon.com for about $25.00.  I seem to remember paying more than that, but it was too long ago for me to be sure.  Even so, that's pretty steep for such a small bottle, although it has lasted me a LONG time.  In the years since I purchased this, I have found other 'drugstore' haircare products that smooth as well as this in my opinion, for a lot cheaper.  If I had endless cash to frivously spend, I would probably repurchase this item, but until that happens, I'll be using the cheaper alternatives.

To see my video review of this product click here.

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Skindinavia No More Shine Makeup Finish Spray Review

(Some of you may have seen my video reviews of products that I have posted here on my blog, however, I have decided to start doing a written review to go along with my videos.  This is my first!)

Skindinavia No More Shine Makeup Finish Spray (Oily Skin Formula) 2oz
Let me start off by saying "I am a makeup junkie."  They say the first step is admitting you have a problem.  Well there ya go.  I am willing to try just about every product out there, barring that it isn't ridiculously expensive and it's not made of something foul like animal poop.  I had heard about this Skindinavia No More Shine Makeup Finish Spray from a couple other beauty gurus that I follow.  I am cursed with oily, and therefore shiny skin, so when I heard about this product, I was quite interested to try it out.  I had an Amazon gift card and found a 2oz bottle of it on Amazon.com that I was willing to use my gift card on.  I was quite excited to receive it and try it, because in addition to the claims of it reducing/eliminating shine, it also claimed to help keep your makeup stay put for up to 16 hours!  Woohoo! 

I was surprised to learn when I received it and read the bottle prior to using it, that you're supposed to use it both before and after you apply your makeup.  I have been using the spray each day for about a month now. I really like how refreshing it is to spray on my face and kind of gives you a dewy look.  The mist is really fine and I don't feel like I'm shooting myself in the face with a Super Soaker each time I use it.  Maybe my face is just too darn oily and is beyond help, but sadly this Skindinavia spray has not kept my shine and oil away.  It does however help my makeup stay put!  As a stay at home mom, I pretty much NEVER have makeup on for 16 hours a day, so I can't speak to the claim of if it works for that long, but by the end of the day when I'm 'taking my face off' my makeup still looks pretty spiffy.  (Minus the shiny T-zone).  Some of the other things I love about this product are:

  1. It is NOT tested on animals.  Big YAY to that!
  2. It is oil free.  No need to add more oil to this oil slick.
  3. It doesn't stain clothing.  Not that I already don't have baby barf on my clothes, but it's nice that if I get a little crazy with my spraying that I won't add more stains to my clothes. 
  4. For all of you contact wearers and sensitive eye folks, it is eye tested!
  5. It is doesn't really have a smell.  It doesn't claim to be fragrance free, but the smell (if there is one) is really light. 
Unfortunately, this product is a little too expensive for my budget.  As I mentioned earlier, I bought the 2oz bottle, which is small, but I didn't want to go with the huge size not knowing if I would like it.  I'm not sure how the price is if you buy directly from them or a beauty retailer, but on Amazon, which I find to be generally cheaper... the 2oz bottle will run you $14.50, the 4oz bottle is $29.00, and the 6oz one is $39.00.  (Note: these are Amazon's prices as of this posting.  Prices are subject to change).  It does make financial sense to purchase the large size, as the cost per ounce is less, but I really can't justify spending almost $40.00 for 6oz of spray.  

Overall, I like the spray, although it does nothing to aid in my shine banishing mission.  While I can't afford to continually buy this product, I would recommend it. 

To see my YouTube video review for this product, please click here.