Thursday Thoughts

I can't believe it's already Thursday, I think I only managed to get two posts up in the last week so it's like Monday for my blog. But since it is actually Thursday I'm linking up with Jen of Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for her Thursday Thoughts Link Up.

So this is week 3 of being on the Lupron and things have gone downhill fast, which is why my posting this week has been abysmal. Starting Saturday night I was back to throwing up and being super sick to my stomach ALL the time. The bone and joint pain has increased enough to where Monday I literally needed help getting out of bed. I have a good day every once in a while but for the most part I walk around like an old lady for the first few hours after getting up. My hair loss has increased enough that I have an actual bald spot, which is luckily by my temple so easy enough to hide. But I'm pretty sure if the hair loss doesn't slow down I'll be bald before the end of September, which is a pretty depressing thought. My long hair is important to me, so watching it just fall out like this has been extra hard. I've also lost about a third of each of my eyebrows, which is both hilarious and depressing. Guess I don't have to worry about plucking them anymore. And in case this wasn't enough to deal with my hormones have crashed and I'm pretty not ok right now. I spend a good amount of time crying everyday, which isn't healthy from a mental health standpoint. Next week should be my next injection and I'm hoping things will level out a bit or at least not get any worst. The Lupron had better work after all of this, otherwise I'm gonna be pissed!

On a less depressing note, all 4 of my Birchboxes have arrived! The guest contributor box will go up tomorrow, with the rest of them either over the weekend or the beginning of the week. There were things I liked about all of the boxes, and getting so many new to me products to try all at once has really lifted my spirits. There's a reason retail therapy is a things guys. I don't have a favorite out of the four yet, but I think the two CEW boxes are pretty dang sweet and I'm so glad I got them. The actual boxes themselves from the CEW boxes are really plain and boring compared to the two actual Birchboxes this month, so I will either give them to my son to store stuff in or make something craft out of them.

We need to take a vote here. Can you tell a difference between the two legs in the picture? One of them has a leg makeup I'm testing and Instagram swears there's a difference but I can't see it. So I'm putting it to a vote, can you see a difference? Which leg has the makeup/tanner on it? Do I need new glasses? Or in Instagram being ridiculous. I feel like this is that stupid blue and black dress all over again. And yet, the dress was blue and black, NOT white and gold.

Do you guys pay attention to the ingredients in your facial products? I always check for coconut, but outside of that I haven't really cared. Well there's been a big hurrah over these Cetaphil wipes that were in one of the CEW boxes over the ingredients listed. Supposedly they are really bad for your skin and so not gentle like the packaging says. I haven't tested these yet (almost done with a pack of my usual wipes), but a lot of people are really upset about these. I remember a similar deal going down last year with a set of the Yes To wipes (grapefruit maybe?). Makes me wonder if some of the products I love are doing more harm than good for my skin. What are your thoughts on the ingredient matter?

Pain Relief in a Tube or Just Another Gimmick?

*I received this free for reviewing purposes. All opinions are 100% my own*

As anybody who either works out on a regular basis or suffers from chronic pain knows, being sore or in pain all the time is exhausting on a scale most people don't understand. There are lots of options out there ranging from creams, gels, patches, and pills to help deal with your everyday aches and pains, and today I'll be reviewing OxyRub, a pain relief cream, to see if it does what it claims to do or if it will be tossed straight into the junk pile. I have tried just about every "pain relief" cream on the market, ranging from Icy Hot to some Chinese mystery stuff that I thought was going to burn my skin off, so I know what to expect from most creams and when one is all fluff and no punch.

First, this is a what I call a gel cream. It isn't a gel but it isn't a cream like a lotion would be. Icy Hot is what I would call a gel cream if you need a comparison. I've noticed that most products with that consistency tend to be on the lower one of the pain relieving scale, with oils and patches being on the upper end of the scale. I don't mind the gel/cream ones, they're a little easier to put on yourself and they absorb without leaving anything behind like a greasy film. The OxyRub absorbs well and doesn't leave any sort of residue, which I definitely appreciate. That also allows you to put on several layers if you need too, which can be a nice bonus.

As far as the actual pain relieving properties, OxyRub relies on menthol to help with muscle and joint pain, which is....not ideal. Menthol in combination with other things can totally help with a knotted up back, but just by itself and in the level present (1.25%) in OxyRub you really aren't going to get anything out of it. I might find use for it next flu season as a non-greasy chest rub, but for what it is intended as it is a total bust. I applied it to my knees, calves, shoulders, and hands during my testing and I did not feel any sort of relief. Not even a little big of tingle. I was super disappointed in it and can't give it my stamp of approval. I'm so bummed this didn't live up to my expectations, but there isn't anything I can do about it. I won't lie and say a product is better than it is, I always stand by my word. So this gets two thumbs down and a toss into the junk pile. If you want to try it for yourself you can order a tube here, and use the code SAVEOXY2 to save 20% off your order.

Thursday Thoughts

First Thursday of August, man this summer is just whipping by! I am so ready for the fall though, I am 100% done with this summer heat. I live in the Pacific Northwest you guys, so 106 degree weather is some serious bullshit. Anywho, before I ramble too much, I'm participating in Jen of Ramblings of a Suburban Mom's Thursday Thoughts weekly link up!

Firstly, I will be up to my knees in Birchboxes this month! I got a regular one, the guest editor one, and BOTH of the 2015 CEW boxes! The first one should be here today at some point, the rest won't arrive till next week I believe. Stuff from Birchbox typically takes 10 days to get to me since I'm basically other side of the states from them. So many goodies, I can't wait for them to arrive!

I've been on the Lupron for two weeks now, two more weeks till my next injection. I'm bouncing between feeling ok enough and absolute shit. A little worried for how I'll feel next week when I switch some of my pills up, but I'm set to continue the treatments for the full six months. I may not have any hair left by the end of this, so if you are looking for hair tutorials this is not the blog for you.

Every month or so I like to pick out a handful of products to try and use up that month. Sometimes I finish them, sometimes I don't. It's really about forcing me to use stuff I may be neglecting. This month I'll be working on my often neglected ELF eyeshadow palette, an almost done BB cream, a hated eyebrow pencil, a favorite lipstick, a lip balm, an eyeliner that should be finished soon, and a liquid highlighter that only looks good on tanned skin. If I had to guess my progress I'd say BB cream, eyeliner, and highlighter done, maybe 2 pans hit on the shadow, and good progress on everything else. Though I'm tossing that brow pencil at the end of the month no matter what, I friggin HATE it.

Our county fair was last weekend and of course we had to go. I need my cotton candy and my arm length giant corn dog. Every year there is this body piercing booth set up and I'm just like....who does that? At a fair I mean. Like, there's no way that'll be as clean as an actual piercing shop. And what, you're gonna go check out the cows after getting a bolt through your nipple? Nothing about that sounds safe. So my question is, what is the craziest thing you've ever seen at a fair?

That's it for this week, I'll see you guys tomorrow with another fabulous product review!

The Palette to Fix All Your Face Woes

In a perfect world we would have no redness, no acne, no under eye circles and dullness to contend with every single day. This is not a perfect unfortunately, but luckily there are tons of concealers out there to help combat whatever problem you are facing. NYX is a brand I adore and trust enough that I'll try pretty much anything by them. So when I saw they had a concealer palette you know I had to get it and put it all over my face.

The NYX concealer palette contains 6 different cream concealers, each focusing on a different problem your typical person faces. There is a yellow concealer to counter purple under eye circles, which is something I am constantly battling. The green concealer is to counter any redness you may be experiencing, while the purple helps to brighten any dull or yellowed skin. The salmon colored concealer is for blue under eye circles, I really liked that there are two under eye options. And lastly are two concealer shades, a tan one and a darker brown one. I use these mainly to contour since I already have a concealer the exact shade of my skin.

These are a cream concealer, so my first concern was whether they would be blendable and smooth, hard and waxy, or a greasy nightmare. I am so pleased to report these are soft and creamy and super blendable. I haven't had any issues with it being to greasy on my face, and I have fairly oil skin during the summer. Now keep in mind it is blisteringly hot here so the texture may change come below freezing weather, but I have a feeling it will still be pretty creamy.

As far as how long it lasts, it just depends on what you top it with and prime under it with. On days I don't prime I find it does crease under my eyes and fades as my foundation fades. The contouring shades fade throughout the day even if I prime and top with powder, but a setting spray helps there. I'm pretty hard on my makeup since I teach so many Taekwondo classes during the week and as I said it's been 100 degrees here most days. I'd like to think the lasting power will be much improved when I'm not sweating out a gallon a day.

I'm so happy with this purchase and I think you guys will like it too. You can find it anywhere that sells NYX, but I prefer to get my products from Ulta during their big sales. I believe I got this for half off the retail price of $11.99, so a pretty good deal. And if you really like a specific color they sell some of them in individual pots if you aren't ready to buy a whole new palette.

July 2015 Empties

Wow, am I late on posting this! Sorry guys, the weekend left me drained and I really am struggling to find the energy to do everything I need to do at home and this blog right now. Hopefully after injection number 2 in a few weeks I'll start to feel better and get my energy back, but for right now I'm just wiped. Anyways, let's talk trash. I had like 24 empties for July, which is pretty darn impressive! There were a lot of repeats and things I really don't feel like talking about so I'm just going to talk about a hand full of items this time. Maybe for August I'll do a video instead, getting my video space all set up actually, just need to get a tripod now and maybe an external light. But that's a conversation for later, onto my empties!

That is a mighty fine pile of trash if I do say so. A lot of makeup was finished in July, which is always exciting, especially when it's things like lipstick and eyeshadow. I've been attempting to finish up all my extra hair stuff so I'm glad to see a few bottles in the pile.

Of this picture nothing is really a repurchase except maybe the brush. I love the ELF studio brushes but they always fall apart after a year. For $3 they are a great price but it gets annoying to have them pop apart mid-use all the time. The sunscreen is a hubby favorite, I find it to greasy for my skin but I'm sure I'll buy more of it anyways. The Marcelle BB cream was crazy heavy for a BB cream, made my face look cakey and awful. I had to mix it with my Maybelline BB cream just to wear it. The last items, the brush shampoo and the face wash, were alright but just didn't make the cut.

I love love love the Rimmel Stay Matte powder, I've already got a new one I'm using. For just a few bucks you really can't beat them, especially if you have oily skin like I do. The eyeliner was a basic brown one and while I liked the formula I hate the Pacifica brand due to their insistence on putting coconut in EVERYTHING. Seriously, why does eyeshadow need coconut infused into it?!? That Real Chemistry peel was ah-mazing! I'll be buying a full sized bottle of it next time I have extra money to spend, seriously nothing else has made my skin look and feel as good as that did. A+ product. The two eyeshadows were from my ginormous ELF palette that I'm working my way through. One was a lovely plum and the other was a greyish color. The pink mascara is by Essence and is my cheap holy grail mascara. It was like $5 and worked so much better than 90% of the other mascaras I've tried over the years. The only one I like better is the Urban Decay Perversion one, which is $22. I'll probably pick another tube up once I finish testing a few other mascaras I've acquired lately. And lastly is my project pan lipstick. It's gone bad and was starting to give me a reaction, so I'm calling it done for my health and safety. There's maybe half an inch left so I'm pretty happy with how much I actually used up.

Keeping track of my empties like this really lets me know what I'm using up and what I really shouldn't hoard anymore (like lotion, I really need to stop buying lotion). Setting goals either here in my empties or by doing a project pan really helps me to focus on using stuff up before it goes bad. And we all know I have more than enough makeup to last me a lifetime. My goal for August is to finish up the lip balm from my project pan and a whole lot more hair stuff. Anything past that is just icing on my bronzer covered cake.

Thursday Thoughts

Wow, this may be the first Thursday Thoughts I've written on an actual Thursday instead of writing it the night before. I had a REALLY rough night (which I'll talk about it a bit), hence the later than usual posting. Any ways, as per my usual I am linking up with Jen of Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for her Thursday Thoughts weekly link up.

So I'm about a week into my first dose of Lupron, and it has not been a fun experience so far. The first month is the worst, and I knew that going into it, but everything hitting almost all at once was just to much for me to handle. I've had a headache since getting my injection and I've been feeling sick for the last few days as well. The hot flashes suck in this heat for sure, and I've started throwing up pretty much every meal I eat the last 2 days. My hair is falling out a bit and my pain level has easily doubled. This is just a lot to deal with, but I'm committed to doing all 6 doses and theoretically by month 2 I will be feeling better. Hopefully.

We went to IKEA the other weekend to pick up some stuff and the new items are starting to float in! These are some of their new mugs (or at least new to my store), I can't decide which I like the best. And have you heard about the new bulk candy section IKEA is adding to their food section? My store will get it this weekend, but we won't have time to go check it out till later in August. I personally can't wait for the new paper goods stuff to hit my store, that is quickly becoming my favorite section. Anybody else an IKEA fan?

Yesterday was National Lipstick Day, anybody do anything special? I wore one of my favorite shades and helped a friend pick out the perfect shade for her new dress and that was it. If I had realized beforehand it was National Lipstick Day I would have done a themed post about lipstick. Did anybody do a good sale? I was expecting a whole bunch and didn't really see any. Not that I need anymore lipstick. I want more lipstick but I really don't need anymore. Want vs need, the age old conflict.

SlimQuick Extra Strength Drink Mix

*I received this free for testing and reviewing purposes. All opinions are 100% my own*


UPDATE: The people at SlimQuick were kind enough to provide a $5 off coupon for my readers, click here to get it.

Because of my health issues I bloat horribly and I'm not able to work out like I want to, which means my belly looks full all the time and I've got some squishiness in places I don't want to be squishy. Until my treatments have progressed enough that I can do 10 sit-ups without horrific, crippling pain I have to look to other methods to help with the squish and the bloat. I eat pretty well most of the time and I'm attempting to limit my salt intake and drink more water to help with the bloating, but I can only do so much. Sometimes as I blogger I get to try items I really want to, and these SlimQuick Extra Strength Drink Mix packets are one of those times where my wants and my opportunities aligned perfectly.

In case you are not familiar with SlimQuick, they are a company that specializes in weight loss products like meat replacement shakes and powders (though I seem to think I've seen bars too). They make a protein powder I love but my store no longer carries too, so I was pretty familiar with the brand. Most SlimQuick products are designed to help women lose weight by addressing the most common physical reasons our weight loss program may be struggling, like hormones and the ever dreaded bloat. These packets have a drink mix that helps boost your metabolism, suppress your appetite, debloat you, boost your energy so you can actually work out, and support your natural hormones. A pretty good list of benefits, but I know you don't care about what the manufacturer claims, you want to know if it worked for me and how it tastes.

Let's start with the flavor, since for many people a bad tasting product, no matter how well it works, is a no go. These are "mixed berry" flavored, sort of a fruit punch sort of flavor. You mix the powder into 16 ounces of water and drink several bottle of it throughout the day with your meals. It wasn't a bad taste, there was just this medicinal quality to it I did not like at first. After about day 3 of my testing I got use to it but if you want something that just tastes like juice you won't like this. It tastes just enough off that I never forgot what I was drinking. And can I just say drinking several bottles of anything a day sucks? I know I should drink more water but since my bladder is basically being strangles peeing in uncomfortable and difficult on good days so needing to pee every 2 hours really wasn't fun.

I've only done 4 days of this drink mix and I did not do the recommended amount due to the above mentioned bladder issues and I've already seen results that make me want to suck it up and do a full course of it. My normally bloated stomach is almost flat and my jeans fit better as a result. I'm also more comfortable without the bloated stomach as well, which is making life a little less awful right now. I don't know if I've lost any weight because we are a scale free household for my mental health but I look better and I feel better. Do I think I've lost weight? Probably a little bit from at least the water weight going away, and I'm sure if I combined this with an exercise routine and drank the recommended amount I'd see some serious results.

I've always like the SlimQuick brand and I'm just as happy with their new drink mix as I am with the other products I've tried. I would assume you can find these in most stores, but you can do a search on their website as well as get valuable tips on weight loss and see what else they have available. I'll be finishing up my box for sure and will probably purchase another box once that's done.