In a lab coat: January 2015

Monday, January 26, 2015

january glossybox review

My very first Glossybox delivery came the second week of January, and I've taken a few weeks to try out the products. I'll be doing a monthly review, and I'll try to keep account for myself and anyone else looking into a fun subscription like this if it's worth the money, and what the products are like.

Glossybox is a monthly beauty subscription that promises to send five products from "luxury" and "up-and-coming" brands. Birch Box is another beauty subscription service that supposedly (according to many other reviewers online) is not as "worth the money" as Glossybox. I don't know though.

According to Glossybox, this January box sold out last week, which means it must be a good one. The retail values are listed to show that (according to my calculations) this month had $75-80 worth of product PLUS a $40 gift card all for a $19-21 box - so that's good news. I especially love that most of the products included this month are products I use anyway just different brands, and the others are products I probably should be using every day.

Kueshi Revitalizing Face Toner -Full Size

I love that this has a fruity smell, and feels cool on the skin thanks to the aloe in it. I have been slacking on skincare in December and so it's nice to bring back a toner into my routine.

Skin&Co Roma Truffle Therapy Serum-Sample Size

This is my favorite product in the box. I've used it the past two weeks 1-2 times a day after washing and toning, and then used a moisturizer on top and the gray dullness in my skin faded and brightness returned. Although a little goes a long way with serums like this, this serum dries pretty fast, and it's hard to spread out all over my face before it dries. The serum uses "properties of the truffle mushroom" and I don't know if truffle mushrooms smell, but this stuff smells delicious.

Even Jake, who had no idea I was doing anything different, complimented the way my skin looked after my first week with this product. But, one fluid ounce of this from the Italian company is $80 and so we will just have to cherish this sample size (.17 fl oz) while it lasts.

Vichy 3 in 1 One Step Cleanser-Travel Size

Cleanser, like toner, is always good to have because it's a product I'll buy anyway when I run out of my full sized ones. It's a morning/nightly routine to wash my face so I'm happy they included this travel size. It's large enough that I can get many uses out of it and it's perfect for throwing in my gym bag.

There's nothing super special about this product because I'm a believer that most cleansers on the market all wash faces fine, so save money on cleansers. Cetaphil is my favorite, but we also use store brand face wash too (if you are going out to buy face wash though - be careful about those that include salicylic acid as an ingredient because if you don't struggle from a ton of acne it's incredibly drying and it makes my face burn and break out in warm rashes).

Teeze Trendy Stiff Flat Brush-Full Size

This is another good product because it's always nice to add a new eyeshadow brush. The brush is very stiff and not good for an all over color but works well with highlighting under the brow and/or shading dark the crease and outer corner. No complaints, plus the handle is a fun print.

Lollipops Eye Pencil in Goodbye Moon - Full Size

I was skeptical about this product at first and thought it'd be junk, but after using it multiple times I see it's value. I haven't met another eye liner crayon that goes on as smoothly as this. It glides so well almost like it's melting on your skin so you have to use very little pressure. It can be easily smudged if you want it to be, and the fine tip allows precise application. Supposedly it has a metallic finish but since it's black I can't see it. As with the toner and cleanser (and serum for a lot of people), black eye-liner is always something to have in a makeup drawer so I won't have to buy any of this for a long time.

The Glossybox

The pink box itself is pretty cool. I have it in my office helping me keep organized now, but it could just as easily be used for any other storage!

Also included in this box was a $40 gift card to Hello Fresh .

updates

I've added a few more features to the blog this morning.

In the right side column you can now search the blog for a specific post or keyword.

If this is your first time here, older featured posts will also appear on the right side column too. In addition to the archives link. The links at the top of the page are also functioning to check out different older posts.

If you don't want to miss a post (because I'm not that reliable about getting posts up at the same time every week), you can subscribe by e-mail using the link found in the right hand column.

I have no way to actually know if anyone is subscribed by e-mail notification, so I'm mentioning it again. If you already are then you know how well it works! (I only know Jake is because he told me he was and he thinks it's helpful).

january favorites

Last week was probably one of the most stressful weeks I've had since the first month of school. I'm not quite sure there was a real reason that it was any more stressful than the others, but I freaked out a few too many times and had to take the entire weekend to decompress after my cardiology exam. In fact, I'm taking this morning off to decompress as well ;) .

Jake came home after another long week away Friday, and right after he walked in the door we headed to dinner and met up with friends who had tickets for The Funny Bone Comedy Club. We had such a fun time!

After Jake finished working Saturday (while I bummed on the couch all day), we did take time to enjoy the warmer weather and started cleaning up the house. My entire counters were covered in dirty dishes, the laundry was overflowing, and you couldn't see our closet floor - this was all just from me and my week by the way. We finally took our christmas decorations down, cooked dinner, ran errands, and chilled the rest of the time.

Here are some of my January favorites that I've loved this month!

1. Pitch Pizza

Jake and I are attempting to make this a weekly (or biweekly) stop. So delicious.

2. Glossybox Subscription

Stay tuned tomorrow for my first monthly review. A Christmas gift that keeps on giving, what a nice treat to get a surprise present in the mail every month!

3. 1989

I've been jamming to this on my commute every single day to lift my mood. This is what Taylor was meant to do.

4. This painting at UNMC: "The First Year" by Neil Christensen

5. Red Rising by Pierce Brown

I don't even know how I heard about this book, but I am so glad that I did. This book is for fans of Harry Potter, Hunger Games, Game of Thrones, and Divergent type books. It's more of an adult book than the YA novels because it has more detailed violence and terror than Harry Potter ever had. It's an easy read with much less characters to remember than what Game of Thrones asks you, but it's a complex story and you can't predict what will happen next.

I can't review books as well as others. Check out Barnes and Noble's "Five Reasons You Should Read Red Rising." Don't be afraid by the fact that it takes place on Mars I was disinterested because of that at first but it only took a few chapters to get hooked.

Monday, January 19, 2015

tortellini primavera

Last night Jake and I cooked a new recipe from the Toast to Omaha cookbook from the Junior League of Omaha that we received from our wedding. We altered the recipe slightly and I've added it below. It was delicious, and it's a good change up from the regular alfredo cream sauce. Jake even ranked it as one of his top favorite dishes.

Tortellini Primavera (serves 4)

1/2 cup onion, chopped

5 cloves of garlic

2 Tablespoons butter

1 package chopped spinach

1/2 cup of fresh spinach, chopped

1 tomato, diced

1 package of cream cheese (8 oz)

1/4 cup milk (we used skim, whole or cream would probably taste even better!)

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon of Italian seasoning

1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

Sprinkles of Oregano and Basil

2 cups of cheese-filled tortellini, cooked and drained

*Toast to Omaha suggests adding 1 cup of mushrooms too

In a large skillet melt butter on medium low heat and saute the onion and garlic for around two minutes until flavorful (this is where you would saute the mushrooms as well). Add all the other ingredients except the tortellini and stir until it begins to boil. Add the cooked tortellini and stir.

Sunday, January 18, 2015

choosing the best colored pens

I want to start incorporating some more product reviews on this blog and so I'll start with a product I've used for years, like almost twenty. In fact, since my occupation is a student and after so many years I can consider myself a "professional note taker" I suppose that would make me an expert on this topic: colored pens.

What could be the differences you ask? Why does it matter?? It matters if you practically spend your entire day writing, and it matters if you don't want to waste money on a bad product.

This will not be a review on fancy scrapbooking, art, nor planning pens, I'll be reviewing the classic Target/Walmart/Office Max selections. I also will not be reviewing blue and black ink writing pens, because those are a separate category too.

Let's get started! I've always purchased colored pens for note-taking, here's the current stash that I'll be reviewing in addition to a few more collections that I've used in the past.

THE BAD

BIC Atlantis - $3.15

If you like bright colors, these are not for you. The price tag is appealing, and they look like fun pens, but the ink does not pop from the page and they are hard to read compared to darker staining inks. They last a long time though.

photo from here

BIC Multipen - $3.79 for two.

Like the BIC Atlantis, the colors don't "pop" on a page and the thickness of this pen is sometimes annoying to write for long periods with. This pen was my favorite pen during undergrad and of course I liked the convenience of having all of the colors in easy access, but the blue and green barely showed up on notebook paper so I often found myself using up the purple ink, then using the pink, and then never touching the pen again.

THE DECENT

Papermate InkJoy Retractable Ballpoints - $3.00 for 10.

These pens are not wonderful, but the colors for the price and the quality are a good deal. They last a long a time and although the colors don't stand out tremendously on paper, they are easier to read then the BIC ones mentioned above.

Pilot G-2 - $8 for eight.

These pens have a thick gel ink that looks great on paper. I have no big complaints about these pens, they are only in this category because my last two selections are better

THE MUST-HAVE COLORED PENS

uni-ball Signo Gel 207-$6 for four colors is the only online price I could find but they come in larger packages as shown below. Office Depot sells the entire set, but they are also available at Target and Walmart in less colors.

The ink in these really stands out on paper and makes you actually want to look at your notes, it's a thick ink like other uni-ball pens. The neon colors are my favorite, and they aren't too neon to read - these are the pens I wrote "these are so fantastic" with in the photos above. They glide smoothly, and every color shows up well. The only downside is that the gel ink does not last as long as the less impressive pens' ink do. Or maybe I just use these too much.

Staedtler triplus fine liner .3 mm - $10 from Staples and $13 from Target. Office Depot has the 20 piece set for more color options.

A couple of my friends in class have these and one told me that "they make studying fun!" and she was right, they do! They write like a very, very thin marker so you can fit a lot of information on a page or write easily in margins. They come in their own plastic carrying case and the case even sits up as a little stand.

These are my very favorite pens for class. They are also good pens to have around for writing in my planner, making grocery lists, and writing notes and letters.