STEAMCREAM Review: Shu Tin

I am all about moisturizing, especially during the winter months.  I know the polar vortex has been pretty brutal all across the country, but I can say for certain that it's been absolutely frigid here in western New York.  I hate having dry skin, and these cold temperatures make it even worse because there's hardly any moisture in the air to spare.  I find that my hands are especially scaly and itchy this time of year, which is why STEAMCREAM has been a lifesaver for me!

STEAMCREAM is a cruelty-free moisturizer that's gentle enough to use on your face, or you can use it all over.  The brand is a UK staple, and the product recently became available in the States as well.  They use a unique steam process that locks in moisture, making the handmade cream a lightweight emulsion that is easily and effectively absorbed into the skin.  Only the best ingredients are used, including an oatmeal infusion, lavender essential oil, and organic jojoba oil (a full list can be found here).

I chose to review the beautiful Shu tin, as I was drawn to the gorgeous, bright pattern.  The STEAMCREAM website describes the design as, "Vermillion red, the intense colour of fine Japanese lacquerware, and in the makie tradition, delicately adorned with golden flowers."  I love that each STEAMCREAM tin is a limited-edition design that can be reused as a container for rings or other trinkets long after the cream is gone!

I've been using the Shu STEAMCREAM on my face, hands, and body and it really has worked wonders.  I love how silky smooth it feels when I apply it, and I appreciate that it absorbs nice and quickly.  Some people may not like that it's in a tin and not a pump dispenser, but I personally prefer the tin because I feel like it's easier to use when I'm in a hurry to get ready in the morning.  They're also nice and portable, and I plan to take one of my tins (see my previous reviews here) with me when I go on vacation to Florida next month.

• Check out the STEAMCREAM website and browse their full line of tins
• Connect with them on Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest

Bottom Line: STEAMCREAM is an excellent moisturizer that delivers on all of its promises.  I love that it's cruelty-free, made from natural ingredients, affordable, and incredibly effective.  I recommend STEAMCREAM to everyone I know!

*Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by STEAMCREAM.  I received no monetary compensation.

January Orange Glad Review

My amazing friend Linze (the one who bought me the Too Faced Chocolate Bar palette for Christmas!) surprised me with a gift subscription to Orange Glad, too!  My birthday is three days after Christmas, so the palette was for one and the Orange Glad boxes were for another.  Basically, she's awesome, and I can't wait to surprise her with some great stuff for her birthday in March.

Orange Glad is a food subscription service that costs $15 per month plus shipping and handling.  They send a mixture of amazing sweet treats, so this is the perfect box for me!  It was actually on my list of subscriptions to try, so I was super excited when Linze told me she bought three months for me.

January's box contained five different products, all of which were ah-may-zing!  I absolutely loved every single one of them.  There aren't may treats that I won't enjoy, but some of my favorites are caramel, coffee, and cinnamon flavored, all of which were in this box.

• Just Desserts Sour Cream Coffee Cake - This was the first snack I tried, and I took them to work to split with Linze.  I can't even describe how absolutely perfect they were, but I'll try: the top was crunchy and crumbly, and the cake itself was so soft and moist.  The all-around flavor was just fantastic, I want to buy more of these for sure!
• Clairesquares Buttery Shortbread Square - Along with the coffee cakes, this cookie was my favorite item in the box.  It looks plain, but it was so damn good!  The flavor was perfectly buttery and sweet and I just loved it.

• Uppercrust Mini Rolls - These little cinnamon rolls were so cute!  Orange Glad recommended heating them up in the microwave for 10-15 seconds, which was a good call.  I shared these with my family and they were enjoyed by everyone.

• Sweet Lydia's Caramel S'More - I loved the packaging for this and I was really excited to try it because I love caramel.  I sadly will report that it was just okay, but by no means was it disappointing.  I guess I was hoping for a caramel that was nice and gooey, but it was less noticeable than I would have preferred.  That being said, s'mores are also not my favorite dessert, so that's probably why I didn't enjoy this as much as someone else might.
• Divine Chocolate Milk Chocolate Bar - Divine was the only brand in the box that I was familiar with from prior experiences, and I was so glad to see the milk chocolate bar included because they make delicious chocolate!  It's fair-trade certified, too, so that's definitely a plus.

Bottom Line: I loved my first Orange Glad box and I can't wait to see what the February and March boxes will include!  I 100% recommend this box to anyone who loves sweet treats as much as I do.

*Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post.

Check out more photos of my January treats behind the "read more!"

January Bestowed Review

Bestowed is one of my favorite food subscriptions to review because they always include a great variety of health-conscious snacks that are also really tasty!  Their January box continued this trend with a theme of starting the New Year out strong with attainable resolutions for eating right.

Bestowed costs $19 a month, or $209 for an annual plan, with shipping included for both options.  All of the products are selected by Bestowed's founder, Heather Bauer, a nutritionist and author.  I've been pleased with every box I've reviewed, and I think the $19 price is a steal.  This box is especially great for people who want to try new brands but may not have access to a wide variety of health food stores or options.

• Oatworks Pomegranate Blueberry Smoothie - This "bottle of oats" smoothie is vegan, non-GMO, and gluten-free.  It mixes oatmeal with all-natural fruit and zero sweeteners for a fulfilling meal on-the-go.  I haven't tried it yet, but I'm very curious to see what the texture and flavor are like.
• Beanfield's Bean & Rice Chips in Pico de Gallo - These chips are delicious!  I've had other flavors from this brand before and I love them.  They have a great crunch and the pico taste was fantastic.  They're made from natural ingredients with four grams each of complete protein and fiber per ounce.  They're also certified gluten- and GMO-free.
• Mini Coogies in Double Chocolate - When I first saw these I thought the name was so cute and funny, and I just assumed it was a playful way to say "cookies."  But then I learned that they're so named because they have real vegetables in them!  They contain carrot, cauliflower, and broccoli, but you can't taste it at all.  These are a really clever way to get kids to eat their veggies.
• Rainbow Light Counter Attack - This supplement is meant to be taken at the first signs of "seasonal discomfort," and fights against sinus and respiratory pains.  Even if you don't get seasonal sicknesses, this herbal blend can be taken as a preventative measure to keep your immune system strong.

• Mini Coogies in Oatmeal Raisin - See description above for the Double Chocolate bag.
• EBOOST Natural Energy Booster in Berry Melon - I went on a rant sometime last year about EBOOST packets and how much I hated them (because I felt like I was getting them in a ton of boxes), but I approached this energy shot with an open mind.  It tasted kind of like cough medicine, but it was quick and easy to use in place of my morning coffee.  It's mixed with coconut water and contains minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, green tea and green coffee bean extracts.
• Balance Bar in Dark Chocolate Peanut - I didn't care for the flavor or the texture of this Balance Bar, unfortunately.  It just wasn't my cup of tea.  I appreciate that it's made from Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa, though.
• Salba Chia Boost and Skratch Drink Mix - Neither of these things were listed in the informational packet that was included in my box, so I'm wondering if they were extras.  I have received them in past Bestowed boxes, so I appreciate the spare samples!

This box also contained coupons for Nasoya Tofu, Reed's Culture Club Kombucha, and Stonyfield Organic Greek Yogurt.  I'll definitely use the kombucha and yogurt ones, but I'll be giving the tofu one to a friend.

• Use coupon HELLOYUM77 to get your first Bestowed box for only $10!  This coupon code expires on February 15th.

Bottom Line: January's box contained great options for a healthy New Year!  I highly recommend Bestowed due to their commitment to sending quality products, along with a great variety to sample from.  You can read my past Bestowed reviews here.

*Disclaimer: This post was sponsored by Bestowed.  I received no monetary compensation.

Choose Dress First This Prom Season!

I know it's only January, but now is the time to begin thinking about prom season.  I remember in high school I would always start looking for my dress around this time, because if you waited too long all of the good ones would be gone!  This season, be sure to make Dress First your one-stop shop for your prom dress!

DressFirst.com has tons of beautiful dresses in lots of different cuts and colors, so they'll surely have one that will fit your sense of style.  One that caught my eye was the A-Line/Princess Sweetheart Chiffon Dress pictured above.  As a global leading online retailer for special event dresses, Dress First offers customers a wide variety of high quality dresses at affordable prices.  They offer savings up to 60% off of competitors' prices!

Dress First also puts your priorities first in regards to shipping, because they know that the last thing you need before your special prom night is a late delivery of your dress.  They ship worldwide with companies including DHL and UPS, and provide expedited shipping as well as budged-conscious options.  Their internally-trusted logistics providers give customers peace of mind in knowing that your dress will be handled with care and delivered to your door in a timely fashion.

Those who are new to online shopping may be wary of buying a prom dress online, but Dress First makes the experience incredibly easy.  They offer a safe and secure shopping environment, so customers' payment info is in safe hands.  Payment options that are accepted include credit, debit, wire transfer, Western Union, and PayPal.  Dress First also utilizes VeriSign's globally recognized payment technology, so not only is shopping with them convenient, but it's safe and trusted as well.

Bottom Line: I will be recommending Dress First to everyone I know this prom season, because they offer excellent customer service and their prices are fantastic.  I enjoyed browsing their selection of dresses, and I don't even have a prom to prepare for!

*Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post.  I received compensation through Sverve.

January Birchbox Review

My January Birchbox was one of the better ones I've received.  It contained four regular samples and one "Birchbox Find," and four out of the five were perfectly tailored to my interests.

January's theme was "Go Time," which was all about taking initiative in conquering new things.  Again, I rarely ever see any connection between the themes and the products, but I appreciate the sentiment.

I peeked at my products on the Birchbox website before receiving the box (as I always do), and I was excited about all of them sans the Juicy Couture perfume.  I hate perfume samples and I do have the option to receive no more than six perfume samples a year checked on my profile, but I wish there was an option to just say I don't want them at all.

• Beauty Protector Protect & Detangle - When I went to try this out the spray pump wasn't working, so I took a video and emailed Birchbox's customer service department to ask if I could have a new one sent.  They responded saying that the pump was probably clogged and provided information on how to clean it out, which was nice of them, but why would a brand new sample ever be clogged?  I was a little annoyed by this, and I didn't want to mess around with cleaning it out, so I just found an old spray pump from another sample that fit the bottle and used that instead.  Regardless of that, I do like this product.  It smells great and since I heat style every day I'm always looking for heat protectants.
• Inika Mineral Eyeshadow in Eternal Marine - I wasn't sure if I wanted to open this because I don't wear a lot of blue eyeshadow, but I looked around for some swatches and decided to keep it and use it.  It's more of a gray shimmer with a slight tinge of blue, so it's very usable to me.  I love that this brand is certified 100% cruelty-free by Australia's Choose Cruelty Free Organisation, registered with the UK Vegan Society, and have packaging that is made from recycled materials.  I'll definitely be purchasing more from this brand in the future.
• Juicy Couture Viva La Juicy - So not only is this a perfume sample I don't want, it's also a repeat sample for me.  I don't like the way this smells, so I'm going to keep it for possible swapping in the future.
• Nail Rock in Sequin Green - I was most excited to try this product because I love doing my nails.  It ended up being a disappointment, and I wish I had received a different kit that may have yielded better results.  My favorite color is green, so originally I liked the sounds of this.  I was disappointed to find that the nail polish included was clear (how boring!), since some of the other kits contained colored polishes.  I also found that the glitter/sequins were too big to really stick to the nail, so more than half ended up falling off within a day.  I'd be willing to try some of the kits that had smaller glitter particles, but I don't recommend Sequin Green.
• Burt's Bees Intense Hydration Day Lotion with Clary Sage - This was my Birchbox Find item, which means it's a drugstore brand that Birchbox thinks their subscribers will enjoy.  I'm on the fence about Burt's Bees for a few reasons (they're cruelty-free but owned by Clorox, plus some other things), but I was still willing to try this.  At first I thought it was a body lotion, but after reading more about the product I realized it was for the face.  It has a nice light smell and feels weightless on the skin.  I wouldn't purchase a full-sized version of this, though, since I prefer to support companies that are 100% cruelty-free.

Bottom Line: Aside from the Juicy Couture sample, I really liked this box.  The Nail Rock was disappointing, but it was still fun to try.  If you're interested in signing up for Birchbox, please consider using my referral link!

*Disclaimer: This is not a sponsored post.  Post contains referral links.