Deodorant? Good deodorant? Crazy, I know!

I thought I would never give up Dove. It's inexpensive, it works, and it's all soft and fun, right?

It's so strange to talk about deodorant, but man, I really love Secret Outlast® Completely Clean Clear Gel. The only thing I don't like is that it seems to be used up much faster than my solid bar. However. I switched back to my Dove for a couple of days, and within a few hours, I was embarrassed to lift my arms. I do not have that problem at all with the Secret. It really does last, which makes it invaluable. I think I may have to switch.

In fact, I have pretty much decided to switch. It's just so much better than anything I've tried before.  I don't know what you did, Secret, because I don't remember liking you this much before.  But I really like you now.

Disclaimer:  I got this product for free to try. I still like it so much I'm going to pay money for it.

Soft and smooth and I smell good, too!

I really love the scent of this Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Miracle Dry Oil. It's light, and smells really good. It made my hair a little too oily, but when I spray it on my arms and legs, it absorbs instantly, and makes my skin incredibly smooth. I really love this oil, even better than the lotion that I usually use. And it's great for my hands, because lotion and antibacterial makes my skin feel sticky and weird. I could use it all over my body, and it just absorbs perfectly, making me feel pretty and smooth.

Disclaimer: I got this product for free to try it.

Smooth and comfortable!

I don't know if you guys know, but my skin is very sensitive, so it dries out very fast, especially in winter. My hands and arms have been incredibly dry, so much so that this morning, when I looked at them, they were scaly. Add that to healing claw marks from my overly affectionate cats, and it's a wonder I wasn't leaving skin wherever I went. I smoothed on some of this lotion this morning. The lotion is very thick and absorbs very easily. I usually hate lotion, because I always feel greasy, but this actually just made my skin feel very smooth. It's been hours, and my arms are no longer scaly, and even the claw marks look better.

Thank you, Neutrogena. My fingers even look better, because I always have issues with hangnails and skin hanging off around the edges of my nails, and this lotion has smoothed those right out.

Disclaimer: I got this product free to talk about it.

So pretty!

I have to admit, I really love this lipstick.  It goes on super smooth, and it's very blendable.  And it makes my lips look fantastic!  I don't wear it very often, but when I do, it definitely makes a statement, and makes me feel a lot more confident about myself.

The colours are super pretty, I don't think they'll all look good on me, but I definitely want to get them all, simply because they look so good!  And since they're so blendable, it's super easy to make different colours, right?



As always, I did get this product for free in order to talk about it, through BzzAgent, but that just means I got to try something I normally wouldn't splurge on, and now will.  :-D

Glade Expressions: Both decorative and useful. Like the best things.

As I've mentioned before, I received free items to talk about, through BzzAgent.

I picked up my oil diffuser today because I was looking for something for the bathroom. It was easy to put together, and I could immediately smell it when it started to work. I used the Fuji Apple and Cardomom, which I didn't think would work in my bathroom, but the decorative cover fits in perfectly with my zen/bamboo theme. And it's just so welcoming when I walk in. I picked apple and clove, because they didn't have the mandarin cotton in the oil diffuser, and the other scents didn't smell that good.

However, I also got a free frangrance mister, in the mandarin cotton. It's amazing. I sprayed it around the house, and it was so light and fresh. And it lasts a really long time!

These are definitely worth the money.

Unreal, unjunked, and awesome.

*Disclaimer: I got this candy for free in order to talk about it.  I am very happy about it.*

We all love M&Ms, but have you looked at those ingredient lists?  Awful.

But now there's this new candy.  It's called "Unreal", and it's completely unjunked junk food.  No artificials, no hydrogenated, no corn syrups.  No preservatives, and no GMOs.  I read the ingredients, and actually understood everything that went into it!  How often can you say that about candy?

Check it out, and unjunk your candy:  http://getunreal.com/.

It's too hot to go outside! READ A BOOK!

More importantly, read these books.

The Hangman's Daughter

The Dark Monk

Two books, "The Hangman's Daughter" and its sequel "The Dark Monk", by Oliver Pötzsch. Translated from German, these are two fictional novels about Jakob Kuisl and his daughter, Magdalena. The cool thing is, Jakob is actually one of Pötzsch's ancestors. Apparently, back in the day, there were entire clans of executioners, or local hangmen, to do the dirty works of the court. They were considered "dishonorable", but that didn't stop people from coming to them for medicines and such, since to know how to kill, you should also learn how to heal.

The Hangman's Daughter starts out with the murder of a child. Accusations of witchcraft fly, and Jakob Kuisl has to use all his smarts to save a woman from a town's wrath, while finding the true murderer. He's helped by his daughter, Magdalena, who is an amazing, smart strong girl. They're also assisted by the son of the town doctor, Simon, and the relationship between Simon and Magdalena is really well-written. It's subtle, this is not a romance book, but the emotion is still conveyed really well.

Then, Pötzsch follows up with The Dark Monk, and we're returned to 17th-century Bavaria. A priest discovers a secret and is killed for it. Jakob is drawn into a conspiracy involving the Church, and it's a really good sort of portrait of what faith can do to someone, and how it can affect everything.

What I love about these books is how detailed they are. They're smart, and funny, and everything is woven together really well. The subplots are clever, and I like how Pötzsch makes sure everything is connected, like any good mystery. Little details turn out to be incredibly important, and it's quite fun to see the connections forming.

Magdalena is definitely my favourite character. She's so intelligent, and smart, and I love that she has faults. She's incredibly well-written, she's not a Mary Sue. She's brash, has an awful temper, and her strengths play into those faults, making her someone that leaps off the page, almost. She's very three-dimensional, and I think she could almost be a role model, someone for teenagers reading this book to want to emulate (because, please, don't get me started on Twilight). I love everything about her. I realise I've talked a lot, but that's because these books are really, really good. They're suspenseful, detailed, and lots of fun, but you never get bogged down. Everything is so well-written, it was like I actually was in Bavaria, just watching this happen. And I hear the third one is coming out in 2013. I can't wait until it comes out, I want to go back!


 

 *Disclaimer*: I got these books for free through a program called BzzAgent in exchange for reviewing them.