Product Review: Schick Hydro Silk Razor

As a BzzAgent, I get the opportunity to try new products on the market time to time in exchange for my honest feedback.  The latest product is Schick Hydro Silk Razor.  Previous to this razor I didn't have a goto holy grail razor.  After trying this razor, unfortunately I still don't.

Cartridge right out of the package

Receiving the package, the razor looked appealing.  It had a nice rubbery grip.  However that is the best thing about the razor.  The cartridge does have 5 blades which is a plus, but the cartridge has built in moisturizing serum. It sounds good in theory, but when wet it gets gooey and clogs the blades.  After the second or third use, since the blades get dull, it almost guarantees nicks.  Because the blades get dull so quickly I needs to replace the cartridges more often then I normally would.

The overall shave is ok, leaves you pretty smooth, but with the occasional nick.  The moisturizing serum is not moisturizing enough to use by itself, but feels a litle too slick when you use shaving cream/gel.  I do use shaving cream/gel when using the Schick Hydro Silk razor.  I do feel that growth seems to come back faster when using this razor.

After one week of use

I am glad I got to try out this razor through BzzAgent as I would have been disappointed paying money for this.  Has anyone else tried this razor?  What are your thoughts?

Product Review: Glade Expressions Oil Diffuser

As a BzzAgent, I have the opportunity to try out new products on the market.  One of the products I am trying out is Glade Expressions Oil Diffuser  and Fragrance Mist.

The Fragrance Mist is an aerosol spray that has a decorative holder.  I would like the holder to look a little less sterile.  Personally I prefer to see the can then this holder. I do like that this product does come in several scents.  On the website there are 8 scents.  Unfortunately in the stores in my area, they only have a couple of scents.  I picked up Spring Showers.  This scent is nice spring scent great for this time of year.  It sprays a fine mist that dissipates in the air.  If this product is on sale or I have a coupon I will repurchase.  I would like to try the Starlit Evening or Vibrant Blossom scents.

The other new product out by Glade Expressions is an Oil Diffuser.  It is a decorate piece that snaps into the oil chamber.  The unfortunate thing about this is that it only comes in three scents.  I picked up the pineapple and mango.  This scent is the epitome of summer.  It smells of a suntan lotion I have uses in the past.  The throw of the scent is very strong.  I originally had it in my bathroom and was overpowering, so I had to move to a larger room.  I am in week three of using the product, and the scent is still very strong,.  The diffuser is attractive and goes with most motifs.  When I had it in the bathroom it looked nice.  As I mentioned earlier, I moved into the guest room and looks nice while making the room smell nice.  When I have had people over they have complimented the scent, and let them know of the Glade Expressions Oil Diffuser.  Most who were able to put a word to the scent said it reminded them of summer.  I handed out most of the coupons I have received.  I think this product is priced pretty fairly.  The refill costs around $3.50 for .6 oz.   I will be repurchasing.

Thanks BzzAgent for introducing me to another great product.

A few of my favorite....TV Shows

I am stealing this post topic from my good friend since she recently posted about this, and since I need topics, and I love TV, I thought this would be a good topic for me.

TV has been my sanctuary lately just to get my mind off of things.

Here is a list of my shows I try to catch every week on TV:

How I Met Your Mother - The story is told from future Ted to his kids on how he met their mother.  We are in season 8 and we still don't know who the mother is.  From what I hear, we might finally find out who the mother is in this season's season finale.

Rules of Engagement - A story about 2 couples and a couple of single guys.  This is an entertaining show, but seems to only be utilized as a mid season replacement of some failed new show.

Two Broke Girls - once a rich girl Caroline, now with nothing because her dad lost all of their money meets always broke girl Max.  Max offers Caroline to stay with her and a job at the diner that Max works at.  Following their antics and their dream to open a cupcake shop.  A little crude, but a fun show to watch.

New Girl - Jessica Day gets dumped by her boyfriend and finds a place to live with three guys in a loft. There is an attraction with Jess and her one roommate Nick.  They have acted on that tension and has caused for some awkwardness in the loft.  One of the hottest kisses ever on tv ~swoon~

Mindy Project - The lead Mindy is a single ob/gyn in her 30's trying to find the perfect romantic scenario to meet her future husband.

The Middle - Play on the nomenclature; takes place in the middle of the country, three children so there is a middle child, and their are a middle class family.  Fun family friendly comedy.  The youngest Brick is a little socially awkward and likes to whisper a word he might have just said; Sue is the middle child who has so much spirit but not much luck; and Axl is the oldest who is lackadaisical when it comes to school work but is a star on the ballfield.  The parents add to the antics.

Nashville - young country starlet Julliette clashes with once time big time queen of country Rayna.  Rayna is trying to keep her career from burning out, and Juliette is trying not to fall as quickly as she has risen.  Rayna's love life is a little sticky as she is married to Teddy but still performs with former flame Deacon.

The Big Bang Theory - Penny, a waitress at The Cheesecake Factory befriends four science nerds

The Office - Mocumentary of office workers at paper company.  Many office romances brew at Dunder Miflin.

Revenge - Amanda Clarke taking the identity of former juvie roomate Emily Thorne to seek revenge on the family responsible for the death of her father.

Happy Endings - modern take on friends. 6 friends; one married couple, one couple that split at the alter but giving it another take, a single girl and her former boyfriend now guy pal.

Community - Bunch of somewhat misfits meeting and becoming a study group at a community college.

(Yeah, I watch a lot of TV)

And all time Favorites

Felicity - girl follows high school crush to college.  Meets a lot of new fun people along the way.  Torn between high school crush and her RA.

The OC - Bad boy from the wrong side of town comes to live with rich family.  Rich girl from The OC falls for bad boy.  Bad boy turns good.

Scrubs - The comedic narration of the experiences of medical interns from the perspective of the main character JD.

Dawson's Creek - portrayal of a close knit group of friends through high school and college.  This came on my freshman year in college and just brings me back to a very happy time in my life.

Friends - group of friends living in NYC most of the times convening over a cup of coffee at the local coffee shop Central Perk.

The Monkees -  4 young musicians living in a house together.

Ringer - Twin sisters, one bad, one presumed dead switch identities unintentionally.

Don't Trust the B in Apartment 23 - good girl moves in with B when good girl loses her dream job and apt.  James Van Der Beek is thrown in there for a little more humor.

Veronica Mars - teenage sleuth always solving crimes at her high school and then college.

The King of Queens - Couple living in Queens with their father in law.

I know I am probably forgetting some good ones.

Review: Morninstar Original Grillers

As a BzzAgent, I get to try out items now and then in exchange for my honest review of the product.  

My latest product is MorningStar meatless products. Let me first start off with that I am a very picky eater. I can dislike a food because of taste, smell, texture, sight, you name it. I am very basic when it comes to my liking of any foods (except dessert, I don't discriminate too much when it comes to dessert).

I went with the Morningstar Original Grillers, which is more or less like a veggie patty. The nutrition content cannot be beat; 130 calories, 6 grams of fat, 15 grams of protein and no cholesterol. I prepare it either plain like a hamburger with ketchup and pickles, or a doctor it up a bit by making a 'bullseye' griller (see pic below). I always use sandwich thins as a bun to keep calories down, and to be able to enjoy the taste of the griller. I then add a slice of low fat american cheese, a few French's fried onions, and organic BBQ sauce. This is my go to staple now when I want something quick, satisfying and delicious! 

The flavor of the griller is definitely on par with a burger. It has a grilled flavor that I enjoy. The texture is good, and the color of the patty to me looks natural.

I am glad I had the chance to try MorningStar products, and I am happy to add something healthy to my food rotation.

Too much makeup

I have enough makeup to probably last me the rest of my life.  However, it seems I can't find the right anything.  I like to look natural when applying, as I don't want to look overly made up.  I feel like I use the right amount of prep to keep makeup from slipping.  Before applying makeup, I wash my face, put on face moisturizer, and then using a makeup primer.  My steps of applying makeup are as follows:

1. Makeup Primer
2. Lightweight Liquid Foundation or tinted moisturizer
3. Undereye concealer
4. Setting powder for undereye concealer
5. Light bronzer to give me a little bit of color on my pasty Irish/Swiss complexion
6. Blush
7. Eyeliner
8. Eye shadow
9. Mascara
10. Lipstick or lipgloss

By the time lunch rolls around (it could be sooner,  but I usually check my makeup around then), I look like I have NO makeup on. I look ghostly and washed out.  I don't want to apply with a heavy hand, because I don't want to look like a clown.  There has got to be a happy medium.

What would you tell your 10 year older self?

I recently read an article in Self magazine by a girl who is 29 found a letter she had written to herself 12 years earlier.  A high school project had her write a letter to herself to be opened 10 years later on who we wished to be and what advice to give ourselves.  Her letter stated:  "I know are you are going to be reading this 10 years from now...I am so insecure with myself...I hope 10 years from now I am really proud of myself, because I am not proud of myself now...Love yourself, respect yourself, stand up for yourself and don't let people push you around because I let people do it to me now.  Please, please, I hope I am secure and self-assured 10 years from now."  She then goes on to say that she is in the same spot she was 12 years ago when she wrote it...

Sadly I felt like I could truly connect with the author.  However, I think I was more self-assured at 17 then I am now.  Not by much, but definitely more than I am now.  Why?  What happened?  At least I thought I knew what I wanted to do when I was younger.  I remember saying in high school how I wanted to be a guidance counselor.  But I remember back in my day you had to teach before being able to become a guidance counselor.  So I slowly moved away from that.  In college I went on to major in psychology, because it interested me, and was a major where you didn't have to do a lot of public speaking (I hated public speaking.  Still not the biggest fan, but at least I can fake it much better now.).  I remember this one course I had my senior year, some sort of career preparedness class and the professor asking me what I planned on doing after graduation, and I remember saying "human resources assistant".  Now ten years later I look back and say why didn't I follow either of those two things?  I could have done a school counseling degree instead of attempting higher education administration, but no.  And in my daily job search what I am I looking up, positions in human resources.

I just feel like I am more lost then ever, sad and empty.  Somehow I keep getting these jobs that are extremely technical in nature.  The newest one is nothing but testing, troubleshooting, and dealing with problems with the student information system.  Some people love that....I am not one of those people.  I have gone so far in a different direction then I wanted to go.  I honestly don't know how to get back on track.  I want to somewhat enjoy what I am doing, or at least not have to lose sleep on how to do it.

So what would I tell my my 10 year older self right now?  Well right at this moment, I would tell her that so far being in your 30's sucks.  Everyone says you find yourself in your 30's.  Nope, not I, I have gone down a path more lost then ever.  Now is the time you should know what you want and get better at it.  Settle down and start that family (many have already started that years ago).  I am so far behind in so many things.  Am I ever going to get ahead?

Distracted

These last few weeks I have been more distracted than ever.  I can't concentrate for the life of me. I will think of something such as "I need to look this up", go to the computer and be like what was it I was supposed to do? or "Let me get this" and go into the other room and wonder what it was I was to get.  I find different things to distract me as well, such as the infamous "words with friends" which they even mock as a distraction in the video I have posted below.  Between voluntary and involuntary distractions, I can't concentrate on a darn thing.  Days I DO have some time (like today which I took off) I seem to waste the day away.  I did do some cleaning before this, but don't want it to be 6 o'clock before I know (the time I would be getting off of work today).  I feel like life is just slipping me by and I can't seem to grasp it to take control.

And another one bites the dust

So another one of my coworkers has given her notice.  Since I have been there the course of 16 months, four professional staff have either gone to other offices or have left the college, and 2 support staff have left either requesting another department, or leaving the place entirely.

We have hired 3 new professional staff within the last month.  The one that I worked with closely when he started told me this is not what he was expecting and thought he might not actually come back the second day.  One of the other new counselors I overheard her in the break room with her fiancee saying she has applied to positions at other places already.

When my commiserating buddy told me she was giving her notice I was devastated, but not surprised.  She hated it as much as I do from the moment she got here.  She would tell me how much she would dread coming to work, how as soon as she got to work she would just wish for the day to end...the exact way I feel.  That is not a way to live.

I recently have received a promotion and an office, which many would think would remedy the situation.  It has just caused me added responsibilities of being the technical person of the office (of which I am not that technical).  I am not running a system that we barely received any training on, and now I have to create workflows a basically create all means of communications coming out of our office.  If this happens, this will trigger that email, however if this happens, they get another email instead...all automated...and to ensure they receive the correct email.  I got the basics down, but the stuff that is coming my way, is VERY advanced.  Way over my skill set.  I am feeling even more uncomfortable that I have in the past.

I want to be happy.  Life is too short to spend a majority of your day wishing it was over.  There has to be happiness out there for me somewhere.  I keep chasing happiness and keep ending up in worse situation than I was in before.  It is pretty hard to explain on interviews, that you make one bad choice after another.  I guess I have to suck it up for now...but seeing the track record of the office and the length of how long people actually stay reassures me that it ISN'T me...but unfortunately doesn't help my overall being.

Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition

Previously I had used Garnier Fructis Sleek and Shine per recommendation from www.makeupalley.com because of my hair type.  I have fine hair but lots of it that is somewhat frizzy, wavy, straight, and curly.  If I let my hair air dry, it is a sight for sore eyes.  However the Garnier Sleek and Shine did not deliver what I had hoped.  Then through BzzAgent, the opportunity to try Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition came up, I figured what is there to lose?

Well, let me tell you, this shampoo and conditioner combination is one of the few where I can actually go a day without washing my hair and it actually looking descent.  It really gives my hair good control.  I am able to style it and by day two I can still get away without washing it.  It smells fresh and fruity but definitely not overpowering.  It is a good consistency and makes my hair feel clean and conditioned.  I usually have very tanglely hair, but I am able to comb right through it with my trusty tangle teezer after getting out of the shower.

I am not 100% positive this is holy grail material yet, but it is definitely one of the shampoo and conditioners that I will grab for most often and most likely will repurchase when I run out.

Hits so close to home...Not sure to laugh or cry...

A few weeks ago I came across this parody video/song to the song We Are Young by Fun.  This was right around the time I have been very reflective of my life and where I am at right now.  I don't know if it is because my 15 year high school reunion is this summer, just seeing the move American Reunion (which they are around my age going back to their reunion, and playing a lot of the music I loved in the 90's, and despite it being an American...Movie, it was somewhat relateable), or what, but I definitely in this weird place.  Many people have said your 30's are so much better than your 20's.  If you were to ask me today, I would say I would take my 20's over being 30 something any day (well except possibly 25...I think I had my quarter life crisis at 25, at least on my birthday I remember).  Granted I was lost in my 20's also, but I was in my 20's and thought it was ok.  And I was ok with it for the most part.  I still had fun, was much more carefree.  But now, I am still lost, and well, in your 30's it is a little harder to still be lost.  We're Not Young.  I don't have time to be lost.  There are decisions to be made...to have kids or to not have kids, settling and staying at a job I actually like and respect...  And when I heard this song, I laughed, but I also kind of choked up, as it kind of hit home...and how I feel right now...and how I have been feeling.  Based on this song, it does seem like other people my age are feeling the same way...I just wish I knew some of them.