I feel like I waited for this for so long, so I'm really happy to be able to have this review up for you guys now! Also, below hte video, check out my swatches and other pretty pictures of this palette! And don't forget to let me know your thoughts =)
Also, I must state, because I forgot to in the video, but does anyone else really hate the way UD spelled "Smoky"...?! The internet says they are both correct, but I can't help believing that "smokey" is the only correct way to spell the word... "smoky" looks like "smocky" to my brain for no good reason, and I hate it. /rant over
As the title suggests, today's video is a comparison of the Urban Decay Naked 3 palette and the new-ish L'Oreal La Palette Nude 2, both rosy, pinky, purple, taupey palettes, one high end, one low end... so how do they compare? Check out my video, and the swatch picture below to find out!
I also included a quick review of the Miss Manga Rock mascara from L'Oreal in this video, because I didn't really have enough to say for a separate video! Enjoy, and let me know if you've tried either or both of these palettes, and what your thoughts were! =)
No makeup or fashion-y stuff today! Today I'm giving you a peek into my phone. This is probably more interesting for those with an Android phone, or anyone who is just particularly nosey (don't worry, nothing to be ashamed of! :P) Also, below the video is a list of some of my favourite apps, a blurb about why I love them, as well as a link to get them from the Play Store! Sorry iPhone people, you'll have to search the apps yourself to check if there's an iPhone version, but there probably is.
QuickPic (Find on the Play Store)
This is an alternate gallery app, which I like a lot more than the stock Photos app. I still use Photos to allow me to upload my photos to Google Drive so they're backed up online, but I love how pretty and easy to use QuickPic is. It's also very customizable, which I love.
Aviary (Find on the Play Store)
This is an awesome photo editing app. Less useful now that Instagram lets you change stuff like saturation, contrast, and shadow/highlight balances, but still, this is a great app for editing pictures you maybe don't want to cut into a square. Really easy to use and with lots of controls.
Feedly (Find on the Play Store)
As I mentioned in the video, this is an RSS reader, which isn't something I ever thought I'd use, but it's really handy for keeping up on news and blogs. All you do is look up the sites you want to get updates from (typing in the URL is the easiest way to make sure you get the right one), and you can sort your news sources into different categories if you want. For example, some of mine include beauty (mostly blogs and temptalia), tech (like the Verge and MobileSyrup), and local news (like Vancity Buzz and my local newspapers).
Google Keep (Find on the Play Store)
I showed the widget in the video, but this is a great, easy to use, and very attractive note app that lets you save simple notes and lists (which checkboxes!), colour code your notes, share them with other Keep users... and all of your notes are backed up online, and can sync between devices, which means you can make a list on your tablet, and view it from both your phone, and also the website or desktop app on your computer! I use this basically everyday, because I love lists.
AlphaBear (Find on the Play Store)
This is a great little puzzle/word game. I usually don't stay hooked on a game for long, but this is my latest find, and I do really like it, so I thought I'd share. It's a super cute application, just like all the ones by this developer—Spry Fox—and basically you have to create words out of the letters on the board, like if you threw a bunch of Scrabble pieces on a board and had to make words out of the mess. Another adorable and addictive little game is Triple Town, also by Spry Fox, and that's a game that I have kept going back to for a few years now!
DashClock (Find on the Play Store)
This is an alternate clock widget. I find the stock Android one boring (because it is), and this one allows you to download loads of extensions for whatever apps you want, so you can get tons of extra information on your home screen's clock widget, such as the weather, your battery's status, text alerts, an unread email count, tweets, etc. You can also customize how the clock looks. Can you tell I love customization?
Sync Pro for Reddit (Find on the Play Store)
I use Reddit. I am a Redditor. If you are too, this is a great app that I recommend. It's appearance is customizable, it's easy to use, very attractive, and yea. There's a non-pro, free version too, if you want to try it out before committing. If you aren't a redditor, dude... why?
Fenix (Find on the Play Store)
This app is expensive, so I understand if you don't get it. I got it because the old app I was using stopped getting updates and was buggy, so my boyfriend decided to buy this one for me because he loved it himself. It is beautiful. Very customizable. The only thing I wish it could do is schedule tweets, but it does everything else I want it to do. It's easy to use, you can see people's pictures in the stream, or get small thumbnail previews, and it will hold your place in your stream, so you don't have to try to scroll back and see where you were.
Timehop (Find on the Play Store)
This app is so much fun. All you have to do is connect this to all your social media platforms, and it will pop up everyday when your feed is ready, and it shows you all of your posts through the past years. Usually it shows 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 years ago, but I've also got glimpses back as far as 6 and even 8 years ago into my social media existence. It's really cool... and also sometimes a little depressing to look back at what an annoying person you were online 5 years ago :P
Starbucks (Find on the Play Store)
Starbucks is my addiction. I've had a gold card for a long time. I love that this app lets you pay for your drinks without pulling out your wallet, lets you track your stars, promotions, purchases, and is a Starbucks locator. Simple, but awesome.
Goodreads (Find on the Play Store)
I love Goodreads because I love keeping track of my books. I do the yearly Goodreads challenges, too, so I like to make sure I update when and what I'm reading and when I've finished a book, which is much easier with the ap because I can just scan the bar code to add whatever I'm reading, and keep track of my progress and reviews without having to remember next time I'm on my computer. Yes, I'm a nerd.
Instagram (Find on the Play Store)
I know. Obvious, but no list of my favourite apps could be complete without my favourite social media platform! You should really follow me if you don't already! :P I love posting random pictures of whatever I want, and seeing everyone else's pictures throughout the day! So addicting, and so much better now that you can edit your pictures WITHOUT using a filter!!
Thanks for watching and reading! Hope you have an awesome day!
Anyways, no book review for you this weekend, just a reminder that my most recent Book Chat video went up on Monday, in case you didn't see it! In those videos I do a round up of all the books I read since last time, and talk a bit about the book and how I liked it.
TL;DR: The past 6 months, I only read 6 books! O_O
Hi guys! Today I have a quick review on the 14-Day Skinny Teatox (this and the rest of their products can be found at Skinny-Teatox.com). I was sent this teatox for review from Skinny Teatox through BrandBacker, but all of the opinions in this post are completely my own, and always will be.
I know that this is a little different of a thing for me, but I do love my tea, and I've been interested in the whole teatox idea for a while, because it seems like a much safer and easier thing to do than, say, a juice cleanse! So, when I saw this opportunity pop up on Brandbacker, I had to apply for the campaign! Also, Skinny Teatox is a Canadian company, which is great, and also means that shipping to Canadian addresses is quite fast, which is great!
If you've never heard of a teatox before, you might be able to guess from the name that it is a body detox tea. In the case of this system, you drink one tea every morning or afternoon, and another tea every other night after dinner. You can choose on their site to do this detox for 7, 14, or 28 days. For this review, I tried out the 14 day teatox, which regularly retails at $42.
Aside from being great because it's Canadian, the skinny teatox is 100% natural, and "Gluten free. GMO free. Nut free." So yeah.
Here's a quick look at everything that came in my package:
Info pamphlet- side 1:
Info pamphlet - side 2:
The daytime tea is a loose leaf tea (so you'll need some sort of teaball or infuser):
As I mentioned above, you drink this tea every morning or afternoon, steeping approximately 1 teaspoon of the tea in a cup of hot water for up to 5 minutes. The longer you steep the tea, the stronger it will be, and I liked to steep this one for more than 5 minutes. I really loved the taste of this one, and steeping for longer didn't make it bitter or tannin-y like a black tea gets. The flavour of this tea is light and lemony, and looks about the same colour as green tea. I think it has a little bit of caffeine, but not much, so if that's something you avoid, I doubt this is enough to be an issue.
All in all, this tea was a great way to start the day, and I would love to continue drinking it even though my teatox is now over. Which is actually possible, since they sell this tea seperately, though it is $20 for a bag. Still, I would consider repurchasing!
This tea is meant to energize you, increase your metabolism (thus potentially aiding in weight loss, because your body should burn more fat during the day), and aid in appetite suppression. I didn't find that it really suppressed my appetite, personally, and I didn't feel any more or less energized than if I started my day with a coffee, but I guess that could be a good thing for anyone trying to wean themselves off their morning cup of coffee! But yeah, this tea is lovely, and I'm sure it would taste great iced as well.
Strawberry tea infuser:
For this review, Skinny Teatox also included this adorable strawberry tea infuser, which is not usually part of the teatox set, which was really nice of them! They do sell this infuser on their site as well, and it retails for $11. But if you already have a teaball or infuser of some sort, this isn't necessary, just adorable! It's also not huge, but does fit a teaspoon or so of loose tea perfectly.
The Nighttime tea, which comes in regular teabags:
I was a little sceptical at first because this particular teatox has a weak laxative ingredient in the night tea, which is part of how this detox is supposed to work, by flushing toxins from your body which may be building up, causing your body harm, or even preventing weight loss. However, I didn't find that the laxative effect was very strong or even very noticeable, certainly nothing to be worried about, in my experience. Of course everyone's body is different, and I do have a fairly strong stomach and digestive system, so experiences will vary, but I doubt it would be too much of an issue for most people.
As for flavour, though not as much to my tastes as the morning tea, the nighttime tea is still pretty tasty, with more of a mint-like flavour. These tea bags, like the loose tea, are meant to be steeped 2-5 minutes, with more time meaning more strength. If you find this tea causes too much of a laxative effect, you can steep for less time, or more if you want more of an effect. The flavour can get quite strong if steeped for 5 or more minutes, but it never gets bitter. I found that some nights I really didn't want to drink this tea, but a little bit of honey made it taste better, thus making it easier for me to drink. Unlike the daytime tea, I don't think I would choose to drink this as a regular tea, as I didn't enjoy the flavour as much.
Because it can have a laxative effect, you don't want to use this tea every night, which is why the instructions say to use it every other night. And make sure to keep up your intake of water while on this teatox, and especially on nighttime tea days, so that you don't get dehydrated from the laxatives!
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So, how did this teatox work for me?
To be completely honest, I didn't feel like it made a lot of difference in how I felt or look. I don't think I lost any weight, all of my clothes fit the same. I didn't eat any worse than I usually do, but I didn't cut out junk food, though I was also trying to eat healthier. That said, I frequently want to eat healthier around the summer time, as the hot weather makes me crave refreshing fruits and vegetables, and lots of water! I didn't find the teas made me have more energy than usual, and I'm not sure how to judge if they upped my metabolism, but I guess since I didn't see any weight loss or size change, that probably suggests that it didn't have much of an effect on me. So do I feel that this teatox did what it said it would? Not exactly.
That said, I do love the morning tea, so that's a great product even if it doesn't have the promised effects. Also, I think that for some people, doing a detox or teatox could help you get in the right mindset to start eating healthier and exercising more regularly. This set is, ultimately, an aid, not a cure. Alone this teatox won't make you loose weight and suddenly have tons of energy, but it could help along with those things you should be doing anyways: eating well, drinking lots of water, and exercising regularly.
Finally, I wanted to include a list of ingredients, since I couldn't find one listed on any of the products or on their website. All I found was lists saying stuff like "ingredients may include some or all of: ___", which frankly is a little odd. I did contact Skinny Teatox through Brandbacker more than 2 weeks ago, but they never responded. I also have sent an email to them, as of writing this (june 25th), so I will update this post later if I hear back from them. I think not having a proper ingredient list is a little sketchy, if not illegal (don't canadian brands need to include ingredient lists on their ingestable products?), so that is probably the biggest downside to this product.
Anyways, I'm glad I got to test out this product, though I don't feel it had the suggested effects for me, and I would probably look into trying another brand, and/or acquiring more of this brand's morning tea in the future.
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So those are my thoughts on the 14-day Skinny Teatox! If you're interested in giving this a go for yourself, you can click here to go to their site and order one for yourself! I don't have a discount code for you, unfortunately, but you can often find the teatoxes discounted on their website, or sometimes they have discount codes on twitter and instagram, so check out those platforms before you buy!
Let me know if you've already tried this teatox, or a teatox from any other brands in the comments below, I'd love to hear your thoughts! =)
