Samantha on the Prairie

I have been overdue for a color touch up, having postponed the inevitable a bit so my color timing will align well with an early summer event. I counted back about 8 weeks so I will color again shortly before my sister's college graduation, and that left me with an early April color timeframe. It's early April finally, so I once again colored my hair. After looking back at the coloring experiments I've done the past year, I was most successful with Clairol Natural Instincts brand hair color in terms of overall evenness, damage prevention, shine, and tone. The ammonia-free hair color shade I tried in 2013 was #28 Dark Brown and since I'd also tried Clairol Nice n' Easy, and another dark brown shade of Natural Instincts (not posted on the blog). I wanted a color result like the #28, but with the staying power of John Freida, so I bought Natural Instincts Vibrant Permanent Hair Color in #4 Dark Dazzel (aka Dark Brown). While the ammonia-free Natural Instincts

Disclosure: I got this product as part of a review opportunity.  Don't laugh. I didn't know there was a such thing as a fogless mirror. I always figured if I really needed to see in a steamy bathroom, I'd have to break out my blow dryer or crack open the door, neither of which is convenient. Apparently, there are fogless shower mirrors for shaving that are meant to stay clear. Designed for men, I'm assuming, to be able to shave in the shower, which is better for the skin (goodbye razor burn), you can totally stand in your super steamy shower and the mirror stays clear. I'm not a guy and my husband doesn't shave in the shower, but I actually find it better for plucking my eyebrows. The same rule kind of applies here - the pores are more open so hair is easier to remove. It's less painful and I can get the really difficult itty bitty new growth much better. Cassani Company , who makes the mirror I'm reviewing, claims their "anti-f

I have lipstick in my purse, my bathroom drawer, the guest bathroom, my work bag, and in coat pockets. Last night, I went through all my lipsticks and tossed the really old ones and the ones that just weren't the right color, leaving me with 7 remaining. Of these 7, I regularly wear two, the No7 and the Max Factor. I have a habit of buying dusty rose shades, so they're all fairly similar. Some I like more than others. Some are discontinued, some look best when used along with another shade or gloss, and some are just perfect as is. Revlon Super Lustrous Lipstick Mine is #610 Goldpearl Plum. I admit that I don't wear this one too much. It's not bad, but I find that it doesn't wear evenly and leaves my lips feeling kind of dry after a day of wearing it. The wearing issue is odd since one of the Revlon marketing points for Super Lustrous Lipstick is that it wears evenly and has "mega-moisturizers." Maybe it's just me, but I probably could trash this

Last year, being the first summer in our new house, I worked a small semi-raised bed in my backyard. The previous owners probably hadn't used it in at least a season, but there was evidence of past vegetable growth. Going into the summer, I knew little about gardening and considered my attempt as an experiment to see what I can do with just basic materials and some plants. My 2013 garden was quite a learning experience. We had a horrible summer for gardening, first with flooding rains and then drought-like conditions for the hottest part of the season. My potted eggplant didn't survive and was diseased and rotted. I had to give up on it by mid-July. My strawberries, grown in a deck box, kept getting eaten by a rogue squirrel, and my soil was too clay-like and packed to grow root vegetables (like the turnips I planted). I did have success with my tomato plant, aside from that nasty squirrel's habit of stealing one a day and eating only half, and my jalepenos grew fast an

Disclosure: I got this product as part of a review opportunity.  UPDATE: I shared this review with my husband and mentioned my interest in the Holster pill box. He'd seen it as well, but also pointed out there is a Carafe model with a drink cup and pill box combination that would be perfect on my nightstand. Since we had a little rewards money to use on Amazon, I ordered both. Happy me! Here's what I bought: Sabi 2-Compartment Carafe with Drink Cup and Pill Box Sabi Holster Clip-On-and-Go Travel Pill Box Original Review: A couple months ago, my husband sent me a link to the Sabi FOLIO Strap & Go pill box . Since I take a lot of pills (12/day minimum), I'm a bit nuts about my meds. I keep extra bottles in my purse and office and I've tried some pill cases in the past. Using my pill bottles is fine at home, but the last thing I want to do in an elevator or restaurant is whip out a prescription bottle. I'm sure no one is looking, but I feel embarra

Disclosure: I got this product as part of a review opportunity. Not to knock Tomoson, but I've gotten few products that I truly find useful or enjoyable to review. It may be because the cost to request a review is relatively inexpensive for each company who participates, meaning companies who are struggling can participate, but also that the risk of creating a campaign is lower. While I often talk about products I've randomly bought myself, I also am a member of another review group, which almost always sends high quality products and offers a lot of support during the campaign. The quality of what I'm offered is like night and day. Recently, I received products from two companies. One has been awesome and I'll post about it later in the week. The other... well, read and tell me what you think. The Request: Majestical is an eCommerce jewelry site. When posting their review opportunity, the statement was that they are a "high fashion online only jewelry sto

It's been a while since I posted a BzzAgent product here. I've been trying out the Schick Hydro Silk razor set and Skintimate Skin Therapy shave gel, complements of BzzAgent and Schick, and finally have some feedback to share! Schick Hydro Silk set with 3 blades Back of the Schick Hydro Silk package I usually use disposable razors and though I've tried these cartridge-style razor systems in the past, it had been a long time.  My usual disposable razor My biggest questions going into this review were whether I'd end up with razor burn and nicks, and will I burn through blades, I'd break the bank buying replacements? The first thing I did was explore the blade.  Some replacement blade systems are kind of difficult to tell which side is "up," but thankfully it was super easy with the Schick Hydro Silk. I also liked that there is a plastic holder/case piece that keeps my razor from sitting flat on the shower shelf or counter (so it