Month: September 2012

The Soap Box Fall Edition

Posted on by Cindy

I recently heard about the company Fortune Cookie Soap and I was curious so I checked them out. I liked what I saw so I went ahead and ordered a box.

This is another beauty box subscription that is shipped out quarterly (Fall, Winter, Spring and Summer). You can expect to receive 8 to 10 exclusive Fortune Cookie Soap products. Plus you also get a $10 off coupon to use online or in their store. The price for the box is $20 (USA) and here in Canada I paid $28 (actually $28.41 with the exchange rate). So this is probably the highest priced box but knowing that the products are all natural and hand made is worth it it my opinion.

This is based out of the US but they do ship to Canada.

Also something that might be interesting is that you the subscriber get to try all the great seasonal products before it hits the market. How awesome is that? I love knowing that a selected few get to try this before everyone else does.
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I was lucky enough to get in for the fall box and that is what I am talking about today. Please note that I was in no way compensated for this post. The Soap Box was purchased with my own money.

I received The Soap Box in a plain brown box. Which doesn’t bother me because its whats inside that counts. I had no idea what I was getting this time and there wasn’t much revealed on the site which I loved and I don’t think I encountered any blog posts or vlogs on the box.
For some reason when I go to post the following pics they are all sideways sorry about that. When I opened the box this is what I saw at first. This is the fall product card. Very nice and fall like.
This is the list of the products I got in this box. A total of 8 products so we are off to a good start.
 
This is the $10 off coupon and I will more then likely be using it very soon because there was a few things I loved in this box.
 
The box was wrapped much nicer then this but I was making a vlog so I had already opened it and was taking pictures for the blog post.
 
Here is all the goodies I got sent. I just have to tell you that it all smelled delicious and just like summer. I was dying to see what they sent and to discover what those amazing smells were.
 
This is the Pumpkin Coconut Crunch Itty Bitty Gritty lip scrub. It sells for $8.99. Its got a mixutre of pumpkin pie and coconut. I have to say at first it felt stiff but after a few times I like the scent and how it made my lips feel. It was like they were being scrubbed clean and it left my lips soft. I think this is a full size product because I compared it to my other lipbalms.
This is the Snickerdoodle Whipped Cream. I loved this and the smell was delicious. Its Allspice, sugar cookie, butter and cinnamon. I have been limiting the number of times I have been using this because I am trying to savour it before being able to buy it online.
Next up is Ripe For The Picking OCD Hand Sanitzer. Loved the smell and the only thing that I didn’t really like was the container it was in. Its suppose to be a hand santizer but its hard to get out of the bottle because its not a squeezable bottle. It sells for $2.89. I am thinking they sent a full size product of this although I’m not sure.
This soap was delicious and a perfect way to wrap up summer memories. Its the Roast My Marshmallow Fortune Cookie Soap. It sells for $3.29. As soon as I smelled this it brought back memories from my high school days. I think this will be something I will be buying as well as the other soaps they carry which is quite a few.
I wasn’t sure what this was at first but when I realized it was A Roll In The Leaves Bath Fizzy. When I smelled it I automatically thought of fall.  I am excited to try this out. I’m not sure if this is a full size sample. The full size is 4oz for $4.50
I love baths and having new soaps and bubbles to try is always fun and this one is going to be used soon. Its Something Nutty milk bath. The full size is 12.5oz for $12.99.
Something that I have never heard of or tried is Cram Your Face in My Sweet pumpkin Pie Mask. I wasn’t sure how I would use this but once I found it on the site I quickly realized I couldn’t wait to try it. I love the smell of pumpkin but the only thing was it left me craving a Pumpkin Spiced Latte from Starbucks. 🙂 The full size is a set of these pouches (4) for $6.99.
Another item I am super excited to try is this Eco Suns in Fig & Berries. Its full size is 4 oz for $6.99 and it will do 10 loads of laundry in a conventional washer or 20 loads in an HE front loading washer. The 16 oz. bag will do 32 loads of laundry in a conventional washer or 64 loads in a HE front loading washer. That one is $13.99 + $7. I am also looking for an alternative in laudry soap so this one will be used very soon.
 
So that is my Fall Soap box, what did you think? Did you see any products that caught your eye that you are dying to try out?

Have you gotten this box?

I am excited to get the winter box and see what kinds of smells and scents they will include. I think the above scents are all the new fall ones being introduced in the line. The scents are in the various products they have.

I have looked around and I will probably place a small little order in the next few weeks. I spotted some thing that would make great holiday gifts.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Topbox September Edition

Posted on by Cindy

If your new to my blog you might be wondering what Topbox is, well its a Canadian monthly beauty subscription service tube. Yea that’s right its shipped in a tube. Isn’t it pretty. It comes wrapped up in brown paper. These make perfect storage containers and look so pretty sitting on a shelf or dresser etc.

Its $10 a month and you can expect to receive at least 4 deluxe sized samples and you occasionally get a full size product as well. I have gotten more in the past but the least you will ever get is four products.

Before beginning my review I should let you know that I was in no way compensated for my review. This is a monthly subscription service that I pay for monthly.

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This month I received my Topbox a little later the usually. Not sure what happened but its okay. The first thing I noticed right away was how light the tube was. Topbox was been pretty consistent with there boxes and I realize you can’t always have a great box and I think I can probably count on one hand how many times its been a lousy month. So that is a pretty good record.

Since starting topbox they have always been consistent like I said. They have remained with the same packaging with the exception of the tube you have the choice of what you want to receive, this pretty one or a plain recycled one and I love the printed ones and I think the only recyclable one I have (that was a special tube) is used to store change.

So lets get into this months tube shall we.

I am loving the Benefit line and always thrilled when I can get a product to try. This month I am lucky enough to try the Benefit They’re Real Mascara. I have been using this pretty much every day and I really like it. I know I shouldn’t have opened it up since I have others to use before this one but I wanted to try something different.

The full size is 8.5 g for $29 (sadly as much as I like this, I don’t see me buying it when it runs out, I just can’t justify spending that on a tube of mascara.) The sample we got was 3.0g for $10

 This is something that is new to me, I have never heard of this perfume before. Balenciaga Paris: L’essence by Balenciaga Paris.  I wasn’t sure on the scent at first so I had to check it out. The card said that this is a sequel and a new beginning. A leathery violet fragrance, a new contemporary elegance. I found this to be a little strong at first but then as it wore on I loved it. I could see me wearing this day or evening. The only down part of this is the bottle I wish that it would have been a spray bottle instead

 The sample is 4ml for $9.00 and the full size 50ml for $110.00

I have been hearing amazing things about this and was almost tempted to go and buy it but thankfully Topbox almost read my mind and sent this Philosophy Purity made simple one step facial cleanser.

We got a sample size of 30ml bottle for $4.50 and the full sizes are 90ml for $13 or 240ml for $26 . I think that is a pretty good price and I could see me going out to buy this when I finished it.

This is something I have gotten in the past from a previous box (sadly I don’t remember which one) and its the M. Asam Perfect Teint. I haven’t tried this out yet (or the previous sample) but hopefully soon I will try this out and since I have two (on hand) I am thinking that perhaps I need to.

Also include in the Topbox is the product card which I love getting because not all the time is the computer on and alot of subscription services is doing away with it and I really hope that Topbox doesn’t.

On the flip side of the card was this:

 
I am hoping to grab this soon although I might pass this one to a friend since I don’t get downtown all that often and to make the trip to get this is a little crazy since I would be relying on public transportation.

So this month I have to say that this months box has a value of $27.70. That is a pretty good value considering I paid $10 for it and there is some stuff that I am excited to try and use.

Did you get Topbox? What did you think this month?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Glymm Bag September Edition

Posted on by Cindy

In case you are new to my blog I thought I would tell you want Glymm is. Glymm is a monthly beauty subscription box that is currently only available to Canadians. Their office is here in Montreal, Quebec.

 
You will receive 4-5 deluxe sample sized beauty products from the best brands. They have now switched to putting your products in a make up bag which is suppose to reduce waste and be more eco friendly. Its $12 a month and its a recurring charge. I think if you subscribe to the year its cheaper but I prefer paying monthly just in case I ever want to cancel it. You also collect loyalty points that can be redeemed for products on the site.
 
Please note that all my Glymm boxes are purchased by me and I am in no way affiliated with them and my posts are my honest and sincere opinion. I was in no way compensate for my thoughts.
 
I got my Glymm back on Tuesday (18th) and I had no knowledge of when it was coming because I never received any email confirmation. I have to admit that I did see some sneak peaks before getting my bag this month and I was a little disappointed.
 
I tried to do a vlog but my camera kept shutting off on me so it will be pictures this time around again. In all honestly I think this is better because in the vlogs you could see my disappointment and I don’t want to be a downer in them.

As you can see this months Glymm bag is white and its like the black one I got last month. I am not to thrilled with the white bag and I thought they would have gone with a more fall like bag. The retail value of the bag is supposedly $12.00 Canadian. You could say that this technically pays for the box (since I have been a subscriber before the price change I only pay $10/month) but in all honesty I don’t go out to purchase a new make up bag monthly and I am pretty loyal to the ones I have now so to get a new one each and every month is a bit of a waste for me.

This is the contents of the bag. Sorry its a little blurry.

Waterproof Makeup Remover from LA Fresh. This is something I will  try out and I love that is biodegradable, alcohol and cruelty free. This is perfect to toss in your make up bag if your going away for a weekend and don’t want to pack alot.

Full Size: 24 wipes for $9.99
Sample : 2 wipes for $0.83

EVOLVh Ultra Shine  Moisture Shampoo and Conditioner. One of the things I noticed right away was that its sulfate free, paraban free, sodium chloride free, keratin safe, color safe, its not tested on animals and its vegan.

I have never heard of this before so it might be fun to try a new shampoo and conditioner. Plus I love it that they are listening to us and including both a shampoo and conditioner. Nothing worse then getting a sample to try when you only get one. I love having both to get a feel of the product. Plus I think I could get at least two weeks worth of washing my hair with them.

Full Size: Shampoo 8.5oz for $24.00 and Conditioner 8.5oz for $25.00 (seriously whats up with the price difference?)
Sample : Shampoo 2 oz for $5.68 and Conditioner 2oz for $5.88

This is an exclusive item in this month’s bag. Its the Super Moisturizing Face Cream for Girls. This is a  high-quality super moisturizing face cream for girls and its made from 100% natural active ingredients: apple, prickly pear, strawberry, kiwi, kigelia africana and macadamia oil. I am curious to try this out. On the website they said I could get 7 uses from it although I’m not quite sure.

Full Size: 30ml for $19.99
Sample: 3ml for $2.00

Another new to me product is Dulce En Fuego Whipped Body Crème. I have never heard of them before but I have to say I am excited to try this out more. I loved the smell of it and it smells like fall baking.

This is what the site says:

Musky bitter chocolate sweetened with vanilla and touches of citrus then positively inflamed with black pepper and nutmeg will always leave you wanting more.

Doesn’t that sound good? I will probably use this on my hands and any rough dry spots. They said you can get up to three uses from this and its recommended you use up within two months.

Full Size: 177ml for $15.75
Sample: I would think roughly 10ml $0.89. Its not marked on the jar but its not alot.

Total Value of the box: $ 27.28 (roughly) You could say that the box did pay for itself.

 

I am still on the fence with Glymm but sadly I am thinking the time is getting limited with our relationship and I think I will have to cut the strings soon.

Some of the reasons I am thinking of ending it:

  • I have had a few awesome packages but sadly they were few and fair between.
  • I felt as though they never really lived up to the deluxe sized samples and more so when they switched from the box to the make up bags.
  • The monthly make up bags, I liked it at first but really how many make up bags do you need?
  • Since switching to the bag we no longer get full sized products.
  • Not enough make up.
  • No monthly product card, they email you to let you know when its up online

Do you get the Glymm bag? If so what do you think?

 
 
copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Meme) Top Ten Tuesdays

Posted on by Cindy

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme that is hosted by the bloggers over at The Broke and The Bookish . If you want to find out more or to see upcoming Top Ten Tuesday topics be sure to check them out.

Today’s topic is:  Top Ten Bookish People You Want To Meet (Authors, Bloggers, etc.)

I have actually been sitting on this post for awhile because I have been racking my brain over this one. This is a hard choice because who would I really want to meet.

I have been lucky enough to attend two BEA’s (Book Expo America) and I have gotten to meet so many bloggers through that as well as authors. So to sit and come up with a list is really hard. Not sure if I will make it to ten but I will give it a shot.

Authors:

  • Terry Spears is one author I would love to meet because I have been a fan of her’s since I started reading her books. I am always thrilled when I can have her on the blog.
  • Andrew McCarthy. I was suppose to meet him during BEA but unfortunetly the event got cancelled. I have been a fan of Andrew’s since the 80’s and the movies he did.
  • Molly Ringwald is another actress turned writer I would love to meet.
  • James Patterson. I love his books and I believe twice he has been at BEA and the lines were so long that I gave up.
  • Stephanie Chong because she is a Canadian author. I love her two books and missed out on meeting her at BEA this year.

Bloggers:

This one is a little harder because I follow so many fantastic blogs. I would love to list  you all but I can’t but I always look forward to meeting bloggers when I am out at events (author signings or BEA)

  • Lori from Pure Imagination she is an awesome blogger
  • Kim from Tales of a Ranting Ginger is an awesome Canadian blogger and is always so helpful. She isn’t a book blogger but a review blogger and one I look up to in that type of blogging.
  • Melissa from The Betty and Boo Chronicles. I missed out on meeting her in 2010 but hopefully when I make a stop in PA in the summer we will get the chance to meet up.
  • Angela from Reading Angel is someone I would love to meet one day.
  • Molly and Andy from The Bumbles Blog. We were exchange partners and they just seem like awesome people that I would love to meet although I have to admit I do more stalking then commenting on their blog.

There are so many bloggers and authors I would love to meet and hopefully one day it will happen.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

Something New to the Blog

Posted on by Cindy

I have actually been sitting on this post for awhile and I finally decided to post it tonight. I had thought that eventually it would die down but it seems like its been increasing so I thought that I would address this now and make some changes to the blog.
For the past few months I have been getting tons of spam like comments from anonymous sources. Now I do love getting comments but not the ones that have nothing to do with the blog topic or ones that include links to another site that is hidden within the post.

I hope this doesn’t offend anyone and I do moderate my comments so technically you never see the spam comments. But do the increasing numbers now ( I use to average 4-5 spam comments a week but now its 5+ a day) I am no longer allowing anonymous comments.

To those spammers who are sending me spam you are really trying to hid it because you are going back to much older posts. Is it really worth it? 

So thankfully you my blogger friends never use the anonymous feature to post so it should all be good. Just remember if you comment and don’t see it, its because I have to approve all comments.

Have a good night.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Meme) Sunday’s In Bed With…..#15

Posted on by Cindy
I was just about to get ready for bed when I realized I had to do a Sundays In Bed With…. post. 

The awesome blogger behind this is Kate from Midnight Book Girl   not only is she an awesome blogger but she is was one of my roommates for BEA. YAY!!

Midnight Book Girl

Sundays In Bed With….is a meme I’ve started to share the book we’re spending the morning in bed with, or the one we’d like to stay curled up in bed with all Sunday if only our busy lives would allow! For fun, take a picture of the book in your bed, or simply write up a post or comment below sharing your Sundays in Bed With book. Quoted from Kate’s blog

Sadly this morning I am not in bed with anything because by the time this posts I will be at the arena watching Michael on the ice. He is in hockey camp and will be until next Sunday and then I am sure shortly after that it will be practices with a team.

So instead of a book cover let me leave you with a hockey picture from Thursdays practice:

He is the one in the yellow jersey and red socks skating towards the guy with the red gloves. I love watching him skate.

Hope your having a good long weekend and that you manage to find some time read this week. Its hard to believe that this is the last long weekend of the summer. Where did the time go?

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.

(Recap) Smart Chicks Kick It! Tour comes to Montreal

Posted on by Cindy

If you remember recently I mentioned that the Smart Chicks Kick It tour was making a stop here in Pointe Claire (which is a burb of Montreal) for the Third and final tour. Well today was that day.

I actually arrived at Chapters at 11am to save a few seats for a few bloggers (which I will get to shortly) and by then there was already a few people waiting. So needless to say I am really happy that I got their early.

Before I begin my recap of the day (I was actually one of the last bloggers to leave) I just want to give out a huge shout out to Tamara (she is the manager of the children’s section) “Dude, You are totally freaking amazing!” I can’t speak for the other bloggers but you rock and thanks for all that you did for us. We totally appreciate it. I will now make time to read Tiger’s Curse 🙂 and you so know you will see me next week in the store 🙂

Okay now to the recap. The whole day was amazing. Its been awhile since I have been to an author signing like this.

Another huge thank you goes out to our host, Mathieu (who is the Marketing Manager for Eastern Canada for Chapters) who did everything in his power to make us feel welcomed and made sure we all left happy. He was very gracious with his time for us crazy bloggers.

Like I managed earlier I got there for 11 to talk with Tamara and to meet Mathieu and there was already a few people there so I was really happy that I got there when I did because before long it started to fill up. There was roughly 200 people who attended.

This time we took a ton of pictures. Here I am with Cindy B and Stephanie (one of her co-bloggers) from Tynga’s Reviews

We managed to grab a group photo of the bloggers before the event started and thanks to the awesome Clare for Ontario for taking this for us. (I hope I spelled your name right?)

(bottom: Emilie from Emilie’s Book World (Ottawa Blogger), Lucy from Moonlight Gleam’s Bookshelf and AH from Bad Ass Book Reviews (she is a Montreal blogger who literally lives about 5 minutes from me.)

(top: Stephanie from Tynga’s Review , Ciara from Lost at Midnight Reviews (Ottawa Blogger) Cindy B from Tynga’s Reviews and myself.)

Of course I had to get a pic of Lucy and myself.

I was worried about getting there so early because it only was starting at 2pm but honestly the time flew by and it didn’t seem like we were there that long but then again when you have awesome company the time flies by.

Before you knew it the authors were coming out. They all introduced themselves and I have to say Kelley keep the ball rolling and things went smoothly with Q&As, offering prizes and more Q&As.

The authors on this leg of the tour is Rosemary Clement-Moore, Melissa De La Cruz,  Melissa Marr

Kelley Armstrong, Maragret Stohl, Rachel Caine and Kami Garcia.

I was lucky enough to win a book:

I graciously passed this on to Cindy B because she didn’t have this and I had an ARC of the book. I love the cover of this, don’t you?

After the Q&A it was time for the signing and I was lucky enough to get all my books signed by all the authors with the exception I thought Kelley had signed my copy of Entralled but she didn’t. Oh well I will keep that for the next time she is in town and hopefully it won’t be another 3 years.

 Rosemary Clement-Moore (signing my books)

For some reason I don’t have a picture with Melissa De La Cruz. Hmm not sure if the person took it with someone else’s camera or what but its okay cause I got to meet Melissa when she was in town last year and I almost fan girled when she told me she remembered me.

 

Next in line was Melissa Marr and she graciously signed all my books in one shot so I didn’t have to go back to the end of the line. Thank you Melissa you rock.

Can I just say that by far the funniest ones at the signing was Margaret and Kami? Plus Maragret had on the most amazing shoes ever. I tried to grab a photo of them but they came out very blurry and it was later that I was noticing Kami’s as well. 

Rachel Caine was another awesome author and she was one of the authors I talked to the most at this event (I stood in line numerous times so that Ciara could get all her books signed). She had some awesome bookmarks and I am sad that I didn’t get to grab the white one.

Kelley was another author I got to see and talk to alot because I was helping the other bloggers get their books signed. This was by far the longest line. Kelley is another one of those authors who will talk with you and not make you feel rushed even though there could be a million people behind you.



You know it never hurts to ask if a group photo is possible and we were lucky to be able to grab a group photo with Melissa, Rosemary,Melissa, Rachel and Margret plus our honoree Montreal Book Blogger  Mathieu. Kami is missing from the photo because she ran to the bathroom and Kelley was still signing.

 

When Kelley was done we were able to grab another picture and this time Melissa, Kami, and Rachel posed with us.

This next picture was actually taken while Kelley was still signing but I had to take it and Rosemary graciously allowed me to take this photo. This is Rosemary rocking the winter mitts of Canada. These first became famous when we held the Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

It was a totally amazing event and I am so happy that they stopped in Montreal and they will in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia tomorrow (Sunday) at 2pm at the Chapters for their last Canadian stop and the following authors will be there: Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Melissa de la Cruz, Charles de Lint, Sarah Rees Brennan and Jeri Smith-Ready. How awesome would it be to see Sarah Rees Brennan and Jeri Smith-Ready?

There is also one more tour stop and this will wrap up the tour its September 18th, 2012, 7:00 pm, Oxford Valley Barnes & Noble, Philadelphia, PA:
Kelley Armstrong, Melissa Marr, Rachel Caine, Rosemary Clement-Moore, Melissa de la Cruz, Kami Garcia, and Sarah Rees Brennan .

If you get the chance I highly recommend taking part in the tour. The authors are so amazing and you will have so much fun.

Thanks to Kelley and Melissa for organizing this, to Rosemary, Rachel, Margaret, Melissa and Kami for coming to Montreal and dealing with all the crazyness. Sadly Carrie Ryan was suppose to come but had to back out at the end for medical reasons. Get well soon Carrie and I hope you come to Montreal when you get better.

Also thanks to Chapters for hosting this awesome event and to the fantastic staff you guys rocked and kept it all calm and organized.

copyright 2010, Cindy (Cindy’s Love Of Books)
If you are reading this on a blog or website other than Cindy’s Love Of Books or via a feedreader, this content has been stolen and used without permission.