Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil

I was thrilled when I got the opportunity through BzzAgent to try and review the Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil.  It is 100% natural, high in monounsaturated fats (the “good fats”), has no trans fat, and no cholesterol.  It came with a substitution chart for butter/margarine and says that you can substitute it in most recipes for a healthier alternative (You can find the substitution chart at filippoberio.com).  As I am not an olive oil connoisseur, and honestly tend to get my olive oils on sale and the cheapest that I can find, my review will be from a novice olive oil perspective. 

Although I do not buy the most expensive brands out there I do use olive oil several times a week in my cooking.  I appreciate that it is healthier than butter and margarine and contains the “good fats”.  I  began using olive oil a lot when my daughter was an infant and the doctors were concerned that she was underweight.  One of the things that we did was to put olive oil onto her food because it gave her the “good fats” without changing the flavor of the food she was eating.  We tried the Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil on our steamed vegetables and using it for stir frying meat and veggies.  In both cases it turned out great!  It heated up nicely for the stir fry and didn’t give our steamed veggies a funny taste.  In the future I am looking forward to tying it for salad dressings and in marinades.  Thank you to BzzAgent and the  Filippo Berio company for allowing me to try this product for my honest review.

Neutrogena Cosmetics

I received five of the new line of Neutrogena make-up products to try out through Neutrogena and BzzAgent.  I tried the Neutrogena Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector; Neutrogena Nourishing Eyeliner; and three of the Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balms in petal glow, sunny berry, and healthy blush.  I love Neutrogena because I have sensitive skin and have never had any problem with any of their products making my eyes puff up from an allergic reaction.

Being a mom of a two year old and 9 months pregnant sleep is sometimes hard to come by.  The Neutrogena Healthy Skin Brightening Eye Perfector really did the trick in reducing my dark eye circles and making me appear more awake then I a really am.  The only downside that I saw to this product was the applicator itself.  It took me a while to product to come out onto the brush end and would have preferred something that you just squeeze out because it is faster and with a busy mom, time is of the essence.  Once I got the product to come out it was easy to brush on, dab with my fingers, and get that smooth appearance without it looking like I was wearing under-eye make-up.  My normal mineral make-up went easily over the top of it and I was ready to go.

The second product that I tried was the Neutrogena Nourishing Eyeliner.  I don’t wear black eyeliner very often but was anxious to try it out.  I was going to a party, actually my own baby shower, and so I decided to try it for the special event.  My eyes looked great!  The eyeliner went on smoothly and stayed on the whole day.  Although I don’t wear this dark of eyeliner usually, I will continue wearing this product for special occasions when I really want my eyes to pop.

The last product that I tried was the Neutrogena Revitalizing Lip Balm.  I received three of these in the colors of petal glow, sunny berry, and healthy blush.  The lip balm claims to transform your lips by making them softer, rosier, and more defined in just one week.  Although I really didn’t see any significant change to my lips in one week I did like the product.  The lip balm went on smoothly, was creamy, and was slightly colored to give my lips some added color.  I also like that it has an SPF 20 built in which comes in handy during the summer time in Southern California.  My favorite color was the sunny berry.

Thank you to Neutrogena and BzzAgent for allowing me to be invited to this campaign to try out free products in exchange for my Bzz and honest review of the products.

Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Shampoo and Conditioner

I was lucky enough to receive a free Garnier Fructis Triple Nutrition Shampoo and Conditioner to try.  I really love their products!  It has a bold citrus smell to it, it makes my hair look healthy, and makes it feel clean.  Although I like the shampoo just fine, the product that won me over is the conditioner.  The first time I used it I used the normal amount that I would with my typical brand of conditioner but it took me forever to rinse out of my hair.  I found that it is so creamy that I only need a little to go a long way.  Thank you BzzAgent and Garnier Fructis for allowing me to be part of this campaign and try this great new product free for posting an honest review.

Sharing Smiley360 Mission

I just joined smiley360.com.  It is a free product testing site that allows you to get products completely free for sharing your honest opinion of the products with others.

Sharing Smiley360 Mission: I just became a Smiley360 member! Sign-up for free at http://bit.ly/lTDqVw Be heard. Be happy.

Science Diet Ideal Balance Cat Food

I had the awesome opportunity to try Science Diet's Ideal Balance Grain Free Cat Food with my cat. I received a free bag through the Hill's company and ordered it free from petfooddirect.com. My cat only eats Science Diet food because he is so picky and has a sensitive stomach that most of the other cat food brands don't seem to take into account. I usually purchase the sensitive stomach food from Science Diet but figured that I would try out the Ideal Balance Grain Free food this time. I am happy to report that my cat LOVED it; even with being the picky eater that he is. And I loved it too because I didn't have to clean up cat spit-up all over the house because it was sensitive enough for his stomach. After finishing the entire bag of food I went in search of it at Petco but was sad to see that they didn't carry it yet. I am hoping that it will be in mass pet retail stores soon. I love Science Diet food and this definitely did not disappoint. I would recommend this product to anyone with a cat, especially if that cat has a sensitive stomach. Hill's Science Diet also makes a line of dog foods that are also Ideal Balance and Grain Free. I cannot comment on these though as I don't have a dog to try it out on. Thank you to BuzzAgent for allowing me to be on this campaign and try out this wonderful product.

If you too would like to try a free bag and see what all the Bzz is about log onto Hill's website at hillspet.com/idealbalance.  There you will have the option to compare your current cat or dog food to the new Ideal Balance.  You will also have a chance to download the rebate form to receive a FREE bag of Science Diet Ideal Balance cat or dog food.  You can't beat that price:-)

"The Harvest of Grace" by, Cindy Woodsmall

In the book The Harvest of Grace by Cindy Woodsmall, Sylvia Fischer, a young Old Order Amish woman, knows all about hard work; just not the kind that most women in her community find acceptable. Sylvia loves to help her dad in the barn with milking the cows on her family’s dairy farm. After a turn of event Sylvia finds herself needing to leave her family farm and goes to work on the declining Blank Farm. She keeps herself busy and becomes friends with Aaron Blank after he returns to the farm after addressing his alcoholism and going to rehab. Can two misfits in the Amish community somehow come together to make a profitable farm?

I really enjoy Cindy Woodsmall’s writing in this book and enjoy learning more about the Amish culture through all of her books. This book was easy to get into and enjoy. I look forward to reading other books by Cindy Woodsmall in the future. This book comes highly recommended by me for people who like love stories, stories of grace, and feel-good literature. I received a free copy of this book for an honest review through Waterbrook Multnomah Publishers.

"Hermie, a Common Caterpillar" by, Max Lucado

“Hermie, a Common Caterpilllar” by, Max Lucado is about two caterpillar friends, Hermie and Wormie, who embark on an adventure and see many different types of insects that God made. It makes them wonder why God made them the way that they are and why he made them so common. They want to know why they don’t have a house like a snail, strength of an ant, wings like a butterfly, different colors like other caterpillars, or spots like a ladybug. Every time they start to doubt God’s response to them is always that he loves them very much and that he is not finished with them yet. As Hermie begins to get very tired he is wrapped into a cocoon and emerges as a very unique and beautiful butterfly. He now finally sees God’s purpose for him and finds his friend, Wormie, to explain that God is not finished with him yet.

This is a cute book about how God has a purpose for each and every person even though we sometimes can’t see it at the time. It addresses our human concern of feeling ordinary and not special. Preschool and elementary aged students will find this book to be fun, entertaining, and educational of God’s purpose for their lives. This book has wonderful colorful pictures and a good message. I would recommend this to any child that is having a difficulty with feeling ordinary or any other young child. I received a free e-book copy of this book for an honest review through the publishers at BookSneeze.com.