RachelLeRoy
Member Since: August 27, 2007Reviews
Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
This book is so poorly written. It's really terrible. I only finished it because my 12 year old wanted to read it and I was checking to see if it was age appropriate. I liked the reminders I got about high school and all that fun lusty... +
This book is so poorly written. It's really terrible. I only finished it because my 12 year old wanted to read it and I was checking to see if it was age appropriate. I liked the reminders I got about high school and all that fun lusty electricity when you get to sit next to THAT boy in class. But the writing just sucks. -
Sunsilk Captivating Curls Gel & Creme Twist
I've recently gotten back the curls I had as a child. Must be some hormonal change thing. I'm 33 and I have boingy curls I have not had since 4th grade. Anyway, I'm enjoying this "new" hair and needed new products to style it with. I... +
I've recently gotten back the curls I had as a child. Must be some hormonal change thing. I'm 33 and I have boingy curls I have not had since 4th grade.
Anyway, I'm enjoying this "new" hair and needed new products to style it with. I bought Sunsilk Captivating curls shampoo a while back, and my daughter and I share it all the time. We both love it. But I needed a product to tame frizzies that did not make my hair dry or crunchy, and this stuff is great. It is a gel and a creme in the same bottle, and as you pump a bit of both come out. You just rub it in your palms and then through wet hair. Air dryer for a tighter curl or blow dry / diffuse for a loose curl.
The image upload is not working, but I'll let you know it is in a green see-through pump. Photo is here:
http://www.sunsilkmedia.com/images/CC_GelCremeTwist.jpg
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Origins Organics Foaming Face Wash
smells yummy, works great, not too bubbly or foamy, reduces redness. I have the little kit with the toner and lotion too and they are in my gym bag.
smells yummy, works great, not too bubbly or foamy, reduces redness. I have the little kit with the toner and lotion too and they are in my gym bag. -
pHisoderm Body Wash in Aloe, Vitamin E & Chamomile
This is going to sound familiar - but it is true for me: I'm not a fan of this body wash. It is too runny and doesn't lather very well. After using it, I didn't feel as clean as I usually do. I often use body wash to shave my legs and I didn't feel... +
This is going to sound familiar - but it is true for me: I'm not a fan of this body wash. It is too runny and doesn't lather very well. After using it, I didn't feel as clean as I usually do. I often use body wash to shave my legs and I didn't feel like this provided enough of a buffer against my razor (but it's not meant for that, I know...)
However, my husband has a true loofah (natural, not a plastic poof thing) on a stick that he uses as a back scrubber, and after a hard workout or 6 mile run he feels like he needs to scrub, and he likes this for his back so he is keeping it.
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pHisoderm Normal to Oily Skin Cleanser
I think I remember my brother using Phisoderm products for acne way back in his high school days (and he's 36 now) and the products seemed very scientific and medicinal. I was excited to see the modern redesign of the packaging to make this face... +
I think I remember my brother using Phisoderm products for acne way back in his high school days (and he's 36 now) and the products seemed very scientific and medicinal.
I was excited to see the modern redesign of the packaging to make this face wash seem light and natural. Also, this facial cleanser bottle is so large it will last me a few months!
As someone noted, it does not lather. But I can wash off my mascara by putting this right across my eye with my disposable contacts in and not a twinge of burning or redness. It is soft and gentle. The consistency is similar to the Dove face stuff my daughter uses, almost like kindergarten paste. There is no heavy scent. I like that it is a pump and not something you squeeze, and even though the pump is lockable I would not recommend it for travel because it only locks with a 1/4 turn. If it were a full turn or 2 that would make it possible for travel, but large for travel.
I was so glad this came in the mail the week before my period so I could try it while my skin was at its worst. I usually have 5-6 days of shine and I only had 2. I usually get 2 pimples during that week that last all week, and I still got them but they were gone in 2 days.
I tested this product twice a day for 7 days and love it. I will recommend it to my own pre-teen daughters.
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Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella
I like the premise behind this book - she has amnesia and wants to remember her life, we all know that one. But what if your life seems to have changed drastically during the time you can't remember? What if instead of helping to put pieces together... +
I like the premise behind this book - she has amnesia and wants to remember her life, we all know that one. But what if your life seems to have changed drastically during the time you can't remember? What if instead of helping to put pieces together everyone seems fishy? New friends, new clothes, new job, new husband... That's where we find our heroine.
I enjoyed the possible deep subject matter (a la that Harrison Ford movie about amnesia) being told in a fun, fictional way. I enjoyed that we only know as much as the main character knows, so we're suspicious too.
I am not a Sophie reader, this was my first book of hers, and I thoroughly enojyed it and read it in 2 nights because I wanted to know the ending so bad!
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La Senza Maximum Support Seamless Sports Bra
The lack of "uniboob" and the great support of this bra come from the fact that it has 2 seperate cups. That's an Encapsulation Sports Bra. If both breasts are pressed against the chest in the same piece of fabric, that is a compression sports bra... +
The lack of "uniboob" and the great support of this bra come from the fact that it has 2 seperate cups. That's an Encapsulation Sports Bra. If both breasts are pressed against the chest in the same piece of fabric, that is a compression sports bra.
You get much better support and thus firmer breast tissue with an Encapsulation Sports Bra. The online lingerie retailer, herroom.com, performed a "sports bounce test" and video taped women jogging in their different bras.
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Men Are Like Mocha Lattes by Lisa Summers
I’ll start off by saying I did not like this book. I wanted to like this book because the excerpt was about being a chocoholic, and I am a chocoholic. I don’t even think I love men as much as I LOVE chocolate (except my husband. I’d give up... +
I’ll start off by saying I did not like this book. I wanted to like this book because the excerpt was about being a chocoholic, and I am a chocoholic. I don’t even think I love men as much as I LOVE chocolate (except my husband. I’d give up chocolate for him.)
But it’s hard to write about why you don’t like a book without ruining the book. So I’ll say, there are NO SPOILERS here. I won’t ruin the book in this review. But I might taint your opinion of it.
Problem #1: the cover. Don’t judge a book by its cover they say. But if you’ve studied graphic art or art in general, as I have, you would immediately notice the amateurish design of the cover of this book. Pink, fine. Heels, cute. Curlz font in over 40pt? Puh-lease!
Problem #2:This book wants to be as funny as Bridget Jones. It wants to be as in-touch as Jennifer Weiner. It’s not. The narration switches from emails, to diary entries, to regular fictional prose – and it does not do so seamlessly. It jumps around oddly. And the font is tiny. These 2 things made the book physically hard to read.
Problem #3: I was kind of hoping the book would be funny anecdotes and tales from the author’s own experiences with men. It wasn’t. It’s an actual fiction novel with a plot. The part you are supposed to like best about fiction, I think, is the protagonist – the main character. You want to take their side and see them through better and worse. But this main character needed to be slapped. She needed a close girlfriend to say, “You put yourself in these situations, and you can only blame yourself. Grow ‘a pair’ or stop whining.” She’s the kind of female I don’t like, smart-brained but weak-minded. If you haven’t figured out by age 29 that your life is a result of choices, and poor choices often lead to unhappiness, then you won't be happy as a teacher, lawyer, wife – or many of the other things this lead female wants to be.
Problem #4: So she makes these bad choices, and suddenly there’s a BIG choice you aren’t even quite ready for her to make yet, and the book skips over all the details. It has 2 sentences about this choice, and then moves on to the consequences the next day. And as a reader I said, “Wait, what just happened? You’re not gonna tell me how/why this happened?!”
Problem #5: Misc Long Quotes. Did someone tell the author to add 10 pages to the book and she did so by throwing in quotes from other sources? Songs, articles, talk shows – get your verbatim quotes here! Even movie plot outlines… very odd.
Problem #6: The book ends with a Glossary of Kiwi expressions, because the story takes place in New Zealand. But many of the phrases are expressions we would use and don’t belong here without talking down to the reader. And this section is full of justification and typographical errors. It made my college-English-degree eyes hurt.
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DKNY Delicious Night eau du parfum spray
I am not a woman who likes very feminine scents. I don't prefer rose, lavendar or other heavy florals. I usually like citrus (CKOne when I was a teen) or musky/spicey (CK Obsession in my 20s). There used to be a great Bob Makie scent called 'Makie'... +
I am not a woman who likes very feminine scents. I don't prefer rose, lavendar or other heavy florals. I usually like citrus (CKOne when I was a teen) or musky/spicey (CK Obsession in my 20s). There used to be a great Bob Makie scent called 'Makie' that I loved that isn't around anymore. I usually wear Juicy Couture or Rock and Rose. (Which has rose but also Blackcurrant, Gardenia, Orange Blossom, Sandalwood, Musk, Vanilla)
Anyway, on a whim at the mall I tried the new DKNY. The colors of the packaging caught my eye first. Similar to Rock and Rose with black, fuscia and dark purple. The model in the ad looked like young Michelle Pfeiffer (sp?) and the testers are unique and LARGE. The lotion tester was the size you would get in a FWP, like a round glass container of eye cream size. The perfume was a small bubble of the liquid attached to a postcard, that you tear at the perf and drip on.
The scent is very musky - just on the edge of smelling like a cologne but a tad more feminine. Patchouli is evident in the scent, so if you find that overpowering you won't like this. Also Pomelo, Ginger, Blackberry and Purple Freesias.
I could not smell it on myself all day, but when I stopped to sniff my wrist every now and then I really liked it! I had the lotion on my arms and my gf Michelle with bad allergies was not bothered at all.
(and I've seen it on EBAY along with the lotions.)
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Nestlé Noir Eclat Caramel
Our taste testers were: Rachel: 32 year old woman, extreme chocolate lover Jeff: 31 year old man, enjoys chocolate, picky eater Kelly: 32 year old female Ben: 30 year old male Alice: 10 year old girl, part time host of online cooking show... +
Our taste testers were:
Rachel: 32 year old woman, extreme chocolate lover
Jeff: 31 year old man, enjoys chocolate, picky eater
Kelly: 32 year old female
Ben: 30 year old male
Alice: 10 year old girl, part time host of online cooking show, enjoys chocolate
Each taste tester tried each bar, and rated it on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best chocolate ever, and 1 being “yucky”. As a benchmark, we rated a plain Hershey bar and a Nestle Crunch bar as 8 on the scale. After a bit of quick research, I read that in the April 2007 edition of “Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry”, a research team from the Nestlé Research Center (Lausanne, Switzerland) reported on Polyphenols. They claim these “powerful antioxidants” positively affect arterial function, blood pressure, cholesterol levels, insulin sensitivity and oxidative stress.
In Nestle’s experiment with Nestle Noir, they have added value to their brand by creating new flavors and utilizing recent research to make buyers think that this snack food will not make them feel guilty or fat, but rather relaxed and heart-healthy. This is not a chocolate bar you’ll see melting in a 7-year-old’s palm, but rather an adult’s much deserved “special treat”. The packaging says it each bar is “a good source of magnesium which helps build strong bones” and “contains 300 mg of Polyphenols per serving.”
What’s really going to sell chocolate, though, is taste.
The Eclat Caramel has the 64% cocoa mixed with pieces of crunchy caramel. Rachel was poked in the roof of the mouth by one of the caramel pieces and pouted. Alice said, “If I walked away remembering one candy bar it would be this one.” Jeff enjoyed its “little bit of crunch.” At first bite, Rachel was very impressed but the mix of sweet caramel and bitter dark chocolate, but by the third bite it began to taste just like all the others. Ben thought the 2 flavors did not go well together. Kelly thought it was too much like toffee and not enough like caramel. Alice, Kelly and Jeff gave it a 7 but Rachel gave it a 6 and Ben gave it a 4.
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