Propagating Strawberry Plants

Propagating plants = create or grow more!  More is good in the world of gardening, no?

I bought two small strawberry plants this year.  I quickly realized I wanted more.  However, I didn't want to keep buying the plants.  I researched and discovered I could easily get more plants for free (essentially).   I would have to propagate the runners!

What are the runners?  The runners are long tendrils that will shoot out and away from the mother plant.  They are searching for soil to plop themselves down into and establish new roots.  After awhile, this plant will have well established roots and can be snipped away from the mother. (until it is snipped, it is getting its energy and nutrients from the mother plant which it is attached to)

I have my strawberries in hanging baskets, so for me, it wasn't as simple as letting the runners grow long enough to find the soil.  They'd NEVER find the soil from the height at which they were hanging.  I remedied this by attaching little biodegradable pots to the sides of the hanging baskets. I then guided the runners to these pots and pinned them in place over the soil with little pieces of floral wire, which has been bent into a U shape.  After a few weeks, the little runners will begin creating sets of leaves and nice, deep roots. At about 4-5 weeks you should be able to snip the runner away from the mother plant and repot somewhere else.

These are my strawberry runners that have been pinned into the biodegradable pots. You can even see that they are putting out their own runners!  I did end up snipping those extra runners away so the baby plants could focus their energy on their own needs (roots especially!).  They didn't need to be mommy plants just yet :-)

These are 3 out of 6 baby strawberry plants that are going to be going into this new hanging basket

After a couple of good, heavy rain showers I started to notice the breakdown of the biodegradable pots.  I know this would be a "DUH!" for most people. This is my first time, though, and it just didn't cross my mind.  I thought, "Oh, this will be great!  I will only need to plop them into their new pot and not worry about removing them from here and disturbing the young roots!"   What I ended up doing is carefully removing the biodegradable pot and gently placing them into these red plastic cup and then reattaching these new cups to the mother plants hanging basket.  Make sure if you use a plastic cup that you also drill some small holes for drainage. 

I checked the roots as I removed each plant.  As you can see, they are very nice and well established!  This will make for an easier transition to its new container.  

Here are the three babies in their new hanging basket.  The plant towards the right side did experience some transplant shock but after a couple of days it perked right back up and is doing fabulously well now!  These were transplanted back in the beginning of July.  They are big, bushy, and thriving now!

Rain Water Collection

Though my garden is a simple and small container garden, my husband and I felt it would be wise to try and collect natural rain water to water the garden with.  Not only would it help to save money by not running the hose, but my understanding is that the rain water is actually better for the plants. There isn't chlorine and other added chemicals which can, in the long run, make for a less healthy plant.

I started by sticking some extra 5 gallon buckets at the base of a couple rain spouts. HAHAHA!  This was hilarious because after one small rain they would be beyond overflowing. We realized we needed something bigger.  My husband did some searching and followed several instructions for creating a rain collector out of a garbage bin.

We bought a cheap, fairly large garbage can.  It is 38 gallons, I believe.  Then, we took a roll of window screen and attached it around the top (lid off) with staples. Next, we cut a little section out of the lid so the gutter would fit down into it.  Finally, we attached a spout at the base to be able to drain out the water.

The screen is to keep bugs from getting down and into the water and drowing.  The water will be clean of buggies when we pour it out. As for the spout, it is just high enough to attach a garden hose.  However, we have plans to lift the whole bin up either on a built stand of wood or with cinder blocks.

While it is 38 gallons, this baby filled up with ONE good rain!  And it is only catching the water from half of my roof. I would love to have a second one because, well, DOUBLE THE RAIN WATER!  For now this works, though, because I only have a small container garden.  As I expand in coming years, I will expand on this as well.

Male vs Female Flowers and Hand Pollinating

Before I took an interest in plants and growing my own fruits and veggies, I had no real idea how they came to me.  Don't get me wrong... I knew the basics of needing bees and the plants needed to be pollinated.  But if you told me there were male and female flowers, I'd have looked at you with quite the blank face.   The more research I did, I quickly came to realize that some kinds of plants would produce separate male and female flowers.  And with that I discovered that it might be hard for me to get any kind of harvest if I didn't have bees....  UNLESS....  I had pollinated myself!  Whoa!

Before you can hand pollinate, however, you need to know how to tell which flowers are which.  In MY garden, the plants that will produce males and females are my squash, zucchinis, and my melons.

Once your plant starts putting out flowers, you'll need to look at the underside, or the base of the flower.  If it is swollen with a bulb attached, that is your female.  If there is just a straight, skinny stem leading up to the flower then that is your male.

Here are photos of my flowering melons and zucchinis.

Zucchini

Sugar Baby Melon

Notice how both of the females have a swollen bit under the flower.  That will be the fruit of the plant so long as it is properly pollinated!  Now, what if you don't have many bees?  You can easily and successfully pollinate your plant yourself.   I take a soft old nail brush (something light and fluffy, not too stiff) and swirl it around the open male flower to pick up the pollen.  Then, find an open female flower and swirl that same brush around inside it.  This will place the pollen properly so it can now grow the fruit at its base.  If you have enough bees and you see them going from each plant you don't have to worry so much about doing this.  I have stopped hand pollinating because I have a lot of bees that have found my yard and are doing the work for me.

*Random Advise:  Don't panic if at first you see nothing but a bunch of male flowers.  Typically, the plants will send out a bunch of male flowers first and then a few weeks later you'll start seeing some females pop into the mix as well. :-)

Gardening Update

I had briefly mentioned previously that I may end up trying my hand at growing some fruits and veggies this spring/summer.  Well, I did.   Everything started with one little strawberry plant I brought home.  From there, my obsession with growing stuff began.

Currently, everything is growing... and growing well. I have strawberry plants, squash, zucchini, tomatoes, okra, a purple bell pepper, and a red bell pepper.  I also have my small pots of herbs: parsley, chives, basil, and lavender.

I haven't been able to harvest from all of my plants yet.  The strawberries and herbs are really the only things I've been eating from.  ...and on that note, for the time being my strawberries have stopped putting out flowers.  They are everbearing variety so I can only assume they've stopped because the heat has gotten beyond their ideal point. I'm thinking once fall rolls around and the temperatures cool back down I will be getting more.

For now, I'll just simply show you a couple of the small fruits that are growing.  :-)

This is a sugar baby watermelon.  This was about a week ago, so it is even larger now!

This is a purple bell pepper.  It is just a wee thing right now, so it is still small and green.

I think I will touch on hand pollinating in a later post, too!  I started out with zero bee activity so I was hand pollinating many of my plants.  However, several kinds of bees (from bumblebees, to sweat bees, to honey bees!) have found their way to my yard and have been helping pollinate all of my plants for me!  YAY FOR BEES!

This was one of the first bees I spotted!  He was hanging out on my melon flowers.

Growing Strawberries!

I'm attempting to grow strawberries!  Yup!  I am not a gardener, by any means.  In fact, my husband likes to joke and say I have a black thumb.  Up until now, the only thing I have managed to keep alive are aloe plants.  And that's mostly because they're a very hardy plant and it is difficult to kill them....  you can forget to water them for quite some time and they'll be golden.  You just shouldn't OVER water them.  Anyway...  Back in April, I believe, I saw some organic seedlings available at a local plant conservatory/butterfly garden.  I decided I'd give them a shot, I mean, I've been growing my aloes for years now and my herbs for....well, a handful of months. HAHA!

I happily brought my little baby plant home and put her (yes, these are girls... they just feel like they should be girls) into some soil placed in a coconut fiber hanging basket. She has been doing VERY well!  She has grown so much larger than her original size.  For that reason, I decided I'd test my luck and get a second one.   So far, so good!  They've both been producing berries and growing like crazy.  I have had one small set back, but nothing major.  My first plant has started showing signs of blight on the leaves.  Only a couple have shown the disease, but I've pulled them off and will be keeping a watch.  I think I may need to spray them with a baking soda mix. 

Let me mention, too, that plant #1 is a Quinault and plant #2 is an Ozark Beauty.  They are both everbearing strawberry plants.  So, the berries are smaller, but they'll produce their fruit for longer.

The photo just above and just below are what my plants look like as of today.  I have wrapped the baskets in some bird netting because I have a lot of flying friends that come into my yard and I don't want them snacking on my fruits. They didn't have a chance to snag any but I wanted to be sure I protected the plants before they did!   I prefer the looks of the plants without the netting, but I've had to trade off the visuals for practicality. 

I thought I'd mention, too, that most of the white specks you see are crushed eggshells to provide calcium to the plants.  I've also tossed in some coffee grounds a time or two.  I tried to blitz up the eggshell into a powder, but my Ninja was only able to get a portion of it to a complete powder.  

The above photo is my first little plant when I first planted it and then, to compare, currently. She sure has sprouted and grown, huh?  She seems very happy in her home. 

My next project (I think) is going to be putting in a small patio garden to grow some veggies.  We'll see....  if I'm going to do it, I need to get it together in the next couple of weeks in order to actually harvest anything before the end of the growing season.

Juicing

Myself and my husband decided we were going to start incorporating fresh juices into our diets.  There is no question that juicing your own fruits and veggies is far more healthy for you.  Let me back up, we were initially going to do a full blown reboot.  If you've seen the documentary Fat, Sick, And Nearly Dead you're probably familiar with what I'm talking about.  If not, I highly recommend watching it.  It was very interesting.  

As I said, we were going to do a reboot together.  However, I am still a nursing mother and can't risk detoxing and having those toxins released into the breastmilk.  So, I can only do a partial juicing.  But, that is still a million times better than nothing at all.

There are a couple downsides for me.  One, it can get expensive buying the amount of produce required.  The second (and the biggie)...  I still have children that I have to cook for.  So, I'm drinking juices and then preparing delicious smelling/looking breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.  HAHAHA!  Ahh, the temptations!  It is much easier, though, knowing that not every meal is going to be a juice for me. 

The above photo was our day one breakfast juice.  It was delicious!  We started very simple to ease us in.  For this juice, I used our Breville juicer and combined apples, oranges, and strawberries.  It was a good pick blend for breakfast.  Plus, it is a BEAUTIFUL color!  So pretty, right?  It looks like the sunrise.  Quite appropriate. 

My hope is to try out a lot of different recipes as well as creating my own.  I'll try to log some of them as we progress. 

**Random tip:  if you are serious about juicing, invest in a GOOD juicer.  When I was pregnant my husband did a 14 day reboot and then our cheapy juicer pooped out on us.  His goal was 30 days, but the juicer had other plans.  It gave up on day 14 or 15.  The juicer we had was a simple juicer from Walmart and was only about $30.  It wasn't really made for constant juicing.  I think it was really just for the occasional juicing....  in which case it would have been fine.  But the motor just couldn't handle juicing 4-6 juices PER DAY for that many days in a row. 

DIY Wall Art

Right before last fall, I got this random itch to paint.  I'm not a painter now, nor have I ever been.  But, something just made me want to paint!  I figured I could put something together that would look fairly decent and, surely, I could save a few bucks doing it myself!  

You can purchase a pack of canvases for a very reasonable price.  I always get the cheapest ones or the ones on sale.  For avid painters, I know they'll tell you they're garbage and to invest in the better ones.  But, as I pointed out...  I'm no painter.....   at all.   

I mainly stuck to 8x10 canvases.  There was no particular reason for that, I just thought they'd be the most versatile. This is one of the several pieces I put together.  This canvas went through some trials before I was happy with it.  It has about 3 under layers of mistakes that got painted over.  This baby started as a family hand print piece.  It didn't work out so I spray painted a white primer over it. (I'm SURE that is a HUGE no-no in the art world!)  Then it became something else but I didn't like the colors.  Rinse and repeat.  We did this motion a few times until I decided to randomly slap some colors on and blend them.  When I got that far I thought, "Ohhh, it looks like a sunrise or sunset!"  It stayed!  YAY!  I did some searching for birds on branches in silhouette.  I worked from a couple different photos to get the exact look I wanted. 

Did you know that birds are much easier to paint than they seem?  It is just a couple connected ovals, a triangle, and some brush swishes (official term, hahaha!) for the tail.  I like birds more than I thought I did!

OH!  And I sealed in the painting with an acrylic sealant in matte finish.  I did use all acrylic paints for this.  I have since purchased a glossy sealant (which was more for my son's Halloween costume last year and then it got tossed in with my supplies, so I use it now!) which, at times, I like more.  It seems to bump up the color intensity more than the matte one.

Spring Gardening

chives

I don't know about you, but I really like the idea of having my own herbs growing.  However, my husband likes to say I have a black thumb.  I can get things growing (sometimes) and then they'll die off.  A few years back I had a fabulous herb garden going in my backyard.  But, fall rolled around and I neglected them and by spring they were long gone. :-(   

parsley

That is why I now am trying another round of growing my own herbs...  indoors!  I have a big, wonderful window that gets fabulous light.  It is especially good in the morning.  It is an eastern facing window so the plans love it. I have my aloes there, too (not shown).  

This actually started because my son had a school lesson on seeds and how plants grow.  We created a germination bag and watched as our seeds sprouted. I had a bunch of seeds left over so I potted them!  Now I have baby chives, parsley, basil, basic grass, and celery growing.  We did have lavender but I've already managed to kill it. So sad. 

celery

I would like to put together a raised garden and get some veggies and such going outside once it gets a bit warmer.  I've seen a lot of pinterest ideas that look easy enough.  Don't they always, though?

What are you doing to kick spring into high gear and get in the mood for the warmer, brighter weather?

Converting Normal Tanks to Nursing Tanks

I don't know about you all, but I have spent a ton of money on nursing tanks.  This was the case after both of my children.  One tank top alone doesn't seem too bad when looking at the price.  But, to get several colors that will work under all of your outfits starts to add up quickly!  This second time around, I only bought two nursing tank tops.  But, I only had a black and a grey.  I wanted more colors, however, didn't want to buy anymore!  I refuse to keep throwing money out the window like that when I can spend a fraction of the money and get multiples!

I kept seeing pins on Pinterest about converting your regular spaghetti strapped tank tops into nursing tank tops.  You can do this with any of them, but I prefer the kind without the shelf bra built in.  Too many layers on the ladies while nursing gets uncomfortable (for me!).

You start by taking your regular tank top and cutting off the strap at the base in the back.  Then, leave a couple of inches in the front.  I should have taken photos of this, but please forgive me.  You will make a VERY TINY loop of the remaining couple inches of strap.  Go smaller than you might think.  You only need enough to fit over the clasp on your nursing bra.  Sew this down and VOILA!  You've converted your tank into a nursing tank!

See the small loop?  It should be tiny otherwise it will slip down your bra.

This is the loop slipped over the clasp on my nursing bra.

This is the nursing tank on, attached to the nursing bra.  I wear these under other wide strapped tanks, tshirts, etc.   But, it makes it nice when I am out and need to nurse.  I can slip up the over-shirt without exposing my belly and easily unclasp my bra (taking that side of the tank with it) and nurse my little one.  This way, nothing is exposed.

I'm so thrilled with the results.  I've made several already!  I have a lavender, a black & white stripped, a black, a grey, a cream/white, and a tan.  I'm thinking about getting more colorful ones since all (but the lavender) are neutral colors. 

OH!  And I should mention...  you can obviously convert any tanks that you already own.  This would be the most cost effective.  However, I didn't have a lot to work with, so I bought my tanks from Forever21.  They were $1.88!  That's WAY cheaper than any nursing tank top that you'll find in the stores.   Also check places like Platos Closet, or any second hand retail store.  The lavender tank I got from a resale store for $1.00.

DIY Floral Headbands

Long time no chat!  I haven't been doing much in the way of nails or reviews.  However, on one of my slightly more energetic evenings I decided I was going to try my hand at making some baby headbands.  There are several different styles that I would like to make, but this was the first to check off my list.  I cannot recall who I first saw these from, but I know I came by it on Pinterest.  I think the one I most closely followed was The Penny Parlor.

These are so incredibly simple to make and the variations are endless!  This is just my first batch.  I'd like to expand the type and color of flowers as well as the center piece in them. 

I selected some gerber daisy style of flowers and pulled them apart.  This means popping the flower off of the stem, removing the plastic underside of the flower, and pulling apart each layer.  Some people keep the plastic middles of the flowers, but I didn't want any plastic left on the flowers.  I wanted to just work with the fabric layers.   

I hot glued each layer back together and then a white button (for most) into the middle. For the clip portion, I bought some pre-wrapped alligator clips.  You can get these at the craft store (which will cost you more), at a hair supply place (Sally's would work fine), Walmart, or even the dollar store at times.   If you buy the naked version (aka: not wrapped in ribbon already) you can either leave them as is or buy a thin ribbon and glue that around them yourself.   I lazily selected the pre-wrapped kind to cut out an extra step on my first batch.  I glued those down to the backside of the flowers.  I like the idea of being able to change out the flowers on the headbands, which is why I took the route of clips and not sewing down the flowers. 

Tada!  Cute flowers that you can clip to any fabric headband!  Above and below are the same flower, just on a different band.

Quick Update!

Hi, everyone!

I wanted to put up a quick post just to let you know that I realize I haven't been active on my blogs for the last month.  I am at the tail end of my pregnancy and have run into some small issues that have made it difficult for me to keep up at the moment.  I haven't disappeared or abandoned either of my blogs.  I just want to comfortably and safely make it through this last portion of my pregnancy, likely need a bit of recovery time, find a new balance with an addition to the family, and I will get back to my usual postings.

I do have a couple of posts that have been photographed already, but not typed up.  If I get some time and energy, I may post those.

Please understand, though, that I am quite drained at the moment and have my hands extremely full with general life and being a mother and wife already....  there are day to day things I am also managing. I will start posting again, however, before you know it!  :-)

Coconut Oil For The Nose? YES!

I have mentioned my love for coconut oil before.  I believe my first post to this blog was about coconut oil.  You can see that post BY CLICKING HERE!  I wanted to shine a little light on coconut oil again, though, because it has been a lifesaver recently!

My entire household has caught some kind of nasty little bug and we've all been sniffling and sneezing.  It is a lovely sight.   HAHA, no...not even a little bit.  Our noses have become so raw and even with the nicest lotion tissues, they are getting red and angry.  I should have done this from the get-go, but I blame pregnancy brain on not properly coming to this conclusion faster....  Coconut oil is saving our chapped noses.  I took a bit out, allowed it to warm so it became a liquid, and rolled a q-tip through the oil.  I took the coconut oil soaked q-tip and swabbed it around the tip, nostrils, and under our noses.  It immediately provides relief.  Within 24 hours of continuous application our noses are less red and the dry, chapped parts are going away.  WHEW!

It even works for chapped lips.  With the stuffed up, yet running, noses we have....  we have become mouth breathers.  Seriously, what is more sexy than the picture I am painting for you?  Anyway, because of this we are also getting dry lips.  I don't particularly like the feel of just coconut oil on my lips.  It seems a bit too thin.  So, what I do is apply a generous amount of coconut oil to the lips, allow it a few minutes to soak in, and then I go back with another moisturizing balm to apply over the top.  This way I feel that I am doubling the moisturizing action.  I'm getting the deep moisturization from the coconut oil and then a moisturizing and protective barrier from the balm. 

I have also been using it religiously over my entire body (not the face) to help moisturize my ever growing pregnancy belly and body.   I love the way I smell after coating myself.  It even mixes well with a good portion of fragrances I choose to wear.  

I just wanted to share a few other things that can be done with coconut oil.  It is such a wonder product!  

The photos of the coconut oil in this post were from quite a while back.  I have used several different brands since then.  I am currently using one that I can get from Kroger.  It is UNREFINED (which is what I recommend over this refined kind).  Also, when you are picking up coconut oil, don't just grab a jar from the regular aisles.  Make sure you are looking in the organic, natural products for one that is of higher quality and will have more health benefits. 

Autumn Boots!

I have been lusting after a good pair of tall, flat boots for a while now.  I am pleased to announce..  I HAVE FINALLY BOUGHT SOME!  No, I didn't buy the most expensive, fancy-dancy pair at the department store.  I'm a mama to one with another on the way, not to mention Christmas is just around the corner. So, I got mine from Target....  and let me tell you, I have zero shame in admitting that is currently the highest dollar store that I am willing to buy my shoes from.  Moving on!

These are the Mossimo Supply Co. Kamari Tall Buckle boots in brown. The color they actually are is lighter than what is advertised on the target site.  Here, you can take a peek for yourself:  Boots, boots, everywhere boots!  I prefer the color they actually are.  It is more of a tanned color.

They have a small heel at only 3/4 inch.  They are listed at 15 inches tall, which lands just at the bottom of my knee.  They're a fantastic height, in my humble opinion. 

I love that they are so incredibly comfortable and easy to get on, too!  They are pull on boots, so there isn't a zipper or anything on them.  If they were tight, that might bother me, but I find that I can easily slip them on and they aren't too snug around my calf.  I have room to get them on and off, which also means less bunching of jeans that go into the boot.

They have a worn in, relaxed look and feel to them.  They aren't too crisp and straight up and down like a lot of riding boot styles.  The material is just soft enough so they have some slight crinkling to them.  In my opinion, it isn't in a bad way.  It just looks like a favorite pair of boots that have been well loved and worn.

These will run you $39.99 at the moment. Not too shabby!

October Favorites

I could say "Where has the time gone?" or "Sheesh! I can't believe it is already November!"  ....but I won't jibber-jabber. Let's cut the small talk and just jump right in with the favorites!  

I have three favorites that should have been in this skincare-esque section but only two have been photographed.  The first are these facial cleansing pads.  They are soft on one side and textured on the other for exfoliation.  I have been using these to apply my toner after cleansing my face and also in the morning with my astringent as a morning refresher to remove my evening skincare products. They work well, do the job, but I will say they aren't actually lint free.  No big deal, though.

The second item is the Burt's Bees sensitive eye cream.  It only takes a tiny bit.  It is gentle, but applies a perfect amount of moisture under my eyes.  It has a slightly minty scent that I quite enjoy. I don't feel any kind of tingle, though, from that.  

The third item, which isn't photographed, is my pure virgin coconut oil.  The brand doesn't matter so much, as long as it is as pure as I can get it.  I have been slathering myself in it.  I've loved using coconut oil as a body moisturizer for some time now, but have really appreciated it since being pregnant.  I feel good about using it, it smells fantastic, and is a godsend for a pregnant belly.  I think of the hot sauce commercial... "I put that sh*t on everything!"  I use it to remove my makeup, I use it in the ends of my hair (lightly) after showering, I use it all over my body as a moisturizer, I will eat a tablespoon of it for health benefits, I cook with it......  it is amazing stuff!  Get some!

In the fragrance field there are two perfumes I have reached for the most often.  The first is Coach Poppy.  My husband tells me this is one of his favorites from all of my perfumes.  That is my queue to wear it more often! HA!  Who doesn't want to smell delicious for their husband?  I have a full review on Coach Poppy HERE!  

The second perfume is L de Lolita Lempicka.  This is one of my favorites from my stash.  I've come to enjoy it year round.  I also have a full review on this perfume that you can find HERE!

This last grouping of products is mostly eye shadow but I also have a blush and eyeliner tossed in.  I have gone simple with my shadow this past month.  I've let my lips be the stand out, but because I have rotated with numerous different colors I couldn't include any for an actual favorite.

In the top, left is Ulta Mystique eyeshadow.  On the bottom, center is Ulta Truffle eyeshadow.  In the top, right is Milani baked blush in Rose D'Oro.

To the left is Michael Marcus Amazing eyeshadow. In the middle is Ulta Toast eyeshadow. To the right is Ulta Silk eyeshadow.

The eyeshadow here is from the Wet n Wild 8 pan palette Comfort Zone. The very bottom pan on the right side is the one I have been using a lot.  The eyeliner is Rimmel Scandaleyes in nude.

All of the shadows I have shown (with the exception of one) have been worn completely (or nearly completely) on their own.  As I said, I have been going for a very simple eye this past month.  The colors I have been wearing hold their own, though.  I may go in and define the crease with a deeper color, but beyond that, these are pretty much it.  

The exception that I mentioned above is the Michael Marcus shadow.  I haven't been wearing that on my eyes.  I have actually been using an angled liner brush and brushing it through my brows.  It defines nicely and isn't overpowering or too bold.  

As for the blush, it is an amazing fall color.  It gives that chilled look to the cheeks, but if you tap off your brush to remove the glitter specks, it is quite natural looking.  I highly recommend that color for everyone, light or dark complected. 

I think I may have included this liner in my favorites for last month.  It lasts nicely and also gives a bright eyed, awake look.  I can sometimes have reddish on the waterline and this perfectly cancels that out.

That is pretty much it for this month.  Let me know the items you have been wearing/using through the month of October.

Manna Kadar Mascara

This mascara was an item that I received in my October Wantable Makeup Box.  I have a hard time finding a mascara that really makes me happy. I don't have particularly impressive lashes naturally.  They are short(er), don't hold a curl very well, and are light in color.  I was really hoping this would be a home run.

As you can see, the brush is a very standard, traditional style brush. The bristles just wind up to the tip and taper off at the very end.  I usually have better luck with the more standard mascara wands.  This one, however, didn't really do anything for my lashes.

The shape actually reminds me a whole lot of the original Maybelline Great Lash.  I did use that one for years and years when I was a teen.  As I've gotten older and played around with more mascaras, I realize just how unimpressive Great Lash is.  Well, this one falls short as well.  

It may have added a tiny bit of length but beyond that it was an extremely, extremely natural mascara.  The bristles on the wand are placed too far apart and the gaps between scoop the lashes and just apply color.  It doesn't give anything to build on and it was quite wet.  It actually made the curl I did before application droop back down. 

I have worn this several different times but each time, before leaving the house, I coat another mascara over the top to build on it.  In these photos, however, it is just the Manna Kadar mascara.  I took the photos before applying a different mascara over the top.

It saddens me that I cannot recommend this mascara.  I did receive it complimentary of Wantable Box, but it holds a retail price of $19.  I can't justify that. 

If you have tried this mascara and have had better luck, please leave me a comment and let me know!

Michael Marcus Refillable Eyeshadow: Amazing

Now that I have had a good chance to wear this eyeshadow, I wanted to put up a post with my thoughts on it.  First let me start by saying this was one of the products I received in my Wantable Box. You can click that link to be taken to my other blog where I posted an unboxing.  You can see all of the products I received. 

The packaging is very simple.  It is a silver compact with a clear flip-top lid and the shadow sits inside.  I did notice that the name of the color is nowhere to be found, except on the outside box.  I don't keep the boxes, so if I ever wanted to know the name, I'd be out of luck.  Now, the name could very well be on the underside of the pan itself.  However, I didn't try to pop it out because I didn't want to ding the shadow. Even if the name IS on the underside of the pan, that is still less than ideal because I don't plan on pulling the pan out of the compact each time I need to see the name.  This is a very minor detail, though, and I'm nit-picking.

As I mentioned in my unboxing post, I was originally underwhelmed by this color.  I like the color and it is something I can easily see myself wearing.  However, it just seemed like a very safe color to send in a box.  Also, when I had test swatched it on my finger it was extremely pale.  I could hardly see any color transfer to my finger.  That had me worried. Now that I have worn it several times, I have changed my mind.  I love the shadow.  Absolutely love it!

It is a greyish brown in the pan, so I suppose you'd just say taupe.  When I put it onto my lids (over TFSI) it shows more brown than the grey.  It can be worn as an extremely light wash or with a flat shadow brush and a bit of "packing on" it can be built up for more color pay off.   I did layer it just a bit to get a deeper color from it, but I am satisfied with the color I can get it to.  I still can't claim it is highly pigmented, though.

I will say this isn't the most buttery and smooth shadow I've ever worked with.  It is somewhat powdery, but nothing that really causes too much of a problem.

Something that I love is that it is a matte shadow.  Mattes are my favorite.  I find them easy to wear and give a nice, clean look to the eye.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy a bit of shimmer every now and again, but if given the choice between the two, I'll always pick matte.

It does look like there is some sheen to the shadow, but that is coming from another shadow I lightly brushed on with this shadow.  I'm wearing Amazing with a bit of maroon from one of the Wet n Wild trios as well as Nutty from the Wet n Wild single. 

This retails for $24.00 USD.  While I enjoy wearing this shadow and will continue to do so, I can't say that I'd pay $24.00 to repurchase it.  That seems rather steep considering it doesn't have high pigment and is a bit powdery.  I am able to purchase other high end and even drugstore shadows that are better.  Since this isn't a unique color either, it is easily dupable with something more affordable.  

Product Obsession! Scented Wax Bars

For quite some time now I have had a love affair with scented wax bars.  They have taken the place of nearly all candles in my home.  Having children running around, I feel better about flameless wax warmers than I do a candle burning.  I know some will argue, "what about the hot wax?"  Well, the wax isn't hot enough to cause any kind of severe burn.  Candles create hot wax too...  as well as an open flame.   Either way, point blank...  I've converted to wax warmers. As you can see in my photo above, I'm rather obsessed.  I have a basket that is decorative when closed, but inside it conveniently hides away all of my bars. 

A couple of weekends ago I was switching out the fragrance in the warmers throughout the house when I realized I didn't have anything pumpkin scented!  SHOCK! HORROR!  I made sure I bought some later that day.  Yes, I am that lunatic. I had a couple of fall appropriate scents, but I had my heart set on pumpkin. 

I came home with four new waxes.  One isn't shown here because it wasn't a bar, rather a single tart (in the scent pumpkin spice) that I already have melting down in my living room warmer. The three bars I selected are all from ScentSationals.   They are in the scents: vanilla pumpkin cream, country hayride, and harvest fair. 

I have not used the vanilla pumpkin cream one yet.  When I sniff the bar, though, it is divine.  You definitely pick up on the mix of pumpkin and vanilla.  My husband said it reminds him of an actual pumpkin pie.  I have to agree.   If you close your eyes and smell it, you almost anticipate being handed a slice of fresh pumpkin pie with a dollop of whipped cream on the top.  Mmmmm!

I have country hayride in one of my bathroom warmers.  It smells like Michael's craft store when you first walk in.  It is spicy and incense-like.  It is thick and almost smoky. 

I have harvest fair in another of my bathroom warmers.  It is fresh and crisp.  I think of cutting open a pumpkin or gourd and that smell that comes along with doing so mixed with cider.   I think there is a touch of cinnamon in it, too, warming the fragrance a bit.

All of them are delicious and perfect for fall.  The ones I have already used are keeping my home smelling awesome. 

Here you can see the 6 little cubes that comes in the bar.  You only need 1 cube at a time and it will last quite a while before you need to add another or replace entirely.