I purchased a subscription to Bulu Box. For those who do not know, Bulu Box is a monthly service that provides 5-10 samples of health products. So products are full size, while others are only one serving. I am not sure of the regular price for the boxes, because I purchased through a LivingSocial deal.

***if you are not comfortable with discussing bodily functions, skip this review. I will not be graphic but I will speak in clinical terms***

In the box, I received a sample of the product Creative Bioscience 20 day diet. The blurb said that it was “blend of African Mango and Raspberry Ketones to help you lose weight, increase energy, and have greater control over your appetite”.

Ingredients list and explanation from their website:

African Mango (seed extract, not the fruit) stimulates the hormone leptin, which researchers think moderates your appetite so you feel hungry less often, and full longer after eating.
Raspberry Ketones affect the fat-moderating hormone adiponectin.
Guarana is a natural source of caffeine.
Chromium Picolinate plays an important role in burning fats and carbohydrates, and it also regulates blood sugar levels.
Citrus Aurantium is taken for its stimulant and appetite-suppressing properties.
Green Tea Extract contains health-promoting flavonoids.

I do not usually take diet pills. Lately though, I have been feeling like I need to a little something extra because I am not shedding the pounds like I thought I would after doing an intensive boot camp earlier this year. It can be discouraging.

I decided to take Creative Bioscience 20 day diet pills. The instructions recommended taking 2 a day, but I took one a day. The sample pills lasted 40 days. I did follow the instructions to take 30 minutes before my first meal of the day. While I did not follow their diet plan (something similar to Atkins), I did try to eat less fried foods and less starches. I also exercised 3-4 times a week for at least 15 minutes.

I was hoping that by taking these pills, it would jump start my weight loss since I have seem to have plateaued.

How did these diet pills make me feel?

They made me feel very hyper and jittery. I could not get to sleep before 12:30-1:00am. There were times where my heart rate seemed to be faster than usual.

I think my equilibrium was off while taking these pills. I fell more in the 40 days than I did all last year.

I was hungry all the time (which is surprising since I thought the pills would suppress appetite).

I had to pee a lot (probably from the increased water consumption).

While the pill did not affect the regularity of my bowel motions, they were softer than normal; however I did not suffer from stomach cramps.

I did NOT experience dry mouth, nausea, or dizziness.

When I stopped taking the pills, I had debilitating headaches for 2 days and mild chest pains. I figured that my body was going through withdrawals so I was trying to be too worried. But as a note of caution, I did tell a friend that if I dropped dead, let the medical examiner know that I was taking the diet pill (probably an indication I should not have been taking the pills in the first place).

All of the side effects went away a few days after I stopped taking the pills. My vitals eventually returned to normal. I did not lose any weight.

I was disappointed that all that I went through was for nothing.

So now I am back to exercising but I am trying different things with my diet and hope that helps me shed a few unwanted pounds.

Patricia Wexler face serum

Jun20

I bought this from Bath&Body years ago. When I ran out, I did not buy it again because of the high price tag. I thought I could achieve the same results with less expensive products. I did okay of a while.
However, I always remembered that I was constantly receiving compliments about how smooth my skin looked.

I am African-American and have very sensitive skin and had an allergic reaction rash on my face a couple years ago that left my skin uneven. My pores seemed to be too open and not smooth as it once was.

Everything that I tried these last few years was not working. I decided to bite the bullet and buy the serum again.

After a few weeks of using it every night (using twice a day was too strong), I can see that my skin is regaining its glow and looking smoother.
I did find that I have to make sure that I use sunscreen or else my skin gets a little red on my cheeks.

Overall, I am so glad that I bought Patricia Wexler M.D. Skin Regenerating Serum, 3.4 oz.. It only takes a small amount on the tip of my index finger to cover my whole face. The 3.4 oz will probably last about a year or so. That means it really is only costing pennies a day.

Great products for aromatherapy projects

Nov15

One of my many hobbies is aromatherapy. I was studying fragrances and scents before it became the cool thing to do. Now days, there are so many different companies out there that are offering essential oils and blends to consumers. Unless you are fortunate enough to live in a place where there are brick and mortar stores selling these products, you probably will have to go online to find what you need.

For the best prices on the best quality products, I go to Amazon

I use a few different brands depending on what I need.

For pure essential oils, I use Edens Gardens and Aura Cacia.

They both have therapeutic grade pure essential oils. This means that I can feel safe using in recipes where I will potentially ingest the oil. I do not eat the oils, but if I am putting a blend on my skin, I want to ensure that the essential oil will not cause an adverse reaction. Some of my favorites are Ylang Ylang 100% Pure Therapeutic Grade Essential Oil, Aura Cacia Pure Essential Oil Lavender — 2 fl oz, and Aura Cacia Essential Oils Peppermint.

For essential oil blends and carrier oils, I like the Now brand. I have tried and tested others, but Now seems to have best selection and the highest blend concentration ratio of essential oil to carrier oils. A good example of that is Eucalyptus Lemon blend. I love the NOW Foods Lemon Eucalyptus Oil, 1 ounce. Ounce for ounce, I think that Now’s Now Foods Grape Seed Oil, 16 Ounce and NOW Foods Jojoba Oil, 16 ounce are the best quality at reasonable prices.

When it comes to aromatherapy, your blends are only as good as your ingredients. Using low quality ingredients reduce or negate efficacy. In other cases, they could cause negative or allergic reactions. For me, Now, Edens Gardens and Aura Cacia are the best brands of what is on the market currently.

Starbucks

Oct28

I bought into the hype. I bought a Starbucks Hibiscus Berry cooler.
I read the description and thought it sounded healthy and trendy. Real fruit juice and whole blackberries shaken with Green Coffee Extract for a boost of natural energy, served over ice.
Ummm, yea. It was good in theory but execution was lacking flavor.
This drink had real promise with hibiscus and blackberries for the flavor base. In actuality, it tasted like water sweetened with stevia or some other sugar substitute. I do not mind water with fruit muddled in it. But I do not want ANY sugar substitutes!!!! If I want something sweet, I will add a little sugar, honey, or agave nectar. But most of the time, I drink water or unsweet tea because I do not like drinks that are too sweet.

This is what annoys me about a lot drinks on the market today. They say “no sugar”, but the neglect to say that they added something-like-sugar in its place. I do not care for stevia because I do not like the taste.

This review is more of a rant against sugar substitutes. I detest them.

Necessary Detour review

Sep25

Necessary Detour ♥♥

Nikki is a rock star (stage name Goldy) who is looking for some rest and relaxation after retiring from the business. She has a stalker threatening her life, but that does not deter her from isolating herself in her house on the lake in a remote location. Pete is living in her neighbor’s house. The circumstances surrounding why he is there with his wife and son are really suspicious. There is attraction between them that they want to explore.

My issues with this story:

(1) Nikki’s life is in danger, but she insists on doing things that jeopardize her life. She knows the paparazzi are following her to get a picture, but she goes out in public in ridiculous outfits that draw more attention than detract. Dumb! Then, she would get frustrated when the paparazzi found her. For most of the book, I did not like her and was waiting for the stalker to catch her because of her failing to take sensible precautions.

(2) Pete seems to be married. Ummm. Yea. Since he is trying to give the appearance that he is married, then he should not be flirting with his neighbor. **Spoiler alert: He is not married.** But in the time that I thought he was, I was thinking he was really scummy for his actions. I could not settle into the romance until it was firmly established that Pete was not married. I do not care if the person is unhappily married. I frown on characters starting a relationship if he/she has not ended their marriage. Call me old fashioned.

(3) The last third of the book took a convoluted turn that threw me for a loop. It was as if it did not fit with the rest of the book.

Once I got past those points, the story was all right with fairly likeable characters (Pete more than Nikki). Besides the fact that Pete was not married, there were plenty of other twists that helped the story along.

Overall, if you want a contemporary, light suspense romance, you might like this. Keep in mind what I mentioned previously about the characters and you will be able to focus on the story better than I did. You might even rate it higher.

You can buy Necessary Detour on Amazon by clicking any of the links in this post.