Maple Holistics Review and a Giveaway!

I was contacted recently by Maple Holistics, who I hadn't really heard of before, so I did a quick Internet search to see what they were about. I checked out their website and noticed they also sold their products on Amazon, which is a total win in my book because we have prime and I love when things come to my front door. To give you a quick overview of what they sell, it's all beauty products for your hair, body, and skin. I appreciate anything that's natural nowadays, especially when it comes to what I'm putting on my skin. Turning 30 means aging skin and I have really gotten into skin care lately since I still suffer from occasional acne and I have acne scarring on my cheeks. I also make sure I use natural cleaning products around the house, we absorb so much through our skin! So I like to make sure my family isn't walking around absorbing chemicals through their skin or putting chemicals on their skin and into their bodies by using skincare products with bad ingredients. Maple Holistics is currently sponsored for giveaways thanks to EduMuch!

Maple Holistics uses high quality ingredients in their products, and I especially like the use of essential oils which on their own can be rather pricey. I tried out two products, a vitamin c facial serum and a mud mask. Just to give you an idea of my skin type it's normal, with the occasional monthly breakout, and I have acne scarring on my cheeks. I'm starting to get more and more lines as I get older. I definitely notice little crows feet, smile lines, and a line between my eyes probably from being a stressed out mom!

I could go on and on about the mud mask. It's the Dead Sea Mud Mask, and it sounded great and reading about it got me excited to try it. The first time I put it on I seriously felt like I was at a spa or something. Actually I've never been to a spa, haha, but I would think that's what it's like. It looks cool going on because it's dark greenish-gray, you look a little scary and will totally freak out your kids. The essential oils smell amazing, it's just a very relaxing treatment. When you go to wash it off after it's dried, which takes about 10 minutes, it's mildly abrasive so you get an exfoliating treatment in too. I've noticed each time I use it my makeup goes on better.

I'm so exhausted at the end of the day that I usually wash my face right before bed and go to sleep. Since I'm home with my daughter most days, I try to do a beauty treatment in the mornings after breakfast. Whenever I use this mask my skin feels softer and smoother. I don't find it to be irritating at all. When I got it in the mail I used it that night, the next morning, and the next night. Seriously three times in 24 hours. My skin didn't react negatively, and I didn't notice any burning or stinging. I don't have particularly sensitive skin though, and I'm not sensitive to essential oils. So that's something to consider if you have sensitive skin or don't like the smell of lavender. This is actually a product I plan on purchasing the mask once my tub runs out. I've used it a lot and I haven't made much of a dent. It's not a high price point (under $14) and you need a very small amount each time you use it. The price for the products was another reason I wanted to give them a try. There's nothing worse than trying out a product you could never actually afford to purchase yourself. That was always a bummer with beauty subscription boxes. I would find products I love, then find out they were super pricey. This is an affordable line of products.

What's in it:

• German chamomile to reduce inflammation in the skin, also stress reducing
• lavender essential oil, relaxing and also helps the skin absorb more of the minerals from the mud
• green myrtle, helps reduce oiliness in the skin
• Clary sage to help you relax
• mud from the Dead Sea in Israel, contains salts and minerals that are supposedly good for the skin and body

This is how much product I have left after multiple uses.

The second product I tried was the Vitamin C Serum for Face with Superior Anti-Aging Benefits. This was a nice serum to apply. I have another vitamin C serum and it's watery, the Maple Holistics serum feels thicker more like a serum mixed with an oil. I don't love the smell, but it only lasts as long as the serum is wet then dissipates. I can't say I noticed anything different in my skin while using this, but I never really notice much of a difference with other serums either. I will say it makes your skin feel more hydrated, especially after using the mud mask my skin feels a little tight and this serum puts the moisture back in. The way I use it is on it's own in the morning, followed by a BB cream. At night I apply the serum, then I apply a moisturizer over it. My skin hasn't broken out from using it, and it doesn't sting or burn my skin in any way. I definitely think this is a gentle serum, versus some I've used that can sting around the nose or where your skin might be extra dry. I'm not sure if I will purchase this serum, but I do know it costs half of what the one I've purchased multiple times costs. Since I'm not sure I notice much of a difference with either, I would rather spend less money. I'll have to see how I feel when I finish the bottle, so far I've used about half of the 1-ounce bottle.

Facts about vitamin C:

• it's anti-aging
• provides light protection from the sun
• reverses sun damage by reducing free radicals 
• good for fine lines and age spots

Now here is the best part . . . I am giving away both of these products! That's right, both the serum and the mud mask can be yours! I'm going to include all of the details below for entering the giveaway. Unfortunately this giveaway is only open to US residents.

How to Enter:

• You must be a follower either on Bloglovin, Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram (all of my social media links are in the upper left side bar on my blog). I will be checking if you're actually a follower, if you aren't I will choose a different winner
• Leave a comment below on this post to enter and please say how you're following me. For example "I would love to win! I'm following on Facebook" or something along those lines
• US residents only please

How to Get a Bonus Entry:

• For an additional chance to win please share this post on social media, then leave a separate comment below saying that you shared it
• If you're sharing it on Facebook and your Facebook is private, be sure you set that particular post to public so I can verify that you've shared it. It's tough to see posts when users are private, so please keep that in mind
• You can leave a comment for each social media platform that you share this giveaway on. So you can share it on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram for a chance to get three bonus entries

There you have it, a chance to enter this giveaway four times! All you need to do is copy and paste either a link to this post or a link to my blog to share the giveaway and get a bonus entry! Please be sure to leave a comment on this post to be entered. 

The giveaway will be open for one week, starting today Thursday October 15 and ending 11 pm PST on Thursday October 22. 

If you would like another opportunity to get free stuff you can check out the link below for more information. Maple Holistics is offering free products in exchange for an honest review on Amazon:

http://www.mapleholistics.com/free-products/

Thanks for entering, and good luck!

Personal Review of Ting Mobile Service

This post is a little out of the ordinary for my blog, but this has been a huge money saver for us and it's good to share the wealth! In an effort to save money, my husband explored new options for our mobile service. We have iPhones for him, me, my mother in law and my brother in law and the bill was getting to be a lot every month. He looked into different options and found out about Ting, which is a reseller for Sprint service. We already had Sprint, so the phones were compatible and nothing really changed. The service is the same but most importantly we have saved a lot of money every month. With Sprint we had unlimited data, and with Ting you pay monthly based on your usage. With four iPhones our bill has averaged about $60 a month, that's included data, calls, and text messaging.

One of the downsides if that you have to buy your own phone. Most cell phone companies either give discounted or free phones with new contracts, but with Ting you buy your own phone. What we have done is just buy iPhones on Amazon.com at a discounted price instead of buying brand new in the store. You do have to be careful that the MEID is compatible with Sprint and make sure the purchase is verified and you aren't buying anything fake. You can also go through Ting's website to buy phones, which may be easier for some because you don't have to mess with verifying the phone it's already guaranteed to work with the service which is great. 

Ting is known for their excellent customer service. We have called multiple times and our calls have pretty much always been answered right away instead of going to a queue and having to wait 10 minutes. When we bought our house we noticed that we basically had one service bar in most of the house. Phone calls would drop, we would get voicemails without a missed call, text messages would take a while to send, and during calls sometimes I could only understand half of what people were saying. We called Ting to problem solve and we tried a few steps in an attempt to boost the signal. After living here for a while the problem wasn't getting any better. So again my husband called and mentioned that we had tried all the problem solving steps and that it was a safety issue since we have a small child, we definitely need to be able to make phone calls. Instead of suggesting any problem solving steps Ting sent us an Air Rave, which is a signal booster. Once we turned it on we had five service bars and have had no problems with phone calls or messages not going through. And they sent that to us at no cost, which is really awesome considering our service is so affordable.

If you are interested in checking out Ting you can follow this link to learn more and save $25 off a device or $25 of service credit. This opinion is 100% my own and not sponsored by Ting. This has been something my husband has been suggesting I blog about for months, and I'm glad I finally have. I try to tell my friends and family about Ting whenever I get the chance because hearing how much some people pay is crazy to me! I can't imagine paying that much for cell service ever again. 

Firmoo Glasses!

I was contacted by Firmoo.com recently, and was excited to learn more about the company when I heard they sold glasses and sunglasses. Here in sunny California I can't go a day without sunglasses, but I never spend the money to get good quality glasses. Firmoo offers your first pair free, you just pay for shipping. If you don't like the glasses you can exchange them, or get a refund. 

My new glasses arrived at the perfect time, because my super cheap new pair had just broke. It wasn't an issue of the lens popping out, the side of my sunglasses actually broke off. It was tragic. When my sunglasses from Firmoo arrived I was happy with the packaging. I received a hard case, a soft pouch, and an eyeglass repair kit. The hard case is nice because when my sunglasses get put in my handbag they get smashed and tossed around. I'm hoping the hard case will help prevent future scratching, and smashing. The hard case is also super lightweight which I appreciate since my purse already weighs about 5000 lbs.

I have to say that the glasses I chose are totally not something I would go for normally. I always reach for aviators, but I thought these glasses looked sort of vintage. Plus I think they're on trend so maybe I look cool wearing them? Overall I love the glasses, mainly because they stay on my face without falling down. I really don't have a particularly small face or nose, but glasses always without fail fall, not slide, off of my face. I'm convinced my husband wears them when I'm not looking and stretches them out. I got these glasses with the darkest brown tint, since I don't actually need prescription lenses. They work great as sunglasses because the tint is dark enough to shield my light eyes from the sun, but I still feel like I can see clearly. They don't darken everything while I'm driving, I just feel like my eyes are protected and I don't have to squint. 

The customer service was great, and shipping was fast. I received these glasses in a week, which was great timing, I was due for a new pair of sunglasses. I chose this style frame, with the C3 coloring. I love the coloring because it's a hint of the tortoise shell but the top and sides of the frame are just plain brown. 

I'm definitely happy with my new glasses, head on over to Firmoo's website if you're looking for nice and affordable glasses!

Clearly Fresh Bags: Review

I was contacted recently by the sample team at Clearly Fresh Bags to try out their product and see how I liked it. Clearly Fresh Bags are special bags meant to keep produce fresher for longer. I'm sure you've seen infomercials and similar items in the stores. I tried an as seen on TV kind a few years ago when I was eating raw for the most part and always had pounds of produce. What intrigued me about this particular brand was the zip closure top. I figured even if I didn't end up using them they would work just as well as a Ziploc bag would for travel or freezing foods.

 The product how it arrived