Chugginton Die Cast Koko's Icy Escapade Review!

Hi My Loves!!

So a little while ago we received a new Chugginton playset from Tomy for Phoenix & Lily to try out. Since we have had a good amount of time to play with it, I feel like I can now give a good review. The set we got is the Chugginton Die Cast Koko's Icy Escapade Action Playset.  

SRP: $39.99. Ages 3 years+. Available on Target.com and Amazon.com

The set comes with lots of pieces, Koko the train, instructions for how to put it all together and a Chuggington DVD. I have to be honest, when I first opened the box, I thought for sure I would have to ask Jay to put it together after seeing the pieces. I am terrible at that sort of stuff and have no patience for it, but I wanted to try to do it myself so I could let you guys know if you are challenged like me, if you could put it together or not. It actually wasn't bad at all. It took me about a half an hour. I put it together wrong at first, but then stared at it a while and figured it out a little later ;) 

What's awesome about the train set is that it's plastic and the pieces snap into place very sturdily. We had a wooden train set and it was a disaster by the next day. This is still going strong and they've played with it a lot. Nothing has broken off and we haven't lost any pieces which is a miracle. Because they are so big and sturdy, it would be really hard to. Huge plus in my book.  

Phoenix loves it. More so than Lily. She thinks it's cool but not as much as Phoenix ;) You can probably tell from his face in this picture.

Santa actually brought two more trains that go with the set. They have tons to choose from at Toys R Us, so it's nice that you can collect all of them if your kids are into that. It can get a little pricey depending on which ones you get but i believe the ones Santa got were under $10. The ones they got are towing little animals too, which is really cute.

It's a pretty good size :)

The giraffe :)

Here is the little glacier gate which the kids have so much fun pushing the trains through. It stays on well too.

This little top piece flips over and sums the ice into Koko's little thing she tows. 

(I'm having a brain fart of what it's called)

So the DVD it comes with is the white one. We also received the Snow Rescue DVD as well. The kids didn't care for the DVD's as much as the toy. They get really into shows and then they move onto the next quickly as well. Right now it's all about Kate & Mim Mim, Frozen and Peppa Pig. So it's not Chuggington's fault haha. My kids are just on a different phase right now :)

Lily being a little ham :)

I told her to sit next to the train set. So she did. Haha!

Rhino!!

Overall, I'm really happy with this playset. Someone who is challenged at building things, like myself, can totally put it together. It will stay together while your kids play with it. For weeks! Not just one day, which is always good. I like the fact that you can collect all the other trains from the show and my kids love it. If they are happy, then I'm happy… so this is a big thumbs up from us. 

Hope that helps if you are looking for a fun toy for your kids.

Thanks for reading :)

Sam

xx

Pampers Gift Of Sleep 2014.

Hi My Loves!

First of all, Happy New Year! Can you believe it's 2015 already? Where did the year go? I hope 2015 is all treating you very well so far and continues to bring you everything you hope for.

I have a very special post today because it's something I love doing…. the opportunity to give back to people who may not be having the easiest, breeziest life at the moment. As most of you know I am a member of the Pamper's Baby Board. Every year they have their Gift of Sleep campaign and this year they asked me if I would like to participate in it again. Basically by using Pamper's Baby Dry diapers, you are able to get more sleep due to your baby not waking up because they feel wet. So by gifting Pamper's baby dry diapers to a Mama, you are gifting them sleep, which we all know is so hard to find when you have little ones :)

Be sure to check out my GIFT OF SLEEP post from last year!

CLICK HERE!

Pamper's is a very generous company and always goes all out. They sent a very lovely package of all sorts of diapers in many sizes, as well as wipes, a Sleep Sheep, a soft blanket and a very generous gift card of $100. They simply asked for me to give it to someone who I felt could use a little sleep :) It couldn't have come at a more perfect time because one of my dear friends is having a little bit of a tough time. She has 3 children, a 5 year old, 3 year old and a 1 year old. She is also 30 weeks pregnant and her husband has been on bed rest due to a back injury for the past month. He owns his own construction company, so he can't work due to the pain. I can only imagine the stress they both have and I can't imagine having to put on a happy face for the children while you are already exhausted from being pregnant as well and having 3 little ones running around. So I immediately knew who I wanted to give my Gift of Sleep to. Not only is she an amazing person in general but she would never ask for anything and she is always there with a cheerful smile and would do anything for anyone. 

Here's everything Pamper's sent.

Phoenix and Lily thought it was the coolest lamb ever. It has lots of different noises that help to soothe your child. Lily had a heartbeat monitor up until just a month of so ago and it really helped to keep her sleeping and napping really well. I highly recommend trying one out if you have a light sleeper like I do. It's a miracle haha!

We wrapped it all up and the kids were very excited to take it over to our friends. It's always fun to get presents as a child but I love watching my kids get just as excited to give presents to others. 

Trying to get both of them to stand still and look at me was not happening, so here you go. Haha!

The next day we took it over to my friends home and she was so surprised and excited and grateful. Whether she uses the money to take a little spa time for herself, or maybe a date with her hubby… or even to pay bills or buy some new baby stuff, I don't know… but I do know that it will help and the diapers will definitely ensure that when that new precious little baby comes, she will get some sleep while he stays dry in his diaper :) Ahhh…. sleep. Sweet, delightful, sleep :)

Happy New Year again and thanks so much to Pamper's for allowing me to do this for my sweet friend. Your generosity and kindness is much appreciated and I am so thankful to be a part of such a wonderful company. 

Have a great day :)

 And don't forget….

Smile :)

Sam

xx

Invisalign Photo Update: Before - Tray 7!

Disclosure -- I am an Invisalign^® Spokesperson and all opinions expressed are my own. Full disclosure: http://www.invisalign.com/pages/spokespersondisclosure

Hi My Loves!!!

As most of you know, I have partnered up with Invisalign^® clear aligners to straighten my teeth. I'm going to do a quick photo update of the teeth up until the date that I filmed this video so that you can see for yourself the difference. It's only slight and may not be noticeable to others, but to me it's very noticeable and I feel the difference even more that what I can see. I have gaps in places I have never had before which is really cool because I know my teeth are moving. The gaps that I did have in the back of my mouth from teeth being removed are now much smaller as well.

Here's the pictures I had in my last blog post which cover through till tray 5. 

(Note in Tray 3 that my powder was terrible in flash… do NOT apply to much of the Nars Setting powder!!)

Here is my picture as of the date I filmed my latest update. Hope it helps :)

Does anyone know why Blogger automatically blurs out the pictures now? It's like it makes your skin look all blurred and perfect looking? It's a little annoying and I don't know how to fix it.

As you can see from Tray 7, I actually felt like my front teeth got more crooked with this tray. Up until Tray 7, the front left tooth had been going in and looking straighter but after tray 7 I felt like it had pulled it out a little more and then over a little. I think it's pulling the tooth out to bring it back over to fit in straighter. You will notice the left tooth next to my front left tooth is much straighter than in the first picture. It doesn't stick out nearly as much. (I'm talking about left in real life, not as your are viewing the pictures… hope that makes sense)

Either way I am still feeling more confident with my smile and each time I floss and find another gap, just makes me feel like I'm that much closer to my end goal of having straight teeth.

I'll show you a big one from before and Tray 7 as well.

Be sure to watch my Invisalign treatment updates on my beauty channel too, so that you can hear about all of my experiences throughout my journey.

Thanks so much for reading/watching and thank you so much for all of the amazing and supportive comments you leave me about my teeth. It's so encouraging to know that you guys are just as excited about my treatment as I am and that you can see a difference too!!

Sam

xx

I'm currently receiving complimentary Invisalign treatment in exchange for sharing my experience. All opinions expressed are my own. Full disclosure: http://www.invisalign.com/pages/spokespersondisclosure

Sigma Ethereal Radiance Review

 Hi My Loves!!

Sigma just recently launched their new collection "Ethereal Radiance" which consists of mostly icy tones with a really pretty packaging. I love the packaging. It's really nice to see something different and it reminds me of New Year's Eve. The collection features a new brush kit, shimmer creams, eye pigments, lip pencils & lip gloss. I'm going to give you my first impressions of the times that I received from Sigma and give you more up close swatches :) I hope it helps make your decision on whether or not you would like to purchase.

Here's the pamphlet's that came in the box. I'm pretty sure this is just for bloggers. If you order it I don't think you get it, although I'm not entirely sure.

So the eye pigments come in sets of three. I actually would have preferred to get the warmer toned ones as I hardly ever wear cool tones on my eyes, but this was sent to me and I didn't know what I was getting, so either way I appreciate it that I got it. But you can see that most of the tones are on the cooler side.

First product I want to talk about is the Shimmer Cream which retails for $16. I got Beacon of Light. I've got to be totally honest, this disappointed me. I'm not sure what it's intended for but all if did for me was leave a splotch on my face where my makeup had disappeared underneath this product. It just looked like grease on my skin. It wasn't flattering it all. It does have a very silicone type feel when you touch it. Almost as if it should be a primer or pore filler. I don't know if that's what it is as it didn't say in the pamphlet but I assume it's a highlight. If that's what it is, I don't recommend it. I won't use this again.

You can see it very delicately lighted up my skin. It might be ok if you are someone who doesn't wear foundation and wants a super duper subtle hint of light hitting your face, but for someone like me…. it's not flattering.

Next is the brush kit which retails for $76. I love all of them and actually own all of them except the fan brush which I actually don't like. It's too skinny and leaves your highlight looking a bit too sharp and harsh. The big fat one is my favorite. It's amazing for applying highlight on your cheekbones. I also really love the small eyeshadow brush for applying my brow bone highlight.

Then we have the pigment trio which retails for $30. I got the color Ice Castles in The Sky which are all very icy, cool tones. It's not something I would have picked myself as I hardly ever wear these colors on my eyes. I love warmer reds, coppers and browns but I will say that the shade "Ethereal Glitter" is gorgeous. The pictures don't do it justice. I couldn't capture the true shimmer it has. It's very pretty and probably the only one I will wear.

Here's the one I was talking about. It's a very fine glitter that has an iridescent purple undertone to it. It's gorgeous. It really lights up the skin and catches the light beautifully. It's not showing well at all in these pictures unfortunately. But it's very beautiful in real life.

Felicity is a pale pinky purple. It has a nice glow to it and is very delicate and subtle. It's decently pigmented and would be pretty just for a wash of pink on the eye or even in the inner corner for a pop of pink glow. 

Airy was disappointing. It's not pigmented at all and swatches chalky. You have to keep dipping your finger back into the product to get a good pigmentation for a swatch. When you do finally get enough to get a good color it's very pretty. It's a medium blue with a purple shimmer in it. If the pigmentation was better I would have liked it more but the pigmentation is more and it's just not a color I ever lean towards when doing my eye makeup.

Next we have the lip switch which retails for $14. Now these are so cool. They are holographic and super trippy (haha I feel weird saying that but it best describes them.) Probably my favorite product from the collection. They are these crazy lip glosses that switch colors when you apply them on the skin. They look one color when first applying and then instantly change to another color. Pretty cool. They are very glossy, grab the light amazingly on your lips. They are not sticky at all either, which is surprising. The pink lotus is my favorite of the two I recieved. It looks like a red with yellow and green in the tube and you think it's going to look horrendous on your lips but then you put it on and it's a gorgeous pink that makes your lips look plump and youthful.

Transcend is more of a purple tone. It's a clear with a purple iridescent to it. I probably would apply this over another warmer lip liner or lipstick to balance out the purple, as purple does not look good on me. I think it would be really great to apply to the center of the lips to give them a nice luscious plump.

You can see how gorgeous these are. It's a really cool product. I recommend grabbing one. It's worth giving it a go :)

The Lip Bases are not new to me. I have three other shades which I actually really love. Now the colors that I have a more on the nudey/pinky side but these are very fitting for the season and so beautiful. These are like a lip pencil and a lip crayon got married and had a baby. They are very pigmented, creamy, thicker than a liner but more precise that a lip crayon. I really like these. Mirth is a gorgeous red, perfect for Christmas. 

Rhapsody is a deep eggplant which I find a little tough to pull off but I know a lot of people who rock a dark vampy lip. Either way they are both very pigmented and very pretty. It's just your color preference. I would recommend these products as well as the lip switch. 

Overall, my feeling are mixed on this collection. I think if I had the warmer tones of the eye pigments I would have felt a little bit more excited about it, but I simply didn't like the colors. A few of the products quality just wasn't there. The eye pigments and shimmer cream packaging felt cheap and would catch when I tried to close the lid. I do love Sigma brushes. I swear by the, and for the most part, they are all I use. You can't go wrong with the brushes other than the fan brush. I love the lip products. The quality is there and the colors are very pretty. I'm not sure if you can buy this collection as a whole, but if you can't don't fret. This is a collection that I recommend picking up a couple of pieces out of but not the entire thing. Try the lip products, brushes and the ethereal glitter. Skip on the other pigments and shimmer cream. I feel like the lip switches are so different that I think it's a pretty cool gift or just to have in your collection as it's not something you can find easily.

I hope this helps you :) 

If you do decide to purchase anything, don't forget to use your code for 10% off!

DEC2014

CLICK HERE TO SHOP!

Thanks so much for reading!

Sam

xx

Sigma provided this collection to me for my consideration.