**REVIEW** Unilever Dry Spray Anti-perspirant

Just love checking my mail sometimes

I don't often get stuff from Influenster and, when I do, it takes a while for products to reach me way up here in Alaska. This time, I am getting to try out a new anti-perspirant from Unilever:

This is Degree Motionsense Dry Spray.in the "Fresh Energy" scent. Let's go down the list of what I really like so far:

• The nozzle is designed nicely. There's a click-to-open and spray function. This means that I won't be randomly spraying the inside of my gym bag because... me. 
• The container is shaped in way that makes it easy to hold (even with hands damp from the shower) and is just cool to look at.
• The spray itself is super-finely misted and it really is very dry. If it weren't for the scent (which is nice enough), I wouldn't have been sure I had actually applied product. This is a big deal for me because I do NOT like damp deodorants. I have been using a stick deodorant that I always blot after applying. Before now, I've never been too crazy about spray products just as a personal preference. 
• The scent is mild, even though I would prefer no scent. It doesn't linger or interfere with my essential oil fragrances.
• I tested this by applying a few hours before going to the gym. Probably because I am so freaking out of shape, it only takes about 20 minutes on the treadmill before I'm sweating like a murder suspect. I was sweating alright, but not in my underarm area. (Wish someone would make forehead anti-perspirant!)
• Since I was testing this product for it's "48-hour" anti-perspirant claims, I didn't shower for about 4 hours after the workout (just that one!). I wanted to see if the deodorant properties were on point. Answer: Yes. Definitely so.

I have to give this product some points for living up to the hype. There were just a couple of things that would make me like it more:

• While the click-to-open pump is nice, it is tricky to re-close. I was always worried that I might not have locked it back into place. (Kind of a minor point, I know...)
• The "Fresh Scent" is not my favorite. Since I don't see an un-scented version, I think I would prefer the "Sheer Powder" scent. (Just a very personal preference.)
• I can't tell yet how long this will last. From what I can tell, the 3.8-oz size is around $5.00 at Walmart (and also on Amazon as an "add-on" item). 

By the way, you can pick this product up at Walmart and here are the different scents available:

Again, there isn't much that I don't like about this anti-perspirant. What I do love is how dry it goes on. I have to agree with the blurb on the Influenster box: "This is a game-changer." It just might be...

Peace

--Free

DISCLOSURE: I received one or more of the products mentioned in the post compliments of an Influenster campaign in exchange for testing and reviewing.

**REVIEW** Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Repair

My Influenster Vox Box came the other day so I got to try out Vaseline's Intensive Care Advanced Repair.

my thanks to Influenster

When I first looked over the label, other than wanting to rap the rhyming name of this lotion ...

Gimme a beat!

"Intensive care

Advanced Repair"

see the little droplets?

... I noticed that that the product is contains "micro-droplets pf Vaseline Jelly". That put me off a little because I always get a too-shiny look from Vaseline Jelly. I don't like that too-shiny look. For one thing, I am too dark skinned to walk around shining like new money. (My nickname is Penny, after all...)

Because I am all about giving peace products a chance, and because having a shine that will wash off is not the worst thing that can happen and because I took an especially warm shower that dried out my skin... I went ahead with the dry skin test.

Oh, yeah. Forgot to tell you about that. Included in my Vox Box was a little "diagnostic tool". Okay, that might have come out sounding too techy. The tool is really just a card with a couple of detachable strips to test the Before and After state of my skin. It was pretty cool.

my skin wasn't too bad..

While I liked this when I first put it on, I did feel that it was not nearly moisturizing enough. I mean, this is winter time when my skin tends to dry out LOTS. I did go ahead and continue to use this for the week, just to give it a fair trial. Surprisingly, the more I used it, the better it seemed to work. By about Day Three, I noticed that my knees (one of the "ashier" parts of my body) didn't seem as dry by bedtime. My elbows didn't do quite as well. They weren't as dry as usual, but my glycerin does better (and that may be because I tend to lean on my elbows when sitting at a table to write or read). Still, I like the overall results of this lotion after some regular use.

The one thing I don't like is that this is a little bit shiny on the skin when applied. It takes about fice or six minutes before that shine goes away. I still detected a little bit of a sheen afterwards. That fading of the shiny-ness might be from the lotion absorbing into the skin.Maybe? However, as far as effectiveness, I didn't get immediate results, but there was improvement with regular application. I wasn't crazy about the smell, but it's not very strong and it does fade.

My feet are the absolute desert of my body. That was sort of an accidental test for how this lotion works better with continued use. Since I was using the lotion on the rest of my body, I also used it on these dawgs of mine. Every night, I moisturize my feet either with glycerin or petroleum jelly, then put on socks. This will allow me to get through most of the next day without having to re-moisturize my feet. While I was testing out this lotion, I skipped the other products because, well, basically I'm lazy. By bedtime, I just want to get bedded down quick as I can so I can watch TV and crash. What I noticed after a few days of using the Intensive Care is that my feet were still pretty decent by the next night. I still used more lotion and the socks, but there was that improvement.

For my body care needs, I don't think that I will trade my regular moisturizer for this one, but I am going to keep using it on my feet.

If you are willing to give this a try, make sure to give it at least a few days before you judge results. It could depend on the type of climate you live in. In ours (cold outside, too warm and dry inside), I needed time to get results but once I did, well, I was kind of impressed. I do wish the lotion didn't leave that shine though.

Peace
--Free

**UPDATE** My sister used this for a couple of days and says she doesn't like it. She says it's nice when it goes on but does not last long at all. The main thing she doesn't like is that it feels "thin" to her. She actually uses another Vaseline lotion so I was surprised when she disliked this one.  The other lotion she uses is her favorite because it lasts so long and leaves her hands soft even after washing.

DISCLOSURE:
I received this product at no cost in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Word of (Sour) Mouth

A looong while back, I told you all about some of the word of mouth marketing programs I like(d). Two of them were my favorites: She Speaks and Vocalpoint. (It only took me a short time to not like Influenster.) As of now, I have to revoke my endorsement of She Speaks and Vocalpoint. I am doing this with regrets, but I try to be honest about what I do and do not like when I share things here.

She Speaks used to rely on their own site for trying out products and getting feedback. Things have changed. These days, every She Speaks notice I get requires me to use Twitter and/or Facebook to get involved. That might not bother some folks, but I don't want to be forced to use my other social networks. Since I refuse to use Facebook, I resent that so many online sites (from news to android apps and on) almost try forcing users to tie themselves to FB. I do use Twitter, but I didn't join Twitter to use She Speaks. I joined She Speaks for one reason and Twitter for another. Occasional use of Twitter to tout She Speaks is fine, but do I really have to always go to Twitter in order to benefit from my She Speaks membership? Maybe She Speaks ought to change their sign-up info.

My boredom with Vocalpoint probably comes out of their laziness. There aren't many exciting products to try and the site has become sort of ho-hum.

Since I am on this rant, I can tell you that I wasn't ever super-crazy about Influenster. Okay, that's a lie. I really liked the idea of Influenster. They presented themselves wonderfully. Then I joined and worked hard at getting involved with everything on the site. And... nothing. I got nowhere with getting any offers or additional invitations to be involved. It was all kind of a dud.

Maybe all of this is a sign that I should give up on any word-of-mouth sites. You all know how I love trying and reviewing products, but I can do that on my own. I refuse to give these dud sites my contact information so they can re-sell it. Okay, that is another lie. I don't mind giving up some of my information in return for the chance to get a discount on or try a product. I just don't like not getting anything out of the deal.

Lately, I've been considering doing promotions for samples on this blog. Of course, I don't know how Google feels about that, so I have to do some checking first. Until then, if any of you know of some good product try-and-review sites, let me know.

By the by: Bzz Agent is still standing (IMO) as a worthy site. It requires participation, but doesn't hold you hostage to Facebook or Twitter.

Peace
--Free

(Notice that, other than Bzz Agent, I didn't link to any of the sites mentioned in the post? They don't deserve the promotion.)

UPDATE: She Speaks emailed me about their Lancome program just minutes after my post today. When I tried to go and sign up - surprise, surprise, I had problems logging in. Go figure. Of course, they will contact me to say they fixed the problem, but it will be too late to join the campaign. This is the first campaign invite in months. Whatever.