(This is for those vendors who have been sending me their products unsolicited: I will NOT review your items on Amazon because of that site's most recent review policies. However, because some of you are so persistent, I will post reviews of your product(s) here on the blog. That said, this post is a review of one another of those products.)
So, as always, when I get one of these unsolicited items in the mail to review, I wanted to ignore it.
Then, I kept looking at it on the day when I was going to be doing my weekly facial. Normally, that only involves using a really gentle homemade mask of oatmeal, honey, and coconut oil. I let this mixture sit on my face for about 5 minutes before I wet my fingertips in a bowl of water and massaged everything in, and then I rinse and moisturize.
That's it. Simple. But I noticed that this cleansing tool comes with a silicone brush. It looks soft. I took it out of the case. It is soft. Okay.
So I decided that this would be one of those items I would review here. I still won't post anything on Amazon because that's against the rules. However, here is the product link. Now, let's do this.
PROS
It is compact enough to tuck into the corner or a suitcase (or even stow in a backpack).
With fresh batteries, it's really powerful.
The silicone head feels wonderful as a facial massager
Easy on-off switch
Ergonomic and easy to grip
CONS
Does require batteries (that are not included)
Easy to run down batteries. I think I got full-power use for about an hour and a half's use (spread over a week's time).
The pumice is too much, IMO, for use on elbows and knees, and not strong enough for foot calluses or heels.
The price (again, IMO) is a bit high. There are too many similar devices with good reviews that are cheaper.
Despite the negatives - which really aren't awful - this is a decent facial device. Even for people who don't travel, it's useful. Having a plug-in option would be awesome.
Okay, I have been promising for a minute to do this post. Now that it's been a year since I went cigarette-free, I thought it was a good time to sort of showcase my vape collection. Some of these devices I won (yay, me) or were gifted (because people were glad I quit cigs) or that I gifted myself (with money saved from not smoking). I have to say that I do NOT miss smoking even though I sometimes miss the smoking rituals. I do like vaping. I can vape without nicotine and I can vape without stinking. I dig it.
I know that there have been a lot of news reports of the dangers of vaping and, honestly, I agree with others who think the problems come from outside "normal" vaping. People who are using juices from any and everywhere might be getting bad additives in their eliquid. Also, a lot of folks are vaping weed and who knows what else. It's just like with the stories of people hurt by exploding devices. Usually, those are situations of people improperly using vapes or amateurs improperly using specialty devices meant only for the experienced. You will not soon - if ever - see me using something I had to build and set up myself. No thank you, ma'am. It took me a week to get comfortable just choosing juice to put into an easy-fill, off-the-shelf device.
These are the devices I love and what I think of them now that I have more experience vaping.
First, let me say that after I wrote this post, I realized that I forgot to mention the device that I tried and went back to cigarettes. This was probably 5 or 6 years ago when ecigs were getting to be really popular in Alaska. I wanted to quit (again) and a friend went to the corner cigarette store and bought me a Blu device. I was so hopeful. Then I tried it. Ugh. That was the worst ever experience of my life. I didn't understand why people preferred a "vape" over cigarettes. I stayed on cigarettes until I moved here to Iowa. I saw the friend of a friend vaping away on a tiny ecig. I asked if they really liked it and I told them about the Blu. They let me try their device (I think it was an Aspire or something similar). It was decent. It didn't make me cough or feel like I was inhaling sandpaper down my throat. That's when I knew that I could find an alternative to cigarettes. So...
The Juul was my first. I loved this thing. I was able to give up cigarettes with it. The vape was just as strong of a nicotine hit as the full-flavor cigarettes I smoked except the flavor and scent was Mango. How I loved the Mango pods. However...
Juul pods are so expensive that I wasn't saving any money. Also, eventually, Juul stopped selling the Mango pods. I rarely use the device anymore. The replacement and refillable pods I've found just are never as good as the original Juul pod.
Veneno
I had one or two other small cheapo devices like that amazing $9 Boulder that I eventually gave to my SIL. She loves and still uses it. I wanted something that gave me the flavor of the smaller pod Juul device. I was seriously over cigarettes at this point. Enter the Smok Veneno. Wow. This thing scared me a little at first. My nephew had to show me everything from how to fill it to how to change the coils. I still to this day never mess with changing the wattage except from up to down! I do love this though. It's a workhorse and it can handle being dropped (a couple of times) and tossed into purses and backpacks. I can also switch out tanks with the Caliber. I really do love this and will have til it quits on me.
After the Veneno, things get blurry as far as which device came next and when. Because I won or was given a couple of devices, I would pay it forward by giving them to someone else trying to quit cigs and wanting to try vaping. I at one time had at least 2 devices similar to the Boulder. Those went to friends and neighbors and I hope they helped them. As for the rest, here are some that I still have and I link to any reviews I might have written for them.
PockeX
This is the Aspire PockeX. I have learned that I'm not a huge fan of the smaller and less powerful mouth-to-lung devices out there. Even though MTL mimics smoking a cigarette, I have gotten used to direct to lung vaping since I don't use high nicotine (or, sometimes any nicotine) and like the clouds and flavor more than anything. I hope that made sense!
Overall, this PockeX is great for "ladylike" vaping. It a nice device for slipping into the purse or pocket for trips to the store or when you are around people who might not vape. I have literally vaped right in front of people who never noticed because this device is so discreet. However, I never got a lot of flavor with this.
Pico Baby
This little beauty is the Eleaf Istick Pico Baby 25W Kit. It's one of my favorites as far as how it looks. It's just cute and discreet and stylish. And it was under $15 believe it or not. It's a nice vape - much more powerful than you'd expect for such a tiny device. It didn't come with extra coils and I always burn through them quickly.
But when I say this device is tiny, I mean just that.
So, there's the cute, tiny Pico Baby and then there's the big brother...
Squeeze2
The Pico Squeeze is a squonk device. Listen, I had zero business getting this thing! I didn't understand what a "squonk" was. Now I know. Thank goodness I have a young (young adult, so don't freak out) nephew who was once so into vaping that he built his own devices (whatever that means). He came over and set everything up for me and told me to call him whenever I need to do anything more complicated than filling the juice reservoir.
I don't use this one often - because of my nephew's instructions - but when I do, it is awesome. I can't really describe how much more smooth and defined flavors are when using a squonk. Just freaking superb.
Now, believe it or not, between winning devices, getting them as gifts, and finding sales, I don't spend nearly as much money on vapes as I did on cigarettes. With cigarettes, I was sometimes going through over a pack of cigarettes a day. At the time I was in Alaska, a pack cost over 9 dollars and sometimes as much as 10 and change. Crazy habit. Now that I vape, a $7 bottle of ejuice can last me 2 weeks or more. Of course, I don't use fancy juice. I also have found places like the Dollar eJuice Club. Mostly, I use VapeWild juice that I can find at Electronic Tobacconist (and skip the crazy shipping or club fees). So I do like finding devices that are no longer brand new on the market. Once the new device craze wears off, I can snatch up a 40- or 50-dollar device for 15 to 20 dollars. Don't believe me? Go back and look at what I paid for some of the devices compared to what they cost several months before my review.
Anyway, it did take me a while to learn what kind of vape experience I like. I'm not into a lot of bling-bling or alterable parts and stuff. I just want something that's decent-looking and gives a nice flavor. Okay, I do like my vapor too! Once I settled into my vape groove, I was more careful about falling for all the hype every time something new came out. And I was really happy with what I already had in my collection.
Then, because I remembered the joys of the Juul, I wanted to see if there was anything just as good. I especially wanted a more "able" device than the Juul - more affordable and definitely refillable. And along came the Uwell Caliburn.
I didn't immediately love the way it looks. The Caliburn is so much fatter than the Juul. As soon as I vaped the device I forgot all about the Juul. The one and only thing that Juul has on the Caliburn are those high-nicotine pods. I think that's what attracts newly-quit smokers. You get such a good taste and a super-hit of nicotine with Juul. But then you start to learn about things like salt nic and refillable pods. Yeah, no need to spend all that money on Juul pods.
Finic 20
I am now best friends with the Caliburn. Like the Pico Baby, it's small and discreet. Because it's narrow and flat, it's nice to have when you don't want to carry a purse. This is a good pocket vape.
Another device that I wasn't immediately thrilled with is the Finic 20 from Voopoo. Since I won it in a giveaway, I was willing to get used to it. And I have to admit, it's a cute little device. When I was given a choice of 3 devices, I chose to wait a month for this one mainly because of the colors and design.
I had to use this for a few days and figure out that I could not only vape cigarette-style but also do DTL vaping. Then I was happy. I don't use this all the time but I like it.
I can't believe that I'm just now mentioning one of my fave devices. Well, it's my sort-of-fave. The first one I got went wonky and I had to fight my way through getting it replaced. Tedious. But so worth it because this thing is AHmazing. Behold the Voopoo Caliber.
Oh my my my! How I love this thing. It's beautiful and a vape- monster (if that's a thing). The one reason I use this mostly at home and don't pack it around is that it's freaking solid. It's too fat to tuck in a pant or skirt pocket and too heavy for a shirt pocket. I don't mean to say that it's crazy-heavy, but it's just a bit much for tucking away anywhere, in my opinion.
Uwell Whirl 22
No worries though. Just like the Pico Baby is the kid sister to the Pico Squeeze, I did find the adopted kid sibling to the Caliber. Adopted because it's got a different mother.
That's the Uwell Whirl 22. How cute is it? For a $20 device... I'll say that if I could, I would have paid twice that. It's not as powerful as the Caliber, of course, but it's a nice substitute for taking around on the go. It's smaller and much lighter in weight.
Look at them together. Just kind of amazing that I found something like the Whirl. It's one of the devices that I liked the minute I got it.
I'm just now discovering that, for some reason, I never did a review of the Smok Priv V8. Huh. Well, I will have to do that. For now, here is what it looks like and I can tell you that it's another device I was a little slow to fall in love with.
There are some pros and cons with this one and I promise to do a short review soon.
The Innokin Endura is one that I started out liking and then... things have been going downhill. I listed the pros and cons when I reviewed the device but those negatives have become very annoying. The other day, it tipped over again and then started leaking. When I tried to see what was up, the whole top part fell apart. So... yeah. That thing was too much trouble to fill and then, with the constantly tipping over, it just went into a drawer somewhere. At least I got an extra drip tip that fits a couple of the other small devices...
You can probably tell that I tend to like Smok devices - even though I don't know if I'm pronouncing Smok correctly. I say "Smock" but some other people say "Smoke". Whatever. Maybe because a Smok was my first serious device after the Juul, I feel comfortable with them. I will say one thing though: When Smok gets it right, they nail it, but when they get it wrong... The Smok Infinix was a device I raved about for a long time. Then, recently, I could hear light hissing after I finished taking a hit. I changed to a new, clean pod and the same thing happened. I'm going to have my brother or nephew take a look at it the next time they are over. Ugh
By the way, in a battle between the Infinix and the Caliburn, the Infinix gets its butt kicked. For flavor, vapor, and reliable hits, the Caliburn is the champ. Also, next to the Caliburn, the Infinix looks and feels a little cheap. I have to admit right now that Uwell and Eleaf are becoming my favorites. Sorry, Smok.
Looking at this list, I'm thinking that I have a lot of devices! In reality, it has been a year since I quit cigarettes and with contests, giveaways, and sales, I haven't done too badly. If you didn't believe me when I told you how long juice lasts me, just look at how much I accumulated over a 4 month period. I won't be buying juice again for a very long minute...
I took this photo 6 months ago for a post and I still have about 5 full or nearly full 30ml bottles and I think I still have all of those 10ml bottles.
So, if you didn't doze off somewhere before this, I might as well tell you about a fun app I've signed up with called Vaffle. It's social media for vape enthusiasts. I am not that into it yet because it's not very user-friendly. However, it is an awesome place to look at very cool and unusual devices. I love that part.
By the way, here is a post I did about some of the shops I frequent. And remember, I am a broke cheapskate so...
I hope you had fun looking at the different vapes and, hopefully, reading some of the linked reviews. And remember, as a vaper, be cool, not annoying.
Normally, I don't blog about politics or race. When I did in the past, it was just childish venting and when I realized that, I stopped. This post is not meant to be childish or petty but it will involve some venting. And I am posting it asap.
Today I experienced something ugly at our little neighborhood market. Let me back up and explain the current social temperature here in this town. I am in Northern Iowa and, for such a Trump-centric voting base, I have only rarely run into people acting like Trump at his worst. I think that the Trump voters here chose him for the same reasons anyone chooses a candidate. They wanted someone who represented them and their interests. I have my own opinions about whether or not they chose correctly, but, oh well. My point is that I don't think there are a lot of Steve King type people around where I live. The people here are decent, civil, and as worn down as the rest of us by the economy and various social stresses. That said, I know that, like anywhere, there are people here with hate in their hearts. There are also people with their own stories and circumstances that have nothing to do with hating other people just for the sake of hating.
Okay.
So, basically, up until today, the only kind of ugliness that I've had directed at me was the time I accidentally ran over a woman's heel with my shopping cart. She turned around and gave me a look that was screaming "Nigger" in at least 5 different languages. Here's the thing: had I not run into her, she probably would have never given me a second glance.
When I was at the store today, the man in line behind me didn't just hate me - he wanted me to know that he did. He went out of his way to let me know. I only happened to notice him because I glanced back when I out the little bar on the conveyor belt so he could load his groceries separate from mine. I could feel the laser of nastiness he was sending my way so I openly turned and looked him in the eye - you know, the way you do with vicious animals and human bullies. Oh! Man! He glared at me and fixed his mouth as if he wanted to spit on me.
I tried not to let this get to me and I finished checking out without changing my expression. (Okay, I already have resting bitch face, so I had to work a little to look slightly less bitchy.) The clerk is a young man who knows me and he watched this whole thing like he was worried something was about to pop off.
Here's the thing, I don't engage with ugliness unless I'm forced to physically defend myself. That kind of thing hasn't happened since I was a teenager and had a lot to learn about social graces. I wasn't worried that this situation was going to go beyond the man's visual assault. He's an angry man and I don't know why. I do know that I'm an easy target for his anger. I'm black and female with nappy natural hair. In that man's mind, I probably look like every person he's supposed to hate for ruining his vision of "making America great again." You know, 'great' like back when the Klan galloped around in the night, holding up their Christian faith as a shield against (not for) everything our Savior taught. Our Savior and their Savior - that Jewish rabbi who died on the cross and is the Christ in 'Christian'...
The thing about hate is that it's not always backed up by reason or logic. It's usually not even directed at the right target. It's just this mask that some people wear to hide their real fears. I can disagree with someone without hating them (or their demographic). Hate is a poison that stops discussion and debate and the rational exchange of ideas and opinions. Hate allows people to be ignorant without shame. Hate can also be a tool that people use to divide and conquer.
Of course, all this ugliness wasn't born when Trump was sworn into office. He didn't invent hate any more than Hitler invented anti-semitism. You see where I'm going here?
The one thing that irritates me most about the past election and this current president is the backing and encouragement given to Trump by the evangelical Christians. I too am a Christian, so I want to speak on this. Yes, he's supported Israel and he claims to be pro-life. For some of us, that gives him carte blanche to crap on the rest of anything resembling moral decency. The other irritation is the whole 'MAGA' thing. As if every decent person in this country has not been a part of trying to make and keep America great. As a woman who cringes every time the president opens his mouth to say something horrible and divisive, I don't think greatness is the goal.
Very said & very true
So that's my rant. I don't want to go on because ranting doesn't solve anything. The best thing I can do is to keep praying for everyone so that, when the time comes, we will be able to heal and come back together as brother and sister citizens. That's going to be most important for people like me and the other broke and disenfranchised folks - you know, like that dude at the store.
This is a post about vaping. If you are not the legal smoking/vaping age in your area, this post is NOT for you. I don't encourage or approve of underage use of adult products.
Since it's been (almost) exactly 1 year since I gave up cigarettes...
Yay me
...I was just thinking the other day that I needed to do a total recap of all the vapes I've used. First, though, I decided to do this review of the latest device.
I put in for a money card giveaway so long ago that I forgot about it. Instead of being sensible and buying vitamins or something, I got this from over at Breazy:
That is the Whirl 22 25W Starter Kit by Uwell. Let me tell you something. This thing... man, is it good. I cannot believe that this is a$20 device. And I'm a little mad too because I have other devices that cost two and three times and they aren't as decent.The starter kit came with the usual extra coil and a replacement tank glass (a bubble style).
Something I want to mention immediately is that most shops are lauding this as basically (or only) a mouth-to-lung device. That's so wrong. This can be used as both MTL or DTL. As a matter of fact, I use it primarily direct-to-lung. But anyway... Here are the pros and cons.
What's to like:
By shopping around, you can find it priced affordably. This was $19.99 (with a free shipping code) at Breazy.com. They were sold out of most of the colors but, at the time I shopped, I got one of the last rainbow/iridescent shades. (NOTE: when I checked yesterday, they were down to the black shade. Just now I checked and they are sold out. You can request an email notification for when they are back in stock.)
It's a really beautiful and shiny device. "Whirl" is embossed along the side. At least, I think that's what it says...
It's extremely lightweight and easy to hold onto, but it doesn't look or feel cheap. It's small enough to fit into a pocket and it won't weigh down fabric.
It is a top fill device.
The device charged fairly quickly out of the box (where it might have been partially charged) and took about 15 minutes to get to full charge.
You do get a bubble tank in addition to the pre-installed straight one.
I love that this has a smaller/narrower drip tip. (I found that my Smok Priv V8 tip fit the Whirl.)
This has nice airflow adjustment levels. I like being able to open the flow for direct-to-lung vaping. For people who like mouth-to-lung (like with a cigarette), the flow narrows down very nicely for that.
I don't vape constantly and the fully-charged battery on the device lasted an entire day (about 10 hours) and was only getting low enough to matter a couple of hours into the following day. It does vape well at mid-battery level, but the very best is when it's fully charged. And for a 25-watt device, it vapes beautifully.
The flavor with the new coil was marvelous. I tend to use sweet dessert-flavored juices in all my vapes. The Vape Wild "Snickerdoodle" juice in the Whirl was probably the best it's tasted so far. That surprised me.
What might bother some folk:
Can be as much as $40-50+ if you don't shop around.
It's a fingerprint magnet. These are very shiny devices. That matters to some people (not me). I suggest choosing a color that doesn't show prints so much. On this rainbow shade, I have to look close to see prints that would show up a lot on a solid color. Also, the "Whirl" that's embossed on the device is really shallow and kind of hard to read. I don't know, it could read "Idiot" for all I can tell.
Some people like heavier devices because they think it makes them feel more expensive. Personally, I like the size and weight.
The fill holes are small and a couple of my bottle tips were too fat. I think I will prefer using a needle top dispenser to keep things clean.
The charging port is on the bottom. I hate that. Also, you cannot use the vape while it's charging.
The base and tank cannot be used with any other device. They are made for each other. If the top breaks, you can't use the battery base. I haven't even swapped to the bubble tank because the installed one is on very, very tight and I don't want to break it. Also...
The Whirl 20 has an outer metal cage protecting the glass tank. Smart. This Whirl 22 has the metal cage inside the glass tank. Why? No clue.
With a sweet juice (the kind I like) the coil flavor started to wane after a couple of days. It still worked well but it's not going to be like the one in the Voopoo Caliber that lasts really well for at least a week before the quality goes down. This might last longer with a less sugary juice. I don't know.
One other thing I had trouble with initially was opening the tank to fill it. The lid was extremely tight and as you can see, it's quite narrow and can be hard to get a grip on.
Yeah, you have to unscrew the
skinny piece there
After the first couple of times, that got easier but I still wish the top was one of the roll-open kinds like the ones on the Voopoo Caliber, Smok Priv V8 and Smok Veneno. Sometimes, it's the little things.
All in all, the Whirl has too many positives (especially at the $20 price) for the negatives to matter much. And it comes in a nice range of colors.
Because I'm no expert on product specifications, I copied this from Breazy for you:
Product Features:(w/highlights)
Dimensions: 22.2mm x 117.5mm
Tank Capacity: 2ml
Integrated Rechargeable Battery: 1600mAh
Construction: High-Quality Stainless Steel
Unibody Design
Quartz Glass Reinforcement
***Maximum Wattage: 25W***
Voltage Output Range: 3.0V - 3.8V
Resistance Range: 0.5ohm - 0.7ohm
Single Button Mechanism
LED Indication Light
NiChrome Element: 0.6ohm Whirl Coil
MicroUSB Charging Port
Package Includes:
1 x Whirl 22 Starter Kit By Uwell
1 x Replacement Quartz Glass
2 x 0.6ohm Whirl Coils
1 x Pack Of O-Rings
1 x Drip Tip Cover
1 x Micro USB Charging Cord
1 x Instructional Manual
Because size does often matter with vape devices, I compared this to the Caliber (which is heavier and longer):
Can you tell I have a color preference?
I watched a couple of videos that compare the Whirl 22 against the Whirl 20. From what I understand, the main differences are in the tank cage (Whirl 20 has more protection) and fill methods (Whirl 20 is a more cumbersome bottom fill device). Two reviewers said that there was zero difference in the flavor. Of course, the Whirl 22 has a bigger battery so it will last longer.
This is a great device and had I known about it, I would have gotten one long ago. I would even have been willing to pay a little more than I did because it's such a good vape.
I can sometimes be such as ass. And it's always to my own detriment.
Ever since I first heard about the Keto craze and all the other low-carb diets, I have wished to be able to drink black coffee. I'm not kidding when I say that my daily saturation of sweetened coffee is where most of my unnecessary calories come from. Coffee is a necessity, yes, but all the sugar in my flavored creamers is pure indulgence. Not only do those creamers turn a simple cup of coffee into a dessert but they are starting to take a chunk out of my grocery budget.
The look, the feel - all hits a little close to home!
I love, love, love my coffee. And not just any coffee. For the past couple of years, I've grown more attached to coffee enhanced with chicory. Coffee can be good for you. Chicory can be good for you. There is nothing good for your body (outside of your tastebuds) about heavily sweetened coffee creamers. However, I have always had a hard time drinking plain, black, unsweetened coffee. I've never even liked coffee with sugar if it was also without cream. For a while, when doing Keto and OMAD, I tried to convince myself that I could do the black coffee thing but... Ugh. I think that McDonald's had the only coffee that I could gag down - if I absolutely had to - without the sugary creamers. But now...
Okay, this is where I explain how I can be such an obstinate ass. I get set in my ways and think that I must never change. Never, ever. Because I am always right. Always. Until I am wrong.
Now all the Amazon customer reviews for the coffee just ranted and raved about how delicious it was. Other customers swore by it because they claimed that it was better than any other coffee, that it was their preferred brand, and that it was so strong without being bitter, and blah blah blah. I fell for the hype and was thrilled to place the order. I just about assaulted the UPS driver when he made the delivery.
The last time I was so excited to make coffee was after not being able to drink any for a 36-hour fast (and refused to have the allowed had black coffee). I brewed up the first pot like a junkie setting up a fix. I could tell right away that the Luzianne wasn't going to be as strong as Cafe Du Monde or French Market brands (which are both the same, I'm sure) and I got a little worried.
Of course, I added my sweetened creamer and... Nope. I was not impressed at all. In my opinion, the brew was much too weak. It looked like a very weak cup of tea. With the other brands, adding creamer gives a nice mellowed out cocoa-frost kind of shade. With the Luzianne, the tiniest bit of cream turned the coffee the shade of Almond milk. Just whited out all the color and all the flavor. Nasty, nasty.
I tried making a slightly stronger brew, and then a third even stronger brew. The color deepened a little but the creamer still killed all the coffee flavor. I burned through over 5 scoops (about a tablespoon and a half each) of ground coffee before I gave up. I tossed the bag of Luzianne in the fridge and made myself a cup of reliable Cafe Du Monde.
Once I got my usual java fix, I wrote a 3-star review on Amazon for the Luzianne coffee. I complained about how weak the coffee was. I didn't say (though I may have implied it) that the other reviewers were wimps who had no idea what "strong" coffee is. And I made up my mind to give the coffee to my sister-in-law. She's kind of a coffee wimp.
Before I could give the coffee away, a neighbor stopped by for a chat. She, too, is a coffee wimp. I made her a cup of the Luzianne and continued drinking my mug of the good stuff. As soon as my neighbor sipped her coffee she was kind of wowed and asked me what kind it was. (She's had some of my nuclear brew before and I've had to water it down for her since.) I told her that I didn't like the Luzianne because it wasn't strong enough and she said that it probably was meant to be drunk black. I ended up giving her the rest of the opened bag since she liked it so much.
I couldn't quit thinking about what my neighbor said about drinking the Luzianne black. That was the one thing I had not tried when I was doing my taste test. So I brewed up a cup.
Listen. This coffee is goooood. It's so good that cream and sugar only ruin it. I think I like this coffee plain more than I like my other coffee with the creamer. No, that's a lie, but I do like it almost as much as the calorific coffee. By the way, I did go back and amend my Amazon review (so I'm not a total ass).
Drinking Luzianne coffee black makes me appreciate why some people only drink their coffee black. This coffee is kind of amazing. For the first time in my life, I on purpose made and drank black coffee all day. It's been two days now and I have only had my dessert coffee once.
I am excited about this. When I was doing Keto and OMAD (and trying to go 16 and 18 hours between meals), coffee was the thing that tripped me up every time. The rule was that you could have all the black coffee you wanted in between meals. All the BLACK COFFEE. I would make it up to almost 15 hours before I got cranky and needed my java fix so I'd cheat. Now that I'm trying to cut back on sugars by using the miracle berry, I've been doing well with everything except my coffee - because coffee with lemon is just nasty.
I love the idea of getting the health benefits (and caffeine kick) from coffee without all those calories. On a normal day, I usually make a 16-ounce mug of coffee and add at least 5 tablespoons of the sweet creamer. That's over 170 of the most useless calories in my world. Crazy delicious but also just crazy.
Just imagine if all the coffee I drink in a day is good for me, right? Understand that I can go through two of my big mugs in a day. If I don't feel well, I can do three. My mug keeps the coffee hot for so long that those two helpings get me from early in the morning until late at night.
One thing I have to mention though about coffee with chicory: do not forget the laxative effect. For some reason, when I drink the Luzianne coffee black, the laxative properties are way stronger than when I drink my other coffee with the cream. I know that the chicory has an "emptying" effect but I've never experienced it with the other brands so I assume this has to do with the sugary additives I was using. I'm just guessing but... I have warned you so be careful.
The first thing you should know is that although this miracle berry powder is labeled "Boulder", the mailing package was marked as being sent from Sweat Freaks.
I think that Sweet Freaks is the actual name of the brand/seller. It's all a little confusing because this powder (labeled as being from New Zealand) and brand seem to be associated with the Zobo Red brand powder (labeled as being "grown in the USA". Also, the ebook Sweet Freaks: drinks edition (miracle berry recipe book) promotes products from Sweet Freaks, Boulder, and Zobo Red in addition to the Flavornaut brand. I'll be referring to this item as being from Boulders (though the ordering info shows it as being sold by Zobo Red). This is what I received in the mail:
Since I've had mixed results with other brands of miracle berry products - freeze-dried berries and tablets - I decided to start with zero expectations this time. Right off, I was pretty underwhelmed by the package size of this product. It was so thin that I wondered if I was getting some kind of letter instead of the actual powder.
More product confusion
I went back to check the product info on Amazon for the size and servings amount. There was some confusion there also. This is what is shown on the Amazon product page:
This is what is on the back of the actual package:
In the Questions section at the bottom of the product page, this is how another customer responded to the query about the serving size:
This is what I saw when I looked inside the package.
It's kind of hard to tell, but while there is not a lot of product, there is more than what this photo shows. I didn't want to mess around trying to get a better photo and end up spilling any of the powder. The texture is not as fine as talcum powder and reminds me of very finely ground cornmeal. The taste of a small amount on my tongue has a slight sweetness to it. It's pleasant and sweeter than the dissolving tablet I've tried. There is a small amount added "to stabilize" the powder but I have no idea what arrowroot tastes like so...
Mberry effect on coffee (in general/any brand)
One thing I discovered from my previous use of miracle berry is that while it did nothing to sweeten the taste of my coffee, it did have an effect on the taste of it. At the time, I was drinking my coffee with lots of sweetened creamers. The miracle berry flattened the taste so much that it made the coffee unpleasant, in my opinion. Now that I am drinking my coffee black (whole other story there), I was concerned that the berry effects would ruin that too. Just in case, I held off trying out the berry until much later in the day when I would be finished with my final cup of coffee. It had zero effect on the black coffee. At least now I know that I can use the berry at any point during the day and still have my coffee (as long as the coffee is black and unsweetened).
Taste tests (of products to date)
For comparison, of all the miracle berry products I've used so far the best one and my absolute favorite: 1 Richberry's freeze-dried halves. 2) Still effective but much less so were the freeze-dried berries from Snozzberry Farm. I initially thought the berries were fresh because they were kind of sticky to the touch but now I think they felt like that from being old and stale. They also shorted my order of berries by quite a lot. 3) The least effective product were the tablets from MiraBerry (currently not available). I will be doing a post showing how all the products compared in taste-testing But basically, the Boulder powder was, at best, only mildly effective.
Greek yogurt (non-fat, plain) tasted like... Greek yogurt, non-fat and plain. The powder took softened the sour notes just by the tiniest bit. I doubled up on the powder and, while the yogurt was not as sour, it still was not something I wanted to eat without adding fruit or sweetener.
Greek yogurt (w/lemon juice) tasted a little better but I don't know if that was from the powder or just the added lemon.
Goat cheese (plain) this seemed to taste worse with the powder. There was no sweetening or softening of the sharp flavor.
Goat cheese (w/lemon) had no change in flavor
Lemon water & ACV water had no sweetening change in taste at all. The ACV had a different taste but I can't put my finger on what it was. It was still too strong to sip though.
I started out using about .5 grams of the powder for the above results. When I doubled up the dose to try the plain yogurt and goat cheese, there was no improvement. There's not enough powder in the package to double or triple doses anyway. It would be too expensive even if it worked.
Used 6 of these little dessert spoons to get the
3 grams (0.1oz)
0.5 grams per spoonful
Remember the serving size listed on the back of the package? There was no way I was going to get 25 servings from the bag I received. I was running out just getting the tastes tests done. If I had liked this powder, I wouldn't want to $13 per bag that would not last even a few days. That would be like having a drug habit, wouldn't it? I mean, I don't know what people pay for drugs, but if it was $13 a bag, I'd be out of luck.
Bottom line
In my opinion, I don't think this powder is worth it. I went back and read reviews written and questions asked and answered by customers. There were only 16 reviews currently and 2 of those (including my own) are negative. The rest are really positive. I have to think the reason is that not everyone does well with certain forms of miracle berry. I hope those glowing reviews are not the result of cheating the system (either by getting free products or being otherwise compensated to say positive things).
Personally, I get a much better effect from the berries. Even the worst berries delivered some results for me. Tablets would be my second choice. I haven't yet reviewed one of the tablets I've tried.The company is tweaking their product and I will review it when they have the new items up for sale. I have to admit that the tablet gave a nice effect. It just was not as strong and it wasn't long-lasting at all, wearing off after only 15 minutes or so and I told the seller who gave me a sample box. The company is tweaking the product and I will review it when they have the new items up for sale.
Along with Snozzerberry Farm brand, I just cannot give a good review to Boulders. Because I based my grovery budget and eating plan around the berries, I used the refund from Snozzberry to go back and purchase more of the Richberry product. I will stick with them until something better-priced or more effective comes around.
Peace
--Free
P.S.: Sorry for any typos/errors. It's been a rough couple of days and I wrote this post over a 2-period.
(This is for those vendors who have been sending me their products unsolicited: I will NOT review your items on Amazon because of that site's most recent review policies. However, because some of you are so persistent, I will post reviews of your product(s) here on the blog. That said, this post is a review of one another of those products.)
If you are like me, this is the first you are hearing of a Gua Sha Board. To be honest, I don't even know how to pronounce Gua Sha. And it's not that I'm dumb. Even Google was like, Huh?
Well then.
This is what I have pieced together from some more Googling:
It's an alternative therapy that you use to stimulate "microcirculation" (source)
It's from Mandarin 刮痧 (guāshā), meaning to literally "scrape sand" (same source as above)
Okay, now I am about to tick off some people, but hear me out.
I am woman and love all things to do with beauty. I think that Asian women are some of the most beautiful in the world. Recently, I have explored some Asian beauty products because I love to explore new things. However, from what I have read of Gua Sha, it's in the same league that I put Yoga. Let me explain.
There are some practices - for health, wellness, and medical - that stem from a culture's religion. For instance, I don't practice yoga because I don't want to deal with the spiritual aspects behind it. Yoga is not something that the original practitioners took as lightly as we might in the Western world. I truly believe that there is a spiritual force behind the practice of yoga. As a Christian, I don't want any spiritual force in my life other than the one given by my Lord. I think that Gua Sha might have its own spiritual forces and beliefs infused in the practice.
Controversial, yes, but I have to stick to my own beliefs.
That said, I can't promote this item because I won't be using it. I did want to publish this post so that others can get some background on the tool. Probably, as when I spoke about my views on yoga, there will be folks bad-mouthing me. That's okay. We are all allowed our opinions.
(This is for those vendors who have been sending me their products unsolicited: I will NOT review your items on Amazon because of that site's most recent review policies. However, because some of you are so persistent, I will post reviews of your product(s) here on the blog. That said, this post is a review of one of those products.)
Oddly enough. this was one of the first unsolicited products I received and I had trouble figuring out what company/seller it came from. I figured out that it's from Yunlights and is this particular model, which can also be found on Amazon.
I kind of hate to say it (because I felt the seller was pushy) but this little thing works alright. The first day that I used it, nothing happened for a few hours. That kind of surprised me. I have a lot of indoor plants. Also, I keep my windows open quite a bit and the front of our building is lined with all kinds of plants and bushes. Iowa has houseflies so bold that they organize baseball games and picnics. Those buggers are daring and fearless. In addition to the flies, there are all kinds of smaller winged insects here. In Alaska, we pretty much only worried about the mosquitos (mosquitos bigger than drones but...) and gnats.
Maybe the light is supposed to attract them?
After about four hours, I wondered if the zapper was just very silently killing things. And wouldn't that be a little creepy? I checked the little insect tray and, nope, nothing. I was ready to give up on the thing. As a matter of fact, since I had it in the living room and I was in the bedroom, I forgot that I even had it plugged in. Then, sometime that evening, I damn near had a heart attack.
Here's the thing: this zapper, when it works, the damn thing goes off like a tiny gunshot. The only reason I figured out where the sound came from is I called my brother. I wanted to let him know that I was hearing sounds I couldn't explain. He knew that I had gotten the zapper and told me that's what made the sound.
What?
My brother was right. That night I moved the zapper into the bedroom to keep an eye on it. I set the zapper up right next to me on the night table. I was listening to a podcast when
POP!
I just about wet myself. And then, just when my heart quit banging away like a cartoon character, another of those gunshots went off. Yep, it really was the zapper doing its job.
Hmm... did it catch any???
Yep. This is a closeup.
I think I even see a bunch of little... insect legs?
So, yes, this zapper works. Kind of. It seems to attract certain flying insects - mostly those irritating window gnats - but I think the flies are too smart.
On the positive side:
The zapper does work (for some of the smaller and stupider insects).
There is a metal link so that you can hang the zapper up somewhere
It's small enough not to detract from the indoor decor
It comes with a little brush to clean out the bug tray
It's totally silent while plugged in
Here are the negatives:
There's no on/off switch. It's tedious to have to plug and unplug.
The cord would not be long enough for me to hang this anywhere and reach an outlet.
The price seems, in my opinion, to be just a smidge too high.
Either I don't have as many plant pests as I thought or this thing only attracts the most minute one.
Honestly, if this thing didn't trigger my instinct to dive for cover every time it worked, I would give it a solid 4 stars.
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