wonderwhatif
Member Since: January 26, 2015Reviews
Colgate 360° Optic White Toothbrush
I’m not usually a massive fan of ‘soft’ brushes, but I have to say I absolutely loved these. When I saw it claimed ‘360 degree’ treatment of your teeth, I gotta say I rolled my eyes. It sounds like marketing buzzwords. It’s not. I... +
I’m not usually a massive fan of ‘soft’ brushes, but I have to say I absolutely loved these. When I saw it claimed ‘360 degree’ treatment of your teeth, I gotta say I rolled my eyes. It sounds like marketing buzzwords. It’s not. I don’t know how it does it, but it really feels like these brushes ‘wrap’ around your tooth. I imagine the different length bristles and cups cause it to get more of a deeper clean that goes somewhat between your teeth, maybe? Either way, I loved the sensation, the result; everything about these toothbrushes.
I’m also partial to a brush with a tongue cleaner and this has a great one that scrubs without hurting your tongue. The only tiny downside is that it’s hard to place this toothbrush down. Like if you put toothpaste on and realise you forgot something, it’s really prone to falling over. There’s a trick to it, it balances slightly on its side, rather than directly on the back, like most toothbrushes.
I normally use a sonic brush, but I’m happy to use these late at night when I don’t want to bother my neighbours, or if I’m in a rush. I’ll definitely be buying these in the future.
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Colgate Sensitive Pro-Relief Repair & Prevent Toothpaste
I cannot recommend this toothpaste for people with sensitivity in the slightest. I tried it in the past (a sample size) and when I got this I had an inkling it was the same one. Within a few days of using it, my sensitivity came back with a... +
I cannot recommend this toothpaste for people with sensitivity in the slightest. I tried it in the past (a sample size) and when I got this I had an inkling it was the same one. Within a few days of using it, my sensitivity came back with a vengeance, it was like it did nothing at all to help it. So for that reason alone, I wouldn’t use this.
I would recommend the Colgate Smart White over this (though granted it's double the price), which also repairs but doesn’t affect my sensitivity, or even the regular Colgate Total. This also doesn’t taste good, which I know is normal for ‘repair’ toothpastes, but I just couldn’t get past the taste of this. The taste is strong and even for a repair toothpaste, it’s really difficult to take; sour and bitter in equal measures. Basically, I ended up rushing my teeth because I couldn’t stand it, so that’s not great for your oral hygiene. I really don’t have words for how much I hated this.
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Colgate Total Whitening Gel
If you’re looking for a classic, mint toothpaste that does it all, this is the one. The thing that stands out about this more than anything else, is that it has the classic blue toothpaste with white stripes and a regular minty taste to go along... +
If you’re looking for a classic, mint toothpaste that does it all, this is the one. The thing that stands out about this more than anything else, is that it has the classic blue toothpaste with white stripes and a regular minty taste to go along with it. No aftertaste, no weird taste, just simple fresh minty taste.
In terms of whitening, I didn’t notice a massive difference, but having previously used the Smart White, which really whitened my teeth, my teeth were pretty much at max whiteness. This did maintain them. I have sensitive teeth and only had one twinge of sensitivity while using this, so I feel like it isn’t as good for severe sensitivity as my sensitive specific toothpaste, but I’d recommend it to normal folks.
The soft tube is easy to squeeze out and get every drop of toothpaste.
3 tubes for this price (7.97 at time of writing) is great value!
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Antipodes Avocado Pear Nourishing Night Cream
Initially I had been planning to give this 3 stars, because while I thought it did an amazing job, I didn’t like the smell, texture and I felt it left the oily parts of my combination skin a little oily. However, after seeing the before and after... +
Initially I had been planning to give this 3 stars, because while I thought it did an amazing job, I didn’t like the smell, texture and I felt it left the oily parts of my combination skin a little oily. However, after seeing the before and after pictures I took, I’ve raised it to four stars, because I think I have to give this cream it’s due. It’s probably the most drastic difference I’ve seen in any product I’ve used (especially in such a short time). I start using this right as I finally gave up on using my Clarisonic, so my skin was in a bad state and within a few days, it did look better. After 11 days the difference in the pictures is more than obvious.
That being said, I wouldn’t recommend this for oily sky, nor would I recommend it full-time for combination skin as it really can make the oily parts more oily. I have to recommend it heavily for those with skin conditions or extremely dry skin, like my partner. Since I felt it was a very heavy cream, I tried it on his face for a few days and he got all of the positives from the cream, without the negative of leaving sections of the skin oily. So for people with dry skin (like him) this cream is an absolutely brilliant one. Within a few days his skin was looking totally normal. For dry and damaged skin, this is the best product I’ve seen.
It did also leave my skin nice and soft, but I feel the main focus of this cream is repairing skin and improving the skin-tone and helping it recover from damage. I did remove a star because I didn’t love the scent or texture. Texture-wise the only thing I can say to accurately describe it, is that it’s like a popular diaper-rash cream. It’s thick, white (slightly pearlescent) and when it goes on, it leaves your whole face white until massaged in well. You have to rub a lot to get it to absorb, so it’s important not to over-use it to make it easier to rub in. A little goes a long way with this. The scent is natural essential oils and while they have a nice smell, they just can’t do enough to cover the smell. Again, the smell is the same as a diaper rash cream I use, not very pleasant.
These products are natural and vegetarian, and I know that’s very important to some. On that note, they also come in a glass, not plastic, jar and even though the jars are small, you only need a very small amount.
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Summary
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Overall, this is an absolutely brilliant, natural face cream that is much more suited to those with very dry skin. Those with combination skin might see some breakouts or extra oil, due to the heavy moisturising quality of this. Those with oily skin will want to avoid this. The scent is natural and I didn’t love it or the texture, but I can’t argue with the results, which were great (even on my combination skin).
Pros:
+ Makes a massive difference in a short time.
+ Brilliant for dry or damaged skin or those with a skin condition.
+ Jar is glass.
+ Natural and vegetarian.
+ Improved skin tone, fine lines and general appearance.
Cons:
- Can cause breakouts or make skin more oily when it comes to combination skin or oily skin (not ideally suited to these, part-time use is better for combination skin in my opinion.)
- Natural scent can’t cover the smell of the product, which is not great.
- Texture feels hard to spread/absorb, like a popular diaper rash cream.
Recommended: Highly recommended for dry or damaged skin. Not recommended for oily skin and for combination skin I’d use caution.
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Antipodes vanilla pod hydrating day cream
When I compared this to the other Antipodes cream I used, the Avocado and Pear night time cream, I feel like this didn’t have as much of a dramatic effect, but it was definitely a lot easier to use in terms of the texture and scent. It could be... +
When I compared this to the other Antipodes cream I used, the Avocado and Pear night time cream, I feel like this didn’t have as much of a dramatic effect, but it was definitely a lot easier to use in terms of the texture and scent. It could be that since my skin was already looking better, there wasn’t as much that this cream could do. I felt like this was geared a lot more towards softening and it did leave my skin nice and soft.
The texture on this cream is a lot lighter and feels comfortable to rub into the skin, though it still takes a good ten minutes to absorb properly. The scent is also a lot better, I personally find it a bit sweet and long-lasting, but not so strong that I wouldn’t use it again. The main scent is vanilla, but I can smell something else in there (possibly the grape?) mingling with that scent.
Again, I was curious to see the effect on dry skin, so I used it on my partner who has extremely dry skin to the degree that it might be a an undiagnosed skin condition. On him, it had a massive effect and left his skin looking even better when used alongside the avocado and pear night cream. I did have some breakouts with it, so again I wouldn’t recommend this for oily or combination skin, but for very dry skin this has no downsides!
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Summary
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Overall, when it comes to dry or damaged skin, this cream is a brilliant and targeted treatment that will massively improve it. Those with oily or combination skin shouldn’t buy this product, in my opinion.
Pros:
+ Brilliant for dry or damaged skin or those with a skin condition.
+ Jar is glass.
+ Natural and vegetarian.
+ Texture was comfortable and smell wasn’t bad.
Cons:
- Can cause breakouts or make skin more oily when it comes to combination skin or oily skin (Would not use on these skin types.)
Recommended: Highly recommended for dry or damaged skin. Not for other skin types.
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Safety 1st 360 Cool Mist Nursery Humidifier
I’ve tried a lot of humidifiers and they all have their pros and cons, while this one is advertised for a baby’s room, it’s actually a good all round humidifier for anybody. It does two things very well and that’s simplicity and size. Simply... +
I’ve tried a lot of humidifiers and they all have their pros and cons, while this one is advertised for a baby’s room, it’s actually a good all round humidifier for anybody. It does two things very well and that’s simplicity and size. Simply put, it’s easy to use and lasts longer than your average humidifier. One of the big pluses of this, compared to other types I’ve seen, is you can leave it running a couple of nights before it needs to be refilled. In terms of simplicity to use, you simply turn the dial, turn it more for more mist, less for less; and the more you have the more humidity you’re putting into the air.
One thing I thought was really cool about this, that I haven’t seen before, was the dual direction nozzles. Basically, you twist the top sections to have the mist dispensing in the direction you want, which means you can have it pointing in two different directions. Pretty neat. It also has auto-off, I’ve yet to see one without this, but it’s always a feature I look for.
In terms of noise, it really is quiet when turned to the lowest setting, if turning it up you can hear it very slightly. The only problem is, because of the design, when it ‘loads’ more water into the lower ‘burner’ section, it makes this really loud gulping noise. It sounds like a cat being sick, I know this because the first 20 times it happened I sat bolt upright and checked on all my cats. So I wouldn’t like to keep it in my bedroom for that reason and if your baby is a light sleeper, it could be a problem. Functionally, it’s very quiet, but not when it makes that noise.
I also think the cord could be a tad longer, as it’s hard to find somewhere to put it where it isn’t close to anything.
Refilling is not super easy simply because of the weight. You take off the ‘tank’, flip it upside down, open a knob and pour in the water. It’s very heavy after you’re done, but it does last a long time compared to other humidifiers. For this reason though, I feel it’s not very easy to clean (contrary to claims). You can’t actually even scrub this part. It’s recommended to put some vinegar in there and then rinse it out, but I worry about bio-films and am not 100 percent sure it’s being cleaned as well as I like.
I do love that it doesn’t need a filter as that’s just an un-necessary expense for me.
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Summary
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Overall, this is a great humidifier for those looking for a simple unit that lasts a good time without needing refilled. It’s easy to use and fill (though heavy), but a little more difficult to clean.
Pros:
+ Large unit doesn’t need filled as often.
+ Simple to use.
+ Has adjustable strengths of humidity/mist.
+ 360 degree rotation is a neat feature that allows you to point the mist in 2 directions.
+ Noise of mist is very quiet.
Cons:
- Cord could be longer.
- Gulping noise when water fills up the bottom.
- Doesn’t have as many features as some.
Recommended: Yes, if it’s a good price (price currently unlisted).
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L'Oreal Paris Men Expert Thickening Cream
I recently got my hair cut short again and often use men’s products to style my Pixie cut into a textured style, or sometimes to give it lift or style it differently. I was really impressed with this, simply because it does exactly what it... +
I recently got my hair cut short again and often use men’s products to style my Pixie cut into a textured style, or sometimes to give it lift or style it differently. I was really impressed with this, simply because it does exactly what it promises! Often I can’t get a product to work how it’s advertised, but this one is a medium level hold, matte finish and makes hair appear thicker and more textured. I used it on dry hair, which is my preference and found it really gave my hair a lovely choppy/textured look.
The consistency of the product feels a lot like a putty, a thick paste that feels a little stringy and sticky and dries invisible.
The medium hold won’t stand up to wind and rain, but I prefer it (and sometimes light) because it looks more natural and doesn’t leave hair looking over-slick with product, that’s also the reason I like matte style products. The only negative for me is the smell, it has that generic sweet, kind of alcohol-y men’s hair product smell. However, given the reasonably price and good sized bottle, as well as the fact that I loved the results, I would definitely use this again.
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L'Oréal Paris Fine Flowers Cleansing Gel
To be perfectly honest, something I pride myself on being, I didn’t notice a massive difference in my skin while using this. It did feel a lot softer, but nothing drastic. However, when I look at the before and after pictures I took, I can... +
To be perfectly honest, something I pride myself on being, I didn’t notice a massive difference in my skin while using this. It did feel a lot softer, but nothing drastic. However, when I look at the before and after pictures I took, I can definitely see that my pores look clearer and my face looks slightly improved overall. I did have some breakouts while using, but I believe that’s down to the Clarisonic I used it with, as using it by itself I didn’t have these problems. Basically, it left my skin soft and my skin looked better after only a week, but it wasn’t a ‘hail mary’ moment, just a good, regular cleanser.
My one complaint (and for me it’s kind of a big deal) is the scent. As others have said, it’s floral, but to me it smelled of something else. It smelled like a warm pool. I mean, kind of like chlorine. I didn’t love that weird chlorine smell, something I associate with a pool full of bodies, on my skin, but maybe you won’t mind.
I did really like that it’s a gel format, my skin really likes gels that foam lightly and it’s very comfortable to use. So, it made my skin softer and did the job of a reasonably good (not amazing) cleanser, but I didn’t like the smell. I’d use it again, but I wouldn’t make it my default go-to cleanser, if you like the smell, it’s worth it.
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HSETIY Super Slime Kit
I was excited to receive this slime kit because I’ve often thought about making my own slime. You should note that this is NOT a make your own slime kit, but merely a kit that allows you to change/colour pre-made slime and put additions into it... +
I was excited to receive this slime kit because I’ve often thought about making my own slime. You should note that this is NOT a make your own slime kit, but merely a kit that allows you to change/colour pre-made slime and put additions into it. For me, this was perfect since I wanted to know if I even liked slime, before trying to make some myself, so this was my first experience with a slime toy. I have to say, I really did have fun! I was really surprised by how relaxing and creative I found the process of choosing themes and additions and moulding them into the slimes.
Something I’ll warn you about right off the bat is that if you have warm hands, this slime will be a bit of a disaster. I’m not sure if this is normal with slime, but my partner has very hot hands and struggling to stop the slime immediately melting all over them. I never had this problem since my hands are always ice cold, but it might be worth it keeping some cool blocks nearby to touch. If I knew more about slime, I’m sure there’s an addition that could be made to make it less melty.
Scroll to the bottom for a brief ‘summary’ of my review, or keep reading for all the details.
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What’s inside
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There is a lot of slime in this so while it seems a bit on the expensive side (and it is indeed) it comes with a lot of stuff for that. I actually removed a star, because even though I loved it, the price is a tad high and there were a few little issues (like the melting slime thing detailed above).
I'm not sure if the contents of the kit will vary, there’s probably some randomisation, but here's what I received:
13 coloured slimes each of a different colour.
5 empty plastic tubs.
4 bags of cling-wrap coloured flakes.
48 mini vials of sequins confetti and bead style add-ins.
3 plastic bags of coloured balls.
1 tub of multi-coloured balls.
1 packet of assorted plastic additions with some nautical themes such as mermaids but also cute animals like pandas.
3 styrofoam blocks which can be cut and placed in the Slime to make jelly cubes.
4 bags of clay.
1 bag of assorted cute animal plastic toys.
6 small containers of iridescent, fine glitter.
3 double-sided sculpting tools.
4 wheel style containers with multiple different small slice additions such as flowers, animals and fruits.
6 small vials containing other additions like shells and pearls.
2 cookie cutters for the slime.
So you can see you really get a lot with this kit. I’ll talk about my experience with some of these below.
Additions: This kit has so many sequins, plastic figures, slices, balls and more that you can put in the slime and those things are honestly really awesome. Though some of them have a very small amount, it’s really fun to mix and match and pick what you want to put in, though it can sometimes, unfortunately, lead to the slime being too big and needing more than one container.
Containers: I was excited for the extra containers, thinking I could half the slime and make more options, but I do wish there were more of them. As I said above, sometimes you need them if you underestimate how big the slime will be with additions and need to split it into multiple containers.
Fine glitter: This is a lovely kind of powder glitter and kneading it into the slime will give it a gorgeous shimmer. I do feel like these could be stored in better containers as they are so easy to spill and some of them actually spilt a little in transit. The colours are stunning though. A tiny spoon to scoop out glitter would be a great addition to this kit, that I found lacking.
Some of the components such as the balls and flakes come in plastic bags that are not resealable as a result once opened you'll need clips, new bags or some way to store them. It's too easy to spill or lose components this way. I recommend having some small tubs around for excess slime or to store components, but if they just used resealable bags, it would be much better!
The tennis racket grid is a cute addition which allows you to play with the texture of the slime by pushing it through the grid.
Bags of Clay - I love the idea of the clay to make a thicker ‘butter’ style non-opaque slime and you can also add acrylic paint to colour the slime however when you do so most of the items you add will no longer show through. Ironically the Slime looks best when it remains translucent. I loved the result of the clay, but found you couldn’t add anything without it disappearing, for that reason I didn’t want to use it again. I feel like this could be replaced with more glitter.
Jelly cubes - The weird styrofoam blocks that come with it are actually not packaging! If you tear them up you can make a chunky slime that actually looks surprisingly good and has a neat texture.
Once you remove items from the box you will have trouble fitting everything back in so make sure to note that you will need somewhere new to keep these items once they are taken out. They are perfect for a party or a gift, as there’s enough to split amongst a group of kids and it’s creative and messy (something kids definitely like!)
Instructions: The Chinese Instructions make it difficult to understand and if I could recommend one thing to this brand it would be to hire a native English speaker to write a better instruction manual as sometimes it's not easy to understand what the items are. I had to play around a lot to get the gist of the items and some of what the manual said wasn’t really accurate.
The reality is it's not necessary to understand the instructions that well since this toy is all about creativity, experimentation and fun, however, some nervous parents who want to play with the children will benefit from a guide that is written well or at least clearly and simply. I think the company should consider adding this.
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The slime itself
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The amounts of slime in the containers is quite small but with the number of colors you get and additions that come with the pack, I feel like the price is a little high but not crazily unfair. Some colours may seem similar such as the darker Blues but they are, in fact, different. One slime comes with a non-opaque texture and I’d love to see that slime taken out of the kit, you can see from my pictures I struggled to make it look nice.
The slime was stickier than expected and if you have warm hands you're likely to melt it further. I do wish the Slime was more firm. The overall result of this slime though, is that none of it arrived damaged and we had a blast playing around with it and adding new things. While I have some minor complaints (as a reviewer it’s my job to point out room for improvement or things people might care about) I cannot overstate the amount of fun I had with this slime kit. I loved the massive range of colours and different additions and have already made about 7 slimes from this.
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Summary
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Overall, this slime kit is just a CRAZY amount of fun. While it’s quite expensive, there really is a lot in it and all of my complaints were minor. The biggest thing to look out for is struggling to use the slime if you have hot hands, as this means it’s likely a better winter activity.
Pros:
+ Relaxing and interesting sensory experience
+ Fun
+ Creative outlet without the stress of having to create something, just pick and choose elements.
+ A ton of items are included in the kit (see above for details).
+ Glitter, sequin and bead additions look amazing.
+ Lots of different styles of items included.
+ A large range of colours of slimes included.
+ Extra containers included (though not enough, in my opinion!)
+ Addictive play (I kept wanting to make more, visual learners or artists will love it!)
Cons:
- Messy.
- Hot hands melt the slime and make it difficult to handle.
- Hard to fit everything back in after play and some bags are not resealable.
- Slime amounts are small, because the containers are quite small.
- Instructions are badly translated Chinese and would benefit from a native English speaker fixing them.
Recommended: Yes, it’s hard for me to recommend at the current high price (39.94 at time of writing), but I really did have so much fun. I recommend hoping for a sale, but if money isn’t an issue; it’s a great buy!
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Vaseline Clinical Care™ Extremely Dry Skin Rescue Healing Moisture Lotion
This lotion does a great job of repairing and healing cracked and damaged skin. In a little under a week, I was able to reduce my dry skin from a severe case to virtually nothing, using it just a few times a day. This is an unscented lotion, what I... +
This lotion does a great job of repairing and healing cracked and damaged skin. In a little under a week, I was able to reduce my dry skin from a severe case to virtually nothing, using it just a few times a day.
This is an unscented lotion, what I really liked is that it doesn't smell bad. Most clinical, un-fragranced lotions smell very bad, not this one. My partner thought it had 'vaseline' smell, but to me it just smelled like cream.
The only real issue I had with this lotion is how long it took to absorb into my skin. After applying it to both hands and rubbing it in as much as I could, I found it took almost fifteen minutes before it would be completely absorbed. If I had to use my hands for something before then, such as typing, using a mouse or driving, it felt very uncomfortable and slippery. The website claims the lotion should absorb within 15 seconds, but that is certainly not the case in my experience. It absorbs faster if you put only a thin layer, but you get better results with a thicker layer!
After using this lotion for a little over a week, I found the skin on my hands was much softer, and in particular dry skin on my knuckles, fingers and fingertips was healed without a trace, so I’m very happy with the moisturizing power of this lotion. It's a bit bottle and I'd definitely buy again!
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