wonderwhatif
Member Since: January 26, 2015Reviews
Better than Bouillon Vegetable Base
The one big benefit of this over cubes is that you can add the correct amount more easily. It's also ultra concentrated so it can be really flavourful, depending on how much you dilute it or not. I found the jar format really easy to dispense from... +
The one big benefit of this over cubes is that you can add the correct amount more easily. It's also ultra concentrated so it can be really flavourful, depending on how much you dilute it or not.
I found the jar format really easy to dispense from, just open it, stick a spoon (tea or table) in there and take it out, very easy to measure from.
The only downside for me is that it costs a little more and goes very quickly, so if you use a lot of stock it can be quite expensive.
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Barbie Newborn Pups Doll & Pets Playset
I really like this Barbie and overall it's a great toy that little girls (or boys) enjoy, but I do have a few quibbles. The 'cold water' feature is confusing, badly explained and works poorly enough that it merits a star removal, but to be clear... +
I really like this Barbie and overall it's a great toy that little girls (or boys) enjoy, but I do have a few quibbles. The 'cold water' feature is confusing, badly explained and works poorly enough that it merits a star removal, but to be clear, even without this feature this toy is a big hit and was enjoyed very much!
There's a lot of different imagination games you can play with this Barbie. She can be a vet, an animal shelter worker and basically anything that might deal with birthing puppies! Be prepared to have 'the talk' though, if you haven't already, as kids get more curious about birth and life when playing with this set.
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Features and Fun
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The set comes with a Barbie, three puppies, a momma dog, a shampoo bottle, a paw-shaped bath, washcloth and a dog couch.
Puppy Delivery - This is an amazingly fun and cool feature that is very simple and easy to use. Basically, as my partner said, the dog is like a puppy pez dispenser. Push on the front legs and the tummy section opens, put all three puppies inside. Put the dog on the bed or any other surface and press down and the puppies will slide out of the open section. You usually have to press a second time to get the third puppy out. This was very popular during our play sessions and as well as being fun, you get a dog toy to go with many of your different playsets.
Colour change puppies - Here's where the trouble comes in. This feature is lacking. First of all, even in the instructions it implies you simply have to rub the cold, wet washcloth over the puppies to 'open their eyes' and show the hearts that indicate if they are boys or girls (blue or pink). If you've used it, you know this is not accurate at all.
The water only needs to be a little warm to 'reset' the puppies (for safety presumably), but as a result the water to activate the puppies must be ice cold. Ours couldn't figure it out and brought it to me and after trying a number of things (none of which worked) the only way I could get the puppies to activate was using water just out of a very cold fridge. Furthermore, even wiping this cold water on the pups or saturating the 'cloth' is not enough. I had to literally submerge them in the paw-shaped bath face down. Basically, I had to make them appear to be drowning in order to get the eyes to 'open'. The hearts that appear on the dogs back are also very small and hard to notice.
We used this feature once and not again as it was just too poorly implemented to work well. Be aware if your child wants to try this, you will need to use fridge water.
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Design
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Very, very cute set and it comes with a decent amount of accessories. The shampoo bottle can be hooked onto Barbie's hand to make her 'hold' it and both momma and pups can fit in the dog bed. The hairband is a simple elastic, which can also be used to tie her hair in a ponytail if you like.
Note that this Barbie is not as 'flexible' as some other barbies. Her left arm is permanently stuck in a 'crook' stance and neither arm is bendable at the elbows. The legs do bend at the knees, but Barbie cannot stand up on her own. She can kneel, but is a little wobbly, unless she leans her arm around something (like the dog).
The design of this set is overall good, because of the amount of accessories, level of cuteness and amount of imagination you can use with this doll. Because she is dressed casually, she can also be used in normal Barbie scenarios, apart from the dog and puppies.
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Set-up
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Set-up is pretty easy and fast compared to some sets I've used. Maybe ten minutes to unbox and unpack everything. Note for gifters, the box must be torn and items cut-free, so since set-up is simple and there are no batteries to worry about, I'd advise just giving it in box.
It does have that unfortunate thing that toys do where it's strapped down with a lot of little plastic things (like you get in new packs of socks) that must be cut-free. Unfortunately, they put these around barbies head, making them difficult to cut free without cutting her hair. For tricky ones like this, I recommend a small pair of nail scissors or clippers.
Other than that, the ties and elastic are not overly tight and it's easy to remove most of Barbie and her accessories.
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Summary
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- Ages 3+ (Seems a little young to me, especially with small parts)
- No Batteries required.
- No assemble and easy to remove from box.
- Comes with a Barbie, three puppies, a momma dog, a shampoo bottle, a paw-shaped bath, washcloth and a dog couch.
- Cute and good learning experience.
- Dog toy is very popular and kids love it!
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Polly Pocket Adventure S.U.V.
It's quite difficult to give this such a low review, because there's a lot that's good about it. For example, cars are always a big hit with little ones and this car is sturdy and fun to play with. So why lower the rating? Simply put, many of the... +
It's quite difficult to give this such a low review, because there's a lot that's good about it. For example, cars are always a big hit with little ones and this car is sturdy and fun to play with. So why lower the rating? Simply put, many of the promised features are poorly implemented to the point of intense frustration on the part of the child, which then gets passed onto the adult. So let's talk about the bad first
Polly herself is made of the same vinyl, partially squishy material as other modern Polly's, with her mini-me being even more 'soft' and able to stick onto the provided stickers, which create a 'sticky spot'. Big Polly is the problem though, she's wearing clothes, that for some reason are removable and the second you even touch her, her boots fall off her feet repeatedly. Within a few minutes, they are lost for good.
It doesn't end there, though, her pants desire to join them. They are constantly sliding down, worryingly, revealing Polly's underpants to the world. I'm gonna be frank, within less than ten minutes of play, both shoes were goners and the kids were so frustrated with her pants continuously slipping down and getting in the way, that Polly decided to live her life in a jacket and underpants forever more.
I also love the idea of a customisable van and true to my feelings, it was a big hit with the little girls in particular. However, like Polly's clothing, it was badly designed. I helped them place the stickers were they wanted so that they would be neat (allowing them to place some of more round stickers that are less tricky), but within around an hour, many of the stickers has started to peel up. A massive shame, as customisable car decals is a really fun feature.
It says they're reusable three times, but they lose their stickiness so fast, I don't see how that can be accurate. I feel a lot of this stuff should have been caught during the QA phase of the toy development and when it gets to the stage that it starts to annoy, not only the parent, but interfere with the child's play, that to me is a pretty bad sign.
So, the good. Believe it or not, there is some. The car itself is sturdy enough to take knocks and a pretty decent size, they'll continue to play with this car over time, though I can see them discarding Polly herself in favour of a doll with pants that stay on. The wheels are smooth and it's fun to play with.
I also loved the addition of a mini-car and mini polly along with it. While the kids didn't care about the little Polly, they liked the smaller car as it can be used with their existing car tracks. They also liked 'transporting' Polly around in the back of the big SUV. Polly CAN sit in the cars like she should be able to, so at least there's that, though with Big Polly her boots fall off a lot when trying to get her into the car.
Unpacking and setup is pretty easy and doesn't take very long, maybe 15 minutes max, much easier than many toys I've tried in the past.
As a toy car, this is good, but honestly the problems that cropped up with it shouldn't exist, so I can't help but feel an effort should have been made to redesign this or fix this issue or lower the price drastically.
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Brita On Tap Faucet Water Filter System Replacement Filters
We're a small household and don't use the filter for much more than filling water bottles for daily drinking (and the kettle), so recently our first filter finally expired after a year. I have a white system, but bought the chrome as they were... +
We're a small household and don't use the filter for much more than filling water bottles for daily drinking (and the kettle), so recently our first filter finally expired after a year. I have a white system, but bought the chrome as they were cheaper and gotta be honest, it looks really cool with the chrome tap, 'white system' and chrome filter, I was surprised it looked so cool.
These filters work great and honestly a lot less hassle than the jug.
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Polly Pocket Tiny Pocket Places Polly & Peaches Compact
As an adult, I will say that this is not as good as the old Polly Pockets, but kids don't know anything about that. I will also say that the age range is marked a little low and as this has small pieces I'd only give it to those old enough to know... +
As an adult, I will say that this is not as good as the old Polly Pockets, but kids don't know anything about that. I will also say that the age range is marked a little low and as this has small pieces I'd only give it to those old enough to know better than sticking those pieces in their ears nose and mouth.
There are some really cute things about this Polly Pocket toy, but some other baffling decisions. So let's start with the positive. The dog is cute, Polly herself has a nice design as well. While the sticky stretchy material was strange to me, our little testers really enjoyed playing with the skateboard, so that part was actually well thought out. It does lose it's stickiness quite quickly around fabric or dust, but a bit of washing up soap and water sets it right again. The small size is less fun, but really good for transport and makes a cute keychain or clips onto bags for cuteness and transportation. The scooter is a nice touch.
So here's some of the things I was not a fan of. Firstly, why can't Polly ride the scooter. They quickly became frustrated when they couldn't get her to sit right on the moveable scooter. Having better motor control (get it :P), I tried, but it's literally impossible. You can jam her legs in the gap, but she won't sit and the top of her head hits the top of the toy if you try and 'rock it'. Really disappointing as it makes the scooter seem pointless.
The dog is fiddly too, falls over all the time and doesn't stand up. The picnic basket was confusing at first, mostly because the top of the basket has circles from manufacturing (photoshopped out in the promo photos) instead of being molded to look like a basket lid. The latch for the toy has a habit of popping off too and will easily become lost.
There's a lot of pieces too, for such a small playset, but the price is reasonable so I guess that's okay. Mostly I feel they could have done better by having pegs (like the old sets) that the figures sit on, as it's difficult to set anything up, especially for little hands. I will say the skateboarding Polly was quite fun for us though and they use that with other playsets they have, but the toy itself could use a little more finessing.
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BIORE Baking Soda Cleansing Micellar Water
I'm a convert to Micellar Water and have previously raved about it in the past, so right now I'll tell you the number one mistake companies are making with Micellar Water and it's the same problem Biore has here. They add too much stuff to it. My... +
I'm a convert to Micellar Water and have previously raved about it in the past, so right now I'll tell you the number one mistake companies are making with Micellar Water and it's the same problem Biore has here. They add too much stuff to it. My go-to Micellar Water (which strangely is one of the cheapest brands) has nothing added it is just Micellar Water, no perfume, no strange additives, simple and easy. As a result, it not only leaves my skin soft without drying it out, but I can also rub it over my lips and eyes, without stinging, burning or weird taste.
Not so with this Micellar Water, in fact the only reason I'm giving it two stars is it's adequate at removing makeup. I still don't really like to use it for that, but skincare might work better for somebody else. I don't tend to be overly sensitive in the skin, but this definitely dried me out. Immediately after using it, my skin felt uncomfortable and I noticed there were more breakouts and dryness over the next few days.
I'm also not a fan of the added fragrance, I find it's sickly sweet and leaves and kind of weird chemical after-smell. Overall, I would not use this again. Some Biore products work for my skin, this one just didn't.
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Hasbro Gaming Pie Face Cannon Game
Neither we or our little testers really rated this product. Another one of those that seems fun and is a big hit on social media, but in reality doesn't really go down well. I can imagine some drunk adults having fun with this, or maybe older kids... +
Neither we or our little testers really rated this product. Another one of those that seems fun and is a big hit on social media, but in reality doesn't really go down well. I can imagine some drunk adults having fun with this, or maybe older kids, but at the lower end of the age scale (5+) the kids didn't enjoy getting splatted in the face. With adults it has an unfortunate tendency to go right up the nose too.
Assembly is far easier if you just eyeball it, because the instructions are, frankly, total garbage. The diagrams are impossible to tell what's what and the instructions aren't really clear either. I was able to assemble it eyeballing the box and what looked like it would fit, but I really get irritated when instructions aren't clear and well-laid out.
It's also pretty shabbily designed. For example, the 'face plate' tends to flop forward and then the hand gets stuck, meaning the person can easily defend from the 'splat'. This issue could have easily been fixed with some plastic clips on the chin rest, to hold the plastic face part steady. The buttons also make the hand go the 'opposite' way from the way your facing. For example, right button makes the hand swing left. That can get pretty confusing as well.
This is in the vein of 'musical' toys, in that you should only give it to parent's you hate. The cream is a small amount, but the way it's forced through the cannon means that it splatters everywhere. If you live in a plastic-wrapped house, you'll be fine. If not, be prepared to find cream several feet away. Clean-up isn't easy either as the cannon doesn't open, so you're always worried about missing any cream or the wetness drying out properly, though I do appreciate that they made the whole thing washable.
In short, none of us really enjoyed being hit in the face, so it wasn't really fun for us at all and the cream gets everywhere. We weren't particularly having fun to begin with, but even then, it got old pretty fast. I'll stick to board games!
Note: You must provide your own whipped cream, we used store bought spray cream.
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Head & Shoulders Smooth & Silky Shampoo
This conditioner from Head & Shoulders was great for my hair and scalp. It’s thick and lathers up very well, so you don’t need to use much of it for short hair, and it washes out easily afterwards. I found that it didn’t need to be left in my... +
This conditioner from Head & Shoulders was great for my hair and scalp. It’s thick and lathers up very well, so you don’t need to use much of it for short hair, and it washes out easily afterwards. I found that it didn’t need to be left in my hair for more than a minute or two for the best results, which is a relief if you’re in a hurry.
I was happy to find that this conditioner, like all of the recent Head & Shoulders products I’ve tried, did a great job at reducing dandruff and itchy scalp. If you have very severe dandruff it might not eliminate it completely, but in my case at least it made my mild dandruff completely disappear. It left my hair feeling soft, and didn’t leave any greasy or oily residue afterwards.
The scent of the conditioner is fine, nothing to write home about just pretty average. It’s lightly floral scented, but by the time I was out of the shower the smell was already gone, so it doesn’t last for long. If you really enjoy the scent that might be an issue I suppose, but I personally prefer not to have perfumed products in my hair if I can avoid it, so this was a positive for me, not a negative.
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Cambell's Chunky Beef Improved Recipe 540ml Ready to Serve Soup
This chunky beef soup has a lot of positives going for it, like how filling it is or the delicious tatse, and just one really big negative in my opinion: the sodium. If you buy canned, ready-to-eat soups you should probably already know that the... +
This chunky beef soup has a lot of positives going for it, like how filling it is or the delicious tatse, and just one really big negative in my opinion: the sodium.
If you buy canned, ready-to-eat soups you should probably already know that the sodium content is going to be quite high. But for this one can of soup, which is enough for a moderate meal for one adult or perhaps two small meals for children, has more than 60% of your daily sodium in it. To make matters worse, it measures the nutritional information on the label by 250ml, when the can itself is more than 500ml, which could easily fool someone who is quickly glancing at the label for some information and doesn’t realize the trick.
Putting that aside, this is a very filling soup which tastes great. There’s a ton of meat, carrots and potato chunks in the soup which lasts right down to the last bite, and as a result a single can makes for a very filling meal. The broth tastes great and there’s just the right amount of it, and the other vegetables mixed in help give some variety to the larger chunks of carrot and potato. It does have a very salty taste, but not so salty that it’s unpleasant in my opinion. It’s not gourmet, but as canned soups go it’s really tasty and makes for a good lunch or supper.
Preparing the soup is extremely simple, you literally just empty it out of the can and heat it. Stove or microwave, makes no difference, just heat and eat. You do need a can opener, so it might be tough for children or someone with weak hands to open, but other than that virtually anyone could prepare this soup for themselves. It also has a good amount of fiber for a bowl of soup, which is the one good thing I found in the nutrition information.
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Habitant Yellow Pea Soup
This can of soup is very large, easily enough for two people to split, maybe even three. It’s very easy to prepare, simply heat it in the microwave or on the stove and then serve. It really could not get simpler or easier than that. The taste and... +
This can of soup is very large, easily enough for two people to split, maybe even three. It’s very easy to prepare, simply heat it in the microwave or on the stove and then serve. It really could not get simpler or easier than that.
The taste and texture of the soup is enjoyable, but VERY salty. The broth is quite thick, and has a very salty flavour to it. The peas themselves are firm and there is quite a lot of them, but they don’t have much flavour in and of themselves. They do provide some much-needed texture and fiber though, which is a plus.
The real downside to this soup, aside from having a salty and somewhat bland taste, is the nutritional value. This can has 90% of your daily sodium, so even for two people that’s almost 50% of your salt in one bowl of soup. It’s also tricky that the nutrition is marked down as per 250ml, but the can is more than triple that number. It's important to note that while the salt content is pretty massive, it's a giant can, so you're more likely to eat a smaller portion. Also, the fibre content is equally huge at 84 percent of your daily intake for the whole can, so at least you're getting some benefit too.
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