Complexion MD Giveaway

Mon, May 14 2012

Now, I am lucky enough that wrinkles and age spots aren’t something I have to worry about. In fact, if you look at the women in my family, you can probably assume that I will follow the wrinkle-free trend. I don’t think I’ll have to deal about them for many years. Decades, really. I passed on the opportunity to review Complexion MD for this reason. It’s just not right for me. Still, I could see how many of my readers might benefit from this product.

Complexion MD is intended to help in the battle against wrinkles, lessening them over time. The products, including the wrinkle cream I am able to give away to not one, but three!, of my readers, rely on active ingredients such as Palmitoyl Pentapeptid and Hyaluronic Acid to promote elasticity and moisturize skin, respectively. If you’re not sure about the wrinkle products on the market, this is a great opportunity to give Complex MD a try, thanks to WrinkleReview. Perhaps you’ll love it and have softer, smoother skin?

If you’re interesting, you can earn one entry (some more than once!) by leaving a comment for each entry type below. For this giveaway, three winners will win one jar each of Complexion MD!

If you’re interested in this giveaway, leave a comment for each of the following entry types:

• Let me know if you’ve ever tried a wrinkle cream. How did it work? If not, why do you want to try one now? –Mandatory
• Follow Reviews by Cole on Twitter
• Become a fan of Reviews by Cole on Facebook.
• Add a link to a blog post about this giveaway (must include a link to the direct post)
• Add this post to StumbleUpon or Digg
• Tweet about this giveaway (once per day) such as: I entered to win a jar of Complexion MD wrinkle cream at  Reviews by Cole http://reviewsbycole.com/?p=3472 Ends 5/28 OR you can use the handy Twitter button on the left.
• Leave a relevant comment on any other post on Reviews by Cole. Leave a link to that comment here.

Giveaway will end on May 28. Open to Canada/USA.

Good luck.

The Big One Sheet Set

Thu, May 17 2012

The Big One is a brand of linens that you can find at Kohl’s. As I type this, I am sitting on my bed, covered in The Big One sheets, but you need to understand how hard it was to find these sheets so that you can fully understand the positivity of this review. Last year, I bought satin sheets and a new comforter set from JC Penney. I liked my satin sheets. They were great in the summer, but they constantly snagged. Cat flaws? Rough skin? The sheets were just too fragile to be realistic. Plus, they tended to pull far to the side and my comforter and pillows were always sliding around. So, I loved how they felt, at first, and the look was great, but I knew I needed something better.

All I really wanted was a set of black sheets for my bed. I figured if I was looking for basic cotton, it wouldn’t be too hard to find. I remember buying the smoothest, softest sheets ever from JC Penney in the past. I no longer have a full sized bed, so I gave them to mom and I sleep like a baby when I spend the night at her house. To JC Penny it was! I actually found an option on JC Penney’s website but, for whatever reason, black was available in every size but mine (queen). Sears had options online but were backordered until June! June! I mean, we’re talking about sheets here! I went to my local JC Penney, in hopes that they might have my color and size in stock, but there weren’t any black sheets to be found. The same was said for every department store in the mall.

My next stop, then, was Target, which had a variety of black sheets, but I don’t know who would buy them. Aside from the microfiber, which is far too warm for my body, every model felt like crap. Scratch, thick, stiff. There was no way I was going to pay the $50+ for the worst sheets I’ve ever felt. A handful of other stores provided no options. I was starting to think that my simply request was impossible. Bed, Bath and Beyond provided a costly and not-quite perfect solution: I could get black stripes for $90. I was hoping to spend a little less.

I think of Kohls only for clothes and shoes. I’d actually looked on their website, but couldn’t remember anything that seemed to fit my needs. It could be that they’re almost completely sold out of black sheets and they’ve updated the website to reflect that. Regardless, they had an amazing sale but their shelves were nearly empty. I grabbed the closest size and headed to guest services, hoping they might be able to order my size at the insistence of my shopping friend. Wouldn’t you know that they no longer do that, so she employee sent me to the kiosk, which couldn’t help me because it uses the same system as the website.

So I handed the sheets over to the cashier when I was checking out with something else, completely dejected. However, she was pretty awesome and offered to go look for some in back. I had no help but she returned triumphant! I was stoked, because I paid less than $35 for a new set of sheets.

As you can expect, they’re not perfect. They’re not the silky smooth cotton I would have really liked and these sheets definitely feel a little scratchy out of the package. For some reason, the flat sheet felt softer than the fitted one. However, after washing they soften up quite a bit; washing also seems to make lint stick to them. My bed look a little sloppy because of that, but other colors won’t be so problematic. The color is extremely deep and hasn’t faded at all in the wash.

I was worried that just because I’d found sheets, they wouldn’t fit. At the time of purchase, my pillowtop mattress was about 18″ high. It’s definitely sunk some since them, but I’ve consistently had problems finding fitting sheets that fit. The Big One sheets fit before washing and they didn’t seem to shrink at all, another worry. I’m not sure about the return policy, but sometimes you can’t return things after washing.

One thing that I love is that the flat sheet is quite wide. It hands past the edges of my mattress, which is fantastic. When I turn down the sheet and blanket, the sheet extends the full width of the blanket. Sheets that are less wide tend to look sloppy, in my opinion.

These are a little prone to wrinkles, but my flat sheet isn’t doing that annoying curling thing, yet, so we’ll see. I like the feel of these on my skin and, for the price, all the faults are acceptable. That’s pretty much what all the reviews say, too.

It’s My Party And I Have No Idea What I Want to Do!

Tue, May 15 2012

I don’t know if y’all heard, but I have a birthday coming up. In just two weeks, I will be 26. I hadn’t realized how fast May was going by. I thought I might have a picnic, but I think I’ll just wind up calling people for a laid-back trip to the park and an enjoyable dinner someplace. It’s too late, now, to send out birthday invitations. I’ll either just personally call or text everyone who I might want to invite, or send out an invites via Facebook events. I wish I was the type of person to send out invitations, but I often can’t justify the time and money spent on that.

When it comes down to it, I think the money is part of the reason that I don’t know what I am doing for my birthday. I’d love to have a big bash or even a picnic in the park, but money’s always a little tight and, if I go to a restaurant, everyone will pay for themselves. Of course, it’s always a little more comfortable if we hang out at my house, or even in an open and public area. Last year, I did dinner with a variety of friends, most of whom ditched me once we got home. It was obvious that it was a group that wasn’t super comfortable together.  It was awkward and made me feel pretty damned uncomfortable.

So, while I’d like to have a big shindig at my house, I can’t/don’t want to pay for it, but I’d really like something a little more enjoyable. Perhaps I’ll do dinner with a few close friends and invite other people over for s’mores over a fire pit or just head back here for some movies and games. I suppose, it should all be about what I want, in the end. It is my birthday after all, I just have a hard time not trying to please everyone (ask Christie).

To-Done!

Tue, May 15 2012

It’s not often that I feel caught up with shopping. I’m not talking about consumables. I mean, I’ll always need toiler paper or hand soap, but it’s not often that I feel caught up with things that are useful but not necessary. With an advertisement payment, I was able to buy a few things that I had wanted to buy. After clearing up that list, I won’t feel bad if something catches my eye and I decide to pick it up in the spur of the moment, I can. It’s an awesome feeling.

The Origins of Sex: A History of the First Sexual Revolution

Sun, May 13 2012

I am so glad to be done with this book. It just.. required a lot of brain power and, as a result, I could only read it in small chunks. Luckily, it’s actually shorter than it appears. According to my Kindle Fire, it ends at around the 67% marks, which means that one third of the book is simply notes and references. I think that’s a good indicator that this book is more scholarly and highly-researched than it is flippant.

In fact, you’d have to be crazy to think that the author, Faramerz Dabhoiwala, is anything more than diligent in his work. In discussing the changing social views and mores between the seventeenth and eighteenth century, he’s done a lot of research. His arguments come across as objective and valid; although I’m not expert.

The problem is, much of this research is cited within the text. As someone who was reading simply because the evolution and revolutions of sex interest me, I found it read too much like a textbook. I was often skipping the long list of texts the author was referencing, the dates of publication or the years of birth and death that the author deemed worthy of inclusion. Indeed, it would make an excellent study guide for a college course, but reading it straight through is more of a difficult task.

Although this is a dry book, I did learn a lot. I specifically found the later chapters, which discussed prostitution and public perception, the media and the relationship between a woman’s changing rights and the views about sex. Far less interesting, to me, were the copies of art that the author used to exemplify how society was treating sex; however, I do understand how they serve as a scholarly reference.

I’m glad to be done with The Origins of Sex, but I am also glad that I did push my way through it. In fact, the end of this book was quite refreshing, as the author took the time to explain that the sexual revolution and Enlightenment were the beginning of the more recent revolution in sexual mores. Although the 1950s and ’60s have progressed much faster than the first sexual revolution, Faramerz Dabhoiwala points out that it’s merely an acceleration of changes that were already in progress.

Mother’s Day, a Hallmark Holidays?

Sun, May 13 2012

I Am a Review Blogger

Thu, May 10 2012

Hi. I’m Cole and I’m not a mom.

That’s pretty obvious if you’ve read any of these posts. Unless you count my kitty babies, I’m not the maternal type and that’s kind of my thing at this point in my life.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against moms. Many of my friends are moms. It only makes sense. My peers are having babies, multiple babies, which means that many of them are now, sort of, “Mom Bloggers.” Actually, most of them fight against that label, because they were all bloggers long before they were moms. You see, when I started blogging, it was very much a teenaged thing. It wasn’t something that your mom did (ha!). It was a young trend and we were all ranting about boys, boybands and high school. That’s not quite how I remember it, but you get the picture.

So to call these women “Mom Bloggers” is almost insulting. Sure, they talk about their kids and some of them only do that, now, but there’s a lot of history that the label overlooks. I know that many of my friends — Jenn, Ashley and Dez, among others — have struggled to differentiate themselves as more than just moms.

I face a not-entirely-dissimilar fight, but it’s not too similar. The fight I am in and the frustration I feel is directly related to the fact that, as a non-mom review blogger, I am constantly overlooked. I feel like I shouldn’t have to say this time and again but, somehow, people aren’t getting the message. Which people? Other bloggers, community owners and PR folks, for one. If I see another pitch directed specifically toward mom bloggers, I feel like I might scream. Mothers are not the only people who shop or who have something to say. Hell, they’re not the only people who have children in their lives, either.

It’s not an issue of gender, because I feel like the label is still more appropriate for a father than it is for me. I am none of the above. I understand that mom bloggers are now on the scene and they are the majority, especially when it comes to non-tech reviews. However, just because I am in the minority doesn’t mean that I cease to exist or that I am not worth acknowledging. Yet, somehow there are dozens of review websites/communities/organizations specifically for moms but not a single one that exists for non-moms.

You know what the easiest remedy to this is? Simply address the community, your readers or other bloggers as “review bloggers.” That way, I never feel excluded and any mom blogger who also writes reviews knows you’re talking to her, too. I mean, it’s really that simple! Why is it that people can’t do that, though? I may not be, say, Gizmodo or Engadget, but if you were to address a message to them, you sure as hell would respect them for what do they: review blogging. Why don’t I deserve the same consideration?