Amazon Reviews

Fri, April 27 2012

Sometimes I don’t feel like writing a review here… so I write them on Amazon. I have posted three reviews recently. You should check them out!

• Gillette Venus Embrace Womens Razor
• New York Color Nail Enamel, Empire State Blue
• 
  Remington MPT-3500 Dual Blade Precision Detail Trimmer

I guess I just didn’t want to talk about the health and beauty stuff here. ;)

New Year’s Eve DVD Giveaway

Thu, April 26 2012

I didn’t get to see this movie, although it looked cute. I did mention how similar the art was to Valentine’s Day, which I saw and enjoyed. I think I need more female friends with whom I can enjoy chick flicks. ;) If you’re not familiar, New Year’s Eve has an all-star line-up, including Michelle Pfeiffer, Halle Berry, Robert De Niro, Zac Efron, Carry Elwes and Jessica Biel, among others. IMDB describes the plot as follows:

The lives of several couples and singles in New York intertwine over the course of New Year’s Eve.

Whether you’ve seen this movie or not, you can enter to win it on DVD.

 

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

• Tak the “Resolution Reset” quiz in the widget and tell me your result in the comments. –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 New Year’s Eve on DVD at  Reviews by Cole http://reviewsbycole.com/?p=3415 Ends 5/10 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 10. Open to Canada/USA.

Good luck.

Fresh Step Natural Scoop Multiple Cat Clumping Cat Litter

Wed, April 25 2012

I just finished up a bad of Fresh Step’s Natural Scoop cat litter and, boy, do I have a lot to say about it. Let’s start with why I bought it: it was on clearance (should’ve been a dead-giveaway, eh?) for less than any other cat litter and the 3.3 pound bag is light. It says it’ll replace up to 21 pounds of your natural litter, and I was hooked. No one likes lugging up a heavy tub of cat litter with the groceries and I often walk to the grocery store, so I was hoping I might like this one enough to be able to include it in my walks. Finally, I hate lugging the trash to the dumpsters when it’s full of cat crap and litter. I mean, I wish there were a more elegant way to say that, but there’s just not. It’s horrid.

The fake that this is made of pine shavings contributes to its light weight, but I don’t necessarily care that it’s natural. I may have heard some possible bad things about pine shavings before, but I have to admit that I like the smell of wood far more than I like the smell of litter — scented or not.

So this resealable plastic bag is light but there’s no way that it replaces 20 pounds of regular litter, but this is just impossible. every time I scoop, which is one a day or every other day, I have to refill the litter pan about halfway. It seems like scooping just takes a lot of this super light litter. You wind up throwing away much of the unused litter. I also find the light weight to make it hard to scoop. The clumps just want to fly out of the scooper and the individual particles of litter aren’t heavy enough to fall through the holes.

Perhaps the worst part about the best feature of this cat little is how easy it is to track, which I am sure contributes to having to refill the litter box on an almost daily basis. The area around the litter boxes has never been this bad and the wood shavings stick to fabric, so I constantly find them in my carpets and rugs, on my furniture and in my bedding. Anywhere the cats go, this Natural Scoop litter is sure to go, too.

As the litter becomes less fresh, it becomes really sticky and clumps to the litter pan and scooper. It’s pretty gross.

All in all, while this smells better than traditional clay cat litter and weighs less, I’m not sold. It requires more clean up and takes more time to scoop.

Entertainment and Misc Coupons

Tue, April 24 2012

April EdenFantasys Gift Card Giveaway ($55)

Mon, April 23 2012

It’s pretty awesome being a friend of Cole. I give away a lot of stuff that I get to review, if I don’t love it. I hate wasting things so it only makes sense to see who wants the body wash I didn’t love or the moisturizer that isn’t right for my skin tone. I like to think I’m helping out a friend in need. ;) It’s not quite as easy to pass on the rewards to my readers, but I like to try anyway!

With that in mind, I figured I’d host a giveaway so that you, my readers, could enjoy a little something. Now, I don’t know what it is that you want, but I think you’ll have fun shopping around EdenFantasys for something — or a couple somethings — that make you smile. There’s plenty of sex toys and bath and body products for everyone. If you start shopping, I’m sure it’ll take some effort to pull yourself away and do more productive things.

What is this all leading up to? Another $60 EdenFantasys gift card giveaway, of course! Remember, even if you don’t win, you can always save 15% with coupon code 9br.

• Stop on by EdenFantasys and tell me something that you’ve improve about their site. –Mandatory
• Follow Reviews by Cole on Twitter
• Become a fan of Reviews by Cole on Facebook.
• Leave a thoughtful comment on any other post on Reviews by Cole (enter the URL of your comment in the comments of this post).
• Add a link to a blog post about this giveaway (must include a link to the direct post)
• Like EdenFantasys on Facebook.
• Add this post to StumbleUpon or Digg
• Tweet about this giveaway (once per day) such as: I entered to win a $55 EdenFantasy gift card at http://reviewsbycole.com/?p=3402 Ends 05/14 OR you can use the handy Twitter button on the left.
• Subscribe to updates from Reviews by Cole via FeedBurner (use the same email to comment as you do to subscribe).

Giveaway will end on May 14.

Good luck!

Saving Face

Sun, April 22 2012

Yesterday I was in Walgreens, smelling all the pretty things and just wasting some time. In the cosmetics section, they always have promo photos of the models and other famous people who are the current face of a brand. As I was looking at one picture, I though “Hmm, Katy Perry sure is more photoshopped than ever.” Then I saw the person’s name and realized it wasn’t Katy but Zooey Deschanel, instead. Now, I do think these two ladies look alike, but the reason I made the mistake was because of the combination of the makeup and digital editing gave the photo a too-smooth and fake look that Zooey rarely has. In fact, even after knowing it was her, I kept looking at the picture, shocked that it was her.

I imagine that I am like most women when shopping for cosmetics. I want something that will smooth, balance, highlight and perfect but without stripping me of my natural identity. I’m not a drag queen nor am I some crazy cosplayer. I just want a little help, not a mask. To me, this sort of advertising gimmick does more harm than help for these brands. The women they use as the faces of their brands become even more removed from me and this type of promotional material doesn’t realistically help me decide of a certain cosmetic is right for me.

And isn’t the point of using a well-known model or actress as your spokesperson so that people can recognize them? How can you possibly be helping to sell more product if the consumers have no idea who they’re looking at? I have this thought every once in a while, when I spot advertising that makes this mistake. I don’t know how these ads, but I’m not the first to say “WTF?!” to Rimmel’s ads with Zooey. The one I saw is below, what do you think?

Quaker Breakfast Cookies Oatmeal Chocolate Chip

Sat, April 21 2012

I don’t know how likely I would have been to buy these cookies if Quaker hadn’t been advertising the hell out of them, but my local grocery store had a big display and I figured I’d give the chocolate chip ones a try. I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate? (Answer: freaks and weirdos ;)) So, here’s the commercial, in case you hadn’t seen it.

There’s one thing I really dislike about this product — all the cookies are individually packaged. This isn’t economical or eco-friendly and it means the overall box is far larger than it has to be.

Let’s counter with something I like — these cookies are huge! They’re great snack size and you never have to eat more than one. I don’t know how many Oreos I should be eating but, with the Quaker cookies, I grab one and it sates my appetite both physically and mentally.

The individual packaging does keep them fresh and these oat cookies are very soft. I was surprised by how much I liked the texture. They’re also not as dry as one might think, which is another “pro” in my book. You can certainly enjoy them with a glass of milk, for example, but you won’t feel the need to drink an entire gallon.

The chocolate chip variety is definitely sweet, but it’s mostly from the oats. The chips were quite small and I couldn’t really detect them in my mouth, which was disappointing. However, I always wound up holding the cookie in a way that the chocolate melted on my fingers. Funny, right? Ultimately, my opinion comes down to a snack with chocolate in it not sating my chocolate craving. That will never get a pass.

I may still try the other varieties of Quaker’s breakfast cookies, however.