Palmolive Fresh Infusions - Infused With Freshness Review & Giveaway

Palmolive Fresh Infusions

At our house, there are some household chores that usually must be done every single day and one of those chores just happens to be the ONE I despise the most.... washing dishes. I cannot express to you how much I absolutely cannot stand washing dishes. We are renters and ever since my very first place, everywhere I have lived has had a dishwasher installed. The place we have rented for the past few years had a very nice dishwasher in it when we moved in. It worked perfectly until about a year ago and nobody can figure out what it wrong with it. The maintenance obviously just gave up on it and we gave up on complaining about it. This means that I have been washing dishes by hand for the past year after being spoiled by having a dishwasher everywhere I have lived for the past 11 years! The next time you use your dishwasher, say a little 'thank you' to it for all of its hard work. Haha! Really though, you don't know how awesome they are until you no longer have one.

Buying dish washing liquid can get expensive if you go through a lot of dirty dishes and have to hand wash each one of them, so I was super excited when I was recently selected by Influenster, to try all three scents of the new Palmolive Fresh Infusions concentrated dish liquid! These include a pink Ginger White Tea, yellow Lemon Thyme, and green Lime Basil. At first, the names of these scents had me thinking that they would smell horrible. I have never heard of thyme or basil used to make things other than food smell good. I was wrong for 'judging a book by its cover' though! All three of them smell delightfully 'fresh'! I mean, as far as perfume goes, I wouldn't want ANY of these ON me, but for washing my dishes, they are just perfect and who doesn't love a 'fresh' smell?! Lemon Thyme is my favorite scent, probably because I have always loved the smell of lemons and it just smells so fresh and clean! I think the Ginger White Tea is my second favorite scent and one lucky person gets to win a whole bottle of it to try also!

I have used both the Lemon Thyme and Lime Basil to wash dishes in the past few weeks and both of them work great at removing stuck on toddler leftovers and baked on food from my casserole dishes that just happened to get left in the oven a bit too long. Both scents were very noticeable the whole time I washed dishes and I could even still smell it on the sponge after I was done. It wasn't overpowering at all though. I also noticed that my hands were nice and soft after washing each load, which is always a plus for me! I was telling a friend about the new line and gave her the Lime Basil bottle and a $1.50 off coupon that she has since used to buy another bottle because she liked it so much. The dish soap is so concentrated that I washed about 3 loads of dishes with that Lime Basil bottle and when I gave it to her, it was still almost full! That's just one more big plus for Palmolive!

If you would like to try the new Palmolive Fresh Infusions concentrated dish liquids, you can find them online or at your local WalMart or Target stores. Currently they are $2.96 at my local WalMart and $2.99 at my local Target. One lucky person will win a free full sized bottle of Ginger White Tea AND a coupon for $1.50 off any scent they would like to try! That means the winner not only gets one free bottle, but can also get another bottle for about $1.50! Just enter the Rafflecopter form below for your chance to win! 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclaimer: I was given this product free to try and share my opinion. All opinions and reviews are my own and I was not paid to post them. Some posts may contain links to affiliate websites and I am not responsible for any content on said affiliate websites. Furthermore, I am only human, like you. I make mistakes and have the right to change my opinion about anything at anytime. 

Benjamin Moore Aura Paint (Metropolitan!)

I am a BzzAgent and was given the opportunity to try a gallon of Benjamin Moore Aura paint in my choice of color. I should explain a little more about BzzAgent, since anyone reading this is likely clueless as to what that strange word means. When you are a member of BzzAgent, you are able to sample/test full size products and spread the word about the product and also share your opinion of said product. Most campaigns are totally free and you'll get to try lots of new things, as long as you do what they ask of you, give your honest opinion and spread the word about what you are given, while letting those you share with know you #GotItFree just for being an awesome BzzAgent! Since I want to focus on how awesome this paint is, I'll do as promised weeks ago and make a post about BzzAgent so all of my friends and family can also have the chance to do things like this. I want to make it clear that I was not paid in any way to write this review. I was given a coupon for a free gallon of any color of Benjamin Moore Aura so I could try it out and give my honest opinion of the overall performance of the paint. My opinions are my own, as always!

Now, let me tell you about the most amazing paint I have ever used! I mean, I'm not a professional painter, but throughout my life I have rented several places that allowed us to paint the walls, as long as it wasn't anything too 'loud' or 'crazy'. We actually just painted our kitchen and hallway in the cheapest, 'chalkiest' (but landlord provided) paint two weeks before BzzAgent invited me into the Benjamin Moore Aura paint campaign. The difference between the Benjamin Moore Aura paint and the 'other off brand chalky' paint is ridiculous. It's really bad and I even got a 'rug burn' from said paint!! The hallway has been painted for weeks. While painting my sons room, I walked out of the door into the hallway without 'looking both ways' and was tripped by a lightning fast toddler pushing a bubble blowing Tow Mater down the hallway! I actually fell backwards and my elbows hit the walls from the back and slid all the way down to the ground, trying to catch myself the whole time. The 'rug burn' it caused is horrible and still hurts crazy right now! How does that happen? Rug burn from paint? Only me, I guess!

Our son Cruz turned two in August and was beyond blessed with so many gifts that his bedroom couldn't hold them all. We decided to turn our NEVER used guest room into his own playroom so he would have plenty of room. He literally had NO room to play. So, the weekend after his birthday, I did quite a bit of redecorating to be sure both rooms were just the way I wanted them. Well, all was well except one thing... the paint. We couldn't afford any paint at the time and really didn't want to pay out of pocket for paint that we would be leaving behind when we moved anyway, as we still rent. So, the rooms both got done, but no painting was involved. Then, just a few weeks later, I was invited by BzzAgent to join the Benjamin Moore Aura campaign to try a free gallon of any color I wanted!

When my BzzKit arrived with the coupon for the paint and the color samples inside, I immediately starting flipping through the colors to see what would match the sheets and other decor that was already in the bedroom. You can also go here to check out the thousands of available colors. It didn't take long to find the perfect shade, Metropolitan. Its a very nice blend of light gray with a very tiny hint of baby blue. Its gray all day but at night you can sense a hint of the blue, which is great for our big boy and it matched the decor just right. I knew from the beginning I wanted a shade of gray. I just wasn't quite sure how light or how dark I wanted it. A fellow BzzAgent who also was chosen for this campaign went with me to the local hardware store and each got our gallon of paint and all the other things we needed to get started.  My son also went with us and was able to pick out a package of giant Disney Cars wall decor stickers to go in his 'new' new room!

We came home and got right to work! My friend and son spread out the plastic sheeting to protect all of the things in the room from the paint and I mixed up the paint and got the rollers ready. As soon as I walked into the room, I rolled the wall one time, just to see if what I was hearing was true... IT WAS! This paint covered just like primer and 2 coats of paint in just one stroke of the roller! I had hoped it would be THAT good, considering it costs around $80 or a little less a gallon, depending where you buy, but I NEVER expected this paint to be THIS good. Its absolutely amazing. My son's whole bedroom was painted by two females in less than 2 hours, including the trim AND rolling the walls. ALL of it, from start to finish, done in under 2 hours. I have never seen a paint like this. I seriously thought I was getting myself into more work than I expected, but it was way less work than I had imagined. I went over the walls with the roller while my friend trimmed and we both agreed that the paint was not too thick or too thin, but juuuuust right. It only took ONE coat and that is just honestly hard to imagine, considering these walls are so badly damaged from dingy second hand smoke from previous renters, not to mention the ugly dark brown trim. This paint is even a lighter shade of gray and it still covered every bit of that room in just one coat, one roll of the roller. His room is pretty big and we only used a little bit over three fourths of that gallon of paint! I have enough paint left to paint a dresser or something in the future that we find to put in his room. Who knows what this creative MahMah will come up with this holiday season?!?!

It has been a full week since my son's room has been completed and the paint looks just as good as it did the day after it was finished. I love the eggshell finish and it looks so good in the Metropolitan shade. My son's room looks better than it has ever looked since he was born. He had an AMAZING nursery, but it doesn't compare to this AWESOME big boy room! Thanks to Benjamin Moore Aura and BzzAgent, we have one happy toddler Cars fan with two extremely happy parents!

 

Here are a few before and after photos!

BEFORE

 

 

AFTER

I used the same border that was already in his room. I'm SO glad we chose the peel and stick, for this reason! All we had to buy for this room was the top border and the four 12x12 square photos you see here (also peel and stick).



This wall is opposite the wall in the previous photo. I used stickers from Lightning McQueen's sponsors on the DVD chest, to give it a 'tool chest' look.

 Keepsakes from friends and family will be constantly added here to the top of the bed, as well as photos of those we love. Cruz loves to look at pics of his friends and family, especially each night before bed. :) The giant collage of Cruz & his best friend, Kameron, was actually bordered with checkered flag Duck Tape. I don't do glass frames in my kid's room, because I have witnessed some bad bad accidents, so I gave it a shot with the Duck Tape and it actually looks amazing in person.

Jessie & Woody relaxing in Cruz's 'movie watchin' chair' after a hard day of painting!

This is just an extra piece of cloth I had from an attempted birthday project. As of now, it's just tacked to the wall. I'm waiting for a nice sale on poster frames so I can frame and mat it.

I have not found any reasonably priced Cars curtains that I like and I love these sheets, so we hung them like curtains. We had 2 of the same sheet sets, so it worked out just right and matches perfectly!

I also used the checkered flag Duck Tape on these two huge 20x30 photos. I know its supposed to be a Cars themed room, but I just couldn't NOT have some of his Dr. Seuss stuff in there! He has so much and really enjoys us reading the books to him, so they are here to stay. :) I only wish I had a way to display the 5 1960's Dr. Seuss vinyl records I got on Listia for FREE! This airplane shelf was given to Cruz by a couple that was very close to a friend who passed away, so it means alot to us. It holds mementos and keepsakes from Cruz's birth to 1 year old. Its probably the most special part of this whole room.

THANKS FOR TAKING THE TIME TO CHECK OUT ALL OF MY HARD WORK! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO LEAVE ANY COMMENTS OR IDEAS FOR ADDITIONS TO HIS ROOM! I LOVE NEW PROJECTS & NEW FRIENDS! :)

Glade Expressions Review

Glade Expressions Pineapple & Mangosteen Fragrance Mist and Oil Diffuser

Like lots of other women, it has always been important to me for my home to smell clean and feel comfortable, not only for my family, but for our guests also. Its never pleasant to walk into anyones home and be greeted with a sweet hello and a sour smell! Sometimes little things in our homes cause these smells.... having a toddler (or ANY child of any age, really) who figures out how to make a mess out of just about anything, ;) a pet or pets indoors, smoking (for those who smoke inside their homes), trash cans, certain foods cooking and lingering, ect.
Growing up, I remember my Nana always buying those super low priced Glade cans of air freshener. Im sure this was always her choice, as they were always the cheapest, next to the store brands. They are only $1 now, so I'm sure she was getting an awesome deal in the 90's! :) I was raised by my maternal grand parents, so I was very close to my Nana. I was always so eager to ride along and see what deals she would find. My Nana, Papa and I lived on a VERY fixed income, so she was quite the frugal shopper. Im sure she is where I get my 'thriftyness'. Anyway, what Im getting at is, Glade has always been a family tradition of sorts, as its what we have always bought. Now that its 2012, Glade, along with every other air freshener company just keeps coming out with more and more new ways to freshen our homes and cars. Most of these 'ways', such as reed diffusers, plug in warmers, ect are quite pricey and the refills are as well. This is very discouraging considering most of them dont last very long. THIS is what makes people like me (and yes, Nana, too) want to just want to stick to our $1 Glade air freshener spray
comfort zone!
My fiance is always spraying our house with air freshening sprays and the $1 ones do not last very long at ALL. Since the livingroom, dining 'area' and kitchen are only separated by a bar, its hard to find something that will fill the whole area so he just sprays it now and then throughout the day. It's not that our house is smelly, we just like it to smell like something fragrant and inviting, not like 'nothing'. You can imagine, it would be quite expensive to purchase something for every room. Plus, the two rooms are so large, I know we would need two in both, so thats five! Not going to happen!
BzzAgent must have known how I love Glade, because I was given the chance to try and review the new Glade Expressions Collection for free! I was sent a coupon for one free oil diffuser and one free fragrance mist, along with several coupons for $4 off the diffuser and $2 off the mist to share with friends and to use myself! BzzAgent is an awesome website! You sign up, take some short surveys, and wait to see if you're selected to try something new! I've tried Dr. Scholl's insoles, Benjamin Moore Aura paint, and other things! Try it out! You might get to try something awesome!
I tried the Pineapple & Mangosteen and the Fiji Apple & Cardamom Spice in both the fragrance mist and oil diffuser. I also purchased the Cotton & Italian Mandarin, fragrance mist, as 'Clean Linen' is my favorite Glade scent and it smells almost the same, but with a perfect hint of mandarin! Unfortunately for me, the oil diffuser isnt' available in Cotton & Italian Mandarin scent. I am fine with my second favorite, though! I am usually NOT a fan of pineapple or tropical scents AT ALL, but I really like the Pineapple & Mangosteen scent! Since we have the large livingroom, kitchen, dining area, I need the combo of the diffuser and matching mist to freshen up the room now and then. So, the scents are a major pro!

Oil Diffuser

The oil diffuser states that is lasts 'up to 30 days' and it has been right at 30 days since I put it on the bar that separates our livingroom/kitchen and I can still smell a hint of it when I'm close, but not when I walk in the house anymore. The scent actually lasted for about two weeks. I think that's pretty good for such a large area to cover!  I have since added another diffuser in the giant area so we now have two and they are doing a perfect job keeping the area fresh and just like we like it! The refills are fairly inexpensive, especially on sale and with a coupon!

Fragrance Mist

The fragrance mist is also awesome! Yes, it is a buck or two more expensive than the $1 sprays I am used to buying, BUT the Glade Expressions fragrance mist is just that, a mist! That means it stays in the air longer and lasts longer than those $1 sprays.They also don't leave our floors slippery like the sprays. This is a very good plus for families with small children. Like the oil diffuser, these starter kits and the refills can be purchased fairly cheap or free with a sale and a coupon. Im not sure if there are any printables out right now, but I will check and update tomorrow. :)



FREE T-Shirt From Bargain Shirts

Wow! How awesome is it that a tshirt company, Bargain Shirts, is offering this free, one size fits all tshirt to ANYONE who 'likes' their Facebook page?!

I checked out their website and found some pretty cool shirts for my fiance! Check them out at www.buybargainshirts.com!

Go here to 'like' their Facebook page and fill out the form to request your free shirt!

ALL POSTS AFTER THIS ONE ARE OLD

I think I'm Back..... ! :)

I started this blog in the last few months of last year (2011) with the intentions of just updating on our life now and then and posting about deals I see, freebies, SHUTTERFLY, life on the Gulf Coast and just other random things I find interesting and want to share. I did this for a few weeks, maybe even a month or more, I dont remember really.
Then I just stopped. I guess I lost interest. Well, lately Ive been thinking 'I should post this on my blog!' more often than not so I believe its time I start again. I think this will be a fun hobby if I don't let it take over. PLUS, everyone needs to vent every now and then and what better place than here for the whole world to see, right? ;)