Nûby sent me another fun product to share with you today!
A baby medicine dispenser, the Nûby Medi•Nurser is inexpensive and practical…and it’s something I wish I’d known about when my son was first born. As a breastfeeding mom, I was immediately prescribed a vitamin D supplement to give my son. Also, in the first couple of months, we often gave Baby J gripe water, since the poor little guy had bad gas.
A medicine dropper works, but I sometimes would squirt too much in his mouth for him to swallow. Then he’d end up spitting some of the medicine out, or it would just dribble out the corners of his mouth. It also took a while for him to get used to the taste.
The Medi•Nurser is designed like a tiny bottle with a nipple and measurements posted on the side. It helps medicine bypass most of your baby’s tastebuds and reduces the medicinal smell.
Now that Baby J is a toddler, I find the Medi•Nurser still convenient, for both medicine and vitamins. Baby J just holds the Medi•Nurser by himself and takes his medicine. The indentations on the side make it easy for him to grasp the bottle. He enjoys the independence, I think. 🙂
Poor little guy was sick with a cough and fever. Here Baby J is using his Medi Nurser to drink some soothing, natural cough syrup.Baby J was able to get almost all the medicine out.
You can find the Medi•Nurser at (affiliate link>) Amazon and BabyEarth.
If you’re not a follower of Nûby on their social media accounts, I highly recommend you follow them! They constantly host fun giveaways:
Disclosure: I got this product as part of an advertorial.
I received a one-week supply of Skinny Jane’s “Skinny Blend Weight Loss Shake.” Since it’s a weight-loss shake, usually one week would not be enough time to review that aspect of the product. With that in mind, I was asked to review how well the powder mixes, suppresses my appetite, and increases my energy.
As I’ve gotten into more strength training and weight lifting, I’ve been seeking ways to add more protein into my diet. Of course, I can always eat more beans, eggs, nuts, chicken, etc. And I have been, but it’s just not enough. It would really simplify my life if I could just mix up a protein shake and BAM! give my body what it needs. As I researched protein powders, I realized I’m looking for a powder that tastes at least bearable (if not good) and isn’t filled with questionable ingredients. So that’s why I wanted to review the Skinny Blend.
I didn’t receive the regular packaging, since I just had the 7-day sample, so I had to look the nutritional info up online. Each serving of the banana Skinny Blend has 100 calories, 1 gram of sugar, 3 grams of fiber, and 12 grams of protein. Of course that would be in addition to whatever ingredients you add to the blend.
My 7-day sample of Skinny Blend
Some of the ingredients sound “scary” (you can read them off the product photos on the Skinny Jane website), but I looked up the ones I’m unfamiliar with. Most of the ingredients provide protein or bond the protein ingredients together. Nothing raised any red flags.
The Skinny Blend is available in chocolate, vanilla, or banana, and I chose the banana flavor. It really does taste good! If you don’t mix it in really well (and you should), it has a slight powdered milk taste to it. When mixed or blended, the Skinny Blend just tastes like milk and banana. It’s not grainy or clumpy, and there’s no strange aftertaste. Just make sure you use a shaker bottle or a blender. I attempted to just mix it with almond milk once with a spoon, and it was grainy.
I think I had the servings off slightly. I was using the powder while Baby J and I were visiting Hubby in Florida, and I didn’t have any of my measuring spoons or cups or my kitchen scale. I had to “wing it.” A serving should be 1/4 cup. Either they sent me more than a week’s worth, or I really don’t know how a 1/4 cup should look. As you can see below, I tried the Skinny Blend 8 times (and still had some left in the package).
Ways I’ve tried the Skinny Blend:
Skinny Blend, frozen fruit, water, baby spinach, and kale
Skinny Blend, frozen fruit, apple cider, baby spinach, and kale
Skinny Blend and water (gross)
Skinny Blend and almond milk
Skinny Blend, almond milk, whole milk, and ice
Skinny Blend, almond milk, banana, and ice
Skinny Blend, almond milk, 1/2 banana, and ice
Skinny Blend, orange juice, banana, and ice
If you’re trying to lose weight, definitely use the Skinny Blend as recommended. That said, my favorite way to use the Skinny Blend was blended with almond milk, 1/2 banana, and ice. It was the perfect after-dinner snack that kept me full and awake for several hours until bed, and with just over 200 calories.
My favorite combo, right before I blended itAnd blended
I actually did lose weight the week that I used the Skinny Blend (about 3 lbs.), which surprised me. I can’t say for sure the weight loss was from the powder, especially since I didn’t use it as a meal replacement. I used the powder in addition to my regular diet. I’ve been lifting heavier weights and doing more strength training exercises, so I guess my hard work is finally showing, and I lost a little body fat (woohoo!).
Overall, I really, really, liked this powder. It tasted good, blended well, and wasn’t grainy. Is it the shake for me, the one I’ll add into my workout regime and diet? I’m not sure. My only hesitation is Skinny Blend doesn’t provide as much protein as some other protein powders on the market. But to be fair, Skinny Blend is meant to be a weight-loss shake, not necessarily a muscle-building shake.
To learn more about how the company got its start, visit SkinnyJane.com. Also, follow them on Facebook and Twitter for tips and motivation (it’ll get you a head start on the giveaway too).
GIVEAWAY CLOSED- Congrats to Aleya B. for winning!
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
The last time I had my teeth whitened was just before my wedding, when I forked out hundreds of dollars to get my teeth whitened professionally. As an avid coffee drinker, it’s inevitable that my teeth would start getting yellow again. I was happy to receive an LED Accelerator Kit and one Whitening Gel Pen to review from Smile Brilliant.
Before you see the photos, I want you to know that I did not make any any adjustments to these photos. All the photos were taken on my iPhone and no photo editing software was used. I took photos inside in my bathroom, in front of the mirror. I tried my best to get the same angle and distance from the overhead light. There were no adjustments made to the brightness, saturation, lighting, etc. of any of these photos. I’m even wearing the same lip gloss. If anything, my after pictures are a little dark, because I was standing too far from the overhead light.
Smile Brilliant’s LED teeth whitening system is designed to be more effective than the easily-found store bought whitening strips, but still affordable. Smile Brilliant claims their high-intensity LED light accelerates the teeth whitening process. I’ve read mixed reviews/reports/etc. about how well LED lights actually work for teeth whitening, but I was willing to give it a try.
The formula in the gel is 77.1% glycerin, 22% carbamide peroxide, 0.5% carbomer, 0.2% menthol, and 0.2% EDTA.
So does it work? I think it does. You can check out the photos below, yourself, but I think my teeth are about a shade whiter. I only had one whitening pen (usually 5-8 applications). If I really wanted drastic results, I’d probably buy the three-pen kit and use it for a month.
The photos below were taken before starting and then after 9 applications of the gel (so over 9 days). Each time, I used the LED light for approximately 45 minutes, and then left the gel and trays on for another 20 minutes or so. As I mentioned above, I did not enhance or adjust these photos in any way. The after photos are a little dark, because I’m apparently standing further back from the overhead light. I think my teeth would be even whiter if I were more in the light.
It’s hard to believe, but I have had braces!
The trays and even the LED were surprisingly comfortable in my mouth. I was able to blog, fold laundry, read, etc. with it in, and I didn’t even notice the trays and light after a few minutes.
I had trouble with the LED light the first time I used it, because I didn’t have the battery in properly. The light kept going off, and I started to think I had a faulty product. Well, the second time around, I took the batteries back out and faced them a different way. Then the light finally stayed on after the button was pressed! I’m surprised it even semi-worked the first time I used it, since the batteries weren’t in right.
If you’re interested in teeth whitening, make sure you read the product information on the Smile Brilliant website. It talks about product ingredients, realistic results, and who should (or shouldn’t) whiten their teeth.
What do you think? Can you see a difference?
The Giveaway:
Smile Brilliant is sponsoring a giveaway. One winner will receive the same kit (ARV $40) that I did! This giveaway will be open to US, CAN, UK, and AU residents. Make sure to read the terms and conditions before entering. The giveaway starts at midnight, so get your entries in after that! 2/19-2/25.
