Goodies Co

I'm on my second month as a "founding member" of Goodies Co. I think it's a special Wal-Mart venture, with its own tasting lab which chooses the monthly selection of gourmet, quirky, or regular Joe snacks and food items.

I think I heard about it on Bloomberg TV, where they were talking about Wal-Mart's unusual experiment. So I went to the website and rather than signing up, you submitted your email and waited for an invitation, which I got about a week later.

You receive your items, and a few days later, Goodies emails you to ask if you've enjoyed your selection, and encourages you to submit reviews in exchange for points.

This month (May), I got a full-size Zico coconut water, a packet each of of strawberry and assorted sour straws, a sample size roasted salted pumpkin seeds, 2 sachets of California EVOO, small jar of roasted raspberry chipotle sauce, a Numi Moroccan mint teabag, and a sample bag of nacho cheese flavor Beanitos white bean chips. (The raspberry chipotle sauce was awesome on my toasted cheese sandwich, and I'm keeping it aside for a good steak soon.) There was also a coupon for gourmet guacamole.

It's pretty fun. Last month, there was a choc chip cookie dough bar, a cashew coconut bar, sample of Angie's sweet and salty kettlecorn, a can of Celsius calorie-burning drink, a small bag of Olomomo cinnamon cayenne almonds, and another of sweet potato chips. (The Celsius was surprisingly good, and the Olomomo almonds were delicious, except my dog - coincidentally nicknamed Momo - stole them off the counter when I left to go do something.) Included in this was a $50 gift certificate for a wine website.

Still, overall it's not as impressive a selection of foods as I'd expected. Maybe I need to go even more gourmet? I can't decide whether to stay subscribed or not....and $7 a month is not too bad.....maybe I should cancel my Big Fish Games subscription instead. Looking after a young dog doesn't leave me very much time to play hidden object games!

Speaking of dogs...I have Momo subscribed to a couple of boxes himself. Barkbox and Pawalla, but that's a blog post for another day.

Glade Expressions

For my Bzzagent assignment to try out the new Glade Expressions line, I got the Pineapple Mangosteen oil diffuser. I don't normally go fruity, but it smelled better than the lavender juniper, which on paper I'd normally choose first.
Also, I really liked the bamboo panels, probably half the reason I chose it.
I set it on my mantel in the room where our dog spends most of his time. It has scented both that side of the family room and migrated into the living room next door. I'll probably try all of them, just to be fair. I couldn't find the fragrance mist starter kits in my local grocery store, so I couldn't try it. I'd love to try the Cotton and Italian Mandarin. I like clean linen and white scents, so I will keep looking out for it or get it online.

Morningstar Farms

Three Bzzagent projects on the go at once, how exciting!

Goodness knows it's hard to get vegetables into my routine. Especially beans! Since I have the least issue with black beans, I decided to try the spicy black bean burger. You can't go wrong with spicy, and you can't go wrong with cumin. I love it. It's a healthy way to fill a sandwich, if you ask me. I mean, beans, brown rice (which when brown is considered a grain rather than a starch) and bulgur (also good for you)? That last item was a pleasant surprise to find in the ingredients list.

So I made one with Jalapeno Cheddar bread, Swiss cheese, jalapeno ranch power dressing, and tomatoes. Very, very yummy. 73% less fat than a beef burger. 'Nuff said.

Followup: Garnier Dark Spot Treatment

As a dedicated Bzzagent, I've been using the Garnier Dark Spot Overnight Peel at night for nearly a month now. I am loving what it does for my face.

I've not noticed a significant reduction - yet - in dark spots, because you need many more weeks of cumulative effect for that, and my dark spots are stubborn. But, the most immediate result was that my skin is smoother. Just....smoother. I scrub less in the shower. I can even skip daily scrubbing, and use a softer sponge rather than the hard mitt I was forced to resort to daily.

The pores on my face are shrinking, so I have fewer fat deposits in the pores of my nose and chin, two areas I had to focus on every day before starting on the Garnier Dark Spot treatment.

So, an alternate benefit for a product named for something else, but it was a problem that had been frustrating me. For this reason I will continue using and purchasing Garnier Dark Spot Overnight Peel and maybe even look into the matching products.

The Garnier dark spot treatment

Garnier Skin Renew Dark Spot Overnight Peel Clinical

A few days ago, my Garnier test product arrived from Bzzagent.

It comes in a small green bottle with a quick pump dispenser.

Garnier describes the product as a "Gentle leave-on glycolic peel" that "speeds exfoliation to fade dark spots, even skin tone, brighten skin, [and] smooth texture. It contains Vitamin C, which is well known as a skin revitalizer. I think that's what the Ascorbyl Glucoside is in the ingredient list. Amongst the other "usual suspects" found in skincare products, I noticed another of the ingredients was algae extract, which is also good for the skin.

Last night was Day Two.
All I can say so far is it has a pleasant and light orange scent, spreads easily and soaks in quickly. It does feel very smooth. I might even say I feel a little smoother already, but it's too soon to tell.

I have some uneven skin tone, dull spots, blemishes, and roughness, so I look forward to the next few weeks of testing.

Some words of warning: it contains Alpha Hydroxy Acid (AHA), so you may be sensitive to the sun and would be well advised to wear sunscreen, protective clothing and limit your sun exposure.

Dr Scholl's For Her -- Insoles

Finally, I qualified for my first BzzAgent campaign!

This week, I received the Dr Scholl's For Her Insoles (for high heels mostly, but also for flat shoes).

I look forward to trying them out at the wedding in NYC on June 9. I have high arches and skinny feet which always need support in heels.

Will let you know how that goes.

BZZAGENT

As mentioned in my first post, I've joined a product testing panel called Bzzagent. Once I reach a level that qualifies me for sample packets, I will start posting about them on here since it counts as rewardable activity. This should be in addition to my normal product testing posts.

Also, Bzzagent uses these online tests called Smarterer, where you can test your knowledge in a wide array of areas from Trivia to Google to technical stuff. I was actually number one for a while on my chocolate knowledge, and pretty high up there on my Facebook knowledge. I think I've lapsed a bit since then. I like tests, so I thought it was fun.