Ooh That Smell.

I'm back with another review brought to you (and me) by Bzzagent.com, today I'll be telling you about the Glade Expressions collection. I received coupons for a starter kit for both the Fragrance Mist, and the Oil Diffuser from Glade, first off let me just say that these products were very difficult to find, I still have not been able to locate the Oil Diffuser, but I did get my hands on the Fragrance Mist.  I'm no stranger to air fresheners, I use them both at work and at home, and I've used a number of different brands, but they all look the same, and they are all clearly air fresheners, but Glade's fragrance mist is different, first off we have the sleek cover, its all white with a small window where the color of the can is visible, you can use this bit of color to coordinate the mister into your decor, the scent I selected was Cotton & Italian Mandarin, in a blue can, so the little strip of color visible on my mister is blue, I've a lot of blue in my bathroom so though the mister has been traveling the house, when I manage to get it back in its "spot" it matches up very well to the rest of the room.

On to the fragrance, ever tried one of those misters that you have to spray a few times before the smell you were trying to get rid of disappears? Or even worse the ones that smell WORSE than the original offending odor? I'm sure we've all been there, Glade Fragrance Mist is neither of these things, just one squeeze and the offending odor is gone, and the fragrance left behind is light and fresh, it really does smell of citrus and cotton, it reminds me of clothes hanging on the line and a fresh glass of orange juice, dare I say, Summer in a can? Just about, I've even sprayed it a few times just because.  It is that nice of a scent.

Between the sleek put anywhere style of the reusable container and the fragrance of the mister itself, I am hooked, even my four year old has commented on the "yummy smell" and my cat box has never been so unobtrusive as its been since I've been using this spray.

I plan to get another mister for my office (never again will fish smell assault me from the break room) and I'm looking forward to trying other fragrances. We used to be a Fabreez Family, but after this campaign we have definitely become Glade Groupies.

Bzzagent Book Review: The Dark Monk

The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale, By Oliver Pötzsch ★ ★ ★ ★☆

Blurb from Amazon: 


1660: Winter has settled thick over a sleepy village in the Bavarian Alps, ensuring every farmer and servant is indoors on the night a parish priest discovers he's been poisoned. As numbness creeps up his body, he summons the last of his strength to scratch a cryptic sign in the frost.

Following a trail of riddles, hangman Jakob Kuisl; his headstrong daughter, Magdalena; and the town physician’s son team up with the priest’s aristocratic sister to investigate. What they uncover will lead them back to the Crusades, unlocking a troubled history of internal church politics and sending them on a chase for a treasure of the Knights Templar.

But they’re not the only ones after the legendary fortune. A team of dangerous and mysterious monks is always close behind, tracking their every move, speaking Latin in the shadows, giving off a strange, intoxicating scent. And to throw the hangman off their trail, they have ensured he is tasked with capturing a band of thieves roving the countryside attacking solitary travelers and spreading panic.

I received "The Dark Monk" and its prequel, "The Hangman's Daughter" as part of a Bzzagent Campaign, though I'm not a big fan of historical novels, I was excited to read these books as I love mystery and suspense and both of these books were purported to have a large helping of both.

They take place in 17th century Bavaria, a time and an area thick with fear and ignorance, where the town physician could as likely kill you as cure you, and women can be killed for the slightest whisper of witchcraft.

Both stories are well told and well crafted, the characters are three dimensional and human.  If you do read these I suggest you start with "The Hangman's Daughter" as that book introduces us to most of the characters that we meet in "The Dark Monk".

I enjoyed the Dark Monk a good deal more than the first book, the characters were already known to me by then and I had my favorite ones.  The Dark Monk is faster paced than The Hangman's Daughter, and the suspense begins to build from the very first page,  I felt that I was actually there in Bavaria, traveling from town to town in search of the Templar treasure and the monks that will murder to keep it out of the hands of "heretics".  Though "The Dark Monk"  doesn't really give "clues" like other mysteries, there is still much for the reader to deduce, and make theories on. In fact I was pleasantly surprised to find some of mine to be correct I may have even exclaimed "I knew it!" as one element of the mystery was reveled.

The storytelling was colorful, the descriptions were vivid, the suspense and intrigue were tangible, on many occasions I caught myself holding my breath or chewing my lips as I read.

There were a few things that I didn't like about these books but thankfully they can be attributed to formatting and the fact that these books were originally written and published in German.

The kindle/ebook format is poorly done, the font size and style changes through out the book, page breaks and paragraph separation is random, and at times very confusing.  However I have noticed that this is sadly a somewhat common occurrence in ebooks.

 My second issue with the stories would best be summed up as "loosing something in the translation" there is a lot of slang and colloquialisms used in the book that I just don't see being used in the 17th century.  "We're screwed" for instance, I can't help but think there could have been a less modern phrase that would have expressed the same feeling.  Sadly the books were rife with language like that, and I do have to say that it lessened my enjoyment of the story a bit.  I don't want to blame the author or the translator though, language is odd and it would not surprise me to find that there was simply no adequate English translation other than "We're screwed".

Those two pet peeve points aside, "The Dark Monk" was truly a fascinating tale, one which I am glad I had the opportunity to read.  If you have any inclinations toward historical fiction, suspense, and religious stories you should give these books a try.  I enjoyed both of them and after the teaser at the end of The Dark Monk I am looking forward to the final book in the series as well.

Clear Hair, Shiny Hair, Once Again I Love My Hair

    I wasn't looking for a new shampoo when I received my Bzzagent invite to the Clear Hair campaign, I was basically satisfied with what I'd been using, and to be honest I've never really noticed a huge difference in my hair when I switch types of shampoo, but I'm not one to turn down sample of a product, and I figured it wouldn't hurt to try a different shampoo for a month or so.

I received a full size bottle of shampoo and conditioner as well as sample bottles to hand out to friends.  I started using Clear as soon as I got my bzzkit, I was pleased with the light odor and the fact that it was a cream based shampoo, and I was slightly amused that the shampoo sparkled, curious, I checked the ingredients and sure enough mica is one of them. I don't think I've ever used a shampoo that sparkled.
I honestly didn't expect to see much of a change in my hair, and if I did I figured I wouldn't see it til at least a few weeks.

I was wrong though, within just a few uses, my hair was remarkably shiny and much softer than it had been. After a week of use I'd begun to notice that I was "shedding" less, and that my hair seemed to have a bit more wave than normal.

A month later and I am so happy with my hair, its significantly less frizzy, more wavy, softer and shinier.
There is even a bonus perk, it seems to be very beneficial to the psoriasis that I have on my scalp, I've noticed a decrease in itchiness, as well as large reduction in flaking, in fact Clear has worked better to treat my scalp issues than the leading medicated brand ever did.

I'm hooked, I love Clear Total Care, I plan to try some of the other formulas as well, but Clear is my new brand of shampoo and conditioner.

They've got a great price too, you might expect to pay $8 or more for a shampoo that does all this, but Clear has a price tag of less than $5 at many retailers, and it is available at most major retailers and drugstores both online and off.

I've been recommending it to everyone I know, If you have a love/hate relationship with your hair, or if you are tired of your lackluster shampoo, and are looking for something new you can't go wrong with Clear.

I've rhythm, I've got (in)sole.

I signed up for the Dr. Scholl's For Her™ BzzCampaign via BzzAgent a few weeks ago, and got my BzzKit over the weekend.  It contained a pair of High Heel insoles and some coupons for that product. Excited to try the insoles, I debated at first which pair of shoes to put them in but in the end I decided on my daily heels, the ones I wear 9 hours a day at work. These aren't uncomfortable shoes, but I figured the insoles would make them really comfy.

I was wrong.

Excitedly I put the insoles in on Monday morning, I struggled with them a bit, my shoes are strappy and the insole kept sticking to the straps, but I eventually got them in and straight.

I slipped my feet in and noticed the straps were a bit tight, but they loosened up quickly. I didn't notice any added cushioning in the heel or toe, in fact my shoes didn't feel any different aside from one thing.

The arch support.

It was uncomfortable, wasn't so much a cushion as a bump, a bump that pressed into the arch of my foot.

Maybe I just have weird arches, I thought, or maybe I just need to get used them. I decided I would give myself a few days to get used to them.

I never got used to them.

Sadly these insoles made my heels worse than they'd been without the insoles. After 2 days of wearing them I couldn't take the discomfort of the arch support anymore and removed the insoles, but prior to giving up on these I switched heels just to see if maybe it was the shoe itself, no such luck, it looks like no matter the heel height or shape these insoles just dig into the arch of my foot.

So its not the shoes.

It might be my feet. I'm not going to describe my feet to you, but I have had odd issues with shoes before, so it might be my feet. In fact I am leaning toward that theory because I've talked to women who LOVE these insoles, so I think its just me.

This is one of those products that is impossible to give a catch all review for, everyone's feet are different, for me it is far more uncomfortable for me to have a something in the arch of my foot than it is for me to walk on the ball of my foot. However you could be the opposite.

Dr. Scholl's is a well known and respected company for foot care products, and sure, even great companies can have a bad product, but I really think its just my feet and the way I walk, not the insoles themselves.

It tastes good and its good for you! Its Olive Oil!

Last week I joined a word of mouth marketing company called bzzagent, and today I got my first assignment, I'm really excited to get started with this and wanted to share the buzz here on my blog.


Let's talk about olive oil! Now, I'm not terribly familiar with Filippo Berio, but being of partial Mediterranean decent I am familiar with the health benefits of olive oil, benefits that can be gleaned through both ingestion and application of olive oil.

I do know that Filippo Berio started manufacturing and producing olive oil under his name in the early 1850s and by 1900 his olive oil was Italy's #1 exported olive oil. Also right around that same time, American scientists had published several nutritional articles citing links between the "Mediterranean Diet" and a lower occurrence of health problems.

The key ingredient in Mediterranean cooking is olive oil, and you can clearly taste the difference between a dish prepared with olive oil and one prepared with canola or vegetable oil. and can you even imagine the horrible shock to the taste buds it would be to find an Italian salad dressing that was made with any other oil?

Since Olive oil contains a wide variety of valuable antioxidants that are not found in other oils, its health benefits are rather amazing and extensive, and not at all limited to internal health.

Olive oil can be used on the skin as a very effective moisturizer, it can be used as a hair treatment to help the scalp and the hair, and even ingested alone as a mild laxative. Olive oil is nothing if not versatile, I personally use it in some form nearly every day and recommend it for cooking and beauty needs.

If you'd like to find out more about the health benefits of Olive oil you can take a look at the health info here. While you're on the Filippo Berio site, you can read about the rich history of both the brand and the oil itself.

Keep an eye on the blog here, I'll be trying out and sharing a few recipes in the next few weeks, I'm really excited to try the Gorgonzola Chicken Thighs.