Goddess Garden Pool Party

I was first introduced to Goddess Garden a couple years ago through their essential oils which are awesome! Last year I had head that they were making natural sunscreens but hadn't come across any in my local stores.

When Tryazon launched their Goddess Garden Pool Party I knew I had to get in on the action and try this stuff out! 

They have a whole line of sunscreen products including Everyday tube, Everyday spray Sports Kids spray Facial tube, Kids Sport tube, Sport tube, Kids Sport stick,

Face the Day Daily Moisturizer

& Aloe Spray.

Goddess Garden sunscreens are made from minerals so they are effective immediately and are safe for my sensitive skin. Traditional sunscreens absorb the sun’s rays and take 20 minutes to work and break down quickly. So ditch the cocktail of unpronounceable chemicals in your traditional sunscreen and discover Goddess Garden! 

Mineral sunscreens, like Goddess Garden’s contain zinc and titanium. These are simply tiny rocks that work like mirrors to reflect the sun’s ray. They aren’t absorbed so they won’t irritate your skin or get in your bloodstream. They’re effective immediately and won’t break down in the sun. Best of all, you aren’t coating your body in chemicals! Since they’re natural minerals, they’re just as safe for the earth as they are for you, and they don’t affect the reefs! 

We all tried out a whole variety of goddess garden sunscreen products this weekend and they worked great for everyone, even my nephew approves! 

~Crystal Vicious

Find more Goddess Garden

 Tips for Applying Natural Mineral Sunscreen 

Start with moisturized skin. Goddess Garden’s sunscreen lotions contain nourishing ingredients your skin loves. If your skin is very dry, it can absorb the lotion faster than you can spread the minerals, resulting in a whitening effect.

Cover small areas of your skin at a time. Because the lotion spreads the minerals, apply mineral sunscreen to small areas at a time so the lotion isn’t absorbed before you get it rubbed on. Applying too much in one place can result in the minerals layering up on your skin’s surface. An even application of mineral sunscreen will provide sheer, yet thorough protection.

If it’s white, you’re not finished. Minerals aren’t absorbed into your skin or bloodstream, so if the minerals are not spread evenly and dry white on your skin’s surface, they’ll stay white.

Try the Facial Sunscreen. If you have a darker skin tone, or if you’re still having trouble, you may want to try Goddess Garden’s Facial Sunscreen. It’s made with a unique polished zinc that creates fewer reflection points that contribute to the whitening effect. Minimizing reflections results in a sheerer look, while offering the same protection. While it’s a facial sunscreen, your arms and legs will love the extra benefits.

STRICTLY BRIKS

Strictly Briks play nice with other toys and are 100% guaranteed to be compatible with all major brands like LEGO, DUPLO, Mega Bloks, and K'NEX brand sets.There are so many options and colors and at a great price. You can let your imagination run wild!

I was able to try out a bunch of different products from Strictly Briks and passed them on to my nephews, except for the small briks. Those are for me. 

The Bag of Small Briks I received were in the basic colors. These are so fun, they have pink and purple. There are many other color options, the clear ones are super cool.

I was also given a pack of Flat Bottom Base Plates. These are way sturdier than I expected. Perfect fit for classic sized bricks a great to build off of.

The Bag of Big Briks are great. Just like Duplo blocks. Great for the little ones. Such an awesome option. These go great with the Big Brik Trap & Gap. Super fun playing with cars and the trap doors. 

A small Trap & Gap 4 Pack to go with the classic sized bricks is so fun. You can build a parking garage and drive your cars up and down. Super study and easy to build.

My favorite product is the AlphaBriks. These tiles are a little tough to pop on an off and they are small, so I didn't pass this on to the 3 and 4 year olds. I like using it as a message board. I think it looks really cool and will probably use it for hashtags. It's so fun.

~Crystal Vicious 

Sweet New Products from Suave Professionals

Rose Oil Infusion Volumizing Shampoo & Conditioner

At first I was turned off by how ROSY this shampoo smelled. I am more of a fruity person, and this whopping Rose Oil scent was too much. The second time I used it I had a scent memory of these little rose shaped soaps my grandmother had in her bathroom back in the 1980's and guess what? Now I enjoy the smell. Thank goodness because this shampoo really does add volume. I have very thin hair and after only two uses my hair feels twice as thick. It definitely delivers on that promise. The scent stays in your hair for quite a while, so if you hate the smell of roses I wouldn't recommend it. I gave it another shot and warmed up to the scent, so who knows. I dig it.

The scent of this conditioner is way less fragrant than it's counterpart. It adds a light scent to your hair after rinsing out. The volume of my hair doubled after two uses. Can't wait to see extended results, my thin hair needs the extra oomph!

Suave Professionals Natural Hold Compressed Micro Mist Hairspray

I don't really use hairspray for anything other than my bangs, but this hairspray changed me.

It makes my hair feel nice and soft so I actually bought a new curling iron to see how it would hold curls. I love it. It doesn't leave a gross, sticky film all over the place and it smells divine! I sprayed all over my head and it held my bangs and my curls all night. I love the packaging, it's cute and easy to hold. A++

Here's a photo of my hair after using the Rose Oil Shampoo & Conditioner for one week and with the Hairspray holding my curls in! Please excuse my first attempt at using a curling wand. 

~Crystal Vicious

InstaNatural Vitamin C Moisturizer

I've used InstaNatural in the past, the Acne Cleaser. It was amazing! It was gentle on my skin, worked perfectly and smelled of oranges. I couldn't wait to try out another product.

Unfortunately this product was a total miss for me. It comes in a nice pump bottle, but the moisturizer is so thick it makes a bit of a mess. The lotion also goes on your face very thick. It takes a long time to absorb and leaves a filmy feeling on my face hours after application. My face is left oily and tight feeling. I haven't even attempted to apply makeup over it. 

It also burns my skin. I sit here now, an hour after applying and my face still stings. I've tried this for several days to see if I could get used to not only the sting, but the very unpleasant scent of the moisturizer. Neither of these things are getting better, so I am probably just going to toss this product. 

I would only give InstaNatural Vitamin C Moisturizer 1 out of 5 stars. I'm not going to be able to use it long enough to see if there are any true benefits. The greasy feeling, the burning and the odor are all too much for me to continue using this twice a day.

I'm pretty bummed because their cleanser was fantastic. I'm going to go wash my face.

I received this product at a discount. This review is 100% honest, unbiased, and my own.

~Crystal Vicious

Keeping Up The Flame with Maybelline SuperStay 24 Lip Color

I've never really been a big fan of liquid lip color. I've always preferred a stick, a gloss or a balm. This 2-in-1 lip color comes with it's own balm, so I was willing to give it a chance and now I am hooked!

I have never had a lip color last as long as this one, especially "Keep Up The Flame". Red just doesn't like to stay on my lips. 

Application is simple and takes little time and effort, so these are easily an every day beauty staple.
Step 1. Apply liquid color to clean, bare lips. Allow two minutes to dry. 
Step 2. Apply conditioning balm to seal in moisture. Easy peasy!

I tried two colors. "Constant Toast" a pretty, shimmery nude color. I NEVER wear nudes, but I loved it and enjoyed wearing it for daytime activities. It looked nice with my pale skin and lasted all day...even while sipping coffee and eating meals. You can easily reapply the balm on top and it helps boost shine and moisturize your lips. 

"Keep Up The Flame" is perfect for night time. I love Reds and really liked how this looked on me. I've never had a red last an entire night out. Zero mirror checks needed. Just reapply the balm once or twice after eating and drinking and it looks great.

The color is a tad sticky while you wait for it to dry, so try to keep your lips parted. Once the balm is on, they will feel soft and smooth. My lips did feel a bit dry throughout the day, but reapplying the balm fixed that issue.

Maybelline suggests using oil based makeup remover, but my Micellar Water did the trick when it was time to clean up. 

I am extremely happy with this lipcolor and will be grabbing some more shades in the future! I would totally recommend!

Many thanks to Maybelline and Influenster for giving me complimentary samples of Maybelline SuperStay 24 Longwear Lip Color. All opinions expressed are 100% honest, unbiased and my own.

~Crystal Vicious

Mermaid Art with Gel Pens

Summer is here! I'm getting in the mood by making some Little Mermaid art. I am obviously a huge fan of Ariel. Her hair inspired mine. 

Gel Pens are an interesting media. Yes, if you are covering a large area, it's a time consuming process, but it's also very cathartic to draw those lines. 

US Art Supply has an awesome gel pen set. It comes with 2 sets of 60 different colors, so when you run out of a color, you have a back up! Sweet! 

There is a great variety! Classic colors, neons, pastels, metallics, glitter!!! It even has some swirly colored ones, which are fun for writing. I'm having a blast using the 4 different reds for Ariel's hair.

The ink flows out of these great and it stays on the paper...I haven't had any smudges yet, on my paper or my hands. There is a good bit of ink in the pens. This picture is on 11x14" paper and I am going to town with the reds, and they are holding up great. 





There is only one downside. They do not have grips. There is an indent in the pen where a grip should be. It isn't super uncomfortable, but I take breaks before my fingers start to get sore from holding the pens.

 Grab some on Amazon!

These pens are awesome. The variety of colors is great and I love that it's a two pack. They will make a lot of art with me. The ink quality is great. I give them 4 out of 5 stars. If they had rubber grips to protect my fingers, they would definitely be a 5 star product for me. I would recommend them for anyone who likes to draw or write with pretty colors. 

I received this product at a discount. This review is 100% honest, unbiased, and my own. 


~Crystal Vicious 

Dinophile For Life

I have been a dinosaur lover my whole life. My mother tells stories about when I was a toddler and would run to the dinosaur books at the library. I could pronounce the names of dinosaurs she had never even heard of. I was hooked. Now, thirty years later, I am still obsessed. 

I saw this set of toy dinosaurs on Amazon. They were a great value and looked really neat. As a grown woman I knew having a set of twelve toy dinosaurs might seem a little silly, so I tried to be creative with them. I decided to make planters and a jewelry holder. I will put links to tutorials at the end of this blog.

This set from Kids Imaginative comes with twelve different species of dinosaurs. Their quality was way better than I had expected. I thought they would be similar to the hard plastic ones from a dollar store, but they are actually pretty soft and the details are so good! 

While I came up with ideas for some of these guys...the Tyrannosaurs and Stegosaurus will forever hang out on my shelf. "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!" I you ever want some Dino toys for your kiddos or have a Dino DIY project you want to do, I would definitely recommend this set! 

Dinosaur Planter Tutorial


Dino Jewelry Organizer Tutorial

I received these at a discount. My opinion is 100% honest, unbiased and my own. 

~Crystal Vicious 

Watercolor Pencils are Neat!

US Art Supply has great products at great prices. I love experimenting with new mediums and I have never used watercolor pencils before. I could not wait to try these out.



This set came with 36 watercolor pencils and a roll up canvas wrap. I love keeping my supplies organized, so this was a great idea. 

I was able to keep all the pencils organized by color and could easily roll them up for storage when I was done using them. The range of colors was great. Black, white, neutrals, skin tones, and a few values for each color.

The pencils came sharpened, and the leads were soft. The colors went down onto paper smoothly. The amount of pressure I used correlated perfectly with the amount of pigment that went down. 

Adding water to a watercolor pencil drawing.

I love that you can use these dry for drawing, or paint over them with some water for more vibrant colors. And after adding water, you can even go over again with the dry pencils to add more details or bolder lines. I love versatile things. These were so fun to use. I already have a bunch of ideas for what I will do with them next. 

I give these colored pencils 5 out of 5 stars. I love the colors. I love how they feel. I love how they go down on paper, and I love how they react with water. The storage roll is a great added bonus for those who want to be organized. I would recommend these to artists, crafters, students or children who wanted to draw, paint, color, anything really! These have so many uses and are really neat!


Grab some on Amazon.

I received this product at a discount. This review is 100% honest, unbiased, and my own. 

~Crystal Vicious