Shutterfly

Just ordered this stationery for free courtesy of Shutterfly. I'll have to review them once they arrive. 

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Simple

There is a new line of products that just hit the US markets called "Simple." Evidently it is the #1 skincare product line in the United Kingdom and they are looking for a similar following here in the US. They are currently in heavy promotion mode as I have seen countless commercials for their products in addition to social media campaigns signing people up for free samples and more. There's even a Klout perk to receive some of their products, but I for once didn't get mine through Klout. I actually used a different social media connection.

Bottom line, I wasn't all too impressed. My skin is probably what one would consider "normal," not oily or sensitive. However after using the cleanser, my skin felt really dry. I prefer it feel clean, refreshed and "normal." Therefore, I'm not planning on investing in this line of products. Think I'll just stick with my "tried and true" brands. At least until something else free comes along.

Domino's New Artisan Pizzas

This week Domino's pizza is offering a free Artisan pizza to 75,000 Facebook fans. The first 25,000 were offered up today and rest assured, I got one of them. You have a limited amount of time to redeem the free pizza as it expires in 2 weeks so I decided to go ahead and get mine today. So I placed the order online 30 minutes before leaving the office so I could pick it up on the way home.

I ordered the "Italian Sausage & Pepper Trio" artisan pizza. And....it was FANTASTIC! The other artisan options are "Tuscan Salami & Roasted veggie," "Spinach & Feta" and "Chicken & Bacon Carbonara." They're $7.99 per 13" pizza and worth every single solitary cent. This one was free but I'd gladly pay for one of these artisan pizzas and am looking forward to trying some of the other flavors over time.

I have always been a Papa John's kinda girl, but Domino's has been a close second. Maybe now they're tied.

Tide & Downy

This fall, Tide and Downy both held Facebook promotions for two of their new products. The promotion offered Facebook users who "like" their fan pages the new products if they were among the first to sign up. Tide offered up its "Stain Release in-wash booster" which promises to aid in the removal of stains from laundry, in addition to keeping whites white, brighten colors and prevent dinginess. Downy offered up its "Un-Stoppables in-wash scent boosters."

I of course signed up for both. The free Tide sample pack came with about 10 boosters which is AWESOME. Love when promoters provide you with enough product to really get to use it and experience it over time. And as can clearly be seen by the photo, I have since used up all my Tide stain release booster samples. The instructions for the boosters are pretty simple. You just add one booster to your laundry in the washer at the beginning of the laundry cycle when you add the detergent.

Not going to lie...I really didn't see much difference in the "quality" of my clean laundry from before I started adding the booster to after. Granted, I don't often experience stains on my clothes to really be able to tell if the booster was quintessential in removing them. I think the laundry detergent alone does a great job of doing the very things the booster promises. So ultimately, once I ran out of the Tide stain release boosters, I didn't run out to buy more.

This however was not the case for the Downy Un-stoppables Scent Booster. The photo depicts the REPLACEMENT products I have already purchased because I loved it so much! Downy sent a sample package that contained one use. Same simple instructions as the Tide boosters. Sprinkle a cap full of Un-stoppables directly in your laundry at the beginning of the laundry cycle and that's it. Once the clothes have finished in both the washer and the dryer, they smell divine. I love this product. So much so, I not only bought it in the "Fresh" scent (which is the scent Downy offered for its sample), I also purchased the "Lush" scent.

Bottom line, I totally recommend the Downy Un-stoppables. They are worth it for how great they leave your clothes smelling and subsequently your closet, dresser drawers and YOU when you're wearing the clothes. As far as the Tide stain release boosters are concerned, I think detergent alone, at least for me, is enough.

Home Run Inn Pizza!

Another recent Klout perk arrived in the mail a little over a week ago. Chicago pizza chain Home Run Inn Pizza has a line of all natural, no preservatives frozen pizzas available in local grocery stores nationwide. I recently qualified for a free frozen pizza (actually two!) through their partnership with Klout.

The package arrived in a cool sparkly blue envelop and contained tons of information about the business including its history, restaurants, products and more. It also included a super cool pizza cutter and two coupons for free frozen pizzas. I picked up one of those pizzas Friday night for a pizza and movie night, perfect choices considering how dreary it was outside.

I'll be completely honest, I have never liked frozen pizzas. The few times I have invested in them and given them a try, I was not pleased. I can be considered somewhat of a pizza snob. Even when ordering pizza from local delivery chains, my standards and expectations are high. I kind of really only like Papa John's. Although I can tolerate Domino's and Pizza Hut on occasion. Little Caesar's, CiCi's Pizza...no and no.

To my surprise, the Home Run Inn pizza was fantastic! I chose the Classic Sausage & Pepperoni. It was simple to prepare and only took about 15 minutes. They cost $7.99 at my local grocery store. Would I invest in a Home Run Inn pizza beyond my free coupons? Maybe. I really am partial to Papa John's, and with their rewards program, I often qualify for a free pizza here and there. If I do carryout, the pizza costs nothing. Delivery? Only about $4 for the delivery fee and a tip. I hate spending money, so free is always my first choice. But I'd be willing to pick up a Home Run Inn pizza on a grocery trip for "one of those days" when you don't feel like paying or waiting for a pizza chain delivery. $7.99 for a two-topping pizza seems reasonable all things considered.

Zoya Nail Polish

Zoya, an online beauty supply store specializing in nail care products recently launched a new collection of colors. To kick-off the launch, they offered up your choice of two of their current polish colors...for free! Obviously I was all over that. And even more obviously, I opted for two shades of purple. "Zara," a light shade of purple with gold flecks and "Areetha," a metallic shade of purple. It seems as though Zoya assigns each color a female name. One color happened to be called "Tia," however it was a shade of pink. Clearly my love for purple over powered my desire to have a bottle of nail polish that shares my name.

For the record, I generally only wear color polish on my toenails, preferring clear polish on my fingernails. However, because it is winter, my toes are generally covered with closed toe shoes. So once my Zoya polishes arrived, I decided to step out of the box for once and paint my toenails and fingernails with my new polish.

The colors are beautiful. I chose to apply two coats to fully cover my nails. I have had the polishes for a couple of weeks now and each time I paint my nails the color seems to last about a week to a week and a half before they start chipping, which is pretty average. The website is easy to navigate, and they do a great job of describing the polish in terms of color, finish, intensity and so on. And from my perspective, the colors on the website pretty much match what color the actual polish is. Or at least it seems pretty close (although this may somewhat depend on how good your computer monitor is).

They cost $8 a bottle regular price plus shipping depending on how many bottles you buy. I happily recommend the polish if you're willing to spend $8 a bottle. There is a HUGE collection of color options to choose from. If there is a color that knocks my socks off and I can't manage to find a similar shade at the drugstore, I myself might be willing to purchase it at $8 plus shipping. Otherwise, I'd rather save shipping costs and opt for a $4 - $5 bottle from a local store. Especially since I really only wear color polish on my toes. Clear kind of looks the same no matter what brand it is. I'm just saying.

"Areetha" & "Zara"

Cleaning Made Easy...(er)

Next up on my Freeview blog is the Swiffer 360 degree duster, which promises to trap and lock 3 times the dust thanks to its "Dust Lock Adhesive." I managed to score one of these kits thanks to my participation/membership on Vocalpoint. A kit comes with 1 handle and 3 unscented disposable dusters.

Short and simple, I love it. It works exceptionally well and manages to capture just about all the dust. Easy to put together and pretty straight forward on how to use it. You just dust with it. And it's safe to dust just about anything...blinds, furniture, electronics and so on. My only complaint would be that it seems like you get only one use out of each disposable duster. This may be normal, or what the expectation is. But I'm cheap, I'd rather get at least two uses out of. Granted, this may also be a testament to how often I DON'T dust leaving too much dust for one duster to manage.


Regardless, it is a great product and I have already purchased a pack of disposable duster refills as I intend to continue to use this Swiffer product. That having been said, I totally recommend it.