Flips Audio Headphones + Speakers Review

Oh noes! I went on vacation (*gasp*) and am super late with this review.

As much as I was crossing my fingers that I would get to review these, I was also wondering just how much I would end up using them. As a gamer, I end up using a headset a lot…but that means I’m using a device that has a microphone more often than a regular pair of plain headphones.

I'm also prone to getting headaches from big, bulky earphones, so I wanted to try them….but I also knew I may have to gift them away to someone else after I was done with the review, by no fault of theirs.

Instead, though, these turned out to be pretty awesome. I did have a friend try them, too, who is much pickier about sound quality than I am, just for the sake of making sure I wasn’t oblivious to any possible issues with them, and they were actually impressed!

Now I guess I really need to tell you the most important part about these headphones:

THEY ARE ALSO SPEAKERS!  

The whole idea before “flips” is that you can wear them as headphones and block out all the sound around you….and then with a flip of the earpieces, they face out and become speakers. No buttons to click. No swapping cords or sound devices in order to turn your speakers on instead. Just FLIP!

Again, I wasn’t sure how much I would use this feature because I already have a nifty little device that lets me swap out my cords quickly right on my desk (instead of on the back of my computer). Turns out, the weekend after I got these, though, I visited some friends and still had to work while I was with them, so I took a limited amount of equipment with me. I took these with me so I could try them out and sure enough, while I was listening to a video, I realized I wanted my friends to hear it. I didn’t have speakers to turn on for them, but I didn’t need them! I just flipped out the ear pieces and suddenly sound filled the room. They hadn’t seen anything like these either, so it was nice to show off a cool gadget. ;)

Oh, and while I know this is NOT the point of the product, one of my favorite parts is actually that black and green case up there. I’ll admit, even during a review like this, I didn’t carry the headphones in the case. Instead, I put all my other little cords and gadgets in it because it was a hard plastic that would protect them, hehe. While my Flips are hanging on rack next to my desk, the case is on the other side, holding things like my camera and flash drives.

Special deal for you (valid until July 16th…sorry I was late getting this to you!):

Purchase online at: http://www.flipsaudio.com/ and use the code FA0010INT. You’ll save 10 bucks and get upgraded rush shipping for no extra cost.

Disclosure: Obviously Flips sent me these, via FuelMyBlog. All of the standard stuff about opinions being my own can be assumed. After all, if they were Flips’ opinions, they probably wouldn’t have admitted to putting other gadgets in the case, nor would they have been so crazy late getting it to you!

Acu-Life Therapod Review

Yep, one more review this week. It's been a while, so I figured you guys wouldn't mind two in a row. This one's really cool, too (literally, hehe). Warning: This is going to be really long because it has some awesome features that I have a feeling I'll end up rambling about. Skip to the bottom if you're short on time and want the condensed version first. 

I don't know if you guys use ice packs and heating pads very often, but I do. Ice packs fix all the bumps and bruises the kids seem to get, and I use the heating pads for my back and legs more often than I'd like to admit due to some old injuries.

Previously, my two favorite heating pads were actually more like heating "bags." They were filled with little "bead" type things. One reminded me of a bean bag and the other was an aromatherapy one that actually had dried herbs and such inside so that when it was heated, it filled the room with an amazing smell.

Unfortunately, the latter eventually drew some moisture and I discovered it started to mold (eww!!). The first I still use, but after years of use (I always defaulted back to this one after trying new pads/bags), it has two small holes in it that I have to continuously fix. Um, so it currently has one of these clips holding one of the holes closed because I'm tired of restitching it where the material is starting to wear loose and not really hold thread that well. It's been my favorite bag, ok? I do what I have to. :P



Well, at least until now. I know, I know, this sounds like an infomercial already, but come on, why would a company send out their products (here's the disclosure saying that they sent this to me for free) for honest reviews if they weren't really all that great? They generally only do this if they're pretty certain they're going to get good reviews and this is no exception. This thing is freakin' awesome, ok?

So, I've used heating pads/ice packs with straps that hold them onto your body before, and frankly, they tend to suck. Oh sure, they're okay the first few times you strap them on, if the straps are long/short enough for the specific spot you want anyway. But then after a while, their velcro gets filled with the material from the main ice pack cover cloth and they just don't want to stick that well any more. Then it's quite impossible to stretch the straps to their fullest potential anyway and I resort to using them the same way I use my bag-type ones: I lay down on them for my back or place one over whatever spot I need it for, which pretty much immobilizes me, so I only ever use them at night. Oh, or when I'm at my computer and can sit up perfectly straight to hold one in place between my back and chair.

Too much info, huh?

Anyway, let's get to the bragging about the Therapod. First of all, the issue I just complained about? Not an issue here (at least not yet). The strap is plenty long so that even to wrap it around my midsection, I didn't have to stretch it that much (I'm fairly small so that won't be the case for everyone, of course). The material doesn't seem to fray like a lot of the cloth bags I've had before, so I'm not having an issue with the velcro becoming less effective yet either. The bag is flexible enough that for smaller areas, it can just be wrapped around and around hold it in place fine, too. I tried it on my wrist the other day after too much typing and was surprisingly impressed.

The absolute *best* part about the TheraPod is what its name alludes to. The heating bag part is actually split into four "pods," so that unlike other bags, all the little inside "bead/bean" things can't all slide to one side. Unfortunately, the picture on the box doesn't show that, and I'm not sure why. :( That's the greatest benefit of this thing, and they seemed to smooth it over for the box. :(  Not to worry, though, because I took some pictures to show you what I mean. At worst, the filling can settle to the bottom half of each "pod," and the ice side is the same way. Ever put an icepack back in the freezer after it's "melted"/become soft, and didn't lay it flat? It gets all lumpy or all the gel gets squished to one side and when it freezes, it's not the most comfortable the next time you use it.



I didn't take a picture of the backside, but there's a pocket enclosure on the backside of the green section that the ice pack slips into. Depending on whether you need hot or cold, freeze the gel pack or heat the green side for a minute and a half or so.

Alright, this is getting even longer than I expected, so there's just a couple more things I feel like you should know. One of the bigger things they seem to be proud of is that the heating side uses "moist heat." I don't know exactly how it works, but it's true. When I first microwaved mine and put it on, it felt slightly wet...but uh, wasn't. I took it off, touched it with my fingers and wiped my hand across my back to feel for actual wetness, but there was nothing. It felt awesome, but I can't offer up much explanation for what's inside or how it works.

Now a product can't be perfect, so I do actually have one negative note to add. The only thing I found to be even slightly negative, could also be a positive, depending on what you like. Most heating pads get rather hot and cool down rather quickly...or they never really get "hot hot" and are merely warm for a long while. They all come with warnings, of course, but I wasn't expecting this one to be as hot as it was. I actually had to be careful of strapping it on too tight for the first few minutes because the material is relatively thin and gets super hot. You're supposed to let it rest for a minute before removing it from the microwave and using it, but how many people read the instructions?  I don't think it'd leave burns unless you heated it longer than you should, but for those who are used to crappy mediocre heating bags, be warned...this one gets hot, you really should let it rest before using, and test for hot spots before strapping it on.

Phew, that was long. Did I mention that it's listed for only $13, although I don't know where/how to actually purchase it because the information site doesn't seem to lead to a product purchase page

Here's the condensed version for the lazy ones:

The TheraPod easily replaces my favorite heating bags/ice packs. The "pod" sections keep the contents from shifting all to one end. The strap is plenty long to use effectively and the pads are flexible enough to wrap around smaller body parts and still use the strap to hold it secure. The heating side gets really hot, which is awesome compared to other mediocre bags, but be careful to let it rest before using so you don't burn yourself. Thank you so much, Acu-life!

General Mills let me try free cereal! (And it's healthier now, too)

That's a pretty good disclosure, right? With all the changes to the blog world and making sure you tell everyone that you were given something free, it seems like everyone is stressing it beyond belief. I see it in bold all over sites. "They gave this to me, don't sue me!!"

Um, yeah, I'm pretty sure a simple line somewhere in your post, just like most morally-sane bloggers have been doing all along, is perfectly fine.

But anyway....that's not what this post is about.

This post is about how awesome General Mills was to send me coupons to try out their cereals. Around here, with 6 people total and 4 of them being kids who seem to be in constant growth spurts, a breakfast of cereal takes an entire box usually (or close, heh). Considering I make most things at home, cereal hasn't exactly gotten cheaper, and I pass on pre-sweetened things usually, I don't buy cereal all that often. The kids get to have it at school quite often anyway, so it's not like I'm depriving them of anything.

When I got the email from MyBlogSpark to receive coupons, though, and do a review, I was stoked. I was even more excited when I actually got them because "Ahhh!! There's four of them!! And they cover enough that I can get the big boxes!!" Yeah, so I might go a little crazy over getting freebies, oops, hehe.

I don't even go down the cereal aisle at Kroger's and tend to buy offbrand cereals at another store when I do actually buy cereal. Suddenly, I could taste all my old favorites and I was a bit giddy anyway from hearing that they'd decreased their sugar and increased their nutrients. Well, before I get too far ahead of myself, look at these stats and such:

General Mills announced a commitment to further reduce sugar in cereals advertised to kids under 12 to single digit grams of sugar per serving. The company has already been reducing sugar in cereals while increasing key nutrients, such as calcium and vitamin D, and providing whole grain.

Other cereal benefits:

* Ready-to-eat cereals, including presweetened cereals, account for only 5% of sugar in children´s diets.
* Ready-to-eat cereal is the No. 1 source of whole grains in a child´s diet today.
* More frequent cereal eaters tend to have healthier body weights and lower Body Mass Index measures.

I wanted to get some cereals that I wouldn't normally buy and that generally make me think "really sugary" (like Lucky Charms). After all, if they were decreasing the amounts of sugar, I wanted to see if they made them disgusting, right? Well, and I had to get some Kix because I hadn't had those since I was a kid and they were favorite. Kid-tested, mother-approved! Yummy. <3

Turns out, everything we tried tasted as good as ever, and the stats really aren't that bad. Lucky Charms at this point still had 11g of sugar per serving, which isn't quite a single digit yet, but it's close, and as an occasional cereal to eat, I don't see that as bad at all. It's especially great for weekend mornings when they're starving and I'm tired. And really...how bad is a few extra grams of sugar when a lot of people would be chowing down breakfast sandwiches, sausage/bacon, pancakes covered in syrup, etc?



If it's been a while since you've looked at presweetened cereals, it might not be a horrible idea to check them out again. General Mills seems to be doing their part with increasing the "good stuff" and decreasing some of the "bad stuff," so why not give them a shot? (Yes, they gave me free stuff, but since when do I lie to you guys or encourage you to do something I wouldn't? Exactly....I don't. I was kinda hoping I'd be able to give a less-than-positive review, but their Kix got to me. :( Oh well).

Stevia, Fructevia, Truvia, Freaktevia, Meektevia, Sneaktevia...

Okay, so maybe I got carried away with the -evias? hehe

Yep, another review, although this one won't be nearly as long as the last one. ~Edit~ I think I may have underestimated how much I wanted to say about it, oops! ~~

Stevia is a product that I was already well aware of actually. Many years ago when my grandpa was diagnosed with diabetes right before Thanksgiving, I headed off to my health food store....privately owned by a couple who I swear knew practically everything about every herb, spice, tree, plant, vitamin, mineral, nutrition, body issue, whatever out there (and if they didn't, they'd consult every resource they had), and who refused to carry anything in the store that they didn't support or wouldn't use themselves.

Moving on past the really long, run-on sentences to make the story a bit shorter, one of the things I was introduced to was Stevia. It's an all-natural, insanely sweet sugar substitute. Stevia in its raw forms comes herbs and shrubs in the sunflower family and has up to 300 times the sweetness of common table sugar that you probably use.

I was certainly skeptical when I first tried it. I was raised to be dead set against sugar substitues like Sweet 'N' Low and Equal that so many dieters use and considering both my Mom and I found we were sensitive to some of the funky chemicals they use in place of sugar nowadays, it was all the more reason to not ever want to use them. Stevia was another story, though, and when I baked with it the first time, I was shocked that it didn't have any negative effect on how the food turned out. Seeing as how my grandpa is very old-fashioned and would roll his eyes at my grandma's use of Sweet 'N' Low, he too was shocked when my "sugar-free" items served that Thanksgiving, didn't taste sugar-free at all!

Since then, I've moved many times (far away from my beloved health food store) and long ago lost the need for spending money on stevia to sweeten foods for someone else's dietary needs. I was happy to see that the FDA finally approved Stevia a few years ago (it's been used since at least the 1800s), but even more excited to see that the "dietary supplement" I was sent to try out, was actually 3 different forms of stevia!

What you'll see on store shelves now is generally going to be Truvia and Fructevia. Fructevia is a natural blend of fructose, FOS (extracted from artichokes), stevia, and magnesium carbonate (a natural mineral used to keep it from caking) and is about 2x as sweet as sugar, so when I tried it out, I was able to use half as much in my recipes without losing any sweetness. It's available in both large bags for cooking, and also little packets that are great for sweetening drinks on the go.

Fructose doesn't affect blood sugar levels like refined sugar does, so Fructevia is safe for both diabetes I and II sufferers, along with low-carb and low-glycemic dieters, and those suffering from hypoglycemia. Steviva (the brand of stevia I tried) guarantees that it'll taste just like the sugar you're used to, too!

Don't tell anyone, but as soon as I opened the bag, I licked a finger and stuck it in. If I was going to be reviewing it, then it better taste like sugar, ya know!?  Shockingly, it tasted just like powdered sugar (the granules are a bit smaller than table sugar).

My next biggest concern was that when it came to baking, if I was only using half as much, then wasn't it going to throw off the consistency and texture? I baked a loaf of bread with it, though, and it turned out just like it always does, though, so happily, no effect there!

I also used it a couple times in various drinks and they tasted great. Price-wise, it's definitely more expensive than sugar and I have no intentions of switching over to just using it because I'd go broke! lol On that same note, though, if you're someone who uses artificial sweeteners, buying this is probably going to cut your bill down instead. The tiny 1.3 oz (8 oz. by volume) bottle of Steviva stevia powder (no fillers) they sent me contains 370 servings. Holy cow, lol.

They are running some *huge* sales right now, though, so if you're even slightly interested (or already use it), be sure to check out the main site. There are some "super duper" specials where you can get a couple different products for a pretty hefty discount and then have it shipped for free even! You can get more information about the various products and blends they offer, and about stevia itself, along with a section of recipes to try out.

Anywho, I think I've said more than my fair share.....I already approve of stevia products and Steviva's blends seem to be really good. If you have any questions, feel free to ask them and I'll do my best to answer. I have quite a bit of the product samples left (did I mention 370 servings in a tiny bottle?? lol), so I'll keep trying it in different recipes and update this if I have anything more to say. I'm still kind of nervous about trying it in a batch of something like cookies that seem to rely more on the texture of sugar, but they're on my list to try!

The Quirky World of Hair Removal (Smooth Away Review)

(Skip to the summary at the bottom if you don't want the full detailed story of my thoughts along the way of trying it out)

Like I said before, I've waxed, shaved, plucked to my little heart's content. And it's not as if I've had the same razor since I was 13 either. I love trying new things and if a product isn't for me, I feel no reason to keep using it either.

I've tried no less than 2 dozen different razors, including a variety of disposable and electric ones, ones for sensitive skin and dry skin, ones with one blade, two blades, five blades, etc. I've tried heated wax, cold wax, herbal wax (remember Nads?), wax strips. I was lucky and only needed to try (read "lose and then ultimately have to buy a new pair) about six different tweezers before I fell in love with a set. Now I'm sure my opinion is still biased because I've never tried laser hair removal, but I think you get the point that I've had fun/pain with my fair share of hair removal products, right? :P

That also means I was obviously skeptical of Smooth Away. I'd seen it on TV, in magazines, and online all over the place. A little pink pad that just rubs the hair off? Sounded like sandpaper to me, lol. I was expecting to have to write a negative review, to be honest, and was already trying to find positive things to say about it before I even had the little crystal pads stuck on (like how easy the paper was to get a grip on and peel off).

So there I am, in the middle of the living room floor (hey, would you rather me have my laptop in the bathroom? after all, this stuff doesn't require water, so I could do it anywhere, right?), with the box's contents spread out, and pink plastic thing slid onto my hand, and holding my breath. I was expecting sand paper, remember?

I started rubbing, but nothing seemed to be happening. "Great, it's not even going to partially work for me? Or am I going to have to scrub my skin raw to see the effects?" I thought, reaching for the instructions. Well it had obviously been a while since I had seen any of the mini-informercials about Smooth Away, because I had been going up and down on my leg, when it clearly states that you should go in circles. Oops. :(

After correcting my mistake, it actually started to work. So cool! And I wasn't having to scrub either, which would have obviously irritated my skin and made me a very unhappy reviewer. It took some getting used to, but within a few minutes, both legs were hair free (and hey, it's wintertime...it's not like I'm shaving my legs daily as it is either. ;)). All my skepticism went flying out the window and I was grinning about how easy it was going to be to write a review now!

Unfortunately, I cheered to myself too soon. I decided to give my armpits a try, and ouch, ouch, ouch. I don't know what happened....maybe I didn't have my arm twisted in a funky enough position to make the skin tight enough or what....but my underarm was red, itchy, and yelling at me within a few strokes. Yikes. And to top it off, none of the hair was removed (and I 'do' shave there daily, so it can't be blamed on overgrowth...eww :P).

I didn't have any facial hair to try the little pink pad on, but the benefit me being so late with this review is that I got to try out a few more situations using them. The next day, I noticed that I'd missed a little section of hair on my knee, and little finger-held pad was perfect for grabbing it quickly. It'd probably be good on that same note for a quick eyebrow touch-up as well.

Now if you've read this far, bravo! I'm impressed. Most won't, though, so here are the highlights...a quick review...for those whose eyes glazed over, looking at all this text:

Summary:

• Although I probably won't use it to replace my normal shaving routine, I think it's great to have around for touch-ups or missed spots instead of breaking out the water, soap/shaving cream, and razor, for just a little spot of hair.
  

• It's also great for those days where you don't have time to take a shower before work or you find yourself headed to the beach, but your legs have the equivalent of a five o'clock shadow, etc. The convenience of it not needing any water or a microwave to heat wax, etc, is great. And for my legs, at least, it didn't make them red or show any sign that I'd just removed hair from there, so great for emergency hair removal. Okay, for the guys reading, you're likely giggling at that, but the women out there know what I mean. :P

• It irritated my underarms, but it could've just been something I did wrong on my end. Or it could've been that my skin can sometimes be really finicky and sensitive. My advice? Try it out in small sections of your skin if you're unsure. And if you're going to use it on your face, then treat it like you're using wax, and give yourself a few hours' window, just in case it irritates your skin.
  

• I haven't been using the hair minimizing lotion long enough to see any noticeable difference, but even so, it makes my legs feel nice and smooth anyway.
  

• Because it's actually tiny crystals that are rubbing away the hair, it also gently exfoliates, so yay for multi-tasking!

• For only $14.99 + shipping, you can get a full set of large and small pads and replacement pads. And you can get another set for free if you just pay the shipping and handling on the second set. It's actually not a bad deal, especially if you know someone else that might want to try them out. I plan to let my mom try out my set, because she said she'd been talking about it with some coworkers, so I'm sure you know some other women who'd like to try it out, too. Certainly much cheaper than a lot of hair removal products.

Where, oh where, has Quirky Jessi gone?

Wow, where have I been? I just can't seem to get caught up and now that I've been sick for a bit, I'm even further behind again. I've only posted once all month, and that's not like me at all. Gah! First things first, I agreed to do a review for Smooth Away hair removal product, and I'm about two weeks late doing it now. Yikes!

Long ago, I told FuelMyBlog that I'd be willing to review products occasionally, in exchange for getting the product for free. There's no payment and I'm not obligated to give a positive or negative review. Getting paid and/or having to lie one way or another is completely against what I do here, so I wouldn't even bother.

Many, many months later, long after I'd already forgotten that I signed up for it, I got an email, asking if I wanted to review a "revolutionary waxing product." Hmmm....sure, why not? I've shaved, I've waxed, I've plucked, I've ignored.....why not try something else? If nothing else, I figured it'd be of some comic value, similar to way back when I tried out a homemade banana facial mask and blogged about it. It's been almost 2 years since I did anything like that and would like to bring back some of the personal touch to Quirky Jessi again.

Okay, okay, I'm rambling. I doubt the Smooth Away people really care why the heck I'm doing a review, right? I think I'll give them their own post, coming right up in a while. ;-)