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Anyway! The Test Tube is new to me. There is the one through New Beauty Magazine and then an off-shoot which is through QVC. I chose the QVC version because it contains more makeup products where as the New Beauty one is more advanced skin care.

It’s $30 every 3 months and you get the tube in January, April, August, and October. The products you receive I would consider them deluxe samples and full size products. There are NO teeny samples or vials at all and you get a LOT of product! You also get an issue of their huge magazine. They include a huge booklet that talks about each product, it’s purpose, how to use it, all that good stuff.

So here’s what I got!

• 0.39-fl oz full-sized Mally Volumizing Mascara
• 0.003-oz full-sized tarte emphasEYES Aqua Gel Eyeliner in Green
• 0.5-oz Kate Somerville ExfoliKate
• 0.5-oz Ole Henriksen Truth Serum
• 2.0-oz Nick Chavez Yucca Root Shampooing Cream
• 1.0-oz philosophy field of flowers perfumed shampoo, shower gel, and bubble bath
• 1.0-oz philosophy field of flowers perfumed body lotion
• 2.0-oz Calista Tools Achieve 10 Styling Cream
• 2.0-oz First Aid Beauty Ultra Repair Cream

I haven’t tried:

• the mascara because I want to use up what I’m using now before opening a new one
• the shampooing cream because of my purple hair, I need to be careful what products I use
• the styling cream, only because I haven’t had to style my hair LOL
• the exfoliation product, because I use my Clarisonic

I have tried:

• the eyeliner is interesting, it is a pretty color, but it’s a gel consistency and the tip broke off right away so I’m probably not going to use it again
• the shower gel and lotion I LOVE, it’s like Spring in a bottle!
• my husband used the Ultra Repair Cream and said it helped his skin a good amount (as his job requires him to brave the crazy Chicago weather)
• my husband used the truth serum (as I’m using Clinique’s Turnaround Serum right now), but hasn’t used it long enough to notice any changes

Overall, I’m simply thrilled with the Test Tube and can’t WAIT for April’s already!

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at OneStarryNight.com! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, January 2012 QVC New Beauty Test Tube. If you write about similar topics, I would also like the opportunity to link to your blog or have you write a guest blog entry!

It’s not until I venture out into public that I realize that how we parent, isn’t mainstream or generally accepted by society. I also discover (sadly TOO MUCH) that people are misinformed and uneducated about breastfeeding, cloth diapering, co-sleeping, and more.

A great example of this would be my dentist appointment last week (ugh, going back tomorrow for more work), where the receptionist, upon discovering that I still breastfeed my two year old toddler, informed me I would HAVE to pump and dump my breastmilk because it would be completely unusable after my deep cleaning. Why? Because I’d need a shot of Novocaine.

I tried to gently educate her that having a shot of Novocaine would not suddenly make my breastmilk into a dangerous toxic substance and that by her saying this (to Gods know how many women) she is spreading fear and misinformation.

“But it’s injected, DIRECTLY INTO YOUR BLOODSTREAM!”

I didn’t want to get into a debate and sit there for hours trying to explain as gently as possible to not hurt her feelings that she was… wrong. However I did try to explain she was misinformed, that perhaps she could research it a bit more before giving advice that isn’t correct. I tried to direct her to this article from KellyMom but aside from that, didn’t know what specific resources I should even bring up.

After the appointment, I tried to figure out WHY I let it bother me so much, why it STILL bothers me, that this young woman who admitted to me she knew nothing about children or breastfeeding, as a receptionist, would give MEDICAL ADVICE that was incorrect.

I never know what to say or how to handle situations like these, have you had an experience with someone who was giving incorrect advice about breastfeeding? How did you handle it?

Update 2/6/2012
I went back for my appointment today and brought up to the dentist my issue with the receiptionist. Overall the dentist was receptive and nice about it but she did say this, “But what MEDICAL advice was she giving you?” and I had to explain that her telling me to pump and dump my breastmilk, that it would be toxic from the Novocaine, was indeed MEDICAL ADVICE.

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at OneStarryNight.com! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Breastfeeding and the Dentist. If you write about similar topics, I would also like the opportunity to link to your blog or have you write a guest blog entry!

I knew 100% I did not want to do this at home because I didn’t want to risk damaging my hair (although you can’t avoid ALL damage because bleach is involved) and I wanted a professional to do it.

Turns out? The majority of salons will NOT color your hair a “crazy” color. My husband started calling salons all over for me and after a lot of “You mean… you want to do that ON PURPOSE?!” responses he FINALLY discovered this freaking amazing salon, It’s All About You Hair Salon whose only response was “Not a problem! Schedule an appointment!”.

So after my dentist appointment (ugh, that’s a whole other dramatic fiasco of upcoming pain) I stopped over to even see if we could get my hair to go from super dark (at the mid-shaft to ends from a bad super dark brown dye job) to the required lightness needed for the color!

Lonnngggg story short, no really, I was there for TWELVE HOURS (from 4pm to just past 4am!), my hair DID lighten and the colorist/stylist/amazing person of AWESOME (she was also the owner!) made my hair PURPLE! She also had the most fantastic assistant. And I judge that, probably due to watching a lot of shows like Tabatha Takes Over. I still can’t get over how welcoming it was at that salon. It felt like I knew them for years! Just their dedication ALONE was fantastic, to stay there for ONE CLIENT until the crack of dawn… that’s loving your job!

I’ll be going back next week for a haircut because they offer for new clients, a FREE haircut with any color service (or 50% of your first haircut there). Excited about that for sure!

There’s THREE colors in my hair. For the purple we have the brand Pravana in the color Violet which is the majority of the purple and then some lighter more pinky shade of Wild Orchid. The at my roots which were my natural color and some grey, it’s a darker violet-auburn.

So here’s the end result. Not the best photos because I slept the day away with the little one so these are indoor with flash, but still! AWESOMENESS! Also, why do I always look odd trying to take a photo of myself when I’m wearing my glasses? They always look jacked up.

(Be kind, I really don’t like photos of myself!)

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at OneStarryNight.com! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, My New Purple Hair. If you write about similar topics, I would also like the opportunity to link to your blog or have you write a guest blog entry!

By Jodi: What kind of foundation would you suggest for fair skin?
I’m considered fair skin or as some “experts” at beauty stores/counters say “Wow I don’t know if we have something pale enough!”. Here’s the foundations I really like (color and formula as I have dry skin).

• Mac Mineralize Satinfinish SPF 15 — NC20
• Nars Sheer Glow — Gobi
• Laura Mercier Moisturizing Foundation — Warm Ivory

By Jodi: What kind of cleanser would you suggest for oily skin?
Depends on what your budget it so here are a few options, ranging from drugstore pricing to fancy expensive stuff.

• Basis Cleaner Clean Face Wash — back before I had my kids I had oily skin and LOVED this face wash
• Philosophy Purity Made Simple One-Step Facial Cleanser — I use this a lot and it works well for all skin types
• Fresh Soy Face Cleanser — hardcore favorite, I go between this and the Philosophy cleanser
• Ok it’s not a cleanser but the Clarisonic is the BEST investment you could make for your skin!

By Kristi: I have a request, actually. I’d like to see your entire makeup and nail polish collection in one photo, maybe splayed out on the kitchen table or something.

Yeah THAT wasn’t going to happen so I broke it up into bits. I just shot these quickly with my point and shoot so forgive the quality! As for all my nail polishes, I posted about that here, Nail Polish Organization, however we added two more long shelves up top and I have gotten a few more polishes since that post. I’m sure I forgot stuff too but here’s the majority of it!

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at OneStarryNight.com! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Answering Your Questions… Beauty. If you write about similar topics, I would also like the opportunity to link to your blog or have you write a guest blog entry!

These photos are the only soothing thing going on in my life right now because both of my boys have the flu (my oldest caught it from other sick kids in his class at school). I’m getting 1–2 broken hours of sleep and can only function enough to take care of them (and count my calories!).

With my oldest my goal is just to keep him hydrated as much as he’ll let me and with the little one, I’m just nursing him as much as possible (because what’s better than hardcore full of antibodies breastmilk in a situation like this!).

So if I’m not around as much, that’s why!

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Each month for $10 you get a custom box and a selection of beauty, food, fitness and even more, products.

This is what I got this month:

• switch2health pedometer
• emergen-C vitamin drink mix (full size)
• colavita extra virgin olive oil (small size)
• mereadesso face and neck toning gel (looks like full size)
• prevention magazine

Overall I won’t be using ANY of these products so I’m a bit disappointed.

We just recieved our Fitbit’s in the mail so I don’t need the pedometer, I’m counting calories so I’m not using many oils, I already recieve Prevention Magazine on my iPad, and I mainly use Peter Thomas Roth and Clinique products for my face and neck (however I bet my sister would enjoy this product!) so I won’t be using the face and neck toning gel.

I think my husband will like the Emergen-C drink mix product and I was super pleased to see that it’s full-sized.

Do you have any experience with any of these products or with Cravebox? By all means, share!

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at OneStarryNight.com! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, January 2012 Cravebox. If you write about similar topics, I would also like the opportunity to link to your blog or have you write a guest blog entry!

I have always been a thicker girl, even hitting obese for my BMI (I’m 5’11″). I finally said enough is enough back in 2006 and joined Weight Watchers.  I went from 228lbs to 166lbs. I worked out to Biggest Loser DVDs and followed WW plan.

Then came the holy one (my daughter)… Miss Galina herself!

Boom! 70lb pregnancy gain! 8 weeks after I popped her from the womb, I rejoined WW and lost almost all of the weight again.

Currently I am at 193.3lbs.  

What happened?! Stress my sister’s minions/followers… stress.  We DiLullo’s stress eat like no one’s business! I went from about 175lbs to 198.2lbs in about 5 months.  Puh I tell ya… PUH!

NO MORE! Joined Gold’s Gym right before Christmas 2010 and been going faithfully with my soulmate, Melissa.  We both also started WW at that time as well. I am currently 193.3lbs… so a 4.9lb loss in 4 weeks… not bad! My short term goal is 170lbs, long term 155lbs.

So… whew! All that back story just to get to what this post is about, Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred.  Sarah is, of course, the one who brought it to my attention.  As I am her test bunny… in well… everything… she thought it was a great idea to have me do this and tell the world my suffering.

I am currently on day 2 of Level 1.  There are 3 levels of these 20 minute workouts.  You do each level for 10 days (hence 30 day). Supposedly people swear by this workout.

Day 1 — tried to kill me. I had to stop and take a break.  Me stop and take a what?! A break?! Nooo… but yes. Everything hurt, everything. I felt like I had inside bruises.

Day 2 — not so bad.  I didn’t have to stop.  I was able to control my breathing and not look like and feel like I was going to collapse.

I am on my short term mission with a completion date of May 31, 2012.   I have a goal to start this summer looking (as one dude once said to Melissa) BANGIN’!

Ali is a badass single mom to the amazingness that is 3 year old Galina and even with her current super sad job loss… still is focused on losing her chunkies and squishies!

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at OneStarryNight.com! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, Sarah’s Test Bunny of Doom…
Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred. If you write about similar topics, I would also like the opportunity to link to your blog or have you write a guest blog entry!

As of today, these are all the active WordPress plugins I have here at OSN. Going to give a brief explanation as to what they do / why I use them.

Akismet: By default this is included with the basic WordPress installation. It’s fantastic for blocking SPAM comments and trackbacks.

Broken Link Checker: This plugin checks EVERY SINGLE LINK in EVERY SINGLE POST and sees if it’s a valid link or if it’s “broken” (gives an error message like a 404 for example). It runs in the background so you really can just ignore it for the most part. It’s really good if you’ve been blogging for a few years because that super awesome blog you posted about in 2003 probably doesn’t exist today.

CommentLuv: A great feature for those who comment on your blog, it permits them to automatically link to their last blog post at the bottom of your comment AND it’s super easy to style within your CSS.

Comment Reply Notification: If you’ve ever left a comment at OSN you know I’ll 99% of the time respond to it. When that happens you automatically get an email saying that not only was your comment was responded to but the content of that response as well! You can set it (as I have) so this works only for admins OR works for everyone who comments. Very neat.

Compact Archives: You can see this plugin in action on my archives page. What it does is make a small and attractive year/month display for your past posts!

Contact Form 7: You can see this in action on my contact page. It’s super easy to use, super easy to implement, and I don’t receive ANY spam from it like I used to from other forms (plugins and hand-coded).

Custom Post Limits: A really neat plugin that allows you to change the NUMBER of posts displayed on the index, archives, category, and so on pages.

Facebook Like Thumbnail: This plugin grabs the FIRST image in your post for the Facebook thumbnail (when someone shares your post on FB).

Google XML Sitemaps: This plugin creates a sitemap that allows for better indexing and searches from Google and other search engines.

Greg’s High Performance SEO: A really good SEO plugin, has a good amount of options to really customize how it functions for YOU.

Outbrain: Simply put, this is an alternative to LinkWithin.

RSS Footer: I’ve mentioned this plugin before in past posts but it’s really neat! If you subscribe to my rss feed you’ll see at the bottom of each post, a little blurb and my photo. Just a great way to remind people of who you are, include links back to your site or other links.

Twitterlink Comments: Adds an additional input on the comment form for your visitor to enter their twitter handle to be displayed in their comment!

Yet Another Related Posts Plugin: A plugin that does what it says! It displays (via a customizable template) links to posts that have similar content to your current post!

Share with me the plugins YOU currently use on your blog platform! Any you couldn’t do without? Any plugins that were an epic fail? Share!

Thank you for subscribing to my RSS feed at OneStarryNight.com! I would appreciate your comments and feedback on the entry you just read, WordPress Plugins I Currently Use. If you write about similar topics, I would also like the opportunity to link to your blog or have you write a guest blog entry!