Book Review: Again, But Better by Christine Riccio (Spoiler Free)

I could not think of a more perfect book to review as my first post back than Again, But Better. I have decided to start up my blog again starting with this review.

Anyways, Again, But Better is written by Christine Riccio of the BookTube channel PolandbananasBOOKS. It is about a girl name Shane that has been having a rough time at college and has decided to study abroad in order to have the college experience she fantasizes about. She wants to experience adventure, romance, and pursue her love of writing.

I really enjoyed this book overall and would give it four out of five stars. I thought that Christine did a great job considering that this was her debut novel. I enjoyed her writing style and how much of her personality was put into the main character. I was routing for the romance the entire time and got the satisfying ending that I was hoping for. I also really enjoyed the way she used the magical element that is mentioned in the synopsis.

There are some flaws, but not enough to ruin the reading experience for me. My main complaints revolved around the names of the characters and the amount of pop culture references that were used throughout the book. Many of the characters have names that are not what I would consider popular. This made it feel off since the book is a contemporary. And the pop culture references, they were everywhere as a constant reminder of what year the book was supposed to be set in. If you do not pop culture references, this is not the book for you! This is also not the book for you if you do not like Christine's personality since Shane is so much like Christine herself.

 Thank you so much for reading my thoughts, let me know if you have read the book and what you think of it!

For more thoughts, check out my more in dept book review on YouTube as well.

TRESemme Reverse Your Routine Review

I received these samples from Influenster for testing purposes.

I will be testing these products and letting you know my honest opinion on them.

I just want to start with the fact that I tend to avoid TRESemme products because their volumizing  shampoo that I tried a while back just dried out my hair and made my head itch. However, I enjoy their thermal protection spray for those times when I do want to blow dry or attempt to curl my hair. So I will try to keep an open mind, but will give my honest opinion about if I like the product or not.

First Test 10/5/16:

I received 2 foil packets of each the conditioner and the shampoo. My hair is just below shoulder length, and one packet barely did my full head of hair. So if your hair is any longer than mine and you plan on getting samples like these, plan to use two foil packets for one wash.

I shower at night so I did what I would normally do and then washed my hair with these samples instead of my normal shampoo and conditioner. You start with #1 which is actually the conditioner (reversing the routine). It definitely felt like it was more conditioning than my usual conditioner or any normal conditioner and I immediately felt like my hair was being weighed down (which is not good for straight hair that doesn't want to have any volume to begin with). I spread it throughout my hair, let it sit for a second, and then washed it out. My hair felt very smooth, but even after rinsing it I felt like my hair was covered in conditioner.

Next step was to shampoo. This lathered up surprisingly well considering how small the amount in the packet was. I really don't like the smell at all and it does linger (even as I'm writing this Thursday morning, I can still smell it). Surprisingly, it did really wash out much of the conditioner when I rinsed this out. My hair still felt very smooth as if the product was still in it.

When I got out of the shower, I put my hair up in a towel, brushed it out (which I know is bad for wet hair, but if I don't my hair goes crazy) , and let it air dry.

My hair looked shiny, and felt very smooth once it dried. I wondered if my hair would look greasy once it had been slept on since my hair tends to do that.

This morning when I woke up, sure enough, my bangs were a greasy mess and my hair still felt weighed down by the shampoo. My head also itches a bit, which slightly worries me.

I will be trying the products one last time since I have one packet of each the conditioner and the shampoo left and I will update you once I try them.

Second test 10/6/16:

Really just makes my hair greasy, nothing different from the first test. Maybe if I had better samples and could test longer I would like it, but as it is, would not recommend.

Book Review: Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Overall, I enjoyed this book. I found it pretty easy to relate to considering the fact that I am a sophomore in college who just started dating my first real boyfriend freshman year. I loved Cath as a character and the idea that she writes fan-fiction as her hobby. I did not like having exerts from said fan-fiction before every chapter. I skipped most of these because they just started to annoy me and deterred me from reading. This is probably the main reason why it took me so long to actually get through this book. I also was not a fan of the ending seeing as how it was from the book series that Cath writes fan-fiction about.

View all my reviews

New Year Resolutions! 2016 Edition

My resolutions for 2016:

• Read 52 books, one for each week of the year. (This will be a resolution until I successfully complete it!) 
• Stay healthy! (This has been a struggle for me, due to a semi-rare medical condition, but thanks to my fantastic doctors this goal should be achievable!)
• Be less judgmental (I think everyone kind of judges everyone else even if they don't realize that they are doing it. So I want to work on this in the new year)
• Express myself more (I tend to struggle with showing who I really am and what makes me, well, me.)
• Make more time for me (I think this is something we all need to do once in a while)
• Hang out with friends more (Sometimes life gets hectic, but it's important to make time for those who make life interesting and worth living!)
• Keep record of my year in a smash book/diary type thing (I want to remember all the good times!)
• Clean out my bedroom and keep it clean and organized! (I need to feel refreshed for the new year!)

What are some of your new year resolutions? Let me know in the comments and I will have another post up soon! <3 Rebecca 

Pura Vida Bracelets

Hello Everyone!

I recently discovered a company that sells bracelets that are handmade in Costa Rica. The company is called Pura Vida Bracelets, pura vida means pure life in Spanish and is a common phrase that is used in Costa Rica. Some of the money from certain bracelets even goes towards different charities. Some are for animals, some are related to helping the planet and others are for various cancer research. I have the Wolf Sanctuary bracelet (The one with the blue, green, and brown string in the photo above) and am planning on buying more. I think this is a great idea. The bracelets are very good quality and by buying one you are helping to support an artisan in Costa Rica.

If you are interested you can click Here

Have a wonderful day.
<3 Rebecca

Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs Product Review

Hello everyone! Today I'm going to review the Sally Hansen Airbrush Legs leg makeup. I received this sample from Influenster to test and review. This sample is very small, 0.75 FL OZ (22.1 ml) and is in the color light. It says that it is water resistant and "smooth-on Perfect Legs in an Instant!"

I applied the product according to the directions, taking a quarter size amount and smoothing evenly onto the legs and feet. Then letting it dry. It was difficult to apply evenly, and took a lot of effort to prevent it from streaking, and even then you could clearly see areas where there was more or less product. The color is much too dark for my skin tone despite being the lightest color and is very orange looking on the skin. It is also difficult to remove. It is very water resistant like it claims, and requires soap and water to remove it, and even then it stained my skin a bit.

I don't recommend this product unless you would like to look like your legs are an unnatural orange color that doesn't match the rest of your skin tone. This product was a big disappointment.

Friday Reads July 17th, 2015

Hello Everyone!

It's been quite a while since I've posted. I've just been so busy this summer between work, getting things ready for school, and making time for friends I don't get to see during the school year. As a result I haven't been reading much. This morning I saw that #fridayreads was trending on twitter and I was going through all the pictures and posts people were putting up. It really made me want to set aside some time for reading again. So I thought I would make a little post about what I plan on reading this weekend. I do have to work all this weekend, but hopefully I can spare enough time to finish one book. I hope to finish reading Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell, I'm only a few chapters into it right now and am enjoying it so far. Hopefully I can find the time to finish it.
I will try to have another post up soon.

<3 Rebecca