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I'm a huge fan of good bath and body products, so I was incredibly excited that Iwona at Best Bath Store was kind enough to send me goodies to review on Lipgloss and Spandex!

Best Bath Store makes all of their 100% natural, cruelty-free products right here in US. Each item is hand packaged, labeled and sealed in recyclable packaging, and the company is entirely powered by wind energy. That's pretty cool!
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LIP BALM
$3.95 for 0.15 oz (standard lip balm sized tube)

I tested out both the Lemon-Lime Lip Balm and the Vanilla and Coffee (vegan) Lip Balm. Both balms are quite fragrant, but not in an unpleasant way. They have a soft texture, but the do feel a little slick on my lips.  The Vanilla and Coffee lip balm feels the slightest bit gritty during application, but feel completely smooth on the lips. These keep my lips moisturized for a couple of hours. I like the translucent tube a lot!

Ingredients-Lemon lime: Cocoa Butter, Beeswax, Almond Oil, Lemon Essential Oil, Lime Essential Oil, Vitamin E
Ingredients-Vanilla and Coffee (vegan): Jojoba oil, Cocoa Butter, Candelilla Wax, Shea Butter, Coffee Essential Oil, Vanilla Essential Oil, Vitamin E

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ACNE FACIAL BAR
$4.95 for 3.5 oz

The Acne Facial Bar is supposed to "restore and revitalize your skin to its natural balance." It has a definite herbal smell to it, but I didn't find it unpleasant. It lathers nicely. Unfortunately, it didn't seem to help my skin at all. My face went to its typical acne-plagued state. However, the quality of the soap is good, and I've been using it on my bod instead. While this particular soap didn't work on my face, I would LOVE to buy some of the other body soaps. They come in a sheer mesh bag with a tag, which looks nice enough to give as a gift!

Ingredients: Olive Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Shea Butter, Hazelnut Oil, Castor Oil, Grapeseed Oil, Sunflower Oil, Organic Manuka Honey, Seaweed Powder, White Willow Bark Extract, Australian Olive Green Clay, Vitamin E, Essential Oil Blend
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SWEETHEART BATH BOMB
$5.95 for 9 oz.

Can we say CUTEST BATH BOMB EVER?! The Sweetheart Bath Bomb has Neroli, Jasmine, and Ylang Ylang essential oils to help you relax. This roughly tennis ball sized bath bomb is incredibly dense, and creates a powerful fizzing jet in the tub. It doesn't have any glitter or color or other surprises, but it smells great (kind of like Earl Gray tea). This bath bomb will leave a slight residue on your skin, which some bathers may love and some may find too oily. It comes nicely packaged, shrink-wrapped in a plastic box.

Ingredients: Baking Soda, Citric Acid, Avocado Oil, Jojoba Oil, Red Beet Juice Powder, Essential Oil Blend
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Overall, I really enjoyed the products that I received from Best Bath Store, and I look forward to trying some of their other products.



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Sorry it's been so long, gals and guys! But I have a special cooking post for you guys. It's special because I suck at cooking. Things that come in a box and can be microwaved are my specialty. My brother gives me crap about my food being poison.

It wasn't for lack of trying. I just wasn't very good at it. But one day, I found something I was alright at. Back when I was in college, I tried to make my mom's Vietnamese curry. She doesn't measure anything because she's an amazing cook, but I had to start from something, so I found this recipe on allrecipes.com, and started testing it out. I've made some revisions, asked my mom for a little advice, and have pieced together a decent meal. My roommate at the time loved it, and now my boyfriend even requests it! I guess I can cook something after all...

So here it is, "my" recipe for Vietnamese curry:

Marilyn's Fool-Proof Vietnamese Curry

(if I can make something that people can eat, so can you!)
  • 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 onion, coarsely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped (or 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic)
  • 2-3 inch piece fresh ginger root, thinly sliced (leave skin on)
  • 1 pkg lemongrass (8 or so 2" pieces)
  • 4 tablespoons Vietnamese curry powder (2T generic curry + 3T Thai red curry powder, if you can't get any legit Vietnamese curry)
  • 1-2 red or yellow bell peppers, small bite sized pieces
  • 4-5 carrots
  • 1 pound fried tofu, cut into bite-size pieces (optional)
  • 2 cans chicken broth (2 cans)
  • 3 bay leaves
  • 4-5 medium potatoes, into 16pc/potato
  • 1 sweet potato
  • 2 (14 ounce) cans coconut milk
  • 3 teaspoons sugar
  • Sriracha, to taste (about 1-2 teaspoons)
  • salt, to taste (about 1 teaspoon)
Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat.

Saute onion until soft and translucent.

Stir in garlic, ginger, lemon grass and curry powder. Cook for about 2 minutes, to release the flavors of the curry.

Add potato, sweet potato, carrots, tofu and bay leaf. Pour in chicken stock. Stir. Bring to a boil, then stir in bell pepper. Add sugar. Add Sriracha and salt to taste.

When soup returns to a boil, reduce heat (about level 4) and simmer for 40 to 60 minutes, or until potatoes and carrots are tender.

Serve with rice, or French bread, or rice noodles.



Anyone else struggle with cooking?