review - Matthew's Puzzle - Autism Recovery, Gluten Free, Green Living Mom Blog

Ouidad PlayCurl Shampoo Conditioner and Mousse Review

July 10, 2013 By Maryann

Disclosure: I was provided with free bottles of the Ouidad PlayCurl Shampoo, Condition and Mousse to have facilitate this review. All opinions are my own.

I have wavy hair. I wish I had Kerri Russel curls, but I wasn’t born with them. I’ve always had waves, lots and lots of waves. When I was younger I hated those waves. I wanted the straight hair my friends had. They could have Farrah Faucet wings, and I couldn’t.

But as I got older and I started to realize that my hair was actually really beautiful, and I began to play up those waves. I started to realize that I had really gorgeous hair that had a lovely curl patter that many, many women wanted. I was told more than once that women pay good money to have my curls put in their hair. That is where Ouidad PlayCurl comes in. Ouidad is one of the foremost curl enhancing product lines on the market. I started getting acquainted with Ouidad a few years ago when I decided I wanted to show off my natural hair and I decided to try the curly girl method. Ouidad PlayCurl is perfect for the curly girl method.

PlayCurl is perfect for wavy hair like mine. Since I don’t have the great curl structure that true curly hair has, my hair can lose it definition easily if I use products that are heavy or weigh my hair down. I started using PlayCurl Shampoo and Conditioner a few days ago. They are perfect for keeping my waves moisturized while providing a refreshing cleanse without being to heavy. I added the PlayCurl Mousse for a soft definition and curl hold.

I have really fallen in love with Ouidad PlayCurl products and can’t wait to try the Ouidad Sea Spray and Texture Taffy. I was on the Ouidad website and loved playing around with the different links. Under the Shop Products link you can search my Curl Type and Concern among other options. This was great for me since I can easily find the perfect match without searching through tons of product description.

Which Ouidad PlayCurl product are you ready to try?

Ice Cream and Summertime

July 3, 2013 By Maryann

Disclosure: I was provided with coupons to try each of these products free of charge. All opinions are my own and no other compensation was received.

Well, it has arrive. Summer, that is. I love the lazier days and letting the boys play in the sprinkler. For Nico’s birthday we got a bunch of great Nerf SuperSoaker water guns and then kids have been having a blast drenching each other. But something that really screams summertime is ice cream and Popsicle. You all know I’m not huge on snack foods, but there is something about summer that makes ice cream a necessity. Like a right of passage.

I have to admit I have a hard time passing up a frozen treat on a stick. Unilever sent me some really great treats to try, and even if they aren’t non-GMO there is a time and a place for them. Summer happens to be the time, and the backyard happens to be the place. There really isn’t much better than being able to give your kids (and you too) a fun treat (remembering what treats really are, treats, not daily foods) after a hot day in the sun.

Larry and I enjoyed the Rocky Road Klondike bar. Larry has had a soft spot in his heart for Klondike bars for as long as I’ve known him. What wouldn’t he do for a Klondike?

The boys have been sharing their Popsicles with our neighbor’s niece. They all get outside in the kiddie pool or running through the sprinklers and all of a sudden then are all back inside, hot and drenched, asking for a banana, lime or root-beer Popsicle. I remember being a kid and doing the same thing with my cousins. We loved having Popsicles on hot summer days.

Probably my favorite summer treats so far have been the Magnum Gold? The ice cream bars truly have a golden hue, filled with vanilla ice cream and sea salt caramel. I was nice enough to share one with my neighbor (but just one!). These are a more adult ice cream treat, something that is fun to savor and dripping with more complex flavors like sea salt caramel, dark and white chocolate. They are for ice cream lovers with a sophisticated taste.

I plan to have Good Humor York ice cream bars available to my guests for the 4th of July. I love the flavor of peppermint and chocolate. And I found out a great little tip the other day, simply by accident. I figured I needed to try these bars out before I could review them, right? Because how can you review something if you haven’t tried them, right? But before I could get more than one bite in, my youngest was calling me upstairs to put him back in bed. I spent a good 5 minutes with him and when I got back downstairs the Good Humor York ice cream bar has started to melt and was an amazingly satisfying texture. It was actually perfect.

My father has always been a big fan of Breyer’s Ice Cream so I plan to have a bit of that on hand too. He enjoys a good brownie covered in Breyer’s vanilla ice cream (and really, who doesn’t?). This is an easy treat to make and I can fashion a yummy gluten free brownie for the Breyer’s Ice Cream to rest on. OR, maybe I will really offer a huge throw back to my younger days and get some toaster waffles (gluten free of course) and make Waffle Ice Cream Sandwiches. My mother was FAMOUS for these.

The last treat we got to pick up was Fruttare Fruit bars. I, of course, had to get the lime bars. Summer is better with lime. Limeade is a favorite in this house. The Coconut sounded amazing too.

I hope you get a chance to enjoy this summer with some of your favorite treats. What flavors make summertime really summer for you?

Kia Soul Review

June 28, 2013 By Maryann

Disclosure: I test drove the Kia Soul free of charge in exchange for this unbiased review.

Holy cow have I had a great time last week! I got to take a lovely trip to Orlando, FL and hang out with some great ladies. I even got to spend some time with Global Resorts making some promotional videos for them. You all know I LOVE to talk and this was a super fun opportunity for me. But one of the absolute coolest things I got to do was drive a beautiful, new Kia Soul.

I had never driven a Kia Soul before so I was sort of psyched to try one out. And although this isn’t the most important part of the test drive, I was really excited to see it was a fantastic shade of red called Molten. Basically, it was HOT. It was a great way to introduce me to the car.

When I first picked the car up I was still at the Orlando airport, so I was thrilled to find the Kia Soul had a Navigation package with SIRIUS Traffic. It came in handy while trying to locate my condo, and I used it later in the week as I went to Downtown Disney and my favorite Orlando restaurant – Cafe Tu Tu Tango.

The Kia Soul has a neat feature I have never been introduced to before, and that is Push Button Start with Smart Key. It was kind of crazy. When I picked the car up it had been valeted so the car was delivered to me with the engine running. When I had to start it for the first time myself I sort of lucked into the proper way to start the vehicle. I drove it to a well known pizza place and when leaving I couldn’t start the car. I ended up having to look in the book to see that you have to put your foot on the brake and THEN press the start button. From that moment on I had no problem.

The Kia Soul is a very roomy with 4 doors and rear hatch. There was plenty of room for my luggage and although I didn’t have any passengers that needed to sit in the back seat, I think if I had, they would have been very comfortable. I was completely impressed with the whole interior. It was installed with the Premium Package that included:

Navigation with SIRIUS Traffic
Push Button Start with Smart Key
Leather Seat Trim
Heated Front Seats
Automatic Climate Control

I think one of my favorite features is the UVO Powered by Microsoft with Rear Camera Display. My husband’s car had a rear camera and I totally covet it every time I drive his car. Having it while on vacation, in an area I am unfamiliar with, was just perfect because it allowed me that additional sense of control. And provided me with additional “eyes” in the back of my car.

I worked with some wonderful people at STI to allow me to be part of this fun review, and I can’t thank them enough. The Kia Soul was a really fun vehicle, but it was also a very practical car too. The car I drove had an MSRP of $23,575.00 and got 25 MPG. Overall, I liked this car a lot and would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a 4-door vehicle in this class. Totally, 2 thumbs up!

CNB Naturally Far Infrared Sauna

June 27, 2013 By Maryann

I love my CNB Natrually Far Infrared Sauna. I think this thing is the most relaxing way to promote healing. I was lucky enough to try this sauna out at the Autism One conference in Chicago last month and my husband was sweet enough to allow me to purchase one. Bonnie and Anthony of CNB Naturally were super sweet and we hit it off right away. Bonnie and I have even bonded over our love of Matthew’s new protocol. She uses it too! What are the chances?

I wanted to give you a little peek at me in the sauna so you can see just how wonderful this piece is. My mother has gotten addicted to it since it seems to ease her back pain. She was one of my main reasons for wanting this sauna and I love that she is getting relief from using it. I encourage her to come over as often as possible to use it.

I use it daily and I make my husband use it every evening before retiring to bed. It helps with pain and insomnia so I figure it is perfect for him. Check out CNB Naturally and let me know what you think of my cool sauna (well really it is hot, but you know what I mean).