Influenster: Flex Your Social Media Influence

So, my lovely readers, you may have noticed that I post a lot of product reviews in which I have received the featured items from a site called Influenster, which is a website that allows you to use your social media presence to voice your opinion on products and services. I began using Influenster in 2012 and I absolutely love the site. Not only do you have the opportunity to qualify for boxes chock-full of great products to test and review, but there are other wonderful things on the site as well.

They have recently redesigned their site, and created a mobile app, so it's a little different than when I started using it. Now, there is a section called "The Hub" where featured articles on all different types of subjects are displayed. My favorite feature on The Hub is the word of the day (today's is "tenebrous"!) Influenster also has a great little section called VoxPerks, which are special offers and discounts offered to it's members. On your profile, you can see your Impact Score and Reach Diagram (both determined by how many friends/followers you have across all of your social media accounts.) You will also find a section called "Snaps" where survey questions help earn you points towards badges (and badges help qualify you for Vox Boxes!) 

There are three different types of badges; Expert badges, Lifestyle badges, and Campaign badges. Expert badges are for things like beauty, fashion, tech, travel, wine, etc. Lifestyle badges are for things like Bride-to-be, Mothers, College students, etc. For both of these, you earn points to the badges by leaving product reviews, answering questions, and sharing product pages on your social media accounts. The higher your scores in your badges, he more likely you are to be chosen for Vox Boxes and Virtual Vox Boxes. Campaign badges are earned when you receive a Vox Box or Virtual Vox Box and complete all of the tasks for the badges (usually sharing pictures of the product on social media, following brand accounts on Twitter, leaving product reviews on Amazon, etc.) The better your score in your campaign badges, the more likely you are to win special free prizes from the respective brands.

I have received 6 physical Vox Boxes and 6 Virtual Vox Boxes in my time, ranging from Language-learning videos to beauty products to snack foods and more; and I have been very pleased with all of the services and products offered. I have even won a handful of prizes from my campaign badges!
I think one of the greatest things about Influenster is the Reviews section. The reviews are all very in-depth, and there's the option to ask/answer specific questions consumer-to-consumer with no industry jargon involved. And now that they have an app, everything is so easy. On-the-go, you can scan a product in the store with their bar code scanner to pull up reviews on Influenster to help you make decisions. This is on top of allowing you to access all of your regular Influenster information from your phone. Pretty great, right?

All-in-all, I highly recommend using Influenster. On top of being an excellent source of honest and accurate product reviews, you have the chance to receive free products to test and to voice your opinion of these products! Can it get any better? The Vox Box programs are smart (and free!) advertising on the part of the companies involved (hopefully even more brands will start getting involved!) because I mean, really; if you see someone raving about a product on social media, you're going to wanna try it too, right? Especially if it's someone you know or a blogger you look up to. As a member of the Influenster nation, you get first dibs on trying!! So go check it out, everyone! It's totally worth it!!!

~♥

Gabby

Product(s) Review: Dean's List Vox Box from Influenster

I received the Dean's List Vox Box free from Influenster in order to test the (abundance of) products inside. I am very pleased overall. I have already reviewed the SoftLips Cube, Playtex Sport Fresh Balance, and SinfulColors Nail Polish in #NoTextRed in other posts, so I'll just give my brief reviews of the other products and an overall review of the box as a whole.

Kiss Looks So Natural Lashes:

I don't wear false eyelashes hardly ever, but I did apply these one night when I was at home (unfortunately I neglected to take any photos.) The lashes did in fact look very realistic, which is a nice change, although they are still too long for me to wear on a daily basis. Maybe I'll put them on for a Girl's Night Out when my friend Autumn comes back from Erskine for winter break?

Pilot FriXion Clicker Pens:

College students, you ALL need to go out ASAP and buy these pens. YOU CAN ERASE THE INK. If that doesn't make you excited as a college student who likes to take really neat notes, you're wrong. These pens are the bomb.com. Seriously. I need like 20 in every single color they make.

Airheads Bites:

Okay, so I was happy to be sent some candy, but I totally prefer the classic Airheads to these bites. They were kind of hard and difficult to chew, and the flavors weren't the same tasting as the original. Honestly I would not recommend.

Luden's Watermelon Throat Drops:

I can not stand cough drops that taste like someone placed the solid form of rubbing alcohol in my mouth (ugh). That being said, these just tasted like watermelon candy, so I honestly couldn't tell you if they work or not. I'd be a little worried about kids getting into these. You know, because if it looks like candy and tastes like candy, little kids are gonna assume it's candy and go through the whole dang bag in one sitting.

Overall, I was very pleased with the products I was lucky to receive in the #DLVoxBox. I cannot wait to be included in more campaigns from Influenster!

~♥

Gabby

Fall/Conceptual Portraits: Nick Riemer

Wowza! It's been a crazy couple of weeks! We finally got moved into the new place last Tuesday (although we're still nowhere NEAR being unpacked!) All the kinks are still working themselves out but it'll be all-good soon. 

ANYWAY, I recently did this great shoot with my friend Nick. He wanted some really nice ones and also had this really cool concept. He's into the whole Fallout/Walking Dead/apocalypic/dystopian scene, and had these AMAZING props to work with!

You can see the rest of Nick's shoot by visiting my Facebook page.

~♥

Gabby

Music Monday // Number 14

In honor of Halloween this week, have Bette Midler singing "I Put A Spell On You" in the 1993 film Hocus Pocus. Because why not?

~♥

Gabby

Product Review: Softlips Cube in Fresh Mint

Hello lovelies!

Time for another product review from my Dean's List Vox Box courtesy of Influenster! Today I am going to be reviewing the Softlips Cube. I received the "Fresh Mint" flavor, which I absolutely adore. The Softlips Cube has a 5 in 1 lip care with lip perfecting technology; it has shea butter to hydrate, antioxidant Vitamins A, C & E to soothe and repair skin, emollients to smooth roughness, SPF 15 to protect from the sun, and a lightweight shine.

I truly love this lip balm. The mint makes my lips tingle, which feels nice, it is smooth and moisturizing without feeling oily or greasy, and it leaves my lips feeling perfectly kissable. I also love that a coupon for $1 off 1 Softlips Cube product was included, because I totally wanna go out and buy more!

~♥

Gabby

Music Monday // Number 13

My junior year in high school, my choir did a musical medley of songs from Wicked. I have a deep fondness, attachment, and connection with "Defying Gravity", and I am pretty much positive it is my all-time favorite song, or at least ridiculously close to the top of the list. This is an a Capella cover done by The Stereotypes of Washington University in St. Louis. Enjoy!

~♥

Gabby

Product Review: SinfulColors Nail Polish in #NoTextRed (1530)

In my Dean's List Vox Box, I also received a free bottle of SinfulColors nail polish to test and review. The color is No Text Red, and it is a movement by the company to try and help raise awareness of the dangers of texting and driving. The card that came with the nail polish informs that texting while driving surpasses drunk driving as the cause of teen driver injuries and deaths (according to a 2013 Cohen's Children Medical Center Survey.)  The idea is for users to paint their thumb nails red to visually remind themselves not to text while driving. It is also encouraged that friends and family are involved and that you paint their thumbs red also to help keep them from dangerous habits.

As far as the nail polish itself goes, I am very pleased. The color is bright and very pigmented and doesn't stain the nails or chip. It is easy to remove as well, and doesn't take hours to dry completely. 

You can find #NoTextRed at Walgreens, Bed Bath & Beyond, Harmon, KMart, ICM, Albertson's, HEB, Giant Eagle, Hi School Pharm, AAFES, Nexcom, and Wegmans. SinfulColors is trying to get #NoTextRed stocked in as many retailers as possible, so this list may continue to grow. 

~♥

Gabby

Product Review: Playtex Sport Fresh Balance

My latest Vox Box from Influenster, the Dean's List Vox Box, was absolutely PACKED with products to test. Luckily, this box came about a week before I started my period, so I didn't have to worry about buying tampons this month! I got a full box of Playtex Sport Fresh Balance, a brand I hadn't yet tried.

First of all, I have to get a little mini-rant out of the way. These tampons are "lightly scented." I don't know about any of you ladies, but here's my view on this: if you are close enough to me to smell my period with a tampon up my vagina holding the blood inside my body, odds are you are WAY TOO DAMN CLOSE to me. Seriously. If you can smell my period you need to back off. 

Not only that, but the "scent" reminded me of that old lady powder stuff. Yuck. If you are sensitive to perfumes, I would definitely suggest going unscented.

Now, as far as function goes, these tampons were awesome. They were easy to put in and they were virtually nonexistent as far as I was concerned. I have been going for walks almost every morning and there wasn't any spotting or leaking. Overall, I would give these tampons an 8.5/10 and would recommend them to my friends. 

#PlayOn , readers!

~♥

Gabby

Life Lately

Excited About: GETTING ACCEPTED INTO SCAD!!!!!!!!! That's right, starting in January, I will be attending the Savannah College of Art and Design via their eLearning program to earn my B.A. in Photography!!! I also received an academic scholarship from SCAD and could qualify for more once I submit a résumé and portfolio. Also, we have found a new house and we get to start moving things over and cleaning on Sunday! I am so blessed and excited to have all of these wonderful things happening in my life!

Working On: I have a photoshoot coming up with my friend Nick, but after that I don't have anything planned with my business. I am hoping to receive more clients once I am able to share Nick's photos! I have also been working slowly at learning to play the ukulele (I only know about 3 chords so far, and I am having trouble with chord transitions) as well as a few ideas in the works for some DIY projects (clothing and home.) I made myself this really pretty dark teal mermaid maxi skirt out of terrycloth which is PERFECT for fall/winter, and I can't wait to style it and share it on the blog!

Concerned About: I went to go check my credit score for the first time on Credit Karma and the site wouldn't recognize my social security number. A few months ago, when I tried to make a PayPal account to use with my business, it wouldn't let me because none of the info with my social security number matched my own info. So it seems that someone else has been using my social, and from what my mom is telling me, it happened when I was a baby also. I am going in this week to try to figure it out. Hopefully, I won't have to be issued a new social security number!!

Watching: In true Halloween spirit, I am trying to educate myself in all of the old/new and popular horror films. The Craft, Elvira: Mistress of the Dark, Rosemary's Baby, the works. I have also caught up on Reign, Supernatural, and Once Upon A Time.

Links I Love:

• Polyphonic singing is amazing. It sounds like a train wreck, but when you take into consideration that it's one person singing two notes simultaneously, it's mesmerizing.
  
• This parody of "Let It Go" had me rolling with laughter.
  
• He perfectly explains my exact views on the touchy subject of cultural appropriation.
  
• I can't not mention Emma Watson's amazing speech at the U.N. about feminism and He For She.
  
• Still think Feminism and Christianity cannot coexist? Read this article.
  

~♥

Gabby

Music Monday // Number 12

You know, sometimes you go into a slump and things just don't seem to shine so brightly. Maybe you feel less yourself, maybe you lose that sparkle of confidence in your eye and maybe you just don't appreciate everything about yourself. One thing pop music has going for it is that once in a while, bam! Out pops a catchy little tune that makes you wanna roll out of bed and kick some ass and break some hearts. 

~♥

Gabby