Blood is the New Black BLIND BARGAIN BAG order #3 Boyfriend Fit women's tees!

As soon as I saw there was a Blind Bargain Bag from Blood is the New Black that had only the boyfriend fit shirts I HAD to place an order.
Usually I like "bigger" shirts and liked almost all the designs in that style, so figured I would like whatever they sent.
Turns out I was right and I like 4 out of the 5 tops, but will wear them all.
One of the tops had a print that was a bit too scary for my liking and I will prob wear that shirt inside out as I like the cut and colour- you will have to read my review to find out what top that was!

As usual the BITNB shirts are made in the US and have a very soft thin cotton and are printed with imaged from lesser known artists!
I paid $25 for the bargain bag and shipping is an extra $9 (unless you spend $100 then shipping is FREE :).

These are the shirts I received:

Hello Nevermind by Bobby Whigham

This shirt alone makes the grab bag worth it!
I've always wanted a Hello Kitty shirt and just never got around to getting one- or any of the other characters I like.
I actually worked for someone that had a Sanrio store, but they did not carry any clothing then at their store.
This will be great for summer with the cheerful orange of the shirt!

Hobby Horse by Edward Cao

At first I was not too sure about this shirt- I liked it but only thought it was ok.
No specific reason really, well I guess I do not own any shirts that have animals on them...until now that is!
I wore this a couple days ago and no one commented on my shirt, much to my surprise.
Strangers have stopped to ask me about a couple of my other shirts though, so that was kind of surprising.

Creature Of The Night by Heather Gabel

I like this shirt!
Not too much else to add to this. I think I will wear this shirt often....
The artist who made the graphics for this top also happens to be Canadian!

Lifes A Grave by Brendan Donelly

This shirt is ok and kind of funny!

It happened to scare my aunt, but she is in her 60's and generally does not like things with skeletons on them.
I'm sure my friends will find this shirt funny though.

And now for the last top, the one that has a design I find a bit too creepy for my taste.

There is just too many eyes on this top.....and the wolf has too many eyes also.
But that is just my opinion.....

DEMONBABIES shirt. unsure of title.

I am not too sure what the title of this top is as it is no longer listed for sale online.
The fit of this top is really nice and I was looking for a plain black shirt. I think I will wear this top inside out as you can not see the design through it......thankfully.

That's it for my shirts!

Those are the shirts I received in my bargain bag. I am quite pleased and am very tempted to order a couple more as I do need some new shirts.
If you are interested in ordering a Blind Bargain Bag or some other shirts the website for Blood is the New Black can be found at:

http://www.bloodisthenewblack.com/the_store/104-blind-bargain-bags

Blood is the New Black BLIND BARGAIN BAG order #2 Men's tops 2013!

Thought I would try out the men's mystery bag at Blood is the New Black.
I figured the shirts would most likely be a bigger fit and hopefully more tops with short sleeves.
This time I got 5 short sleeve shirts!
Four of the shirts are great and one has a fit that is quite small for me- that one I will give to someone who can fit that better than myself.

Here are the shirts I received:

BRYAN RAY TURCOTTE, SKIN JUMP

This shirt is sort of a repeat. I got this in my first order in a women's tank top.

I do like this shirt and have worn in a few times already and wore it with an American Apparel black skort.

The fit of this top is great and I'm quite pleased.

ANDREW KUYKENDALL, "FURRY HAT TEE"

This is the top that was much smaller for me- I think it is one of the men's Euro fit tees.

For a small, it seems quite small. The material for this shirt is also thicker and the back where the neck is states the shirt is 100% cotton and Made in Honduras.

The design is ok, I am going to find someone who can fit into this shirt better than myself and give them this shirt!

BY: POROUS WALKER

This shirt has a cute picture of a puppy and a kitten.

It is written "BE COOL, OK."

This shirt is ok, I will wear it.

STEVE GREEN,

This shirt is by Steve Green and did not have a tag with the official title.

The top is written "FOR ALL THE FUCKED-UP CHILDREN OF THIS WORLD..."

What is different is that the print was done on the inside of the shirt to make it look very pale.

You could also wear this shirt inside-out for a different look too!

Below is the shirt with the printing on the outside:

Shirt inside-out!

The shirt inside out is neat too because then when you look in the mirror the letters show up the correct way!

This is a fun shirt, but I will have to be careful where I wear this due to the "language" on the shirt.

By:  MEL KADEL

This is one of my favorite tops in my order!

I really like that it is just black and white. There could be drops of........anything?
Quite a few people like this top too and would order it if it was still around.

There was not much info about this top, no idea what the title is.

How did I like my order?

I am quite pleased. Four out of the five shirts I will wear and the fifth I am giving to someone who will like it.

I'm very tempted to place another order as I could use a few extra shirts....

If you want to order your own mystery package of shirts it is $25 and you get 5 tops. Shipping adds another $9. You can place an order at:

http://www.bloodisthenewblack.com/the_store/104-blind-bargain-bags

Which of these shirts do you like best? let me know.....

*I purchased these tops with my own money!
(and am debating another order...not that I "need" more shirts).

Blood is the New Black BLIND BARGAIN BAG order #2 Womens mystery tops!

After my first order of mystery shirts from Blood is the New Black, I knew I would have to try again in hope of getting some tops with sleeves.
This time I was lucky and ended up getting one long sleeve shirt!, three sleeveless tops and one short sleeve top. A good variety overall.
I'm thinking I might have to order again just to get a good variety of tops. My shirt collection is very lacking and needs a huge update.

In case you did not know about bitnb and their "blind bargain bag"- it is a company that prints art from lesser known artists on shirts that are made in the US.
The bargain bag sells for $25 and you get 5 random tops in the size of your choice.
Tops can be from last season or this season....you just never know!
The value is great as most tops sell for at least $20-50 each on their site!

Now onto the contents of my bag:


This time I was lucky and got a long sleeve top!

SOUTHSIDE CHICAGO SOUL by: NICK ZINNER

This is quite a nice shirt. The size is a bit big though as the label says size L unisex.
I did order the women's L size, still that is ok- it means I can put this top in the dryer as it is quite big!

The top is actually a nice cream colour, but that did not show up in the pic.

The image is of someone holding a record. I like this top and a couple of my friends really want this shirt- I am keeping it!

Sleeveless top, no print.

This is a sleeveless top!
The shade is more of a blueish/green and does not look as turquoise in person.
I really like this colour, it is great for summer or anytime.
The tag on this top just says "Soulcycle" and the product tags states Black/Standard , Made in the USA.
Not much else to add, please with this top :)

Bobby Whigham, Wobbly Weed

Rewind......selecta!

They did say that if you happen to order more than one bag you might get a repeat of an item.

Not really a top I'm crazy about as I do not like to wear imagery of canabis.

That is ok, I will find a use for this top and might have a try at adding some decorations of some kind.

By Dark Matter

This T is by Dark Matter in Los Angeles.I could not find any info on this shirt online when I searched and there was no name tags with this top.

I do like the design, it is different from other shirts I own.
Does anyone have an idea what the 74 degree symbol at the top righthand corner mean?
I'm sure people will ask me about this shirt and I will have to tell them I really have no idea....

Heather Gabel, Nocturnally Yours!

I actually got one top from this season!

What a surprise. It is not really a top I would have chosen for myself and I was not too sure how I would wear this yet.

I ended up wearing this w a American Apparel ballet tank top underneath and some black 3/4 leggings.

This is a good top for when it is really hot during the summer.

Quite a few people did ask me about this top and where I got it from.
I actually really like this top and will get a lot of use out of it!

So, this was my latest order from BITNB. 

I am quite pleased and will order again, hoping to get some short sleeve t's. Maybe I will get the guys size and have more luck?

If you want to order a Bargain Bag they can be bought at:

http://www.bloodisthenewblack.com/the_store/104-blind-bargain-bags

If you do order this, let me know what tops you get!

*In case you were wondering I purchased these tops with my own money!
(I would be thrilled if I did get these free though).

Seasonsbox July 2013 review! "Interesting" choice of snacks...

Finally getting around to reviewing my box!
I have a one year subscription that I purchased as a gift to myself and I find I am not always so enthused about the contents of my Seasonsbox.
This month has a very unusual choice of snack and some fairly seasonal products.
As well, this is the first month I received the new packaging.
Apparently they are trying to use less packaging and decided to get rid of the lovely cardboard boxes and pretty ribbon.
I used to keep those to reuse for gifts and that was great. Now I am not about to keep the shipper box- it is just not the same.

Now on to my July Seasonsbox unboxing:

The first thing when I open my box was the infocard:

Seasonsbox July 2013 infocard!

Product details!

The next thing I saw after removing the crumpled brown paper that was under the infocard was:

Pocket Snack and Hair ties!

The Pura Vida hair ties or "bracelets" are really cute and useful.

They are made of elastic lace and have a small P charm for the logo attached to each tie. These are also handcrafted in Costa Rica and the company gives some of the proceeds to One Percent for the Planet and the Surfrider Foundation.

This is good to know and it is nice to see the proceeds from the hair ties benefit others.

The hair ties seem well made, I have not really used them yet,but will report back in a few weeks how they hold up!

The first snack in the box is Wild Mountain Pocket Snacks in Moon Beet.

This is a raw, live healthy snack made up of sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds and beets, carrots,raisins, local honey (local to the US company- not Canada) and seasoned with cinnamon,cloves and sea salt.

I was not too sure what to expect from this mixture. I like beets, but usually eat them fresh and not with seeds and cinnamon.

Some people online said this snack was terrible. I thought it was ok and am saving the rest to have family try it. To me the mix tasted like sunflower seeds and beets mostly and not as much of cinnamon. You can taste the sweetness of the honey.

This is not a snack I would go out of my way to try. Still it was interesting to try as I love trying new healthy snacks (or snacks in general).

How my Seasonsbox was packed!

Above is how the rest of my items looked when I removed the rest of the crumpled paper filler.

What a great presentation (not). If this was a gift, it would be totally disappointing to receive something like this.

The next item in the Seasonsbox is Bella Organics Dead Sea Mineral Mud Mask.

This is a product that comes from an Etsy store. There is not too much info on the packaging itself, but it does state the mask is Anti-Aging

Again this month the info card is incomplete. There is a small blurb about the mask and no "why we love it" or use info. Also the packaging does not have any info on how to use the product.

I have not tried this yet and will get around to it sometime soon.....

There was also a really great and seasonal skin cream in the box: made from Earth pure aloe vera skin treatment.

This is a full size jar too. I wanted to try this product a long time ago and am familiar with their website after seeing this brand on a few deal websites. 

Shipping to Canada was always quite prohibitive,so I never got around to placing an order.

I have not tried this cream yet and will do so this weekend!

The last snack in the box was the cutely named Nibnaks.

The name kind of reminds me of when kids mispronounce words like "pasgetti", "catsup"....or something like that.

From reading the description this sounds like the most exiting snack ever! The packaging is fun and eye catching- and this is a gluten free snack too!

I guess you are wondering what this smazing snack is.............................?

Dried fruits and nuts.

The version I received contained dried cranberries, almonds and another fruit I can not recall.

I did not eat this snack outright, but added it to some muffins I was making as I did not have any cranberries handy.

The fruit was fresh and tasty!

My overall impression of the July 2013 Seasonsbox:

I thought this box was fairly good with having some items that are very useful for the summer season.

The hair ties are handy any time and aloe is great after being outdoors all day. Clay masks are always useful to make your pores look smaller and I use one weekly.

The snacks were interesting and the raw beet snack is not something I had seen before,so it was nice to try that.

The only somewhat disappointing thing is the new packaging is not as pretty to open and it looks like the items were quickly thrown into a box.

Seasonsbox also needs to pay attention to the writing on their info cards. Again the writing is incomplete.
Having mistakes and omissions on the info card is not good two months in a row.

Let's hope that August's card will be complete and error-free.

Did you get the July Seasonsbox? What did you think of the products and snacks?

Blood is the New Black BLIND BARGAIN BAG Mystery shirt order #1

I recently learned of this American company that creates shirts with designs by lesser known artists.
The shirts themselves are also made in the US and are a very nice soft cotton.
So many of the designs looked interesting to me and it was quite difficult to make up my mind.
Finally I decided to get the women's mystery package of shirts for $25.
That included 5 tops and it can be any style on their site.
I'm really hoping I do not get any tops with religious symbols or drug references, as those are things I do not wear. Guess I'll have to wait and see......

Here is what I got in my first order:

Bobby Whigham : "wobbly weed"

This sleeveless top is by Bobby Whigham and the top did not have a title sticker. But when I looked it up, the image was like the Wobbly Weed style on the site. The top listed now is yellow, they do not have this exact top now.

So far I've worn this around the house and will prob wear it under a top as I like the fabric and colour.
The cotton is super soft, but the openings on the side are a bit too large for my taste.
I might try and dye this sometime-not sure what colour though....

Keren Richter: "tiny tornado"

This tank top is by KEREN RICHTER and is titled  TINY TORNADO.

I really like this design- it is an abstract scene with a cute little tornado in the corner.
Another nice thing is the tank top is fairly long, so it can be worn many different ways!

Choppers and Sluts by The Uprising.

This is another sleeveless top. This one is titled "Choppers and Sluts" and is by The Uprising.

You can still get this top, but only in white.

One of my friends found this top really funny when I wore it out to a club night where he DJ's, but a family member (my mother) was extremely offended by this top.
I think the top is ok, I wore it with a cardigan as I usually do not wear sleeveless tops and it was cold out too!

Mel Kadel" "butterfly"

This green tank top is titled  BUTTERFLY and is by the artist MEL KADEL.

I like this design, it is very summery. The top part of the butterfly is made up of leaves and the bottom half is all flowers. This design is quite detailed!

Bryan Ray Turcotte: "skin jump"

The last tank top is by  BRYAN RAY TURCOTTE  and titled "SKIN JUMP".
I like the grey of the tank top. The guy on the top is ok....you kind of wonder what he is looking at?

Final thoughts....
Overall I am pleased with this order. The shipping was extremely fast to Canada and this showed up in my mailbox without and hassle.

I do kind of wish I had gotten a t-shirt or something with sleeves- but this is kind of the chance you take by buying a mystery bag. They do say you get 5 shirts and it can be any style. 

You do get to pick your clothing size, so that is great!
I think I will have to place another order in hope of getting different styles. The price is great at $25 for five items. Shipping adds another $9- unless you spend $100 then shipping is free.

If you are interested in picking up a Blind Bargain Bag you can find them here:

http://www.bloodisthenewblack.com/the_store/104-blind-bargain-bags

I have another order on the way and will update this as soon as I can.

Have you ordered any of these mystery shirts? What did you receive?

*Just wanted to add...I purchased these tops with my own money!

Seasonsbox June 2013 review!

My June 2013 Seasonsbox finally arrived a few days ago!
This is my first box that has shipped from the United States. Recenetly Seasonsbox underwent quite a few changes and one of them was moving their operations to the US.
One reason I has signed up for this box was because it shipped from Canada and also showed up in my mailbox pretty quickly.
Now it takes almost a whole month to receive my box- with shipping this slow I am not too sure I would want to send a box as a gift. When they did ship from Canada I was going to send quite a few boxes to family for gifts.

Unboxing done in pictures!

Opening the shipping carton!

Product infocard!

Organic Tagua bracelet an d Vance Family candle.

The first item I tried in my box was the organic tagua bracelet. This item is made from the palm tree nut and dyed with organic Italian dyes. This is a very lovely bracelet and feels pretty much like stone and has quite some weight to it. The blue is more like a lapis dark shade and is very pretty. There is also some beige and brown that did not show up in the photo.
I have not worn this bracelet yet as I find it a bit tight on my wrist- but maybe wearing it a bit should help.
This is the kind of bracelet that goes with everything and has quite a classic look!

The Vance Family Soy Candle in pineapple coconut scent has a lovely tropical aroma and not too much coconut. I am not a big fan of coconut scents and was worried this candle would be too much coconut.
Luckily it smells more like a tropical drink and has a very fruity tropical scent.
The candle is not very strongly scented though and smells more when it is not lit, it seems. When I did light the candle the scent is extremely light. I was told it is because they only use organic flavor oils to scent the candle and not chemicals.
I do plan on buying a few more of these candles to test out the scents!

Rishi Iced Tea in Tropical Crimson

The Organic Rishi Iced Tea in Tropical Crimson looks very tasty.
But when you have gotten tea in pretty much every second Seasonsbox, that is a lot of tea to drink!
I do plan on making some of this later today to take out with me. It should be very refreshing with this humid weather.
An update will follow once I try the tea......

Moksa organic Lemon Poppyseed Exfoliating Bar!

I like exfoliating soaps and like lemon too, so I'm sure I will enjoy this soap.
The bar has a very lemony smell, there is supposed to be vanilla bean in it too but my nose can not detect it.
The bar is quite a large hefty size too weighing in at 184gr or 6.5oz.
I already have a few other soap bars from earlier Seasonsboxes, so eventually I will get around to using this one.
If anyone has already used this soap bar, what did you think about it?
I am interested in other Moksa products like their body oils and hopefully I will see something else of that brand in a box this year?

Topbox June 2013 review!

I'm a bit behind in writing my review of the June 2013 Topbox that I received.
I looked at the contents and thought they were fun and neat- but that I also have tons of unopened lipgloss and mascara and am trying to get through that first.
The brands that were sent this month are great! I have not tried very much from these brands at all yet (other than Benefit).

What was received in my Topbox:

*Belvada Cosmetics: Mini Eyelash Curler. Full size item! Value $5.99
I like that this is a Canadian brand and this looks like a cute item to add to my travel makeup bag. Usually I use a heated lash curler as this works well for me. Having tried other similar last curlers, I'm sure this one is fine.

Also, I've noticed that on the Topbox card there is a maple leaf to show what brands are Canadian companies. This is a great idea, but the lash curler is made in China (for some people this can be an issue).

*benefit Cosmetics: sugarbomb ultra plush lip gloss. sample size 6.5ml tube, value $8.26/ full size 15ml, $19.

This lip gloss is quite generous for a "sample size" being at almost half the retail product! In an earlier Topbox I did receive the Dandelion powder and gloss (super cute set) and the lip gloss is very similar in colour and texture. I'm tempted to save this gloss for later, since I just opened the other one.






*Jelly Pong Pong Cosmetics : Fairy Lashes mascara. Full size product, 8ml/ value $24!
I love getting full size items in my subscriptions, it is always fun and a great way to trial a product.
I have heard of this brand before and know they have some cute eye shadow palettes. But I have never seen their cosmetics where I shop or may have been tempted to pick some up.
The mascara looks interesting and the description states "formulated to make eyelashes flutter and flap".
Now I am not too sure how this will translate into a look, but I will try this later today!
The JPP website claims this mascara is water-resistant and a mix of black and blue pigment for more dark lashes. It is quite humid and rainy here today, a good time to test this mascara.

update: just tried the mascara and it gives the look of long thin lashes and is quite nice! Will have to try it during the day when I am going outside.

*Lise Watier: SOLO Eyeshadow. Full size product, 2g/ value $18!
Lise Watier is another Canadian brand and based in Quebec. This eyeshadow is also made in Canada!

June 2013 Topbox contents!

The eyeshadow is light and has a fine texture. The colour BLUE CURACAO is a shimmery light blue- very much like a sky blue I'd say. This is one of those makeup shades that I think you need to be careful wearing as it is easy to look like you are going to the disco on the 1970's.

Topbox infocard!

My overall impression of the June 2013 Topbox:

I am quite pleased with the variety and brands that are offered. The full size and deluxe size items are a great way to trial a product.
Also I have not tried much from most of these brands and have bought some benefit makeup before, but not lately. The value for this box is also great at $45.00 for what cost me $12.00

Did you receive the June Topbox? What did you think of your items?