Friday, December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas



Today we celebrate the birth of Jesus.  I trust you have a wonderful Christmas and take time to reflect on the true meaning of the season.  Merry Christmas!

Wednesday, December 16, 2015

Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge Bars

These bars are simple to make using a boxed cake mix.  They are rich and satisfy a sweet tooth!






Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix (I used Duncan Hines, 515g)
1 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter
10 tbsp. margarine or butter, melted
2 eggs
1 can sweetened condensed milk (300 ml)
1 3/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
1.  In a bowl combine cake mix, peanut butter, margarine and eggs.
2.  Set aside 1 1/2 cups of this batter.
3.  Spread remaining batter into an ungreased 9" x 13" pan.  Spread batter partially up sides of pan as well.
4.  For filling, combine condensed milk and chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl and melt mixture in microwave for about 1 minute.  Stir until smooth.
5.  Pour filling over crust.
6.  Drop remaining reserved batter mixture on top of filling.
7.  Bake at 350F for 30-35 minutes.

Monday, December 7, 2015

Olay Total Effects 7 in 1 Anti-Aging Moisturizer



I received a sample of the Olay Total Effects 7 in 1 Anti-Aging Moisturizer to review.  I received a 15ml sample size which is a new size that will be available in stores in February 2016. 


The moisturizer easily dispenses from the pump which allows for an easy and clean application.  The product is more of a cream consistency and is lightly fragranced.  


This moisturizer claims to fight seven signs of aging:

  1. Visibly smoothes fine lines and wrinkles
  2. Evens skin tone appearance
  3. Enhances brightness
  4. Minimizes the look of pores
  5. Visibly reduces age spots
  6. Restores firmness
  7. Replenishes moisture

After having used this product for 2 weeks I can honestly say I did not see all of the above results.  I did find that the moisturizer evened out my skin tone.  My skin tone was less red than usual and more uniform.  I also found the moisturizer did replenish moisture and left my skin nicely hydrated.  

As for the other benefits, I did not see any results.  I have very fine lines around my eyes but saw no change.  My skin still seemed to have a dull appearance.  I have large pores in the cheek area close to my nose but didn't find they were minimized with the use of this product.  I didn't notice any change in the firmness of my skin.  I actually don't have age spots yet so I can't really comment on that aspect.

Perhaps with continued use of this product I would see more of the claimed benefits.

I do suffer from oily, acne prone skin.  I'm happy to report that my skin did not get any oilier than usual but I did develop a few pimples while using this product.  Maybe it was too rich for my skin or maybe I was going to get those pimples regardless of what I used.

My final opinion on this product is that it is an excellent moisturizer but not a good anti-aging moisturizer.  I would recommend it as a good every day moisturizer but would skip it for its anti-aging benefits.


I received a free sample size of this product from BzzAgent to facilitate this review.