Tag Archives: disappointed

Jun23

Dunkin’ Donuts Disappointment

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Dunkin’ Donuts Disappointment

Hi! This week, I received my freebie cold brew packets from Dunkin’ Donuts in the mail, and it was nothing short of disappointing. Take a look at some pics, don’t mind the Loony Toons pitcher, and let’s discuss:

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As you can see, the preparation of the cold brew coffee was easy and self explanatory. It wasn’t until I was ready to drink the coffee that everything went up in flames! In the morning, I woke up and was excited to give my cold caffeine drink a try and, unfortunately, I wasn’t able to taste one single drop.

While attempting to get the coffee bags out of the pitcher, they ripped and I had barely even touched them. It turned all of the liquid in the pitcher into a thick, coffee ground contaminated mess. Now, I probably should have just poured the drink into another pitcher so that I could add the extra water and then dispose of the bags, but I was tired and wasn’t thinking and really REALLY just wanted my coffee and ended up having none at all. So, needless to say, this freebie was an absolute and total bust. #disappointed

How do you like to drink your coffee? Who else has had some coffee ground disasters before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec3

NYX Liquid Suede Stone Fox Swatch

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NYX Liquid Suede Stone Fox Swatch

Helloooo everyone and happy Sunday! I hope that all of you are having a lovely weekend full of fun, friends, and family. Today, I thought that we would talk about a lipstick that I have no genuine idea why I bought, but I figured it would be beneficial to someone out there to see the swatch for. We’re talking NYX’s Liquid Suede lipstick in Stone Fox. Take a looksee and let’s discuss:

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First of all, I love NYX products. My all time favorite shade of red lippie is NYX and I will be sure to write about it later, because it is divine. This shade for me, though? Not so much. I was stoked when the Liquid Suede line came out, because it offered an array of different jewel toned shades that all looked gorgeous. It also featured the color seen above, Stone Fox.

The Liquid Suede line came out at just the right time, because that’s when jewel tones and black/grey lipstick was becoming extremely popular. I had seen dark grey and black lippie shades all over the blogosphere, and I really wanted to give it a try. I am an emo kid at heart, and the idea of wearing a dark, almost costume style lip and have it be seen as fashion forward instead of weird was exhilarating to me.

Unfortunately, the exhilaration of the prospect of a charcoal lip was short lived. I tried this shade on at home and it looked like SHIT on me. Seriously, it looked like I smeared car grease all over my mouth and it was anything but fashion forward. It’s a damn shame, because all of the girls that I have seen rocking this trend look stunning. So, why not me? Well, there’s a few reasons:

  • This color looked a lot “much” with my face full of piercings.
  • This color looked abysmal when paired with my bright red hair.
  • And, at the end of the day, your girl was just not meant for charcoal lips.

Whomp, whomp.

In a desperate attempt to get this lippie off once I realized that it looked like I ate paint, I applied a lavender shade of chapstick over top of it, because this product doesn’t budge once it dries. Shockingly, the Stone Fox mixed with the lavender looked like a really pretty, smokey lilac and I loved it. BUT, ain’t nobody got time for that and despite liking the concocted color, it just wasn’t for me. That story was just an idea for the girls interested in giving this shade a go. YOU’RE WELCOME! :*)

I do like trying new lipstick colors but, true to my namesake, Lil Red will always love red lipstick the best! How do you feel about black and jewel toned lipstick? Could you pull off charcoal colored lips? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Dec2

Face Mask Festivities: St. Ives Oatmeal Scrub & Mask

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Face Mask Festivities: St. Ives Oatmeal Scrub & Mask

Helloooo everyone and welcome to the last post in my Face Mask Festivities mini series! Today, we are going to talk about a brand that I love oh so very much – St. Ives. I use St. Ives products every day, whether it be a scrub or body wash, and I always thoroughly enjoy using their skin care and bath and body goodies. The Oatmeal scrub that I’m currently using just so happens to double as a face mask, so I thought that I would finally use a beloved product in a brand new way. Take a look and let’s discuss:

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I was curious to see how this mask would work, because I’ve used it as a scrub countless times but never really bothered to try it differently. I love this St. Ives product as a scrub, but not so much as a mask. The mask instructions read to leave it on for five to seven minutes and I genuinely don’t know how that’s possible. Within about three minutes, this mask felt tight, tight, tight on my face and had already hardened from its dampened form. As you can see by my “after” pic, it left my skin quite irritated and I had to use a heavy moisturizer to get my skin feeling hydrated again.

I will say that this mask smells absolutely delicious. I am a sucker for oatmeal scented products, and this one is no exception. There’s something about the rich, creamy scents that just get me. It makes my skin feel nourished and well taken care of and I really love that. Now, if only this mask made me feel that way, because it left my skin parched for moisture rather than lush and lovely.

The entire time that I had this mask on, although it was short lived, I was thinking about how much I would rather be using The Body Shop’s Honey & Oat Mask, instead. From now on, this St. Ives product is going to stick to its uses as a scrub, because that is where this skin care treat shines.

So there you have it, the last post for this round’s Face Mask Festivities: St. Ives Oatmeal Scrub & Mask Edition! Which mask from this series would you like to try? What are your thoughts on this mask if you have ever used it before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Featured Image By: Cision

Nov29

Face Mask Festivities: The Body Shop’s British Rose Edition

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Face Mask Festivities: The Body Shop’s British Rose Edition

Howdy! This week, I am excited to feature some new Face Mask Festivities on my page – three of them to be exact! Face masks are the it beauty product right now, and I thought that I would start off this mini series by talking about The Body Shop’s British Rose Fresh Plumping Mask. Take a look at some pics and let’s discuss. And don’t judge me too hard for putting this on over makeup because it didn’t say anywhere on the directions on the jar that a clean face was required! 😉

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This mask was interesting, because it was more like a gel in texture. As you can see in my picture with it on, you can barely even tell that I had it on! This was an instant bonus to me, because I knew that it wouldn’t be a pain to clean up in the shower, unlike The Body Shop’s Himalayan Charcoal Mask. But I digress. Despite being a fan of the gel texture for it’s easy clean up, it felt like it was doing a whole lot of nothing. I now know that I prefer thicker face masks that you can actually see when it’s on, because I like to “watch” and feel my masks working.

The scent of this mask was also just okay. For those of you who have smelled The Body Shop’s British Rose line before, it was not as pungent as the body butter – thank goodness! However, it definitely had that freshly cut rose smell to it. This was all fine and well, but I prefer a more minty, citrus, or oat scent to my face masks. But with a name like British Rose, you take what you can get! I’m glad that this mask didn’t smell as…bad…as the body butter, because that would have been ten minutes of pure misery when the mask was on!

Now to the real question: Did this mask “do” anything?

Mmm, I couldn’t really tell. Was it because I wore makeup while using the mask? Maybe. Or maybe you just need to use this mask a few times to get the full effect. But that’s never going to happen because this was a one and done try soooooooo……..

So why did you buy this mask if you hate it?

I didn’t! It came in the Mother’s Day tote bag last year and I didn’t even know that my mom had it!! When she told me how much she enjoyed it, I figured I would start up another Face Mask Festivities mini series by writing about it first. Trust and believe that I would have never bought this for myself, lol.

So there you have it, an albeit a little disappointing start to another Face Mask Festivities mini series with The Body Shop’s British Rose Mask! What is your favorite face mask? What are your thoughts on the British Rose mask if you have used it before? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Aug23

Green Day Concert

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Green Day Concert

Hellooo everyone and happy Hump Day! This past Monday, I went to see Green Day at the Blossom Music Center in good ol’ Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio. Unfortunately, I was (and still am) feeling pretty under the weather, so I can’t say that I enjoyed myself as much as I would have liked to. I would by no means say that Green Day is one of my favorite bands or anything, but I don’t dislike them at all. I actually like them quite a bit, but their concert really just missed the mark for me. Let’s discuss:

I will say that the set list for the Revolution Radio tour was excellent. They focused on some old and new favorites that really took you through the thirty years of Green Day’s existence. Opening with newer heavy hitters like “Know Your Enemy”, “Bang Bang”, and “Revolution Radio” then transitioned seamlessly into older jams like “Holiday”, “Hitchin’ a Ride”, and “Minority”. Like I said, the set list really was good. BUT…

The major BUT(T) is the pure bullshit that happened throughout the show. Literally after EVERY SONG there was at least five minutes of dicking around that ranged from Billie Joe making strange noises into the microphone, encouraging everyone to get “fucking crazy”, or making the audience repeat “hey-oooooo” back at him for the thousandth time.

At the beginning, this was funny and entertaining. But, rest assured, that it got very old, very very quickly. I kept wondering if I would have had a better time if I wasn’t feeling so poorly, but I genuinely don’t think that I would have. The constant silliness of what was happening between the songs was just too much.

All of the bullshitting took away from how wonderful the band sounded live, and that’s sad that I’m just now bringing up how amazing they sounded. Everything about their playing was just perfect, even better than on the albums, really. BUT(T), their live performance turned into well over two hours of tom foolery peppered with good music. It was a shame.

It actually pains me to write such a poor review because I was looking forward to this concert so much. Don’t get me wrong, I have mad respect for Green Day. Thirty years of making music is something that should be celebrated. And maybe what they were doing during their show on Monday would have worked twenty years ago…but, sadly, it fell incredibly short of the high expectations that I had.

Am I glad that I went? I guess. Would I recommend seeing them live? If you’re a hardcore fan, then sure. But I can’t say that I would want to see them play again in the future. Whomp whomp.

So there you have it, my review of the Green Day Concert! Who of my readers are Green Day fans? Have you ever been to a concert that disappointed you? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

PS: Sorry for the lack of pictures! We were quite far away from the stage, so getting a good quality shot was impossible.

Featured Image By: NME

Jul23

Bath Bomb Blitz: Lush Edition

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Bath Bomb Blitz: Lush Edition

Hi everyone and happy weekend! When my sister, mom, and I hit up Beachwood Mall in Cleveland last week, we had our very first Lush shopping trip. Throughout the years of blogging, I’ve seen posts about Lush products almost daily so, of course, I was eager to finally be able to try them out for myself.

To be honest, the entire experience was a bit underwhelming. The store was small and crowded, the products seemed to be outrageously overpriced, and everything there just seemed…unnecessary. I don’t know, I’m all for treating yourself and I’m happy that I bought some goodies just to try them out but I don’t think that I would ever purchase anything from there again. I guess I fail to see the point of becoming a Lush patron when there are countless stores that have better prices, products, and an overall shopping experience. This was a disappointing realization, to say the least, since I was pretty excited to give them a go.

But all of this is neither here nor there because the products have been bought and I have every intention of enjoying them when I have a pampering party. I started my Lush experience with their “DAD” bath bomb, which I thought was a hilarious purchase. Lol, like why? Haha, I saw it and, because I pride myself on my offbeat sense of humor, I just had to add this to my purchase pile. Take a look at my DAD bomb work its magic:

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So this bath bomb didn’t really smell like anything. Its scent was neither bad nor good so there wasn’t much of an aromatic atmosphere happening in the tub. However, it was pretty fun to watch the bath bomb explode into an array of blues, whites, and oranges. It fizzled for a fairly long time, too – at least twelve to fifteen minutes and by the time I eased into the tub, it still wasn’t done.

I liked the cyan color that the bath water ultimately turned in to and I also appreciated that it didn’t leave any crayon colored residue on the tub. The best part of my DAD bomb was how moisturized it made my body feel. I felt so silky smooth upon exiting my bath and my skin felt so nourished and well taken care of. This was a really nice touch, because the two bath bombs that I had used prior to this one didn’t leave my skin feeling any different.

Overall, I did enjoy using this Lush product. However, I can’t justify spending eight dollars plus on a bath bomb in the future. That shopping trip was fun and, like I said, I was okay with buying things because I had never been to Lush before. After I finish up my purchases, I’m beyond cool with sticking to buying random bath bombs at TJMaxx for three bucks a pop and face masks from The Body Shop, which I always manage to get excellent prices on either online or (once again) at TJs.

So there you have it, my first Bath Bomb Blitz: Lush Edition! How do you feel about Lush? What is your favorite product from there? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

Jul2

Anti Bath Bomb Blitz

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Anti Bath Bomb Blitz

Hi everyone and happy Sunday! The last of my TJMaxx haul ends on a bit of a sour note because the other bath bomb that I got sucked on ice. When I got the three dolla holla Chocolate Kisses bath bomb by the UK brand, Bomb Cosmetics, I thought that I was in for a treat. Even through the wrapper, the product smelled delicious and I thought that my bath water would turn into a frothy, aromatic delight. Boy, was I wrong. Check it out:

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When I put this bath bomb into the water, it initially smelled SO good. It was like opening a bag of Hershey Kisses and breathing it in before eating every single one of them. Unfortunately, after the two or so minutes that it took the bath bomb to fizz out, the smell disappeared completely. Major bummer.

The chocolatey aroma that I was left without would have almost been okay if anything cool happened to my bath water, but that wasn’t the case, either. The color didn’t change at all and the illusion of chocolate sprinkles seen in the last picture makes the water look more dirty than inviting. Whomp freaking WHOMP. -___-

I can’t say that I’m too upset about this bath bomb disappointment because I was still excited to try it and it was only a whole three dollars. BUT, if I do see more Bomb Cosmetics products at TJ’s, I don’t plan on wasting my money again. Are their other bath bombs better? Maybe. But I wouldn’t risk trying it again when my Chocolate Kisses one failed so miserably.

Although my haul ends with an Anti Bath Bomb Blitz, I still had a blast shopping and trying out my new goodies thanks to TJMaxx! Which bath bomb brand do you prefer? What is the coolest bath bomb that you have ever used? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May15

Panty Problems

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Panty Problems

Helloooo everyone and happy Monday! I hope that all of you had a wonderful weekend and a lovely Mother’s Day if you celebrated! I have to tell you guys, I am having some MAJOR Panty Problems up in here, up in here. Your girl has needed some new panties for a while now and I decided that this was the weekend that I would make the panty purchase. My mom and I were going to go up to Belden Village, which is a mall about a  half an hour away from us in Canton so that I could shop at Aerie and I was really excited!

Unfortunately, no other malls near me have an Aerie, which is a damn shame considering it’s my normal panty stomping grounds. But that always has been okay with me because Belden Village is my favorite mall to shop at. Before my faithful sidekick – MY MOM and I left, she also treated me to an Aerie gift card as an early birthday present so that I could get my panty on. It was basically the sweetest thing ever and I was so ready to hit the road so that I could revamp my panty drawer ASAP.

SO, we got to the mall and we went to Aerie and it was essentially the most disappointing moment in my life because every single panty there was nowhere close to moving me on a spiritual level . Like, seriously? I have this here gift card and have made the trek to the mall and literally Not. One. Single. Panty. spoke to me. I couldn’t believe it.

I have never not had good luck at Aerie when it comes to panties, but here I was being surrounded by these…these…panty imposters with a gift card burning a hole in my pocket and NOTHING to spend it on. I was in shock. I was disappointed. And I was simply beside myself in mourning for the current uselessness of my gift card and the fact that my panty drawer would be none the better that night.

We walked out of Aerie and I felt dejected and defeated but I figured that we might as well look at Victoria’s Secret, since we were at the mall. I’m not a huge Vicky S fan when it comes to panties. Frankly, I think that they’re an absolute rip off – but at this point, I felt like I needed something and Victoria’s Secret beckoned me into their pink and black emblazoned store with the promise of severely overly priced panties. And like a sheep walking into the slaughter, I entered the store.

Oh, Victoria’s Secret. A store full of sexy little underthings for prices that you could probably buy a kidney with off of the black market. Don’t get me wrong – all of my bras are from Vicky S. I’m just a ballin on a budget kind of gal. I’m more than willing to shell out for a nice bra but panties are just a different story, which is why I’ve always shied away from purchasing them from Victoria’s Secret. But, there I was, Angel Card in hand and a whole store of panties to pick from…

And I hated all of them. Every single panty there that was on some type of a promotion did nothing for me. Similar to Aerie, they were all just blah. But guys…guys…I really felt like I needed to buy some freaking panties – so what did I do? I made my way to the most expensive table of panties which were three for thirty-five or something along those lines and began to hunt for the perfect pairs because it was the only table in the store that I even remotely liked.

After about five minutes, the deed was done and I made my way to the register. The total came close to forty dollars and I just had to stare at the price for a minute, like a cow looking on to an oncoming train. And, I swiped my card and exited the store…

Instantly, I felt like I had made a big fat mistake but didn’t say anything until we got into the car and were on the highway. I then made the announcement that “I have no idea why I just bought those”. It was obviously a moment of weakness because I genuinely see no justification in spending forty dollars for three pairs of panties and I ended up returning them at a nearby mall the next day.

Long story short, my Panty Problems have been a source of much grief and woe this past weekend and here I stand, STILL PANTY-LESS. G DMXCN SMZDNCDCLKSANCKMASJM AHHHHHHHHHHH. Okay. Wow, I really needed that. Anyways, I guess the moral of the story is to not buy something because you feel obligated to (ESPECIALLY expensive panties), patience is a virtue, yada yada yada. And I guess I’m just going to have to wait until Aerie’s panties don’t completely suck until I spend my gift card. *Patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue, patience is a virtue.*  Smh. The End.

So there you have it, my Panty Problems for the weekend, which is obvs enough to last a lifetime! Where do you get the cutest panties from? How about the best bras? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May23

Monday Update: Worst Book Ever Edition

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Monday Update: Worst Book Ever Edition

Hi everyone and happy Monday! Welcome to another week here on lifewithlilred. If you’re a faithful reader of my blog, you might have gathered a few things about me throughout the years. Two of them being that I love to read and that I refuse to not finish something that I start. This second Lil Red Fun Fact rings especially true considering that I’m reading the literal Worst Book Ever. Let’s discuss:

My mom brought me home Maestra by L.S. Hilton from the library. I read through the synopsis on the jacket and inspected all of the rave reviews from authors and the like on the back of the book. Many were comparing it to Gone Girl and saying how the lead female character, Judith, was similar to Lisbeth Salander from The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo. Lisbeth is one of my all time favorite fictional characters and TGWTDT will always remain one of my favorite book series, as well.

I knew that this Judith lady would never live up to the love that I have for Lisbeth but I was willing to give the book a shot. Unfortunately, after the first two pages of Maestra, I knew that I was in for the worst reading experience of my life. Even more unfortunately, those two pages read damned me into having to finish the entire three hundred page book. Fuck me, right?

The premise of the book – an art gallery employee gone rogue was nothing that impressed me. It seemed desperately unoriginal and you could tell that Hilton was trying really hard to channel her inner Gillian Flynn and Stieg Larsson to no avail. I could get past this bland story line if the writing was actually good but the novel didn’t even have that going for it. And there was also one major issue…

This book is legitimately like reading pornography. Judith is very in touch with her sexual side and spends her free time going to parties designed for people to have a romp with complete strangers. The writing goes into specific/explicit detail about sex, sex, sex and then falls into the dull lull of a high schooler’s attempt at writing something edgy.

So we learn that Judith is a straight up sex junkie. This is all very well – if she were smart. This is where I start getting angry. Lisbeth Salander was able to overcome every obstacle in her way because she was intelligent as hell. Judith just uses the fact that she’s willing to have sex with anyone to get out of the troubles that she thrusts herself into.

See the difference? One is smart. One is a slut, for a lack of a better word (I know that I’m going to get some backlash for that!). So for people to compare this Judith character to Stieg Larsson’s genius Lisbeth just seems like a slap in the face to an amazing book series/character. Maestra has easily been the worst book that I’ve been essentially forcing myself to read in my life. You know that Hilton is a poor writer when her erotica is better than the actual story. -_-

If you’re in to reading a really shitty book with some porn thrown in for good measure – read this book. But if you’re in to reading about intelligent, cool, innovative, and truly edgy female heroins then do yourselves a favor and stay far away from Maestra. Crack open a copy of The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, instead. You’ll thank me later.

So there you have it, this week’s Monday Update: Worst Book Ever Edition! What is the worst book that you have ever read? What’s your favorite book? I want to hear from all of you, so leave me a comment and let’s chat! Much love. -Sarah

May4

An Open Letter To DWTS

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An Open Letter To DWTS

I admit it. I freaking LOVE Dancing With The Stars. As often as I can, I’ll tune in for my “Middle Aged Monday” routine of watching the program. So far, I’ve loved season 22 and have been enamored by the hunky Nyle DiMarco who showcases an amazing talent for ballroom dancing and just so happens to be hearing impaired. His challenge leaves the judges and sometimes myself included wondering just how in the hell he can express such gorgeous musicality without being able to hear one note of the songs being played. Despite this incredible talent that Nyle possesses, I’ve been utterly disappointed by the interactions seen throughout the show between Nyle and cast mates. There is an apparent lack of person first speaking and complete disrespect…Most surprisingly from his partner, Peta Murgatroyd. Allow me to explain:

Throughout the season, I’ve noticed Peta’s continuous instinct to talk over Nyle as if he can’t answer for himself when being spoken to by the judges or hostess, Erin Andrews. This instinct to jump the gun and open her mouth before Nyle can even begin to start answering in ASL comes across as pushy and disrespectful. I was also completely disturbed by the ease of which she referred to her partner as “the deaf guy” on this Monday’s show. As soon as those words escaped from her mouth, my jaw dropped to the ground.

Excuse me? The deaf guy? You mean your partner? I couldn’t believe that she had the audacity to refer to her partner and supposed friend in such a degrading way simply based on if he can hear or not. I was also kind of disgusted by the fact that she said this while speaking alone to the cameras because that just leaves you to wonder if Nyle even knows that he’s being referred to in such a demeaning matter.

One of the first rules that you learn when you’re working with people with a challenge of any kind is to utilize “person first speaking”. IE: Not “the blind person” but “the person who has a visual impairment”. By referring to Nyle as “the deaf guy” was essentially letting the world know that she only sees her partner as being defined by his disability. Not by his personality, his staggering good looks (wink!), or his ability as a dancer.

I commend Peta for her hard work on teaching Nyle how to ballroom dance and her excellent choreography. However, all of her accomplishments as his partner is being dragged through the mud by her blatant insensitivity which is showcased in her constant need to speak over him and by degrading her so called friend. Before Dancing With The Stars chooses to bring on another celebrity with any kind of disability I suggest some major sensitivity training for all parties involved on the show. I’m honestly baffled that nothing has been done yet with such obvious cases this season and DWTS is definitely losing the respect of an avid fan.