Subscription Box Corner: March 2015 A Box, Indied Review!

I really like indie nail polish. It's fun to support smaller companies who have awesome ideas about what a polish should be and how they should look! A Box, Indied is a monthly subscription box of sorts that caught my eye on Instagram from Llarowe's page. A bunch of indie polish vendors are featured each month in a themed box. Now, unlike most subscription boxes, you can't just buy 3, 6, or 12 months at a time. You have to be prepared to push the "GO!" button in your mind when they go on sale, because as far as I know, these boxes go quick! When I saw the March box featured tons of vendors I have always been curious about, I pounced. For $50 (this price includes shipping), I got 5 full sized polishes, so each lacquer falls between between $8 and $10, depending on how you figure shipping. Let's take a look inside the March box!!

This whole thing came in a really lovely, longer box with a cute sticker. Very nice packaging on the outside. I am going to re-purpose this box for something, methinks.

Tissue paper wrapped its contents on the inside...

...and the first thing that greeted me was this lovely card detailing what brands were inside the box. On the reverse side, instructions for a delicious looking St. Patrick's Day cocktail!

Each polish was individually wrapped in this bulky, weird tissue paper, but I loved how it was done this way with this material. Everything felt super protected in these tiny little packages!

Like I mentioned, each polish is wrapped in this weird material and taped onto each is a printed label for what brands are enclosed. Onward!

Pahlish's Fields of Gold is right up my alley! You know I love anything gold, and look at this one. LOOK AT IT. Stare into its eyes. Hypnotic, ain't it?! Packed with metallic gold glitter, this would be blinding in 2-3 coats, I'm sure. LOVE this. I am seriously obsessed with getting all of the gold polishes!!!!!~~

Girly Bits' Serendipity is a gorgeous dusty rose, bronzey, silvery, goldy polish that looks like it may have a bit of texture to it and some holographicness as well. Not my favorite off the nail, but I think it will be a stunner when it's applied to the nails, almost like jewelry! Dripping with shimmer, this might shock me.

Contrary Polish's is a brand I had never heard of before this box. Shamrock & Roll is a beautiful green jelly polish with gold flecked glitters. This is the perfect for St. Patrick's Day or any other holiday or occasion requiring a splash of green. In a couple of coats, I have a feeling this will be opaque and brilliant looking, though it seems runny right out of the bottle. Love this one! it's not so dark that it'd stain the nail, but not light enough that you'd not notice it was green (does that make any sense?).

 

That. Holo (minus the messy background). Though. I have always had my eye on Colors By Llarowe for a long time, mainly because that's the site where you can buy tons of indie polishes you want, whenever you want. Uhh, how awesome it that!? Magically Delicious is an amazing purple with the flashy holo, so sparkly. What else could ya want? The purple is darker than my liking for my skin tone, but I will still like it, I think!

Glisten & Glow apparently has one of the best, most coveted top coats in all of polish. Endless Rainbows is a purple-leaning pink holographic polish with some seriiiiious shiny shimmering. I LOVE this color, it's perfect for me and what I like. I can't wait to use this in a nail art manicure paired with some KBShimmer holos.
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That's all, folks! Have you ever bought A Box. Indied? Have you ever tried any of these brands? Anything jump out at you?

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #66: Butterfly Lane Scents' Strawberry White Cake

LAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAND, HO!

I have no idea why I said that, it had nothing to do with today's melt.

Butterfly Lane Scents' Strawberry White Cake
Cold Rating: 8/10
Lit Rating: 8.5/10
Throw Rating: 8/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; one of the very few vendors that has a good, solid, non-buttery cake bakery scent. Amazed by this vendor. Fantastically sweet, both from the fruity strawberry and the fluffy cake. Strong, lasted many, many hours in both the bedroom and the bathroom (I had 2 scent shots). Hoarding scents because of unopened vendors. Hard to get vendors who don't open all the time are the bane. Changed from colored wax to white wax. Not caring about what color wax is because it all gets tossed in the end. Strawberry season. Nothin' worse than awful strawberries. Homemade cake. Using a bajillion dishes and making a mess. Turning into a semi-bakery gal one scent at a time. Loving cake scents, never knowing which will be the butteriest and nastiest popcorn smelling cakes. Nothing will stop me from eating cake. Cake, before Rihanna. "Cake," with Jennifer Aniston, had very little to do with cake until the end of the film. Friends don't let friends let cake spoil.

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #65: Flaming Star Scents' Apple Honey Pear Cider

Even though it's officially Spring, I still crave fallish scents. You can't take the cinnamon out of my favs!!!

Flaming Star Scents' Apple Honey Pear Cider
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 6.5/10
Throw Rating: 6/10
Overall Rating: 6.5/10; a really lovely medium pear scent with light hints of spice, perhaps cinnamon, and a small apple smell. Would have liked a more heavy apple and pear balance from this melt. More of a sweet scent than a fresh one. Honey is just sweetness to my nose in most scents. Lasted 4 hours in the bedroom. Cute little sun man. To cure or not to cure, that is the question. Winning a gift card for this vendor. Forgetting to go back and buy more. So-so performance overall from this company.

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #64: Better Homes and Garden's Pink Sugar Berry

My wonderful waxy pal, Deb from It's Always Something, went to her local Walmart a little while ago and I asked her/she offered to get a few things for me. Thanks again, Deb! I knew when she picked up this one for me, I *had* to melt it first.

Better Homes and Gardens' Pink Sugar Berry
Cold Rating: 7/10
Lit Rating: 8/10
Throw Rating: 8/10
Overall Rating: 8/10; a wonderful balance of sweet, juicy, fragrant and fruity raspberry, mature musk, and exotic, perfect pink sugar. Smells great in just 2 cubes. Strong, lasted many hours in the bedroom. Bright pink wax. Wax that would be better frozen in the freezer as opposed to poured out while hot. The misconception that tarts form Walmart don't throw well = crap. Getting multiple melts in each clamshell. No horrible skunky smell from this clamshell. Clamshell is a funny word. Infinite supply of Walmart tarts while most other vendors have long TATs. Instant gratification, like going to get ice cream right now!!!

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #63: Beezy Tarts' Lychee Coconut

What does a lychee smell like? Taste like? Look like?!

Beezy-Tarts' Lychee Coconut
Cold Rating: 6.5/10
Lit Rating: 7.5/10
Throw Rating: 7.5/10
Overall Rating: 7.5/10; great throw, as I have come to expect with 99% of tarts from Mr. Beezy. Coconut smell is quite sweet, a little tropical but toned down/mellowed up? by the lychee. Bathroom melts are the perfect place for super fruity scents like this one. Never cutting scent shots in half. Never seeing lychee in its natural habitat, IE; the grocery store. Not knowing what a lychee looks like if it hit me in the face. Needing more frequent restocks from this vendor. Having recently been put off by coconut scents in winter, but waiting to melt until Spring is a pain. Lychee is a funny word. Smashing my thumb with a hammer trying to break open a coconut when I was younger. :P

To Try: Influenster's NYC New York Color VoxBox!

I was selected by Influenster to try out the new NYC New York Color Big Bold line of mascara (Angel Lash) and liquid eyeliner (Big Bold & Precise felt tip liner). I got these products for free to try from Influenster and anyone can sign up for a free account! Let's take a look at these products!

The products fresh in the package! I really like the pictures on the sides to display how each should look when being used.

And here's the card that came in the package explaining what each task will be for the Influenster portion of the trial. Apparently Demi Lovato sponsors this product? Well, she has questionable taste. Each product has a specific promise: the mascara will be bold and light, 7 times more volume with 16 hours of wear and no weight, and the felt liner will have a 2-in-1 felt tip with 10 hour long lasting wear formula. Bold promises, amirite?

The mascara package up close and the back information.

Eyeliner packaging and back information.

Both products out of their packaging. I am a sucker for purple, so I wouldn't hate carrying around this mascara, only the tube is HUGE. I don't think the photo does it justice. The eyeliner is your typical type of container for such a product, nothing special.

Out of 5, I give this mascara a 3.5. It does add a lot of volume in one layer, but once I upped it to 2-3 layers, it got SO clumpy! I had to remove this at least twice with 2-3 layers and once with one layer. I don't get why mascara can be so clumping. I really liked the feel of this on my lashes and it didn't feel heavy, but the clumpiness knocks it down a couple pegs.

Out of 5, I have to give this eyeliner a 1. This stuff sucks! Not only was it streaky when applied to a fresh face, but it was clumpy and clumsy to apply because of this HUMONGOUS tip! Here's the swatch of it on my wrist:

LOOK at that thing! It's so weird! It was like a sharpie on my eyes. On top of this, it had a very weird and chemically smell, something I've never smelled before from any of the other eyeliners I have tried. Yikes! This stuff was a disaster of epic proportions. Needless to say, I am glad this was free to try from Influenster because I would not buy this.

Thanks to Influenster for letting me be part of this trial, even though I didn't care for the eyeliner! And again, I received these products complimentary from Influenster for testing purposes. Check out the hashtag #NYCBigBold on Twitter and Instagram for more reviews and thoughts!

Order of the Odor: Volume 7

Welcome to the Order of the Odor! Please join us in answering the smelly question of the month and voting in a fun blending poll, by commenting with your choices.

1. If you could create any scent blend possible, what would it be?

My dream scent blend would be would be a pretty boring one. I think I'd love to smell a mix of fluffy and clean towels, salty sea air but without all the poopy seagull smell, bright and wonderful sunshine, grainy sand from a beach, more salt and a light lime fragrance, like that from the rim of a cold margarita. Maybe with a hint of pink sugar to tie it all together, maybe not, I'd take it either way! MMMMMM yeah!!

2. Deb, Lauren, Sunnee and Julie each picked a single scent note they would like to explore further. They then created a blend for each other using that note. Please vote for which blend in each scent category you think you would enjoy the best by commenting.

All "A" choices are Deb's Blends, all "B" choices are Lauren's Blends, all "C" choices are Sunnee's Blends and all "D" choices are Julie's Blends.

1. Deb: White Tea

A. Sage/Mandarin Marmalade/White Tea overpour

B. Lavender Cucumber Sage/Honeydew Melon/White Tea overpour

C. Citrus Cooler/Pink Sugar/White Tea overpour

D. Sage/Apricot/White Tea overpour

2. Lauren: Strawberry Rhubarb

A. Waffle Cone/Vanilla Ice Cream/Strawberry Rhubarb overpour

B. Strawberry Jam/Cannoli/Strawberry Rhubarb overpour

C. Monster Cookie/Marshmallow Smoothie/Strawberry Rhubarb overpour

D. American Cream/Orange Sherbet/Strawberry Rhubarb overpour

3. Sunnee: Raspberry Coconut

A. Lilac Lane/Watermelon/Raspberry Coconut overpoour

B. Celtic Moonspice/Dunk My Donut/Raspberry Coconut overpour

C. Lemon Biscotti/FL Keylime Pie/Raspberry Coconut overpour

D. Serendipity/Strawberry Raspberry Guava/Raspberry Coconut overpour

4. Julie: Pink Chiffon

A. Serendipity/Whipped Cream/Pink Chiffon overpour

B. Pear/Cotton Candy Frosting/Pink Chiffon overpour

C. Fireside Marshmallow/Pink Sugar/Pink Chiffon overpour

D. Pink Chiffon/Peach/Gilligan's Brew overpour

What would be some blends you would create with those scent notes?

Sweet lemon bakery, strong throw, only $2.00 a clamshell? Come see what hidden gem Deb has found unearthed from an unexpected store.

If you are a candle lover like we are, you probably have noticed the price hike at Bath & Body Works. Sunnee shows us her candle collection and thoughts on the goings-on at the ol' BBW. Pull up a chair and bring your coffee and join the conversation!

With a potential Rosegirls opening looming in the near future, you want to check out these 16 sweet blends that Lauren posted from our recent Muffin Club haul. It is bound to get those creative juices flowing! 

Swing by The Redolent Mermaid to see what amazing blends Julie scored from Candles From The Keeping Room this month. You know you want to see what awesome samples Carol sent out!

Wickless Wednesday: What We Watched, February 2015!

Hello, all! If you follow me on any other social media platform, you'll know that my husband Josh and I also run a movie review blog called Lolo Loves Films. Movies are a huge passion of ours and always have been, both separately and together as a couple. Because we have MoviePass, we are able to see every 2D movie one time in the theater within a 24 hour time period. I will spare you the details, but I thought, why not share the best and worst of we've been watching in the theater, on Netflix and elsewhere in one cumulative post on this blog, too?!

Who is down for this? If you love it, I'll do it again next month, and if you don't, I'll nix it! :)

PS: Please Follow and "LIKE" our Facebook page: Lolo Loves Films because we will be doing a giveaway for a movie theater gift card once we get 100 likes!!
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*February's Favorites*

-"The Great Dictator" (1940): This month on our blog, we featured one review of a Best Picture nominee or winner every single day and had a blast doing it! One of the last movies we watched was also one of our favorites, and it was "The Great Dictator", which was written by, starring and directed by Charlie Chaplin. A comedic look at the goings on of Nazi Germany before the United Stated entered WWII, this controversial film is both impactful and amazingly done, even by today's standards. We appreciate a good satire and this is one of the best! Our rating: 10/10.

-"Ordinary People" (1980): A film that we revisited for a second time, this time, our viewing of "Ordinary People" was completely from the first. Intimate, awkward, well crafted, engaging and heart-wrenching all at the same time, this film was definitely worth of a Best Picture nominee. Our rating: 9/10.

-"Kingsman: The Secret Service" (2015): The best theater movie of February 2015 by far. Colin Firth plays a gentleman ass-kicker. Full of violence, snark and a truly awesome story that leaves the door open for more, this is a MUST SEE! Our rating: 9/10.

-"The Tale of Princess Kaguya" (2014): In an effort to see as many movies that were nominated for Oscars before the actual award ceremony, we sought out all of the animated features since we love these types of films. "The Tale of Princess Kaguya" is an artful and beautifully animated great story, and though it is a bit long, the details and intricacies are enough to keep you supremely interested. Our rating: 9/10

-All 3 films in the "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy (2001-2003): one of the best trilogies. Ever. No questions. Everything about "The Lord of the Rings" films is wonderful and flawless and quotable and brilliant and yes!!! Our rating: 10/10 for each movie.

-"The Graduate" (1967): With one of the most iconic lines in cinematic history. "The Graduate" is an offbeat romance with tremendous cinematography and excellent performance by Dustin Hoffman and Anne Bancroft. One of the films you need to watch in your lifetime! Our rating: 9/10.
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*February's Least Favorites*

-"The Loft" (2014): Not all the movies on this list are bad, per se, but "The Loft" certainly is. Sexist, tacky, poorly written, badly acted, misogynistic and full of the worst group of asshole characters you'd ever find in a movie, it is best that you avoid this movie at all costs. Our rating: 2/10.

-"Hot Tub Time Machine 2" (2015): Offensive, bad, sloppy and stupid, this sequel shouldn't have been made. It takes the worst part of the first movie and makes it the focal point in the sequel. It has also bombed so far at the box offices. YIKES! Our rating: 2/10

-"Fifty Shades of Grey" (2015): Definitely not as horrible as we figured it would be, this movie is still sort of a feminist's worst nightmare from page to screen. The chemistry between Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan is almost non-existent, the film is poorly paced and the dialogue is laughable. Our rating: 3.5/10.

-"Mr. Turner" (2014): Not wholly bad since its cinematography is quite nice, but the slow pacing, boring details and so-so story makes us puzzled as to why this movie was nominated for so many Oscars this year. We are in the minority when it comes to this film. Our rating: 5/10.

-"The Greatest Show on Earth" (1950): Ever wanted to know how the circus works? If so, watch this movie. If not, avoid it, because it is long, detail-ridden to a fault film about the public and private goings on of the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey...that, or a giant product placement for it. Our rating: 5.5/10.

Have you seen any of these movies? Do you agree or disagree?

Swift & Supersonically Snappy Short Review #62: Alamo Candelaria's Vintage

I think it's safe to say I have found the tart version of Bath & Body Works' greatest scent ever, London Calling.

Alamo Candelaria's Vintage
Cold Rating: 10/10
Lit Rating: 10/10
Throw Rating: 10/10
Overall Rating: 10/10; the greatest scent on Earth, nay, the solar system. The exact duplication of my favorite candle, but in tart form! YAY! Tea and lemon, seriously. Black, hot steeped tea mixes in an intoxicating fashion with not a cleaner lemon, but a zesty, wonderful, fruity, fragrant and delicious lemon. 4 huge tarts to one roll. SO FREAKING STRONG!! 10/10 in ever sense of the phrase. No lie, this tart lasted 2 days. 2 DAYS!!! Being able to buy in bulk. Wonderful embeds and designs. Top notch, the best packaging from any vendor. Classy, themed, mature, brilliant. Scent names invoke such a powerful description on their own. Vintage tea time. Wanting to try candied, preserved lemons. Not being able to find my favorite tea. Loving black tea, give me suggestions. Such a tremendous scent, I cannot think of enough descriptor words to say how wonderful it it. <3 <3 <3 <3

Random Post: February 2015 Favorites!

Once upon a time, I made YouTube videos.

Did I love making them? Sure, sometimes. Were they easier than blog posts? In some respects, hell yes. Did I get the same kind of gratification from them as I do with blogging? No. Did I get to interact with people like I do here? Yes, but it was different. Do I like blogs better? Yes, yes I do.

I don't know what the point of all this was, but one of the things I miss doing from my YouTube days are favorites lists! Well, who says I can't make one on here?! So today, I am bringing you my February 2015 favorites from all across the realms of stuff, not just wax and candles! If you like these, you may see them more. :)

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*2015 Plum Paper Planner: A lot of my waxy pals have an Erin Condren Life Planner, which is really cool, but the price point is much more. When I saw that the Plum Paper Planners were a bit cheaper and also had cute designs (featuring OWLS, NO LESS!), I was hooked. Josh bought me this planner as a Christmas present and it has taken all my might to use it. I leave it on my desk and try my best to fill it out at the end of each week for the next. There is a weird casting color to this photo, the owls are actually light blue, not green.

*Planner Kate's stickers and washi tape: I have followed Planner Kate on Instagram for a while, but always as a lurker, never as a purchased. That changed when I got a planner, duh! LOL! I have only placed one order, but she had these really cool heart and star stickers that I knew I needed to use in my planner. Also, she offers washi tape grab bags cut specifically for either Erin Condren or Plum Paper planners. Neat! I love her labels, too.

*Roku 3: For Valentine's day, Josh bought me a Roku 3! We have been rocking the ooooooooooooold school model for the last 5-6 years or so, and the speed was considerably slower than we wanted. Plus, it took forever to search for anything on the crappy Netflix "app," if you can all them that on the old version. #FirstWorldProblems, eh? We toughed it out, though, and loved it regardless. The remote had been a bit fidgity, not always responding to what we want it to do. Let me tell you, if you have any inclination about getting a Roku 3, DO IT. NOW. YESTERDAY, if possible. Holy moly, this thing is FAAAST! Lightning fast! It has a lot of different, upgraded features that are relatively self explanitory, plus, it comes with a WIRELESS HEADPHONE JACK IN THE REMOTE, so if Josh is sleeping, I can watch TV and not disturb him and vice versa. Such a great investment!

*Ellagee's Dia de los Muertos bracelet: Ellagee is one of my favorite indie polish vendors. She is always creating such unique polishes! Lately, she has branched out to include magnets, night lights, small jewelry and liquid latex for a flawless, no mess around the cuticles manicure. When I saw this Dia de los Muertos bracelet in her shop, I knew I had to have it. For $3.50, it doesn't get much better! I waited for a while until there were enough things I wanted to buy to justify shipping. It's a little bit on me, which is unusual for my arthritis-ridden wrists, but hey, I ain't complainin'!

*Zoya's Lolo nail polish: Only one vowel away from my nickname, this uber pink, slightly shimmery polish is increeeeeeedible. I am all about the bold, and this pink is electric. It looked awesome on my nails. Some bright pinks don't look great on my coloration (is this the right word? lol), but there were no issues with this one. Love!

*Butter London's Slapper nail polish: Julie from The Redolent Mermaid gave me this polish last year and I thought a bandit made off with it since I couldn't find it. Lo and behold, it turned up one day and I promptly used it. UGHHHH it is fabulousssss. I even tried to give it back to her because I thought she might want its amazingness back! LOL. What a wonderful blue/green/teal color.

*Liquid Sky Lacquer's XTC nail polish: Another bright pink polish with shimmers and my horrible attempt at a "bottle shot." This one was incredible. Fast drying, bright, shiny, I only wish I had bought the big bottle!

*KBShimmer's Clearly On Top Quick Dry Top Coat: Seche Vite has lost its charm, unfortunately. It is a royal pain in the ass once you've used half of the bottle. It gets gunky, stringy, and even with Seche Vite Restore, I haven't noticed a darn bit of difference. In search of another top coat, I saw that my all-time favorite indie polish vendor had a topper AND was quick drying! I waited until they launched their Spring 2015 polishes and added it to my order. I am in love.

*China Glaze's Passion nail polish: This polish has been sitting on my desk for a year. A YEAR. Why, I have no idea. I bought it to use with my nail stamping plates, which I had soured on a bit, but I used it in a manicure combined with the polish below and am re-convinced. If you've followed this blog for a while, you'll know I LOVE GOLD. This polish...it's hard to describe how amazing it is. Shimmer, but not glittery, sparkly, but not annoying, it was perfect in 2 coats, but I used 3 to get rid of some streaking.

*Pacifica's Red Red Wine nail polish: I have also mentioned on another polish post I tend to stay away from dark colors, like deep reds and blues, because they take a loooooot of skill to use and are a lot of work to clean up if you mess up. I received this Pacifica polish in a PopSugar Must Have box some months back and was hesitant. Well, I decided to combine this with the above China Glaze to make a pattern using my stamping plates...

...and this was the result! I am covering up the HORRIBLE mistakes on 2 fingers, but 3/5 ain't bad! Minus some minor clean-up (I should have used my liquid latex, d'oh!), I loved this look and will try and redo it eventually!!

*Paddywax's Ocean Tide + Sea Spray candle: Another PopSugar Must Have item. I held off on burning this because I was afraid I wouldn't like it as much as it smelled on cold sniff. Boy, was I wrong! This little candle is PHENOMENAL.The smell is sweet, oceany, wonderful. As you can see, it is almost gone, sadness! I will buy another one eventually since unfortunately, Paddywax candles are a bit expensive. But hey, quality over all, right? There is a bit of sooting around the top even with wick trimming, but it's hardly noticeable.

*Dolce Gabbana's Light Blue: It took me a while to dive into this sample (from Sephora), but once I did, I got hooked. I NEED this perfume in my rotation like I need air. It smells amazing! There was a fragrance list based on your zodiac sign on Influenster the other day and, whaddaya know, Light Blue was for Taurus! Sounds like fate to me. Anyone know where to get this stuff for cheap?

*First Aid Beauty's Ultra Repair Cream: I received this in a subscription box, too, and I sort of love it. It doesn't smell too weird like some creams do (I notice even unscented ones smell funky sometimes). Plus, you can use this all over the body! I have used it on my face, hands, arms, feet and legs to make them feel more moisturized, and haven't definitively made a decision about it. I have a problem remembering to use creams at night, especially since I tend to do things before I go to sleep like play games or do crossword puzzles, so it's mostly my fault that there's no consistency to my routine. This container doesn't take up too much room on my desk so it's easy to see right there!

*Reese's Peanut Butter Cups Minis: What would a favorites post be without some food products?! These little tiny Reese's are the bomb diggity, no doubt. Unwrapped, a better ratio of peanut butter and chocolate (IMO), plus, the bag isn't too big! I am trying to save these for a recipe but am having a hard time. ;)

*Brooklyn Hard Candies, Peppermint flavor: I love hard candies any time of the year. In fact, more than sometimes, I prefer hard candies to chocolate. Peppermints are also my favorite flavor, so these are a wonderful treat. Plus, they came in this cute little glass jar from one of my Treatsie orders!

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Do you like "favorites" posts? Would you like to see these posts once a month? What were your favorite products in February?