Shazam!

Hey guys, I know I'm being kind of biased with my posts, since the vast majority of the products I'm reviewing are ones I really like, but too bad so sad!!

Anyway, this post today is about a smartphone app called Shazam. Have you ever been in those situations where you hear a really good song on the radio and want to remember it to download it to your Ipod later on? So you try to make out a couple lyrics to find the song on Google later on... and when you get in front of your computer you TOTALLY forget them! I know this has happened to me dozens of times, and it is really frustrating!!

Shazam Logo

Well, interestingly enough, this app is one of the main reasons I got a smartphone. Sad, I know, but this lyric-memory problem really drove me crazy! So as soon as I got my phone I quickly downloaded Shazam, which is the song identifying app.

When you hear a song you like at a club, in a restaurant, on the radio, all you need to do is whip out your phone, press the Shazam app, and PRESTO! The app takes about 15 seconds to identify the song and artist for you! But it doesn't stop there, it also shows you the Youtube music videos associated with the song, gives you the lyrics AND even tour information of the band/artist!! And this app is free, can you believe it?

I give the product a rating of 8.5/10. I'll list the pros and cons of this app:

Pros:

• It's free and takes up hardly any memory on your phone, so it's really not a hassle to have. 
• As mentioned before, it goes above and beyond just identifying the song title. 
• I notice there are frequent upgrades for the app, making it faster and more accurate in identifying the song.
• No more scribbling down lyrics on little pieces of paper! The songs are all recorded and listed on your phone, for you to check up whenever you want. Definitely saves a lot of trouble!

Cons: 

• It has to be relatively quiet for the phone to accurately pick up the song. The best way to use this app is if you're listening to the radio, and using it in public can sometimes be ineffective. If there is too much background noise (people talking, traffic, etc.) the phone will not be able to identify the song. 

So, as you might have guessed, I am a big fan of this app! I have about twenty songs in my history, and it's saved me many headaches! I recommend it for any music love out there! It works on Iphones, Blackberries, Androids, and many other phones! So what you waiting for?

8 Minute Workouts

After many years of going to the gym, I only recently discovered this revolutionary 8 minute workout! The videos feature three people straight out of the 80's (check out their crazy outfits! omg!) who enthusiastically work out different parts of their bodies (abs, legs, arms, etc.) in 8 minutes.

I know it sounds a bit funny, but check out the video by clicking here.
On first glance, there's that relaxing music, green scenery and three muscular people doing the routines. The main idea behind the workouts are that they have 8-10 different activities, each about 30 or 45 seconds long. The activities work out a variety of areas in the arms, legs, abs and buns (those are the four categories).

The idea is to take 8 minutes out of your day to work on a part of your body you want to work out, everyday, and you'll see results very shortly.

The results?
I really think these exercises work! The 8-minute abs is especially challenging, it takes a while to be able to keep up with the routine! However, as the main guy says, go at your own and work your way into the routine! I don't think it's necessary do to all four exercises (abs, arms, legs, buns) everyday, my suggestion would be to pair up the arms & buns and the legs & abs and do them every other day.

ex. day 1: abs & legs
day 2: buns & arms
day 3: abs & legs

Do this for 2 weeks, you will DEFINITELY feel more toned, and give it a few more weeks you'll see yourself being tightened up! These short routines will get the blood pumping for SURE!

I'd rate these videos 9/10. Why?
Pros:

• It's FREE! no need to buy a machine or go to the gym, just look up "8 minute buns", "8 minute abs", "8 minute arms" or "8 minute legs" and go!
• It's really easy to encorporate this workout into your day! Just dedicate 20 minutes to your fitness, it will probably be nice to escape from homework anyway!
• Once you've done the routines enough, you'll be able to memorize the movies. Often the videos have "BEEP VERSION", where all you hear is the beep to switch moves, and so you can play your music over the video! And we all know how more enjoyable it is to work out to your fave tunes!
• The feeling after completing a day's work of muscle exercise is unparalleled. 
• The people in the video are too freakin' funny!!! And so encouraging :)

Cons: 

• While its easy to work yourself into playing these videos everyday, it's also easy to stop doing them regularly and completely ruin the pattern. Kind of like when you stop going to the gym regularly. 

So overall, I would definitely recommend giving these videos a try!

Summer is coming up, after all :) 

Shake Weight

Infomercials are sometimes so absorbing, so mind-numbing and neverending, that people can't help but get sucked into watching 10 minutes worth of them!

Some of them take off quickly, like the Magic Bullet.

Some of them have a memorable spokesperson, like ShamWow!

Some of them... well... see for yourself.  

Shake Weights feature "groundbreaking" workout technology that will "revolutionize" our way of toning our upper body. With "scientifically proven" facts, the Shake Weight is guaranteed to build up muscle where desired, as well as drastically reduce unwanted arm fat. The infomercial claims that the manual weight is based on a new kind of work out technology, called "Dynamic Inertia", where the weight only vibrates when you move your arms. It immediately starts tightening your arm, shoulder and chest muscles.  

The infomercial claims that this 2.5 pound weight is designed for the ladies. BUT FEAR NOT, MEN! Shake Weight has designed a new 5 pound weight just for you! And accompanied with it is an equally hilarious infomercial! 

So one day, as a joke, my brother asks my dad to pick him up a Shake Weight when we went to the US. Sure enough, he did! We all thought it was hilarious for a few minutes, we all picked it up and tried it for 10 seconds, and within 30 minutes of opening it up, the Shake Weight began to pick up dirt in the corner of my brother's room.

I'll cut to the chase. I rate this product 2/10. And those 2 points are purely for the design team that came up with this innuendo-filled product! Honestly it's hard to watch the video and not cringe at all the sappy people involved in them! But I guess that's usually how infomercials go. 

As for actual product performance, the Shake Weight leaves much to be desired. It is an incredibly awkward fit, and takes a lot of effort to actually build up momentum in the weights. Not only would I never work out with one in public, getting the right momentum is so difficult that it just seems like a useless piece of garbage. 

Let's be real. If you want to lose arm fat, or build muscles, just stick to the good old-fashioned weights, and you'll save yourself a lot of embarrassment, frustration and 30$. 

Kan You Kinect?

As some of you may know, I went to Boston as part of my break. We stopped off at a relative's house, who had a massive HD TV (like 64 inches!!) in her living room. She also had a Kinect. 

For those of you who don't know or haven't seen this device, it's a motion-sensing webcam-like box that you place on top of your TV (meant for Xbox 360 owners), and you stand in front of it and act like the controller! Now I'm no gamer, but this thing blew my mind!! It was a little tricky to operate at first, but after a few tries you could easily maneuver yourself around a game. 

The first game I tried was a dancing game, Dance Central 2. In this game, you imitate the cartoon dancers on the screen, the motion sensor detects your moves and gives you points on how skilled you are at following the moves. Check out a demo here. It's more fun to compete with another player or two, but I'm sure playing on your own is good practice!    

I couldn't help but be amazed at the graphics, especially how you could see yourself in the top right corner and could watch your own dance moves as you did the song. It was definitely an entertaining night, as we spent a good chunk of it making a fool out of ourselves with our funky moves! And because this gadget doesn't require any controllers (like a Wii), there's no real danger of hurling objects at the TV! 


Here are some things to note: 

1. There is no point owning a Kinect if you don't already have an impressive TV. While the effect was magical on the huge HD TV, there might not be much thrill on a much smaller TV. 
2. There are about 100 Kinect games, and the numbers are only going to grow from here. 
3. Many of the games, especially the dancing ones, are pretty good exercise! After a couple rounds of the dancing game we had to take a little break :)
4. The concept of you moving around as the clicker is a little confusing from some "less technology-savvy" people. But practice makes perfect! 

Overall, I rate this product 7.5/10. It's really fantastic at the beginning, but from what I've heard, there is not a huge variety in the games. But maybe that does not matter as much, because as we all know, technology is always adapting and improving, and new games could be right around the corner! And because this system involves motion sensors, it's most likely that many of the games involve around exercise, which is important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle! 

Pore strips, meh.

A few weeks ago, my cousin told me about a product by Bioré called Deep Cleansing Pore Strips. She kept raving about it, and briefly explained how it works: 

1. Wet your nose with warm water to open up your pores. 

2. Apply the pore strip on your nose. 

3. Wait 15-20 minutes to dry. 

4. Peel off nose. 

5. Look at all the filth that was festering in your pores. 

Now, for some bizarre reason, this immediately made me want to go out and buy it. But first I ran home to check if the hype was true. The reviews were very promising, and some people claimed it was the solution to their acne plights. I don't have a bad complexion, but who doesn't like to clean up their pores every once in a while? Men, don't be put off by the "feminine appearance" of the box, because loads of guys use it too!

WARNING: the Google images are pretty gross, especially considering everything coming off on the pore strip was once on your face. 

So I bought a box, about $11 for a box of 8, so about $1.30 per strip. Kind of steep, but if you use one strip every week it should last you about 2 months, so I figure it's probably worth it. The box looks like this: 

So after reading and re-reading the instructions, my boyfriend and I each tried a pore strip. After 15 minutes of trying not to laugh (and failing), we peeled them off. 

The results? Meh. Not great. Definitely nothing close to what I'd seen in photos or read in reviews. My boyfriend's was a little better, but still nothing fantastic. Pretty disappointing. First trial was a bust, but why were so many people (including my cousin) so happy with it?? I tried it again three more times, and the last time was probably the best (I tried exfoliating first), but still not great. My boyfriend's, on the other hand, was pretty good! 

WARNING: The photo you are about to see might be kinda gross to some people. If you are easily squeamish I suggest skipping over the photo!

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So yeah, apparently this is what's supposed to happen. Maybe my pores aren't open enough for these strips to work, but if your pores are slightly open, or maybe a little oilier than usual, it would work!

SO! What rating do I give them? They didn't work for me, but they worked for my boyfriend and my cousin. So my rating is 5/10. If you do not have troublesome skin, or visible pores, I don't really recommend these strips because they will not do much. I believe these are for people who have more acne prone skin, but if you really want to try them out, go for it! You might be pleasantly surprised :) 

Magic Sacs really are magic!

My first review! I'll try and make it a good one :)


So in our house, we've always had these bags that we'd call "magie sacs", which were basically cotton bags filled with rice or beans. 
You pop em in the microwave for 3-4 minutes, and VOILA! A heated bag for those cold winter nights, painful cramps or post-gym back soreness. 


So do these things work? Do I recommend them?


YES!!!!!!

When it comes to cramps or muscle stiffness, I'd chose these bags over Tylenol or Advil any day. It works very quickly, and keeps you nice and warm in the process. For those of you who've never tried one, I highly recommend you give it a chance!!


Don't you hate slipping into a freezing cold bed on a typical Canadian winter night? Pop this thing under your covers while you're brushing your teeth, and you'll come back to a toasty warm bed! 


So where can you find these things? Personally, I don't remember where we got any of the ones in the above photo (we have about 5 in total), but I do know a company called MagicBag, and you can buy them at most Pharmaprix and Jean Coutus. However, they are really quite expensive for what they are (35$ for a bag of rice?), so I'd recommend browsing in smaller stores, or if you're feeling creative, make one of your own! 

I'd rate this product 8/10, because though it works very well, it can be a wee bit expensive, and difficult to find. However if you find a cheap one, I would definitely give it a shot :)


Plz comment and let me know if you have one, and would like to share your experience with it!

Hey guys, welcome to my blog! 
I'm gonna use this place to rate and review several products I've tried/used, and let you guys know what I think! I'll try to keep the products interesting and unusual, and for both sexes too! 
I'll be keeping you guys posted on my Twitter if I've made a entry. 
www.twitter.com/LeahFinks


:)