Adventures in Winterland: August 2010

Thursday, August 26, 2010

$40 CSN GC Giveaway

Good news - CSN stores recently contacted me to either do a product review or host another $40 gift code giveaway for my readers. Because you all have been so supportive of my blog, I decided that one of you should have the wonderful feeling of shopping at CSN stores. With more than 200 online stores, I am sure you would find almost any product you need at CSN -dining room sets, cookware, office supplies, wall decors, rugs and even baby accessories. Also, did you know that CSN Stores now offer over 1 million products?! There are just so many wonderful things you can buy for $40. Below are just some items I found:

Livingware Rosemarie16 Piece Dinnerware Set

6.5 Quart Electronic Wok

3 Tier Corner Bookcase in Wicker and Metal

Mandatory Entry: Must be a follower of my blog! Just write a comment that you are an existing follower or a new follower AND visit CSN Stores and tell me which product you will get. You need to do to do both! (1 entry)

* Make sure you write your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries:

1. Visit dining room sets and tell me which set is your favorite.

2. Follow me on Twitter (@mandalarctic)

3. Grab my button. Leave a link as to where you put it.

4. Enter my Pleasant Dreams Collection Giveaway from Sleep Scentsations.

This giveaway is open to US and Canadian residents only and will end on September 17, 2010 Friday (11:59 PM Alaska time). I will use random org. to choose the winner and he/she will be contacted via e-mail. Winner will have 48 hours to confirm the prize or I will choose an alternate winner. CSN Stores will directly ship the prize to the winner.

* Shipping fees may or may not be included depending on your location and choice of product.

Good luck!

Disclosure: I did not receive any product or monetary compensation for this post. CSN Stores has generously offered to provide the $40 gift certificate to the lucky winner.

Sleep Scentsations Review and Giveaway

I am an insomniac. No matter how much I try to sleep early, I end up laying on my bed for hours till the wee hours of the morning. When I moved to Alaska, I did not anticipate that not only would we have long periods of darkness during the winter time but also long periods of daylight in the summer. So when summer came, my sleeping pattern just went berserk. We have almost 20 hours of daylight and to an insomniac like me, it just made sleeping almost next to impossible. Thus, when I heard of aromatherapy pillow liners from Sleep Scentsations, I became very curious and and I contacted the company to ask if I could review their products. Luckily, they agreed (Yay!) and I received 3 pillow liners from Sleep Scentsations: Day at the Beach, Relaxing Lavender, and Snore Rx.

Basically, these are scented pillow liners that are infused with essential oils and fragrance oils known to promote health, wellness and relaxation. Essential oils have been used for hundreds of years as a natural and alternative medicine to heal the mind body and soul.

My experience: I tried the Day at the Beach scent for this review. Using it was very easy - all you need to do is to peel off the adhesive at the back of the pillow liner and place it underneath your pillow case. Initially, I found the scent too overpowering and so my husband ended up trying it instead on his pillow. I noticed though that I could still smell the scent of the oils from his pillow but this time it was not too overwhelming and I actually liked the scent. The scent had a soothing and cooling effect on me and it helped me feel sleepy. When I woke up the next day, I felt refreshed.

H's experience: My husband did not like it as much as he found the scent too strong. Since it was under his pillowcase, he woke up with his hair smelling like the pillow liner -(this might be a concern for some if you do not wash your hair daily). For our second night, we noticed that the smell was not as overpowering as the previous night - which is what we both preferred. We both had a wonderful sleep. The packet said that the scent lasts for about 4-7 days and we have been using it for 5 days now and so far, we could still smell a lingering, milder scent of the pillow liner which is really nice.

Overall, the Sleep Scentsations pillow liners indeed help create the mood for sleep and relaxation when we used it and for an insomniac like me, it is a big help! However, we probably wont be placing the next liner directly underneath our pillow cases on the first night as we find the scent too strong for our preference. Instead, we plan to put it somewhere in our room (maybe on a table), or flip the pillow so it wont be directly under our face on the first 1-2 nights of use. In this way, we both will be able to enjoy the scent and still get the relaxing benefits that it offers.

Sleep Scentsations offers 8 wonderful scents to choose from and if you are not sure of what scent to get, you can order 1 liner at a time. Just pick a scent you think will help you sleep better, guilt-free for only $3.50 per liner + FREE SHIPPING!

Giveaway: Sleep Scentsations has generously offered a Pleasant Dreams Collection ($24.99) for (1) one of my lucky readers!

Mandatory Entry: Be my friend by following me via Google Friend Connect AND visit Sleep Scentsations - tell me what you learned or favorite scent.

* Make sure you write your e-mail address so I can contact you if you win.

Extra Entries:
1. Follow Sleep Scentsation on Twitter and leave your Twitter name.
2. Follow me on Twitter (@mandalarctic) and tweet about the giveaway. Leave a link of your tweet in your comment.

3. Grab my button and leave a link as to where you posted it.

4. Blog about the giveaway and leave a link of your post in your comment. (2 entries)

This giveaway is open to US residents only and will end on September 10, Friday (11:00 P.M. Alaska time). I will use random org. to choose the winners and he/she will be contacted via e-mail. Winner will have 48 hours to confirm the prize or I will choose an alternate winner. The sponsor will ship the prize directly to the winner.

Good luck!

Disclosure: While I was not provided any monetary compensation, I received 3 pillow liners from Sleep Scentsations to facilitate my review. The views above are based on our household's experience while using the product which may be different from your experience.