Showing posts with label Mimi Treschaud. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mimi Treschaud. Show all posts

11/23/2025

SKNet Australian Eco-Friendly Laundry Detergent Sheets

I received a box labelled Tomic, not SKnet, and that has none of the features that the product page photos and description has. Other reviewers have mentioned that this is Tomic not SKnet. My review was rejected by Amazon because I simply said that the product they sell and what you get are two different things. But they cannot reject my review here :)
 
 THINGS I LIKE
> The cardboard packaging, which is fully recyclable.  
> Perfect for travelling, and washing by hand or using a small load of laundry while travelling or camping.  
> It can be used with front and up loading machines.  
> I didn't have any skin sensitivity reaction.   
 
THINGS I DON'T LIKE 
> Their false advertising as this isn't Australian or eco-friendly. They've changed the photos on the product page since I bought this a few months ago, but check the photos of the product I received. 
> I used a whole sheet for my laundry and the clothing came out just OK.
> Peony scent? Not really. 
> There are 30 sheets breakable in two, supposedly for 60 laundry loads. However, if I have my washing machine fully loaded, I need a minimum of a full sheet or even one and a half sheets.   
 
IN SHORT
Handy to carry around and emergency washing, especially by hand. I won't use this in my washing machine and I will look for genuinely Aussie-made eco-friendly products. 
 

AQUARIUS Pink Floyd Carry All Tin Lunch Box

Another beauty from the Aquarius tin range. I use this for storage purposes, not as a lunch box.  Depending on the cases, I use it to storage, lace, ribbons, paper scraps, buttons and what's not.  The box is really roomy and the printing quality great. This box is my favourite in the range because Pink Floyd's iconic imagery hasn't aged at all. This box can be carried by the handle (which can be collapsed flat  for easier storage), and has a secure metal latch to keep the lid secure. The box is really good quality and, although pricey, the art is fully licensed and the overall quality great.

Glad 72 Large Wavetop-Tie Tidy Bags (Fits 35L Bin)

Great quality sturdy rubbish bags. They tide up differently from those that have two handles, and I've come to like the wavetop-tie more. The product claims to be leak proof, and my experience with them, after years of using them, is that this is true in moist cases. I've used these bags also when moving houses as they are perfect and very resistant while holding clothing, linen, cushions and other textiles without them getting stained by the bags colour. 

Oral-B Gum Care and Sensitive Repair Toothpaste, (110g)

Not a miracle, just a toothpaste. I like the sandy texture and fresh light mint of this toothpaste. It can be used to decrease teeth sensitivity if you apply a coat directly on to the affected area, as a treatment or salve, so to speak. I've used this brand and variety for a long time and it hasn't reduced my sensitivity in a way that I can say it's remarkable or really noticeable. I love, though, that targets gums, enamel and sensitivity at once, so it's a all-rounder affordable paste. Many of the claims that the brand makes about this variety might be true for clinical controlled studies. I haven't seen those reflected in my personal life. Yet, I'm happy to buy this toothpaste as it is lovely, refreshing and I really like the feeling of its sandy texture. 

Vekol 360 Chalkboard Sticker Labels with Erasable Chalk Marker

I got 10 sheets with 360 waterproof sticky labels. I love that the stickers come in three different shapes and that are small enough to use on kitchen jars and containers. I prefer them to be presented in flat sheets than in rolls, as the former method makes it easier to store. The complimentary chalk marker works well. 
 
Give it some time to dry completely or it will rub off easily. Once it is dry, it can be completely erased by rubbing your finger on it, or passing a tissue or damp cloth on it. The labels are reusable and go back to normal, so they're recyclable.  
 
The main issue with these labels is that they don't adjust well to small round traditional preserve jars, because they aren't flexible enough to stick that way. So I had to put the ones that I use in the kitchen on the caps of my preserve and spices jars. No issue when I use them on flat surfaces. I would have loved a bit of variety in sizes, but that's me being picky.   

Twizler Merry Christmas Card with Cute Penguin

I wanted something different for Xmas this year. I saw this super-cute postcard in that red envelope and I bought several for my love ones. It is not the ubiquitous Santa or Nativity imagery that you find elsewhere and I find it adorable for both children and adults. It's has a Merry Xmas on the top front, another on one of the sides inside. It has plenty of writing space inside, too. 
 
My main complaint is the lack of printing definition. The image looks a bit "smudged" or a bit "blurry", i.e. lacks definition or neatness.  It might the way the original image was painted that way, but ain't sure. Also, the paper quality is worse than other Twizler cards I've bought in the past. Overall, very lovely. 

Kilner Storage Jar with Shaker Lid (250ml)

I thought these jars would make a good salt & pepper set, but the jars are too big for table purposes. They're still great to have them on my cooking station for everyday purposes or to store large quantities of spices. 
 
The design is great, in the sense that holds the same amount of product as other jars but utilises less space on my counter top.The lid has an upper rotating over-lid that opens to three different perforated sections for sprinkling and pouring purposes. The pouring opening is perhaps too large if you cook for two people and don't use large pots. 
 
Unfortunately, this jars aren't dishwasher or microwave safe, and it will break on touch with boiling water. So, not as good as other Kilner containers. On the other hand, there is no reason why you would want to wash this often or put it in a microwave.  

11/03/2025

Smith's Potato Chips Original Lunchbox Multipack (18 Pack)

Great portion control bags and has three plain chips in different varieties (raffled, thin, and deli) plus the Doritos chips. These bags are perfect for lunch boxes and to munch without the guilt to gulping down a whole family pack on your own. I think this is the healthier of the snack mix boxes, too. I think the multipack would have benefited if there were two plain chips and two varieties of other plain snacks. 

ROCK POW 60% Mechanical PC Gaming Keyboard

I was craving one of these keyboards, the noisy ones, the ones that have cushioning and you actually have to click on. This seemed perfect for my current needs, a small keyboard that I can plug to my laptop and carry or store easily. The colour combination is elegant and modern, and helps locating different kind of keys easily. It's so pretty! This keyboard plugs and plays into my laptop via the provided doubled USB cable easily. 
 
The keyboard, despite what other reviewers say, is well built, it's sturdy, and looks and feels expensive. It comes with three complimentary replacement blue axis and tweezers. 
 
MAIN DOWNSIDES
 > Instruction leaflet is minimal and has no instructions.
> Backlight cannot be switched off. It becomes distracting at times. If it can be put off it wasn't clear to me how.  
>  There isn't direct keys for arrows down/up left/right or delete, which I use all the time. The laptop is designed mostly for gaming and it shows. As I wanted it for work, it was not convenient or intuitive enough.
> If the power supply to my laptop is deficient or alternates, which happens sometimes, the keyboard backlight starts flicking, which is most annoying. 
 
Returned.  

10/25/2025

Twizler Happy Birthday Card with Games Console

It's quite difficult finding birthday cards for boys, but I hit the golden buzzer with this. I sent this card to one of my nephews and he absolutely loved it. I think it reflects the personality and hobbies of many boys  his age (9yoa) who play soccer and love video-games. I would say that it's designed for an European audience as most children would play soccer not footy or other kinds of football.  The card is quite large and comes with a lovely red envelope. 

Bukamkom Under Eye Patches Gold (10 pairs)

This eye treatment is good value for money as the box comes wit 10 pairs of patches individually packed and is really affordable. The results are beautiful as my eye area looks refreshed, tightened and less wrinkled after use. In my case, if I leave the patches more than the advised time, I get mild irritation, so stick to the instructions and you'll be fine.  
 
I read the reviews mentioning that the patches fall easily and that you have to lay down while applying them. This isn't the case for me. Truth be told, sometimes one of the patches sticks perfectly and the other tends to slide down, but that depends on my skin being sweatier on one side. I wouldn't be exercising with them on, for sure, but I wear them when working on my computer and they don't fall. 

Life-Space Double Strength Probiotic Capsules (64 Billion CFU , 15 Strains, 30 count)

This is a double-dose version of the 15-strain variety that I reviewed in the past. This one has 60-millium CFU and the other 30 million, but the strains are the same. I bought this variety as it was heavily discounted and wanted to know if I'd notice a difference. It hasn't made a difference to me. Said differently, it's still an excellent product, but I don't see a difference in my body from the lower-dose capsules. 
 
I love the packaging. The glass container can be easily reused as the info on it is written on an easily detachable plastic coat. These capsules don't need of refrigeration, so I can keep the jar anywhere. 
 
I cannot publish the review on Amazon as I reviewed the other variety and the system is blocking this one. Whatever. That's why I have this blog :) 

L'Oreal Preference Permanent Hair Colour (5.3 Light Golden Brown)

I prefer L'Oreal Preference hair colour (pun intended) to the more popular Excellence variety as it doesn't dry my hair as much as Preference, and the resulting colour is also nicer. The kit contains the usual colour bottle, developer bottle, treating mask and plastic gloves.
 
Colouring was easy and the result on my gray hair was a colour very close to the one on the packaging. I have dark hair so I didn't expect to have my colour toned down at once, as I'm going from dark to light. However, the side of the packaging shows a photo of the colour one might get when used on a dark brown colour. The results were not close to that colour, unfortunately. At the same time, it created some random highlights that I really liked. I thought that I would get the overall toning down on subsequent applications. So I waited less than my average tinting time to apply the colour again. The results this time were way better and I can see the difference. So I will continue using it till my hair tones down completely. This is not going to happy in two uses, but perhaps in four depending on one's hair length. 
 
The complimentary hair mask is really good and can be used twice depending on one's hair length and thickness. However, I prefer to use a professional, salon-purposed Argan oil mask that works better on my hair. 

10/11/2025

Ohuhu Mix-Media Hardover Pad (210cm x 210cm)

This Ohuhu pad looks expensive due to its luxurious leather-like cover, flexible soft binding, elastic band, ribbon bookmark and decent mixed media paper. It comes in a sturdy cardboard box that protects it and makes it perfect for wrapping and gifting. It comes with a complimentary silicone sheet that can be inserted between pages to prevent bleeding and staining. All the design is really well thought and the price fantastic. 

I was looking forward to having this pad for mixed-media painting, but the first results were disappointing. I first tasted the paper without gesso priming and I was getting quite happy with the paper performance despite using a lot of wet media. My happiness ended when, after finishing a grid layout, I started to remove the low-tack soft masking tape I normally use. This tape glides off beautifully on most papers, but it ripped the paper apart destroying most of the painting area. I got me really annoyed.

The product page states "Designed especially for use with alcohol markers, the 120lb (200GSM) mixed media paper has a pleasingly smooth surface that resists smudging and feathering." To me, this is not the best paper for wet mixed-media because the paper definitely wraps and buckles, and needs of gesso to work on it to prevent the paper being ruined or torn apart. However, the pad is perfect for dry media, pencils, crayons and markers.  
 
In the end, I decided to use it as a collage sketchbook with limited use of water-based products and I'm very happy with this pad for that purpose. 
 
The pages are punctured so you can cut them off if ain't happy with what I'm doing or the paper gets damaged. However, the part of the binding before the puncture stays in, so if you have many pages cut off, it bulks up and it looks cheap. 
 
For the rest a good quality pad perfect for limited wet and dry media, and collage.  

Arttec Oil & Acrylic Sketch 240gsm A2 Pad (12 sheets)

This pad is one of the few affordable A2 pads in the market that allow you to work with oils. acrylics and mixed media. I've used it with mixed media and it's great both as a sketchbook and for producing studies or art pieces that you aren't going to sell. It has a beautiful canvas-like texture on the front, and a sealed plastic-ish smooth back that prevents bleeding. It's not meant to replace good quality paper, but allows creating quality studies and sketches without breaking your budget. You can still have some rubbing and scratching done on the paper, but to a certain point. I gesso the pages before working on them so that the pages don't tear or break when doing that. The pad is not only affordable but the twelve sheets are a generous number for the price. 

10/10/2025

Johnson's Pure Cotton Bud Applicators With Paper Sticks (150 Pack)

I use these cotton buds for so many purposes, to clean my ear lobes to start with, but also as part of my DIY manicure, to clean my eyebrows while dying, in my artwork practice, you name it. I love that the sticks are made out of paper. They are still strong and don't break. 
 
I cannot understand the necessity of using a plastic container. A cardboard one, made out of recycled cardboard, would be not only more environmentally friendly, but also cheaper to produce. I hate one-use plastic packaging. The container is really cute and can be reused, but due to the shape is not easily to store in small spaces, so I ended binning it. I feel guilty every time. 
 
Due to what's happening in some parts of the world I'm no longer supporting brands like this and reverting to local brands and companies.  

Bamboo and Plastic Desk Top Drawers

This is one of those Kmart items that I consider a staple at home. I have many of them stacked on each other in my art studio/home office. They're not only good looking, durable, roomy and easy to clean, but also fit well with the Ikea Skandi look that I love for my studio. I stuck them by using a bit of blue tack on the base. I have put some of them inside my shellves, and they look great, keeping all my stuff tidy and organised.

USEFUL INFO

Measurements: 12.1cm (H) x 33.7cm (W) x 24.2cm (D).

Materials: Polypropylene (PP) plastic and bamboo.

Product weight: 1.7kg.

10/08/2025

Kmart 4-Drawer Storage Unit on Wheels

Not fancy, not pretty, but a great storage solution if you're on a budget. This unit is perfect for garage, shed, and tools storage as well as a great shoe and toys cabinet. It's amazingly simply to put together without the need of any tool; it's like a large Lego puzzle. It has rudimentary wheels that help me move the unit around. Price is amazing for such a useful unit. I've had two of these for years, and they're still as new. On the flip side, they're a bit wobbly, made of plastic, and nothing you want to display around the home.  
 
USEFUL INFO 
Measurements: 70cm (H) x 31.5cm (W) x 43.5cm (D) / 2.3ft. (H) x 1ft. (W) x 1.4ft. (D). Drawers: 15cm (H) x 32cm (W) x 43.8cm (D).
Material: Polypropylene (PP).
Maximum weight capacity: 5kg (each drawer)

Yitexin Canvas Pencil Roll Wrap (72 slots)

This is a good quality large pencil wrap with 72 slots. Perfect to keep pencils, average pen and thin/medium markers. The elastic band are  tight, so it's difficult to get some of the markers in. At the same time, this prevents them from sliding off. There are too double fittings, which are perfect to insert thick markers or several small things, like pencil/pen refills, erasers, etc. I miss having a couple of more of those double fittings to put all the things I wanted in. This wrap has thicker canvas and is better quality than others I own. I fit tons of stuff in this.  

YOUSHARES 6-pc Aluminium Pencil Extender Set (Assorted Colors)

These pencil extenders are not only good quality aluminium in six good-looking colours, but perfect for average pencils when they get too short. It fists most artist pencil brands and all the short pencils I have.  
 
USEFUL INFORMATION
Measurements: 7 mm dia x 105 mm long.
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