8/29/2023

Sandhurst Whole Sicilian Green Olives, 280 g

This is an affordable replacement to deli olives, although not as tasty truth be told. I've been purchasing this brand and variety for a long time. They make a great antipasto, and have a very smooth flavousome flavour, not too vinegary. They're good sized, very fleshy and juicy. I like this whole version because I think they taste better than the pitted ones. I love the fact that the container is glass and tin, as it is fully recyclable, if binned, and reusable for many purposes. I always keep a couple of these jars in my pantry as I can have them ready when friends visit, or just for my own enjoyment.  

8/28/2023

Vaseline Petroleum Jelly Original, 100g

I use Vaseline quite often for different purposes, and none of them is  to care for my lips, which is what most people associate this with. I find Vaseline really great to minimise or treat skin chafing and itchiness due to irritation or skin medical conditions that dry off my skin. My elderly mom used to use it on her legs in winter, as her skin would be super-dry due to heating and a medical condition and really soothed her itchiness. I use it more like a treatment not like a day-to-day cream. I don't use it as hand cream because I've found that it's too 'greasy', but I use it on the top of my hands or around my finger nails if there is  any sort of irritation.
 
Petroleum jelly is the main ingredient of Vaseline. Similar creams by other brands are labelled in fancier ways, focus on the 'dermatologically tested', charge me double. I prefer Vaseline because they're honest about what's in the jar, they're dermatologically tested (tested by my skin too) and the price is always affordable.

Good value for money, as a tiny bit of product goes a long way.
 
I love the new packaging, which looks nicer and more modern than the old jar.

KIYOSAKI Gooseneck Phone & Tablet Holder,

 This was, beforehand, what I was looking for to use my phone in bed at night as I've noticed that my hands and fingers get sore. The deal price was an incentive. I had read the reviews before purchase, so I knew that the 'cable' was sturdy and hard to maneuver, but it's way harder that expected and I had difficulty moving it around without making an effort. Inserting the ball into the holder head piece was also very difficult for me. 

The  product comes with minimal packaging and no instructions, and looks like a generic product. Nothing wrong with that!, but the lack of instruction leaflet makes  it unnecessarily difficult to set it up. In fact, the holder is easy to set up if you know what to do. Basically, you hold the clip on to you furniture and, to fasten it and/or adjust to the thickness of the edge you're attaching it to, you have to screw/unscrew the tubular body part (see my photo). The holder looks very small, but the lower edge is expandable, so you can adjust it to fit a quite large phablet like mine (see my photo). If used horizontally, I can easily fit a tablet.

I ended returning the product due to the fact that the holding clip is quite wide and cannot hold my narrow bedside table edge, so it falls off. So, my advise to you is to check the depth of your furniture edges before purchase.

8/25/2023

Paul Rubens Hot-Pressed 100%-Cotton 300gsm Watercolor Journal (Black)

I wanted  a compact good-quality small notebook or journal just to do warm-up mixed-media exercises and experimentation, and this item seemed to fit the bill.
 
THE GOOD STUFF
> Very good-looking sketchbook.
> Good-quality off-white 300-gsm watercolor paper. I love its smoothness and tone. See details about my testing below. 
> Stitch perforated paper sheets, which tear off easily. 
>  It has a separator ribbon, something that I love because I use it a lot!
> The notebook measurements are 3.8’’ x 5.2’’, a pocket size that makes it perfect to carry in my small handbag or briefcase. Perfect for traveling as well. I wanted something that is easy to store and this can be stored anywhere easily. 
> Affordable. 
> Very lightweight.
DOWNSIDES 
> The product Amazon-page photo and description and what I got are not the same. I've already given feedback to Amazon as some of the photos and statements are misleading and don't t relate to the product I got at all.  
> Unrefined leather-like cover.
> The paper is excellent, but I wanted a good journal not good loose paper sheets.
> My item doesn't have the elastic band/strap mentioned/photographed in the description page. I find this not only deceiving, but also disappointing because it seems to be an issue not just with my notebook but with many reviewers'. A band is necessary in any small journal with detachable sheets because, eventually, they'll all be loose and the band is needed to tide them all up. 
> Bad quality binding, with some parts just glued and others loosely sewn (see my photos). The product page says that it's loosely stitched to allow the removal of the middle thread to have a double-spread or panorama sheet. That's good, but since the binding is so poor, not all the pages are thread-stitched, all of them are perforated and some of them detach on their own, how is this going to work?
> One of the sheets was already cut off when I opened the product. The pad came sealed (as per my photos) so ain't sure if that's a factory issue or the item was a re-purposed return.
> The separator ribbon edge is already loose-threading itself (see my photos). 
> The back cover inner pouch is glued with the opening facing the spine, which makes it not only difficult to use but also useless to me.
 
PAPER TESTING
I've tested the paper twice before posting this review. Herewith my first impressions. My first test was done with a non-gessoed sheet. As per my photos, I used watercolour pencils, waters-soluble crayons (Neocolor II, Tim Holtz) and markers (Posca, Tombow), oil pastels (Ohuhu), soft pastels (Munyo), acrylic ink (Liquitex), heavy and fluid acrylics (Golden) alcohol ink, alcohol markers(Faber Castell, Copic), archival ink refills (Ranger), Stabilo-All and China black pencils, my fountain pen; FC Pitt permanent-ink markers; metallic markers as well as an UNI white gel pen. The paper stood well, without bleeding, most things, included my two alcohol markers, which is impressive. I found the paper especially lovely and smooth when watercolouring Posca, Tombow, Necolor II and Stabilo All. Soft pastels extended well with water, even though they aren't water-soluble and cheap, but oil pastels were not good on this paper, yet my pastels are cheap. Alcohol inks bled (see my photo) and, in a lesser degree, archival undiluted ink.
 My second test was done on a sheet of paper with clear gesso added to it, as this is how I usually work. I used simple mixed media, acrylic paint mostly, but also aquarelle pencils and markers, and plenty of water. The paper was a pleasure to work with and it doesn't buckle at all. Truth to be told, I usually work heavily on the paper, more than in this case, adding collage, stitching and what's not; yet, I'm very satisfied with the quality of the paper. 
 
IN SHORT
I consider this Rubens journal to be a mediocre journal. The paper, on its own, is excellent. However, I'm not buying loose sheets of paper but a journal, so it defeats the purpose. I wouldn't give this as a gift, but it serves me well for what I need: to experiment with my paints and have everything neatly collected. I will have to supply the missing elastic strap myself and sew the separating ribbon. This journal seems like a degraded version of the advertised product, like a bad batch perhaps, and there are significant discrepancies between what it's described on the product page and what I got. Bear in mind that the same journal is listed on a separated page and marked as 'Amazon choice', but it's a bit more expensive. Either way, next time I buy this journal, if it's as it is now, I will return it.
 

8/21/2023

Hxyrxib 2Pcs Flat Silicone Paint Brushes

I've had this pair for a few months now, and I love them. The two-piece is perfect for my needs as I paint on small surfaces and I don't need anything bigger. The bigger brush is 2" wide, and the smaller 1". I find the larger one great to spread gesso, different mediums on larger surfaces, a whole sheet of paper for example, while I use the other one for smaller surfaces, to  glue collage pieces and to properly paint. Both are perfect for mediums because I can easily wipe them out clean with household/baby wipes. However, they're called 'color shaper' for a reason; that's because I can move the paint in ways that normal brushes don't allow me to and  I can create cool effects with the sides, the edges or part of the brush surface.
 
The handle is made of good quality material. Despite me leaving the brushes in water for long periods of time, they haven't deteriorated or pealed off. The product description page says that the handle is made of wood, but it feels more like sturdy plastic to me. If it's wood, the plastic coating is really good. 

The ferrule is made of good-quality metal and hasn't loosen up so far, something important because if the silicone brush gets loose, it loses precision and functionality.  
 
The brush part is made of good quality flexible silicone, and works well on watercolour paper. The main issue with these brushes, like most other shaper brands I own, is that they have a slightly convex shape on both sides, which tends to create 'pools' of product on the upper part. I've learned not to use the whole brush surface just the flat part, the sides or the tip. Yet, I've also found that some brands have one part convex and the other flat (see my photos), and that works better for me. Also, the brush part is not as flexible as other brands shapers.
 
Overall, I'm very happy with the product. Color shapers are never super-cheap, but this combo is affordable and good value for money.

8/20/2023

Sabco Microfingers Mini Duster (Green)

This is a good duster. It's structure and handle are made of sturdy plastic, while the head is velvety soft and dusts beautifully, especially at-reach wide surfaces (tables, beside tables, consoles, shelves). Ain't sure why is called 'mini' because I'd say the head is quite large, and certainly larger than my old one.  What is mini (meaning short) is the handle, so ain't able to reach lamps, the top of my blinds or high surfaces unless I use a chair or a stool.  It gets the dust out easily and I wash it under running water with average household soap and, when dry, it looks like new. I can wash it because the head is a sort of glove that I can get on/off. I wish  it had a Velcro closure to make the removal a bit easier, but it's not difficult at all. I love the brand and having all my cleaning products in this bright green. Good value for money, too. 

Lindt Lindor Dark Assorted Cornet 327g

This is the only chocolate package that it's a regular in my grocery shopping. I don't fancy the fancy-flavored or filled-in chocolates or bonbons. I don't like average milk chocolate at all. I enjoy chocolates that taste of chocolate, and dark chocolates are those that do it for me. T The three varieties in this cornet do taste of chocolate and I love them all for this very reason. They are the perfect size and very good quality, with the right amount of sugar for me, which is not the usual you find in average chocolates. The blue-foiled variety is the one with more milk, but still tastes of chocolate; it's very creamy and smooth. The silver-foiled is 60% cocoa and tastes a bit stronger, while the golden-foiled (and my favourite) is the 70% cocoa, which has a bit of bitter after-taste, something that I love. I wish this cornet had more dark varieties in it. The main downside is that the core of the balls gets very soft and even runny when the weather is warm or hot, so, I keep them always in the fridge and, if carrying them to work in Summer, I put them in my insulated lunch bag. Not the chocolates that I gift more often just because not everyone likes dark chocolate; otherwise, it is my preferred selection of chocolates.