Redbox Instant streaming service review

At $8 a month Redbox affords you the opportunity to stream movies and games right in your home along with 4 night rentals all at a rate that is cheaper than the streaming and DVD service that Netflix offers. I was super excited when  BzzAgent asked me to try out the new Redbox streaming experience but the excitement was short lived. I do not claim to be a streaming expert but my family enjoys the convenience of streaming from home so we have tried several products to help us do this. We have Amazon Prime, Hulu Plus, Vudu and Netflix so I was excited to see the different movies that Redbox would offer me.  Once I had my account set up I went to the app on my tv and started looking through the titles to find something to watch.  I was very disappointed when I looked through the movie selections and realized that first off the number of movies available for instant streaming were few and secondly I saw that the ones that were there were older and there was very little variety. What I found was a lot of unheard of movies that I never knew existed.  After further research, I found out that Redbox only offered movies from certain movies companies which explains why they did not offer as many movie options as you would find on Amazon or Netflix.  To make matters worse, I was shocked to find out that even after paying the monthly fee, there was still the possibility that if I did find a movie I wanted to watch, I could be charged an additional fee to rent. For example, if I wanted to watch the new release Admission, I had the option of paying $4.99 for standard definition, or $5.99 for HD. I was disappointed with this because I was under the impression that Redbox was going to provide me with new releases which I could then stream to my home but this was not the case. I feel that there are other programs out there which provide a better movie selection at cheaper prices that would allow me to stream directly to my television.  I understand that the extra fee of 4.99, compared to the kiosk fee, is for the convenience of being able to watch it in my home, but I guess I have been spoiled by the low cost rental fees that Redbox had spoiled me with all these years.  I did not see anything different or better than say Amazon Prime, Netflix or Hulu Plus that would warrant me dropping these subscriptions for the Redbox one. The only plus that I saw was the four kiosk rentals you get but I felt like when you are paying $8 a month, you are basically paying for the rentals.  

One great thing that I did find when watching the movies through Redbox program is how clear the movies showed. Aside from an occasional error message, which I could locate the solution to on their site, I had no trouble using the service and the movies started up with no problem. One thing that I think I would have liked to have known before I signed up for the service is the types of movies I would be able to stream instantly. It would have been nice to have a clearer understanding of which movies were subscription, rental, and kiosk.  I was pleased with the devices that I was able to stream movies on and I was happy that there was an app.

So what is my final verdict on the new Redbox Instant streaming? Well, if you are someone who enjoys watching older movies and going to the red box kiosk than this will work for you.  If you are someone who enjoys both movies and gaming than look no further. If you are looking for a subscription that gives you both movies, and television, then this is not the service for you.  Overall, I think that Redbox has a start to the new streaming subscription plan, but in order to compete with existing companies, they will have to make some big changes.  I love the concept but unfortunately, it has not been fully executed. I think that I would be OK with paying a higher monthly rate if I knew that I would be able to instantly stream the new releases straight from home without the extra fee. In Red box’s defense, I did some research and found out that there are some Movie restrictions which prevent them from doing just this so I have come up with another solution.  I think that it is great that you have the 4 monthly kiosk rentals but I would prefer if I could use those on renting some of the new movies that are I am currently being charged 4.99 for. I think that in order for Redbox to be able to compete with other streaming companies, they are going to have to expand their movie selection, remove the additional rental fees, and make all new releases available for instant streaming.   So as for me, I will be keeping my Netflix account, and I am even more in love with my Amazon Prime account which gives me free streaming of a great selection of movies and TV shows.  

I was provided a free month of Redbox instant streaming from Bzzagent in exchange for me to review. All opinions are based on my own experiences. 

Don't Let the smooth taste fool you... Colgate Total Advanced Shield Mouthwash really works

Whoever said no pain no gain, must have never used Colgate Total Mouthwash because there is no burning pain when you use this mouthwash.  I received this product from Influenster for free to test a couple of weeks ago and I was excited after I read the background information. I must admit that I had been fooled into thinking like many others that in order to get fresh, clean breath, you had to use a mouthwash with a strong alcohol after burn, but boy was I ever wrong. I was skeptical about whether or not Colgate would be able to live up to all their claims but after using the Colgate Total Mouthwash for two weeks, I am sold on it. I was so impressed with it that I let my husband use it as well and he too felt that it worked great. I received the flavor Peppermint Blast flavor but it also comes in Spearmint Surge and Wintermint Rush.   The first time I used it I was surprised at how great the taste was and how clean it made my teeth feel. I must admit that I was a little skeptical that a mouth wash that had such a smooth flavor would be able to deliver on their 12 hour protection, but it did. I found that after using it my breath had a cool, clean, and refreshing feel.  One thing that I did find is that I did start to notice the freshness wear off shortly after the 12 hour mark, but after a quick rinse with it again, the freshness was back. If you are someone who hates morning breath, I recommend that you give this product a try and use it before bed time. I found that when I used it before bed, my morning breath was a little more bearable when I woke up the next morning. Overall, I think Colgate has a winner on their hands and I cannot wait to try the other flavors offered.  If you would like more information on this product, please visit Colgate's website here, or visit them on Facebook or Twitter.

New and Improved Purex Fabric Softener Sheets Review and Giveaway

As a stay at home mom of a sometimes crazy and chaotic household, I always seem to have a never ending chore list.  If I had to rank my household chores in order from my least favorite to favorite (as if any are really any are my favorite), I would have to say that doing laundry falls somewhere in the middle of my list. Now don’t get me wrong, washing is the easy part, things get a little blurry once the cloths enter the dryer.  You see, I dread having to take cloths out the dryer because that means I have to do something with them.  Don’t judge, but I have even been guilty of turning the dryer back on to keep from having to do anything with a load of cloths. If you are honest with yourself you too may have done this in the past. To help myself make it through process of doing laundry, I have developed a pretty straight forward process to speed the process up. Even though laundry is not one of my favorite things to do, over the years I have managed to develop a laundry routine that is complete with some tried and true products. Aside from my detergent, the other most important product needed for my laundry routine is fabric softener sheets.  I must admit that when it comes to the products I use for my laundry, I tend to stick to the tried and true products.  For years I have been a bounce and snuggle fabric softener user but when I was asked by Purex Insider to try the new and improved Purex dryer sheets, I thought it would be a great opportunity to try something new.  

In an effort to learn a little more about the product I did a little research and found out that the new formula now contained three times the fragrance as before. The fabric softener sheets were designed to not only leave your family’s laundry soft and fresh smelling, it also reduces static cling, and repels pet hair and lint. As I read about all these great benefits, I got excited because as the mother of a four legged baby, it was great to know that his product was also created to help keep stray pet hairs off all of our clothes.  To find out more about this new product  by visiting their product page at http://www.purex.com/products/softeners/dryer-sheets, as well as stay up to date on all the Purex Happenings by liking the Purex Facebook Page.

From the moment I opened the shipment box, I was welcomed by the great smell of lavender. I was surprised that the smell was so strong and fragrant considering that I had not even opened the actual product package.  Initially, I was a little concerned that if the shipping box was so strong, the same would be true of my clothes when they were dried with the dryer sheets. It just so happened that I had a fresh load of clothes to dry so I immediately threw in a dryer sheet to test them out. 

When I went to remove the cloths from the dryer, I was a little disappointed that the lavender smell was somewhat faint.  This was a little disappointing because while the clothes had a fresh smell to them, most of the lavender smell that I absolutely loved, seemed to disappear. I found that these fabric softener sheets were perfect for my husband, since he is someone who does not like for his clothes to have too strong of a fragrance to them.  Aside from the issue with the scent, I did find that these fabric softener sheets did a great job of reducing the static cling in my dryer, all while adding softness to the clothes. I was able to see another great feature of this product at work when it came time for folding my cloths. Sometimes my little dog likes to join me while I am folding the laundry, so it was great to see that the Purex fabric softener sheets did a great job of repelling all his stray hairs off the clothes he decided to make his bed. 

Overall, I loved the great lavender smell of the sheets, but I wish that the smell stayed with the clothes once dried.  Even though I was not 100 % satisfied with the fabric softener sheets in my dryer,  I have decided to use the fabric softener sheets in various areas of my home so that I can have that great lavender smell all over. Because the smell is so great, I have decided to use the fabric softener sheets in various areas of my home so that I can have that great lavender smell all over.  I have also found that they do pretty well taped on your air filter inside of your air conditioning vents.  By doing this you can have that great smell circulating throughout your entire home. The Purex fabric softener sheets also help me take care of one of my biggest pet peeves, stray hairs.  I always wondered what to do with the used sheets and now I have the perfect use because they act like a little hair magnet. With one quick sweep of a used Purex fabric softener sheet, I can gather all of those pesky stray hairs off my bathroom floors and counter tops.

I have also placed a couple in the bottom of our trash can which helps keeps it smelling fresh. 

One of my other favorite uses for the Purex Fabric Softener sheets is placing one in the inside chamber of my vacuum cleaner. This is great because the great smell of lavender is carried throughout you home as you vacuum.

Some would say I am addicted to these things but with such a great scent, why not use these little sheet in every way possible.  What are some creative ways that you use your fabric softener sheets? 

Would you like to try the new and improved Purex Fabric Softener sheets? Purex would love for you to try them too, so they are offering one lucky reader of my blog, the opportunity to win three exclusive coupons to try out both of the new scents, Mountain breeze and Sweet lavender.  Look at the information below to see how you can get in on the action.  

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Purex Provided me with a sample of the Purex Fabric Softener Dryer Sheets in exchange for a product review. However, all opinions expressed here are my own and reflect my personal experiences with the product.