- "How much do you get paid?" or similarly "What are you going to spend it on?"
- When is it ever proper in a social situation to ask any about their money? Do you ask people in your day to day life how much money they make at their job? Do you ask them what fat loot they get from it? Doubtful.
- I can't tell you how many complete strangers, upon finding out I'm a surrogate have asked this. Seriously. People in stores... managers where I've worked... co-workers that I've known less than day...
- "So your husband/significant other is okay with you having sex with another man?!"
- The sadder part is that they 100% believe this how it works. I'm not sure whether to be angry at them or sad because they are so uninformed. Even when I started the process I knew the basics, I realized women (Intended Mothers) weren't going to be lining up their men outside my bedroom door.
- It's called IVF people, or even in the case of traditional surrogacy, the surros are inseminated.
- In the case of a fellow surro who was carrying for two men. "OMG, I hope you don't get aids."
- what. the. hell. This one is wrong on so many different levels. Let's put aside the medical facts and that tons of surros carry for HIV+ couples, SAFELY, and go with the "you are a stereotyping witch who needs to jump off a cliff." Well... they are men.... and married... and TOGETHER.. so clearly they have HIV...
- "How could you give away your baby?"
- Sadly this one is pretty much par for the course for any surro. We spend the entire nine months explaining how it all works and how it's NOT our child. Still-- it gets annoying.
- (with twins) "Do you get to keep one?" OR "Do you just give the other one to another family?"
- First-- basically that makes the parents choose which baby they want. "Whelp, you only paid for one baby.. so I guess I'll keep your son/daughter. Either or! You choose!
- Second-- "I have this friend... and she really wants a baby so since you have a spare.. I'll just give her that one.. mkay"
- Any version of "I couldn't do that." "More power to you" OR my personal favorite "I just love the babies I grow automatically."
- Well... not many women can. I'm not better than you for doing it, and I'm not worse than you either. This one is probably not INTENTIONALLY rude/annoying, but very few people can phrase it well enough to not irritate the heck out of us.
- "...babies I grow automatically." Because I don't. Clearly. Since you "can't" do it, I'm guessing you've never TRIED to grow someone Else's human before. It's a whole different game. There is no expectation of bringing it home and raising it. You get pregnant and you send someone ELSE a 'congrats on the baby' card.
- "Your IPs must feel broken." or "I bet they worry the baby will love you more."
- My IPs don't feel broken. They feel hopeful. They want a baby. They are for some reason, unable to have one "the normal way" and have found me instead. My IPs aren't broken. They need help. Everyone needs help at some point along their life. Even if they do-- who says that!?
- If this was the case... no adoption would be successful... like... ever. I'm pretty sure the twins (at almost one) have no idea/memory/ or missing "piece" that tells them I existed. They held them first, loved them first and took care of them. They won't be traumatized or missing key components of their life if they never ever see me again.
- "I hope you explained to your child that the baby isn't coming home."
- Surrogacy is a HUGE step, 95% of surrogates have children of their own. Do you think we MAY have considered that our children might notice and what we would tell them? It's offensive, really, that you assume we're just going to let them worry or feel lost about it.
- I have to say-- my son was not quite two when the twins were born, so we didn't talk MUCH about it. I just always referred to the babies as belonging to the parents and then I went to the hospital.. came back and I had a lap to sit on again. He never questioned it. This time I might explain more to him. Very basically tell them that we're growing/watching someone Else's baby.
- "Damn, I should be a surro... you guys make a ton of money!"
- That is definitely the top reason to grow someone's child and help make a family. Very top reason. ALLLL the monnnneeeeeeeeeyyyyyy. -.-
- "They have a name for women who sell their bodies..."
- I REALLY wish I could say I hadn't heard this one first hand. I did. Straight to my face from a person in a superior position. True Story. Nothing like telling someone they are a wh*** to brighten their day. :)
- Any "Jokes"-- "Womb for Rent"/"Makes you feel good/special"/etc.
- No matter how much smile you put behind it, that never sounds good. No matter how many times I heard a joke about renting out my womb or similar... I can never find the hilarity.
- I feel special in the sense that I got to help a family. I'm not looking for recognition, a tv show, or praise from anyone. Honestly... it's a little awkward when people tell you how amazing/wonderful/angelic you are. I'm not. I'm a person. I can carry babies, make them grow, and I want to help. That is all.
- Last but not least--- the inevitable "after baby" question "Are you REALLY Ok?"
- I'm going to guess and say that 40% of the people that asked me this, actually meant it. I think the other ones kind of wanted me to confess how depressed I was so they could say "Well.. I told you so. You can't carry a baby and not want to keep it." I realize this sounds harsh, but I've heard basically every surro I know say the same thing. Know that if I was NOT okay, I'd let you know.
Thursday, July 3, 2014
12 Things You Should NEVER Say to a Surrogate
Surrogacy: Why I'm NOT with an Agency
I have been blogging and vlogging this topic in my head for some time, and now that I feel I have the main topics I want to dscuss ironed out... I figure I'll start.
If you haven't read my blog, I'll do a really quick recap of why with my first journey, I decided to go with an agency.
After talking extensively with my husband in 2011, just two months after our son, Cody, was born, I decided to become a surrogate. I knew VERY little about the whole idea, but I new the general concept and I knew that it not only intrigued me, but I felt that without a doubt I was meant to do it.
A quick google search showed me that there was basically two ways to go about being a surrogate. You could either sign on with an agency, or you could go "Indy". The idea of using an agency seemed so odd. It felt formal and business like and I didn't want that when it came to helping a family have a baby. So with several more nights of searching... I found a few websites that I thought could help me along. The first one was All Things Surrogacy. Between that one, and a similar one at Surro Moms Online, I found their "classifieds" sections. They were exactly what you are thinking, a place to place an ad for/offering-to-be a surrogate. So I did.
Lonnnnng story short, I matched with a couple in the US whosounded seemed perfect. You can't tell a lot about a person from an ad, but I sent and email, and waited for them to email me back. I was over the moon when they wrote back. After months of random comunication and me doing a ton of leg work... I found out that they were "leading on" several surros and would basically pick one when it was time to transfer. BATTLE OF THE UTERUS STYLE. Of course I would have won, because I have an EPIC uterus... but who need that worry right? So... I ended things.
After that, when the agency I used with twins responded back to me... I was SOOOO ready for someone else to take over the trouble.
Through that agency I met, matched with, and carried twins for a beautiful, wonderful couple. For that experience, I have to give the agency kudos. They took care of everything and as long as I showed up where they told me, jabbed needles into my butt and didn't die... everything else was taken care of!
Somewhere along the way, I decided to check out the costs of surrogacy for the parents. I almost fell off my chair. Really. My agency was one of the higher costing agencies, but to give you a ballpark-- I didn't see any agency below 100k, and most were nearing 200k.
You read right. $200,000.00. OUCH! My wallet hurts and it's not even my money.
It made me realize that surrogacy isn't as readily available to people as I would like to believe. There are a lot of couples that can afford that, but there are soooooooo many more couples who can't.
Let's take Glen and I for example... if we were to need a surrogate ourself and basing it off the money we made when we were both employed full time... We'd have to save up for YEEEEEEAAARRRSSSS (like...10-15) if we wanted to also eat and have a roof over our head at the same time. By that time we'd be old and not wanting kids!
So, I made the choice that if I carried again I'd look harder into going indy (especially if it were for a sibling journey for the same couple). That was still aways off and I placed it at the back of my mind.
After I had the twins, the agency contacted me and asked if I would carry for a friend of the twins' parents. I was on board. Not so much with the agency, but the fact that they specifically asked for me, and that the twins' parents must have said good things. So... I said yes.
Due to the state I live in, and the fact that I had elevated blood pressure with the twins, they eventually decided they didn't want me (the agency-- not the couple). So I was "free" again and now I had to decide what to do.
I won't lie, the agency definitely made the whole experience smoother and less complicated, but I still felt my self drawn to finding an indy match since NOW I knew what was supposed to happen and I was better prepared.
I went back to those classifieds and found the couple I talked about in this blog post. Basically things became apparent that made me realize they weren't the people I thought they were or wanted to be matched with, and I found myself looking.... AGAIN.
I reached out to a gentleman known in the surro-world in my state and asked if he had any couple looking. He's not an agency, but does facilitate matches. I can't say for sure if he gets paid for that service, but I'm assuming yes. I'm also going to go out on a limb and say that it's SIGNIFICANTLY less than the agencies.
There, I found the couple I am not matched and in the middle of legal with. Things are different, maybe a little more awkward this time around. It's weird to send the mother bills or bring up money, we had an accountant that did all that for us at the agency. I didn't have to bring up bill to the twins' parents until after the pregnancy was over. It was somehow less awkward at that point. Maybe because they saw me half dressed with my guts on display in the OR....
I don't want to say I'm lumping all agencies into the "charge too much" category, because I don't have knowledge of them all. I think it just sucks in general that surrogacy is not an option for anyone that should, but can't, have a baby.
If this was WAAAYYYY to long, and you're just skipping to the end. Feel free to listen/watch me ramble on about the same stuff on the video below!
XX- Michelle
If you haven't read my blog, I'll do a really quick recap of why with my first journey, I decided to go with an agency.
After talking extensively with my husband in 2011, just two months after our son, Cody, was born, I decided to become a surrogate. I knew VERY little about the whole idea, but I new the general concept and I knew that it not only intrigued me, but I felt that without a doubt I was meant to do it.
A quick google search showed me that there was basically two ways to go about being a surrogate. You could either sign on with an agency, or you could go "Indy". The idea of using an agency seemed so odd. It felt formal and business like and I didn't want that when it came to helping a family have a baby. So with several more nights of searching... I found a few websites that I thought could help me along. The first one was All Things Surrogacy. Between that one, and a similar one at Surro Moms Online, I found their "classifieds" sections. They were exactly what you are thinking, a place to place an ad for/offering-to-be a surrogate. So I did.
Lonnnnng story short, I matched with a couple in the US who
After that, when the agency I used with twins responded back to me... I was SOOOO ready for someone else to take over the trouble.
Through that agency I met, matched with, and carried twins for a beautiful, wonderful couple. For that experience, I have to give the agency kudos. They took care of everything and as long as I showed up where they told me, jabbed needles into my butt and didn't die... everything else was taken care of!
Somewhere along the way, I decided to check out the costs of surrogacy for the parents. I almost fell off my chair. Really. My agency was one of the higher costing agencies, but to give you a ballpark-- I didn't see any agency below 100k, and most were nearing 200k.
You read right. $200,000.00. OUCH! My wallet hurts and it's not even my money.
It made me realize that surrogacy isn't as readily available to people as I would like to believe. There are a lot of couples that can afford that, but there are soooooooo many more couples who can't.
Let's take Glen and I for example... if we were to need a surrogate ourself and basing it off the money we made when we were both employed full time... We'd have to save up for YEEEEEEAAARRRSSSS (like...10-15) if we wanted to also eat and have a roof over our head at the same time. By that time we'd be old and not wanting kids!
So, I made the choice that if I carried again I'd look harder into going indy (especially if it were for a sibling journey for the same couple). That was still aways off and I placed it at the back of my mind.
After I had the twins, the agency contacted me and asked if I would carry for a friend of the twins' parents. I was on board. Not so much with the agency, but the fact that they specifically asked for me, and that the twins' parents must have said good things. So... I said yes.
Due to the state I live in, and the fact that I had elevated blood pressure with the twins, they eventually decided they didn't want me (the agency-- not the couple). So I was "free" again and now I had to decide what to do.
I won't lie, the agency definitely made the whole experience smoother and less complicated, but I still felt my self drawn to finding an indy match since NOW I knew what was supposed to happen and I was better prepared.
I went back to those classifieds and found the couple I talked about in this blog post. Basically things became apparent that made me realize they weren't the people I thought they were or wanted to be matched with, and I found myself looking.... AGAIN.
I reached out to a gentleman known in the surro-world in my state and asked if he had any couple looking. He's not an agency, but does facilitate matches. I can't say for sure if he gets paid for that service, but I'm assuming yes. I'm also going to go out on a limb and say that it's SIGNIFICANTLY less than the agencies.
There, I found the couple I am not matched and in the middle of legal with. Things are different, maybe a little more awkward this time around. It's weird to send the mother bills or bring up money, we had an accountant that did all that for us at the agency. I didn't have to bring up bill to the twins' parents until after the pregnancy was over. It was somehow less awkward at that point. Maybe because they saw me half dressed with my guts on display in the OR....
I don't want to say I'm lumping all agencies into the "charge too much" category, because I don't have knowledge of them all. I think it just sucks in general that surrogacy is not an option for anyone that should, but can't, have a baby.
If this was WAAAYYYY to long, and you're just skipping to the end. Feel free to listen/watch me ramble on about the same stuff on the video below!
XX- Michelle
Getting Familiar with the Lingo- Surrogacy
I blog and vlog quite a bit about my surrogacy journey, and as I spend soooo much time online among other surros/parents, I forget that some people don't know all the Lingo... so here's a basic (not comprehensive) list of terms you should know!
2WW- This is common not only in the surro community but in the TTC (trying to conceive) community. 2 Week Wait. From the time of Ovulation until the day a typical woman would have her period. The wait of wondering if your pregnant or not. For surrogates, our two week wait is a little shorter and it usually refers to the 10-14 day wait after transfer until blood test to check pregnancy hormone levels. Most of us are impatient though and start taking pregnancy tests a few days after transfer.
AF- Aunt Flow... the wicked witch.. your cycle... your period. If you're trying to get pregnant it's devastating to see her, and if you're trying to conceive you just want her over. Basically... she's never welcome! Totally one of the reasons I'm pregnant so often... then I can avoid her!
AI- Artificial Insemination
BBT- Basal Body Temperature (tracked sometimes while TTC to show signs of ovulation)
BCP- Birth Control Pills
BETA- Quantitative Count of the HCG (Pregnancy Hormone) in your system, usually we also have our Estrogen and Progesterone levels checked)
BFP/BFN- Big Fat Positive/Negative in reference to pregnancy tests.
CD- Cycle Day (Day 1 of your period is cycle Day 1)
DE- Donor Egg; For example the twins were made with the fathers sperm and a donor egg as the mother didn't produce sufficient eggs.
DPO- Days Past Ovulation; also used in the TTC community and not specifically surrogacy, also used more in Traditional Surrogacy situations rather than Gestational Surrogacy.
DPR- Days Past/Post Retrieval. When doing IVF the eggs are retrieved from the Mother or Egg Donor.
DP3DT/DP5DT- Days Past 3/5 Day Transfer. After and IVF procedure you'll see a surrogate say "I'm 4dp3dt" or similar. This means that 4 days ago she transferred a 3 day old embryo (not officially an embryo yet but you get my meaning...)
E2- Estrodial. These levels are checked before and after transfer to make sure they are sufficient to support the pregnancy. The doctors will lower/raise your dose as they see fit.
ED- Egg Donor.
ER- Egg Retrieval
FET- Frozen Embryo Transfer NORMALLY, although I have seen people use it to indicate a Fresh Transfer as well. It's exactly what it sounds like, the embryos were either fresh (retrieved from the egg donor or mother 3-5 days ago, or they were retrieved, fertilized and frozen weeks to years before the transfer.
FIF/FIM/FIP- Former Intended Father/Mother/Parent(s); the twins' parents are now my FIPs.
GC/GS- Gestational Carrier/Surrogate. Same thing. It's what I am!
HPT- another from the TTC community as well. Home Pregnancy Test.
IF/IM/IP- Intended Father/Mother/Parent(s)
IVF- In vitro Fertilization ; when an egg is combined with sperm outside of the womb, grown for 3-5 days and transferred back into a uterus.
LMP- Last Menstural Period
M/C- Miscarriage :(
PG- Pregnant
PIO- Progesterone in Oil, for MOST IVF protocols, you have to give yourself Intramuscular shots of Progesterone. OUCH!
PIP/PIM/PIF- Potential Intended Mother/Father/Parent(s); You're talking to them, but you're not commited yet!
RE- Reproductive Endocrinologist He/she is the one that actually knocks you up with IVF.
Like I said, this isn't a full list, but now maybe some more of my words in these blogs will make sense! I'm sure I'll think of more and do a part two of this or something...
2WW- This is common not only in the surro community but in the TTC (trying to conceive) community. 2 Week Wait. From the time of Ovulation until the day a typical woman would have her period. The wait of wondering if your pregnant or not. For surrogates, our two week wait is a little shorter and it usually refers to the 10-14 day wait after transfer until blood test to check pregnancy hormone levels. Most of us are impatient though and start taking pregnancy tests a few days after transfer.
AF- Aunt Flow... the wicked witch.. your cycle... your period. If you're trying to get pregnant it's devastating to see her, and if you're trying to conceive you just want her over. Basically... she's never welcome! Totally one of the reasons I'm pregnant so often... then I can avoid her!
AI- Artificial Insemination
BBT- Basal Body Temperature (tracked sometimes while TTC to show signs of ovulation)
BCP- Birth Control Pills
BETA- Quantitative Count of the HCG (Pregnancy Hormone) in your system, usually we also have our Estrogen and Progesterone levels checked)
BFP/BFN- Big Fat Positive/Negative in reference to pregnancy tests.
CD- Cycle Day (Day 1 of your period is cycle Day 1)
DE- Donor Egg; For example the twins were made with the fathers sperm and a donor egg as the mother didn't produce sufficient eggs.
DPO- Days Past Ovulation; also used in the TTC community and not specifically surrogacy, also used more in Traditional Surrogacy situations rather than Gestational Surrogacy.
DPR- Days Past/Post Retrieval. When doing IVF the eggs are retrieved from the Mother or Egg Donor.
DP3DT/DP5DT- Days Past 3/5 Day Transfer. After and IVF procedure you'll see a surrogate say "I'm 4dp3dt" or similar. This means that 4 days ago she transferred a 3 day old embryo (not officially an embryo yet but you get my meaning...)
E2- Estrodial. These levels are checked before and after transfer to make sure they are sufficient to support the pregnancy. The doctors will lower/raise your dose as they see fit.
ED- Egg Donor.
ER- Egg Retrieval
FET- Frozen Embryo Transfer NORMALLY, although I have seen people use it to indicate a Fresh Transfer as well. It's exactly what it sounds like, the embryos were either fresh (retrieved from the egg donor or mother 3-5 days ago, or they were retrieved, fertilized and frozen weeks to years before the transfer.
FIF/FIM/FIP- Former Intended Father/Mother/Parent(s); the twins' parents are now my FIPs.
GC/GS- Gestational Carrier/Surrogate. Same thing. It's what I am!
HPT- another from the TTC community as well. Home Pregnancy Test.
IF/IM/IP- Intended Father/Mother/Parent(s)
IVF- In vitro Fertilization ; when an egg is combined with sperm outside of the womb, grown for 3-5 days and transferred back into a uterus.
LMP- Last Menstural Period
M/C- Miscarriage :(
PG- Pregnant
PIO- Progesterone in Oil, for MOST IVF protocols, you have to give yourself Intramuscular shots of Progesterone. OUCH!
PIP/PIM/PIF- Potential Intended Mother/Father/Parent(s); You're talking to them, but you're not commited yet!
RE- Reproductive Endocrinologist He/she is the one that actually knocks you up with IVF.
Like I said, this isn't a full list, but now maybe some more of my words in these blogs will make sense! I'm sure I'll think of more and do a part two of this or something...
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
A Family on a Budget
Like the blue??
As yet another part of this blog, I've decided to talk about my way to my budgeted world.
I guess I shouldn't say world... more like my budgeted.... town. I'm getting there. One day we'll be a city.
I was never fan of budgets, mainly because I'm not a fan of restrictions... but more and more lately I see the pros out-weighing the cons. I actually started a budget for my mom and step-dad, helping them plan out their bills while allowing money for saving and for fun at the same time. They seemed to like the idea and have kept at it for the past few months. So now I'm going to try making a semi one for us.
I say "semi" because we a;ready do a sort of mental budget to make sure all of our bills and credit cards get paid on time. Our biggest issue is food. We spend a TON on food. We're slowly getting better as we move to eating less and less fast food and more home cooked meals. It's cheaper and healthier, for sure.
A few months ago, my husband and I decided to uproot (again) and move to a area and begin school. We left out jobs behind to do it. Now, as I'm approaching a surrogacy again and we've decided I won't work through this one, my husband plans to work part time and in theory we'll both continue college and everything will be amazing.
All of that means we have to drastically cut expenses. In out last town out of boredom, exhaustion and sometimes just plain laziness we ate out a TON. Sometimes fastfood, sometimes restaurant. At LEAST every other day and sometimes twice a day. True story. Scary huh?
So we were spending 20-40 a day on food. It's not much in a day, but over 30 days?? So this is why I choose to budget our food, first. Slowly, everything else may come into play, but for now I want to focus on this. I've decided there are two main things I need to do to help things a lot.
I know there are other steps-- coupons, buying in bulk, etc... but I'm starting out slowly and trying to figure out what works for us best. As yet another part of this blog, I've decided to talk about my way to my budgeted world.
I guess I shouldn't say world... more like my budgeted.... town. I'm getting there. One day we'll be a city.
I was never fan of budgets, mainly because I'm not a fan of restrictions... but more and more lately I see the pros out-weighing the cons. I actually started a budget for my mom and step-dad, helping them plan out their bills while allowing money for saving and for fun at the same time. They seemed to like the idea and have kept at it for the past few months. So now I'm going to try making a semi one for us.
I say "semi" because we a;ready do a sort of mental budget to make sure all of our bills and credit cards get paid on time. Our biggest issue is food. We spend a TON on food. We're slowly getting better as we move to eating less and less fast food and more home cooked meals. It's cheaper and healthier, for sure.
A few months ago, my husband and I decided to uproot (again) and move to a area and begin school. We left out jobs behind to do it. Now, as I'm approaching a surrogacy again and we've decided I won't work through this one, my husband plans to work part time and in theory we'll both continue college and everything will be amazing.
All of that means we have to drastically cut expenses. In out last town out of boredom, exhaustion and sometimes just plain laziness we ate out a TON. Sometimes fastfood, sometimes restaurant. At LEAST every other day and sometimes twice a day. True story. Scary huh?
So we were spending 20-40 a day on food. It's not much in a day, but over 30 days?? So this is why I choose to budget our food, first. Slowly, everything else may come into play, but for now I want to focus on this. I've decided there are two main things I need to do to help things a lot.
- Meal Plans.I need to plan AT LEAST two weeks worth of meals ahead of time, and make a list.
- One Shopping Trip. One of the other problems, was spending so much gas going shopping. I never planned ahead, so when we did cook, we went out a few hours before meal time and bought whatever food we needed for that meal, and any other odds and ends the house needed at the time. We drive a truck, and driving even 10 minutes to town and back every day to get a back of groceries is taxing on the gas, or driving to a restaurant 1-2 time a day.
Today I gathered up recipes enough to make 13 days (we'll be gone one day this week) worth of food. I tried to pick recipes that looked good, were healthy, but also didn't have very expensive ingredients. They are all from a family cookbook and all of my husbands family cook amazing so I'm not worried! Then, my two year old and I went shopping.
We spent $101.00. With out limited funds, it looked a little daunting at first (it's easier to see lots of 10-15.00 dollar receipts) but when I stepped back, we did pretty good. I made my first shopping list, which seems a little rediculous, but I have always just shopped to what I knew I needed or what looked good. I got everything on the list and a few more things but resisted all the impulses buying that said "hmmm... try that out."
I DID forget a few items. Like Bread. How do you forget bread? I did. So I'll send hubby on a quick walk to the grocery store and have him pick some up tomorrow. I purposefully left off a few things that I typically buy. Cookies... soda... a pie... I LOVE dessert. Although I'll admit to caving anf buying some cinnamon rolls (the kind you bake at home) for a little over three dollars. Plus there were some "one time buys" that I won't have to buy for another few months that I had to buy now. Hopefully lowering my receipt on future excursions.
I failed completely and lost my receipt some how, so this won't be a complete list, but to give you an idea of what we bought--
Noodles, Rice, 5 lbs of beef, 2 pkgs of hotdogs (I know... I know..), package of chicken breasts (like 2ish lbs), pork ribs (pkg of 6), shredded cheese (actually cheaper than buying it and shedding myself today), evaporated milk, fritos and potato chips (for two casserole dishes I'm trying), Celery, onions, green chilies, cereal, milk, butter, white vinegar, spices, apple cider vinegar, cornstarch, mayo, sour cream, 5 cans of various "cream of" coups, tortillas, canned pineapple chunks (because I SO don't know what to do with an actual pineapple), and some biscuit tins.
Between this and the two meals I had stuff for at home, we're set.
On the Menu: (There's a lot of Casseroles, but they are so CHEAP)
- Roast Beef Casserole
- Skillet Tin Foil Dinner
- Macaroni and Cheese Casserole (x2)
- Mexican Casserole
- Green Chili Casserole (X2)
- Biscuits and Hamburger Gravy (breakfast for dinner) (x2)
- Stroganoff
- Hawaiian Hotdogs
- BBQ Spare Ribs
- Chicken Casserole
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
REVIEW: Adovia- Dead Sea Salt Soap
Adovia- Moisturizing Mineral Soap
Rating: ★★★☆☆
I received this product for free to review via Adovia and Tomoson.
The product sells for $11.00 on Amazon. If you want to check it out or purchase it, you can do so by clicking here.
I have to start off by saying I don't typically use bar soap, especially for my face as I feel it leaves my face even more dry than it normally is. As such, I was skeptical to try it out. Once I tried it, I was happily surprised to find it wasn't like the other bar soaps I'd tried. I used it specifically as part of my morning regime for my face. It can, obviously, be used as a body soap as well but I am fond of the one I use currently. It's not an overly large bar, but as I do just use it for my face it has lasted longer than I imagined it would.
Now what it's time to rate it and decide if it's a product I would buy again, I find myself at a bit of a dilemma. As I said, I'm not a big bar soap fan, I prefer soft soap. That said, it didn't leave my skin dry, but it also added no additional benefits. I'm also caught up a bit on the price. If I did decide to replace this with my normal soap, it's almost double the cost for less product. I'm stll trying to decide if I really want to pay 11.00 + shipping for a bar of soap.
I gave this a solid three, and I fear my review is lacking a bit. It was neither super amazing or bad to give me sufficient things to write about.
If you'd like to see my vlog about this product and two other Adovia products, you can do so to the right. For my other blog postings on their products and others I've reviewed. Click here.
Thanks for reading!
I received one or more of the products mentioned above for free using Tomoson.com. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)