A Little Bit About Me & My Reviews

Reviews from an average consumer's point of view

A Little Bit About Me & My Reviews

You'll hear me often say that I review products from an "Average consumer's point of view". But what does that really mean? It's a very broad term.

I mean, I think I can review products from a prospective most anyone can use to their advantage.

I was born an Army brat, and raised in south Florida. You know... sun, beach, boats, a convenience store on every corner. Patches of palm trees, surrounded by concrete in amongst the fancy highrises and boarded up buildings. The million dollar homes in Eagle trace. The crack houses off Sistrunk. The Ft. Lauderdale area is very vain. If you don't have the perfect clothes, makeup, and attitude, you're an outcast. High fashion & fame are in the forefront of everyone's mind. Las Olas, Mizner Park. The Galleria. Money. It's all about money. Ferraris, Lamborghinis. The first car I ever drove was a corvette down the A1A strip.

I now live in rural Colorado on on a homestead where most of my day is taking care of goats, chickens, geese, ducks, turkeys, and guineas. This means building fences, mucking barns, and nursing injured animals. A shotgun to keep away coyotes is my best friend. I homeschool my kids, and it takes an hour & a half to get to the city. There is no cell service, and the only internet option is satellite. There are miles of dirt roads and no 7-11. You can go weeks or months without seeing another human being outside your family. My nails are shot & my skin is dry.

I've been a part of both worlds, and my true self lies somewhere in the middle. Average.

Average in my eyes is me. I could be wrong. Who knows. It's my opinion. But I'm married with 2.5 kids (Just kidding. I have a boy & a girl). We have pets, and I am a stay at home mom. We live on my husband's Military pay. I try to take as many road trips as I can with the kids across the country.

We're not dirt poor, but I can't just go out & buy something without thinking about the consequences to our budget. I can't just go out & buy anything I want (much to my tween daughter's chagrin). However, I will collect coupons, look for sales, and use points, cards, etc to buy something frivolous occasionally. I'm a deal seeker, but I'm not into extreme couponing (anymore). I have to find the best deals when grocery shopping & with no restaurants or fast food places within 45 minutes, have to make everything myself. I have however found a love for Amazon Prime. And I have an obsession with subscription boxes.....much to my husband's chagrin. ;-)

I'm honest, but very positive in  my reviews. It takes quite a bit to make me unhappy with a product. However, if you piss me off with bad customer service, I will shout it out to the world in all caps! My reviews are just opinions, and I know that. I may not like a certain flavor, texture, or scent. But that doesn't mean it's a bad product. It means it's just not for me, and I will say that in my review.

I'm not a beauty snob. I don't use 13 different hair products to give myself the perfect look. I do however care about the condition of my hair, being 3 ft long & dry thanks to Colorado (reason #1 why I miss Florida-humidity!). I don't spend an hour in the morning getting ready. I jump out of bed at the ass-crack of dawn & do chores (literally). However, I want smooth skin, and don't want to look or feel frumpy. And I do not wear pajamas to Walmart! I love physical activity, workout when I can & take walks everyday.... when my depression & anxiety don't keep me down. I'm not skinny. I'm not fat. I love ice cream & pizza, but I try to eat healthy. And I don't have a condescending look down on the world expecting something for nothing (which I see a lot of in reviews lately).

I love to try new products. Whether they are new foods, skincare, or clothing. I write reviews because if someone is like me, they don't want to spend a whole bunch of money just to find out something isn't made of quality, or tastes like monkey-butt. Not when you could spend that money on something else more useful. I also feel your time is important, and you don't have hours to scour the internet looking for reviews. So I put them all here, in one place, hopefully categorized so they are easy to find. I try to be humorous, and also add other household stuff on the blog as well....which is why it's called House-Wise. I use social media because it's fast, and you can read snippits on the go.

So perhaps this will give you a bit of insight on who is reviewing these products, and why.

....The average consumer.