Time for another round of reviews on my Amazon purchases. Whooo-weeee!
Magnetic Tiles
I am telling every parent I know about these; in my opinion, they are the best value-for-money toy, hands down, for ages 4 and up. Our Houston friends’ kids had these, and the entire junior cohort (ages 4-7, mixed gender) played with them constantly during our visit. I actually love playing with them as well – insert joke about my maturity level here – which is a bonus because I can’t say that about at least 80% of my kids’ toys. They are way more fun than regular building blocks, and you can build much cooler structures and 3D objects with them. I think they are great for stimulating imagination, and teaching kids about geometry.
The original brand, MagnaTiles, is very pricey. On Amazon, a 100-piece set retails for about $170CAD. A hundred pieces might sound like a lot, but you need at least double that to really get creative/adventurous. I did some research and found this much cheaper version; the reviews suggested that they were just as good as the MagnaTiles and, in my experience, that is actually the case – they seem identical, looks- and quality-wise. These cost under $70CAD for a 100-piece set; 32-piece packs are about $30CAD. Still not inexpensive, but the tiles seem pretty sturdy and I expect my kids will be playing with them for a while. They also take up less space to pack up when not in use as compared to regular blocks, which is a bonus. My house has a tendency to look like a toy graveyard at the best of times.
Mario Badescu Rose Water Facial Spray
This is one of those bougie skin care things that no one actually needs, but I saw Samantha Irby post a photo of it on her Instagram, and I am susceptible to the influence of women I want to be friends with, okay? I also have a vague threshold of about $25 for impulse/useless buys, and this cost just under than on Amazon, so. It was bought.
Was it any good? Well, yeah. It feels really nice. I still maintain that it’s not something you need, and I can’t speak to its magical, skin-transforming powers because my skin is having none of that transformation business at this point – but! – it’s a nice little pick-me-up if you’re into that sort of thing. I would say it’s akin to a sheet mask, minus the looking like a drugstore version of a serial killer part.
Edited to add: I bought the large size, which naturally I can’t find as of my writing of this post, and I think it will likely last at least 2-3 months. When I was in Phoenix, I found the small size (linked above) for $5 at Nordstrom Rack, so I purchased the purple and green versions as well. I’m basically addicted to the spraying action at this point. Fawncy!
Pom Pom Maker
This is another item that might have a very niche audience, but I had to mention it because I get a kick out of it. I initially found this on Amazon while looking for something else related to my knitting adventures, and I bought it in hopes that I would, someday, successfully knit a beanie. Beanie + pom-pom = legit hat. That, and the fact this gadget cost under $20CAD, was the extent of the thought process that went into this purchase.
Once I figured out the instructions – which were almost certainly written by a non-native English speaker – the thing was pretty easy to use and does make a decent-looking pom pom. I have only used the largest size so far, but I plan to dive into pom crafts at some point.
Have you found some cool bargains or gadgets on Amazon (or elsewhere) lately? Share everything in the comments 🙂
