Bubbles & Breakdowns

Game Changing Products Worth the Hype

• Katrina & Ashley • Season 1 • Episode 34

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In this episode, we dive into the game-changing products and daily essentials that are genuinely reshaping the way we live and enjoy our lives. Whether you’re looking to streamline your morning routine with high-performance skincare or seeking out the latest in home products that help save time. We are going to rapid fire product highlights to try and share some of our best finds and best kept secrets. 

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And remember, after every breakdown, don't forget the bubbles!

SPEAKER_00

Hello, and welcome to Bubbles and Breakdowns, a space designed for you to show up as your beautifully imperfect self, where we dive into the good, the bad, and the bubbly. I'm Ashley and I'm Katrina. In this episode, we're taking a little light-hearted approach today. We're going to dive into some game-changing products and daily essentials that are genuinely reshaping the way we live and enjoy our lives. So whether you're looking to streamline your morning routine with high-performance skincare or seeking out the latest home products that have helped save us time, we're going to go rapid-fire product highlights today, try and share some of the best finds and some of our best kept secrets. Ooh. I love a product. I'm all products. And like the amount of times that I've been with my girlfriends or somewhere like, where'd you get that? I'm like, oh, I was influenced. Like, it's true. But you are like the things that you come to me with, you have illuminated my world on some products recently. So I'm excited for you to share some of those because now I feel like a little bit of Me Too girl on some of them. But hopefully some people will find, you know, some fun new things. I know. Yeah. Who doesn't love a product splurge or like a this is your Target run mecha? Yes. We are gonna guide you through those aisles to say, how do I want to burn$100 today? Don't worry, you'll get your target cash if they're running one of those promotions of spending$150 four times, right? Totally. Or you don't even have to go in. You could do a target drive up. Yeah. And just get in the trunk. Nothing better than spending money and not getting out of your car. No. That that to me, that's the best thing that came out of COVID. Yes. Yeah. It's the target pickup. Well, and especially when you've got kids in the car seats and you just don't want to deal with that. All the things. So we broke it down into you know a few categories. We're gonna touch on home items, beauty. Uh oh, so gorgeous here, obviously. Health and some food and snacky items. Who are we if we don't talk about snacks? We gotta end with the snacks because after going through all the things it takes to be healthy, we're gonna need a snack. Be true to you. Be true to you. So let's talk about around the home. I'm gonna kick off Ashley with air fryer. I mean, who doesn't love an air fryer? And since we've moved, so we had the big brevel. It's like eight and one. It's like a dehydrator, air fryer, convection oven, roast. Does your kids' homework pizza, seriously, walks the dog? Who knows? And we it is so big that I'm like, I'm not having this out day to day. Like I am an aesthetic person where yes, we'll use it every day, but like I can't look at it. I can't. So we haven't been using the air fryer. And I'm like, Oh my MG, I need to like get reincorporate it. Yes, because it is, it makes it crispy, it makes it fast. Cooking potatoes has changed my life because you bake them at 350 for 20 minutes, and I get these beautiful, delicious potatoes, and that's what we give our son for his French fry. He's obsessed with tater trots and french fries, and so instead it's like there's skin on them, they're like the baby golds. I love, love, love. If you want to warm up, you gave me those little mini chocolate croissants the other week. I warmed them in the air fryer. Delicious. It felt like I was at a French bakery and I'm serving myself. So I'm all about the air fryer. I will link the one that I have. It's a cuisine art. It's smaller, definitely can fit in a in a standard kitchen. Highly encourage it. I think my in-laws even bought it because we were like loved it so much. So nice and easy and fast. Also, question though, scholar. How does it cook your food? Cook? Um, I mean, like, is it like a well there's convection, the one I have. But is it like how where does the heat come from? Like a heating element. It's just a heating element. But like, what are those called? Like, um, oh my gosh, why can't you think of it? Like a coil thing? You know, yeah, it's something like a coil. It's like it's like a metal coil that gets hot. Yeah. Okay. Just curious. Yeah, be careful. Don't put your kids by it. No. Um, the other one that was a push present that I gave to myself after my son was born was the Breville or Reveal A. Depends on how fancy you are. Uh, espresso maker. And this thing has saved money, but it has also provided a lot of caffeination in the early years. I mean, it makes sense it's a push present because they are draining us of every ounce of energy. But um, I have wanted to go down this route so many times. And then I just was like, uh I'm gonna do my um K cup girly. And I just realized that like I hate K cups. Yeah, you've recently changed. I have. I have gotten on the drip coffee train, choo-choo, um, and I just realized how much trash I'm throwing out. Yeah. The coffee kind of tastes terrible. I don't like them. And I'm like, how long has like these like 10 grains of coffee been in this little pot? And how many things are in it, and how many things did it take to get it in there? Like I it just like so many questions. I feel like now I'm starting to, I this has really been the last few years. I'm starting to question, like, is this even good for me? Yeah. And you're pouring hot water into a plastic thing that deforms. Yeah. But I'm sure the chemicals are going, and I'm just like, it's pretty, it's pretty obvious. Yeah. So I'm like, you know what? We're taking it back. But like I've always been the girl who like, why do why did we like cake cups? They're easy. There's no thought process there, right? Um, where I'm and then I was talking to my girlfriend, I'm like, how much coffee do you put in per cups of warm water? And she's like, You gotta, you gotta find your ratio. You gotta work on it. Shit, okay, let's find my ratio. And I finally have found my ratio. Yes. Six and a half cups of water for four scoops. Love it. And it's like delightful. So then the next step for you is to join the bean grinding fan. I know, I try to grind my own. You gotta grind your own. Katrina's like, what kind of coffee do you get? I was like, Folgers. She's like, oh, that's disgusting. That's worse than the K cup. And I'm like, I know, I don't know. So but I got what one did you get? What drip coffee did you get? Um, I did. I got folders. I'm not oh machine. Machine maker. Um the cuisin art one. Yeah. But do you know what I was so wanted to get the smeg. Oh, because it's so cute. It's so cute. And they have like the teal ones. I know, but I was like, let me just like go down like this. Is my first journey. Let's like start table stakes, and then we'll like dabble. I might do espresso because I love an espresso, but I'm always just a coffee girly. Yeah. I love a ground bean. Yeah. Even though espresso is that too, but you know what I'm saying? Yeah, it is different. So then you have another one on here, which I think is we were just talking about before we started recording. Deodorizing shoes. So I have not tried these yet, but sometimes the shoes in my house get a little stinky. So we I just got these sneaker balls. Yes. Saw them at Dick's sporting goods. Let me clarify. And they were like 20 bucks. Went on Amazon$11.99. Perfect. So I actually will report back. Maybe they work, maybe they don't. Don't worry, we also wash our shoes, but yeah, you're welcome, basos. We're active, so we'll see what happens. I love it. I know. And I think the last thing for home to round us out, I guess this is home. It's an activity. So I just had a play date where it was super, super cute. The mom provided and bought all the girls like this little sensory kit, right? So fun, yeah. And the brand is Young, Wild, and Freedman. And I've seen these everywhere. Like, like I said, I'm constantly influenced, and I've never bought one. The cutest things ever. So it comes with like there's like a mini kit, there's a bigger kit. So we got the mini ones, and it comes with like a little thing of like play-doh, but it's like slime, but it's not messy. Very malleable. The butter slime. Yes, it's um it smells delightful. Then it comes with like all these cute little beads and charms, and this was like a Galantine or Valentine's theme. So it's like a little sucker, and then a cookie cutter to make shapes. So cute. Fake plastic sprinkles, which I mean they're all over my house, but so fun for them. Yeah. Um, and like this is something that I'm going to do for the Easter baskets, and I like can't wait to get down this sensory kit journey. I know there's probably like a thousand more products. Ashley is the queen of activity creation and like decorations and stuff. Like, I can't. If anybody's struggling, like hit us up in our DMs on Bubbles and Breakdowns Instagram because Ashley will have an idea. I have no doubt. I just feel like blessed by that statement. Oh, it's so true though. So let's talk about beauty, which is like a never-ending battle and struggle. Like, like struggle bus. I looked in the mirror this morning and those crows' feet, they popping, girl. I think the other thing that's funny is like we were like, we're going down a video venture for our podcast, okay? We're going to So today, we're like, we're gonna get ready. I look like I'm half ready. No, but like that's where it's still, I feel like the beauty things help though. It's like what products make me feel more put together, but are quick. And I feel like one of the best things that I love that I found this year was the brand Merit, which I know you are. I've like, I tried a couple things and it wasn't my fave. And I love it. I love that they're clean products, I love the ease to put it on. I think you need to find what works for you, but I think their claim to fame is like the five-minute face. So it like literally took me like five minutes to like put my stuff on. Again, I kind of look like I'm half ready, but I could have like gone up, could have gone gone down, whatever. But I'm a merit girly. Yeah. So let's so my simple trick, so merit, love it, five minutes. That's what I've been striving for too. I'm probably more about like eight minutes right now, but get the time is ready. Yes. But the thing that I really rely on are two products from dermatology, which is D-R-M, not D-E-R. Um so it is a tinted moisturizer, it's a universal tinted moisturizer. It gives me a glow. Are do those come in different color shades? No, this is a universal color shade. Oh that is, I don't know about like dark black or brown skin, but like for this girl, it works great. So that uh coupled with their under-eye concealer magic thing, it really just evens me out. It makes me look like I took time. Like, like is that all you did today? No, today I did a little powder. Oh, I was just powder over it. Yeah, it's it's the tinted moisturizer. I'm trying. But like if I'm feeling lazy and just want to look freshened up, I just put on that tinted moisturizer with a little under-eye, and then it just kind of gives me that airbrush effect. So I love that. Add it to cart, and then the other one for your face, and then we can kind of float around here, is Lta MD. So this is a sunscreen. And so shout out to anybody who is on to sunscreen now. I'm wanting to figure out Lta MD has a 40 SPF, and my husband uses the non-green tinted one, but they just came out with a green tinted for anyone who runs red, which is me because green counteracts. Redo. Yeah, so the green pigment counter extra red. So if you have like rosacea, rosy cheeks, those kind of things, it's been great because it just again. So what I do is I put that on and then I do my tinted moisturizer, and then it just kind of like mellows and calms my face. Oh, I love that. Anyway, well, speaking of moisturizers, my favorite, and I feel like I butcher every word. Don't even really know how to say it. Tatcha. I don't know. Sure. Never heard of it. It is like it's an investment, it's expensive, but they have this. Oh my god. And my face is not really oily, but I use their overnight repair. It's got like indigo in it, it's like a Japanese brand company. I get it at Sephora. It is, I use it as my daily moisturizer. It has changed like the elasticity of my face. Oh, like a collagen-producing thing. It's so calming. It gives me so much moisture. I recommend it to everyone. I have their daily stuff too. It kind of interacts a little bit with my skin. Like sometimes it makes me red. I don't know if that's like myself or it, whatever. There are probably some botanicals in there. Something, yeah. But this, the indigo one does not. It is my like piece of resource. Well, your skin is lovely, and Matt is gonna be very upset that I now have another thing I need to buy. Add to cart. So, kind of in that realm of staying moisturized, in the winter, I have um used the ordinary's hyaluronic acid. Oh, same Z's. So that that so hyaluronic acid is meant to be a humectant, which attracts moisture to your skin. So I only use this in the winter, but before I was using it, my skin was so dry. Like to the point where like if you smile, you can feel your skin tugging and the hyaluronic acid at night and at in the um in the morning, definitely high. I feel like with all I see is this acid. I'm not even gonna put hyaluronic acid everywhere. It's like there needs to be a cheat sheet of what everything does because it's confusing to the user. Because like literally, my girlfriend, this was like I went on a scared skin can care journey before I got pregnant with my second kid, and I was like, tell me everything you do, why you do it, and the steps you do it. And she literally made me like a map. And it was like product one, product two, this is why you use this, this is why you do this after this. And I was like, oh my god, and then go laser your face off. Yes, right. But I was like, now it makes sense, but I went down the um retinol journey, yeah, yeah, retinoids, retinol. Yes, and I loved it. Obviously, you're not supposed to use it while you're pregnant, so then I stopped and then I never bought it again, but like in a weird, I don't know if this was like because there's vitamin A in it, right? It made me feel like I had more energy. Is that weird? I don't know. I don't know enough about like if it can get into your bloodstream. I but that's interesting. I know, but they say not just when you're pregnant. Retinol is really good for pigmentation, it's good for um texture, you know. What's another thing that's kind of like the acid, but it starts with an N. Niacinamide. Yeah, what does that do? Yeah, niacinamide is also for fine lines and wrinkles. I'm not really sure if it's a collagen promoter or not, but hyaluronic is just hydration. Okay. So, like people, I think there is a misunderstanding about hyaluronic. It can help minimize the appearance of fine lines, but it's not going to actively diminish them like a retinoid or a retinol. Got it. Yeah, yeah. And I like that brand too, because it's not super ordinary. It's like nine dollars. Yeah, yeah. I know. So love it. Other things, so like basic, let's talk big basics. So, number one, I am an aquifer ride or die. Not only does it go on my kids' butts, it goes on my lips at night, it goes under my eyes at night. I aqui for everything. You got a scratch in this house, you're getting slatched with aquifore. This reminds me of my fat big fat Greek wedding with the grandpa with the Windex. He was like, put the Windex on it, put the Windex on it. Oh my gosh. I feel like there are those brands that are like ride or die. That's how I am about chapstick. Like literally, chapstick brand. But the candy cane peppermint edition that only comes out of Christmas. I've never even heard of it. I buy like I I think I picked up like 10 tubes this Christmas, and my husband's like, are we getting the I was like, this lasts me of the year. That's so funny. Then my kids use it, like, but it's something about like I'm a minty gal. Yeah, so they say that the mint can dry out your lips and makes you want to use more. So their marketing and strategy is working on you. My lips are not dry. Oh, that's great. Maybe they've mastered that. I found the candy cane secret. So the only other product I have for beauty is about my eyelashes. So, quick story. Back in the day, I've had two or three people come up to me and be like, what fake eyelashes do you use? And I'm like, I don't use fake eyelashes. This is natural. And they're like, What?

unknown

What?

SPEAKER_00

Um, and it was the beautiful, I call it the watermelon container, which is the pink with the green standard great lash mascara. You should have mentioned this in the 90s episode. Maybe it's Maybelline. Yeah. Yeah. Maybe she's born with it. No, I am born with it, but I'm just making it better. Um all about my watermelon tube. It's been with me. My mom used it growing up. I cannot stray. I've tried others. I cannot stray. It's my ride or die. Ride or die. Hopefully they don't they don't discontinue. Don't say I put it in the universe. Knock on every thing of wood. Oh my gosh. All right, well, now let's go down to health. Yeah, because beauty's skin deep, but we're talking about inside now. Yes. And I think we gotta start something that like my husband hates. I love water bottles. Oh, yeah. He's always like, if you bring one more cup into this house, how my husband is doing. We are gonna have an issue. When we got married, he was like, Why are people giving us cups? Mr. and Mrs. all over this house. And I was like, just marry me and like it. Um, but no cup for every occasion. I feel like water bottles, there's so many new brands coming out, right? And it like I feel like the biggest splash that was made was Stanley. Yep. Right? A Walla. A Walla, but like I am a Yeti. Oh, I love a Yeti. I will not, I don't know, there's something comforting about it. It's a thicker, durable product. And I just like I don't know. I love it. Like I've had this one, I take it with me everywhere. Yeah, it's great. It's like you can spill it in the drop of a hat, so I don't know why I travel with it. But it I've had it for eh eight years. Yeah, that's very durable. Still drunking out of it. I love it. So I love a Yeti. I actually take my electrolytes in a fake Yeti. It's very similar to that. But I'm an Awala girl. Um, Matt hates Awalas. Like literally, when they drop, the thing about Awala is they pop open and they will the the water rapidly comes out. I like when I I was almost gonna get an Awala and then I talked to Matt and I was like, no, nope. He was like, Ashley, do you want spills in your house? And I said, no. He said, don't get an Awala. And I said, okay, sold. Like literally the opposite way. He like has PTSD about how much these Awalas have spilled. But um, I love a water bottle, and in order to, you know, like I said, I mentioned electrolytes, fill up my water bottle sometimes. I just tried ProMix electrolytes. And let me tell you about these electrolytes. Are these like a company that you can't buy at a store? Or is this guilty influenced, but not I wasn't influenced. Oh, but I recently I love that, but like I am such a convenience girly. Yeah. That like I'm like, oh, you're not at a target picker or an Amazon. Like, I'm not gonna go in and put my pickard in. I have I get things from all over. I'm uh this consider the source girl. So the um these electrolytes, I was looking for something that didn't have stevia, which spoiler alert, almost all of them have stevia. Is stevia bad for you? I don't want to ingest it because I don't know. So like judge. Is it like an aspartame? It's similar, but it's derived, it's derived from the stevia plant. It's it's supposed to people get all excited because it's like natural, but there's also been publications about how it's been used in certain um cultures to prevent um conception, to prevent getting pregnant. And so I'm like, I don't know enough about this cute little plant just because it's a plant. I don't know. I'm just have some reservations. So this one has just a touch of monk fruit and it's like sodium bicarbonate and magnesium and like all the things that you need for a good electrolyte. It is salty. Um, however, like it is clean. And so I've really been enjoying them. I've been having one like one a day. Nice. So, yeah. Um, can I talk about my sleep apnea now? Please do. Okay. Sure. So I got diagnosed with like very low-end mild sleep apnea, and I tried a CPAP and I almost died. So, meaning like I almost died from using the CPAP because I could hardly breathe. So horrible. Like, thanks for clarifying. So I had to like figure out a way to like make sure I don't stop breathing at night. And so my little concoction is mouth tape and breathe right strip. So I literally have seen mouth tape all over. Yeah. Your phone's listening to us. And I am uh, well, no, before you mentioned it, like it literally just I was like, it's a trend. I see it on like everyone's like, oh, I'm waking up in the morning, let me take off my mouth tape, whatever. Like, I'm always a mouth shut girly. So I'm like happy. And I know I've said like girly a million times in this episode, but no, but so the thing about mouth tape is for people who sleep with their mouth open and like that that that causes you to stop breathing sometimes. There's actually studies around mouth tape and it's stopping snoring. And when I wear my mouth tape, I do not snore hardly at all. It's very, very noticeable. We're bringing this into my house. I have to try it. And it's very noticeable and it's comfortable to sleep with. So that's the other thing where you think, like, oh, am I gonna be claustrophobic or something? As long as you got those breathe right strips on. I I suffer from also, like I jokingly call it short snout syndrome. I have a very small nose. So like the breathe right just expands my little nostrils, just those passageways. So anyway, nothing fancy, but it works for me. Love it. Um, okay, so I think let's touch on one more thing in the health area is just all these like holistic, better for you vitamins, yeah, supplements, right? I think who's who isn't an elderberry fan? I feel like I've seen it in popsicles now. I feel like it's all over the place. But I feel like it makes a difference. Yeah, absolutely. I totally have seen that. So the elderberry. Yes, yeah, love that. I I give it to them all winter in a form of a gummy. And then I think anytime you're sick, you could just like blast yourself with it. But here's my magic concoction, and I have to share this one. Just share it. Have to share it. If you're getting the little scratchy throat, the little nasal drip, maybe a little tiredness in your body, I'm gonna give you my one, two, three, four punch. I know it sounds like a lot of punches. This is a secret that's never been revealed until this moment. This is huge. Okay. Um so essentially, what you do is you get those zycam swabs. You get them all up in your nostrils. That's one punch. Never even heard of these. Okay, Zycam, it's zinc. It's an antibacterial. It's a swab. You gotta swab it in there because you deal with it. Both nostrils? Both nostrils. Okay. Okay. Like a COVID test. Kind of like a COVID test. Like up all the get all up in there. Get all up in there. You're gonna chug an emergency. Okay. You're gonna do it in the morning, and you're gonna do it at night. Okay. And you're going to use this holistic throat and you're going to like it. Yes, and you're gonna use this holistic throat spray. So basically, if you have anything going on with your nose or your throat, it's the zycam in your nostrils, the throat spray, and then you're boosting yourself with vitamin C and then just normal like water. Like just so anyway, it has worked for me. I kid you not, to where like I thought I was going to get very, very sick and I don't. I just don't. I love it. Okay. So this was like, I did not write this down, but my girlfriend, very into holistic everything, she told me to take these things. It's before you think you're getting a cold. It is like don't even remember the name. I want to say Osilium or something like that. I don't know. Anyway, um, we'll report back, but I've done it a couple times. No cold has I love it. And I swear by it now. Yeah. It is phenomenal. Cut it off at the chase. Like we're not messing around. We're moms. We have to be awake. We have to be with our kids. So and because we're moms, let's end with snacks. I mean, snacks on snacks on snacks. All day. So tell me what you're jiving on. What are you mentioning? Okay. And like you always have fun, something fun. Like you go here's the thing about Ashley. You go to her house, she's putting together this snack tray. There's gonna be three things you've never had, and then you're gonna want to buy them. I'm a cool mom. You are a cool mom. Um, no, and I think all the snacks I'm gonna mention are basically for myself. But here are my two big kicks right now. Lesser evil everything, but specifically the sweetness popcorn, which is like a kettle corn. I love it, but like completes my soul. And then they got these ranch balls, like they're kind of like um chinos, yeah, uh-huh, but they're ranch flavor, and I could eat the whole bag. Number two, Aloha bars, protein bars, had them love them. OMG. I don't know why. I mean, they're still a protein bar, I'm not gonna kid you there. A little chalky. Phenomenal though. They are tasty, and I I'm happy with the clean ingredients. Yeah, they're pretty clean. I and I I get all those kind of things from Thrive Market. Oh, yeah. Not a Thrive Groove love, but I think I should convert. I love it. I I mean I probably get a box a month, and it just like is a little bit cheaper. So some things I get from there actually, palimi noodles. So if you are looking to cut carbs and be on a weight loss journey, could not recommend these more. I saute them with a little olive oil, salt pepper, and garlic powder, and then you top with sauce and some maybe chicken meatballs or or mushrooms. You like it better than spaghetti squash? Yes, way better. The texture's better. It's got a little bit more bite to it. Um, delish, delish. Uh, another thing, I don't get them from Thrive, but the organic corn dippers at Trader Joe's, like we plow through these things like nobody business, but I I will take those with their everything bagel seasoning dip, the Greek yogurt dip, and I'm in heaven. Like, I like a chip for me, I could live on chips and salsa. Like, don't bring me to a Mexican restaurant if you're planning to have any chips and salsa, because like I will eat them all. Clear them out. Clear them out. Oh my gosh. I feel like, and let's end on one more thing, coffee related, because that's my lifeblood. I just discovered this new company called Newly. Okay. And they've got flavored syrups that are healthier for you for your coffees. I just picked purchased, it's called a Sunday in Paris almond croissant flavored syrup. And how is it? I don't know. It's coming on it's coming on Monday. So TBD, but like this is something where I'm an almond croissant freak. I love almond croissant. It's my favorite. There's actually a bakery in our town that does an almond chocolate combo. And it literally, I don't think I've had a better ginger in my life. This bakery literally uses a pound of butter in every country. So shout out to Apre if you're in the this area. Yes. Enjoy. Um, but yeah, coffee. I love it. Me too. Newly. I think you know what's fun about this episode is that these become such a staple in our lives. You know, everybody out there listening is probably thinking, oh, there's a product I want to share. Please share it. Like, sharing is caring. We all are trying to sort through like all these influencers. You're sitting here getting berated, you know, with bombarded with all of these different influencers saying this, that electrolyte, and that-da-da. If there's one that really works for you, like please don't hold it, don't keep it a secret. Send, like, send it to us, send it to your friends. Like, because we just don't want to be duped. Yeah. You know, we don't want to be buying things that don't work. No. So, and with that, guys, I hope you had fun on our little product journey, lighthearted little snap here. And please remember, after every breakdown, don't forget the bubble. If you're liking us, please follow us on the gram, listen to us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. And don't forget to rate, review, and subscribe. Cheers, everybody. See ya.

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Ashley

Co-host
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Katrina

Co-host