Vive Pro for Men

I have been trying Vive pro for Men from L'Oreal, and it has been eh, so so.  The product in question is actually a combination shampoo, conditioner AND body wash.  I am a little skeptical as I prefer to use separate products for each shower function (and I am more of a bar man).

Vive pro's scent is the real draw.  It is a very masculine scent, and I really bring it with me out of the shower.  The main problem with the product is that it makes my hair feel thin and dry.  Granted I should probably use Vive pro's daily thickening shampoo for my thinning mane, but you couldn't make a combination body wash that is also thickening?  I mean I feel like Bill Murray after my shower.  Also, it kind of dries out my skin.

And what is with all these combination shampoo/conditioner/body wash products.  Is it really that difficult to reach over for the soap after you wash your hair?  Come on America...

Price:  n/a (got this as a gift, an impulse gift)
Quality:  6
Packaging:  5 (a little boring L'Oreal; spice it up a bit!)
Scent:  8 (Jack Palance would agree)
Smart Buy?  Nah.  Unless you shower with a garden hose and have only 20 seconds to get all your stuff done.

Market Pantry Honey Graham Crunch

Target is where I make many of my impulse purchases.  They have great private label products that catch my eye from time to time.  Recently, I picked up some Honey Graham Crunch cereal.  It was between $2-3 and I felt like buying a cereal I used to love as a kid, as in Cinnamon Toast Crunch or Golden Grahams.  I would say this is a mixture of the two and it's quite a treat.

Health factor?  This is no Kashi, but compared to some of the other items in the cereal aisle, this is the South Beach Diet of kids cereals.  130 calories and 3g fat per serving (serving size is 3/4 cup keep in mind).  Only 10g sugar, which isn't horrible.

Price:  8
Quality:  8
Health Factor:  6
Smart Buy?  Sure, no better way experience your childhood, which is such a distant memory at this point.

Kashi Trail Mix Granola Bar (chewy)

Just ate one of these bad boys.  Kashi tends to do well when it sticks to its bread and butter, whole grain cereals and bars - we'll talk about their horrendous frozen dinners another day.  This bar is pretty filling if you're on the go, however I am not on the go at the moment and am going to make a bacon, egg and cheese bagel.

Anyways, this bar is advertised as having the Seven Whole Grains, roasted nuts, sun-dried fruit (really?), and "a touch of wildflower honey", whatever that is.  A little vague for a company so bent on ingredients.  This bar is pretty good though, although a little dry and airy.

The health factor?  The bar is 140 calories, has 5 grams of fat which is a little high but you could do much worse, 6g protein and 4g of fiber.  Lots of random ingredients which I won't go into here, but they all seem natural.

Why did I buy this? It was on sale at Target.  $2.50 I believe for a box of 6.  Not bad for a 42 cent breakfast.

Price:  7 (on sale)
Quality:  7
Packaging:  6 (little tough to open)
Health Factor:  7
Smart Buy?  Eh, when it's on sale.  Granola bars in general are smart buys for cheap breakfast!

Why this blog matters...

It doesn't really. It is mainly to inform conscientious consumers about new products out there and whether they should throw those items in their cart at checkout or not. I will focus mainly on food and beverage products to start, perhaps throw in some confections and cleaning products, pretty much whatever I happen to impulsively purchase that week. I will also rate these products' attributes on a 1-10 scale, 10 being excellent, 1 being poor.

Feel free to post comments or recommend other products to try!