Product review: LED Dusk to Dawn Bulb, A19 Frosted E26 Auto On/Off

When I shop for LED bulbs the amount of choices is dizzying. If I can't see them turned on side by side I am never quite sure what they will look like when I get home this is because manufactures do not have a standard of how they specify what their light is equivalent to. In attached photos I show the light produced by 7W Bailida LED bulb and fluerescent 60W bulb.  You can see that LED light appears to be slightly brighter, it generates colder white light than fluerescent bulb.  They both light my entire work desk.  The LED bulb has shaper edge between the lighted and dark areas.

In this review I am comparing Kunshi 10 Watt 1100 Lumen LED bulb and a 60W Sylvinia incandescent bulb.

Comparison of the bulbs
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

✔ Bailida 7 Watt bulb is 4.5" long by comparison the old incandescent bulbs were 4.25" long (these measurements include the base). The LED bulb weighs 3.2 oz, the incandescent bulb weighs 0.90 oz.

✔ The LED bulb produces white daylight light (6000 Kelvin).

✔ Both lights are frosted and the light is even and visually pleasing.

✔ Both lights turn on instantly.

✔ LED bulb is NOT Dimmable

✔ LED bulb turns on automatically when it is dark.  It can be used inside or outside, I am using it over the basement stairs and now don't need to worry when I come through the basement entrace rather than from the house where the switch is located. 

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Polaroid 2x3 inch Premium ZINK Photo Paper

I am reviewing Premium Zink Photo paper.  I  am using this paper in a Polaroid Snap camera. I took photos both inside and outside and they came out slightly blueish. I have used Zink paper in the past and saw no blue cast. When I look closer at the packaging I noticed that the temperature range for the use of the Premium paper is fairly narrow: 68°F to 77°F degrees. It was definitely colder than that for my outside shots, and probably on the border for the inside shots as we keep the house at about 68 degrees in the winter.

Other than the blueish tint I like many things about Zink paper. The image on the paper cannot be smudge as the process uses no ink. The print feels thick and very glossy. Unlike the glossy print I get from my ink jet printer Zink paper does not show finger prints. Pretty neat!

Each paper sheet is 2" x 3". The paper is inserted into the camera with the bar code facing down, shiny side up. The camera takes 10 pieces of paper at a time.

Bottom line: If a blueish cast will bother you make sure you plan to use it the recommended temperature range. Unfortunately the temperature range is not shown in Amazon description, only on the foil wrapper of the paper itself.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: TranSay 2nd Generation AI Two Ways Instant Digital Voice Translator

This unit is a cute 2" x 4.5" in size.  It comes with a leather carrying pouch. It supports 32 different languages, and translate both as text and voice.

The unit comes set to Chinese language by default. The first thing you need to do is change the language to English. Fortunately, the setting icon is a
gear and it was easy to guess, once you click you will see English spelled in English.

To help me test it I enlisted a friend who is a native Russian speaker and another friend who is fluent in French. I also used Google translate to compare how Transay performs in comparison with the app that is available on the smart phone.

Overall, Google translate was more accurate in the translation as judged by the fluent speakers in Russian and French. Transay did a decent job with some common sentences, how ever a few times it changed the meaning of the translation.  Google translate by comparison was accurate in every test.

You can see several of the tests in attached video.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆

Product review: Magtoe Women's Knitted High Density Foam Clog Slippers

These slippers are cute and warm. They have man-made plastic sole, they are lined with high density foam.  The HD foam is a little harder than memory foam which give my foot  a little more support while still being soft. HD foam is washable and breathable. The sole has no arch support, they are totally flat.  They are warm and comfortable to sit in behind the desk as I work, but because of the lack of arch support I don't do a lot of walking in them.

I normally wear size 7.5 and selected size 8 slipper. They are a very good fit, the sizing is true to size.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Anti-Aging, Anti-puffiness, Soothing, Firming, Moisturizing, 24K GOLD COLLAGEN Eye Treatment Mask by Deluxe Angel

I have tried a number of eye masks and mud preparations, this eye treatment is different because this preparation is not a cream or a mask but instead it consists of indivdual pouches that stick to your skin.  There is no mess or fuss, they are easy to put on and remove.  I keep them for 20 minutes (per instructions on the box) after I take a shower.  For the 15 minutes the pouches are on my face I can continue to do regular activities, they mask pouches not fall off.  Once I remove them I see noticeable skin smoothness and reduced puffiness. Of course, this is not magic, and the effect is temporary. After the treatment my face skin refreshed and cooled, so it is quite pleasant.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: FAVOLCANO® 20000mAh High Capacity Ultra-thin Dual USB Port External Battery Charger Power Bank

Initially I liked this battery because of slim form factor.  However after one months of use I became disappointed with it as it seem to run out of juice faster than expected. I believe the capacity is overstated.

For reference here are the readings I got with a current monitor:
IpadMini draws 1.63A one the 2A port which is good for the iPadMini. It draw 0.93A on 1A port which is typical for iPadMini on 1A port.

It under performed for Nexus phone (drawing 0.43A on one port and 0.87A on another) where 0.43A is USB rate and 0.87 AC rate but below optimal.

The battery is very slim 6" x 3" x 3/8". It has two USB outlets and one (fairly dim) flashlight.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★☆☆☆☆

Product review: Skyhawk Acrylic Quilting Ruler Combo Pack of 2 Quilters Rulers

I am experienced quilter and I like working with these rulers.

* The rulers has a lot of lines and the lines are in yellow and black so it works well on dark and light fabrics. In my photos I show it on black and white fabric so you can see how well the lines show up.

* The numbers appears on all four sides of the ruler so I can tell at a glace if my fabric is lined up correctly

* Has lines for 30, 45, and 60 degree angles

* Has a hole for hanging, so I can store it on my craft pegboard

This is a simple product but it is well made with attention to details.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Gardena 8943-U Garden Hand Weeder

 I learned about this garden gadget from my neighbor. She has a beautiful garden and when asked her how she keeps her garden so weed free she showed me this tool. It is very sharp and narrow, so it work well in rock garden as well as a flower bed. It even works in removing weeds in driveway cracks. The sharp blade has a cover for when you store it. The handle is very comfortable. I just started my spring garden cleaning and this weeder made this chore much easier. I am using it in combination with Nejiri Gama Hoe weeder, which is wider and I use it when I need to deal with big patches of weeds.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: CN65 Vintage Inspired Horned Rim Metal Bridge P3 UV400 Clear Lens Glasses

These glasses look pretty good on me! They fit well - both the width and the nose piece. The nose piece has movable arms so it adjusted to my nose shape and it feels very comfortable. The lenses are plain plastic - good as fashion statement or protection from wind. The frames are light and some what thin. The finish is shiny. They are a fashion accessory not a heavy duty frame you would expect for vision correction.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: CHHUI E26 E27 3 in 1 Light Socket Adapter Splitter

I got this splitter for the basement. The splitter is rated for bulbs with the maximum of 60W for each outlet. The outlets are well spaced out and providing me more light then the old two way splitter. I am using the splitter with 8W LED bulbs. I also tested it with fluorescent bulbs all three outlets worked fine with both bulb types. 

The splitter is made out of light weight plastic, my old two way splitter feels a bit more solid but I had no problems using it.  The splitter has no switch or pull string, so this splitter is designed for an outlet with a switch.
You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Joway JP51 6000mah Ultra-slim External Battery Portable Charger Pack with builit-on cable

We own a number of mobile devices from different manufactures, we have Android devices, Apple devices, Samsung devices. I prefer external batteries that work well with all of our devices. Unfortunately this external battery is not one of them. It works well with my Android phone charging it to close to optimal rate from both of its ports, but it could not charge my iPad Mini. The battery supposed to turn on automatically when the device is plugged in but iPad Mini never showed it was charging and my current monitor did not show any current. I am able to charge iPad Mini from other batteries, so it is something very specific to this battery. I double checked with the manufacturer if the battery should turn on automatically and he confirmed that it should. He also said that only one port at a time can be used, two devices cannot be charged at the same time. iPad Mini was the only devices I was trying to charge.

I tested this battery with a current monitor, and I am including the readings for those who are interested in the details. I always use the same two devices and I do my tests with the devices charged to the same level and running the same applications. These test show me the amount of current the battery is delivering to the device and also allow me to do a relative comparison of different batteries to each other. This helps me identify the batteries that do not perform well. Note that these tests are not testing for the maximum current each device can draw on each port as neither of my devices can max out the port.

iPad Mini
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Port 1 (built in cable with adapter) - did not charge
Port 2 (my own cable) - did not charge

Nexus phone
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Port 1 - (built in cable) - 5% up charge in 10 minutes (average)
Port 2 - (included charging cable) 1.04A / 5.05V (AC rate, excellent, for comparison other ex batteries produce 1.00A/5.05V)

Overall,  disappointing external battery.  With so many choices of external batteries out there I cannot recommend this one.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★☆☆☆

Product review: Tim & Tina 100% Pure Mulberry Luxury Silk Satin Pillowcase

This pillowcase is made out very nice quality silk, it feels smooth and well... silky! My favorite feature of this pillowcase is the zipper closure. It keeps the pillow inside the pillow case and always has a perfect fit and a neat look. It works better than the open end or even an envelope closure!
The zipper is neatly hidden so you can't see it, you can see just the pull.

I hand washed the pillow cases. They are color fast. Most of the time I don't iron, it looks fine to me right out of laundry with a small amount of wrinkles, however if you prefer the ironed looked it is best to turn the pillow inside out and iron from reverse side on the silk setting of the iron.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Bosmere L565 6-Feet by 4-Feet Expanding Bamboo Trellis for Vining Plants

I used to buy wood trellises for my garden in Home Depot but this year they did not have any other than decorative metal trellises, which are heavy and expensive.  I decided to give this bamboo trellis a try and was pleasantly surprised.

1) The bamboo sticks are pretty thick and hard, I am including a photo that shows the trellis next to my hand for size reference

2) Even though it described as 6 feet by 4 feet, I was able to make it 7 feet (and it could have been a bit taller). The width remained to be 4 feet, it did not get much more narrow as it expanded.

3) It could be mounted vertically or horizontally. I needed a tall trellis for cucumber plants. The plants are growing next to the deck (not a solid wall) so I was able to mount the trellis on the deck slats using plant hangers and plastic ties to secure the trellis to the hanger so wind does not dislodge it. Bevause the trellis expands and contracts it cannot stand on its own. It has to be mounted in some way to keep it expanded.

4) The bamboo is very light weight (the entire trellis is under 4 pounds) so it is easy to move around and install.

5) The rivets are metal and are somewhat loose.  At first I thought it was a defect, but then I realized this is by design so the trellis can expand and collapse.

6) The finish is natural - i.e. uneven in places and discolored in other places, this how the natural bamboo dried.  I would not describe this trellis as beautiful, but it feels very functional.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★

Product review: Oakridge Garden Tools Hori Hori Gardening Knife and Hand Weeder

This tool marries a garden trowel and a knife. It looks like narrow trowel with a serrated edge on one side and a sharp blade on the other side. This design makes this tool very versatile - I can dig, I can cut, I can saw. I use it for planting, weeding, moving small amounts of dirt, cutting roots. It also works very well for splitting perennials. This tools is a real workhorse.

The blade is 6.75" long, overall length of the knife is 12 inches. The blade has marking in inches and millimeters, so if you are using it to plant you can tell how deep you digging. The blade is made out of stainless steel and is pretty thick. It does not bend. It comes with a heavy duty nylon sheath with a belt loop and a hole for hanging.

The handle is made out wood. It is not ergonomically shaped and could be more comfortable.  I typically wear a glove when using the knife for a long time.  Note that this tool is totally symmetric so it will work well whether you are a right handed or a left handed, or just like to switch hands to give the other side some rest.


You can find it on Amazon by following this link.

Ali Julia review ★★★★☆

Product review: Liby Original Scent HE Turbo Clean Liquid Laundry Detergent

Liby detergent does a nice job removing stains and smells. I use it both on whites and colors, it works well on both. I do all my washes in cold water to save on energy. 

The bottle's spout has a nice design and catches the drips so everything drips back into the bottle. I keep the bottle's cap clean by using an old cup from a previous bottle to measure the dispensed liquid.

The detergent has a light floral fragrance - pleasant but not strong. 

The only minor negative is that measurement are given in kilograms and liters, but it is a minor thing since I rarely look at recommended measurements for detergents but rather use my own experience to determine the right measurement. 

The bottle is labeled as 3 liters, which is equivalent to 101.5 oz (not 107 oz stated in Amazon title).  Price comparison shows Liby's per oz price is on par or slightly cheaper compared with brand name detergents.

You can find it on Amazon by following this link.


Ali Julia review ★★★★★