5 Things I was Influenced to Buy and Whether They Are Worth It!

I don’t know about you, but I’ve definitely been influenced to buy quite a few things from people I follow on Instagram. I’ve purchased things from special hair ties to a highly recommended razor to a protein powder that a lot of other runners use. Now I’m giving my two cents on whether or not they are worth it. Spoiler alert: some of them were winners; others were duds.

Gimme Hair Bands

I have been seeing influencers talk about Gimme hair bands for at least a couple of years now. I finally decided to try them when I found them on Target’s website. After trying them for a few weeks, I feel ‘meh’ about them. I like them, but I can’t say I think there’s anything about them that makes them superior to other hair ties I’ve used. They held my hair in place and didn’t slip out, but your traditional black hair tie does the same for me. I will say I get creases in my hair from any hair tie I use (My hair is thin and creases very easily.), so these didn’t eliminate that. With my thin, fine hair, I also don’t have issues with my hair ties snagging or pulling on my hair with any hair tie I use. All in all, I like these and will continue to use them, but I don’t see myself repurchasing them.

Loving Tan Self-Tanner

This is one of my first items I purchased from an influencer several years ago, and I am still using the product. I’ve tried a few other self-tanners over the years, but I always end up back at Loving Tan. I love it instantly transforms my skin to a bronzed glow with a very natural tan color (not an orange-y color by any means). My “tan” usually lasts about a week, but it fades gradually and evenly, which helps the transition. I do use the mitt to help with application and avoid streaks.

I will say this self-tanner comes in a little higher price point, but I do think you get what you pay for. My last bottle lasted five months with regular use over the summer. I do use the ‘medium’ shade an that is definitely dark enough for me.

T3 Curling Iron

The T3 Curling Iron was all the rage a couple of years ago. I initially was very hesitant to buy it with its high price tag, but I couldn’t pass it up when I saw it at Costco at a much more reasonable price. Even though it does a really good job of curling my hair, the $149 price tag is a bit much for me to buy it at full-price. I’ve used this $15 one that curls well (but I will say it has some functional drawbacks), and this $28 curling iron that worked just as well. Thankfully I paid about $50 for for my T3 curling iron, which didn’t leave as much of a dent in my pocketbook. I will say that when I curl my hair, I do reach for this one over the $15 one, so if I had purchase it at full price, I definitely would have gotten my money’s worth.

Billie Razor and Dry Shampoo

For a while it seemed every influencer was talking about the Billie razor, so I finally used up my other razors to test out what the hype was all about.

Initially I was really impressed with the razor–it was cute, the magnetic holder for the shower was an awesome idea, and the blades worked well. And for those things I would highly recommend these razors. The one downfall is that the charcoal strip around the blade (which I’m still not sure what they purpose is) gets so sticky over multiple uses and then ends up sticking to everything. It sticks to the plastic cover for the blades as well as to your shower if you set it down instead of hanging it up. Definitely not the end of the world but definitely annoying.

I get the idea of having a subscription service for something like this, but I am starting to get a little annoyed that the only way you can even try the item is by signing up for a subscription service. I know exactly why companies do it, but I was going through blades at a much slower rate than I needed and ended up changing my subscription service frequently. While it shouldn’t be that big of a deal (honestly, it is never that hard to change your subscription), it was a slight inconvenience. The other big plus people raved about was the very reasonable price of them. I do think they are reasonable through the subscription service, but I found Venus razors at Costco for even less.

The two Billie items I did try that I really liked were the Floof Dry Shampoo and their Dry-Bye Body Lotion. I haven’t found many dry shampoos I’ve loved (and I’ve definitely tried my fair share), but this was one that actually worked. I liked that it was a cleaner, safer option, and was color-matched to my blonde hair. The body lotion was reasonably-priced, smelled great, and was again a safer, non-toxic option.

Momentous Protein Powder

I am not always very hungry after running, so having a protein powder on hand to mix into a protein drink is an easy way to get some calories in and protein to start repairing my muscles. (I always make sure to eat some carbohydrates as well since most protein powders have very few carbs.) Over the last few months, I have seen a lot of runners use this protein powder, so I decided to give it a try myself.

I will say this Momentous protein powder actually tastes good just mixed with almond milk. I thought it was pretty watery mixed with 12oz of water like the instructions say, so I usually mix a scoop with 8oz of almond milk, and it is so good!

The Momentous protein powder does have a subscription service, but when I am running and training every day–like I have been these past couple of years, the subscription service makes more sense for me. I also liked that I was able to change the exact item I got. For example, I got vanilla the first time, and the second time chose the chocolate flavor. So far I like the vanilla flavor more because vanilla is a little more universal flavor to add to a smoothie rather than the chocolate, but I like both flavors mixed with almond milk.

I realize that no matter the product, it might work well for one person but not the other, so I tried to give the pros and cons to each item so that you can decide if these items might work for you.

Also, if you like this type of post, let me know in the comments, and I’d be happy to round up more items because I know I can find more products I’ve been influenced to buy over the years.