review

Hello everyone!

Around the holiday season, my parents got a set of Sonicare toothbrushes for the family. I’ve used a couple different electric toothbrushes over the years, and I was using an Oral-B electric toothbrush before I received my new Sonicare. The Sonicare I have is probably one of the most basic models- it’s the Sonicare Series 2 for plaque control, which you can get on sale for $40 here. If you’re in the market for an electric toothbrush but don’t want to spend a ton of money, keep on reading to hear my thoughts on this Sonicare!

The first few times I used the toothbrush, I was really impressed. I have pretty sensitive teeth and gums yet it didn’t irritate them (sometimes electric toothbrushes do since the bristles move at such high speeds), and my teeth felt really clean after using it. I liked that the toothbrush actually stopped after the two-minute timer went off so I wouldn’t lose track of time, since my Oral B’s toothbrush had a timer but didn’t have that feature. My teeth looked a lot whiter during the first couple weeks of using it, so I was very pleased.

As I’ve used the toothbrush more, I don’t see as much of a clear difference in quality between it and the Oral-B toothbrush I had before. I’m still pleased with it since I believe it’s $10-20 cheaper than my previous toothbrush and I like the timer feature a lot. However, my teeth definitely don’t look as white at the moment (could be other reasons, but I’m not really sure what), and I have to charge it quite often. I’ve started just keeping it on the charging dock whenever I’m not using it, but sometimes it still seems a little slow certain times I’m using it.

Another thing to consider is the price of brush head replacements. My Oral-B replacement heads were around $7 for a pack of two, but most of the places I’ve found that carry these Sonicare replacement heads are $8 for one. This would outpace the $10-20 initial price difference of the two toothbrushes really quickly, so it’s something to consider if price is a concern, or if you like to replace your brush heads more than the average person.

My overall thoughts are that I would rate this toothbrush a solid 8/10. It’s not too pricey, so I wasn’t expecting a ton from it- at this price point, you can’t really expect fancy features, and that’s fine with me. I’m glad I have it and I do enjoy it more than my Oral-B for the time being, but if you’re considering whether to make the brand switch, I don’t think it’s really necessary unless you’re comparing more expensive toothbrushes and there’s more discrepancies in features. I would get whatever is the best deal while you’re shopping.

Hopefully this helps any of you toothbrush enthusiasts! I know it’s something weird to review, but I’m kind of obsessive about dental care since after getting my braces off eight months ago I really want to take good care of my teeth. I’m also willing to try any toothbrushes and toothpaste that will make my teeth look whiter and cleaner, since I have naturally yellow teeth and nothing really helps. Let me know if you have any recommendations 🙂

Brooke

Hello everyone!

I recently watched both available seasons of the show Good Trouble on Hulu and I absolutely loved it, so I thought I would talk a little bit about it. I normally don’t find that many things I want to watch on Hulu, but I watched The Fosters while it was popular a couple years ago and my friend told me that the sequel type show was on Hulu. I checked it out and finished it within one weekend (in my defense, I was sick and pretty much bedridden). It was a little cheesy, as all shows of this sort are, but definitely better than I expected for a sequel.

I highly recommend watching The Fosters before you watch Good Trouble, but it’s not completely necessary since there’s a lot of new characters in the show that weren’t in The Fosters. However, it does pick up almost exactly where The Fosters left off, so I would still suggest it. It follows sisters (adopted sisters) Mariana and Callie as they move to Los Angeles for their jobs at a tech startup and clerking for a federal judge, respectively. They move into an apartment in a building called The Coterie and realize it’s a communal living space- they have a bedroom to themselves, but communal bathrooms and kitchen/living space. Craziness ensues as they meet the other residents, and there’s lots of drama.

The show moves quickly and there’s tons of relationships and little storylines here and there woven throughout the main conflicts. The thing I was most pleased about was the continuity from The Fosters- pretty much all of the family members and original characters ended up coming into the show at one point to visit Callie and Mariana and there were actual plots surrounding these events. They weren’t just meaningless cameos to somehow tie the show back to its roots; they actually continued old storylines. I thought that was a really nice touch since sequels often don’t bring back the characters and plotlines- I know I was disappointed with The Originals after The Vampire Diaries, so much so that I never even finished it.

I don’t want to say too much else about the actual plot because I don’t want to spoil anything, but I will say that Callie’s character probably annoyed me the most throughout the episodes that I watched. She kind of annoyed me in The Fosters too so that’s not the biggest surprise- I have a lot of respect for her because of her passion for law, but she still makes self-destructive decisions and in some case just can’t make decisions.

Another element of the show I didn’t expect to enjoy so much was the portrayal of Callie and Mariana’s respective workplaces. I’m not sure how accurate a depiction of those jobs they are, but they definitely opened my eyes and I liked the little focus on the workplace- especially in Callie’s case, since I’m interested in law. Mariana’s storyline with her job really opened my eyes to more of the mistreatment of women in STEM (something I mentioned in another recent post of mine- you should go check it out!!). I felt that was a super important thing to include.

Overall, I really enjoyed the parts of the show that I watched. The show is currently still airing its second season, which I didn’t realize at the time of watching; I forgot that Hulu gets episodes pretty quickly as they air on actual TV. That being said, I guess this review only covers my impression of one and a half season then? Either way, I will definitely be watching the rest when I get a chance, but I’ll probably wait for the rest of the season to be done so I can binge-watch it all at once.

I hope you guys enjoyed this. I’m not the best at reviewing things, so please feel free to give me pointers or suggestions of things to review so I can get more practice in. Let me know what you think if you end up watching Good Trouble 🙂

Brooke