Madking Edison-Style Filament 60W Incandescent Bulb (6-pack)

I’ve been a fan of Edison-Style filament bulbs from the moment I saw them. They are so intricate, delicate, and beautiful and bring a little bit of fancy into an otherwise utilitarian object. And while pretty incandescent bulbs are now quite in vogue, it wasn’t too long ago that they were quite hard to come by. I was thrilled to get to try a new set with a different design, but alas, all Edison-style bulbs are not created equal.

At first, everything was perfect. Most of my light fixtures now had some version of Edison-Style lights in them. They have a standard (E26) base as well as a standard (A19) bulb shape. They run on standard 120V power and are supposed to be rated for up to 3,000 hours (more on that later). The Madking bulbs were a little brighter, but a little extra light in a room can be a good thing. Then the first bulb blew out, just a couple of days after I put it in. I chalked that up to rough handling from shipping, but a few days later, the replacement blew out as well. Then another went in a separate fixture. So unless every bulb had the bejeezus shaken out of it during shipping, there must be a defect in the materials somewhere. I’m hesitant now to put them back into fixtures, because what’s the point if they only last a few days to a week? A quick check of the reviews on Amazon shows that this is a pretty common occurance, and while Madking seems to be great about shipping replacements, those seem to sometimes blow out just as fast. The last thing I want to be doing in dragging out the stepstool every few days and replace more bulbs. That’s not a merry-go-round I want to ride, thanks.

It’s a shame these didn’t last better or longer, because while they work, they’re beautiful. While they are a tad brighter than I would like, they are at a nice intersection where form meets function, without either really taking precedence over the other. If they could just figure out why they burn out so fast and fix that, Madking has a real winner on their hands.

Connect with Madking:

• On Amazon

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Madking.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

 

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Enlightened Ambience 60 Watt Antique Edison Style Light Bulb

Everyone has “a thing” for something. For Hubby it’s watches, Leatherman tools, and flashlights. For me, I have a thing for antique-style lightbulbs, among other things. I know, weird. But they are just so beautiful to see, a real neat conversation piece that can take a drab or utilitarian light fixture and really make it pop. I’ve tried some of Enlightened Ambience’s bulbs before, and to say I’m a fan would be a huge understatement. And these medium-base Edison-Style bulbs are my absolute favorite yet.

As I mentioned, a ho-hum pendant lamp can be made a statement piece with a gorgeous bulb. And while LED lights appeal to my inner cheapskate as far as energy consumption and long life, sometimes you need beauty for beauty’s sake. Enlightened Ambience understands this and has made a line of bulbs that, no matter the fixture, bulb size or shape, look like works of art. These Antique-style bulbs feature a Squirrel cage tungsten vertical filament pattern, that when lit look jaw-droppingly gorgeous. The standard medium e-26 base will fit just about all average light fixtures with ease, and the best part? They’re dimmable! Light dimmers not only make for a very personalized lighting arrangement, but can significantly extend the life of a bulb so long as one doesn’t turn them on at full power each time. I use dimmers with a gradual rise to the pre-set lighting level, and consequently go many, many years between replacing bulbs. And I wouldn’t want to miss a single minute of these bulb’s estimated 3,000 hour life. And the light-smoke finish on the glass means they’ll look as sharp off as they do on. I love these bulbs, and if I didn’t have so many closed lighting fixtures I’d put them in every room in the house. The light they give off is pleasant and warm, and make the rooms I have them in feel so much more cozy!

Like I said, Enlightened Ambience gave us something that is beautiful for the sake of being beautiful, where once we simply thought it was utilitarian. There’s nothing wrong with making a necessity like a lightbulb into something that puts a smile on your face every time it lights up a room.

Connect with Enlightened Ambience:

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• Buy yours right here!

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Enlightened Ambience. I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion. My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

Kohree Real Wax Flameless LED Candles with Full Function Remote Control

I have reviewed a number of flameless candles recently, some that I loved, some I wanted to, and some that fell just short. The Last pillar candles I reviewed from Ohuhu fell just short, but based on my experience with Kohree products, I had much higher hopes. And for the most part, these Kohree Reaal Wax Flameless Pillar Candles with Remote Control are my new favorite flameless pillar candles ever.

To start, they are covered in real wax, so you should probably not put them on a hot surface or in bright sunlight for extended periods of time. You have a choice between a “constant on” feature, and a slow “flicker” effect from all three. You can even control the bightness! Low for a more relaxed setting and high to really brighten up a corner or accent table. Powered by 3 AAA batteries (sadly, not included. Insert sad face here!) each, they will run for quite some time before needing to be replaced (or, if your clever, recharged!). And because it’s a flameless candle, there’s no mess, no smoke, no hot melted wax to be worried about. And it’s always the perfect height and size, it’ll never melt smaller or irregular. The included remote is full-function, so you can adjust the brightness, the setting, and even the pre-designated timers of 4 and 8 hours! And the best part about them is they look just like the real deal. The last pillar candles I tried from Ohuhu would change colors, but the one color lacking was a true, actual “flame” color! So you immediately knew there was something off. With these Kohree Flameless Wax Candles, they 100% look and act like the real deal! They make for a great centerpiece to your holiday table, to any possible holiday decorating you could have in mind! And because they’re LED lights, they’ll last for years and years, and never need more than fresh batteries and quick wipe and they’re ready for the next season!

I really liked these Kohree Flameless Wax candles, and at just $16.99 for the set of 3, you could spend a lot more and get a lot less! The look and feel of a real candle, the convenience of a full function remote, and the low price, you can’t go wrong with these Real Wax Flameless Candles from Kohree!

Connect with Kohree:

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• On Amazon
• Get yours right here!

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Kohree.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

OxyLED’s MH20 LED Headlamp w/ Motion Sensor

Hubby, as we have established, is a flashlight nut. Little did I know, though, that this would extend to headlamps, too. However, there are few things as helpful and handy as a good, well made headlamp. And while OxyLED has made some real quality (and handy) products, for us, this one is just a little lacking, and I’ll go over why right here.

To start, it seems almost every smaller company fudges a little when it comes to reported lumen counts. Without professional equipment, you simply cannot accurately get an idea of how many lumens a particular light is. For instance, my husband’s 1st generation SureFire LED flashlight puts out about 80 lumens. SureFire is a pretty reliable brand, and their lumen outputs are also reliable. So it was a little surprising, then, that pointing both the SureFire and this OxyLED “200 lumen” headlamp at a bare wall, and finding the SureFire almost as bright. Now, to be fair, a great many things affect how much actual light is put out by an LED lamp. Quality of lens (this one is plastic, which doesn’t lend itself to longevity), quality of reflector (Again, more plastic), and quality of battery powering it (Alkaline batteries vs. lithium ion). So while the LED emitter in the headlamp might be rated for 200 lumens, it’s doubtful the output would be anywhere close to that. The throw of light is decent, and goes for about 120 feet before dissipating and becoming too diffuse to be useful. The beam isn’t that tight, either, and the headband mine came with had some little jagged bits that scratched Hubby’s head. The three AAA batteries used to power the headlamp are mounted in the rear, and the rubber-ish plastic case cover for the battery barely closes well and will do little to keep out serious rain or moisture. But, the upside is that it’s very affordable, light, and for the price puts out a decent amount of light that is useful in small, spaces, like a garage, or attic. It has a high, low, and strobe setting (ug, that strobe setting will make you nauseous after a while, too.). It doesn’t have any memory, so you must cycle through the settings with each use. It also has a motion sensing feature that turns the lamp on if it detects motion. I’m not sure how useful this feature would be to others, but for us, while being kind of neat, was also kind of useless.

Overall, while it could be useful, and is a great low-cost option for occasional use, there are better options out there that will last you longer and perform better, albeit for more money. While I liked the OxyLEd MH20 LED headlamp, I feel there’s some real drawbacks to it, enough so that if you plan on using it often or relying on it, you’re better served with another brand. However, keep in mind that OxyLED offers a 30-Day Money Back Guarantee, a 12 Month Replacement Warranty, as well as their Lifetime Support Guarantee.

Connect with OxyLED/Hisgadget:

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• Buy yours right here!

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Hisgadget and OxyLED.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

Zitrades: Low-Voltage Floodlights and Lighting #Review #ZitradesFloodLight

When it comes to items that must be left plugged in and connected, like outdoor lighting that is set to turn on from a timer and when you are most likely not home, safety comes first. I’m all for a bargain and have fallen for the bulk packages of low voltage lighting where a transformer is required, to later not be happy with the output. I also understand what weather-proof means versus waterproof.

I can easily state that the Zitrades lighting failed for me on many ways. First, the product has no gasket, seal, or any preventive measure to call it “waterproof”. I looked for a UL listing or something to inform me the materials used and inspection is even up to safety specs, none could be found. The manufacturer provided me with two lights to review and both advertised a remote, however one box was missing said remote and the light has no way to manually change the lighting for it to perform as advertised. Then comes the advertising where the manufacturer used the following wording in “features” on their listing:

• Ground wire plug in assure your safety in using

Let us get over the part where the proper syntax was not used because if I can understand someone, I really don’t care much when it comes to grammar. What I do care is about the key words such as “ground wire” and “plug”. You look at Zitrades website and they sell many of these lights, with plugs being the prominent ones they “sell”. Well, so far they only sell via Amazon, none are priced on their site and you can’t order and check-out like with a normal selling site. Some icons of products you click and they go to pages that are blank. I contacted the manufacturer and shared that the wording in both the promotion and on Amazon, which states the aforementioned, plus made them aware of the missing remote, however this is the reply I received:

All of my floodlight promoton are about DC 12V, there is no ground wire type, please check the promotions.I make it clear in my description.

Sophia

The above is copy and pasted as-is. I have only interacted with “Sophia” that gets back to you after midnight every time, as long as it is a weekday and don’t count Friday or the weekend because I went 4 days without hearing anything to just be greeted by the above. I love when companies are so busy with copy and pasting their descriptions that they get so caught up cutting corners, which they then end up attaching the wrong description to the incorrect product. This is a low voltage light, so think Malibu-style lighting. There is no ground in those but the transformer you use has one. The light being sold above has no ground or plug. The sentence is gibberish and I can’t review a product that has in my opinion already a bad beginning. The package has zero information about power sources you can use and even though I have an idea, the consumer should be able to have clear and understandable information. I will not damage my own transformer or worse, cause other damage or a fire because I wanted to test a light that we took apart and other than the wording by Zitrades, we could not find what makes the product “water-proof” and much less weatherproof! The box even has errors where it is printed to state something and then crossed off with a pen (like important information as the input voltage). I replied to Sophia and copy/pasted the above that was not only in this Amazon description but the promotion I signed-up as a blogger, and again silent. I don’t feel like waiting until midnight the next day for a reply when the company resides in California but keeps the oddest hours. Their site states 24 hour e-mail reply and that was false, as was the 8AM to 5PM (PST) hours. I don’t expect someone to jump when I establish contact but I do expect not needing to wait 4 days when you alert them to a remote is missing.

Connect with Zitrades at:

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• #ZitradesFloodLight

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Zitrades. I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion. My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

As a post script, a received the following reply just prior to posting this review:

Re: sorry for my mistake From: Zitrades06/23/2015 04:18 AM

• but you can see that in the picture, the flooldight is DC 12V without power plug in. THE SENTENCE”Ground wire plug in assure your safety in using”MEAN THAT in order to make it safe, you need to use ground wire, thank you.

  Maybe next time, I can give you another plug in floodlight, but this time, I have no plug in floodlight promotion, wish you can understand this.

  I wish you can post reviews with several pictures. Thank you in advance. 🙂

  Sophia

I’ll leave it up to you if you feel this is “standing behind their products”. I can’t recommend this brand at all, sorry.

Enlightened Ambience: Antique Edison Style Chandelier 40 Watt Light Bulbs #Review #EnjoyLight

As much as I like to save energy, I don’t feel that all bulbs have achieved the best make-over. Many of the LED kind are chunky in appearance and don’t provide soothing light. I want to be able to see true colors when I’m looking at objects, foods or even what I’m wearing. When I changed bulbs around the home and we have many, many, light fixtures, I had to find the proper balance. Our dining room lighting was changed first and the LED lights made food look unappealing and when we started to question if something was black in color or sort of bluish, we had to change bulbs back to just normal incandescent. Same for the expensive LEDs I replaced in the hallway thinking it’s the lights we use more, so I could save more. Wrong! Within 2 months, one light bulb started to flicker when in use and would stop within a few seconds. Then this extended to flickering all the time and even though the bulb’s box stated a 20 some so lifespan, it causing a strobe effect made me walk in the dark half the time and lets just say the moment I turned ahead of time and met the wall…..well, I went back to just plain old normal lights.

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We paid a lot for our fixtures and some I want to look as nice as can be. This goes for the chandelier style lantern we have outside in the front. I don’t want to blind my neighbors every time they exit their home either, but I want to be able to see well when night comes. At 40 watts and being that it’s a 3-lighted lantern, the bulbs from Enlightened Ambience fit the bill both look wise and cost.

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Enlightened Ambience provides the consumer with 6 bulbs with each having a lifetime of around 3,000 hours. The E-12 style bulbs are beautiful both on or even when they are off. The tips of the bulbs are “flame tip” style and they have that old fashion look, where you get that light amber glass colored look and the filament is just gorgeous. The bulbs make me smile and verify how much I love the lantern we purchased. The filament has that spiral shape that separates it from the usual incandescent bulbs you commonly purchase, making the light bulb itself add beauty to any fixture you own. The light bulbs from Enlightened Ambience can be used with dimming switches and suitable for both indoor and outdoors use. No limits and using 3 bulbs with my fixture did zero to make my bill go up or down.

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Retail Price Point: $36.00 for a set of six via Amazon. For a limited time, save $10.00 when you purchase 1 or more Qualifying items offered by Enlightened Ambience. Enter code C2HZAI6D at checkout. Check the posting here for promotion details.

These antique style bulbs come in a box that carefully secures each bulb in place with custom fittend (cut-outs) foam, plus the box has been created to mimic the same old fashion style as the bulbs. From the fonts and coloring, nothing was spared with Enlightened Ambience and every bulb shined perfectly right out of the box because I tested each one. You will love that smoky look and it really changes any lighting fixture for the better!

Make your home illuminate beautifully with Enlightened Ambience Lighting at:

• On-line 
• Amazon
• Facebook 

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Enlightened Ambience. I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion. My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

Aennon Headlamp Review #Headlamp

One thing you can never have enough of is flashlights, or so hubby says. Good ones are great, not great ones still have their uses, but bad ones can give you fits. Aennon asked me if I’d like to give one of their products a test drive, and I said sure, because flashlight, right?

For starters it’s LED, which makes it fairly impact resistant and bright. Unfortunately it is a multiple LED emitter, not a single diode. Aennon says it’s good for 30 lumens up to over 160 feet at it’s brightest setting. While I may admit it’s bright enough that it looks like about 30 lumens, at best I’d say the light goes about 40 feet, maybe 50. A far cry from 164 feet. While I don’t doubt you could be seen from that far away, it’s doubtful you’d have any meaningful vision in the dark at that range. It has 4 settings, low, mid, and high, with a red “night vision” setting as well. It uses a single button for all 4, so one must cycle through them to get to one’s desired brightness level. It runs on 3 (included, kudos to Aennon!) AAA batteries, which does make it a little front-heavy, but unlike the rear battery predecessor we own, no wires or pokey clips to power the unit running the length of the head straps.

It is adequate for small, dark spaces, and with it being LED it should be very energy efficient and impact resistant. Aennon’s claims it is good for around 16 hours of continuous use at it’s lowest setting. Depending on the battery type you use, that could be possible. Aennon also claims the front lens is shock-resistant glass with a anti-reflective coating. It is not. It’s plastic. Aennon further claimed to not having a “bobbing effect” with no brain squeeze. Unfortunately, it does bob, and in fact slides down the front of your face over time. It has a 90° swivel, but the bevel on the plastic lens means it’s going to start shining into your eyes range fairly quickly. Aennon also claims the headlamp’s lowest setting is suitable for nighttime reading. I would not recommend it. LED’s use a bright, harsh, blue-ish light that reflects very sharply off the page and hurts your eyes pretty quickly.

Overall, this is a simple light for simple, household tasks, like depositing old tax records into the attic storage box, or taking out the trash. But I wouldn’t consider it for camping or hiking. I’ll be glad it’s around during a power outrage, though! It is more comfortable than our previous headlamp, but not nearly as bright, focused or useful. Sadly, it is more expensive, too. At $17.50 (at time of review), there are better values to be had out there. I would say it’s decent, but I’ve had better, and for less. And the dubious claims (to outright non-truths!) are very troubling. Aennon does back the headlamp with a “What if something breaks-100 % satisfaction-or-money-back-guarantee”. So there’s that.

Connect with Aennon:

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• #headlamp

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Aennon.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

 

Celebright: Premium Flameless LED lighted tea Candles #Review #FlamelessCandles

I usually purchased my tealight candles in bulk and a box or several bags lasted me for years. Five years passed and I took for granted always having that surplus of candles and then came having to shop for them. I never thought I would be shorted on candle wax! My older tealights are literally half thicker and last three times as long than the wafer thin candles I found today. I started pricing and noticed that most places charged premium prices for anything close to what I had, so I started thinking about use and placement. Candles have never been a danger in my home and I am thankful that I remember to blow them out, never leave a room with a candle lit and make sure to never place a candle holder under a vent that if the candle were to be lit and the central air kicks in, it could cause a flame to blow more towards one side and ruin the holder itself or worse. This means I’m limited. Yes, I love scents but I have candle holders that are just too pretty to burn a candle in them. I don’t want black marks over time to build and ruin the glazes/finishes, so I started looked for options. In my hunt, I reached out to Celebright and they were kind enough to send me a box of 24 LED lit and candles. Talk about having enough candles to light up any room for any occasion or just because. The candles come with batteries and these are not one-time use either, you can simply change the batteries (type CR2032) and continue to enjoy the tealights. No heat, no limitations, no worrying about leaving and did I blow that candle out and it you have children or pets, no worries if they come too close for comfort. I sort of like this worry-free living! Everything is great but looks also matter and these mimic a flame with a nice small flickering. They all flicker differently so you don’t have a sequence doing the same flame moment at the same time, just a nice mellow light that is somewhat relaxing. When you are done, you simple flip them over and they even have a switch to control them on or off, so no need to mess with screws or hard tops to pop off. Retail Price Point: $19.95 for a set of 24 tealights with batteries included and already installed. That is less than a $1 a piece!  Candles also come with a Lifetime Guarantee.

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Celebright Flame-less candles can be purchased via Amazon and the more you buy, the more you save.  Each tealight offers you 120 hours of continuous LED lighting and no worries about heat, as they stay cool to the touch.  The bases are white, so they go with any decor and that flickering light is really the best imitation of flame I have seen so far!  Great for gifting, holidays, or even just for decor purposes and no worries about spilling wax! Get your Celebright  tealights today and start enjoying safe flameless lighting:

• Amazon
• #FlamelessCandles

 

No worries about wax or real flames!

I received the above product(s) free of charge from Celebright.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

Quality Source Products: Red and Green colored Laser Beam Landscape Lighting #Review #LaserLights

I received this item from Quality Source Products and was amazed at the differences between the item pictured and the actual item delivered. In short, it is nothing at all like the item advertised. It has a defective attachment from the cord to the power supply, which is neither weather proof and much less water proof, as stated in the manual.  It is clearly a hazard. It in fact does not meet up at all (connecting to complete a closed circuit) and would probably cause a short immediately. When I notified the company of this, their only response was that they are aware of the problem and have notified the factory. Aaand?! Well, sadly, “and” nothing. That’s it. No offer to replace, return or to refund. Thankfully this is an item the company discounted to me 100% and I didn’t pay a penny of the $199.99 (at the time) price tag.

Retail Price Point: $79.88 via Amazon as of 2/01/2015

It is a laser pointer. Dual color, broadcast over a wide area, but that’s all. There is no timer, no on/off switch. It is not “low voltage”. In fact, the AC adapter provided looks nothing like the power supply pictured. It gets hot quickly, has no way to control any functions, , no timer, and the only way to turn it off and on is to plug or unplug it, but I wouldn’t be too concerned about that because the first morning’s dew will probably short it out anyways since the power connection doesn’t fit properly and won’t lock.  The “instructions” provided make mention of a remote control, but I’m not sure if it works with one or if they sell one. And if they did sell one, if it would even be compatible.

The stake provided is cheap zinc, cast so shoddily it’s crooked. The housing has a gob of black silicone that I suppose is meant to keep out moisture/water, except, it’s pulled away from the housing by the cord, so it won’t.

This is the item as pictured on Amazon:

 

And this is what was delivered:

 

Not even close.

I appreciate the company sending me this item to test, and I usually try to grade these things generously because I’ve not paid for them, but this thing is defective, dangerous and clearly not made to last. There’s just so much wrong with it, I can’t recommend it. In fact, I think it and the company should be avoided. And to add insult to injury, they picture something that they clearly are not selling, and pricing it high for reasons I can’t discern. Purchase at your own risk.

Here’s a view of what the promised results:

Here’s what we got:

Again, not even close. What my pictures simply cannot convey is the overwhelming disorientation hundreds of little laser points cause. Spatial relationships are lost, and I almost felt dizzy. This is a bad product, with no practical applications and what’s worse is they clearly don’t care about quality of their product or the safety of their buyers. To add insult to (potential) injury, casting a laser pointer into the sky, as this is clearly designed to do, can be illegal in some places. I rarely have so many bad things to say about a product, but this company went above and beyond to do everything wrong here.

I received the above product(s) free of charge from QSP.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.

Connect with Quality Source Products (QSP):

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• Website
• #LaserLights

 

Brillante: G40 Clear Globe String Lights #Review #BrillanteLights

Not all light is created equal. Florescent light feels like the workplace. LED’s feel like a showroom. Soft white feels like grandma’s house. But some lights just feel fancy. Like the clear G40(C7) sting of lights from Brillante. Smaller than the regular fixture lights, larger than the mini lights you use for the holidays, these clear mini globes give enough light to illuminate beautifully without blinding everyone.

With a sturdy, green 25ft. long cord, and 25 lights to a string, you can safely run two strings end to end, so it gives you plenty of length to surround your party, your patio, or spa. The soft ambient glow is that “just right” level of light to make everything bright, but not washed out.

I’ve used these lights around the pool and spa, and on a clear cool night, nothing beats a meal under the stars with these Brillante lights. With bulbs rated for 3,000 hours, these are made to last. And G40 (C7) bulbs are affordable to replace and easy to find. I would recommend them highly.

Retail Price Point: $29.99 per strand via Amazon

 

Connect with Brillante:

• Their Website
• Amazon
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I received the above product(s) free of charge from Brillante.  I am not obligated to provide a positive or favorable review, just my honest opinion.  My review is based on my experience with the product and/or brand, which may differ from yours.