Review: Salivape

Quite a while ago I did a review of Zamplebox, which as you probably know is a US based e-liquid subscription service. We're starting to see quite a few of these services now, and the idea is that you'll get a new pack of juices every month by signing up for a subscription. Some services will also send you some vaping gear to try out if you want that, but the main focus is usually e-juices.

Salivape is a UK based e-juice subscription service focusing on juices from the UK only. They also have a shop where you can go buy the juices without subscribing... in case you found a new favorite in your monthly pack.

An exciting new vape subscription service and online store whose sole purpose is to bring you the finest quality eLiquids from premium UK brands.

My first impression of Salivape was that these guys like to keep it simple, and that's not at all a bad start if you want to succeed with such a service I think. I mean, one of the main reasons you would subscribe to this service is that you don't want to spend your time online finding new juices to try out. As we all know there are a lot of juices to choose from and you can't just go ordering at random either, cause there's a lot of bad ones around as well. So what you would normally do is read some reviews, ask around and go search for vendors that sell those juices. This all takes a bit of time, so ... if you're considering a subscription service I guess what you are looking for is someone to do all the work for you and just get some good new juices straight to your doorstep every month. I think Salivape has understood this. Going into their website, which is also very simple and easy to navigate, it takes you 3 clicks (one of them selecting your preferred nicotine strength) and you're already redirected to Paypal. Salivape, as far as I understand, sends the same 5 juices to all their subscribers every month. There are no choices to be made with regards to whether you prefer this or that. I bet some people won't like this as they want to avoid certain flavor types, but personally I like it. I've been trying out a lot of juices lately and I've found that I often get surprised when it comes to what works as an e-juice and what doesn't. I've liked some flavors that I really didn't think I would like (and would never have ordered ... like rum), and I've been disappointed in others that I've had high hopes for (like most chocolate flavors). Now, I talked to Salivape about this and they will in fact let you take out Tobacco or Menthol flavours if you contact them and ask for it, but you might miss out on some goodies if you do. Ultimately, this idea of letting Salivape make all the choices, save nicotine strength, for you will appeal to some people, and not so much to some others. It's all a matter of personal preference.

Another thing Salivape has done well is their packaging. I got a nice little package wrapped in brown
paper, with some rope nicely tied around it and even a wax seal with the Salivape logo. It looks kind of like a gift... just for me. Great way to make it feel a bit personal, but the best thing about it is that it's small enough and thin enough to fit in your mailbox, which means you won't get a notice to go pick it up at the post office. You do actually get it delivered to your doorstep, at least here in Norway.

Price wise I guess Salivape is not bad either. The subscription, which will give you five 10ml bottles of juice, will cost you £24.99 (in the UK) or €36.50 (rest of Europe) every month (except the first that is £19.99 or €29.20) including shipping. Around £5 pr. 10ml bottle shipping included is not at all a bad price, so you might even save some money. They also plan to start sending to the US but that's currently "coming soon".

So what about the juices I got then? Are they any good? Well, I've only had time to try one of them yet, and I'm not going to write a complete review of every one of them here, cause that's not the point of this review. But I can say that if the rest of the juices are as good as the one I've tried, which was Lemon Meringue Pie from Avant Garde, they've really got some good quality juices in there. An absolutely lovely juice that one. Reviews I've read of juices from the vendors Salivape works with also point in that direction. On their webpage they have listed Digby's, T-Juice, Bumblebee, Chefs Vapour, Generals Juices and Manabush and since I got a juice from Avant Garde I guess this list is growing as I write. The other juices this month were Black 'n' Blue from T-Juice, Twisted from Chefs Vapour, General Custard from Generals Juices and Hooligan from Digbys.

I must admit I do like this idea of subscribing to juice samples. I guess personally I wouldn't buy all my e-juice this way, cause I do have some favorites that I need to come back to. This is something I would do to get to try out new juices mainly, in addition to buying other places. So 50 ml a month is actually quite a good amount for me as it would make a nice mix of new juices and old favorites every month. As I said, I also like their simple approach and I love the packaging, so I'd say Salivape is a great option if you're looking for an e-juice subscription service. You can also cancel your subscription at anytime so it won't cost you much to try it out and see if you like it this way.

Disclosure:

• All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product. 
• The product was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review.
• This review does not contain affiliate links.

If e-cigs were so damn dangerous, wouldn't they be gone by now?

Reading this article yesterday made me start thinking a bit. Titled "There's no evidence e-cigarettes are as harmful as smoking" this article by Linda Bauld (Professor of Health Policy at the University of Stirling and Deputy Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco and Alcohol Studies) is an answer to another article by Nash Riggins claiming the opposite, which of course is just pure non-sense, as Bauld points out. I couldn't agree more with what Bauld chooses to end her answer with:

These products are a disruptive technology and debates on their merits will continue. However, while it does, those who feel moved to comment should do some reading first.

I've said before, and it doesn't hurt to repeat it I guess.... If you really don't know enough about e-cigarettes and vaping by now, please leave the debate to someone who do. OK? In fact Riggins is even worse than those who claims they don't know enough yet... he fills in his blanks with stuff he just makes up to support his agenda.

Anyway, as I said, Bauld's article made me think a bit. There is no evidence e-cigarettes are as harmful as smoking. Actually there is not much evidence that e-cigarettes are harmful at all, is there? Despite the massive efforts from Big Pharma, some tobacco companies, governments, WHO, EU and tobacco control to get rid of the e-cigarettes, they haven't really managed to come up with much. Together these players have almost unlimited funds, and they have used a lot of time and money on this, but still they got... well not much really. There is of course the risk of exploding batteries and children getting poisoned from e-liquid left unattended. Those you can prove, but you can't really say e-cigarettes are responsible for these hazards. They are the results of irresponsible behaviour. Cellphones and computers also have exploding batteries, and your house is probably full of stuff that can kill your kids if they can get their hands on it and drink or eat it. If there are accidents with these phones, computers or household articles, we some times get debates on how to make these products safer, or how to avoid kids getting hold of them, but whenever it happens with something e-cig related, there are shout outs for bans. Why? In fact I think Dr. Farsalinos is the one that has come closest to showing some potential harm from e-cigarettes used how they are supposed to with his diacetyl study. There is a lot of research available, providing evidence that a lot of the fears presented by e-cigarette opponents are in fact nothing to be concerned about. Maybe it's not that strange? I mean that the people who are able to see the full potential of e-cigarettes as a technology that can put an end to the tobacco epidemic, are also the ones that are able to come up with the real potential harms. Because if there are potential harms, we should find them and eliminate them, making e-cigarettes as safe as possible. Banning or over-regulating e-cigarettes because we find some harmful substance in some e-liquid is madness. It would be like banning cars because someone makes one with malfunctioning seat-belts... instead of just making them put in proper seat-belts.

So why is then, that despite their efforts to find something that will kill the e-cig,  they haven't managed to do so in... what is it now ... like 7 years? Could it be that they are using their money on lobbying and making up theories instead of doing some real research? And if so, why are they doing that? Could it be that they have some common sense after all and have seen what the rest of us have... that there is no real cancer-risk, there is no gateway effect and most importantly: These products are a disruptive technology that works so well they can potentially threaten their income.

Think about it... if e-cigarettes really were causing cancer at the same rate as smoking, or if they were less effective than Big Pharma's NRTs... do you think they would try so hard to get rid of it? If the EU didn't really see the e-cigarettes potential to take over the nicotine market, why would they want to put sin taxes on them? Why do you think the tobacco companies are trying to enter the market and wipe out their competitors by lobbying for regulations favouring their version? Why is it that anti-smoking organizations are opposing this? Could it be that they see that these products can wipe out their basis for existence? And why is it, that despite their combined efforts and almost unlimited funds, neither of these guys have managed to come up with some real cause for concern in so much time? Maybe there is none? If e-cigs were so damn dangerous, wouldn't they be gone by now?

photo credit: E-Cigarette/Electronic Cigarette/E-Cigs/E-Liquid/Vaping via photopin (license)

Juice Review: Bullseye by Clutch Vapour

Before I started doing the reviews of the juices I got from Getvape I thought a nice way to introduce each one was to say something about the companies that have made the juices, like where they're from and so on. So what about Clutch then... well of course they are also from California. California is just one big e-juice factory now? Well... you guys probably knew this long before me, but (I probably should have started here) ... ehm ... http://buckshotvapors.com/. Makes sense :)

Bullseye
Tested on: Aspire Nautilus (1.8 ohm's, 15 watts)

"Delicious caramel cheesecake and vanilla graham cracker… extra caramel EVERYWHERE!" - This is how Clutch describe their Bullseye. Here's what that description made me think: This is a another juice that should be enjoyed with a cup of coffee, and might be a bit too sweet to be an all day vape. Was I right? Well, pretty much I'd say. Except I'm finding myself vaping more and more sweet juices all day. I think maybe it's the weather conditions over here right now. Wind, rain and snow mostly. Makes you want to stay indoors with a cozy vape. Actually I think cozy kind of describes this juice, if it's even possible to use that word about a taste. I think it is. Their own description of it is pretty good actually. I get cheesecake, I get vanilla and I get caramel. There is actually less caramel than I expected, which is a good thing. I've tried some caramel juices and I think caramel on its own in an e-juice tend to be to sweet and often sickening. In this juice it's there at all times, but so is the cheesecake, so it doesn't get overpowering and sickening. Along with the #32 I reviewed earlier, this one has also become a favourite with my morning coffee, and I usually put it down around lunch, picking it up again when the kids have gone to bed and it's sofa time.




Disclosure:

• All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product. 
• The juice was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review.
• This review does not contain affiliate links.

First Norwegian E-juice hits the international market

That's right! It's now possible to buy Norwegian e-juice for people outside Norway as well, as Steamer Elixire was recently made available through cool-chili-vapors.com. I asked Roger, the guy responsible for this juice, a little about how he got into mixing and how his juices ended up on the international market.

To make a long story short (Roger sent me quite a detailed story) he discovered vaping through friends a little over a year ago, starting out like we all do with poor equipment and looking for juices that actually taste good. But unlike a lot of us, who are still trying out new juices after like ... 3 years now, Roger figured that the best way to get the juice the way he wanted was to make it himself. So back in February 2014 he started his quest to create a tobacco juice that actually tasted something like what he used to smoke. I don't really know Roger, but from the way he tells his story I get a feeling this is a guy who finishes whatever he starts. And I also guess that the months of dedicated research he then put in, talking to other juice-makers and reading online resources is what made him something of an e-juice oracle according to some of the members of the NDS facebook group.

Anyway, the quest ended up in a finished product, Mountain Smoke which is one of the juices now available through cool-chili-vapors.com. There is also another one, Foxy Lemon and according to Roger he's got quite a few others in the making.

Hopefully I'll be able to do a review for you guys pretty soon as well. Actually I think I have tried the Foxy Lemon already. A colleague wanted me to try out a juice that tasted like some candy we have here in Norway (not sure if it's sold in other countries) called Fox. Trying to work I didn't pay that much attention to where he said it came from (sorry), so I'm not 100% sure. But from what I remember the juice was good.

Congratulations on being the first Norwegian juice-maker to go all international on us, Roger. And good luck with your juice-making adventure. I'm looking forward to your Giraffe special blend :)

Juice Review: Lush by Nick's Blissful Brews

It's been a good while now since I first came across Nicks Blissful Brews. I first heard of it through the Vapepit forum back when Nick was mainly selling through forums. Back then I remember I got hold some of his Smoked Custard and did a review if it as well. The Smoked Custard was a great juice in my opinion so I had pretty high expectations for Lush as well.

Lush
Tested on: Kanger SubTank (RDA @ 0.4 ohm's, 20-25 watts)

Back when I was reviewing the Smoked Custard I wrote about his original ideas, and that he didn't just do versions of the popular flavour mixes but added his own touches, creating original blends not found elsewhere. With Lush however, he is doing a quite ordinary mix of Strawberries and cream. Now there is a reason this is a popular mix... these two flavours are really soulmates like it says in the description of this juice. In a way it is probably more demanding making a good juice when you're having a go at a pretty common taste combination, as it really needs to be perfectly balanced and you need to find the best available ingredients to make your juice better than the others, something I do believe is Nicks goal. So does he deliver? Hell yeah! This is simply the best Strawberries and cream juice I've tries. Well, actually I think it might be the only one that claims to be a strawberries and cream juice. I mean I've tried several strawberry juices that I've felt tasted like strawberries and cream(ish)... and maybe that is what makes Nicks version so damn good. This juice does not only have a great strawberry taste (a lot of other have that), but the cream in this juice is also fantastic, and Nick has really nailed the balance between them. A great juice that reminded me of something I had almost forgotten to do: Try out some more of Nicks juices.




Disclosure:

• All my reviews are my honest opinion even if I am affiliated with the company manufacturing or selling the product. 
• The juice was sent to me free of charge for the purpose of this review.
• This review does not contain affiliate links.