Blush Beauty Mystery Box June Review

Uh... Ok.

I didn't say anything about the kind of rough condition of the items in my Blush Box last month, but since this month's looked even MORE beat up, I had to email the company and say something about it. It seriously looked like the box had been opened, handled and partially used before it got to me... 

This box ships from dermstore.com and costs $24.99/month when you sign up for a subscription or $35 for a one time purchase. 

Here's first looks:

And the breakdown:

Glytone spray sunscreen SPF 50 ($39) - Whoa. That's some expensive sunscreen! Looks like I'll be keeping this one for myself instead of coating it on the kiddos. I'm expecting miracles from this $40 spray can! No, for real, I'm expecting it to be the perfect anti-spray sunscreen (no stinging eyes, no impossible to scrub off in the shower, no yellowing if sprayed on white fabric....). We'll see! 

Supergoop CC cream ($2) - SOooo many BB and now CC creams floating around... I'll get around to trying this one eventually! 

Miracle Skin Transformer Body SPF 20 tinted treatment ($5) - This has a nice shimmer to it! And love that it has SPF built in! BUT.... my tube looked like somebody with greasy fingers had handled it to death, much of the shiny silver writing is completely worn/rubbed off the tube... GROSS.

Hydroxatone Microdermabrasion ($15) - I like a good exfoliator but remain a little freaked out by the "microdermabrasion" label. Gonna give it a go, though! This box was totally smashed to and beaten to death, but the jar and seal seem to be okay.

Delecor cleanser duo ($4) - Love this little packable size of these and the little bag they came in. Unfortunately, one bottle was significantly less full than the other, making me think it might have been used since there was no sign of leakage in the box.... Ugh. Again, GROSS.

Stila Lip Glaze ($13) - I've had these many times before. Great basic product to throw in purse or going out clutch! 

DHC Clarifying Power Cover Base ($19) - I've yet to find a primer that I really, really like. Hopefully this will be the one! Love that it's full-sized! This box was also open and smushed a bit in the packaging, but tube looks okay.

Innovative Skincare sample



So, this box cost $25 and had a value of close to $100, just shy of the $100+ promised by the service. The value was there and I liked that the box was curated by a specific dermatologist, giving it a logical, cohesive feel. I did not like the fact that four of my products looked slightly damaged or used.... Waiting to hear back from Blush. Hopefully there's some logical explanation!! I'll update when I have more info! 

*** The Blush subscription doesn't have a referral program, per se, but if you'd like to make a purchase from Dermstore, HairEnvy or Blush.com, let me know and I can e-mail you a $10 off of $30 coupon (which gives me a coupon, too! :)

** The company quickly sent me out a new box! They are keeping my business! 

Friday iPhone Photo dump

WhoooHoooo! Time again for the weekly photo dump with Jennifer over at Ramblings of a Suburban Mom! Let's get to it! 

My photos since last Friday start with Dylan's performance to conclude ballet camp and then the awesome night out hubs and I had at 610 Magnolia (review here). So much fun! So proud of our little dancer and I love date night!! 

This Target jumpsuit... Love it.
Will be included in an upcoming summer outfit post!

The next day after that we were up bright and early for a quick trip to Arkansas to watch my sis-in-law perform in the musical Annie. She was FABULOUS!! We had a super fun family dinner in a private room at a Japanese steak house before the show and the girls got to meet the real life "Sandy" from the production after the show was over!! I love my big crazy family so much and cherish any time we get to spend with them because it's few and far between. It was a short trip but SUCH a great time!!

Road trip!

Hibachi is always so fun! 

This picture... makes my heart hurt.
Makes me realize how short time is... :(

Soooo excited to see this AWESOME goldendoodle in person! 

We've been busy with activities this week but the highlight was definitely the Louisville Zoo! The kids were SO excited to see Emily, the zebra baby, and she came RUNNING when they called her! How adorable is that?? She stayed right up next to the fence until we walked away!

So fun to take friends with us!! 

We love the rhinos! 

How precious is this baby??

So sweet!! 

And last night... OMG. I went to a drag show featuring Raven from RuPaul's Drag race, but that craziness is getting its own post! LOL! And a parting picture from the humongous cat that sits on me to wake me up every morning.... Surely this happens to someone besides me?? Haha! Have a great weekend! :)

Time to GET UPPPPP! :(

Julep Mystery Box - Miami #4 Review

I've seen such mixed reviews on the Julep Mystery Boxes but decided to take the plunge this time. The themes were Hamptons, Laguna Beach and Miami. Boxes cost $24.99 each and were supposed to contain $70-$200 of product with a few of the boxes having a bonus $600 United Airlines gift card! I was torn between Laguna and Miami, but settled on Miami and was sure I'd get the United card in mine (I didn't! LOL). Here's first looks:

More fun if it contained $600! LOL!

Definitely not a ton of product...

First thought: Boo, no gift card. Second thought: Um, okay, this is not even $70. Third thought: This stuff looks like leftovers that Julep was just trying to get rid of.

The box included a lip balm ($6) that is discontinued, so that totally felt like crap that was lying around that they just needed to get rid of. It also contained a Rock Star Hand Creme ($20). And there were three polishes:

Esmerelda ($14), a green glitter that is no longer on website either. It was last week's nails of the week! 
Drew ($14), a bright pink that looks a lot like Raegan from my box last month. I already put last month's up to give away since I have several similar colors, the same now for Drew.
Tina ($14), a weird purple that I'm hoping is a pleasant surprise when I use it.

What do you think? Were you happy with your box? I'm pretty annoyed with mine and its $68 value, even if that's a good deal for $25, since I heard "$70-$200" and was expecting more. And with "Maven" Pricing, I would have only paid about $54 for this stuff, which is what I feel like the "real" value should be when purchased by a member. 

I've yet to see a box reviewed that was even $100 value, much less $200.... Not that they don't exist, but they should be advertised as a "prize" if there's just one or two of them! 

You can try Julep for only $4 for your first box ($.01 + $3.99 shipping) with code FREEBOX or FREEMAVEN. It's definitely worth a shot for $4! Then cancel if you aren't thrilled! Please use my link if you go for it!! I'll be passing on these special edition mystery boxes but keeping my regular subscription going for now! :)

610 Magnolia Restaurant Review

Yay!! Date night!!

We made a reservation at 610 Magnolia after learning more about it in this month's box from the Our Local Box subscription service. This Louisville restaurant only seats 50, is only open Thursday through Saturday for dinner and has only one seating a night. Our kids had a date to go to Circe du Soleil with their grandparents so were were able to book a couple of weeks in advance and get the night we wanted. Usually we try to get reservations at the last minute and that's often dramatic! LOL!

The restaurant is owned by Chef Edward Lee, who has gained prominence through various television appearances (Top Chef, Iron Chef). He is also a multiple time finalist for the James Beard Foundation Awards as best chef southeast. 

610 Magnolia is located in one of the old, historic parts of Louisville. There is an 1800s mansion for sale nearby that looks creepy as hell but the hubs thought it was awesome (aw hell naw) and this one I found when trying to find the mansion listing - it's legitimately creepy as hell!! LOL!! Needless to say, the neighborhood is awesome and full of character! The restaurant has no big sign or anything, just some little bitty painted writing by the door, and we would have driven right by it if we hadn't already seen pictures!

The vibe is very homey but still super chic. I don't think I've ever seen a table set with so many glasses. Seriously, like 8 per place setting, so a round table of 5 had 40 or so pieces of stemware. All sparkly and shiny, it was a gorgeous effect. I was told by a friend that I had to have the champagne cocktail, so all my stemware was whisked away except for water glass and towering champagne flute. When I had my SECOND cocktail, I noticed the stem was about half the length and hubs joked that #3 would be in a flat to the table tumbler, to save their stemware from the drunken accidents which got progressively more likely! LOL!

The menu is fixed price, there are 4 courses and you can have any three courses for $55/person or all 4 for $65/person. I'm a 20+ year vegetarian and hubs mentioned this when he made our reservation. Our server already knew this without me telling her! Nice touch! We went for the 4 course option to try as many things as we could while we were there.

After ordering, the meal was started with a three piece presentation of small bites. Hubs' involved mussel and escargot, mine a lot calmer with artichoke salad, a goat cheese pastry and homemade hummus. Ive been obsessed with hummus lately, so that was perfect! All very interesting!

Sorry... I already ate the middle bite! LOL!

Our favorite part of the meal was probably the Blue Dog Bakery bread with sea salt topped butter. Seriously. To. Die. For.

nom nom nom....

Next came appetizers. I misunderstood the ordering process and was served a crab leg horror show (horrifying to a veg! Haha) and hubs got a prawn dish. The staff completely freaked out over what they all assumed was their mistake and even after I insisted it was fine, returned with a salad to replace the crab, then suggested hubs change HIS salad course since the one they brought was what he had ordered. Just so, so, so over the top nice. The service has been the make or break point for us SO many times and I can't say enough about how wonderful they were!

Next came salads, which were wonderful! We both had a mixed greens salad with cherries and walnuts and a wonderful, rich balsamic vinagerette. So, so delicious!

For entrees, chef whipped me up an awesome ricotta gnocchi and vegetables dish and hubs had some kind of pork belly concoction.

Dessert was awesome. Cheese plate and accoutrements for hubs and an interesting and delicious strawberry ice cream with various sauces for me!

We picked up one of Chef's new Smoke & Pickles cookbooks while we were there and got the chance to have it personalized!

The main issue for most people, I'm sure, is the cost. Our meal was $65/person, cocktails were $12/each, mandatory 18% gratuity is added on (we always tip more like 25%, so that was no surprise, just made it hard to do some math at the END of the meal! LOL), coffee and taxes, made our dinner about $230. It definitely isn't something you'd do every day! But would we go back? In a heartbeat. It was a unique experience and a chance to enjoy a meal in what is arguably a Chef's dream circumstances. The place is world-class and is yet another gem in this fabulous, fabulous city!!

You can view the current menu for 610 Magnolia here if you'd like more accurate, foodie descriptions of what we ate! LOL! 

June Bulu Box Review

Ugh. I don't know what it is with me and Bulu, it's like we got off to a bad start and I just can't change the vibe. I've had this box for a while and am finally forcing myself to write it up. I think the main problem is that it's out of the realm of my natural interests! Haha!

So Bulu comes in several versions, this is the regular version. It costs $10/month but I bought a 3 month deal a while back for like $19 I think. Last month I was kind of in shock at how little was in the box. This month definitely has higher value and has things that the hubs will use, which was my point of subscribing all along!

Here's first looks:

This box celebrates Bulu's birthday so they put points worth $5 in each subscribers account. I'll use this to buy some form of protein in their store for hubs, im sure! Good start! 

And the breakdown! Most of this stuff is supplements, etc., and hubs doesn't give me much feedback on it, so I'm just going to do a basic listing!

Shapeology Burn Blend ($10)

Eat Green Tea sample

Power Ice freezable electrolyte replacement ($1.50)

Power Fuel formula 52 supplement ($1)

Thera-gesic sample

GU Chomps energy chews sample ($1.50)

So the value was definitely over $10, especially including the $5 account credit. All of the supplements definitely aren't my thing, but the hubs is enjoying trying something new! 

What do you think of Bulu? Do you subscribe to it? I also get Klutchclub and it's definitely more interesting to me personally but hubs likes them both. If you'd like to try Bulu, please use my referral link and use code FIRSTFREE or DISCOVER to get your first box FREE!

** this post contains referral links! thanks for using them, doll face! ;)  

Nails of the week! Yay summer!

I got my polish done early this week! I snuck outside last night during cheer practice and painted nails and listened to talk radio! FUN!! (It really was, though... haha)

Nails this week are Julep Natasha (perfect summery orangey red) with Julep Abbie (neon yellow) for accent. I got this set from the Julep warehouse sale for $5 last week! Score!

Today for the first time I tried the Sally Hansen Dry & Go Drops from the Allure summer beauty box. This bottle comes with a little dropper and the drops are supposed to work like a quick dry top coat (like my favorite Out the Door) with the added benefit of not having to actually touch a brush to still-wet nails. Um... I was super careful for at least 15 minutes after the drops and still somehow wound up with lots of nail smudges. Same for the girls, who used it on their toes. We will try it again, though, maybe better luck next time! It says 1-2 drops per nail and I'm thinking maybe we over-applied??

Lots of smudges and still glitter remnants from last week, but still cute! :)

Super happy with these bright summery colors!! We are in full summer mode around here and these colors were made for the pool!! Are you doing anything fun with your nails this week??

If you'd like to try your first box from Julep for only $4, please use my referral link and the code FREEMAVEN or FREEBOX.  I'm soooooo excited for the red white and blue glitter top coat coming in my July box!! :)


** post contains referral links chica so help a sista out! ;)

PopSugar Must Have Special Edition Summer for Him Box

This box has been at my house FOREVER but I was waiting on Father's Day to pass so no surprises were ruined! I had read spoilers online (of course!), I couldn't wait to see everything in person!! Here's first looks:

O.M.G. How cute is this packaging?? I LOVE the black and white plaid tissue paper! And it's always so fun to get a box where each thing is individually wrapped up! One of the very best things about these limited editions from PopSugar! Feels like lots of presents! :)

The box is (obvs) geared towards summer with an emphasis on barbecues, excursions and brunches in the sun. The information card says the box includes "everything you need to kick back, look sharp and impress your party guests."

Here's a look at everything unwrapped:

Pocket square from Ivy Prepster, $40. Uh... this is a miss. My husband definitely dresses more like a MMA fighter or a skateboarder in his off time than a dandy! Hahaha! Love you hubs! ;) 

Stuff Men Should Know book, $10. Also a miss. My husband is good at EVERYTHING. Seriously, everything. It's a running joke how easily he can do anything. He probably could have written this book! Lolz! He might still find it entertaining, though! ;)

Now on to the edible portions! Now we're talking! Stu's Bloody Mary mix, $9. This is from a place in Chicago famous for bloody mary's that use homemade pickle brine as foundation?? Can't wait to try it!! We are packing it for weekend getaway next month! Always up for cocktail exploration! Haha! And Modern Gourmet Wing Sauces, $8. These were definitely greeted with enthusiasm, too!

Swell bottle in black, $35. I received a teal one of these in my Summer for Her box from Pop Sugar and it's already been a big hit at the non-air conditioned cheer gym! Excited to have a backup since they have to be hand washed! And Anthony Logistics face lotion, $32. Um.... definitely heading a little bit in the metro direction for the hubs. This is going on eBay.

Wooden sunglasses from Proof (more info from my spoiler here), $115. I was so excited to get my hands on these! I was so curious to see how heavy they were going to be. The box and bag/case are all SO cute and the sunglasses are SUPER light. I think they are just really cool. I'm all for HUGE sunglasses but these *MAY* be too big, even for me. They are perfect for a manly man face, though!! LOVE!! And a big hit with the hubs! He's already worn them so many times!

Too big for me, but...

Perfect on him! So cute! :)

Overall, I was THRILLED with this box! So, so fun!! This box was $100 and the value was right at $250. What do you think?? PopSugar is easily my favorite subscription box and both of the summer limited editions were a hit for me!

If you would like to try the regular Must Have box, $35/month for over $100 worth of goodies, please use my referral link and use code REFER5 to save $5 off your first box! Woot!! The June box was insanely good and I can't wait to see what comes in the anniversary July box next month!! :)



** this post contains referral links! Obvs!! ;)