Jin Soon Graphic Triangles - Nails of the Week!

Time again for nails of the week! Yahoo!! It's been so fun to *make* myself take the time each week to do something nice for myself and polish my nails! We have soooo much polish around here, it's really only logical to be making the most of it! ;)

Last week I made at first attempt at celeb manicurist Jin Soon's New Moon manicure. It turned out okay, good enough that I felt brave enough to try again! Haha! This week I am attempting another of Jin Soon's designs, Graphic Triangles! This design was featured in the same InStyle article that originally introduced me to New Moon. 

I noticed on Jin Soon's website today that her estheticians are available for private, in-home appointments by request. Ok, New York. I see you! Swanky! 

I recreated the Graphic Triangles manicure with polishes I already had around the house but, if you want to be legit, you can pick up the Jin Soon polish line at Sephora! Here are the polishes I used:

Sally Hansen complete manicure in Back to the Fuschia

Sally Hansen Insta-Dry in Brisk Blue

Deborah Lippmann in Ray of Light

The steps were pretty easy!

1. Paint entire nail with coral or pink. Wait a couple of minutes for polish to set.

2. Take lighter blue and make a diagonal sweep from about halfway down one side up to opposite tip. Wait a minute for polish to set.

3. Take darker blue and repeat from opposite side/diagonal. 

4. Wait about 5 minutes and apply top coat. I love Out the Door instant dry top coat but I couldn't find mine today! :(

5. That's it! Let top coat dry and enjoy!

Turned out pretty cute really! I've already gotten so many compliments on it! I plan on trying New Moon in different color combinations and I think I will do the same with Graphic Triangles! 

What do you think?? Try it yourself and post a pic on my Facebook page to show me your handiwork!! 

Bulu Box July Review

So, me and Bulu Box... it's just definitely not my thing. I signed up for a cheapy 3 month subscription, and hubs has enjoyed trying some new things, but I won't be renewing. I definitely prefer KlutchClub!

That being said, here's a quick summary of the July box. They also offer a "weight loss" box. Boxes are $10/month or less with longer subscription. 

This month's box was curated by Emily Reynolds, a "professional bikini athlete." Um, WHAT? That's a JOB? hahahahaha

Here's first looks:

And the breakdown:

PowerBar performance blends, $1.50 each

Vivarin, $.50

Zellies mints, sample

Ripped Cream, $1 - hubs was excited about protein powder for coffee creamer! LOL

Acid Supplement, sample

There were also a couple of coupons and an offer for Daily Burn, an online workout site. You don't need any special code or anything to take advantage of the included offer, though. Go to dailyburn.com/bulu and you can sign up for a 30 day free trial of their online workouts and it says you get a $20 credit in their store for nutritional supplements (I can't find the store without being signed up?).

So the contents were worth about $5, half of what I paid for it. Doesn't make me happy. Especially since the high value item (from Daily Burn) was a code I could have easily found online as a non-subscriber. 

So, what do you think of Bulu? I know much of the value is in the points you get for reviewing products, but I find the whole thing kind of annoying and am done with it for now! On to the next subscription box adventure! :)

Long Weekend in Mexico, Part 2!

Time for the rest of my thoughts and photos from the long weekend hubs and I spent in Cancun! Yay! Here's the link to Part 1, if you'd like to get caught up!

So the "all-inclusive" at ME Cancun was one of the nicest we've ever experienced! Lots of cool decorating touches and nice shops that carried pretty fancy things. We had super fab sit-down dinners each night at a wide variety of restaurants, from Brazilian to Japanese! As covered in Part 1, we stayed in "The Level," so we also had unlimited top shelf drinks the entire time that were for real top shelf! Nice!  

Swanky random photos in the elevators

LOVE a hotel that stocks you up on Aveda!

Rain shower was to die for!

Sushi served with jalapenos to top... Life changing.

My awesome bedazzled Chucks purchase!

One of the additional perks of The Level was a free pay-per-view movie and room service movie snacks! Fun! We rented Wedding Crashers and were a little confused by some of the random condiments that came with our M&Ms and popcorn, but whatevs! LOL!

We mostly just spent lots of time on the beach and one rainy day on a Bali bed around the pool. We were soaking wet from the pool in the elevator and a guy grimaced said "Ooo, how was the pool in the rain?" Um, WET? It's not like it was cold! LOL!

Rainy day view from the Bali bed

Happy in paradise

Sea turtle eggs all up and down the beach!
Would love to see them hatch!!

Fresh kiwi margaritas  = health food ;)

So so many unfortunate bathing suit choices...

Loved all these friendly little sea birds!

As I covered in part 1, I was disappointed that this trip wasn't going to include the swimming pigs of the Bahamas, so I packed a piggy of my own and went "swimming" with him! He was such a good sport! ;)

Look!! I found one!

SMOOCHES piggy!! I was so looking
forward to meeting you! ;)

Swim was a bit stressful... fancy drink and..

Some time in the sun! Ahhhh! 

The one time we ventured out was to spend some time in La Isla, the massive shopping center across the street. The girls swam with dolphins there years ago but I had forgotten how nice it is! We had pizza at a waterfront place to celebrate my birthday and hubs made me drink beer by the yard... I wasn't as tortured as the pics may suggest! Haha!

This place had a LOT of facts and info on the walls... A LOT.

Last swig was a bit rough :-/

Birthday chocolate mousse! <3

Sketchy souvenir shopping... LOL

Placed in our room while we were out! :D
So many nice, personal touches! 

All in all such a fun, relaxing, relatively inexpensive getaway! I apologize, Cancun, for thinking you're average. Your people were incredibly wonderful and our experience was second to none. We will be back! Gracias!! 

FabFitFun Summer Box Review

No, seriously. What IS it with me and my streak of bad luck lately? This box was yet another disaster....

FabFitFun is a quarterly subscription box curated by Giuliana Rancic. Each box costs $49.99 with shipping included and is supposed to include the hottest seasonal items in beauty, fashion, fitness and wellness with a retail value of over $100. The inaugural box launched in the spring and had tons of issues (out of date items, missing items, wide range of values). I had high hopes for the summer box, thinking they were going to knock it out of the park after getting off to a shaky start! 

I got my initial shipping notice on July 6th. Unfortunately, the box was being shipped to someone with my name in CALIFORNIA - I'm in Kentucky. This resulted in tons of e-mails, me being given a new tracking number to ANOTHER California address, and TEN days later, finally threatening to challenge the charge with Amex if I didn't get a box ASAP. Well, that sparked enough interest that they generated a new box and shipped it to me. 

I FINALLY received my box on July 24th and, O.M.G., it was totally jacked up. Lip gloss broken and all over everything, only edible item was melted, the high value item sunglasses were BENT to the point that they seriously just have to go in the trash. Unwearable and unfixable. WTF. This resulted in a NEW set of e-mails and I am now supposed to be receiving a replacement box... No shipping info on that yet... What a cluster F. I'll update if the replacement ever arrives.

In the meantime, here's first looks of the Summer box:

Doh. I could already see the lip gloss leakage :(

And the breakdown:

Evian Mineral Water Facial Mist - $12 . LOVE this! So light and refreshing. I've been using this in the mornings!

Infinity Sun Glow on the Go self tanner - $30. I love me some self-tanner and this will get used eventually!

Pur-Lisse Soy Milk Cleanser - $36.  This is supposed to be so gentle and non-stripping/drying. I'm using it next when my current face wash is done!

It Hair Care Surf Spray - $7. My naturally curly hair hasn't had much luck with all the surf sprays... I passed this one on to the girls and it worked pretty well. Unfortunately the waves didn't last very long and their hair wound up feeling crunchy and stiff, like it was FULL of hairspray. They both want big hair like Mom so I'm sure they will play with it until it's eventually gone! LOL! Here's their results:

Noticeable enough for them to be excited! Ha! 

Catalina Su Lip Gloss - $14. Busted. Fail.

Orly polish - $7. I've seen mixed reviews on the colors. Mine is a sparkly teal, perfect for cheer competitions for my kiddo's All-Star team, so WIN for us! :)

Yes to Cucumbers facial towelettes - $3. I love packs like this, especially for traveling or days out with the girls!

KIND bar - $2. Melted, FAIL, but I think the hubs has already eaten it! LOL!

Ivory + Mason sunglasses, $135. Big ticket item FAIL. You can see how bent/uneven ear pieces are below. The style is not my favorite, either, but supposedly there is an exchange possibility for $10.

What on earth. Busted up hot mess.

So what do you think? The value *should* have been right at $250, which is great. I still think this subscription has tons of potential, but it feels a little bit like a more expensive version of PopSugar (which I LOVE) to me... Assuming I get my replacement box, I'll be sticking around for their 3rd box, coming in September, so we will see how that one goes! 

If you would like to try FabFitFun, please use my referral link, here and above. Thank you! I have a unique coupon code for $10 off a box that I think will only work one time. It's "387873." Please leave me a comment if you use it! Thanks! :D

*** UPDATE *** I received a replacement box and the items had been individually sealed with tape to prevent any leaks, which was nice. The nozzle on the spray tan bottle was detached and rattling around... it seems to be otherwise fine. The sunglasses are better than the original pair but still too bent/crooked to be wearable. I'm thinking it's a manufacturing defect? I gave feedback on this replacement box, too. I now have usable parts of both boxes that more than give me my money's worth. I know it takes time to work out glitches with subscription boxes and I've got high hopes for the September FabFitFun box! 

 

Blush Beauty July Mystery Box Review

I've had my ups and downs with the Blush Beauty Mystery box, but I'm so glad I decided to stick around! This box costs $35 for a one time purchase, or $25 a month with a subscription (plus tax, so $26.45 to Kentucky), and promises over $100 worth of product. Each month has a guest curator. This month's box was curated by Elle Leary, a makeup artist and "Hollywood's go-to glam girl." Interesting! 

Here's first looks of the July box:

Hmm... truly mysterious! LOL

And the breakdown!

Lumene Vitamin C + Pure Radiance Lotion - $20

Philip B. Self Adjusting Hair Spray - $22

Dr. Dennis Gross Alpha Beta Glow Pad - $18 for 10.  I've heard such great things about these facial tanner pads and I'm in LOVE. They are perfect.

Deborah Lippmann 3D Holographic polish - $19. My oldest kiddo has this on her nails now and it's so pretty! It took a couple of coats for full coverage but has lasted really well.

Hydroxatone AM/PM anti-wrinkly complex SPF 15 - $50

BioElements Quick Refiner - $4

Airbrush Eye Refining Treatment - bonus sample

Emani Organic Lip Shine - $16. This is a new brand to me! Excited to try it!

So this month's box cost me $26 and contained about $150 of product! Pretty awesome!! If you are interested in trying the Blush Beauty subscription service, let me know. I can send you an e-mail invite and you and I will each get a $10 coupon when you sign up! 

Friday iPhone photo dump linkup

Time to link up with Jennifer over at Ramblings of a Suburban Mom for the weekly photo dump! Yay! 

Woot! It's the weekend! This has been a crazy, emotional week and I'm excited it's drawing to a close! We are going to the Louisville Bats baseball game tonight and I can't WAIT. I LOVE baseball but unfortunately the hubs hates it... He humors me once or twice a summer and sits through a game and I'm looking SO forward to it! 

So what have we been up to this week? Lots and lots of pool time! It was so cool at the start of summer and has been SO HOT here the last couple of weeks. This week has been right in the middle and kind of perfect to be outside! 

Riding boots with suit? Why not? ;)

Floats that are impossible to get on are the most fun! LOL!

I got a little crafty and finally made the "Flight Crew" tank I've been contemplating for my sweet little cheerleading flyer. Turned out cute and she loves it! 

I've made a couple of trips to the Target end of summer clearance and my best purchases so far have been this crappy slip n slide and the pink lemonade cookie mix and frosting! The pool floats above have more than paid for their $2 each in entertainment so far, too!! 

Crazy amount of fun! 

Had a blast making them with the girls!
We passed them out in the neighborhood! :)

Working on a MAJOR sugar high! LOL!

Am I the only person who has lots of random celeb "looks" saved on my phone?? I do this all the time and scroll through them for inspiration. I'm hoping to get motivated to start doing a "look for less" type thing of some of my favorites. This look from Miranda Kerr is one I've been loving lately!! 

Much of our stress this week has come from worrying about Boo, our 9 month old schuanzer. She went in to get spayed and they found an abnormality with her liver. It's still not fully diagnosed, we go in for an ultrasound on Monday. She's become such a huge part of our family and we're all pretty worried about her. :(

The girls take turns with Boo in their beds each night.
So precious!

I've started the major hunt for a dress to wear to the Emmy's in September! I thought this Michael Kors was going to be IT, but it was just not quite right...

Pretty major! 

That's about it! I can really feel summer starting to wind down now and it makes me sad. Where does it always go so fast??? The girls are SO excited to start school in a couple of weeks but I love having them home!