Manicure Monday #3

Only one more Monday until school is out! Yay! So ready to sleep in a little and hit the pool. I'm sure I'll repeat this polish combo - featuring Julep's Hooch (emerald green) and Carly (turquoise glitter gel)- all throughout the summer. 

I love the way the top coat glitters and makes me think of a mermaid's tail. 

What's your go to polish for the start of the summer?

- Courtney 

Box Weekend Finale - Julep's Maven Box

Hooray for Sundays and Happy Mother's Day! This has been such a great weekend. I stayed home all day Saturday and spent the day giving our apartment some much needed t.l.c This morning started with a church home service at Tony and Lori's, followed by a delicious cookout and spending time in fellowship.

For this weekend's last box review, I saved one of my new favorites for last - Julep's Maven box.

I discovered this box when my friend Katie posted a coupon code for a free box. Gotta love free! So I checked it out and this monthly box subscription is so neat. For $20 a month, Julep sends you three nail polishes and an extra gift - usually scrub, mascara, lipstick, or some other beauty related product. When you sign up for this service, you start by taking a beauty profile quiz in which you answer questions by selecting pictures that look most like your style and things that you like. My style profile labeled me as Classic with a Twist. Pretty fitting for me. They then show you that month's collection based on your type. If you like another style better, you can choose that box for the month if you would like. You also have the option to skip a month or send the box to a friend. Lots of versatility here. 

 My only complaint is that I will have to be skipping each box for the rest of my life because we simply don't have the $20 a month to pay for it. However, if you are willing to pay the monthly price, Julep has some great polishes and extra beauty finds in each monthly box.

Although I was labeled Classic with a Twist, I really liked the fun colors in the It Girl box, so I chose that for my free box. Here's a breakdown of my box from the top:

Stefani - Gunmetal silver with flecks of gold.

Simone  - Baby pink with a bluish shimmer in the light.

Carly - Love this jelly nail polish. So much sparkle!

and Hoch. I added on Hoch for $4.99 because I really loved the emerald green color. I like to pair Hoch and Carly for a mermaid tail look.

My box also came with a sample of an instant warming foot scrub. Pedicure in a box!

If you'd like to become a Maven, you can sign up here. You can also get your first month's box free by entering the code 'FREEBOX' at checkout - all you have to pay is the s&h. 

Let me know what you think about Julep! I hope you enjoyed this weekend and my box reviews as much as I have! If you have any suggestions for other boxes for me to try, leave me a comment below. Happy Weekend everyone!

- Courtney

Box Weekend - Beauty Box

Hooray for box weekend! This weekend is turning out to be a beautiful one. Chase and I had dinner at his parents - grilled hamburgers, yum! - and then watched a free RedBox video thanks to one of the blogs I'm subscribed to - more to come on them later.

Onto box number two - Birchbox. 

I. Am. Obsessed. 

I had started following Birchbox on literally every social media outlet available a couple of weeks before my first box arrived and couldn't wait to see which of the month's featured products I would get to sample. One of the great things about Birchbox is that there are different product combinations that you could receive, so even though you may see products in the sneak peek videos posted on YouTube, it doesn't mean that you will necessarily receive that product. 

It's all about the suspense.  

The products are great sizes for samples, and they customize the samples in your box to fit your beauty profile - hair color/type, skin tone, fragrance preference, etc. And, one of my most favorite things about Birchbox is the price - only $10 a month. Such a small price to pay for such a great surprise each month - much better than that other monthly surprise we get every month...am I right, ladies? It is super easy to sign up for a Birchbox subscription, but you may have to wait up to 4 weeks [depending on when you submit your request for a subscription]  to receive your first box. I received my first of these monthly boxes in late April and was beyond excited.

For April, Birchbox paired up with Women's Health Magazine for the themed box "tiny tweaks, big results." Here's a peek at my box.

Whish Shave Cream in Blueberry  - They should really change the scent name to blueberry muffins, because it smelled like I'm eating one every time I shave my legs. This organic, shea butter, foam free shave cream is amazeballs. A pea size amount covers my entire leg and even after you rinse it off, the scent and feel stays on keeping your legs super smooth.

Ruby Wing nail polish in Peony  - Color changing nail polish. How cool?! I was really excited to try this, but I found that the polish was a little streaky and hard to put on evenly. I plan on buying some polish thinner and trying again, but I did really like the color and I would like to try other colors in the future. Here's a picture of the change from inside to outside. 

Supergoop SPF 35 CC Cream  - I liked that this cream has such a high SPF, but unfortunately, it was a little too dark for my ultra fair skin. I'll be passing this on to someone with a bit darker skin. 

No. 4 Non-aerosol Hairspray - This is seriously cool - vegan, paraben free, but my favorite thing about this is that it doesn't leave my hair feeling crunchy, and it smells like I'm walking into a Hollister store. It's almost a unisex type scent, which I'm strangely liking a lot right now.

Surprise #1 - Simple Revitalizing Eye Roll-On - This was a little extra gift this month and it is full size! I really liked receiving this in my box, but I won't be using it simply because I already use an under the eye concealer/moisturizer that I am in love with and I don't want to mix the two. 

Surprise #2 - Year subscription to Women's Health Magazine - Okay, seriously? This was a really awesome first box to receive! I chose not to receive the $9.99 rebate instead of the magazine subscription, so this month literally paid for itself. What up frugality?! -- [insert swag face here] 

As if you needed another reason to go ahead and subscribe, when you review products from your box on birchbox.com, you earn 10 points per review. For every 100 points, you earn $10 to spend on full size products. No gimmicks, no minimum purchase, just money. And for each dollar you spend, you earn a point. I dare you to show me a beauty subscription box that I could love more. 

Do you love Birchbox as much as I do? Have you tried this subscription before? Let me know what you think in the comments below. 

- Courtney

Manicure Monday #2

Happy Monday everyone! Only two more Mondays until school gets out for the summer here in Savannah. I am so ready to sleep in, earn some extra cash, and enjoy some sun - with plenty of sunscreen, of course. I had to share this polish with you all today because it puts me in such a good mood! The perfect sky blue color and different sized sparkle and glitter remind me so much of the Robin's egg candies and put me in a Spring Fever state of mind. 

This Bohemian Summer polish was purchased at Urban Outfitters by none other than my bestie, Haley Sheffield. Thank you for letting me borrow your beautiful polish :)

What polishes or nail styles are you excited about this spring/summer? Share in the comments below :)

- Courtney

It's a [gift] in a box -- oooh, a [gift] in a box babay

Chase helped me come up with that post title, you can thank him for that witty Justin Timberlake and Andy Samberg title later. Hahaha

So, if you follow me on Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram, or have talked to me in person anytime in the last month or so, you will know just how excited I have been about all of the different options for monthly box subscriptions! One day I just got on my computer and began researching -- ahem, watching an endless amount of youtube videos -- and found so many interesting products that I wish I had the budget to try. 

Join me this weekend as I review 3 different monthly box subscriptions starting with one for man's best friend. -- BarkBox.

I decided to give BarkBox a try after seeing an ad for it on Facebook -- risky, I know, but as soon as I went to their website, I was hooked. Cute fonts, adorable puppy clip art, and great reviews from BarkBox customers. Here's how it works - Pick your puppy size, choose your plan (monthly, 3 months, or 6 months), then pay. So simple. I loved that the products are based around your dog's size, there are products that benefit pets as well as their pet owners, and 10% of profits go to shelters, rescue, and animal welfare organizations.

Here's a peek at what Chandler got in his box this past month. 

Etta Says Duck Jerky  - This jerky is made with the highest quality, USA sourced duck. They're all natural - no fillers, coloring, preservatives, grain, gluten, or by-products. I was a little hesitant about introducing these to Chandler, but he ate them ridiculously fast. Our boy loves duck!

ABO Gear GroomMitt - Handy for times when your dog could use a bath, but you don't feel like dragging him to the sink, or in our case, tub. It came with 10 XL GroomMitts, and they smell fresh and clean. Chandler's coat was nice and shiny after using these.

Multipet Rope Toy - This toy is very thick! We have held off on introducing Chandler to this rope toy because he is still in the recovery stages of his knee surgery, and we knew that he would love it so much and might get a little out of hand playing. I think when we finally give it to him, he won't put it down or stop playing with it.

Barkworthies - This stuffed chin is filled with brown rice and ground bully sticks. Seriously, this is one beast of a bone. Chandler was a little hesitant at first about chewing on it since he's never really had a real bone, but he can't get enough of it. It has lasted for over two weeks and there's still about 60% of the bone left. I would definitely recommend these bones!

This BarkBox also had some samples of Licks joint and heart supplement (we're holding off on that until after recovery), and an Etta Says Crunchy Duck Chew which Chandler, of course, destroyed.

I can't wait to see what other goodies will be in May's BarkBox. If you're interested in getting BarkBox for your dog, use this code to get $5 off! https://barkbox.com/r/sznnRedoVL/

If you've used BarkBox or other pet monthly box subscriptions, let me know what you thought of them in the comments!

- Courtney

It's just another Manic[ure] Monday

What's the best way to start off a work week? With a manicure! Alright, so maybe it isn't the best way, but it certainly is a fun way to get things started. Just a quick back story on my love/hate relationship with my nails. I have bit my fingernails for longer than I can remember. I seriously bit them all the time - stressed, bored, happy, sad...you name it, I was biting them off. I decided to finally grow my nails out one summer and I did it...until finals came around and I got tired of them. I've grown them out a couple of more times since then (engagement, wedding), but I always kept going back to biting.

I finally read an article about how Zooey Deschanel had a problem biting her nails and used nail designs and different polishes as a way to get her to stop. I have since followed pursuit, and now we have Manicure Mondays. Yay!

To start us off, here is a very scandalous nail polish that I am in love with. It is part of the O.P.I. Bond Girls liquid sand collection and called...drum roll, cover your ears small children...Pussy Galore. Whew, I said it. Chase makes fun of me because it's just a character's name, but it's still so risque that I blush when I say it haha.

 If you've never tried a liquid sand finish, you've got to! I've found that it is such a forgiving polish finish and gives your nails some great texture. 

- Courtney

Who can say if I've been changed for the better...

You may have noticed that my blog has been feeling a little lonely lately. If you follow me on any other social media outlet, you will already know, but for anyone reading that may not know, let me explain.

Chase and I received a phone call on Thursday, April 18th that my dad was going to the hospital via ambulance because he was having a hard time breathing. My dad was diagnosed with Stage 4 kidney cell carcinoma on April 22, 2010 - my 21st birthday. Since his diagnosis, my dad has tried nearly every treatment option available to him, including some experimental/trial options via M.D. Anderson in Houston, Texas. For a while, the cancer was responding well to the treatment and his tumors that were present in his kidney, liver, and stomach were shrinking. Eventually, the treatment stopped working as well and the cancer spread to his pancreas, stomach, brain, and eventually lungs. Chase and I drove home to be with my dad and family and stayed until he passed away on April 23, 2013 - the day after my 24th birthday. There were many sweet and personal moments with my dad and family during the days that we were at his bedside. One thing is for certain, my dad never stopped fighting to stay with us, and we will miss him so much.

...but, because I knew you, I have been changed for good.