July Cult Cosmetics Blackbox

Cult Cosmetics' Blackbox is $19.99 + $5 shipping.  They send you 3 brand name nail polishes and a nail art tool every month.

This month they started including cards with examples of what you can do with the included tools.

Mash Marbleizing and Dotting Tools: ($4.99)  These five pens have tips on both ends in varying sizes.  I've always just used toothpicks for my marbles and dots, but I'm happy to have something that is reusable and sturdier.

OPI Silver Shatter:  ($8)  Eh. I'm over shatter nail polish.  I'll use black shatter very rarely, but other colors just aren't my thing.

Essie Rock the Boat: ($8) This is part of the Summer 2013 collection.  It's a really soft, shimmery blue.

Essie Madison Ave-hue: ($8) This is from the Spring 2013 collection.  It's a shimmery medium pink.  Not anything extremely unusual, but not an exact dupe of anything I already had.

When I first opened my box, I thought that they had sent me two of the same nail polishes as last month.  They're similar (especially the pinks) but not exact.  The first and third color are this month's and the second and fourth are last month's.

I'm kind of disappointed by the Blackbox subscription.  I thought that it would be awesome based on the nail art kits that Cult Cosmetics sells.  Even though I got my money's worth, none of the items this month really wowed me.  I'll give it another month and before I completely write it off and give another nail box a go.

(Un)fashionably (Un)fit

To track all of my fitness activity, I use a Fitbit One.

If you've never heard of a Fitbit, it basically tracks your steps, stairs climbed, distance traveled, time active, and calories burned.  It will also track your sleep quality and the website has other features like a log for food, water intake, etc.  Oh, and it will tell you motivating messages whenever you move after being still for a bit.

The default daily step goals are 10k a day.  I work from home and I'm extremely lazy.  The combination of the two mean I pretty much don't leave the couch, like, ever.  I bumped my goal down to 7k a day, which I felt like was something more attainable, but I'd still have to move my ass off the couch to reach.

Does seeing my activity motivate me to be more active?  Yes and no.  If I look at my fitbit at 6pm and see that I've walked a thousand (or less) steps, I kind of feel like there's no point to even trying.  If I've somehow hit 4k+ then I'll force myself to go on a walk or march around the house while I'm reading until I hit my 7k.  If I've hit 7k, I try to wander around until I hit 10k.  If I've hit 10k...well, that almost never happens.

So, last week (Monday-Sunday) I managed to do 38,188 steps.  That's an average of 5,455 per day.  While it's not *terrible* given my lifestyle, it's not where I'd like to be.

If anyone would like to be my Fitbit friend and help motivate me to be competitive, this is my profile.  Or you can just stalk me and judge how little I get off the couch.  That's cool too.

July Unmentionably Cheeky

Unmentionably Cheeky sends you three pairs of cheeky-style underwear every month. The best part? It's only $8 a month with the code SUMMER.

They don't send you a tracking number, but shipping is way quicker than a lot of other sub boxes.  The outer shipping package is a solid colored shipping bag, but inside your undies are wrapped in tissue paper.  It still makes me feel like I'm getting a present.

I was mildly disappointed this month.  I received the exact same styles as last month, just in different colors.  Don't get me wrong, though, they're great underwear and I really love the pink pair. 

At less than $3 a pair, I still think that Unmentionably Cheeky is a steal.  I just hope that they add some variety in the future.

Disclaimer: This post contains referral links. 

August Stunner of the Month

Stunner of the Month is subscription box that sends you a new pair of shades every month for $9 a month.  You can choose a Unisex, Male, or Female subscription.

The past couple of months, J has gotten the Unisex option.  This month, we went with Male.  The style he received is called "The Cassady's"

I'm kind of "meh" about them.  They definitely look and feel like cheap sunglasses, but they are unique.

Also, J kept making faces when I tried to take his picture, so I told him to please be serious.  This is what I got as a result.

I debated trying the Female option next month, but I'm way too picky about my sunglasses.  Stunmo is certainly a "fun" subscription, but J has enough glasses to last him a while now, so this will be our last month.

Sunday Confessional

This post will probably destroy any geek-cred I have.

I have never seen Jurassic Park.
I have never seen any of the Matrix movies.
I have never seen Pulp Fiction.


Finally, I have never seen any of the Star Wars movies in their entirety.  All I've seen is random 20 minute sections, and those were in Spanish class, and I was focusing more on trying to translate the dialogue to English than I was the actual movie.

(Obviously, there are millions of movies I haven't seen, but for some reason people act like they're ashamed to know me when they find out about these.)

July Pretty Power Box

Pretty Power Box is a subscription box all about entrepreneurial women.  It contains a mix of tools for sucessful business women and products from indie companies run by women. 

The concept of this box was very exciting to me, but I was a little nervous since I haven't seen many reviews on it so far.

It came via USPS Priority and it came wrapped in plain brown paper.  

After tearing the brown paper off, I was happily greeted by this fabric covered box.  This is one sub-box box that I can certainly see myself reusing.

Three Pears Breeze Hand Scrub:  This scrub isn't listed in their etsy store at the moment, so I can't value it.  Even though the container was taped up and shipped in a ziplock, it still leaked out into the box.  The "Tangerine Splash" scent is subtle and pleasant. J used it on his hands after working on his car and while it didn't work as well at grease removal as Gojo, it still worked pretty well and left his hands softer.

Three Pears Breeze Bath Salts: Again, I don't see bath salts in their etsy store so I don't know a value.  These are the "Lavender Spa" scent but they don't really smell like much at all.  I like epsom salts even if they're unscented, though, so I'll still use them.

New Image Minerals Eyeshadows: ($3.50/ea) I adore loose powder shadows.  The bronze is absolutely lovely. (I've already worn it three times.)  The blue is a bit too much for me.  Actually, I think it's the same color as the first eyeshadow I ever bought.

Nutri-Grain Chocolatey Crunch: ($.40)  This is pretty much your standard chocolate chip crunchy granola bar with chocolate on the bottom.  Don't get me wrong, it's delicious, but nothing groundbreaking.

Mead Pocket Planner: ($4.99)  I use Google Calendar for everything, so I'll pass this on to someone who will use it.

Kimberleeann Kreation Cuff: ($15.99) When I pulled this out of the box, I was nervous because I have child-sized wrists and cuffs rarely ever fit me.  However, this one did!  It's a bit bigger than I'd prefer, but totally wearable - and totally cute.

R&R's Wrist Candy Beaded Cross Bracelet: ($8)  This bracelet is very on-trend, but not really my style, so I'll be passing it along to someone else as well.

Willow Tree Minerals Lip Shimmer: ($4.95/ea) I love that these are all natural.  The color of them is very nice and sheer, too.  I have a thing for lip products, so I was pretty much guaranteed to like these.

Pretty Power Box is $15 a month and even without knowing the prices of the Three Pears Breeze items, I got over $45 worth of stuff.  I really like that they showcase women-run indie brands that I wouldn't have come across otherwise.

(Un)fashionably (Un)fit

Guys, I'm out of shape.

I also have a pet peeve related to that.  Because I'm on the small side, people look at me like I have four noses when I say that I really need to start working out.  Hey, y'all - skinny does not equal fit!  The reverse is also true - most of the women I know who could run a marathon and still have the energy (and power) to kick someone's ass afterwards are not size 2.

Anyway,  I've decided that I need to start taking care of myself again.  I'm slowly working on it, but my main problem is that I have no one to hold me accountable.

Oh, hey there, blog.  Guess what.

You're going to hold me accountable.

Every week.

Ish.

Ready...go.