Essence Beauty Box: July 2016

I was on the fence about writing a post about this box mostly because... well, does anyone read blog posts that much anymore? It seems like most people prefer video reviews which I'm not about ready to do anytime soon. Anyhow, I have a love/hate relationship with beauty boxes lately -- they are great for trying out new products, but makeup boxes are notoriously difficult for getting makeup that matches or works well with my skin tone. Last year I subbed to Ipsy and Birchbox to build out my bridesmaids bags and while that worked out wonderfully for them, I would think to myself, "This would suck if this were just a box for me or just one of the girls, but it's great to split up amongst four of them." So when Essence offered a first box for $1, I figured that's a deal.

I'm slowly working my way through each of the samples, but this is seriously the first box I've ever gotten whereby I actually might use everything in it. I want to take a moment to appreciate the awesomeness of this. Yes, there is no "true" makeup inside, but come on, this is amazing. In this month's box I received:

• Ciaté London Mini Paint Pot in Pillow Talk
• Completely Bare Shave Serum
• Dickinson's Witch Hazel Towelettes
• Ouidad Curl Immersion Triple Treat Conditioner
• Pop Beauty Kajal Pen in Inky Purple
• Pur~Lisse Blue Lotus Essential Daily Moisturizer

The Nail Polish: At first I was a little bit sad that the colour I got was more of a "pebble gray." I tried it on anyway and got really annoyed at how gummy it got as I was painting my nails. After it dried though, it was wonderfully smooth and held up without any chips for quite a few days. The colour itself grew on me so I'm actually quite happy to have gotten this.

The Shaving Serum: Admittedly, I didn't realize it was a serum till I started using it. I figured that it was similar to Whish Shaving Cream that I got a few months ago. Not quite. My skin felt so moisturized during the shave and afterwards which is a great feeling for dry skin. I love this serum and I'm thrilled to now know that there are awesome things out there for shaving.

The Hair Conditioner: I saw "kinky" curls on the label and was a little bit afraid. My hair is curly (or swurly) so I knew either my hair would freak out and get all dry like it does after I use coconut oil or it would be happy. It chose to be happy! My hair was much curlier and felt bouncier after using it. Once again, I'm thrilled to have this in a box because ordinarily, I would shy away from a product like this.

I have yet to try the other products however I will say that I've liked how well Dickinson's and Pur~Lisse has worked for me in the past. So I definitely am glad they were in the box and look forward to using them next. I have heard of Pop Beauty before but I never used their products, so once again, I'm glad to be exposed to a line that I haven't used before.

Overall, this was a fantastic start to the Essence Beauty Box and I'm excited to see what comes through in next month's box. Although I was able to snag the first box with a code for $1, subsequent boxes cost $15 a month. 

Being Guyanese & Wedding Planning

When you're planning a wedding, there's a lot of things you have to consider. From etiquette, cultural norms and expectations, your family's vision, your vision, your fiancé's vision, and of course, your partner's families vision, expectations, their cultural norms and traditions, and so on. Wedding planning is taking all of those threads and tying them together. If you luck out, you'll plan and execute a wedding that makes everyone happy or most of them, anyway. Either way, you're bound to do something different, wrong, or get a few disapprovals, especially when you're taking different cultures and trying to get them to mesh. Even if you think they are similar.

So, let's start with me. Hi, I'm what you could consider to be as Indo-Caribbean but if you want to get granular, I'm West Indian, specifically Guyanese-American, who was born in New York. This is not a lesson how to be Guyanese, by the way, there's lots of people who are better at it than I am. Growing up, I lived in a Indian & West Indian community and like anyone else in search of a sense of belonging, it was tough. I'm mentioning this as a way of setting up your expectations, when approaching a wedding, I had an idea of what cultural expectations there were, I just don't know what they mean exactly or how to go about them properly.

Here's what I thought we had to do:

• Early or mid-week, the bride gets her mehendi done with her side of the family, but mostly the females. The females would leave little notes or messages in the patterns. 
• On Thursday, manticore is held, which is the religious blessing for the marriage. I think that it's at this time that the bride and groom goes through the wedding turmeric ceremony (Byaha Haath). The details on this one is hazy for me. 
• On Friday, the families of the wedding couple will come together to finish preparations. Whether that is completing the favour bag that is filled with mithai, puri, parsad, or filling boxes with black cake. 
• On Saturday during the day, the groom's family and selected friends goes to the bride's house for the wedding. This is where the religious ceremony takes place and either shortly before (or after) the official documents are signed. 
• Saturday night the bride and groom get into Western wedding clothes (cue the big fluffy white dress), and party at the reception with their families present. 
• Come Sunday, the families of the bride and groom meet up once more whether for lunch or dinner. The wedding festivities are finalized and the happy couple are off to their honeymoon.

Wait... Did I miss something? Yeah, I did. I missed a lot but you can sort that out for yourself by taking the customs of an Indo-Caribbean Hindu Wedding, Hindu Wedding, Pakistan Wedding (which is closest to the rituals that we adhere to), and then tie it together with a bit of German traditions. Can you tell that I had no idea what I was doing? 

I sat with my fiancé and we roughly discussed what we wanted out of the wedding and reception. I read A Practical Wedding and One Perfect Day and I frequented wedding forums but here's the thing, when we sorted out what we wanted, we realized that none of these etiquette manuals could cover what we were going through.

Here's the thing that I've realized though -- wedding planning is like it's own elite group. Perhaps not elite exactly, but brides (and grooms) are exposed to a new set of rules that they were probably not aware of prior. That unless they were actively researching it beforehand. Things like, "You should never throw your own engagement party and the the bride's parents are responsible for that," or "the groom's parents pay for the flowers," or "wedding gifts should not be expected but you as the guest should look to cover your seat." But wait, that last one is regional. Also I don't live in the same state as my parents (as the bride), and the groom's parents are planning to move so we didn't want to bother them with flowers. Oh and let's not forget that in a West Indian wedding, it's all hands on deck, everyone helps where they can because the idea is that it's a community event.

It's been a learning lesson and the way we see it, it's been a like skill set gained. There's a small part of me that chuckles that both he and I have a background in customer service as account managers so in some ways, we've been able to stay ahead of our wedding checklist. Not just that, but we've been able to be at peace with things that just aren't going to quite go our way.

But here's the thing. By doing everything wrong by everyone else's standards, and not quite following one tradition or the other, in some ways, we're left out of the conversation. There aren't really people that I can talk to about my red saree, how over the top our parents are going with different traditions, or trying to tie it all together. 

I did it for the Medals

Back in December... Of 2014, I wrote about getting into running. Then life happened and even though I did finish the C25k program, well, let's just say that today I ran 15 minutes. I am also extremely proud of myself, but let's go back a bit.

In February 2015, I ran my first organized 5K at the Annual Kaiser Permanente San Francisco 5K through Golden Gate Park and it was wonderful. It was well organized, a great path through the park, and the atmosphere was energetic. Not to mention that the cool breeze through the park and the shaded path made it for a soothing run. Yes, I said a "soothing run." By the end of it, I knew which other organized 5K's I wanted to run and since I had that under my belt, I quickly signed up for the 5K's for Super Run and Run Like a Diva. My stretch goal was to run the 10k Sirena later in 2015. Within a week after the Kaiser run and right after signing up for the Super and Diva run, I started experiencing pains in my shins and my knees. 

By the time the Super Run rolled around in March, I hadn't run in about two months because I could not. I managed to run about 2 miles before my knees and ankles started to give way. When Divas came up in May, I walked it instead and beat myself up mentally the entire way. Sometimes you really just can't; you try but it's just not meant for you. I tried to pick up running here and there, but after a while it longer became that I couldn't physically do it, but I just didn't have the time anymore. After sustaining another weird injury in October whereby I couldn't move for a few weeks (I'm fine now, but don't let anyone tell you that you can't throw your shoulder out during CPR.Mostly because they, nor will any of your doctors believe you). When I regained movement, I decided it was time to donate one of my running shoes. I still held on to the pair that my brother gave me for Christmas though.

A few days ago, while chatting with a friend about running, we talked about Divas. I think that that was her first run and she asked if I'd be up for doing it again for 2016. Honestly, without training and just coming off of two injuries, I doubted my ability to do it. I still doubt my ability to do it. So a few days after, I pulled on my ridiculous tights, my Divas shirt from last year, and my new Merells, and ran on the treadmill. I discovered that I really do hate the treadmill. Walking or running on the treadmill feels like an eternity. I tried listening to a book or music and I was exasperated to see and feel each second go by. On the first day I ran 11 minutes and then my knee and hip started hurting so I stopped. 

Two days later I geared up again with my ridiculous tights (why do I own running leggings, I don't even like them. I prefer exercise pants), my FlipBelt, and the C25k app loaded on my phone. I made it all of 16 minutes before I told myself that maybe this was good enough for now. See there are some benefits for starting over though! 

1. I have all the gear and the clothes. I know that seems like a minor thing, but it's really nice to already have a series of running outfits set and not have to go out of my way to find what works. 
2. Speaking of which, I where all the braces go, the compression sleeves, and the kinesthetic tape goes. There's so much less guess work and that makes me so happy.
3. I know what pace I ought to be running at. I know what's too quick and too slow so I can adjust accordingly, instead of having to find my pace again. As a note, it took me about 6 weeks the first time to find my pace. 
4. I know which apps to use. Sure, it might be silly, but it's really nice to already know that the iHeartRadio app works well with the C25k program. It's also good to know for myself that I do prefer the radio over my own music. Before, I used to play my favourite songs, but as it turns out, I knew exactly how long they were so I'd count the minutes of the run. It turns out, I really didn't like running back then. Not sure if I do now though...
5. I've done it before and I can do it again. This is what powers me through and even though I might not be able to run at the same pace or finish with the same times, I can do it. I just have to try.

Influenster: Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Repair Lotion

Items were received by Influenster VoxBox complimentary.

I was excited to qualify for this box -- simply because I've been a huge fan of Vaseline lotions since I was a child. The only lotion that worked for me was the cocoa butter one which is now called  Intensive Care Cocoa Radiant Lotion. In fact, the Cocoa Radiant is what I was using before the Intensive Care Advanced Repair Lotion arrived in the mail. 

So upon receiving Advanced Repair, I realized that this is supposed to be richer than the cocoa butter version which is happily welcomed here because my skin gets so dry. This version is unique to me because it actually contains Vaseline jelly -- which strangely enough doesn't come off as being to heavy and is absorbed quickly by the skin.

After a few days of trying it out, I have to admit that this is better than the Cocoa Radiant (though I do like the scent of Cocoa Radiant). My skin remains thoroughly moisturized and happier due to the switch. The only time I even realized the difference in the texture was one day when I was out in the rain and the Vaseline jelly became a bit more noticeable. 

Overall, I'm really happy that I got to try this one because it might have earned a permanent spot on my shelf. Dry skin rejoice! 

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Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary through the VoxBox product testing program.

Vaseline Intensive Care Advanced Repair Lotion currently retails for $8.07 at Target. 

Infuenster: Target Dry Spray VoxBox

Items were received by Influenster VoxBox complimentary.

 It's the start of a new year and what better way to kick it off than to receive a box that you forgot about! If you haven't tried Influenster just yet, I'd highly recommend that you do so. It's a great way to try new products. 

Moving along, I remembered qualifying for a box but as it turned out, I qualified for two. So during that email mix up of mine, I was surprised to see this in the mail. For years now, I've been solely using deodorants (not antiperspirants) so my experience might differ a bit from those who typically use antiperspirants. 

Off the bat, I was a bit hesitant to use it merely because it is in aerosol form. If you're not prone to paying attention to where you're spraying and instead singing along to your playlist, chances are you could miss. I've managed to avoid most aerosols for this reason. This will make sense later.

On the first day of using it, even though it's easy to use and yes, if you're paying attention you aren't bound to spray it anywhere else but that scent was a bit off. Not the actual scent of the antiperspirant itself but the aerosol goodness that lingered in the air. Seriously, I felt like I was choking on it. This is also very likely my fault so to any other people who are looking to use something similar, step out of small areas and go into areas that air freely flows because otherwise you're choking on the aerosol air even though your antiperspirant itself smells good. 

Overall, it stayed on and kept those pits protected which is exactly what it should do (and what you're looking for in an antiperspirant). The next day that I tried it, while singing along to what I assume would be the Artic Monkeys, I accidentally sprayed my neck first. I told you it would make sense later. The lesson that you've learned here it to check the nozzle and back sure it's pointed in the right direction. On the bright side, I guess, my neck was protected with this light cucumber scent. The aerosol like scent wafted in the air and while I ran out of the bathroom to avoid the headache, I can say that it does it still does what it needs to do. 

So now that you've read my journey with the aerosol antiperspirant, I'd recommend it to those that are looking for an antiperspirant of that type. Although I'd say the Dove stick and gel antiperspirant would likely be on par, if not better. As for me, I'm switching back to my deodorants merely because they were serving me well in the first place. Nonetheless, it is still good to have especially for heavy duty activities like exercising. 

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Disclaimer: I received these products complimentary through the VoxBox product testing program.

Dove Cool Essentials Dry Spray Antiperspirant (3.8 oz) currently retails for $5.49 at Target.