Petit Vour April 2016 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
26 April 2016
0

I feel like it’s been aaaaaaaaaages since my last box. I’m going to be sad when I hardly get any once I’m off to school and cancel most of them.

Petit Vour is $15 per box (or as much as $30 for international subscribers) and comes with vegan beauty, skincare, and other personal care products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program that earns you points towards free boxes (email contact@petitvour.com to say I referred you if you sign up!).

contents of petit vour april 2016 box with hooray! theme and info card petit vour april 2016 box info card with item details

Juara Coconut Illipe Hand & Nail Balm – Sweet, I can always use a nice balm for my cuticles. I should really take more care of them, though I’m still not quite clear which part of the nail area is actually considered the cuticle. This is sealed so I’ll wait to open it until my current products are used up.

Ursa Major Fortifying Face Balm – I could use any soothing lotions for my face right now! I have had swollen eyes and eyelids all day and sometimes I rub my eyes so much it hurts. This feels great applied to my cheeks and under the eyes. It’s helping me from not scratching that area and the more liquid formula makes it easy to dab on without irritating my skin.

100% Pure fruit pigmented color cosmetics stain eye shadow in Turks & Caicos – Well, as always I shall put this in my collection and look to trade, sell, or gift it at some point. Inside the box is a little tub like your normal eyeshadow or even lip balm might come in. It’s hard to tell the shade without opening the seal, but it seems to be a pale pink or champagne.

Kumari River Bath & Body Oil – Ooo, cool! I can use this directly on my skin or drop it in a bath. I like the dual use, though I will probably use it exclusively as a body oil. The scent is very light and I can hardly make out anything – I think just an olive oil undertone? It feels great rubbed in and will certainly keep my skin soft.

I’ll be using two of these products right off the bat. I really need to work on getting through all the products I’ve accumulated from boxes. What do you think of the products this month?

[This post mentions a referral program. Signing up and emailing contact@petitvour.com to say I referred you helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Northwest Federal Credit Union Member Appreciation Day

laelene Posted in lifestyle glimpses，Tags: , , , , ,
24 April 2016
0

Each year, Northwest Federal Credit Union holds a fun mini carnival in their headquarter’s parking lot for Member Appreciation Day. It’s a way to celebrate members as well as welcome their families and friends. This year, it was on Saturday from 9-1, rain or shine! And this time it was raining a little, but plenty of people still came out to enjoy the event. Since Panda is a member there, we dropped by before going in to DC so I could volunteer at the NMNH.

When you arrived, you were given flyers that were “passports” to help track which free things you had claimed. Each person was allowed a cotton candy, popcorn, food (pulled pork/beef/chicken sandwiches or hot dogs), side of chips, and drink (cans of soda or lemonade). The kids were also allowed a balloon creation, face painting, and entry to the bounce houses. Everyone had the option of getting a large tote bag or those drawstring backpacks, but since we have plenty of both, we opted not to take one.

northwest federal credit union member appreciation day passport handout

The NWFCU passport for adults.

northwest federal credit union member appreciation day tent with food

Inside the giant tent, we stood in a long line for cotton candy and popcorn, then a much faster line for the food and drink.

northwest federal credit union member appreciation day game tents

There were games for the kids to try out.

northwest federal credit union member appreciation day face painting tent line

At the end was the tent for face painting, which had quite a line.

eating two cotton candies at northwest federal credit union member appreciation day

I got to eat both our cotton candies!

northwest federal credit union member appreciation day cotton candy melting from humidity

Due to the humidity of the air, the cotton candy started to melt pretty quickly and bits would fall off.

northwest federal credit union member appreciation day cotton candy absorbing moisture from air

As it absorbed the moisture, the outside layer of the cotton candy would start to get very sticky. I kept having to rotate them so pieces wouldn’t fall off as quickly.

northwest federal credit union member appreciation day bounce houses

Outside the tent, there were bounce houses for the kids.

It was a good event and next time we’ll definitely plan to spend more time there rather than having to rush off. Panda had wanted to withdraw some money from his account and I was interested in earning the free money for signing up as his referral, but neither of those got done. If a member brings someone who signs up that day, they both get $25 in their accounts. It’s small, but hey you can still do a lot with that!

The digital world hates vertical media

laelene Posted in general blog，Tags: , , , , , ,
21 April 2016
2

I’ve recently re-learned what a nightmare it is to try to deal with vertical (portrait-oriented) media, whether pictures or videos. Why is it so hard to get them to work?

I mean, I know that all our screens are wide and so is much of how we view the world, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t times that a vertical orientation isn’t useful (if not better altogether). It’s so frustrating that when I do have portrait images, they don’t always render properly and for vertical videos, it becomes difficult to edit them.

food from rollplay vietnamese restaurantFor example, the past couple of months I’ve dealt with an annoyance using WordPress. When I upload a picture that is vertical, the image doesn’t show up (this might be happening to you with the one first image). This seemed to have happened with the update that had occurred around that time. Suddenly, every vertical photo uploaded would come out blank in my blog posts. It took a lot of research and testing to figure out that if re-uploaded the image, it would then work.

More recently, I came across the added issue that if I uploaded the original file from my phone, it doesn’t have the correct orientation and instead shows horizontally, as seen below. So now I have to open the image in Paint*, save it, then it will recognize it as a vertical image (shown on the left, if you can see it). What a nightmare! Strangely enough, if you are on an iPhone, you’d see the below image the proper way, but on a laptop browser and on an Android device it’s horizontal. Yet even odder, on an iPad, it tries to show vertically, but the image is stretched out to fit horizontal dimensions.

sample of broken vertical image that does not rotate properly

So to ensure images show proper orientation across devices means I need to edit the photo before re-uploading to WP, using an image editing program like Paint or Photoshop*. It doesn’t seem to help if I rotate the image first, I usually still need to do the replace media option. And literally all I’m doing in Paint is saving it so that whatever EXIF metadata WP needs gets translated through properly and allows images to show up vertically, as they should. I guess however Apple encodes that data is incompatible with the way WordPress reads/handles the info. For now it’s working, but if things act up again I’ll look into plugins like the iOS images fixer or the Image Rotation Fixer, both of which look like promising solutions.

Additionally, I ran into issues when I was trying to edit a vertical video. Any program I opened it up in would put those awful black bars on the sides so that it ultimately took up the space of a horizontal video. I wanted a final output that would keep the vertical orientation, making it a skinny little thing. All the searching in the world only seemed to lead me to tutorials on how to change the black bars to some background, but none actually addressed my issue.

In iMovie on my mobile devices, it would crop my video to a square. I’d shrink it down so the whole thing showed, but those black bars would come to haunt me. I tried rotating it so it fit the horizontal perfectly, make my edits, save it, then try rotating it, but again: ugly black bars inserted. So ultimately I gave up on such an endeavor, but these experiences leave me wanting so much more when it comes to media editing and rendering.

You’d think in this day and age of technology that they would have figured this out by now. Why is it still such a troublesome issue?

 

*Thanks to a comment on this thread for helping me figure out that solution.

I’ve found the only way to consistently see images with proper orientation on all devices is to edit the photo before uploading to WP in an image editing program like Photoshop. – Cindy Otty

On My Mind, episode 11: summer plans

laelene Posted in general blog, on my mind，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
18 April 2016
0

I don’t do a lot of journal entry type posts here, but there are some things going on that I just wanted to share. Sometimes there is no specific topic; it’s just about life in general.

This weekend, I was very excited to get a shipment notification from Baubax, which I backed on Kickstarter back in September. I had hoped to get it in time for Thanksgiving. So much for that! They originally anticipated being able to get them completed by November, but their campaign exploded way beyond they ever expected. The product is a travel jacket, which they designed 4 of. I chose the red bomber jacket because it seemed like a nice balance between dressy and casual. I hope it fits me well!!

Panda and I have been looking for someone to rent a room in our home. His organization has interns that will be coming next month and they always need a place to stay. There are a few students we’ve considered and I look forward to finalizing details. We’re happy to earn some extra money to help fund my MBA. I’ll be leaving halfway through their stay to get ready for my program. Things are going to be crazy the next couple of months! Maybe in the future we can consider listing a room on Airbnb.

Panda got the Whole Dang Thang, which included fried fish, scallops, gator, calamari, shrimp and more.

Panda got the Whole Dang Thang, which included fried fish, scallops, gator, calamari, shrimp and more.

About a month ago, Panda and I went out to dinner with Calavera for cajun seafood. As I was cracking away at my crab legs, I didn’t realize I was weakening part of my tooth and on the drive home, I noticed that my tooth had chipped. Prior to that, I had noticed a tiny little indentation along the bottom of the tooth, so it must have fractured along that groove. I needed a teeth cleaning anyway, so I scheduled a dental appointment and was told I should get a crown. Since dental procedures are expensive in the US and I plan on going to China this summer, I decided to wait until I go there to get it done. In the mean while, I look silly sometimes with what looks like a gap in my teeth that then shows itself as a missing chunk. At least a gap would look normal!

Now that I know what program I’ll be attending in the fall, it’s all about getting to know what they have to offer. I received a call from an MBA Ambassador today, but I was working and then wasn’t able to reach her later. I’m compiling questions about the program, life in general, and other things to know before I start school. There are four more people I should reach out to (two friends and two ambassadors, one who interviewed me). I think I’ll learn a lot at Admit Weekend next week and I can’t wait to start meeting people, learning, and thinking about what I’ll do. All this looking to the future has me distracted from what I should focus on, but I’m still making good progress at work. Still, I’m itching to train someone up and start handing things off, though it looks like that won’t happen for another month.

I’ve always been interested in helping uncover resources and make them more readily available, so I created an unofficial employee handbook using Trello. Tomorrow I get to train a new girl on it for the very first time! I can’t wait to see what she thinks, get feedback, and hone it into a lasting legacy that I will leave here. I’ve got quite a few projects that I hope will continue to live on when I’ve moved on. I know that our use of Slack will certainly be one of those.

There are so many things buzzing around in my head these days. With my obsession with Trello, I’ve put together various boards to help me track everything I should be doing. Now I just need to get better at checking them… 😛

MBA admission experience 

laelene Posted in mba，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
16 April 2016
2

The two months between applying for grad school and hearing decisions have been quite a lot of trying to stay calm while every now and then getting super stressed about whether I’d get admitted anywhere. After submitting my applications, I waited to hear about interviews. By the end of February, the ones I hadn’t interviewed for basically seemed out of reach and now I know how it all panned out. So here’s a look at what things have been like since applying through admittance/denial notifications.

January 4th: Submitted UCLA Anderson application and paid $200 fee (deadline on 5th). Ordered GMAT scores sent to 4 schools for $112. When you take the GMAT, order scores sent to as many schools as possible. I believe it’s 5 for free, so might as well get the scores out to them. I had done so for 2 of the schools, but now needed to pay for the rest.

January 5th: Submitted Northwestern Kellogg application and paid $250 fee (deadline on 6th). Also submitted Harvard Business School application and paid $250 fee (deadline on 6th).

January 6th: Submitted Berkeley Haas application and paid $200 fee (deadline on 7th).

January 7th: Submitted USC Marshall application and paid $150 fee (deadline on 8th).

January 11th: Submitted Stanford GSB application and paid $275 fee (deadline on 12th). Kellogg received GMAT score report.

January 12th: Completed video interview for Kellogg, after many practice rounds.

January 15th: Anderson received GMAT score report.

January 29th: Kellogg off-campus interview information received (they try to interview everyone); I reached out to set up a time with my interviewer, an alumnus.

February 3rd: HBS decision posted as denial without interview. If I had gotten an interview, I would have been notified and then I would have had to plan a visit to the school to do it.

February 5th: Kellogg interview with the alumnus, who has been doing interviews for something like 12 years! Great conversation that lasted for 2 hours and made me feel like I did well.

February 10th: Invitation to interview by Marshall; I scheduled a Skype interview since I could not fly out in person.

February 25th: My mom suggested a call with my dad to learn from his business experience, so I called him up on Skype and listened to him for about 90 minutes. He had a lot to say and I learned quite a bit about his life and our family that I didn’t know before.

February 27th: Skype interview with Marshall MBA Ambassador, which went well.

March 5th: Call from Dean of Admissions at Marshall. I was eating dinner and didn’t recognize the number, so I didn’t pick up. I then forgot about the voicemail until the next day, when I listened to it and was THRILLED!! That was one less month of wringing my hands hoping for good news. 🙂

March 8th: Stanford GSB decision posted as denial. As with HBS, had I been selected for an interview, I would have been notified by then and scheduled something.

As the days ticked by in March, I pretty much knew that Haas and Anderson would be nos since I did not hear about an interview from either.

March 23rd: Northwestern Kellogg decision posted as denial.

March 24th: Berkeley Haas decision posted as denial.

March 29th: UCLA Anderson decision posted as denial, but with invitation to apply for FEMBA.

And there you have it! My experience throughout the period from application submissions to final decision notifications. Luckily, I knew I had a program to go to nearly a month earlier than I had anticipated, which was just fabulous. I didn’t get into any of the others unfortunately, but hey, that just means I’ve been able to focus on going to Marshall rather than being confused about which program to pick.

I’ve told my manager about my plans and finalized a last day at work: June 17th. He also announced my pending departure to the company since we are looking for someone to fill my role. With just two months to go, there’s a lot to try to accomplish but of course it’s hard not to want to look towards the future and focus on that. Later I’ll write up the whole experience with USC Marshall from now until I start in the fall!

 

Getting around Hong Kong

laelene Posted in video blog，Tags: , , , , , , ,
13 April 2016
0

As we gear up for our annual trip this year (to Eastern Europe!), I started looking back on vacations we’ve done and I can hardly believe that Hong Kong was already a year and a half ago. We were there during Occupy Hong Kong and some streets were inaccessible to vehicles. Luckily, it’s very easy to get around on foot and by metro, albeit very crowded.

Lots of folks had tents set up on the streets and there were barricades all over the roads.

occupy Hong Kong from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Our car managed to get in to a section that was closed down, but then there was nowhere to go, so we turned around and got waved on by a guy managing traffic clogs due to Occupy HK.

driving out of occupy from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

This is a quick glimpse of some tents and folks walking around. It was strange to be in such a crowded part of the city with absolutely no car traffic.

walking occupy Hong Kong from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

The MTR was quite crowded, particularly during rush hour, but all in all it’s quite orderly.

hong kong mtr commuters from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

There’s even a special machine for anyone with visual impairments. It plays music to help you find it.

mtr direction station for blind people from Mary Qin on Vimeo.

Yogi Surprise April 2016 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
10 April 2016
2

Here comes a spring box of goodies! Quite a few snacks and supplements this time around. When I go off to school, I’ll probably cancel this subscription, so I’ve only got a few more coming my way.

Yogi Surprise is just under $36 per box (with code for 20% off your subscription – use my referral links from this post) and comes with yoga gear, skincare, food, and other lifestyle products. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program that earns you free boxes.

contents of yogi surprise april 2016 box with info card yogi surprise april 2016 info card with product details

Herban Essentials orange essential oil towelettes – A long time ago, I did a trade where I received some of these in orange and lemon. These are perfect to keep around for a quick wipe, whether of my hands or even my yoga mat. I had no idea they went beyond cleaning off grime and smelling nice, but are actually antibacterial and antiseptic! Apparently these are good for improving mood, focus, and relaxation. Wow, impressive.

The Seaweed Bath Co seaweed powder bath in Eucalyptus & Peppermint – I can’t remember how I first heard of this brand, but it’s been on my list and I got a chance to get some, also part of a trade a long time ago. The flakes darkened my bath and made it a little more effort to clean after draining the bath, so we’ll see how this one goes. I like the idea of using seaweed for skincare – just sounds cool, and it’s supposed to be good for sensitive skin, so I’m sure it’ll be great for me.

rishi hibiscus berry herbal tea – Ah, this will be perfect to take with me to school! I can scoop myself some nice tea to sip while working on projects. I got some rishi green tea from Whole Foods before, which I quite enjoyed, so I know this will be a very good quality.

Bambooee reusable bamboo towel – I first heard of these when I got one in my Conscious box three years ago! It’s so useful in so many different ways. I think it’s a fantastic product to have around and I’ll be using this one a lot in the kitchen, I’m sure. I love things made from bamboo. 🙂

Go Raw choco crunch sprouted cookies – Hmm, these “cookies” are basically bite-sized health bars. I’m not super into raw stuff or seeds/nuts, so I found the taste of this to be unusual. I didn’t get much of the chocolate flavor and instead had a lot more coconut and some unidentifiable taste. If you’re into healthy vegan stuff, you might like this though!

Stoneridge Orchards Montmorency Cherries – Alas, I also don’t like cherries that aren’t fresh ones. I’ll be giving these to someone else to eat, though as a dried fruit, this is something I’d consider trying.

Herbal Zap! Digestive Cool & Calm and Digestive & Immune Support supplements – These sort of remind me of the Pranayums I got in the last box. They make use of herbs to help bring health benefits. In this case, these are for digestion and boosting immunity. They come in these little sugar granules that dissolve in water. I’ll be taking these to work to use during the day! I could always use a little help with my digestive and immune systems.

Rescue Plus Stress Complex lozenge in Orange & Elderflower – Well, I had not known the term “lozenge” before, but I guess they’re basically cough drops. These are amazingly sweet for something that has no sugar! The elderflower adds a unique fragrance that is quite nice. They didn’t exactly provide information on how/when I should use these – when I feel unwell? As a daily boost? I’m not sure, but I think I’ll have one periodically.

Dosha Bar in blueberry balance pitta – Another bar that I will try, but am unsure of. I’ve just never really enjoyed bars, whether granola or quinoa or trail mix. But hey, it’s worth trying and using as a snack when I need that extra bit. Lately I’ve been feeling a plummet in my blood sugar on my drive home, so I think this will be great to munch on during the commute.

Yogi Surprise Connecting with Nature yoga sequence series card – This time around it’s time to get grounded and connect with nature. This series has some very easy and very challenging poses. Check out the instruction page to download this sequence.

Four Sigmatic Reishi & Chaga Mushroom Elixirs – Well, these are a new approach to drinks. Can’t say I’ve put mushrooms in my water before, though I certainly enjoy dishes cooked with them. They talk about how great mushrooms are, but don’t offer anything about what benefits I’m supposed to get exactly. And I thought the different flavors had different benefits, but it seems they are named after the mushroom they are made from. In general, it seems mushrooms are good for your immune system, blood pressure, and offer antioxidants.

suja organic cold-pressured juice coupon – (Not pictured.) Underneath everything was this little surprise, which offers a free bottle of juice! I’ve been curious about cold-pressed juices and was actually going to go get some at Whole Foods since I heard on the radio that they are offering 10% off this week. I look forward to trying these!

Wow, this time around there were a bunch of smaller items to try, which I rather liked. I feel like I’ve got a ton of health boosts now. What do you think about the products in this box?

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Research your dreams

laelene Posted in mba，Tags: , , , , ,
07 April 2016
0

Do you have a BHAG for your life? Do you know what it will take to get there?

When I was in middle school, around 8th grade, I developed my own BHAG. I can’t remember how it came about, but somehow I recall playing full-contact basketball during lunch break, thinking about my future. I don’t know why I make the association thinking back, but that gym is the first place I can remember deciding that I wanted to get an MBA. I guess it was because I felt that I had three good options for a career: doctor, engineer, or businesswoman. I may have imagined it, but I’m pretty sure my dad told me that at some point.

Whatever the case, I became convinced that business was the way for me. And that led me to this idea of an MBA. As a 13-year-old, that does seem like a BHAG. Ultimately, it has taken me 17 years to realize that dream (and it’ll be 19 before the diploma is in hand). I’ve wanted an MBA for more than half my life now and that goal has sort of defined how I thought of myself. Back then, I hadn’t yet considered what I needed to do to reach my goal.

I started with first things first – in high school, I began to consider what majors I might be interested in. When I was accepted to UCLA, I learned that they had no business undergraduate major, so I had to get creative. I ended up choosing Psych & Econ to get two very different sides to what would be useful business skills. While I am proud of the double major I earned, I wish I had started to understand what it takes to get into b-school at that point. Had I known about the intense competition, I probably would have chosen majors I was most interested in – Gender Studies or Environmental Science, perhaps. Granted, the Environmental Science major was introduced too far into my college career to make a pivot without derailing my graduation timing completely.

What I wish I knew was that getting at least a 3.5 GPA would be extremely helpful towards my b-school applications down the line. Instead, I continued down the path I’d chosen from the get-go and my grades slipped as the work got more challenging, yet often was not as interesting to me. While I am interested in these topics, I do not have a great passion for them the way I do others. Had I researched what top MBA programs are looking for, I would have known to focus more on a major that I could get a high GPA in, one that I had a deep drive to learn and excel in. It’s not that I didn’t know grades would be important, but I figured a 3.0+ would suffice.

I consider my next misstep the choice to work for small companies. While I have enjoyed the experiences, I didn’t feel well-positioned as an applicant because the work I did was on a smaller scale. It’s hard to be responsible for impactful programs if the company is too small to have many of those opportunities. While I certainly took on quite a bit of work and led projects wherever I could, they didn’t sound nearly as impressive. With what I know now, I would have gone for larger organizations with bigger challenges.

But then again, maybe I’m just making excuses for why I didn’t make it into Stanford. Perhaps a higher GPA and different work experience wouldn’t have helped. I do feel proud of what I’ve done and the essays I wrote to convey that, but for all I know, those were not as strong as I feel they were. Ultimately, I would have done things a bit differently if I had looked into the details of what goes into applying for and getting into a program like Stanford GSB’s.

So if you have a BHAG, I encourage you to heavily research it. Learn from others and it will help you better position yourself for achieving that dream. I was fortunate that I was able to realize my dream and I’m thrilled to be attending USC Marshall in the fall. It was difficult though, because I had weaknesses in my application I needed to try to compensate for. I couldn’t go in the past to change what had happened, so I had to find ways to strengthen my application in other areas. I very well might not have been accepted at all. And this is a lesson I’m learning – that a dream worth pursuing is worth the time and effort to prepare for. As soon as you have that goal in mind, start learning everything you can to help you get there!

My next goal is to lead an organization’s Empowerment team (which is an amalgamation of People Operations, Culture, and Internal Operations). HR is a concept that has evolved to take on a negative meaning that people don’t really connect with, so I consider what I do to be the latest evolution of that functional role. I can’t wait to learn from others doing this work and take some classes on these ideas. I’ve been preparing for this for a long time. 🙂

Julep April 2016 Collection review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
04 April 2016
0

So I think they stopped naming their collections as of February, since they aren’t clearly labeling them anymore. This month’s was filled with fun, bright colors in a jelly-like finish. They included a white polish to pair with the colors to use underneath and lighten the color. They look great and I’m tempted to collect the whole set.

Julep ranges from just under $25 to $40 per box based on tier (or as discounted as just under $20 to $35 per box when prepaid three at a time) and comes with combinations of nail polish colors, skincare products, and beauty products (depending on your style profile choice). They offer plenty of upgrade and add-on options too. Boxes are sent monthly unless you choose to skip. You also have the option of gifting your box to a friend. They offer a referral program that earns you $15 store credit per referral.

julep maven april 2016 collection box contents

April 2016’s collection of Brights + Whites box

Green Tea konjac sponge
I don’t know what it is about green tea, but when I see something with it, I gravitate towards it. Between the kaolin clay one that was going to come in my box and the charcoal one I’ve had before, neither could beat out the funky green sponge. I don’t think it makes much of a difference since all those ingredients are great for your skin, but I’m happiest with this one.

Polish colors in Brynn and Brigitte. I waffled between Brynn and Marissa for ages before choosing this more reddish orange hue. Normally I’d go for the purple but this time I wanted something different! I like how Brynn looks both as a gel as well as with the white underneath, which is what I have on now. I got compliments at work today for my bold color that starkly contrasted against the dreary day. (I already have another Brigitte from almost exactly a year ago, but it’s a color that can be used in many ways.)

love your bare face Detoxifying Cleansing Stick
It said to rub this on my hands and then cleanse my face, which was interesting. It was very gentle and smelled nice. I don’t think I put enough on since I didn’t really get a lather. I look forward to combining it with my konjac sponge, which I am waiting to open once I head off to grad school.

julep april 2016 collection card and discount offer card

The April 2016 Collection cards.

julep love your bare face detoxifying cleansing stick and kaolin clay konjac sponge information card

The info card with details on the detoxifying cleansing stick and konjac sponge.

julep april 2016 collection quote card

The April 2016 Collection quote card.

Another great box! I’m very pleased with my newfound flexibility to customize boxes. Now I really get to be picky, though it makes for some hard choices!

Join as a Julep Maven to get polishes and/or beauty products sent to you monthly! Use code FREEBOX or FREEMAVEN to get the first box free (you pay shipping).

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Prospurly March 2016 review

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions，Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
02 April 2016
0

It was a battle getting the key to work on the mailbox compartment for packages at our place. For some reason the postperson always puts my packages in box #2, which takes about 5 minutes to get open each time. I was then very happy to find this box, which had some heft to it.

Prospurly is just under $45 per box (with code for 10% off your subscription – use my referral links from this post) and comes with artisan foods, bath & body items, home products, and other sustainably crafted items. Boxes are sent monthly with no option to skip. They offer a referral program that earns you free boxes.

prospurly march 2016 box open with products showing prospurly march 2016 info card with intro message on inside of box prospurly march 2016 info card with product details

Tops Malibu Flying Magic Butterfly – How adorable! You wind this up and place it inside a book or card so when someone opens it, a little butterfly shoots out. Make sure you point the butterfly towards the top of the card or book so it doesn’t hit the person. I found it shot out more than flew out, but was really fun to play with.

Essential Living Foods coconut chips – Oh my, what a massive bag of coconut chips! I definitely have to take this to work since I’m still working on the one I got from Yogi Surprise. I can barely remember to eat yogurt for breakfast, much less add these chips to them, so this is going to be slow going. With my colleagues’ help, they can make quick work of these. This was the surprise treat in the box, which seems to be a new thing they’re doing.

Vicara Good Morning essential oil – I’ve never had essential oil with ginger, so this is a unique one for me. It vaguely reminds me of some dishes we cook with ginger, in a good way. It’s not overwhelming as you might think and there’s a warmth to the scent that I wasn’t expecting. I like it!

Menagerie Charcoal face wash – This is fabulous! Tea and charcoal? Just the kind of ingredients I enjoy most. I love how this smells and the very slippery texture it has. It’s fun to use and I definitely need some more charcoal in my life.

Nuun All Day healthy hydration – These are perfect for me to bring to work. Who doesn’t like watching bubbles? Plus I could use a boost in vitamins and hopefully energy too. I haven’t been sleeping well lately so it’s hard to have energy late in the afternoon.

Enchanted Storybook Japanese Cherry Blossom bath bombs – I got a whiff of these as soon as I opened the box for pictures. They have a nice sweetness to them and a gentle fragrance that I enjoy. It’s going to be fun to use these in the bath! They also happen to be my favorite color. 🙂

Enchanted Storybook Japanese Cherry Blossom body butter – I’m not really sure what a body butter vs a lotion should be, but I’m used to body butters being thicker in consistency. Since this is not as thick, I’ll use it more like a lotion. It almost has a perfumey quality to it and I really enjoy smelling my hands after applying it. It absorbs really well and instantly softened my skin.

Crystal’s Candles beeswax votives – You know, I was just reading about how beeswax candles burn clean so this is perfect timing. They’ve got a slow burn and should last awhile. I look forward to using these and I wonder how much of a scent they will give off. We’ll see!

Happy birthday to Prospurly! I wish I’d known about them from the start because I really would have enjoyed it all along. Oh well, I’m happy to have a subscription now! What do you think of this month’s box?

[This post contains affiliate links. Signing up through them helps support my subscription and I’d be ever so grateful. 🙂 All opinions are my own and I received no compensation for this review. I just purchased this box and wanted to share what I got!]

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...