Well That Was a Bit of A Surprise (Gonna be a long one)

Hi!  Remember me?  Probably not; it's been a long time...again.

So much to catch up on! So lets jump in.

This January I decided to get out of my comfort zone with working out, and took a big jump.  A big box jump.

Yep, I drank the Kool-Aid, and joined my local Crossfit gym. AND I LOVE IT.  Seriously, the lifting and the constant variation in workouts.  The people who go there.  It's so fun.  I hate the days that I can't get there or my rest days.  I'm discovering just how strong I am, and what I'm capable of.  A lot of these lifts and movements, I would have NEVER thought to start doing or try on my own in the gym.  And that was my problem.

I would go to the gym (most likely the Y while Honey was in swimming lessons), and walk around, looking at equipment and machines and wonder what I should do.  Am I doing this right?  How should I break up my week in terms of working out/lifting?  With Crossfit, there is no guessing.  No questioning.  I walk in, warm up and do whats on the board.  Along with everyone else in the class.  The only questions I have are regarding a modification for an exercise I can't do.  Like a muscle up.  Ugh, no thanks

 I stepped so far out of my comfort zone, that I even signed up for the Crossfit Open this year!  WHAT?!  I certainly wasn't trying to get to regionals or the games, but next year when the Open starts again, I can look back and see exactly how far I've come.  I got two weeks into the Open, pushing myself harder than I ever have (especially in a workout)..

...And then

SURPRISE!

I'm 13 weeks Wednesday (May 4th), and we know it's a girl.  

So I finished all 5 weeks of the Open, giving all I had (which wasn't much considering the vomiting and exhaustion).  But I finished it!  And I'm still going to the gym almost 4 times a week.  I'm trying REALLY hard to not gain the 60+ pounds I gained with Honey.

I do have to slow it down a little.  I'm not supposed to lift any heavier than I already have been.  So no PR's for me right now.  And I'm not running, I'm rowing instead.  I'm sure cleans and snatches will be difficult soon, thanks to a growing belly.  But I'm there, I'm putting in the work, and I'm determined to make this a healthy pregnancy!

I'll be back with more.  I have a review for you, courtesy of Influenster <3

Kat

StriVectin Retinol Pore Refiner

IChristmas has come and gone again this year. And in it's place, it's left empty calories and major hangovers. Maybe they wouldn't be so major if I wasn't getting older? Remember those days of going ALL. NIGHT. LONG. and waking up 3 hours later to go to work? Where did that body go? I'm lucky if 2 glasses of wine doesn't render me useless the next day.
 You know what else comes with getting older? Crappy skin. Seriously, I'm 31, and somedays I feel like I look 40. My husband tells me I'm crazy and I barely look 30. But what can I say? I'm critical of myself.

 So when I got a chance to check out a new Retinol pore refiner from StriVectin, I jumped on it. It claims to give you smoother, more refined skin and smaller pores. 96% of users saw results almost immediately. For more information, click this link: StriVectin Advanced Retinol Pore Refiner
As soon as this came in the mail, I washed my face and immediately applied the serum.
 It has a very light moisturizer feeling to it. Light smell, not overly soft or smoothing.
 I couldn't wait to see the difference, only I never saw one. :/

 I tried again five minutes later, still the same skin I had after washing my face.

I decided I wouldn't make any decisions on the product until after two weeks of use. And unfortunately, that didn't help. I still have pores just as visible as the first day I started using the StriVectin. I haven't noticed an increase in moisture in my face either. Actually, the retinol has dried my face significantly.

No primer here (I ran out 😖) and terrible pores even with makeup

Unfortunately I can not recommend this product. I'm sure plenty of people have benefited from it, swear by it; it has changed their skin. But I'm not one of them.

 So the search continues. Primer is my friend, and that relationship is only getting better. **I received this product free for testing purposes. All feedback and reviews are my own. I received no monetary compensation for this post

Benefit Brow Bar at Ulta

 Did you know I used to be an esthetician?  Many many years ago. I went to a locally owned Aveda school, and graduated in 2005. I worked at a few spas/salons, but realized it wasn't exactly what I wanted. 

I loved waxing people. But big jobs. Like legs...the occasional back (minus the guy who's back I had to trim for 1 hour before I could even start waxing). But hated eyebrows. 

Talk about pressure. Take too much off and you've ruined someone's look. Hit the wrong angle, same thing. No thanks. I don't like to hold that much responsibility. 

 

I also hated having my own brows done, because I always get really red and irritated, and I always broke out after. Also, most places I went just threw you in a chair and kind of cleaned up under the brow, without actually giving much shape. 

So I started threading. Which was nice. It was more painful than waxing since it was taking a hair at a time. But I was getting a nice shape, and I wasn't getting the irritation. I had a place I was going regularly and they were priced right.  And then they changed their threaded. And she was never in when I stopped in. And her schedule never seemed to work with mine whe I called for an appointment. 

My brows were BAD this week. I kinda cleaned them up myself a few weeks back before we went on vacation. But that wasnt the best job. 

My mom went to Ulta a few weeks back and raved about how great it was. So I gave it a shot. I made an appointment for this past Sunday and prayed I wouldn't break out; even if I had to suffer with my trademark post waxing superhero-esq mask. 

When I got there I was greeted by my waxed and she was really bubbly and excited about her job, which adds a nice touch to any service. She asked me what I was looking for, and handed me a mask asking what I liked about my brows and what I didn't like. And then we got started. 

What sets the Benefit Brow Bar apart is their signature "brow mapping" service. She took a small Popsicle stick and measured where my brow should start, where my arch should hit, and where my tail should end. And then she took a dark brow powder and shaped my brows until she was happy with the arch and shape. And of course she got my approval prior to beginning to wax. 

I'm not sure exactly what type or brand of wax they use. But it was a nice pearly color, and wasn't too hot. Lashara (hiw perfect was my waxers name?!) applied the wax so precisely, and pulled the strip off so well that I barely felt it. And after she was done, cleaned up the remaining hairs with tweezers, she applied a wonderful cooling gel to take down the heat you start to feel after a waxing. 

Whatbhappened next is something that I have never experienced after a brow treatment. Not only did she outline and fill in my brows (they aren't sparse, but lightly colored) SHE PUT CONCEALER AND POWDER over the redness, so not only did I not look like a masked superhero, the makeup I had applied prior to my appointment didn't look messed and sloppy!!  

I didn't even get a sales pitch. She showed me why she used, incase I was interested in any products, and only asked if I wanted to book a future appointment. Which I did. 

At $21, it's a pricey brow wax. But when you take into consideration the personalization of the service and the time they take with you, it's worth every penny!

Have you ever used the Benefit Brow Bar? What was your experience?

Kat

A Galaxy Far Far Away

Long ago, in a gal...

You get the point

I started this blog as a nail polish/nail art showcase. And as life has happened, I became less able to do my nails or nail art on a constant basis. I guess that's what happens when your baby grows up!!

So I abandoned the blog for a bit. And then did the redesign I guess you could call it. And decided is rather blog about all sorts of stuff:nails, beauty reviews, daily happenings, etc...

But today I thought I would go back to my roots (another daaayy, some other waaayy) <---you'd probably have to be an Imagine Dragons fan for that one..

Im just going to post a few of my favorite manicures, nail art, or colors from lately

The one above is the most recent, and a recreation of one of my favorite holiday manicures that I first did yeaaaars ago. 

This is one of my favorites from Polish Addict Nail Color. It's a thermal, meaning it changes color in cold or hot weather. You can see the color difference from the tips of my nails down to the base. 

This is from Liquid Sky Lacquer, her holos are absolutely gorgeous and her colors are so vibrant

And finally, FINALLY I "mastered" in my eyes anyways, the ombré effect. Going from mint green (my favorite color in case you ever wondered) to white. 

Thanks for stopping by today!  If you're reading an early version of this, I will have links to Polish Addict Nail Color and Liquid Sky Lacquers shops in later today!!

Kat

Newest family member!!

No. No babies. Well not human babies, and not yet anyways. 

But we lost our first "baby" in June this year when our 12 year old male German Shepherd Dog, Zeus, died of cancer. Worst day ever. Of course it was 11 at night, and Josh had a huuuge promotional interview first thing the next morning. 

We grieved for a few months and then having a one dog household was a weird feeling. And we didn't like it. So we called the breeder that we had purchased Zeus from (and our female Shepherd, Isis) and she had puppies becoming available soon!

We set a date to go look, which quickly turned into us planning to purchase that day. Hubs really wanted another male, since he's outnumbered by females already. And so it was decided. 

We've named all out dogs after mythical gods and goddess, so we needed another for this boy. And settled on Apollo, after many many many back and forth conversations about names. 

We brought him home September 25, when he was 8 weeks old. Man! Having a puppy is hard work. I had forgotten how much since we got Isis 9 years ago!  But he's worth it. He's adorable. Very calm. Loving, and best friends with Audrey 

They grow even faster than human babies, which is too fast. He was just under 20 pounds when we brought him home. And he's now close to 40!! He's going to be a very large dog; his paws are massive!

One look at his toy box will tell you how spoiled he is!  We subscribed to BarkBox, which is something we never did with our dogs before. Zeus destroyed any toy almost instantly, and Isis has no interest in them. Apollo loves them!  He chews all day, throws them in the air, chases them!  It's so nice to not have to pick up stuffing al day!!

That classic shepherd stance gets me every time!  He's growing into a very handsome, breed standard dog!!

Kat

Influenster Got Me Like...:

WOAH!

Earlier this summer I got the bestest Voxbox I've ever gotten. It was YSL primer and finisher. And it was uh-mazing. I'd never used YSL prior to that and it was love and first use. 

And then Influesnter sent me ANOTHER YSL Voxbox. This time: lipstick!!

Lipstick is my jam. Lipstick and nail polish, obviously. So when I found out I was getting not one, but two TWO YSL lipsticks, I was over the moon!!

           YSL Rogur Pur Couture

                      Hello lovers

The first color is #19 Fuchsia. It's gorgeous. It's perfect. Everything you would want in a lipstick. First the important things: it goes on so smooth. And it feels wonderful on your lips, thanks to intense hydrating ingredients and antioxidants. The color though. Look at it. It's so great. 

                       Am I right?!

Who says your fall colors need to be dark and matte?! Bring out those bright colors and hold on to just a bit more summer!!

Color two is #9 Rose Stiletto. Now this is what I think is a traditionally "fall" color. It's warm, and neutral. It looks fantastic on all skin tones, and matches any look, day or night. And it goes on just as easily as the fuchsia!

But can we talk about those amazing tiny YSL's carved into the lipstick?  Or the gorgeous gold packaging (iconic by the way!)

At this pint my feelings on YSL are as follows:

Much love

Kat

**I received these products free for testing purposes. I was not compensated for my review**

Who knew

How busy life would get once my 5 year old was in kindergarten?!

Suddenly we've got Girl Scouts, tumbling, swimming, riding lessons, and of course HOMEWORK. 

 

Homework is a tough routine to get into when they don't know anything about it. We had the odd project here and there in pre-k. But no homework. 

Who's got tips on how to manage it all!?

Kat

PS... Look for my YSL Rogue Couture Lipstick post coming tonight! I've gotta do something while she's at swim class, right?!