REVIEW: Simple Being Slimming Smoothie

I'm always looking for ways to increase my protein intake. I am just terrible at getting it from my diet. Ideally I would nom on steaks and chicken and bacon every meal, but I just don't have the time to organize that. My job takes me to weird locations in the world where I don't always have access to the food I want. I'm lucky to see eggs a few times per week. The easiest thing to provide people? Carbs. So don't worry, I get plenty of calories from carbohydrates. Too damn many if you ask me. Or my waistline.

I recently got a sample of the Simple Being Slimming Smoothie in Vanilla Bean (it also comes in Chocolate Truffle) which came in a convenient little "portion pack." So this product sells for either $50 in a tub (28 servings) or $40 for a box of 12 portion packs. Obviously you get a better deal in the tub, but honestly I'm not completely opposed to the packs as it would be a very convenient way to carry it around if I wanted to pre-fill my shaker with water and just add it in when I'm ready.

I had intended to actually make a smoothie with this but due to the craziness of work I ended up taking it as breakfast after lifting this morning. It was pretty tasty as far as protein goes. It wasn't chalky, it mixed easily with cold water. It was gross-looking, kind of a milky weird ick. I would like to try it blended with frozen fruit or instant coffee and ice! I'm surprised at its nutrition, actually. 110 calories per serving, 26 g protein, 1 g carb, 0 g fat. Huh. Now I'm not looking for a low-fat protein in the least, but the low carb is nice. Plus the lack of fat makes it a lower calorie option so that's a win.

My go-to protein boasts 6 g less protein, 4.5 g more carbs, and 1.75 g more fat. And a heftier price tag. 10/10 would buy the tub and give it a shot. :)

RECOMMENDED!

Simple Being Slimming Smoothie Tub HERE

I got married

This is just a quick post to say: we did it! We got married and it was a beautiful moment with almost-tears, lots of smiles, and even some laughter thanks to our witnesses and their crazy kids. I am so happy we did the simple courthouse thing for now-we've got too much going on to organize a big ceremony, but all of our loved ones will be invited to a big blowout reception to party in our honor when things settle down.

In the meantime, I'm back overseas after what feels like days of airline travel. I miss my husband. And you know what? It doesn't feel even a little weird to call him that. TOTALLY NORMAL. :)

New HUM Vitamins Woo Hoo!! Plus a coupon code for $10 off your first box :)

So I've been working on a couple of bottles from Hum Nutrition and I've been very satisfied with the results.

Their boxes and website are just plain adorable.

My latest order is for the 28 Cleanse, which is a two-bottle set: one AM and one PM. 
From the site: 

Feeling out of sync? In need of a physical spring cleaning?
Flush out unwanted toxins and hit the reset button. 
We combined the Who’s Who of the botanical world to support your liver, bowel, kidneys, lungs, lymphatic system and skin in our Cleanse 28 formula. Cleanse 28 comprises a bespoke morning and evening formula. The A.M. formula contains extracts of artichoke, yellow dock red root, burdock, dandelion and more, while the P.M formula for the evening comprises flax, red raspberry, marshmallow, rhubarb, fennel, ginger and peppermint.

I mean, damn. You had me at marshmallow. But seriously, let's give this a try! Next time I place an order, I'm going back for the Red Carpet. My hair and nails and skin have been super happy since I took that!

Take two 30 minutes before breakfast.

Take two an hour AFTER dinner. 

Okay the suggested use for the pm version is a little weird. I hope i don't forget! 

Are you ready to try Hum for yourself? Head to their website HERE and enter code F5C86 to receive $10 off your first order! :) And don't say I never gave you a gift! ;P

Unboxing: My first BULU Box and FREE Download from YogaDownload.com :)

Look it, look it! Ain't it purdy?!
So the box is cute and it makes me happy. WAY TO MOTIVATE ME, CARDBOARD BOX!

So lets take a little looksie at my very first Bulu Box! Truth be told, I didn't have high hopes for this box based on the reviews I've seen. But since I'm in the market for a fitness subscription box, I thought I should try it before I knock it. Also it's pretty inexpensive compared to others I've been checking out. Alright, let's do this!

Here's our first peek underneath the orange tissue paper.

They let you pick three samples and then they pick 2-3 additional ones for you. My picks were the Simple Being Sleep Beans because.. they're called Sleepy Beans. That just sounds very appealing to an exhausted person like myself haha!

It says  to take 1 or 2 capsules before bedtime with water. We'll see how this goes. I see 1 mg of melatonin on the ingredients. I've taken that before because my little sister is OBSESSED with the stuff, but I felt like it gave me crazy vivid dreams. Not necessarily nightmares but the excitement while I was sleeping made me feel like I didn't get any rest. I'm still excited to try out these beans. If for no other reason than that they are called Sleepy Beans lol.

My next choice was another Simple Being product: Slimming Smoothie portion pack in Vanilla Bean.

26g protein/1g carb/0g fat. Fantastic. Honestly, I have been just AWFUL about getting protein into my diet even though I've been lifting weights. And I do like smoothies in my little bullet-style blender. This says to mix with 6-8 oz water, milk, or beverage high in carbs. It's vanilla so I may blend it with some frozen strawberries or instant coffee and ice. Can't wait to try it!

Next up: Shredz

Now honestly, how much can you tell about this type of product with a sample? Not much. But, I can probably tell if I feel some kind of extra energy or buzz from it, which it what I typically feel with fat burners. They tend to be stimulants which is how they burn fat or kill appetite. I'll give this a shot Friday before I lift. It says 1 capsule with breakfast and 1 in the afternoon or preworkout. Well I workout at 5am fasted so... maybe I can just take it two days in a row? Maybe one tomorrow morning and one Friday? I'll let you know!

Alright. Now for my extras. They give 2-3 and I got 3 woo hoo!

So the first thing I see is Dream Water

This excites me in the same way as the Sleepy Beans. What about it sounds bad? Drink me and have rest! A win! The bottle says to have a drink 30 minutes before bed to get some restful sleep. This also has melatonin although it doesn't say exactly how much on the bottle because it's listed as an ingredient in the "SleepStat" blend. So... we'll give it a shot soon. The thing about the sleep aids is I refuse to try them if I have to be up in less than 8 hours. So as soon as I get in bed soon enough, I'm trying them. Also, I've got a new app on my phone that tracks my sleep patterns and it may just collect some interesting data for us about these sleep aids :)

Next surprise is Raw Meal Vanilla Spiced Chai. It looks like a protein shake situation. I seem to have misplaced the picture. It looks like a square. Mix half a packet with 8 oz of water for 155 cal/2g fat/17g protein/16g carbs. Alright so it's decent in the protein department but also high in carbs, at least compared the the stuff I buy specifically for protein. Still, it's an interesting option. The packaging looks like the hippie stuff you find at natural food marts run by communes lol.

Finally, N.O.-XPLODE. This I know about, I learned about it when I used to work at a gym.

It's a pre-workout with lots of caffeine in it. SCORE! I would have been happy with a box of just this! That's not true, but I do like trying pre-workouts and I love caffeine because I HAVE AN ADDICTION, SIR! And it's watermelon. The last watermelon thing I had was SciVation Xtend. It was delicious. I'm excited to try this! WOOT!

Alrighty so.... overall. Meh. I mean I like most of what I got but not enough to pay for it. These seem like samples that SHOULD be free. Not deluxe size, not enough to try a few times to get a feel for them. And nothing particularly special or valuable. But I will be using everything in the box and I'm glad I gave it a try.

And since YOU gave this post a try, here's a little something for you!

YOGA DOWNLOAD
1 FREE DOWNLOAD with code Bulu1Free during checkout
Enjoy!

Garnier Clean+ Nourishing Cleansing Oil Review

So I just gave this stuff a try and.. I really like it. It works just like the much pricier Dermalogica Precleanse that I've been using for years. You apply it to your completely dry face and massage it into your skin to loosen up whatever is on there: makeup, oil, hydraulic fluid, oatmeal, whatever. I don't pretend to know your whole life story and what crazy things may end up on your face over the course of the day. Then you get some water on your hands and massage it into your now super oily skin to "emulsify" it which basically means to make a mixture out of the oil and water. Then you rinse and it easily rinses clean.

Before I tried the Precleanse I was pretty horrified at the idea of using oil to clean my face but I've had NOTHING but positive experiences. Shoutout to my esthetician! In my teen years I did everything I could to suck the oil out of my face and it didn't help all that much. But now I don't fight against it, I work WITH it and Bam! Instant awesome!

Using a cleansing oil dissolves the crap on my face so that it rinses cleanly away, removing the need for harsher products. I can just rinse, or if I'm in the mood to super clean (or I'm preparing to use an exfoliant or masque or both), I use the oil first and then my regular cleanser. SUPER clean, not super dried out.

I'm not quite sure the difference in quality between this drugstore oil and the spa quality one I've been using. But I'm going to spring for a bottle (I mean $7 vs. $40 why not?!) and I'll see if it has an effect in the long term.

So my quickie review:

It smells nice. It breaks down the junk on my face and waterproof mascara. It does leave a little cloudiness in my eyes, but I've removed my contacts beforehand each time I've used it just in case it did that. I haven't noticed that with Precleanse unless I open my eyes a bunch while I'm using it, but this stuff seemed to seep into my eyeballs. Didn't hurt or irritate at all, things were just blurry for a few moments. Overall, I give it my thumbs up and I can't wait to give this a long-term try!

P.S. The bottle says it's for dry skin. I'm telling you: I have combination-to-oily skin and cleansing oils work wonders! Don't be afraid!!!

Thanks Target and Garnier!

So I got a little surprise in the mail today. :)

Here's the packaging, letting me know that they sent me the Garnier Ultra Lift Transformer Anti-Age Skin Corrector with Broad Spectrum SPF 20 Sunscreen.The full-size product retails for $16.99 according to the Garnier website. My sample is 0.34 oz (10 mL).

Now I'm trying to understand what this product actually is. I mean it's obvious it's a moisturizer with anti-aging properties. But the website states that application instantly corrects and brightens skintone which leads me to believe it's some kind of BB or CC cream. I'll let you know!

As you can see, my package also included a few other samples and coupons. I got:

-Garnier Fructis Marvelous Oil Deep Nourish 5-Action Hair Elixir, a hair oil treatment for dry, damaged hair, with custom-blended Cupuacu & Brazilnut oil, which nourishes and helps repair. Retails for about $6.
-Garnier Clean+ Nourishing Cleansing Oil. Now I've used cleansing oils a lot in the past, and I LOVE them. My favorite is Dermalogica Precleanse. The retail value of the full-size Garnier product is less than $10 versus the nearly $40 that Precleanse costs. So if I love it.. there's a great chance I'll be switching it up for some time to see how it works in the long term.
-Garnier 5-Second Blur Instant Smoother. This looks to be a primer product. Retails for around $17.

Reviews to come! :)