FTC Disclosure: This is a sponsored post written in partnership with BloomsyBox. I was provided with a complimentary bouquet of the month from Bloomsybox.com for review purposes. The below opinions are my own. My full Disclosure Policy is here.
It’s amazing how much more chic one’s life can feel with a beautiful bunch of fresh blooms in your living space. It’s one of those little things that doesn’t necessarily cost a lot, but can really lift one’s spirits (as evidenced by the market for flower bouquet for numerous special occasions). BloomsyBox takes it a step further and asks why don’t we all just #treatyoself with a bouquet just for ourselves? We all probably tend to put other people first, so sometimes something indulgent like a pretty bunch of flowers is a well-deserved treat. So…why don’t we??
BloomsyBox is a flower subscription service which offers single-variety bouquets (which means no filler flowers that you don’t want). Every month is a surprise as to what seasonal flowers you receive, and you can sign up (or gift) Small, Medium, or Large size bouquets starting at $39.99/month. If that’s not enough for you, you can also sign up for bouquet delivery every 2 weeks, or every week if you want! Also, if you are a rose lover, you can receive a monthly flower subscription of roses every month (and check out all the cool varieties they offer…I’ve never seen some of these offered with a floral subscription service!).
Summer is in Full Bloom with a BloomsyBox Subscription Box
The box I received for August opened to reveal a wrapped bouquet of Free Spirit Roses, which are a rare orange and hot pink rose variety with an absolutely staggering petal count that open super-wide once in a vase. BloomsyBox includes with every shipment a detailed “Bloomsy Facts” card about the flowers you receive, which is particularly interesting.
They also are Rainforest Alliance Certified, using less water, more efficient farm management, and improved conditions for farm workers, so you know you’re doing something good for the environment with a purchase.
This is how they look when they arrive. They look pretty small and compact, yes? Well, just you wait!
Day 1: Put into a vase following the included Tips to Enjoy Your BloomsyBox Instructions, the Free Spirit roses still seem pretty small and crumpled.
They smell really fragrant…but aren’t really show-stoppers.
Day 2: The roses have begun to settle and open. There are about 20 of them in there.
Day 3: Uh-oh. These are already too many for the vase!
On Day 3 I removed a few flowers and made another arrangement with flowers from my garden.
And then Day 4 I had to remove more…and more…and more…until by Day 6 I could only comfortably fit 8 blooms into the large vase because the blooms were so wide!
That’s how big each rose opens up to! Unbelievable! I literally have 5 vases of roses decorating my home now…
The BloomsyBox bouquet is still going strong into Day 7…and the number of blooms was so generous I was able to share with coworkers too and spread the happy around.
BloomsyBox will keep you #BloomingHappy all month long!
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Burt’s Bees for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
Burt’s Bees has just come out with a NEW line of luscious lipsticks available at Target – and I’m over the moon about them!
These lipsticks not only provide 8-hour hydration and moisturizing for dry lips, they also are 100% natural and thus: great for you. (Especially considering the average woman will likely consume a large amount of the lipstick she wears on her lips over a course of time…you can only imagine what tiny doses of methylparaben, colorants, and tocopheryl acetate can do when compounded in the body. Blech!) When it comes to something that’s on the lips and easily licked off or absorbed, it’s far safer to go with products that are safe to ingest and have no harmful effects.
These lipsticks are formulated with Moringa oil (full of essential fatty acids, and helps to soften and condition skin), and raspberry seed oil to improve skin elasticity, as well as vitamin E and of course, beeswax, a Burt’s Bees staple. Available at Target (or Target.com), each lipstick is $8.99 or less (look out for those Target coupons or Cartwheel offers!) and comes in 14 versatile shades that work great with a variety of skin tones.
I’m super-pale, so I chose to swatch and sample 3 colors that I felt would be ultra-useful for a number of different makeup looks: Nude (500), a warm beige with slightly blue undertones, Iced (510), a pretty pastel pink, and Magenta (511), a deep Winter berry color.
Here’s how they turned out:
Burt’s Bees Lipstick in Nude
I have very pigmented lips so I need to put on a layer of concealer over my lips so that lipsticks “read true.” Even so, Nude is a lovely, pigmented beige, that was surprisingly opaque even without the concealer (though that did help a bit for me). It makes a perfect 70’s-style lip…and could be dressed up for evening with a dab of gold gloss in the center of the lip.
Burt’s Bees Lipstick in Iced
I had to do the same concealer trick for Iced, but this time it was quite difficult to get the color to read. Unlike Nude, Iced seems to be more transparent, and would work well as a color for mixing or layering. It imparts a very soft pink sheen, very girly and sweet.
Burt’s Bees Lipstick in Magenta
For Magenta I didn’t even need to do the concealer trick – the formula was pigmented and went on beautifully. Such a pretty lip color for Winter (pair with flushed cheeks and dark, dark eyelashes!).
All of the colors were very slick and soft and extremely moisturizing. I’d even go so far as to say that Iced was more like a lip gloss! (Plus, no weird taste when you lick your lips because the formula is all-natural, yay!)
Since they’re available at Target (and less than $9 each, hello!) you can have your pick of color.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Burt’s Bees at Target for IZEA. All opinions are 100% mine.
Fall evokes for me leaves crunching beneath my feet, warm apple cider, and whiffs of fragrant spices on the air. Pumpkin, cinnamon, burning wood, nutmeg, cloves…all very Autumnal scents. (When I was a teenager I always switched my perfume out to a deep spicey scent during this time of year…until it ran out and I couldn’t find anything similar ever. again. *sad face*)
But I digress. With the changing of seasons comes the changing of clothing, makeup, scents, lotions…to more orangey and cranberry hues and more deep and spicy scents. I LOVE this change and I love every day of this season. Warmth, crisp air, fun, friends, family…this time of year is one of the most special, filled with great food and holiday traditions.
Burt’s Bees (one of my faves for all-natural, good-looking-on-you-and-healthy-for-you lip balm) has once again brought our their Pumpkin Spice this year, a delicious take on their 100% natural lip balm. It goes on soft and moisturizing, with sunflower seed oil, coconut, and beeswax, scented with creamy pumpkin scent and just a hint of spice. It’s free of parabens, phthalates, petrolatum and SLS and any irritating substances. Plus it’s a handy size – and since it’s perfect for stashing in a pocket or a purse, it’s my new go-to balm when I’m on the go!
So much like my favorite spicey perfume scent from so long ago, Pumpkin Spice evokes Fall in every way – but is colorless, so doesn’t mess with anything else you may be wearing on your lips. (I like layering it underneath a dab of berry lip gloss for a delicious scented base to my color.) And, it’s ultra-moisturizing and keeps dry lips at bay during the sudden cold snap we’re experiencing here in the Pacific Northwest.
You can find Burt’s Bees Limited Edition Pumpkin Spice Lip Balm in Target stores on an end cap or with the Burt’s Bees products – just look for the orange box decorated with bees and pumpkin illustrations. 😉 Or, you can purchase online here if you’ve got any other shopping to do from Target (and who doesn’t have extra shopping they can do at Target???)
The holidays are coming up fast – and I’m already stocking up on these little lip balms as stocking stuffers and Secret Santas for everyone in my life. (At around $3 a balm, these are definitely a chic steal!) They’re a great little addition to a homemade treat or a DIY ornament or thoughtful handmade trinket. Buying them in bulk is so easy online – and packaging them up with a ribbon and homemade gingerbread cookie and my gift-giving is done! My son’s teachers, check. My blogger buddy girlfriends, check. My coworkers, check. Mom, check. Done! (And, FYI: Burt’s Bees Pumpkin Spice is a Target EXCLUSIVE and you can’t get it anywhere else!)
OK, you guys. The holidays are coming up and I’ve been completely overwhelmed with all the things that have to be done to ready the house in time for the arrival of family, friends, and loved one. I don’t want my home looking a mess – and I certainly don’t want to spending this wonderful time of year in household drudgery. This year, it’s Hoover to the rescue!
I have a love/hate relationship with my current vacuum (or maybe it’s more of a dislike/hate relationship…?). It’s big, it’s clunky, it’s heavy – and yes, it gets the job done, but vacuuming the house takes forever and it usually feels like a workout of its own. I’m constantly tripping over the cord, having to find another plug that works as I move throughout the house, and have to lug it up and down the stairs to get it into all those little crevices.
So when Hoover sent me their new Air™ Cordless 2-in-1 Stick & Handheld Vacuum, it was like a godsend. Seriously – I had no idea how much time I was spending on this simple task until I tried this vacuum and experienced how much time it cut off of my cleaning routine.
I love the light at the front – perfect for those dark corners and nooks!
The head of the vacuum is completely adjustable, and glides over stairs and height differences easily. Love!
And then – this is amaaaaazing – you can pull on the handle in the center – and remove the canister…
…And use it as a handheld vacuum by itself! Total awesomeness.
The vacuum has 2 modes: hard floor and carpet – and switching between them is an easy flip of the button.
Plus – and here’s the kicker – the vacuum is cordless. Yup, you read that right: it’s completely cordless. So no cord to trip over, no cord to unwind and wind back up again, no cord to have to unplug and plug back in. You just charge the LithiumLife rechargeable battery once and you’re good to go. And their Windtunnel 3 technology provides performance with ample suction power to lift and remove dirt.
The entire Hoover Air line is a line of 4 cordless cleaners: 3 vacuums and a hard floor wet cleaner, and the batteries are interchangeable.
A 25 minute task for me just shrunk to under 10 minutes, and saved my sanity for the coming holidays. It’s totally a #nocordnobull life for me now!
Check out the full line of Hoover Air here to see how you could make a tedious chore…finally manageable.
xo
Carly
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
Shopswell is an easy, fun way to curate shoppable lists of products or wish lists around a certain theme – that update dynamically no matter what.
Unlike Pinterest, which is frozen in time from when the original Pinner pinned the product (for years!), on Shopswell you have the ability to integrate a product’s price so it updates on the image as the price changes. No broken links. No item not found errors. No clicking through and finding that the price is totally different from what you suspected. Lists of items that are actually shoppable – still. Christmas wish lists that are updated. Beautiful layouts that are embeddable in your blog, no plugins necessary. You can even watch videos and reviews in the interface to make an informed decision before buying anything. It’s really the best of all shopping worlds – come together in one website.
Shopswell is so easy to collect products around a certain theme. Register on Shopswell and then click on your profile photo on the top right and choose “My Lists.” From there it will bring up a list of all your Lists, along with a Create New option.
I chose to create a list based on Fall – and themed it around affordable fashion under $50 (because as we all know, that is totally my mantra over at Chic Steals).
Then it came time to add products to my list, which I did through just typing the name of the item into the search bar. When an item came up I liked, I chose to add it to my list – plus checked the “Track Price” checkbox so I would be notified if the price changed (so I could swoop in on a sale as it was happening!).
Then I chose the list I wanted it added to – and BOOM! It was added to my list, that simple.
I could also hit the plus sign to the right of the search bar and enter the URL of a product I’d found on a site on the internet. Shopswell pulled all the info about the product without me having to do anything else (no entering keywords, title etc. – thank goodness!)
Within just a few minutes I had a cool, curated shopping list, that will live forever here – and I don’t have to do anything else for it! No commenting, no SEO’ing…no nothing. Awesomeness.
A review of the Shopswell website would be incomplete without mentioning that Shopswell’s monthly giveaway. The Shop.Share.Win Program gives away $10,000 every month (yup, you read that right) in rewards to the members who share and interact with other community members on the site. You earn credits by inviting other members to the site, creating helpful content, creating lists, and upvoting other members’ content. (Specific details on how to earn credits are here. The current leaderboard showing who’s earning the most credits this month is here.)
So what are you waiting for? Get in on the action and start putting together wishlists that will link to your picks permanently – embeddable, beautiful curated content.
Carly J. Cais I am a DIY’er, designer, sewist, maker, and marketer. Chic Creative Life is where I share what I do, and help others bring their unique style into their own lives.
Shopswell is so easy to collect products around a certain theme. Register on Shopswell and then click on your profile photo on the top right and choose “My Lists.” From there it will bring up a list of all your Lists, along with a Create New option. 
Shopswell pulled all the info about the product without me having to do anything else (no entering keywords, title etc. – thank goodness!)
