Review - MateFit

I'm I know, I know, this took me freakin' forever. My genuine apologies. I am pretty conservative when it comes to showing my body, so it took a lot of time and thinking about whether or not I was okay with posting this review. I figure it's kind of pointless to do a review like this if you guys can't SEE actual results. So I'm going to buck up and do it!

What I'm reviewing is a tea cleanse called MateFit. I heard about it through my friend, Eliza, and decided to do it with her.

I just went with the 14 day 'Mini Teatox' because I knew I'd be going on vacation and let's face it, I wasn't going to miss out on burgers and pop.

The 'Mini Teatox' on MateFit.me cost me $24.99 (not bad for a two-week cleanse in my opinion)! Use code BETTERME for 10% off! And shipping is cheap, like $2.95! It came to my place within 3 days.

You can also buy these super cute to-go bottles for your tea, but I didn't want to spend the extra $10 (I'm cheap), so I used a small blender bottle that I had at home and it worked great. And if you don't need anything for on-the-go, a mug is perfect!

The 'Mini Teatox' comes with two packs of loose tea and 40 filter bags to steep your tea. One of the packs of loose tea is called 'Metabolic Boost'. You take this 15-30 mins before breakfast and 15-30 mins before lunch every single day. The other pack is 'Detox' which you take after dinner every other day.

Pros:

The taste - If you like Yerba Mate tea, you'll like this one! I loved the flavor, but many people online and many people I know who also tried the tea aren't big fans (of the 'Detox' especially). But grab a slice of lemon and a spoonful of honey and that should take care of it!

The results - I'll be honest, I was pretty skeptical about this cleanse. I usually think stuff like this is a big crock, and I was pretty surprised that this actually worked for me. I noticed results mostly around my mid-section, although this cleanse was merely for me to detoxify since I'd been eating really unhealthy for some time. But I also try and keep in mind that I ate very healthy during this detox, so my results were likely from that as a factor as well.

Bloating - The 'Metabolic Boost' I found really helpful with bloating. I didn't feel bloated nearly as often as I do after eating most meals.

Detox - This 'Detox' didn't give me as many problems *on the toilet* like most detoxes do, and that was nice for a change.

Cons:

Hassle - In all honestly, this whole thing was a HUGE hassle. I have a job with a half hour lunch, and drinking the tea 15 mins before a meal was almost impossible for me with my hours and my short lunch break. 

Vagueness - I wish that there was more direction on the MateFit website. They tell you when to drink the tea and not to drink alcohol during the 'Teatox' period, but it would be nice to have more direction on what to eat and what to avoid while doing this cleanse to see the best results.

Teeth - Drinking tea 2-3 times a day for 14 days really affected my teeth. Although I use whitening toothpaste and mouthwash, I felt like drinking so much tea so often caused my teeth to yellow, which isn't a good feeling!

Overall:

To sum things up, I would give MateFit a 3/5 stars. While I found it pretty effective, maintaining the schedule it required while not knowing how to treat my diet and exercise during was kind of frustrating! Even through the results, I would prefer to do a cleanse that is more about diet than tea (I also felt like I'd never touch tea again at the end of 14 days). 

Here are my physical results...

I definitely saw the biggest difference around my waist and hips. 

I hope this review (although long overdue) has been helpful! 

Do you guys have any cleanses or detoxes that you rant and rave about? I'd love to hear your success stories or any feedback you have!

Xo

DIY Lip Gloss

I'm not in denial anymore - I can't leave the house with a naked lip. Whether it's gloss, lipstick, lip crayon, or stain, there's got to be something on my lips when I leave the house! Now, I'd love to be someone like Deepicam who has 50 types and shades of each lipstick on the counter, but I just can't afford it, nor do I have the space. So, in my case, I improvise...

Directions:

1. What color do you want your lips to be? Today, I wanted a light pink, so I went with a cranberry shade of blush, because when you're mixing the gloss, the color comes across MUCH lighter than you'd expect, so always choose a shade or a few shades darker. Now grab a clear gel like Vaseline or Aquaphor (I swear by Aquaphor).

2. Squeeze a small dab of clear gel on your index finger, however much you'll need to cover your lips.

3. Use a small brush and dig into the powder to loosen it up and make it less compact. 

4. Once you have a decent amount of loose powder, use your other index finger to collect this powder.

5. Rub your two index fingers together, mixing the colored powder with the clear gel. Continue to grab loose powder and mix with the gel until you are content with the shade of gloss created. Mine turned out a nice rose color! You can see what I mean about how the actual gloss color is much lighter than the shade of blush I used.

6. Apply to lips for color, moisturizer, and shimmer!

I love doing this DIY gloss because many glosses and lipsticks dry my lips out, but using Aquaphor, my lips are moisturized and hydrated. It's also cheap, using products I already have in my drawer at home!

Are you going to try your own DIY gloss? What shade are you going to put on? I'd love to see your results! 

Xoxo

A shelf of books

I went to Magus Books tonight on the ave; all those gold pages, bound covers, and old-book-smells, made me want to read and write more than anything. I could spend hours and hours in any bookstore. I could sit on the floor and grab every book off the shelf, reading the summary, flipping through it's pages, glancing at covers, reading reviews, and a whole night wouldn't be nearly enough time. Since Magus closes at 8pm, at 7:50 I decided I should probably dip out.

As soon as I got home, I threw my hair in a bun, put on a lazy Sunday evening outfit (dreading Monday), and grabbed my book, because nothing makes me want to read more than visiting a bookstore. I will never comprehend how one can have such talent to hold a person's attention for 300+ pages. I wanted to be a writer when I was growing up, and when I realized all I could write was 15 pages of interesting, I decided maybe it wasn't my forte. While I'd love to read business advice and psychology findings, I've always found fiction the most fascinating - the fact that someone can have so much creativity that they can fill an entire book with it, and have thousands upon thousands of people delve deeply into it's pages.

Shirt dress: H&M

Cardigan: American Eagle / Alternative

Necklace: Forever 21

Glasses: Dollar Tree / Alternative

Socks: Forever 21

Mug: Urban Outfitters

What is your favorite genre of books? Which writers are you amazed by?

Xo

Urban girls

This week, I was lucky enough to get two days off to go home to Bellingham and see some family, bring my really close friend, and take some amazing photos in some beautiful places. While I love taking fashion photos in front of my fence on a self-timer (that's not sarcasm, really), I was excited for an opportunity to 1. go to some of my favorite places in Bham, 2. take some photos of my beautiful friend, Eliza Bote - thanks for being my model, beautiful ;) 3. to get some photos taken of me, by an actual human being.

We did this shoot in Hovander Park, in a few different locations. We were lucky enough to catch the perfect evening lighting, and capture exactly what we visioned for the photos.

PS. Click on photos to view larger!

Behind the scenes

Eliza, lookin' adorable even off-camera.

And then there's me...yup. #dysfunctional

<3

The perfect view from the lighthouse.

The garden at Hovander - spectacular.

Garden bench - perfection.

Eliza - always making me laugh!

And my beautiful model :)

The woodland fairy

Get an outfit like Eliza's -

Skirt

Crop Top

Necklace

Wedges

Heavenly light

Get an outfit like mine -

Bandeau

Flannel

Denim shorts

Barefoot in the grass

Get an outfit like Eliza's -

Jeans

Hat

Crop Top

Picnic

Plaid Blanket

Movement

Get an outfit like Eliza's -

Jeans

Crop Top

Blanket

Views

Get an outfit like mine - 

Necklace

Tank

Pants

Serenity

Get an outfit like mine -

Skirt

Tank

Floppy hat

Flats

Necklace

The inspiration from this shoot was viewing a woodsy, naturally lighted area where we could take photos in an open field. The only idea I had in mind concretely was the 'heavenly light' photos, and the lighting couldn't have turned out more perfect for the photos, thanks to my photographer (miss Eliza)! The other photos just came as we walked around, did a little wardrobe changing in public (shh), and did whatever seemed right for the location and emotions. I am so excited to hear what you think of these photos!

Where is your favorite place to relax and feel inspiration?

Xoxo