Bulu Box - May

Before I get into the review, I'd like to make a bit of an announcement. From this point forward, subscription box reviews will be done in video form instead of written posts. At least for now. If I decide that the videos aren't working, I'll go back to writing the reviews. That means that The Geek Within will have a YouTube channel. The Geek also has a new Facebook page. Like us on Facebook and subscribe to our YouTube channel. Then you'll know you're getting the full Geek!

OK! Onto the review. Bulu box is a health, nutrition, and weight loss subscription box. You get 4 or 5 samples in each box. If you review your products on their website, you can get reward points that give you a discount on your next order.

Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of the box. You can see the bright orange box on the Bulu box website. I'm not sure if every box is themed but it looks like this one is A Feel-Good Discovery.

One of the first things I pulled out was a small packet of Ridgecrest Herbals Migraine Relief. There are 6 homeopathic capsules in the packet. I do get migraines occasionally but I don't know that I get then often enough to actually try this out. I forgot to look for an expiration date on the packet. I'll keep them on hand, just in case.

My daughter pulled out the Smarty Pants for Kids gummy vitamins. She absolutely loves gummy vitamins. One of the things I didn't like, though, was that the child takes 4 gummies each day. That is an awful lot. Every other brand we have tried was 2 per day. My daughter was the first to try it. She didn't like it very much. Neither did I. The gummy tastes fine at first, but it has a terrible aftertaste. I couldn't find a flavor listed on the packet so I don't know if we just got a bad flavor or if they all taste like that. Either way, it's a no-go in our house.

There is also an adult vitamin in the box. This one is Vivioptal Women. There are 5 capsules in this pack and you take 1 per day. I haven't tried it yet. Mostly because it kinda scares me. The capsules are blood red and it says "German Formula" across the front of the box. I don't mind taking chances but I don't want to make myself sick either.

A Skratch Labs Hydration Stick came out next. This is a lemon-lime flavored powder that, when mixed with water, is supposed to replace electrolytes after exercising. Sort of like Gatoraid. My daughter had just finished two dance classes so she was ready to try the stuff. It was yet another product that she didn't like. I took of a sip after she made the Yuck face. It tasted a bit like flat Sprite. Maybe we should have added the powder to carbonated water.

The AdvanceMint Happy Hour isn't something I will ever use. It is a hangover prevention supplement. I don't drink alcohol, which is its own hangover prevention. Maybe I can give it to someone else to try.

Another little packet contained NutraWise Youtheory Collagen Advanced Formula. This is supposed to promote active joints, hydrate skin, and reduce wrinkles. It is yet another product that intrigues and scares me at the same time. I should get up the nerve to try it. I don't think this one will kill me.

Finally, BioXGenic Nature's Desire. It is a female "mood enhancer." Supposedly, it increases the female libido using natural ingredients. Hm. I'm sure my husband would like me to take it. But...ehhh....I don't know. Maybe.

I didn't have any expectations when I ordered the 3-month subscription to this box. Based on this one box, I am not impressed. Of the 7 samples we received, 2 of them tasted awful, 2 of them I am unlikely to ever use, and the other 3 scare me slightly. I hope that the products in next month's box are a little more normal.

MaskerAide facial mask

A couple of days ago, I told you that my Beauty Box 5 arrived on Monday. I also said that I really wanted to try the facial mask that was in said box. After spending my evening at a 6th grade band and chorus concert, I decided to relax a bit and try the mask.

The mask I received was the Detox Diva. It is supposed to help minimize pores, absorb impurities, and exfoliate. Hm. OK. The instructions told me to cleanse and tone my face. I don't use a toner so I just washed my face as I usually do with Lush's Ultrabland, which is already a moisturizing cleanser. After I washed, I opened the packaged, unfolded the mask, and slapped it on my face. I adjusted all the parts to make sure my face was mostly covered and I even rubbed the serum into my neck, since the instructions said to do that too. Then I was supposed to relax for 10 - 20 minutes.

Even though I know this picture makes it look like I have a thousand chins, here I am relaxing on my couch:

After about 15 minutes, I was really bored so I removed the mask. This is really where it gets kinda weird. The instructions say, after discarding the used mask, to pat the moisture into the skin. I tried that. It didn't seem to work very well. So I took option two: give a quick rinse and pat dry. That was much better.

Let me start off by saying that I am used to slop on/wash off masks, not paper masks, for facials. So this felt very weird to me. However, once you get past the fact that you look like a mummy, it isn't too bad. The mask is very moisturizing. You could feel the serum stuff seeping into your skin. I don't know how exfoliating it was though. While my skin felt a lot softer afterwards, I can't say that it ever felt like it was removing dead skin or gunk. Despite that, I did really like the mask. I think I'd like to try some of the other masks, especially the All Nighter. That one claims to de-puff your eyes. My eyes could really use that!

Beauty Box 5 - May

My Beauty Box 5 box showed up in my mailbox yesterday! I always love when a subscription box shows up. I think I might have an addiction now. That would explain why I am always looking for new ones to subscribe to.

OK. OK. Let's take a look at this month's box. The theme for May is Fresh and Focused. It's all about getting yourself back in the zone instead of daydreaming about the beach. What did they give me to accomplish that?

The first thing I pulled out was a perfume sample. It is Hello by Harvey Prince. It is a very floral scent with a bit of a citrus undertone. Very pretty. I don't usually wear a lot of perfume but I might give this a try.

Next up is the Ban Total Refresh Cooling Body Cloths. The package looks like they are regular wipes. However, it sounds like there is some sort of cooling effect from them. Like, if it is super hot out and you feel gross, wipe yourself down with these and you'll not only feel cleaner, you'll also feel cooler? I'm not sure really. I'll have to figure out a way to try them out.

The next item out of the box was the H20 Plus Aqualibrium Marine Cleansing Gel. My daughter recently got a Clarisonic Mia. It looks like this cleansing gel has sea salt in it to make it exfoliating, which would mean she couldn't use it with the Clarisonic without tearing up her face. I will definitely give this a try though to see how it works. I'm always looking for new cleansers that will clear the gunk out of my pores.

The Cattiva Presicione Eye Liner came out next. Mine came in black. I don't wear makeup on a day-to-day basis. But, much like the cleanser, I'm always on the lookout for eyeliner that doesn't smudge or make me look like a raccoon. I will have to give this a try too!

The final item is one I have been dying to try for awhile. It is a MaskerAid Hydrating Facial Sheet Mask. I love face masks. A lot. I have never had the chance to try out a sheet mask though. I'm always too nervous to spend the money to buy them. What if I hate it? Now I get to try it! Yay!

I am happy with this box. There are a lot of things that I never would have purchased for myself and there isn't anything I wouldn't use at least once. I will try to post some product reviews of the stuff I do try. Keep an eye out!

The Ride

Going back to my trip to New York City for a moment, the final thing we did in the city before we left was take a bus tour called The Ride. This is the infamous "sideways bus." Yes, the seats on this particular bus are situated so that all of the passengers have a window view. Instead of facing forward, the seats face the one huge window on the right side of the bus. The seats are set up stadium-style so the top row is higher than the bottom row and everyone has a good view of what is going on outside. The Ride has two tour hosts - Jackie and Scott. It is obvious that both of them have had improv training of some sort. Both of them were absolutely hysterical as they poked fun at the passengers and the people walking past on the street. In this case, the tour operators really do make the attraction much more fun and enjoyable.

It's a little difficult to explain The Ride if you have never been on it. It is a tour so you do get to see some of the touristy things in New York. You get some basic information on Grand Central Terminal and the Chrysler Building and some other notable places. What sets it apart from other city tours is the sidewalk entertainment. There are a couple of stops where entertainers, dressed as regular people on the street, perform for you. For example, a man in a UPS-type uniform sets his package aside to do some breakdancing for us. Since he is right there on the street, there are regular people walking past him. Not only are the performers awesome to watch, it's also funny to watch the reactions of the people trying to get someplace.

The Ride is on the expensive side of things. It costs $59.00 per person for an approximately 75 minute tour. (Note: The box office is located at Madame Tussaud's Wax Museum. It can be difficult to find but once you get to the museum, it is literally right there.) However, I do think that it is worth the price. All three of us spent the entire ride with smiles on our faces. I would love to do it again the next time I am in New York City.

Game review: Hidden Objects Fashion

The goal of Hidden Objects Fashion is to help children improve their recognition skills. It is a fairly basic hidden object game. The game gives you a list of fashion-related objects to find, like hats or skirts or earrings, then they bombard the the level with a ton of different fashion objects. You have to find all of the objects in your list in order to move onto the next level. Since the game is aimed at children and I play way too many hidden object games, I found this one to be pretty easy. Though I admit that I did have a difficult time finding some of the shirts. They look so similar! However, I do think that this would be a good way to help children hone more than just their recognition skills. I think that this would also help them with the skills they need to search for things. Instead of looking for a few seconds then giving up, the game tries to get the child to continue looking until they find what they need.

The one downside to the game is the audio. I found the music for the first level very annoying. The second level wasn't as bad but it was still a bit like elevator or mood music. I don't know that children will find that pleasing to hear. Other than that, I found the game very enjoyable and I would definitely recommend it to someone with younger children.

Julep Maven - May

My new Julep Maven box arrived on Saturday! Julep allows you to choose which package you receive so I already knew three of the colors I was getting. I upgraded to get a fourth mystery color. Julep has recently changed the rules for their Maven boxes though. I don't think you can choose which package gets delivered to you any more. Well, I'll see how it works when next month's box gets ready to ship.

Onto the May colors!

As I said, I received four colors this month. Most of them are spring-like pastel colors. The colors are: Paulette, Bess, Jules, and Iona.

Paulette is a sort of lavender color. Even though the color doesn't seem it, it is actually really shimmery. As a result, it does take a few coats in order to get it to show up well. Two coats worked fine.

Bess is a pretty baby blue shade. This is probably my favorite of the bunch. It covers very well. Only one coat is needed but I found that the second coat makes it pop more. This was the mystery shade I added onto my subscription.

Jules is a peachy pink color. I mainly picked this specific shade because my daughter loves all things pink. Unfortunately, this one is disappointing. One coat barely shows up on a naked nail. Two coats works a little bit better but it is still rather see-through. We tried to do a nail design with the Jules on top of Bess but the blue still shone through unless we really thickly applied the pink. Maybe we'll figure out what to do with it later.

Iona is my second favorite color, just behind Bess. It is a deep purple shade that matches Paulette very well. When I have some time, I might try to do an Iona/Paulette pattern to see what happens. It might be too awesome for words.

I have to admit that I am pretty happy with this month's selection. The Maven subscription is $19.99 and the mystery shade addition was an extra $4.99 so my total this month came to $24.98. The nail polish normally retails at $14 each but Mavens get a 20% discount off of anything in the store plus free shipping. Even though I'm not particularly enamored with Jules, I do like the other colors. I'd have to say this box was a success.

Concert: Zendaya

Last night, my daughter and I went to the Zendaya concert at the Keswick Theater in Glenside, PA. I was actually quite surprised to see that Zendaya was touring. I didn't even realize she had put out a solo album. Since my daughter likes her music, we bought the album and headed off to the concert. The Keswick is a rather small venue for a concert. It only has about 1300 seats. I believe this makes it the smallest concert my daughter has attended. Thanks to this, we were able to get seats rather close to the stage. We were about six rows from the stage on the left side. The funniest part of the show was the mere fact that there was an MC. Miss Kim came out to introduce the opening act, then she came out when he was finished to plug all of his stuff (website, Facebook, album, blah, blah, blah). After the intermission, she came back out to introduce Zendaya and again at the end to plug her stuff. I've never seen an MC at a concert so it was kinda weird but cute.

Liam Lis was the opening act. He played three or four songs. I liked one. No, I don't even remember the name of it. Liam is a 12-year old boy that looks like he really wants to be Justin Bieber. He came out wearing an oversized parka vest and a stupidly huge truckers hat that read MERCY across the front. He had two male backup dancers and a rap...sidekick, I guess? The whole thing was terribly confusing and looked really out of place for a 12-year old. I wish him well but maybe he should wait a few more years.

Zendaya, meanwhile, was awesome. My daughter and I have seen quite a few "tween" concerts, including Selena Gomez, Victoria Justice, and Miranda Cosgrove. We officially ranked Zendaya second best, just behind Selena Gomez. Zendaya danced all over the stage, interacted with the crowd, and was just a joy to watch. She had four backup dancers (including two poor guys who had to wear the same shirt-dress-things the girls wore except the guys had pants on underneath) and even they were awesome. Everyone looked like they were having the time of their lives. I know it sounds lame but that really does make a concert better.

Not only were they all having fun, but Zendaya can sing. Sure, the other Disney/Nick stars can sing but not nearly as well as Zendaya. Pop is fairly easy. Zendaya has a bit more of an R&B vibe to her voice that just fills a room. I hope that, like Selena Gomez, she can turn this into a real music career so I can see her on stage again. Go Zendaya!

Sapporo

Just a block or two from Times Square is one of the best ramen shops in New York City. Sapporo is on West 49th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues, about a block away from the M&M store. Keep an eye out for the red and white awning. Sapporo is a tiny little hole-in-the-wall type place. It isn't listed in the AAA New York City tour book. But the place is amazing. While they do serve other dishes, their main fare is traditional Japanese ramen. My daughter had the Miso Ramen, which is a basic ramen dish with both minced pork and two slices of roast pork. I had the very similar Tokyo Ramen, which added a fish cake and seaweed to the Miso Ramen. My aunt chose the Tomato Omelette and a mini Chahan - Japanese fried rice.

All of the food was delicious. I don't think I have ever had a better bowl of ramen. The best part was the size of our meals. Both ramen bowls were huge. The omelette and chahan were a bit smaller but both of those are listed either as appetizers or side dishes. And the price wasn't too bad either. Overall, we are extremely happy with our lunchtime choice. I was only disappointed the size of my stomach. I really wanted to eat more!

Aladdin

One of the main reasons we went to New York City was to see Disney's newest Broadway play, Aladdin. The last time we were in the city, we saw The Lion King and Mary Poppins. I know what Disney can do with a stage so I was very excited to see what they would do to the Aladdin movie.

For those of you that haven't seen the movie, Aladdin is the story of a poor street rat who rubs a magic lamp and becomes a master to a genie. He uses the genie's powers to help him win the heart of the kingdom's princess. Meanwhile, the Sultan's royal vizier is trying to get rid of Aladdin and the princess so he can take over Agrabah.

When the movie was first scripted, there were more characters. Aladdin had a couple of friends and his mother had recently died. Due to time constraints, those characters were cut. Aladdin's only friend (before Genie) was a pet monkey named Abu. The musical does cut out Abu (and Raja, for obvious reasons) but brings back the three friends and the parental storyline. With these changes came the reinsertion of a couple of songs that were cut from the movie. If you had the 1994 CD release The Music Behind The Magic, you will recognize the new songs.

The musical is absolutely amazing. Despite having a fairly small cast, they are able to bring so many different characters to life. (Let's put it this way: The 21-member ensemble actually brings the entire parade into the castle during "Prince Ali." So. Many. Quick. Costume. Changes. It is mind-boggling.) Adam Jacobs, who plays Aladdin, is adorable. Not only does he bring the non-threatening wittiness of the character to life, he also has a wonderful singing voice. He did not disappoint with "Proud of Your Boy." Courtney Reed also did a good job with Jasmine. Unfortunately, she isn't really the highlight of the show. She is very pretty and has a lovely voice but it seems like she doesn't spend a whole lot of time on stage. The evil Jafar is played by Jonathan Freeman, who also voiced the character in the animated movie. Much like Jasmine, he was good and it was awesome to hear the voice we all know coming out of Jafar's face but he still seemed lacking somehow.

I think the reason everyone else seemed so small is that the Genie has such a huge stage presence. James Monroe Iglehart plays our beloved Genie and he is amazing. He is somehow able to bring Robin William's manicness into reality. During "Friend Like Me," he slips in a few verses from "Beauty and the Beast," "Under The Sea," "Colors of The Wind," and a few more. I was just stunned how easily he moved between all of the songs. He has been nominated for a Tony, which he richly deserves to win.

If you can get to New York City to see the show, please do. You will not be disappointed. You will be awed, you will laugh your pants off, and you will be left wondering how the magic carpet actually flew. But you will definitely not be disappointed.

The View

During our first night in New York City, the three of us ate dinner at The View Restaurant & Lounge. We also had their Sunday morning brunch. The View is a revolving restaurant on the 48th floor of the Marriott Marquis. The center area of the restaurant, where the kitchen and hostess area lies, is stationary. However, the outside area, where you are seated, slowly turns to allow you to see many of the gorgeous sights that New York City has to offer. Thankfully, the drink napkins feature a mini-map so you can try to discern which building is which. (Hint: It is not that easy to figure out, even with the map!) While the view from the restaurant is nice, the food is the star attraction. I had the Spring Lettuce prelude (that's a fancy word for 'appetizer') and a center cut tenderloin as my main dish. As I have noted here before, I have a bit of a weakness for salads. The spring lettuce salad featured a line of whipped gorgonzola cheese underneath the vegetables that made the entire dish delightful. My daughter had the same prelude but she didn't like the vinegar-based salad dressing as much as I did. (What can I say, she's 12.) My tenderloin was quite juicy and cooked to perfection. It was accompanied by baked steak fries (basically sliced pieces of baked potato), glazed onions, thyme roasted carrots, and soft truffled camembert cheese. The only reason I didn't finish everything on my plate was dessert.

But first, let's discuss brunch. Brunch handled buffet style. Every adult gets 2 breakfast mimosas then you are sent off to pick whatever you would like. And there are a ton of choices. There are three main stations. The first holds the cold selections. There are a variety of Italian meats and cheeses, as well as breads, pastries, and salads. The second station is hot selections. This is where you find omelettes, Belgian waffles, deep dish pancakes, applewood smoked bacon, eggs benedict...it really is difficult to list everything you would find there. The sheer amount of food is amazing. The final station holds the desserts. The main feature is the chocolate fountain but there are other items, such as mini-cupcakes, cookies, biscuits, fruit, cups of chocolate or strawberry mousse, and much more. I'm generally not a breakfast person but this was an awesome way to start off the day. At $59 per person, the price is a little steep for brunch. It is well worth it though.

And now dessert. My aunt had told the restaurant that we were there to celebrate my daughter's birthday. As a result, we received a dark chocolate mousse cake at both meals. Each cake was almost identical. The only difference was the chocolate piece on top. At dinner, it read "Happy Birthday." There must have been a mix-up at brunch because there is read "Happy Anniversary." (That is the picture below.) Not that the wording mattered much. My daughter gobbled both of them up. The cake itself was a bit big for one person to eat so we shared it. As expected, it was absolutely delicious. It was so delicious that, for our dessert with dinner, we took home two of the smaller mousses as well as a cheesecake. (The dessert came with the dinner so there was no reason to leave it behind.) If you like dark chocolate, I highly recommend the mousse.

I fully enjoyed both of the meals we ate at The View. Since it is New York City, expect the prices to be a little on the high side. However, if you can fit it into your budget and schedule, it definitely is one of the "must visit" places in the city.