ScoreBig Concert, Event and Family Attraction Tickets - For Cheap!

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Summer is here and we've been wanting to do more things around SoCal, but  things can get kinda expensive with 3 kids. They want to go to theme parks, water parks, sports games and attractions, all of which can hit the wallet quite heavily. I was contacted by ScoreBig to try out their service, which allows you to name your own price for discounted tickets.

From the ScoreBig website:

About ScoreBig
ScoreBig.com enables consumers to get great tickets for live sports, concert and theater events – at guaranteed savings of up to 60 percent. ScoreBig.com customers pick their own price on seats from the floor to the rafters, always pay less than box office price, and never pay any fees. For its partners, ScoreBig.com is the first and only opaque sales channel to move unsold ticket inventory in a way that protects the ticket owner’s brand and full-price sales. Headquartered in Los Angeles, Calif., ScoreBig.com was founded in 2009 and is backed by Bain Capital Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners. ScoreBig.com was recently recognized by Forbes as one of America’s Most Promising Companies and by Billboard as one of the 10 Best Start-ups of 2012.

I was excited to try ScoreBig, because I'm a big fan of discount deal websites and this one sounds fun. You basically name the price you want to pay for the tickets and they either accept your offer or give you a counter-offer that still saves you money. Every ticket is guaranteed to save you money, there are no fees and you get to choose your seating area (for concerts/games etc) and all your seats will be together. There's no waiting, you find out instantly if your offer was accepted or if they counter-offer. I enjoyed using the service, as they have quite a few good deals, but some are better than others. The theme parks/attractions in SoCal I saw you only save around 10% on, but the sporting events and other shows you're more likely to save up to 60%. They also have a 'Last Minute' section, where you can find last minute deals that might be a better discount.

I ended up buying tickets for the San Diego Safari Park and saved about 10%. I'm happy with that, since it's somewhere we wanted to go and it doesn't usually have any discounts, but I'll also be keeping an eye out for other discounted tickets in the coming months. I know the boys will love going to a baseball or soccer game this Summer :)

Check out ScoreBig in Social Media:

https://www.facebook.com/scorebig

https://twitter.com/scorebig

http://blog.scorebig.com

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scorebig/

Sun Safe Summer Style: Cool and Chic Fashion Tips

Who else has been sweating a ridiculous amount lately?? It's been in the mid to high 90s (35-40C) in my area and I'm doing everything possible to stay out of the sun! Sometimes it's inevitable that you have be out and about though, so in that case we want to still be cool and not overheat. It's natural to want to wear as little as possible during the hot Summer months, but the more skin you expose to the sun, the greater chance you have of skin cancer and melanomas. So how can you stay cool and still protect your skin? Here's my favourite outfit for doing both and still looking super chic ;)

1.2.3.4.5.6.7.

1. Leggings are a Summer staple for me, they are lightweight and comfortable, full-coverage to protect you from the sun and with all the amazing new prints and styles there's a pair for everyone.

2. I like to wear my leggings with a loose, flowing top which covers my shoulders and upper arms, as those are prime spots for sunburn. Keeping the fit loose ensures that you get airflow and can keep cool while being covered up.

3. Low rise sneakers made from a light material, like canvas or cotton, are great for covering your feet while still being breathable. A lot of people forget about their feet, but you can still get sunburn and skin cancer on your tootsies!

4. A nice big tote is essential for the beach or running errands, to carry a bottle of water for hydration and a tube of sunscreen for top ups! You must reapply sunscreen throughout the day to keep it at it's most effective.

5. A hat of course is an essential for protecting your face. I've always liked wearing fitted caps or snapbacks as they are comfy and easily wearable, and recently they've been very popular and fashionable ;)

6. The bigger the sunglasses, the better protection for your eyes! I love my huge sunglasses, just make sure they have UV protection.

7. My favourite sunscreen is the Biore UV Aqua Rich Watery Essence Sunscreen with it's SPF50+. A good sunscreen is vital to keeping your skin pretty and youthful :) Look for one with SPF30+ or higher for the ultimate protection.


For now skin care tips, check out this skin care page by HSN! What are your best tips for staying chic and safe in the hot Summer months?

System Hinoki for Thinning Hair Review: 1 Month Update

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Something that I know many women out there experience, but don't like talking about, is thinning hair. It's not just an old man's problem, it can happen to us too and a lot earlier than you think! Due to hormones going crazy during pregnancy, breastfeeding and pre-menopause among other things, even women in their 20s and 30s can experience hair loss. For me, I began to have thinning hair after having my second child and it has persisted through having the third and breastfeeding. I am still nursing, so I do think that is a contributing factor to how long it's lasted, but I'm ready to try and kick this hair loss outta here. I was very excited to try System Hinoki from Hayashi (I admit, mainly because hinoki oil is Japanese (>w<)) and I want to share my experience over the past month with you.

System Hinoki contains 4 products:

Hinoki Shampoo: 10.1oz | Volumizing cleanser for fine and thinning hair.
Hinoki Conditioner: 10.1oz | A "weight-free" texturizing rinse for thinning hair.
Hinoki Thickener: 10.1oz | A highly concentrated leave-in formula of "weight-free" ingredients that infuse the hair fiber with increased diameter.
Hinoki Plus: 10.1oz | Leave-in scalp conditioner with pure Hinoki oil.

From the Hinoki.com website:

HOW TO USE THE PRODUCTS

The order in which you should use the System Hinoki products is 1. Shampoo, 2. Conditioner, 3. Hinoki Plus (leave-in scalp conditioner), 4. Hair Thickener (leave-in body booster). For best results, use all four products every time you cleanse and condition your hair. If your scalp begins to itch, only use the Hinoki Plus every third use of the other products. The shampoo and conditioner are used the same as any other wash out shampoo and conditioner. The Hinoki Plus should be applied to damp hair, directly on the scalp, by separating hair with fingers or a comb and spraying directly onto the scalp, then repeating until adequate coverage is achieved. Then, use your fingertips (never fingernails!) to massage the product further into the scalp. Finally, while hair is still damp, apply the Hair Thickener by squirting a generous amount into the palm of your hand, then rubbing your hands together and apply to hair from root to ends, working it in for full coverage of the lengths of your hair. Style as usual.


My first impressions were pretty good. The products have a sweet, floral scent that's reminiscent of baby powder and not too overpowering. The shampoo lathered up well and cleansed my hair and scalp nicely, without drying it out. The conditioner wasn't super creamy, so I had to use a little more to get the desired creaminess, and didn't leave my hair feeling as hydrated as I would like, but it did have more volume and thickness than usual. One of the things you get less of with volumising products is usually hydration as the more moisture in your hair, the more it gets weighed down, so it's not uncommon for them to be a little drying. The PR contact from Hayashi told me not to use the Hinoki Plus every day if I found it too drying or my scalp began to itch, as it contains alcohol in order to allow the ingredients to penetrate into the scalp. If you have very dry hair or a sensitive scalp, this is something you should be aware of. These are the ingredients in the shampoo and conditioner:

Hinoki Shampoo Ingredients

Hinoki Conditioner Ingredients

Hair day 1

Hair after 1 month

It's a little hard to tell in pictures, but I do feel that my hair is slightly thicker and I have more baby hair starting grow in. For one month, it's not a huge difference, but I only wash my hair once every 2 or 3 days, not every day. They recommend that you use the system for 3 months to really see the effects. I am worried that it might be a little drying to my bleached ends, so I try to just keep the shampoo and conditioner on my scalp and mid-lengths. As it's meant for reducing hair loss and volumising, which usually happens at the scalp anyway, I'm ok with using it like that.

I will be posting again to update you on how it's going in the next couple of months, so keep an eye out! Please let me know if you have any questions or anything you'd like me to address in my next post :)

Firmoo #OMJ8002 Black Sunglasses Review

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Summer is in full swing here in SoCal, so it's glaring hot and the sun shines like a laser beam directly into your eye @_@ I was lucky enough to receive a pair of sunglasses from Firmoo to review, so I picked these pretty black cat eye style ones.

From Firmoo.com:

Specification

Gender	Women
Material	Plastic
Frame Style	Full Frame
Spring Hinge	No
Single vision	Yes
Bifocal/Progressive	No
Weight	27g
Best for PD: 56 - 80

Total Width 146 mm

Lens Width
53 mm

Lens Height
45 mm

Bridge Distance
21 mm

Temple Length 145 mm

Normally, A difference of within 2 mm in glasses size is acceptable and will not influence the way eyeglasses fit.

The ordering process is very easy, you just input your prescription (if you have one), pick the colour and you can even pick the colour and shade of the tint. I picked purple and moderate tint, but I think I should have got the dark tint because they are a bit lighter than I had wanted. You can see the difference in tint here, but I didn't see that page before I had ordered :( They are still very cute though, and the quality feels nice and well made. They definitely don't feel cheap or plasticky, they are quite solid and worth the $39 price tag. The glasses came with a nice hard case, a cloth pouch, a cleaning cloth and a mini screwdriver keyring which you can use for tightening the screws or taking the lenses out to clean them.

 

I'm very happy with the glasses, although they're a little lighter than I wanted, but that is my own error. It would probably be useful to have the tint guide visible when you're going through the order process as well, maybe that's something they can think about adding! Overall I really like the style and quality of these sunglasses and I would love to order another pair, I have my eye on this pretty pink and purple pair!

If you want to order some sunglasses, you can try their first pair free program here, OR you can enter my giveaway on Facebook! I'm giving away 5 codes today and tomorrow only, which will give you $30 towards a pair of Classic Series glasses (not including shipping). Head over to my Facebook page to enter, it's open internationally!

Red, White and Blue 4th of July Nails

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Ok, so I'm not even American, I'm Australian.... but I can still participate in the holiday by doing my nails! I had absolutely no idea what I was doing when I sat down to start this mani, I just kind of picked my polishes and played around with it.

The polishes I used were a Color Club unnamed red cream polish, Sinful Colors Snow Me White, Revlon Royal and OPI Get Your Number. I think it turned out pretty nice, unfortunately when I was applied topcoat it messed up my gradient a bit, but I'm still working on the magic touch when top coating to not smear my nail art :'(

I think it looks pretty cool, who knows if it'll make it to Friday though, I may just take it off and try something else! I get bored with my nails so easily. I hope this gives you a little inspiration for your own 4th of July mani, or any red/white/blue mani you might be doing! Happy 4th of July if you're in the US :) Happy Canada Day too I think? Hope you're having a good one!