At home teeth whitening system

I just finished whitening my teeth with Smile Brilliant and I wanted to share my experience with you guys! Disclaimer: This product was sent to me to try out in exchange for a blogpost, but like always, I will be honest and share my true thoughts. I am NOT a doctor and you should always check with one if you are ever skeptical with ingredients in a product.

As most of you guys know, I am a new mom, which means VERY little sleep on my end. In turn, I have been upping the coffee and have noticed that my teeth have been taking a hit from this. I haven't whitened my teeth in a while, but I have in the past (I used to use white strips in high school and a few times after). After I had Luke (I didn't want to whiten while I was pregnant) I was super excited to get my teeth looking brighter, but after a round of strips from the grocery store, I just was not happy with the results and feel like I could not tell the difference. Another thing I really don't love about using the strips is that they are a one-size fits all kind of product and I feel like the strips go on my gums and and make them more sensitive PLUS I can feel my mouth getting all of the whitening gel all over it and it just can get really messy. I also felt like I was stuck doing nothing during the time that I was whitening my teeth because I couldn't talk (you pretty much have to keep your teeth clenched in order to get them to stay in place). I was ready for something better. 

I was sent Smile Brilliant whitening system to try out and I am so happy with my results. I had braces as a teenager and Invisalign last year and I have always been confident in my smile until recently. The coffee stains were just making me feel self-conscious and I could tell in pictures that my teeth were definitely not the shade they used to be. I am so happy that after completing this whitening system I can confidently smile again!

The process was super easy. I was first sent the kit, which included materials to take my own impressions and the whitening gel itself. I took my impressions (instructions are perfectly explained in a notecard included in the package) -- if you aren't comfortable another idea would be to Youtube how to take impressions! I took my impressions and then sent them off in the mail in the pre-paid postage envelope the next day. They also send you updates through email when they receive your package and then make the trays super quickly and send them back. I got them a few days later and they material that the custom trays are made of is super flexible and rubbery feeling, but they fit perfectly custom to your teeth! I have done Invisalign and had clear retainers and these are much more soft and flexible. The whitening gel itself comes in syringes, which make it really precise and easy to apply to the trays. Smile Brilliant also provides detailed instructions on how to do the whole process. I was also sent desensitizing gelbecause your teeth can get a little sensitive when whitening. My teeth used to be so sensitive when I used other products, so I was honestly a little nervous. I remember certain noises just made me cringe when after whitening with whitening strips that I used before. I don't know how to explain it, but the sound of zippers or nails scratching against my clothes seriously hurt my teeth so bad! I am sooo happy to report that I have not had any sensitivity after this process (note that my results could obviously be different from yours, but I am just sharing my experience!). 

I wanted to share my results from before and after. You can see that before my teeth were just looking dull and had staining from my coffee habit. I think I started whitening around mid-November and I just finished my last session. I went at a pace that I felt comfortable with and didn't want to overdo it. I am soooo happy with my results and feel so much more confident now with my smile. 

Smile Brilliant is hosting a giveaway for one of you guys to get your own whitening system! Head over to this link to see the details and enter for a chance to win! Make sure you use my code below too to save some money on your kit!

 Giveaway link: www.smilebrilliant.com/g/tiffanymeri

 15% off store wide code: tiffanymeri15

Tooth Whitening Gel

Organic Self Tanner Review: Nkd Skn

Hey guys! As you guys might already know, I have been on the safer beauty train for a while now! One thing that I have been wanting to switch over is my fake tan. Over the last few years I was just getting a tan from a salon, but it can get pricy and also, now that I have a baby it isn't really a priority of mine to go spend the time out and about getting a tan. I went and bought a Jergen's one from Walmart a month or so ago and when I got home I looked at the ingredients and it had parabens in it. Parabens are one of the most well-known toxic ingredients, so I immediately took it back! I wanted something more natural and safe for my body. You cover your entire body with a sunless tanner, so this just made sense to me that you really need to make sure it's safe. I am also breastfeeding, and while I am not a doctor and you should always check with your doctor on this kind of topic, the research that I have done doesn't give me any reason to believe that this organic self-tanner would be unsafe! I have been using the Nkd Skn Tinted Tan Mousse in Dark for over a month now and I wanted to share my thoughts on it with you guys! I will always keep my product recommendations completely transparent! By the way, this post is not sponsored or anything, just wanted to share with you! 

The good: 

This self-tanner has the most amazing, clean ingredients! It has absolutely no questionable ingredients and makes me feel super safe using it. 

It also has no self-tanner smell. I am not sure how they do it, but I have tried soooo many and this is honestly the only one that actually has no scent after you shower. 

There is a color guard. (Meaning: it goes on dark so you can see where you are applying it) For a beginner, this is amazing! I would highly recommend this tan for anyone who has never done one. It shows you where you are applying it so you really cannot miss any spots. I find that with a dark, non-gradual lotion self-tanner, I can miss spots sometimes. 

It is a mousse. I find the mousses to be the easiest of all self-tanners to apply. It also helps with it drying more quickly than lotions in my experience. 

The wear. I feel like this self-tanner really fades nicely. It comes off evenly in my experience. 

The price! Such a good price for an "Organic self tanner". It's only $19.99, which is amazing!

The convenience. You can pick this up at Ulta, which is great if you run out you don't have to wait for it to come in the mail! 


The bad: 

The Dark shade really isn't super dark. This could be good and bad, depending on your skin color. I am super fair skinned and I used the Dark and don't find it to be extremely dark on me. Especially after you wash the color guard off, it looks a lot more natural than some other self-tanners I have used (again, this isn't necessarily a bad thing, just the name might be a little misleading). 

The only true con about this product, in my opinion, was that it is pretty sticky on my skin. This wouldn't be that big of a problem, but since I am up every 2 hours in the middle of the night feeding a baby, I found that it wasn't completely drying down and ended up coming off partially when I would hold Luke or if my arm was bent in my sleep. It just felt a little tacky until after I showered. This may have to do with the fact that it uses natural products to give you the tan. It wasn't a huge con for me, but just something to note. I have white sheets and I found that it transferred onto them and on my baby's pajamas during the night. 

Tips: 

Make sure you exfoliate, shave and moisturize before doing any self-tan. It goes on a lot more evenly and in my experience it also helps with the longevity of the tan! Also, use a self-tanning mitt! I used one I bought off Amazon for just a few dollars! Make sure you moisturize after you use it to help prolong the tan too! I found that this really helped. Last tip: lay down a sheet over you pillow and bedsheets that you don't mind getting some transfer on (especially if you have white sheets, like me!) 

Overall: 

I would definitely repurchase this self-tanner and I am going to add in the gradual tan lotion to my self-tan routine as well. I think this would be a great addition and I will let you guys know if it makes a difference in darkening the color or anything! I love the organic ingredients and the price point on this brand. It gets the job done when I want to have a little color and I feel safe doing it! 

Target Shoe Round-Up: Boot Sale

Hey guys! I wanted to do a quick post on my top picks for Target shoes right now! Currently all boots are buy one get one 50% off in store (no need for the Target app), but they are so affordable anyways that even if you miss the sale these are definitely shoes you want to check out! I have so many shoes right now that I need to hold off on purchasing any, but I thought I would show you the ones that I would buy if I were needing some shoes! I included a couple of flats, but honestly it is so cold in Eastern Washington during the Fall and Winter months that I don't get much use out of flats. If you end up getting any of these let me know!! I have seen a lot of similar styles from expensive designer brands at Nordstrom and Bloomingdales, so these are definitely a good way to get the look for less. I bought a pair of Givenchy boot dupes from Target last Fall and ended up wearing them soooo much and didn't feel bad if they got a little worn in the rainy/snowy weather.

Baby Boy Fall Fashion

I have had a bunch of people ask me where I get Luke's clothes and it inspired me to do a blogpost with a bunch of really cute and affordable baby boy clothes that I either bought for him or want to buy! It is so hard for me to justify spending a lot of money on baby clothes, unless it is something I know he can wear all the time and would last for another baby. I am super picky about baby boy clothes and tend to stick to things that look like a man would wear, but in a miniature size :) I love baby beanies, flannels, hoodies and jeans on little boys. I have a lot of solid colored things too, which is really nice because you can mix and match everything and make tons of different outfits. He definitely wears his jammies the most out of anything, but when we go out of the house I usually dress him in the things that I listed. I have gotten a lot of his clothes from Old Navy, Carter's, Target (mostly Cat & Jack) and also the thrift store. My mom is such a good bargain shopper and she has found so many cute flannels and just basics at the thrift store so make sure you check your local thrift stores out because you can find some gems there! I think I am going to do a post on what to look for at the thrift store when searching for baby clothes. Let me know what you think! I am also going to link his Carhartt beanies (super cute and super inexpensive) and a couple of cute small shops that have really cute baby boy clothes because I do like to support small businesses when I can!


Click here for Carhartt Beanie Carhartt Beanie

Little Bipsy

Minted Method Shop (where I got his Herschel beanie)

Styling $17 pair of jogger pants 5 different ways

Hey guys! I recently found these joggers from Walmart (WHAT!?) for $17 and they are literally the most comfy pants ever. Whenever I buy something I always think in my head how many ways I can wear it just to make sure that it is really worth it to buy. If I can only thing of one way then I put it back. I have another pair of black joggers, but they are made out of a sweatpant material and they always collect every little bit of lint or (dog) hair and just look a little scrubby I think. These ones from the Time & Tru line (which by the way has really cute stuff!) are made out of a more dressy material (think a nice pair of dress pants). I am all about comfort, especially now that I am a mom and am constantly carrying around a baby, sitting nursing for long periods of time, getting up and down off of the ground playing on the playmat, etc. I love that these pants can be dressed up or dressed down and I wanted to show you guys some easy ways for an everyday girl to style them.

•   The first outfit I did a men's crewneck sweatshirt (I think I got this on clearance at Forever 21...why do they always have better sweatshirts in the men's section?!) with some plain heeled black booties! I actually took this photo last and swapped the boots out for some black and white Adidas slides and it looked super cute to run errands in!

• The next outfit I did a "casual cool girl" outfit. I paired the pants with some plain white sneakers, a band tee and a black leather jacket. This outfit would be perfect for going shopping or out to lunch during the day. 

• Next I did a nude body suit, black leather jacket and heeled black booties. This would be good for a date night out to dinner or a concert! 

• The fourth outfit I did was a plain white thermal tucked in to the pants, a long grey jacket and some chunky combat boots. I LOVE the look of joggers with chunky combat boots, it looks so cool I think! 

• The last outfit was super easy and probably my favorite. I just threw on a plain, tight, black turtleneck, black heeled booties and a cute cross body purse. This one could definitely be office-appropriate or you could wear it out at night. 

My top 10 favorite baby buys: 0-3 months

I recently did a post on newborn mommy and baby must-haves, but I wanted to share my favorite baby items that I have purchased (may not be must-haves, but things that I have really come to love!).  Keep in mind that Luke is only about 3 months old, so these are my favorites thus far! I will link the items below and in no particular order :) If I couldn't find a clickable picture-link, I will put a hyperlink after the item, otherwise they are all at the bottom of the post.

1. Angelcare Baby Bath
This isn't technically a bath, but more of a lounger to put in an actual bathtub. I LOVE this thing. It's so cheap, easy to clean, and Luke seems to be really comfortable in it! It has kind of a rubbery mesh bottom so it seems like it would be pretty comfortable to lay in. It has a little hook on it too so you can hang it up to dry. I registered for this and my sister ended up getting it for me and it's honestly one of my most-used items.

2. Comotomo Bottles
These are kind of a luxury bottle when you look at the price compared to a lot of other bottles, but we love these so much. If you keep up on cleaning bottles you really don't need THAT many of them, so I don't think the price is bad at all. These are made of a silicon-feeling material and have more of a natural shape. I am not sure if Luke would have had issues taking any other bottle because these are the only ones we tried, but he took it right away. They are super easy to clean and I love how they have a wide opening at the top so you can easily get a scrubbing brush in without pulling it out and flinging milky water all over you. I think the silicon material will make it easy for him to hold when he gets old enough to hold his own bottle.

3. Nuna Pipa Carseat
One of our priciest baby purchases, but the most important in my opinion. I did a lot of research on carseats and also the difference between an infant carseat vs. convertible. We went with an infant carseat because I figured that babies are always sleeping in the car and if you go in a store or somewhere and have the convertible carseat, you have to take the baby out and put them in the stroller or carrier and potentially wake them up. I was debating between the Nuna Pipa and Nuna Pipa Lite and ended up just getting the original because we found a good deal with a stroller included for only $100 extra. I love how padded and luxurious the carseat is, you can tell a lot of attention to detail was put into it for sure. Another feature of the Nuna Pipa (but not the Lite) is that it has a Dream Drape, which is basically a carseat cover that is built in and just unzips out of the shade portion. It's really cool! If you look on YouTube I am sure you can find a demonstration!

4. Bouncy seat
My mom bought this for us from Walmart for super cheap. They have all different levels of fancy-ness, but I think the cheap ones work just fine. This one is super light and I have it on our kitchen table and put Luke in it when I am doing dishes or stuff around the kitchen. It has a bar across the top with some toys and you can buy links to put other things on it too, which is what we did. It also vibrates and has a music setting you can use. We just use the vibrating feature and he seems to really love it!

5. Play Gym/Mat
I was gifted this by a coworker and absolutely LOVE it! This and his bouncy seat are his favorite toys at the moment. Its nice too to have somewhere to lay him down in his bedroom so I can put away his laundry and clean up his nursery. This one is so inexpensive and does the trick. Luke loves grabbing all of the little attachments on it and its really light so we can bring it anywhere.

6. Bottle Sterilizer
I surprisingly use this a lot. I sterilize pacifiers too because they are always dropping on the floor and my pump parts! This is a really good thing to put on your registry because who wants to spend $70 on a bottle sterilizer!?

7. Copper Pearl Swaddle Blanket
I think just having one of these nice swaddle blankets is great. I bought so many muslin swaddle blankets and honestly never used them other than as a cover for breastfeeding. I don't think they are very easy to swaddle a baby with either because they don't have any stretch. I personally love these Copper Pearl ones (I have the camel one and love how it goes with everything). They are super stretchy and light. This was my favorite one to swaddle Luke with when he was a brand new baby because I could get it super tight. I always have this one in my diaper bag and use it as a cover too because it is huge. Would be a great gift idea! (my friend, Jill, got me mine!)

Copper Pearl Swaddle

8. The Ollie Swaddle
This is the kind of swaddle that I was recommended to have baby sleep with. To each their own, but to me this kind of swaddle (either velcro or zips closed so baby can't get get out and move the blanket over its' face) seems the safest. I had originally bought a Halo sleep sack and liked it a lot, but the problem is that the bottom is sewn shut so you have to buy a new one every time baby outgrows it! There were also a lot more steps to getting baby in that swaddle. I heard about the Ollie Swaddle from Taking Cara Babies (which you also NEED to check out! I talk more about it on my newborn must haves post, but you can look on Instagram @takingcarababies). I was a little skeptical to buy one because they are $59, but if you think about how many times you have to buy a $20-35 swaddle every time they grow, it really is such a better investment. You only have to buy one because the bottom is open and it just ties wherever baby's feet are. The material is super nice and stretchy plus made out of a breathable material so you don't have to worry about overheating. This would be an amazing gift for someone and the packaging is adorable (I have an unboxing on my Baby Stuff Highlight on Instagram @tiffanyxmeri)

The Ollie Swaddle

9. Portable Noise Machine
My mom found this one on Amazon and I wanted to include this specific one because it is chargeable and has a hook on its' tail that you can literally hook anywhere! We like to hook it on his carseat or on the Rock and Play. It plays songs or white noise (I think it has a few other "soothing" noises as well) and has a little night-light built in. I love that you can charge it too so you don't have to worry about batteries.

Portable Monkey Sound Machine

10. Rock and Play
This was in my Newborn Must-haves as well and I wanted to include it on here because it is so great. I first love how slim and compact it folds down to. Our baby sleeps in it so I can move it around the house really easily and pack it in the trunk of my car. It's really cost-effective and I have heard a lot of people say that they prefer this to a lot of the fancier swings and stuff they have out there. Luke doesn't like this for just hanging out, as a baby would do in a swing (because it's fairly flat you can't really see out like you could in a swing) so I am not sure if they are that comparable. However, it is awesome as like a little mini bassinet. Side note -- I am not sure it is approved for sleeping, it is just what we use so do your own research!

My fall wardrobe staples

While I'm not ready for cooler weather yet, I am totally ready for fall fashion! Fall is definitely my favorite season for dressing. I love boots and jackets, so it's really perfect for my style. Summer was pretty much a bust for me as far as my style goes. I just had a baby at the end of June and none of my summer stuff fit me. I bought a couple of basic pieces to just get me by, but now that most of my clothes are fitting I am super excited to start putting together outfits from pieces I already own and adding a couple of new ones. I wanted to share with you my staples for what I am going to be wearing this fall and probably winter as well. Since I wear a lot of black, I am going to try to incorporate more blue denim, white shoes and cream or white tops. I have been really liking that look lately, but I am sure I will resort back to my usual all black outfit occasionally. I feel like I share this with almost every fashion post, but I LOVE neutrals. I love that between all of these pieces I can mix and match so many different outfits with them and get the most with the least amount of items! Keep that in mind when you are shopping :) I have links to all of my favorite picks below!!!

The first staple is a backpack purse. Especially since I am a mom now, this is even more convenient. Lugging around a carseat pretty much narrows it down to a cross body bag or a backpack for me. Having your hands free is major key! I have a gift card to Nordstrom Rack and I am dying for the French Connection ones! Backpacks just make your outfit look that much cooler! 

Next, I am still loving the mom jean trend. I just feel like they make your outfit more fashion-forward than a regular skinny jean. Although, I will never get sick of black skinny jeans! This would be such a good one to find at a thrift store, since this style of jean has been around for years. I love the Target ones (advertised as a straight leg) and the American Eagle distressed mom jeans (I own both of these pairs and they are pictured above!). 

I have always been a big fan of leather leggings! They are so comfy if you get the right pair. I personally don't own the Spanx ones, but every blogger raves about them! They have a pair of similar ones at Target that are Assets by Spanx and only the front is leather, which may be more flattering. I have the Wild Fable ones (also pictured above). They are more of a liquid legging rather than faux leather, but really high waisted and only $16 for someone who just wants to try out the look and keep it inexpensive. 

This is one of my favorite trends that has been going on for the last year or so. I have a pair of off-white booties from Target that I love (pictured above and listed on my Love List). They are a more tamed down version of white booties, but I just ordered a buckled flat pair from Boohoo and I cannot wait to rock them! They brighten up your outfit and just give it that cool-girl vibe. 

I love a good beige or camel jacket. It's so classic, timeless and can be worn over literally anything. Plain white tee, turtle neck, dress, etc. This might be an item worth splurging on. I love the lighter color and if you have a shedding German Shepherd like myself, this color will come in handy. 

Neutral colored tops will be in my rotation of fall outfits because A. they are pretty much all I own and B. you can wear them under everything and are so easy to mix and match. My clothes are almost always budget-friendly, but even more so with this staple. I bought that cream off-the-shoulder sweater at Plato's Closet for $6, the muted rust color tee from Plato's for $6, white tee from Target $4, pretty much all either clearance items or thrifted! You don't have to break the bank, get creative! 

I think white sneakers are a good staple for year round fashion. I have had this pair for like 4 years from Target on clearance for $8 or so. I just use a Magic Eraser to clean them up every so often and they look brand new! I love how they make your outfit look a little more laid back and tomboyish. 

This is my absolute favorite thing I am sooo excited to wear! ANIMAL PRINT BOOTS. I didn't even know animal print was a trend for this fall, but apparently it is. I am obsessed with snakeskin and leopard (always have been). This is such a fun way to make your outfit more edgy and interesting. I got my snakeskin booties from Windsor Store for $35, but I linked a couple of really cool affordable ones as well. I ordered the Billabong leopard print boots too, but shortly after I saw those $20 ones from Walmart on another blogger's Instagram and was shocked at how cute they were!