Unique Wood Watches: A Distinguished Gift For Him

I love a good men’s gift guide to bring me ideas on what to get my boyfriend, friends, dad, etc for birthdays and holidays. Except, I find that the only time I see people sharing them is for the holidays. All of the great men in our lives have birthdays too, so I thought I’d bring you an off-holiday season gift guide to bring you some inspiration for those non-Christmas occasions.

1. Decorative Chess Set:

It can be hard to find decor for men to put in their homes because they don’t usually have the same obsession with boxes, vases, and organization that we do. Haha I love a beautiful chess set because it can be both decorative and functional. Men don’t always seem to want to buy things because they look pretty like we do. This glass chess set is neutral which I love and takes up a good amount of room on a shelf, which can be helpful when trying to fill some spaces in with decor in a new place.

2. JORD Watch:

My boyfriend is obsessed with watches. As you’ll see in a minute, he has quite the collection and really does wear different ones depending on the day and outfit. When the watch company JORD (pronounced Yode) reached out to me to send me a watch, I knew that I wanted to receive one to gift to him. I wear my Apple Watch everyday, so I don’t swap out watches (while they do have really beautiful Apple Watch bands as well, I knew I wanted to center this post around him).

JORD sent us this stunning Frankie Ebony & Gold watch. JORD watches are made with natural wood from around the world. While it is pretty neutral, it is unlike any of the other watches Mikey has. I love the simplistic nature of the design because many of the other watches Mikey has are very detailed. I think this watch will be a classic watch that he reaches for time and time again and can honestly go with almost any outfit.

Some fun facts about JORD watches:

• Most of the watch backplates can be engraved, which is really special if you want to give a unique and meaningful gift (Hello to all of my brides still needing a wedding day gift for their fiance)!

• The watches are sized to each recipient.

• Each watch comes with a one year warranty.

• You can work with JORD to further customize the watch you are buying!

• Free worldwide shipping

Read until the end to Enter the AMAZING giveaway I will be offering with JORD watches!!

3. Watch Storage Box:

A watch storage box is a must for any man in your life who loves and collects watches. Not only do they keep things organized, but they protect the watches. Once again they provide great style while sitting on a dresser or in a closet. I like the one Mikey has because it has a glass window that allows you to view your watches while they are being stored.  

4. Crystal Liquor Decanter:

Mikey has two whiskey decanters of a similar style that again make great decorative pieces, but are still functional (are you sensing a theme here? haha). I love the look of these decanters on a bar car with some beautiful whiskey glasses.

5. Knife Set:

If your guy likes to cook, maybe it’s time you upgraded his knife set. Mikey received this Cuisinart Knife Set for Christmas this past year and I’m amazed by the quality. Each knife is heavy and sharpens so well, that I love cooking at his house!

6. Ice Mold for Cocktails:

If you need a small gift to add on to another present, this is a great gift for any guy, even if they don’t drink alcohol. Ice cube molds are fun regardless of what you’re drinking them with!

7. Codenames:

In case you haven’t heard about Codenames, now you have. This game has been the center of so many friend gatherings in the last year. I highly recommend keeping it on hand because you can play with only 4 people or a huge group. Warning: it can get pretty heated and competitive, but get it ASAP!

8. Dutch Oven:

A dutch oven is a great gift for any man who likes to cook, but especially for those who don’t want 100 gadgets and instruments laying around their kitchen. A dutch oven is great for sauteing, roasting, making soups, searing meat and then finishing it in the oven, etc. You can even bake bread in them. The options are endless. I really like the brand Lodge for my cast iron products, so this one is a great size and option.

9. Book Shelf:

If your guy is a reader, a beautiful bookshelf is a great gift because it allows him to store his important collection. Mikey and I picked out this shelf from IKEA and so far I love how it has really transformed his office into a library.

10. Industrial Style Lamp:

I personally love anything for my house that can be a conversation starter and this lamp is unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Mikey has it in his living room and it is so unique. I think a new lamp is a great gift for any guy who loves reading!

Do you have any great gift ideas for the men in your life? Comment below and add them to this list!

Now for the fun part…..the JORD Giveaway!

One of my lovely readers is going to win a $100 giftcard to JORD off any watch!! Everyone who enters will receive 10% off just for trying!

CLICK HERE TO ENTER THE GIVEAWAY!

Entering will still get you something special, even if you don’t win so what do you have to lose?

Good luck to everyone who enters! I will announce the winner when the giveaway is finished.

Have a beautiful day,

Andrea

DISCLAIMER: JORD sent over the Frankie Ebony & Gold watch as a gift to review and give to my boyfriend. However, all opinions are my own.

Wooden Wrist Watch

How I Whiten My Teeth At Home

Today I’m back with a post that I’m really excited to be sharing. There’s even something exciting for my readers at the end so make sure to read through! 

As many of you know, I quit drinking coffee on a regular basis a few months ago. I have always loved my smile, but in the last few years I had noticed how my coffee habit was affecting the color of my teeth. I figured that since I’ve kicked the caffeine habit, now was the time to look into whitening my smile, as it would be easier to maintain without the daily coffee consumption.  

It’s funny how life works, but after spending a little time researching at home teeth whitening, I opened my email inbox to a message from Smile Brilliant wanting to do a collaboration! If that wasn’t a sign, I don’t know what is. 

I was excited to work with Smile Brilliant because they wanted to send me a teeth whitening system and share my honest feelings with you guys about the process. Now this is not a sponsored post but I did receive the teeth whitening system for free. However, my opinions on it are completely my own and I hope you already know that I would never recommend a product I didn’t like! 

I know that a lot of you reading this are getting ready to celebrate either your own special events, like your wedding, or have many close friends and family members celebrating special events and you want to look your best for them all. If your schedule looks anything like mine these days, there are photo ops every month.  

I was excited to try out Smile Brilliant because it’s a professional whitening system that you do at home, yet is still really customized and effective. Not only that, it’s REALLY easy to use. No awkward lights to put in your mouth; just custom trays that fit perfectly and you can go about your activities while whitening. I had only ever used Crest Whitestrips in the past, which were easy but took a lot longer to see results; plus I always experienced sensitivity. Smile Brilliant has a few different system options, and I chose sensitive which has really helped me not feel any side effects in my day to day life while whitening. One thing that is really great about Smile Brilliant is that if you are not happy with your results they will give you a full refund! Click here to visit their website and get even MORE info on the whitening systems! 

When you get your kit in the mail, the first step is to make your impressions so that your trays fit perfectly. The kit comes with very detailed instructions for the whole process. Once you make your impressions, you pop them in a pre-paid envelope and send them back to Smile Brilliant so they can make your trays. This whole process was pretty quick too, which I liked because I was excited to get started! 

Once you start the whitening process, it’s simple. 

1. Brush your teeth with water. 

2. Fill your trays with the whitening gel and leave in your mouth for 45 minutes up to 3 hours.  

3. Brush your teeth like normal (including brushing out your trays). 

4. If you’re doing the sensitive version, you add the desensitizing gel to the trays, leave on for 15-20 minutes and then don’t drink any liquids for at least an hour. 

It takes anywhere from 7-14 sessions to get your teeth where you want them, and they send plenty of product! Now I’m sure you’re really curious about my thoughts. Below are some photos of my before and after and then we’ll get into the pros and cons of using Smile Brilliant. 

Let’s talk about the cons first. The thing I found most challenging about using the whitening trays was that I had to plan out my life accordingly. I preferred to whiten at night after dinner, but then I couldn’t drink water before bed which was kind of annoying. Sometimes I simply get home too later and need to sleep and don’t have time to whiten so I would have to skip a day or two before I could get back on schedule.  

The only other big con was that I did notice some sensitivity with my gums. Now most of this is probably due to the fact that my labial frenum (google it) on the top of my mouth was supposed to be clipped when I was younger and they never ended up doing it. So this means that it is attached lower than it is supposed to be and the trays really felt too tall for my mouth and scratched up against this. Again, this is more so my fault, not Smile Brilliant’s, but I have to say that I received lots of tips and help from Sierra over at Smile Brilliant, with how to increase my comfort level. I ended up coating my gums in coconut oil before hand and trying not to talk or move my mouth much while whitening. I also decided to whiten every other day, which helped cut back on irritation and I don’t think it skewed my results. If you end up trying this system out, I highly recommend the coconut oil on your gums for decreasing sensitivity! Works great! 

Now let’s talk about the PROS! I cannot believe how quickly this system worked. I noticed my teeth being whiter after one use, but ended up doing 10 sessions. Plus I still have whitening gel that I’m going to keep for touch ups before my sister’s wedding this fall! I loved that the trays were customized and molded to my teeth because having a tray in your mouth for over an hour that is big and doesn’t fit would be super annoying. One big thing I loved too was that even if I accidently got some gel in my mouth, it didn’t taste TERRIBLE. I had a bad experience once....can you tell? Haha  

I’m really excited to enter the fall season of weddings and events that I have being more confident in my smile. I think we can all agree that a whiter smile makes us feel more confident as we go about our daily business. As a makeup artist I am always taking pictures of my own face to share makeup looks, meeting new clients, and even taking photos with my brides. I am happy now that my smile is free of the coffee stains and would highly recommend you give Smile Brilliant a look if you are looking for teeth whitening.  

Here’s what my teeth looked like before and after 10 uses of the Smile Brilliant Sensitive Whitening System.  

These photos have not been filtered and have had absolutely no retouching. These ARE MY TEETH!

Now for the exciting part! I am doing to be doing a giveaway with Smile Brilliant that will allow one of my amazing readers to win a whitening system of their own! Click the link below to enter the giveaway that is being hosted on their website for all of you! Good luck!! 

CLICK HERE TO ENTER GIVEAWAY! (Giveaway close one week from today - September 3rd

You can also use the code andreafontanabeauty15 to recieve 15% off store wide at Smile Brilliant!

Please be sure to message me or leave me comment below if you have questions about the Smile Brilliant at home whitening system. Also let me know if you try it out for yourself and what you think about it! I’m excited to have been able to share something like this with you guys.  

Have a beautiful weekend, 

Andrea

Tooth Whitening Gel