corals + cognacs works with third-party affiliates and advertising companies to serve advertisers. These companies may use aggregated information (not including your name, address, email or telephone) about your visits to this and other websites in order to provide advertisements about products and services that may be of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, click here.
In addition, sometimes I'll share affiliate links of retailers that I personally support via Twitter or Facebook. If you click through an affiliate link when buying an item, I will be partially compensated for your purchase. You're under no obligation to click through via one of the links when shopping online, but, if you do, you'll be supporting my blog as well.
You, my readers, and overall editorial integrity are the two most important aspects of corals + cognacs. Know that I will always retain 100% control over the content on corals + cognacs, all opinions are that of my own, and that I will always disclose to you the items for which I have been paid and/or gifted.
Lastly, please note that the sentiments expressed on this site are my own and do not necessarily represent those of my employer. If you have any questions, I encourage you to contact me. Thanks again for reading corals + cognacs!
Hi, nice to meet you.
I'm Hallie, a Midwest native, New York City transplant and the mind behind corals + cognacs. If you're looking for an online destination for stylish inspiration and musings on Manhattan living, you've come to the right place.
Here's a bit more about me (and if you'd like to keep in touch, you can find me on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook).
I hope you enjoy reading corals + cognacs as much as I enjoy writing it.
FAQ //LOCATION: New York, New York •BY WAY OF: The Midwest (Cleveland/Chicago) •HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE YOUR STYLE? Attainable, trendy and fun. I’m constantly wearing unexpected pairings – like statement pumps and a graphic tee. •FAVORITE ITEM IN YOUR CLOSET? The vintage Gucci clutch I thrifted for $40. •ANY OBSESSIONS? I like my coffee black, my heels high and my martinis dirty. •GUILTY PLEASURES? Complex carbohydrates and shoe shopping -- both in excess. (And SoulCycle, as a result.)
ARE YOU A FULL-TIME BLOGGER? No, I work as a Development Manager and Contributing Editor at Glam.com. •WHY DID YOU START YOUR BLOG? I've spent nearly seven years on the corporate grind, where sartorial humor and an expertly crafted color-block can get lost in the boardroom. As a result, I decided to create a blog -- a space where I’d hoped my writing, styling and excessive shoe collection would be better comprehended. •WHAT’S IT ABOUT? Living stylish and spontaneously in New York City – and beyond. I aim to inspire others to have fun with fashion and to live lightheartedly •HOW’D YOU THINK OF THE NAME? To be honest, the name just came to me. I’m a big color-blocker and a sucker for alliteration in writing. It just fit. •WHAT’S THE CORRECT WAY TO WRITE IT? corals + cognacs.
HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE IT? corals and cone-yaks. •WHAT KIND OF CAMERA DO YOU USE? A Canon T3i with a 50mm f/1.4 lens. •DON’T YOU FEEL WEIRD TAKING PHOTOS OF YOURSELF? Absolutely. Everyone looks at me like I’m insane – especially when it’s cold. Wouldn’t you? •DO YOU WORK WITH ADVERTISERS/SPONSORS? Yep! Shoot me an e-mail and let’s talk. •HOW ELSE CAN WE KEEP IN TOUCH? On Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
You might have noticed recently, but I’ve been wearing a pretty gold-colored fitness tracker in almost all of my fashion-focused posts over the last month.
… In fact, a lot of you have asked me about it specifically!
In sum, it — it being the Jawbone UP3 — has forced me to make a lot of better health & wellness choices, overall helping me lead a significantly healthier lifestyle. Today, I’ll share how:
I’ve used handful of different foot and fitness trackers in the past, so I’ve got a lot to say about this arena.
Whether it’s working out consistently, getting a good night’s sleep or drinking eight glasses of water, making small, health-conscious decisions is the best way to increase the quality of your daily life.
More specifically, my health and wellness goals are likely very similar to yours: Walk a good amount each day (10,000 steps a day is my goal), get some sleep and lose a little weight. Right?
Any type wellness transformation is no easy task, though, so goals like these are easier to stick to when you’ve got someone (or something) keeping you accountable. Jawbone has helped me do just that. The marriage of fashion and fitness is something that’s very important to me, too — obv — so it’s nice when your “accountability system” works with your own style aesthetic, too.
Let’s start bigger-picture, then we’ll dive into specifics.
// Overall
Here’s what I like (and don’t like) about the Jawbone UP3:
The UP3 band tracks your progress in ways that are easy to understand — it’s not just numbers presented to you. Jawbone’s personalized “Smart Coach” gives you insights to your daily patterns in order to help you actually make healthier choices every day.
For example: How many steps you have to go to hit your goal, how the food you’re eating will help you lose weight, and so on.
Aesthetically — from a fashion-lover’s perspective — the Jawbone UP3 is really cool.
Feeling-wise, I don’t notice it. It’s minimal, discreet and doesn’t get in the way of daily life. I love that the band is re-sizeable, but it has off my wrist before. Only in my home, thankfully, but just something to be cautious of. (I suppose this is a risk you take with any type of wrist fitness tracker, though.)
It’s splash- and sweat-resistant, so wear it during my workouts and in the shower. While the “sand” color is super sharp-looking and my personal favorite, the UP3 band also comes in many other colors.
(The UP2 band does as well, which we’ll get to. Keep reading!)
The device syncs automatically when you (connect to Bluetooth and) open up the app. Easy, peasy!
You’ll need a newer Android or Apple iOS device to run it — and while I wish it wasn’t totally reliant on your cell phone, I suppose most things in our lives are that way too.
The battery life says it lasts up to seven days, but I’ve found that I need to charge mine every four or five. Not a huge deal — it charges quickly.
// So, what exactly does it do?
In sum, the Jawbone logs your sleep cycles, daily activities and the amount of calories you burn on a daily basis. You can also track your weight, log your calorie intake and get more specific about inputting your workouts.
// here’s how I use the tracker (and why):
FOOD LOGGING
I love the ability to log my food, but after a few days I find that it gets rather tedious. Or I get lazy — ha!
Typically, I’ll log a certain meal a handful of times, until I understand what type of “food score” it has within the bigger picture of my day. Then, I’ll just be mindful of it. Below is an example I use often — Peanut Butter & Jelly protein bars (Quest Bars — they’re the f’ing best), which I eat after my workouts almost every day.
If weight loss is one of your big goals, though, the Food Score is a great tool to utilize to help you improve your diet and reach your ideal weight (which you can also enter).
The app’s “Smart Coach” will use the information you input to give you personalized tips and tricks on how to reach your weight goals more quickly — and consistently.
ACTIVITY TRACKING
In addition to getting credit for steps, workouts and the amount of calories you burn overall (every day!), the Jawbone reminds you to get off your ass.
You can set idle alerts so that it reminds you to move, which is especially advantageous for those of us that sit at a desk all day. This really helps — I’ve been averaging close to 15,000 steps a day!
Jawbone’s UP3 monitors your heart rate throughout the day to help you monitor your overall health. I like to do this when I’m exercising especially to ensure I’m getting the type of workout I came for (anaerobic, aerobic, calorie-torching, etc). In addition…
SLEEP TRACKING
The UP3 has “advanced sleep tracking,” meaning it monitors (and helps you make sense of) the three stages of sleep: REM, light and deep.
It does this by using bio-imedan sensors to looks at your heart rate and skin temperature in order to track sleep phases with a really high degree of accuracy.
In addition, you can set an alarm that wakes you up with a subtle vibration against the wrist — and within a window of time when you’re in your lightest sleep stage — so you don’t have to be jolted awake by an alarm clock
Here’s a recent example of one of my sleep cycles (below); but don’t judge me, Friday is the only day of the week I can “sleep in!”(According to studies, getting enough sleep in the REM phase is vital to mental health… Something my “Smart Coach” told me!)
//
So, what’s the difference in Jawbone’s products?
TheUP3 (the one that I have) is one Jawbone’s more advanced products, but the Jawbone UP2 is ultimately a more cost-effective option.
While the designs are very similar, the UP3 is slightly larger. If you’re deciding between the two, I think it really comes down to how important heart health and advanced sleep tracking are to you. If you’re looking for a more well-rounded picture on everything that affects your health, go with the UP3 — it has “better” sensors on the inside for identifying sleep stages and monitoring your heart rate.
Lastly, if you’re looking for the most affordable option (or don’t want to wear something on your wrist), check out the Jawbone “Move” UP, which is $50 (and currently on sale for 40% off).
The device (among all others I’ve mentioned) is available on Jawbone’s website or via Amazon.
///
Overall, wearing the Jawbone has really helped me meet my short-term health goals — it’s held me accountable to walking more. I’m going to make an effort to be more mindful about tracking my food so that I can benefit better from the Smart Coach’s weight loss insights, so we’ll see how it goes.
Do you have questions? Or do you wear a fitness tracker? Let me know!
Thanks for this post! But I’m wondering . . . what type of movement/exercise does it measure? I do mostly yoga, barre classes and some spinning. Would it measure these activities? The other info sounds good, but it’s a bummer not to have it measure my awesome fitness endeavors :). Btw, hadn’t read your blog in a bit and found my way back the other day. So glad to be back. Congratulations on everything — love your posts, outfits and all!! Can’t wait to read more!
Hey girl, thanks! As for those activities, you can manually input them. That’s what I do when I take yoga and spin. Typically, it will prompt you (“Were you active between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.?), but it takes a few seconds to enter the info, which contributes to your “overall daily calorie burn” and the like. I hope that helps!
Love my Jawbone! It’s cool to see how many steps I can track after a concert from jumping around and dancing! I have a later version, so the one with the heart rate is something I would like to try out.
This was a great review, Hallie! I’ve had a Fitbit since January 2015 [you can take a guess on when I purchased it], and recently have been having a bit of Fitbit Fatigue because I feel like I track the same food or same number of steps everyday, so it’s not telling me anything new. But, I love how interactive this user face is, and I LOVE the fact that it gives you a food score - I think that would be super helpful in achieving my goals. Thanks again for such a great + honest review.
I LOVE that you reviewed this as I’m thinking about getting the UP2! Quick question: Does it measure your heart rate? I use a tracker that I strap on my chest and I don’t see if this does that? Do you have to buy one separately?
Great review! I have the UP2 and I absolutely love it as well. However, mine has fallen off a couple of times too. I contacted support and they gave me this link: https://jawbone.com/help/activityclip. It’s for a free clip that keeps it in place during the day. No problems at all now!! Thanks for your great review!
This review was so helpful! I love the neutral color and am one-step away from purchasing, but I’m curious - did/do you have any issues with discoloration? If so, is it easy to clean?
maybe it depends how active you are when you wear it. mine has gotten much more grey in the last two weeks. I actually found this post, because I was looking for ways of cleaning it. It’s still my favorite design, but it’s frustrating that rubber clings to so much dirty.
Yep, still so far so good! It’s actually fallen off a few times but you can get an activity clip (for free) to secure it in place even better: https://jawbone.com/help/activityclip
That’s good to hear! That really is the best color of the line but I’ve read a few reviews saying that the band discolors over time (actually looking up those reviews is how I got here, haha!) and once it has, it’s pretty much impossible to clean it back to white. But it doesn’t sound like a universal things. Maybe I should just be cautious if I wear it with darker tops and try not to brush it against jeans?
Thanks for this post! But I’m wondering . . . what type of movement/exercise does it measure? I do mostly yoga, barre classes and some spinning. Would it measure these activities? The other info sounds good, but it’s a bummer not to have it measure my awesome fitness endeavors :). Btw, hadn’t read your blog in a bit and found my way back the other day. So glad to be back. Congratulations on everything — love your posts, outfits and all!! Can’t wait to read more!
Hey girl, thanks! As for those activities, you can manually input them. That’s what I do when I take yoga and spin. Typically, it will prompt you (“Were you active between 4:00 and 5:00 p.m.?), but it takes a few seconds to enter the info, which contributes to your “overall daily calorie burn” and the like. I hope that helps!
Love my Jawbone! It’s cool to see how many steps I can track after a concert from jumping around and dancing! I have a later version, so the one with the heart rate is something I would like to try out.
This was a great review, Hallie! I’ve had a Fitbit since January 2015 [you can take a guess on when I purchased it], and recently have been having a bit of Fitbit Fatigue because I feel like I track the same food or same number of steps everyday, so it’s not telling me anything new. But, I love how interactive this user face is, and I LOVE the fact that it gives you a food score - I think that would be super helpful in achieving my goals. Thanks again for such a great + honest review.
I LOVE that you reviewed this as I’m thinking about getting the UP2! Quick question: Does it measure your heart rate? I use a tracker that I strap on my chest and I don’t see if this does that? Do you have to buy one separately?
Great review! I have the UP2 and I absolutely love it as well. However, mine has fallen off a couple of times too. I contacted support and they gave me this link: https://jawbone.com/help/activityclip. It’s for a free clip that keeps it in place during the day. No problems at all now!! Thanks for your great review!
Great to know - thank you so much for sharing!!
This review was so helpful! I love the neutral color and am one-step away from purchasing, but I’m curious - did/do you have any issues with discoloration? If so, is it easy to clean?
Hey girl! It does get dirty, but not noticeably so. The band is waterproof so yes, it’s easy to clean and wash off!
maybe it depends how active you are when you wear it. mine has gotten much more grey in the last two weeks. I actually found this post, because I was looking for ways of cleaning it. It’s still my favorite design, but it’s frustrating that rubber clings to so much dirty.
How do you like the up now? Is it holding up well?
Yep, still so far so good! It’s actually fallen off a few times but you can get an activity clip (for free) to secure it in place even better: https://jawbone.com/help/activityclip
That’s good to hear! That really is the best color of the line but I’ve read a few reviews saying that the band discolors over time (actually looking up those reviews is how I got here, haha!) and once it has, it’s pretty much impossible to clean it back to white. But it doesn’t sound like a universal things. Maybe I should just be cautious if I wear it with darker tops and try not to brush it against jeans?
And thanks for replying to such an old post!