Archive for the ‘Gifts’ Category
May 14th, 2010 | Beauty and Exercise, Eco-friendly, Gifts, Health, products | 1 Comment |
Being pregnant, my clients are always concerned about what they are eating and whether the food is safe or good for the baby. During my second time around, I was concerned about what affects lotions and other skin products would have on my baby. Since skincare products absorb into your skin, you can’t be too careful of what your unborn baby may be absorbing as well. So my last blog entry (informally Pregnancy Skincare Part I) was about the Earth Mama Angel Baby Natural Stretch Oil for the belly. I also said I used the California Baby Lotion for my belly and I used it for the rest of my body. It’s a great natural lotion with a light scent, and is paraben free.
During the beginning of my pregnancy I used the Clean and Clear sunscreen moisturizer – really only because I got it for free from a friend who worked at Neutrogena. But I really wanted something paraben free and organic (i.e. safe for me and baby). So after reading reviews, talking to some Sephora representatives, I decided to try Josie Maran’s Protect Daily Sun Protection. Ms. Maran’s skin care line’s main publicized ingredient is Argan Oil and you can view her product ingredient information page for more information on her ingredients. Apparently, Argan Oill started being “trendy” a couple of years ago. Read this review on Argan Oil’s history. The claim is that Argan Oil contains antioxidants, Vitamin E and nourishes and protects the skin.
I tried it on my hand at first and it had a sticky feel. The sales representative at Sephora said it would feel different on my face. So, with that in mind, and the reviews I had read about this product, I purchased it for $32 and tried it out. It does leave light film on the face, but with an SPF of +40, it seems to do it’s job in providing skin coverage and moisturizing. I put a bit of foundation on top after letting it absorb for 15 minutes, as suggested by the product packaging. The ingredient list reads like a chemistry texbook. And since I’m not a chemist, I’m relying on the product’s claims of being organic as well as some basic research on the individual ingredients listed. Check out Treehugger’s recent blog about whether Josie Maran’s award winning products are indeed “green” and judge for yourself.
As for me, I will definitely try her makeup products – as makeup is known for their lack of strict regulations and phthalates. Here is a simple reference to the Environmental Working Group’s Shopping Guide for Safe Cosmetics. Also, Mother Love’s website has a great article on the chemicals to watch for in body lotion ingredients.
May 5th, 2010 | Beauty and Exercise, Eco-friendly, Gifts, Giveaways, baby shower, products | 3 Comments |
Throughout my first pregnancy, I used an expensive stretch mark preventative lotion (not to be named), given to me by a friend who swore by it and her friends swore by it. Isn’t that how we come to get most of our products? I dutifully slathered on the thick lotion on my belly morning and night. I knew there were parabens in it and that it wasn’t “natural”…but I had also seen my mother’s post-birthing belly and knew stretch marks were my destiny – so I needed all the help I could get. Stretch marks formed during the last two months of my pregnancy and were doomed to stay there for almost a year in all their purple striped glory. That expensive cream didn’t do a thing.
Come time for pregnancy number 2 – this time I didn’t use any specific products on my belly. Why put chemical laden lotions on my belly when it didn’t appear to help? When it got itchy, I just slathered on my toddler’s toxin-free California Baby lotion. I knew the stretch marks would soon arrive and probably leave a deeper impression than last time (even though they had significantly faded over time). Then I had a call from Julie of Earth Mama Angel Baby to review some products and participate in a giveaway on my blog. She graciously let me choose the item I wanted to try. Of course, I chose their Natural Stretch Oil! Though I had about 2 months left of pregnancy to go, I hadn’t seen any stretch marks develop and thought – even if this oil doesn’t help, at least its non-toxic, organic and vegan. As soon as I received it, I rubbed it on all over my belly. Usually scented products made me nauseous. Most pregnant women shun products with heavy scents. Though the Natural Stretch Oil has an herbal scent to it, I actually enjoyed the light scent. The best part was the oil absorbed easily and didn’t cling to my clothes or create a slick sensation.
 Now for the results: I’m currently almost 2 weeks post-partum…drum roll please…… no stretch marks!!! Okay, so I gained 15 pounds less than my last pregnancy, which may have something to do with it. But based on research, stretch marks will either be there or not. There is really no way to prevent them. So whether the oil helped or not, it was nice to know that I was putting something on that relieved the itchy belly and I knew was safe for my body and for baby. I’d like to think it did do something to prevent the marks from appearing  .
The product can also be used to massage the perineum in preparation for birth. I had intended to use the oil for this purpose as well because I had a bad experience with my episiotomy the first time, but I really never found the time or willingness to have my husband help me do this. But what a great option! I love it when a product has multiple purposes!
I will post the giveaway of the Pregnancy Pampering Kit in June, which includes the Natural Stretch Oil. In the meantime, if you want to give a gift to a mama with the propensity for stretch marks, tell her not to worry, enjoy the pregnancy and try the Natural Stretch Oil from Earth Mama Angel Baby. I will definitely be recommending this and the other products from Earth Mama Angel Baby to my clients!
And right now, the site is offering $10 for their Mother’s Day Special!
January 21st, 2010 | Eco-friendly, Gifts, products, recalls | 1 Comment |
Happy New Year!
Happy New Year everybody! I am so sorry for being M.I.A. in the past few months. We’ve been busy with the holidays, visiting expos and learning about new products to be introduced in the new year. We are excited about 2010 and how companies are jumping on the BPA-free and eco/green wagon. We hope the companies continue to produce safe products for our children and the environment.
Graco Stroller Recall!
The CPSC announced the recall of certain models of strollers manufactured by Graco, which amounts to an amazing 1.5 million strollers! There have been reports of amputation and lacerations due to a defect in the hinge mechanism on the stroller’s canopy. Check on the CPSC link to match up your stroller’s model number to the model being recalled and if your stroller is being recalled, stop using the stroller immediately.
Family Announcement!
Also, I am so happy to announce that I am pregnant with my second child. She is due in April and being a baby planner, I am pleased to be a bit ahead of the game as it comes to what kind of double stroller I want for the toddler/infant combination. Having had a number of clients, who were pregnant with their second child, and wanted toddler gift baskets for their toddlers, I am going to make it a “TO-DO” that my first born is ready and excited for his baby sister to arrive! If you are interested in a toddler basket, contact us for a custom request!
November 23rd, 2009 | Gifts, baby shower, products | No Comments |
I was contacted by the owner of Once Upon A Favor, Marci Krown, to discuss what Bliss Nine does for pregnant women and for me to get to know her online party favor business. We had a great conversation about her passion and knowledge of party favors. It was only when I got to help her for a few hours at the Babytime Expo in San Diego, that I really saw her attention to detail, her marketing prowess and the wide range of products Once Upon A Favor has to offer.
From bouquets made of onesies to baby shower card games, Once Upon A Favor offers a wide assortment of favors for almost any theme you can think of and for any budget. And if you’re having trouble figuring out wording on a customized favor, or whether certain games work for your theme, Marci has abundant knowledge about those details. Once Upon A Favor can do almost any order in a short period of time (just ask Marci).
Bliss Nine is all about boutique personalized customer service. It is always great to meet another company so customer oriented and who provides personalized custom service to its clients. You can contact Bliss Nine to help you plan the perfect baby shower! Doing it yourself and want some favor ideas? Once Upon A Favor is a great place to start!
July 29th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Gifts, Giveaways, products | 11 Comments |
If you want a perfect gift for a mommy-to-be or for a new arrival, look no further than this adorable and organic onesie Take Me Home Gift Set from Serena and Lily. We are giving away the green onesie set which includes a perfectly folded gown, hat and swaddling blanket in a gorgeous white with green trim. Again, Serena and Lily sets it all in their signature beautiful box. This particular box is called their Newborn Keepsake Box. You can use to put cards and other mementos in it. And the lid holds a place to put a picture and information about the baby’s birth date, time, weight and height. Too adorable! And I really did try taking a picture of the box and the complete package, but the pictures I take always look like they’ve been taken in the back of a van with a stolen camera  . So I will leave it to your imagination and browsing of the Serena & Lily website to get an idea how lovely it really is. An awesome reader of the blog found the picture of the box! haha! Thanks so much! And if you win this gorgeous gift, which retails at $68, please take a picture of it and send it back my way so I can show people!
To win: enter a comment on who you plan to give the Take Me Home Gift Set to (even if it’s you!) and tell us about your favorite summer memory so far. The giveaway ends August 5th.
UPDATE: Candace won – again via husband picking a number! Please don’t be disappointed. Try again – we have one more Serena and Lily sling and one more gift set to give away at the end of the month.
July 22nd, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Gifts, Giveaways, Maternity Wear, products | 18 Comments |
Bliss Nine is so excited to do a giveaway of the Hot Mama Gown! On April 7th, I blogged about the Hot Mama Gown, the awesomely organic alternative to the generic hospital gown. Since then, I’ve become an ardent supporter and fan of Deidrea, the creator of this gorgeous gown. We first met on Twitter and then face to face at the Baby Celebration in Los Angeles, where I saw Deidrea’s attention to detail from her gorgeous box to her matching stamps with her logo on them!
I truly wish (and I’ve heard so many mamas who have since discovered HMG say the same thing) that I had the Hot Mama Gown during my labor and delivery. While learning and starting breastfeeding, I had to take off half the top of the generic gown to give the baby access. I also had a serious episiotomy – so while walking to the bathroom (shuffling in pain), my gown would inevitably be untied in the back, leaving my whole backside exposed – not pretty. The Hot Mama Gowns are created with the same attention to detail and love Deidrea gives to everything else. These gowns are made with organic cotton in varying beautiful prints. I love how the snaps down the back keep the backside covered! And the nursing panels are ingenious. These are perfect gifts for baby showers and just to make a mama feel good when she may not feel like she looks good after giving birth. A mommy can wear them after birthing to provide easy access for nursing and healing. Believe me, pregnant ladies, you will wish you had one or two or three during those first couple of weeks!
Bliss Nine is giving away the colorful Shalon gown, size small (fits size 6-8 pre-pregnancy size), which is one of the newest prints from the Hot Mama Gown collection. Don’t worry too much about the size, as it is roomy with ribbon tied panels to accommodate the larger bellies. Its beautiful bright colors will brighten any hospital room and provide a matrix of colors for the baby to look at while cuddling and nursing the newborn. Retailing at $149, it also comes in the gorgeous box we all keep talking about – yes, it is that gorgeous. So feel free to gift it and the lucky mama will feel splurged on! Visit Hot Mama Gowns for more prints and great model pics of the gowns.
To win you can either one or both of the following:
1) If you don’t already, follow @blissnine and @hotmamagowns on twitter, and tweet this giveaway with hashtag #HotMamaGownBlissNine – I know it’s long (each tweet with hashtag is an entry)
and/or
2) Visit the Hot Mama Gown site and comment on your favorite Hot Mama Gown print or your favorite feature of the gown (comments count as 2 entries)
The most entries will win. Deadline to enter is July 29, 2009, 9:00 a.m. PST.
UPDATE: Erica Hennings won with her persistent tweeting of the giveaway. Enjoy!
July 8th, 2009 | Charities, Gifts, Giveaways, Safety | 2 Comments |
The story of Adam’s Blankie is a beautiful and and uplifting one. The company began with the love of stay-at-home mother, Kari. She wanted some bedding and clothing with a modern design ethic for her son Adam. With her mother, she came up with some great products and named the business after her son – Adam’s Blankie was born! In 2008, Kari’s family nearly lost Adam to a drowning incident. Believing in the love of God and healing qualities of the blanket she created for Adam, he survived and is now a healthy two year old boy!
We are happy to say that Adam’s Blankie contributes 5% of its profits to a Drowning Prevention Coalition of Arizona. Drowning is the leading cause of death in children in Arizona, ages 1 – 4 years old. The organization has been very active nationally to provide public awareness about tragedies and preventative measures. Kari wants to share that there are 3 parts to drowning prevention called the ABC’s – Adult Supervision, Barriers, and Classes. With the heat racking up, swimming in pools is a popular pastime for many families. It doesn’t take a pool for a child to drown – children can also drown in toilets, bathtubs, & buckets of water! A tip we learned from our local YMCA is that floaties can prevent lifeguards from seeing below the water, which is important because they need to see anyone who may be below another person. Also, floaties don’t support babies/children necks or backs. As advised by the Y, go with a life jacket.
Okay and now for the rockinest and cutest bib your boy or girl would ever want to wear! The motto the business follows is “Creative, Comfy and Cute”. Retailing at $14.50, it is an adorable bib with a classic rocker vibe. We love the colors, the guitar print and the soft terry cloth. The pearl snap closure is also baby tamper proof and won’t fall apart like the Velcro stickers do. Like other items on the Adam’s Blankie site, the bib has been pre-shrunk in baby detergent. Check out their Etsy site for details on these handmade products. Adam’s Blankie also welcome’s custom orders – so if you see a print you like, feel free to mix and match. Get it for your little one or as a gift for another lucky super star!
To win the bib STEP 1: please comment on our blog as to what your favorite item from the Adam’s Blankie site. STEP 2: Visit the Adam’s Blankie blog and comment. Adam’s Blankie and Bliss Nine will put our heads together regarding our favorite comments and declare a winner on July 15, 2009.
UPDATE: Winner is Megan R. – CONGRATS!
June 30th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Gifts, Giveaways, products | 18 Comments |
When I think of Serena & Lily products I picture myself lying on a beautiful bed, with pillows galore and soft white sheets, on a sunny summer afternoon. Oh! And the bed is on a deck stretching over a lake! Creating stunning textiles and products since 2004, Serena & Lily epitomizes luxury for baby and what products you would want for your baby and to decorate your nursery. Not only do they have a great selection of organic products for baby, from slings to paint, they are beautiful to boot!
At the New Mom Expo talk, we proudly showed off the Serena & Lily Market Sling to show the bright and gorgeous colors in which 100% organic fabrics can come. The hand embroidery makes this sling unique and special for baby and wearer. We are excited to do our first giveaway on the Bliss Nine site of the Prague Market Sling, which retails for $129. Our favorite is the Green/Marigold sling. The exterior is a beautiful grass green with white embroidery and the interior is a warm marigold color (all organic cotton). The slings come in an exquisite Serena and Lily box, so it makes the perfect gift for any mommy and/or mommy-to-be.
To win the Prague Market Sling in Green/Marigold, size small: Post a comment with the name of your favorite charity and your favorite Serena & Lily product
However, there is a twist. If there are more than 25 separate entries, Bliss Nine will give away second market sling in Cloud/Petal, size medium. The pink petal color inside is beautifully bold and so perfectly soft, it’s scrumptious!
So yes, there may be two winners! So get your pals together and sign up. The more the merrier!
Contest ends July 8, 2009, winner will be notified by email.
NOTE: The winner was chosen at random - I had my husband pick a number from 1-13…really (excluding my own post of course and duplicates)! Thanks for your great contributions and I look forward to reading your comments in our future giveaways! Also of note, we have another sling and another Serena and Lily product to give away.
June 20th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Gifts, Nursery | No Comments |
We were pleased to learn about EcoChoices EcoByDesign Natural Living Store in preparing for our talk at the New Mom Expo. They provided some wool carpet samples that were soft and beautifully textured. Despite what many think, wool carpet is not itchy or coarse, like some sweaters people may have worn. As for eco-friendly home design choices, the carpet is made of chemical free wool with hemp/cotton backing and is made of all 100% natural raw materials. The best part is that it is 100% biodegradable. Most green experts don’t recommend wall-to-wall carpeting because people tend to remove hundreds of yards of fabric at a time, which all ends up at the landfill. And given the relatively short lifespan of synthetic carpets (5-10 years depending on quality and care of carpet), old carpets fill our landfills quite frequently and in large portions. If you can’t afford wall to wall wool carpeting, and it is pricey, go for an area rug. Your baby will spend a lot of time on the floor and you want her/him safe from chemicals and toxins that synthetic rugs and carpets emit.
From natural scrub hemp cloths to a bamboo diaper bag, you can find various eco-friendly options for your baby and your home at EcoChoices. We personally love the beautiful rattles they have made from woods such as beechwood and applewood.
May 30th, 2009 | Gifts, Health, TO DOs | 1 Comment |
It’s summertime and unfortunately, some of us don’t have air conditioning for those hot crazy months of July and August, which will be here before you know it. Imagine the stress that comes with having a baby during the summertime, when it can get well into the 90s and even low 100s in the inland areas of Southern California.
1. If your baby likes to be swaddled, use a muslin, gauzy swaddling blanket that is breathable and will keep baby from overheating. One great summer product is The Peke Moe, which is a light cotton sleeping bag for baby. The enclosed sack keeps baby cool and keeps their hands from scratching their faces. You can swaddle them tightly or let them loose, if you or your baby so choose.
2. Stay out of direct sunlight and apply the sunscreen: American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that babies under 6 months not be exposed to direct sunlight. If you must do so, use a non-chemical sunscreen. There are a number of organic sunscreens for infants from California Baby SPF 30 Sunscreen to Earth’s Best Organic Chemical Free Sunblock.
3. When outside, try to stay in the shade, dress the baby in lightweight cotton clothing and put a brimmed hat on baby to keep baby’s head cool.
4. Fans are your friends – you can carry a mini fan in your diaper bag to fan your baby if you are caught in a store with no A/C, or blast a larger fan in your home. Using fans are also an eco-friendly way to save energy and money if it’s not too hot and you just want a breeze.
5. Don’t forget to stay hydrated and cool yourself. You want to be in good health and in a good mood to care for your baby.
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