Archive for the ‘Eco-friendly’ Category
July 10th, 2010 | Beauty and Exercise, Eco-friendly, Giveaways, baby shower, products | 3 Comments |
Are you pregnant or know someone who is and needs a little pampering? Sign up for the giveaway of the Pregnancy Pampering Kit, courtesy of Earth Mama Angel Baby. It’s the perfect gift for a mama-to-be! Retailing for $39.95, the products in the kit include the tea sampler, herbal foot soak, natural stretch oil (reviewed here), body butter, and bottom balm. Earth Mama Angel Baby’s natural products are toxin free and completely organic. Read my review of the natural stretch oil. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard mothers rave about their products.
To win: Look on the Earth Mama Angel Baby website and choose an item you have tried or would like to try and comment on this Bliss Nine blog as to what that is. Comment by next Monday, July 19th to win! A winner will be selected at random and notified. Good luck!
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 2nd, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Nursery, decorating, products | No Comments |
The first time I was introduced to a Kalon Studio product was during a visit to the store The Little Seed in Los Angeles. They just received the Bamboo IoLine Crib and I had to oooh and ahh at the beautiful piece of work. Not only was it friendly to the eye with its modern features and beautiful wood tones, it was made of sustainable bamboo and sealed with non-toxic oil. My favorite part of the crib was the partial flap on the side, thereby not making it a dangerous drop side crib, but offering flexibility for shorter people or making it changing table accessible. It retails for $1,400 and has the option of changing into a toddler bed.
I could not get my mind off of that piece of furnture and had to contact Kalon Studios to talk to them about their philosophy on their business. I was so excited when owners/founders/designers Michaele Simmering and Johannes Pauwen agreed to answer a few questions. Below are a few of their well thought out responses.
What motivated you to start this company?
“We started this company when I became pregnant with our daughter. We couldn’t find any cribs that met our criteria (design-oriented, modern, sustainable, people-friendly) and so we decided to make our own. While we were at it we made several pieces of furniture for ourselves and the response to them was so good that we decided to participate in a trade-show. Again, we got a great response. Next thing we knew, we had started a company.
At the same time, we were struggling with the basic economic and lifestyle choices that come with starting a family. Neither one of us wanted to miss out on being at home with our daughter. We decided we’d try to see if we could make a business work where we could both work from home – where we could share the responsibilities of both the business and the family. So far, we’ve succeeded.
When we started there just weren’t any companies out there doing what we were interested in: contemporary, modern, high-quality, sustainable design. I think maybe there were two that we could find. If we were going to go through the trouble of starting a company, we wanted to push ourselves to go beyond just making great design pieces but to create a company that was politically consistent with our ideals, one that we could be proud of. At the time, most people claimed that being ’sustainable’ didn’t mix with business and we wanted to see if that was true. I definitely agree that if we’d let go of certain criteria that we could have gotten on our feet stronger and faster but a lot of our struggles were the standard struggles that any start up would have gone through, and mostly they had to do with starting a company without capital or investment. In the end, so far, we’ve been able to do everything just how we wanted. Though there are a lot of new companies in our market now, I still haven’t seen any that meet all the criteria we do – basically, though we’re small and unknown to many, I still think we’re unique and respected. I’m proud of that.”
What is your mission statement?
“Design for a Sustainable Culture. This is actually our slogan, but it really comes to the heart of everything that we are trying to do. If there are different approaches to creating changes in how society runs its course, then the first, I believe, should start with yourself. For us, this means actively supporting those people, businesses, ideas and things that stimulate the type of culture we are interested in and not supporting those that we feel are detrimental to our vision of the world. I know that this is very loose, but it is our guiding principal and the starting point for every decision we make both privately and in business.”
What was your working background before manufacturing children/baby furniture?
“I studied Industrial design at the Rhode Island School of design and the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam and worked as a freelance product designer until Michaele got pregnant. Over the years, Michaele had been urging me to venture out on my own to start a line. Only once we were expecting our first child did I begin thinking of doing it, partly because of the financial pressure and also because it was more condusive to our particular lifestyle choices.
I had never thought that I would design any children’s products. Over the years, though my background was in theory and writing, I’ve worked more and more with design. I worked for several years with the design community and design festivals in Berlin. Recently, I got my MFA in Los Angeles.”
What is your favorite product out of your line of products?
“Always the latest one – right now, that’s our Isometric Table.”
Where is the furniture manufactured?
“Until recently, we were making the pieces ourselves in our garage in Los Angeles. As our orders grew we hired on some of our friends who were highly skilled sculptors, fresh out of art school. At the middle of last year, we moved our production to New England to the former furniture manufacturing capital of America. We’ve temporarily moved East with the company and have been setting up all the various parts of the business in that area – everything from material sources, boxing and shipping, to label printers. It’s important to us that we’re investing back in domestic production. We know that its possible to get great quality craftsmanship for far lower prices in Eastern Europe and other parts of the world, however the price you pay is you sacrifice the craftsmen we have here in the United States. At its height the town where we now manufacture had over 5,000 highly skilled furniture makers and they were world renowned. Now there are less than 300. The last large furniture manufacturer in the town closed its doors in the summer of 2008. Recognizing and making use of the talent there, helping to sustain the craft and hopefully rebuild it, is enormously important to us.”
Do any standard crib sheets and crib mattresses fit the bamboo crib, changing table, toddler bed?
“Yes, our entire IoLine collection works with standard sized mattresses, changing pads, and sheets.”
What other woods are used other than bamboo? Are the woods FSC certified?
“Currently, only our dresser uses a wood other than bamboo. For this piece, we use FSC Certified Multi-Ply. We’re pretty strict, maybe too strict, about all of the materials we use. Johann’s an amazing researcher and is in touch with scientists and manufacturers from around the world who are on the cutting edge of the ‘green’ manufacturing movement. We’re always using the best of what’s currently out there – unless we still think it doesn’t make the cut, in which case we wait for something better. The drawback here is that this has definitely slowed the release of new products. For instance, there’s one product we’ve wanted to release for years now, but can’t find a people/eco friendly replacement for fiberglass. There are a lot of great new eco-friendly raw materials we wish we could already be using but for the size of our business or the size of theirs, we’re just not there yet. But there are amazing advancements being made and you can be sure that we’ll be integrating them as soon as they’re available.
We plan to introduce our table and several other products in a selection of FSC Certified woods. We are also trying to use only woods forested locally in the Northeast.”
What would you like the end customers to know about your company and your philosophy on the environment?
“Sustainability is really what we are about. Although we do care about the environment and our company is “green”, it is only one of many things under what we feel is necessary to think about when thinking about sustainability. We have always found that equitable business practices and fair trade are much more important than being green. Though, it hasn’t kept us from people and eco friendly.”
Any other comments you would like us to know about you personally and your company?
“We love what we do, love creating new products, and love seeing peoples and business’s practices change and evolve in a direction that we agree with.”
August 19th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Giveaways, Nursery, products | 20 Comments |
It’s been a fun summer of giveaways for us and we are sad to see it end. But we are ending it with a BANG – with two products for two winners, generously provided by Serena and Lily! Their products are consistently well made and we are so pleased to give those of you, who have not had a chance to personally experience their products, a chance to win one of their eco-friendly items. As you may recall, we’ve blogged about these two organic and gorgeous items before – the Serena and Lily Market Sling and the Take-Me-Home Gift Set.
This time, we are giving away the color “punch” (aka pink) Take-Me-Home Set – perfect for any baby shower gift or gift for your own baby girl (or confident baby boy, LOL). Retails for $68.
And for another winner, we have the Market Sling in Cloud/Petal in size Medium. Retails for $129.
To win: comment on which item you would like to win and what you do to help the environment. If it’s as simple as not asking for a bag when you buy a book – so be it. We love great tips on saving mother earth! If you would like to win both, comment separately on each item. Good luck! Winner will be drawn and notified next Wednesday, August 26th.
UPDATE: Zmama and Scott are the winners via random drawing. Thank you all for participating and being excited about the finale! Look for future giveaways in the future – though they will not be as condensed as the summer giveaway.
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 15th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Giveaways, Nursery, products | 12 Comments |
I have been using the Dapple Baby Safe Dish Liquid since it first rolled into Babies R’ Us earlier this year. I love the easy to squirt container, the way it gently washes the bottles and that it is safe for my baby. True, you can probably go more natural such as something water and vinegar based to wash out the bottles, but I feel a bit better using a soap because of the possibility of bacteria from the milk. The dish liquid rinses fast and their website boasts that their products are phthalate-free, paraben-free, SLES- & dye-free and not tested on animals. The toy cleaner wipes are awesome! They smell lightly of lavender, which comes from the essential lavender oil they use to scent the wipes. Lavender oil is also a natural anti-bacterial agent. They are very moisturized, so one wipe can easily clean more than two toys (depending on toy size) and then use a dry cloth to wipe the toys off or let them air dry.
I love that these products were created by two moms with entrepreneural spirits and a team of experts to create safer cleaning products for baby. Dapple gave us some samples of their products to give away at the New Mom Expo. We are pleased to be able to do a giveaway of the following full-sized Dapple Products 1) Baby Safe Dish Liquid 2) Toy Cleaner Wipes and 3) Toy and Surface Cleaner. The group of these three products retails at Babies R’ Us for $19.99.
All Dapple products are environmentally-safe, biodegradable, and free of parabens, SLES, and phthalates, as well as synthetic dyes or fragrances. Check out Dapple Baby for all their products and product information. Bliss Nine plans to use them in an upcoming seminar on toy cleaners too!
To Win: Comment on the blog about your favorite toy ever. Or if you’ve tried Dapple products before, comment about it for a chance to win this set of Dapple Baby products.
Winner will be selected at random on July 22nd and notified via e-mail.
UPDATE: The winner (again chosen at random by husband picking a number ) is The Happy Runner, #5. Congratulations! Can’t wait to giveaway more stuff in the coming weeks – we have some great goodies!
July 12th, 2009 | Eco-friendly, Events | No Comments |
On Saturday, July 18, 2009 at noon, Bliss Nine will present a class on Creating an Eco-Friendly Baby Nursery at the chic eco-friendly maternity store, Dress for the Nines. Learn about tips to make your nursery comfy and chemical-free for baby. Snacks and a good time chatting up with fellow pregnant ladies and me provided! See you all there!
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