Posts Tagged ‘pictures’

Blissmobox: Fair Trade Favorites II

laelene Posted in reviews, subscriptions,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Another belated review, but Blissmo sometimes offers old boxes up so hopefully this will come in useful! The options were Pantry Picks, Fair Trade Favorites II, or Skin ‘n’ Hair Care (which I had gotten in a previous month).

blissmobox is just under $25 per month with shipping (or as discounted as just under $120 for 6 months) and comes with eco-friendly products in themes like beauty, snacks, home, pets, and more. Each month you choose from two or three themes, or skip if none of them appeal to you. They do not offer a referral program.

the choices for september's blissmobox: pantry picks, fair trade favorites ii, or skin 'n' hair care

The three choices for the September blissmobox.

This was my September 2012 box and I chose the Fair Trade Favorites option since their original Fair Trade box seemed to have been well-received, plus I totally wanted to discover more Fair Trade products!

collage of september fair trade favorites ii blissmobox contents including green mountain coffee, eli's earth bar, hand in hand soap, two larabars, ecolips lip balm, and akoma shea butter

collage of hand in hand soap orange blossom soap barHand in Hand shea butter soap, Orange Blossom – I thought this was totally adorable and amazing! The packaging is really nice and I’d never heard of shea butter soap before, so that was intriguing. These are made in Vermont from vegetable-based ingredients – they’re biodegradable and cruelty-free! This is one of those brands that gives a product each time one is sold (like Tom’s shoes or other similar buy a soap give a soap brands). The orange blossom scent sounded amazing, but I found that it was too light for my liking. It almost felt like a scentless soap, so this is being used in the kitchen since I like fresher smells when washing my hands there.

collage of eli's earth bars dream big barEli’s Earth bars, Dream Big – This lovely bar was just fasntastic. Yummy, yummy! I gobbled it right up and wanted more, which is funny because I’m not really a fan of peanuts or peanut butter. Yet, the way they made this was very tasty without being overly “peanuty” so it’s an excellent treat to have in lieu of Snickers/Milky Way/Mars Bars sort of junk food. Plus, they support children in need and who doesn’t want to help children?

collage of akoma skincare shea million soft shea butterAkoma Skincare raw shea butter, Shea Million – I was pretty excited when I saw this. I hear shea butter and I think all kinds of wonderful things. However, since this is a raw shea butter with no scent, I got to really smell shea and I found I don’t really like it. I love how it melts with your body heat, which is pretty fun. I’m saving this to either gift to someone or use for when my hands need some extra loving.

collage of green mountain coffee signature vermont country blendGreen Mountain Coffee grinds, Signature Vermont Country Blend – I personally do not drink coffee, but I was still glad to see this because my future brother-in-law is pretty obsessed and I knew he could appreciate a nice blend. I gave it to him for his birthday and heard back not long after that it was very tasty! If his discerning taste buds give the stamp of approval, I’m sure most coffee-lovers out there would enjoy it too.

collage of ecolips hemp lip balm vanillaEcoLips Organic Hemp lip balm, Vanilla – I’ve gotta say, I’m not sure how I feel about hemp. In middle school it was like a buzz word for drugs or something, but then by college I saw getting those hemp bracelets without qualms. Why is there a bit of a negative connotation around that word? I mean hemp itself isn’t anything bad, right? I was a little hesitant to try this since I didn’t want to numb my lips or something (no idea why I would think that). It’s really just like any other lip balm though, with a nice sweet vanilla scent and it glides on quite well.

collage of larabar chocolate chip brownie & chocolate chip cookie dough barsLÄRABAR fruit & nut bar, Chocolate Chip Brownie & Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough – Oh my, these are dense! I thought the small size would not be enough, but just one piece and I was feeling full. They sure to pack it in there! Both flavors were quite good and if I worked out, I’d totally be stocking up on these to eat after a workout. For now my life is too sedentary to need a “power bar” sort of thing like this.

If you’d like more info on these brands, you can click below to enlarge the photo and read more.
blissmobox fair trade favorites info sheet

365great Day 35: LUSH

laelene Posted in 365great,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Learn more about 365great here.

365great challenge day 35: lushI first came across LUSH when I was studying abroad in England. It was love at first smell! I mean, so many of their amazing products look so good you just want to eat them. Plus, they smell lovely and they’re made from natural ingredients. Add to that the fresh and handmade factor and I was totally sold (in theory – I was still to cheap to actually buy anything, much as I wanted). After returning to the US, I sorely regretted not getting that charcoal face soap I’d been eyeing.

A few years later, I was thrilled when they finally opened up shop in the LA area! This time I finally got to use some of their products and it’s always so fun since it feels like something you could just cook up in your own kitchen. Lately I got into solid shampoos and of course, LUSH has those too. I’ve got a lovely bar of that at home that I’ve been using and it’s perfect for travel. LUSH is one of the earlier eco-friendly, socially responsible brands I’d heard of and it still retains a special place in my memories. Their products are pretty great!

365great Day 34: spring

laelene Posted in 365great,Tags: , , , , , , , , ,
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Learn more about 365great here.

365great challenge day 34: springThis year, spring has been elusive. When flowers should have been budding and people should have been admiring the lovely cherry blossoms of our capitol, we were stuck with mini snow/slush/rain storm after storm. Cold front this, wacky pressure that, and no temperatures over 60-something. Over here on the west coast, at least the LA area, high winds have briskly whisked away our hopes for a nice warm day. What’s going on?!

I think just about everyone looks forward to spring – the renewal, the budding flowers, the warm air, the change of wardrobe, maybe even some cleaning! The world around us becomes more active and the weather gets warmer so we can shed those layers. Colors come back and beauty is everywhere – check out how amazing this flower in my yard looks! Playing outside becomes more accessible and everything just seems so alive. What a great feeling that is!

FMSPhotoADay March 2013

laelene Posted in photo blog,Tags: , , , , , ,
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FMS PhotoADay is a photo challenge hosted/led by Chantelle of FatMumSlim. She posts a prompt for each day of the month and you can interpret them however you like! It’s a fun way to look at the world around you in a different light (and actually look at it more). I joined partway through March and have been having fun with it. It’s quite rewarding! I liked how Chantelle summarized and looked back on her month’s worth of photo a day images on her blog, so I’m going to do that too!

I started on March 10th; here’s what I did through the month. 🙂

How to: Make and Use A Favicon

laelene Posted in how to guides,Tags: , , , , , ,
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[You can skip to the step-by-step if you’re in a hurry.]

One of my mini-obsessions when it comes building and maintaining your own website (including a blog, e-commerce store, or what have you) is having a personalized favicon. If you don’t know what a favicon is, it’s that little square image that you see on the tabs of your browser, as shown below.

line of open tabs showing various favicons in browser

The first three are my sites, which you can see each have their unique image. While they may not be the best, at least it separates me from the crowd and I don’t get the ugly paper shown on the far right. That’s what many browsers use as a placeholder for sites with no favicon. Some look better, some look worse, but you get the idea – it says nothing about YOUR site.

I tend to have a ton of tabs open at a time, so that the only thing I can see about a tab is the favicon. This becomes an important way for me to identify which tab I want to go to. I can easily spot, say Facebook, and open up that tab without guessing which one is the right one. It’s a simple step for branding that many smaller sites don’t take advantage of.

So here’s what you do:

1. Choose an image (or images) you want to use. You might want to test a few images to see which you like best. The image has to be cropped to a square and it can be your logo, your profile pic, or whatever you feel best represents your brand/website at a glance. Bloggers, it’s probably best for this to also be your avatar image when you post comments on other sites. The consistency in visual branding can only help.

2. Use a tool like HTML -Kit’s FavIcon Generator. You can upload the picture from your computer or even pull from your Twitter account’s profile pic. Then click Generate FavIcon.ico and be patient! It may take up to a minute to upload your picture and process it. If you do not upload a square image, the tool will automatically crop your picture.

non-square image gets cropped into square to generate favicon on htmlkit.com

My picture got cropped to a square and my feet were cut off in this example.

3. Download your favicon package if you’re satisfied. If not, you can upload another image until you find one you like. The HTML -Kit FavIcon Generator shows you the still and animated versions of your favicon in a browser image. You can actually click on those images to get a live preview in your own browser.

4. Open the .zip file and unzip or extract the files. You can choose to use the still or animated file. The animated  file is a .gif and the still file is a .ico. There’s also a ReadMe.txt included, with instructions on how to install your new favicon of choice. You can read that or continue with this post!

5. Now log in to your web provider (I use JustHost, many of you probably use GoDaddy, HostGator, BlueHost, etc.) and open up the File Manager. You want to go to the Root Directory of your site. If you have multiple sites, make sure you to go the correct one!

6. Upload your favicon to the Root Directory. Choose whichever one tickles your fancy, but I’d recommend the static .ico one since animated ones can appear unprofessional.

7. Add the following code to the header section of your HTML code (in between the <head> and </head> tags):

<link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”favicon.ico” >

For the animated favicon, you’re going to add some extra code:

<link rel=”shortcut icon” href=”favicon.ico” >
<link rel=”icon” type=”image/gif” href=”animated_favicon1.gif” >

8. That’s it! Refresh your page (sometimes you need a “hard” refresh by pressing Ctrl+F5 or sometimes you need to clear your cookies, maybe even close your browser or try a different one) and voila, your favicon has been updated and now represents you. 🙂

365great Day 31: freshly baked

laelene Posted in 365great,Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,
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Learn more about 365great here.

365great challenge day 31: freshly bakedDon’t you just love the smell of something baking in the oven? Whether it’s bread, cookies, brownies, cake, a pot pie, a pizza, or whatever your favorite may be, a wonderful smell starts wafting up in the air and then you get to pull out a hot, delicious, steaming tray of food to eat. As the food cools down, you can dig in and enjoy the sensory experience of tasting and smelling it, as well as enjoying the lovely soft texture while it’s sill moist. It’s one of the simple things that is oh so satisfying. Totally great!

365great Day 30: kaolin clay

laelene Posted in 365great,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Learn more about 365great here.

One of my newer obsessions when it comes to skincare is kaolin clay. I first encountered it when browsing BzzAgent campaigns; there was a campaign for Pond’s Luminous Clean facial cleansers and I was sooo intrigued when I read that it could “Gently draw out trapped impurities & makeup to brighten dull skin.” Draw out impurities? Yes please!

365great challenge day 30: kaolin clayNot long after, I had a facial at Massage Envy in which they used Murad’s Clarifying Mask, which also had kaolin clay to help draw out impurities. My face felt and looked amazing afterwards – it was the first time that I saw any effect on my blackheads. I was sold! Between the purifying effects and the oil-absorbing benefits, this is seriously exactly what I need for my skin. Plus, kaolin clay is gentle on skin so anyone can use it and that’s great!

Garnier shampoo/conditioner for less than $1!

laelene Posted in general blog,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Here’s how to get a 13 fl oz Garnier Fructis Hydra Recharge shampoo or conditioner for less than $1!

bottles of garnier fructis hydra recharge shampoo and conditioner 13 fl oz eachI had received Garnier’s new Hydra Recharge products for a BzzAgent campaign awhile back and really enjoyed them. As I mentioned in my review, I’m not in the same location as before, so while that set sits out east, I’m stuck here on the west coast with no product. Sooo I decided it was high time to get some to use over here as well! Luckily, as part of my BzzAgent campaign, I have a special link you can use to print a coupon for $1.25 off any full-size Garnier Fructis shampoo, conditioner, or treatment (expires 5/13/13). Combine that with the $1.00 off a full-size Garnier Hydra Recharge shampoo or conditioner coupon from Target (expires 4/27/13) and you’ve got yourself quite a deal!

At my local Target, the 13 fl oz sizes are $2.99. With the coupons, your Hydra Recharge shampoo or conditioner comes to $0.74 plus tax and hey why not use your Target Card to get an additional 5% off? So for less than a dollar, you can walk away with a wonderfully fragrant and hydrating hair care product from Garnier. The shampoo has these fun little beads that burst when you wash your hair and the entire line smells of a luscious fruity scent – it’s a combination of kiwi, passion fruit, and goji berry! What are you waiting for? Hurry up and print those coupons, then head over to your closest Target to snag this deal pronto! It won’t last much longer…

This is an example of what the coupons look like. Do NOT attempt to print from this picture. I’ve blurred them out a bit just in case. Please use the links above to get the coupons legitimately. Thanks!

garnier fructis hydra recharge manufacturer's and target coupons example

365great Day 29: Teatulia

laelene Posted in 365great,Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,
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Learn more about 365great here.

365great challenge day 29: teatuliaFor any tea fans out there, Teatulia is an excellent brand. Not only are they organic with eco-friendly packaging, they grow their tea in Bangladesh and help support the local economy. I love everything from the cool canisters they use to the awesome corn silk pyramid bags to the taste of the tea itself, of course. The canisters are compostable, as are the bags. The pyramid shape of the bags allows for the leaves inside to fully unfurl. Unlike lower quality tea bags, these don’t contain the crushed bits and pieces of the tea leaves so the taste is far superior.

I was first introduced to this brand when I got some in my very first Yuzen box and I have been drinking it ever since. In fact, they’re the only brand of bagged tea that I drink now. You can find them at select Whole Foods, restaurants, or on their website. Sign up for their newsletter for some great deals periodically! It’s great to see a brand so dedicated to doing things right, including running social programs to help the local Bangladeshi. Between the quality of their products, their sustainable values, and their community initiatives, Teatulia is truly great.

365great Day 28: eos

laelene Posted in 365great,Tags: , , , , , , , ,
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Learn more about 365great here.

365great challenge day 28: eosWho said lip balm had to come in stick or tub form? Oh no, it can be much cuter. I can’t remember the first time I found out about eos (aka evolution of smooth), but somehow I signed up for their newsletter and followed them on Facebook. I kept seeing updates of this and that celebrity posing with their lip balms (and loved seeing my adolescent fav, Lance Bass with one). When they announced their shave creams, I was intrigued and went to try some. I loved it!

At some point I acquired a strawberry lip balm and carried it in my purse at all times. The cute little egg shape made me smile every time and the all-natural formulation was definitely important to me. Then one day, they emailed about their Alice in Wonderland set and I was sold. My all-time favorite fruits & flavors are blueberry and watermelon, which this trio had, along with a vanilla flavor. I went out the next day to find them at Target! I’ve even been selling them on eBay, mostly to international buyers. They’re a hit all around the world! A lip balm that’s 100% natural and adorable? Now that’s great!

 

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