Okay, I didn’t quite believe it either, but the winner is…

NORA!

AGAIN!

I use Random.org for every giveaway, and I use the comment numbered with the random result as the winner. I guess she’s just random enough to win another giveaway! Or maybe it’s because she used to live right around the corner from Maven and needs some love from the old ‘hood. Either way…

Congratulations, Nora!

Again!

I will be emailing you later today.

You know you’ve made it big when someone asks to put your name on a fragrance. Britney Spears. Beyonce. David Beckham.

But authors? No one is going to want a perfume called “Hogwarts, by J.K. Rowling.”

Kate Bethel works behind the counter making bath and body products at her shop, Maven, in Maplewood, Missouri. And when you own the place, you can name the delicious-smelling bath bombs, soaps, scrubbing salts, and other products anything you want.

Yes, indeedy. That is a handmade Sookie Stackhouse bath bomb.

Kate says she designed the fragrance with a combination of magnolia and gardenia, in homage to the Deep South setting of Stackhouse’s popular books.

You will want to stick your head in the jar.

Or all of the jars. And the antique sinks displaying the vegetable glycerin soaps, and the crates of lotions, scrubs, and everything else you might like to lather or slather all over yourself. You can keep it simple with Japanese Cherry Blossom or mix it up with Tangerine Fig or even Mayan Chocolate, which manages to be on the just the right side of smelling like something edible.

I do love nice bath and body products. A great fragrance is so relaxing, and when you’re as stressed as I’ve been lately, it becomes a necessity. My first try at the goodies from Maven included a Raspberry Guava bath bomb and an Oatmeal Cookie scented vegetable glycerin soap.

The bath bomb was incredibly fragrant. Toss it under the running water and you won’t even have to wait for the fragrance to build – it’s huge when you just open up the little bag. It made the water pleasantly fizzy and light pink in color, but don’t worry – the color doesn’t cling to the skin, the tub, your towels, or even the cheapy plastic non-skid mat I have in there. It’s just… yum. The bathroom smelled delicious all day, long after the tub drained, and my skin felt nice and clean, not filmy like it often does after a bubble bath.

At $3.50 for a large bomb and $2.50 for a small one (buy 5, get 1 free!), it’s a sweet indulgence.

I chose to try the bar of soap because I normally don’t like bar soap. It doesn’t foam up into nice bubbles and I never feel as moisturized with a bar soap as I do with a liquid body wash. Something about tallow, I think. But Maven’s vegetable-based soap was a pleasant surprise. It bubbled nicely when I rubbed it on my loofah, and the lather was full enough that I didn’t have to use a separate shaving gel.

Post-shower, my skin was soft and smelled of cookie the rest of the day, which pleased me very much because most yummy soaps only leave you smelling good for a little while after you use them. My boyfriend tried to chew on my arm several hours after I used the Oatmeal Cookie soap, so I think that proves its superior staying power.

There are about a zillion flavors, and each bar is only $3.50.

All products are 100% vegan, and all-natural when possible. Maven also offers some lovely combination products with pieces of scrubs, soaps, and bath bombs formed in molds and combined to make fantastic things like Shower Sundaes and Cupcake Bombs. I cannot wait to try one – the Red Apple fragrance is calling my name.

And I have a GIVEAWAY that is calling YOUR Name!

You’d love to open up the mail and find Maven’s  Lemon Bamboo body scrub, your choice of a bath bomb flavor (I’ll send you a list) and a surprise fragrance soap, wouldn’t you?

Just leave me a quick comment here to enter. I want to know…

What helps you relax?

You can also tweet this contest up to 4 times and leave links in the comment section, for a total of five entries (maximum) per person.

The contest closes at midnight on Friday, October 16th and the winner will be notified using the email address he or she provides in the comment section.

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In addition to the yummies, Maven also sells pieces by local artists and from various Etsy shops, so stop by and check out soy candles, scarves, dresses, bags, jewelry, and even bed linens. Maven is located at the corner of Southwest and Manchester in Maplewood, MO.

Be sure to check out the website at www.mavenstl.com. The Maven bath and body product shop on Etsy is coming soon!

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No free products were provided for the purposes of this review and giveaway. I just really like this stuff.

I’m a Jeans Girl. And until pretty recently, I was an Expensive-Jeans Girl. Dressy, skinny jeans for going out. Lazy, almost-too-big jeans for staying in. In-between jeans for everything. Most of my collection was premium denim: Paper Denim & Cloth, Rock and Republic, Chip and Pepper, Paige Premium, and so on. I love the look and the feel of quality denim fabric, the way it holds color, the way it fits. I love how it can be tight without cutting off circulation, low-rise without falling off, flared without appearing to eat my feet.

Call me crazy, but I never found what I wanted at Target, even in their “premium” Mossimo denim. Or Macy’s. Or even J. Crew.

Or the Gap.

The Gap released their new line of 1969 premium denim in July, and their marketing team at Brand About Town kicked it off with a special coupon for BlogHer attendees to take home a pair for free as part of their “Born to Fit” promotion. The brand had sort of fallen off my radar since I finished high school ten years ago. I’d always had nice clothes from The Gap before, but premium denim priced at under $70 is usually found only on eBay. Everyone has a “premium” line now, but a Jeans Girl knows that premium denim is more than just semantics.

The 1969 jeans for women come in several styles:

• Bootcut (Perfect and Sexy)
• Real Straight
• Always Skinny
• Curvy
• Long and Lean

I tried on several different styles in several different sizes, and ended up with a pair of Real Straight jeans in a dark wash. My two pairs of designer jeans that still fit me have bootcut leg openings, so I was aiming for a pair of straighter jeans from The Gap’s new line.

Real Straight was slim-fitting but forgiving. I’ve gained weight around the thighs and tush and my bootcuts at home just seemed to emphasize that. The straight cut of these new jeans kind of evens things out but miraculously manages to not look baggy.

But are they premium stuff? Here’s what I look for, and here’s what I found:

Rear pocket placement:

It’s always key and should vary depending on the fit of the jeans and the goal of the wearer. Place them further to the outside to emphasize hip curves, higher on the tush to emphasize a rear curve. Too low and they just look dumb. Embroidery should be subtle. Paper Denim and Cloth jeans have perfect pockets.

The Real Straight pockets are not bulky and are placed fairly centrally on each side so as not to emphasize the rear curve too much but not flatten it either.

Rise:

This is the hardest thing for me to negotiate in a pair of jeans. I’m short-legged, high-waisted and big-arsed with a sway back, so the gap at the back of the waistband is a constant problem. I have a lot of belts. But I’ve never found a pair of jeans under $100 where it seemed like a designer could make something for my body type.

The waistband on the Real Straight – marketed as a low-rise fit – sits perfectly on my lower back in any position. I’d have to wear granny panties in order to show underwear over the top, and I don’t need a belt to keep the gap in.

Size and Care:

I don’t care so much what the number on the label says when I take it out of the store, but I care very much whether the jeans stay that size. I love my denim, but I am a lazy person about laundry and I always throw my jeans in the dryer. They come out softer like that anyhow. My more expensive jeans have never shrunk (I thought they did, but it seems that my thighs have just grown), but cheaper denim will usually lose at least half a size, usually a FULL size – after the first wash and dry.

I tried on the Real Straight in two sizes and bought the one that was just the teensiest bit too big. The first time I washed and dried them, sure enough, they went down about a half a size. They still fit great and maintained their color well (wash them inside out like the label says), but I’m glad I thought ahead on that one.

Another note on size – these jeans (all styles) run loooong. Because I am high-waisted, I can’t get the petite fit because it will ride too low in the back. But if you’re going to buy good jeans, put the $10 into getting them hemmed properly anyway. You’ll thank me later.

Materials:

Soft cotton, with a little stretch in the fabric itself but not in the seams, which is exactly how jeans should be. After two wash and dry cycles, they’re doing well and did not shrink any more after that initial run-through.

Price:

For premium? I used to say that it was worth whatever. Then I wised up.

Gap 1969 Women’s Premium Denim jeans are all priced at $69.50 or less.

Overall:

Gap 1969 Real Straight Premium Denim fit well and are made of quality materials with excellent craftsmanship and a very low price when compared to similarly well-made jeans. You may want to buy them a tiny bit big. Invest in hems if you need to.

Special Offers:

The website has several styles and washes on sale as of this writing, in store or online for a limited time. It doesn’t get much better than that, kittens.

Jeans Girl wants another pair.

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A complimentary product was provided by Brand About Town for the purposes of this review.

Well, it was my first giveaway on this new blog, so I wasn’t TOO terribly sad that I didn’t get many entries to win the yummy Fruit2O Essentials water.

Okay, maybe a little. But I know you have added this new blog to your reader so you will not forget to enter the next one. Right?

Anyway, Nora from Walking Through the Rain wins the prize! A box of very tasty drinks will be in the mail to her very soon!

Flavored water with two full servings of fruit

in each 18 oz. bottle

I don’t usually drink my required 64 oz. of water every day, but because of my new quest to improve my lifestyle, I figured that increasing my water intake would be a simple change to make… but water bores me and I am a soda addict. Plain old water? Only if there isn’t a Diet Dr. Pepper in a 5-mile radius, thank you very much.

I’ve tried several add-in powders to flavor my water, but they’re packed with sugar and many of them turn my tongue funny colors. I’ve tried several pre-mixed flavored waters and while some of them are tasty, they’re nowhere near good for you because of all the sugar, even if they do pack some extra vitamins. High fructose corn syrup as the second ingredient kind of kills the health benefits of drinking more water.

When I heard that Fruit2O had a new flavored water on the market called Fruit2O Essentials and that it didn’t contain sugar, my first thought was “Thank God!” and my second was “Oh wait. No sugar? This is not going to taste good.”

Taste:

I’ve tried five out of the six flavors now and I am absolutely stunned by the taste of this water. Blueberry Pomegranate is my favorite, with just enough of very natural-tasting flavors and nothing overdone. I love blueberries and they have a hard flavor to fake, so this particular water flavor really impressed me. Peach Mango was the one that tasted most obviously like the summery fruits it is named for. I’d buy a case and drink it by the pool. Cranberry Raspberry was another gentle flavor, with a slightly tart kick like a real cranberry. Although it was not especially to my personal taste, a random sampling of this flavor with the people in my office suite garnered several “Can I have some more?” and “Wow!” responses.

I was prepared to be underwhelmed by Kiwi Strawberry because I just usually don’t care for that flavor in anything, and by Citrus because I hate lemon-flavored waters. But they were both quite nice – I actually enjoyed the mild, accurate flavor of the Kiwi Strawberry (which, by the way, had a very pleasant aftertaste like real fruit does) and I think the Citrus flavor was well-balanced with notes of lemon, lime and grapefruit. There is also another flavor, Cherry Acai, which I did not have the opportunity to sample.

The Kicker:

Flavor is the first thing that comes to mind when testing out anything edible or drinkable. But the real stunner in these drinks is not that they taste good without tons of high fructose corn syrup (this product has sucralose, better known as Splenda, near the end of the ingredient list), but that they are so jammed full of vitamins and minerals that each 18 oz bottle packs in two full servings of fruit. Although there is no fruit juice in the drinks, the vitamin content meets FDA standards for what constitutes a serving of fruit. How they do the flavor with no fruit juice is beyond me, but whatever it is, it’s good. As much as I do love a good peach now and then, Peach Mango water is a lot easier to take to a meeting when I need a little bump in the work day.

Double-whammy! Almost 1/3 of my daily water needs, AND two servings of real-tasting fruit into the bargain? Yes, please.

Are You Thirsty Yet?

You can check out the Fruit2O website at http://www.fruit2o.com for full nutritional information, coupons, and information on where to buy Fruit2O Essentials water near you.

THE GIVEAWAY!

You know you want to try this yumminess! I’m giving away a 12-pack of your chosen flavor of Fruit2O Essentials to one lucky reader.

To enter, do one or both of the following:

• Leave a comment on this post, admitting one of your nutritional shortcomings (chocolate? pizza? BEER?).
• Blog or tweet this giveaway and leave the link in a separate comment. Each time you tweet it, you can enter again, up to 5 times!

You must put a valid email address when you enter the comment.

The winner will be chosen using a random generator and will be notified by email. All entries must be in by 11:59 pm on Sunday, April 23rd.

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This review and giveaway are sponsored by Fruit2O Essentials.