Give good gift - Part One

The things I do for you lovelies.

For the last two weeks, my home has been turned upside-down as a result of FedEx and UPS packages arriving faster and in equally plentiful amouts as Hannah Montana fans flocking to a Miley freaking Cyrus concert. In the boxes and bags? Ideas for holiday gifts - all with some kind of fitness or self-care angle. Now, even though our second bedroom currently looks like an 86-year-old compulsive hoarder has taken up residence, I'm not exactly complaining, because it's been ridonculously fun trying out these babies in an effort to present WG readers with some cool ideas for holiday presents.

Yes, there were some duds. (One PR person - a guy [duh] - tried to convince me that Botox gift cards would be massively appealing as a health-conscious gift. Read about my reaction to his e-blubberimg on the Huffington Post - the story is titled "All I Want For Christmas is a Shot of Paralyzing Toxins to the Forehead.) But there were also a boatload of funky ideas (in a good way).

So if you wanna get your girlfriend/mom/self something besides a candle this year, check out the innovative and fresh products below (more to come tomorrow). Be sure to post your thoughts and let me know if you've tried any of these. Now it's the weekend, so git tuh buyin'!

Can you hear me now?
For a long time now, I’ve suspected something is wrong with my ears because I absolutely, for the life of me, have never been able to get those little ear buds to stay in my ear. They just flop out like eager little fish launching themselves overboard to avoid being eaten. So I was eager but cautiously optimistic when trying AirDrives - new earphones which hook and mold around/behind your ear and are designed so the speakers lay outside the ear rather than in it. This is especially good for women who run outside because you can jam to JT’s Sexy Back while also hearing traffic or people approaching from behind. AirDrives were conceived in an effort to help reduce Noise Induced Hearing Loss, a growing problem largely attributed to the increasing use of mobile music (yes, strange guy rocking out the bus to Depeche Mode, I’m talking to YOU!)

I wore these on the Elliptical because it is too freaking cold out to run and guess what? They stayed in! I was plugged into the Today Show and managed to hear what Al Roker was laughing about while also enjoying the John Mayer song being piped in over the gym's soundsystem...all while reading a magazine and working out. What a multitasker I am! The music wasn’t so loud that it bothered my neighbors (at least no one shot me dirtier looks than normal) and I looked WAY cool with my high-tech ear gadgets.

(http://www.airdrives.com/lowkey.html, $99.99)

BAM!
How can you not love Emeril? That innocent-yet-mischievous grin, his crazy passion for life and food, his ridiculously cute (if not somewhat confusing) press pics. Even though he’s prone to preparing dishes dripping with chocolate sauce or dinners with names like My-Oh-My Spaghetti Pie or Crawfish étouffée (“smothered crawfish”), the guy still cares about our health. Which is why he’s slapped his mug on the sleek, stainless steel Emerilware™ Steamer. It contains a center steaming compartment for larger foods (think whole lobster tails…dream big), two steamer baskets for a variety of smaller foods (broccoli and squash) and a top tray that can be used with the other compartments or alone. The individual steaming compartments mean you can cook different foods (up to 40 cups’ worth!) at the same time, without mixing flavors, and a Turbo boost button helps recover steam if, like me, you can’t help but sneak a peek every four minutes and wind up disrupting the entire cooking process.

(http://www.emerilappliances.com/steamer.asp, $99.99)

H20hhh
As I’ve mentioned before, I live in a state of chronic dehydration. Water? What’s that? Oh, you mean the frozen little cubes that cool down my Diet Coke? So I was psyched to try the PUR Flavor Options pitcher. It sits in your fridge, just chilling, so you have tasty, flavored (but sugar- and calorie-free) agua at the ready (strawberry, raspberry or peach.) Besides making it easier and more appealing to sip water over chemical juice, it cuts down on the need for bottled water, another trick that we of the Order of Dehydration are known to rely on. So you’re being environmentally friendly and healthy. The PUR pitcher has celeb cache, too: At a green gifting suite for the Emmy’s, Rebecca Gayheart said she was planning on giving them away as Christmas gifts for. Rebecca is married to McSteamy which means, if you use this pitcher, the Six Degrees rule puts you closer to Eric Dane than pretty much anything else will.

(http://www.purflavoroptions.com/; $29.99, two-pack flavor cartridge $9.99)



Don’t get lippy with me
Pull out your fave lipstick or that lip balm you’ve been smearing on all month. Do you see an ingredient called carmine? I freaking hope not because apparently, this coloring agent - which is FDA approved - is made of BOILED, DRIED, CRUSHED BEETLES! Nasty. But it’s very commonly used; chances are you and I have at some point chowed on beetle paste or used in our food. Blech.

That’s why I was excited to try Eco Tints lip balm. Carmine- and lead-free, these cute little babies are over 80% certified organic, made in a solar-powered plant and use no petrochemicals. They come in tinted form (I‘m partial to Plush Red - just a hint of tint); a caffeinated version for sluggish afternoons; sporty SPF; and also attached to various clips and leashes, so you can hook ‘em on your purse, parka zipper, whatever!

(http://www.ecolips.com/Products.aspx ; $9.95 for a three-pack)

Have a merry, merry citrus!
Just one whiff of that delish lemon+sage combo and you know…it’s bliss! The company packed up a variety of products with the signature sent (body scrub, body butter, shower gel and soap) in a cute holiday gift set called Merry Citrus. This stuff leaves you smelling fresh, feeling soft and good enough to eat! (www.blissworld.com, $38)

Also, bliss has a limited edition body butter out that us “infused with the fresh fragrance of just-fallen flakes.” IE it smells like snow! Arctic berry and grapeseed extract make the cream rich and unobtrusively scented, plus it has a very subtle sparkle (think just had sex, not all night rave). (www.blissworld.com, $32)

Watch yourself
If you’re a techie and like fitness gadgets that blink and read your mind while feeding you need-to-know-info, you’ll be drawn to the MOTIVA fitness watch. The watch, which is black with little red touches, monitors your heart rate, fitness intensity, calories taken in and burned – all without needing to strap anything across your chest. It also has a program which helps one shed a pound per week by counting down 3,500 calories (the equivalent of one pound of weight). The result? It will MOTIVAte you (I cannot take credit for the pun - it was on the company’s press release.)

I tested the MOTIVA on a Friday morning while working out on the Stepmill. Prior to getting on, I checked and my resting heart rate was 59. (Note: This is actually correct and no, I am not dead. I just have a low HR that often precludes me from donating blood until they confirm that I’m not a zombie and just in good shape). But by the time I was 30 minutes in, my ticker was up to 170BPM - 85% of my max heart rate (which is where it should be). I don’t normally track my heart rate but I do know that a pace at which you’re fairly out of breath but could talk if you wanted is good, and that’s what I was.

At the end of my workout, I glanced at the watch to see what kind of juicy nuggets of info it would offer me and it said I’d burned 390 calories. This shocked me because I pretty much never look at Calories Burned on exercise machines and 390 is, like, equivalent to a few packs of oatmeal, skim milk and some Swedish Fish (my own personal breakfast of champions). So I punched a button on the Stepmill to see the calorie output there and it read 510. Guess which one I believed? The cold, impersonal machine which simply regards me as a stranger using it to let off steam, or my warm, friendly little MOTIVAtor? The watch, duh!

(Dicks Sporting Goods stores or www.miowatch.com/3500; $99.99)

More to come!!...

Comments

Oh my gawd... I am so grossed out about learning that my beloved Burts Bees has "BOILED, DRIED, CRUSHED BEETLES!" as an ingrediant that I might run out and buy your recomended lip balm.

I'm kind of a freak about my lip balm (I'm very chappy, what can I say??) so I immediately went to the eco lips site - I sooooo want to try it! Is the color very sheer though? I don't want it look like lipstick...

very sheer...and tastes a *bit* like chocolate!

Erin - I found this on the Burts Bees website under 'FAQ':

Q: Please explain why carmine is used as a coloring in your products.

A: We are aware that for some people who adhere to strict vegan or vegetarian lifestyles, it is hard to understand why we would choose to use this ingredient in our products. Carmine, as you may already know, is an extract taken from the shells of the cochineal beetle.It is a common ingredient used in the cosmetic and food industry. We choose to use this ingredient because it is natural and the only alternatives to it are compounds such as D&C Red #7, D&C Red #6, which are 100% synthetic, or FD&C No. 40, which is derived from coal tar (a non renewable fossil fuel).

We use carmine also because it is the only bright red pigment that is not from a synthetic source. If you would like to recommend another natural alternative to carmine for product coloring, we welcome your suggestions and input.

I will be purchasing the airdrives for my husband who has a difficult time keeping earphones in place--thanks for the information.

Hi, I use burt's bees lip balm for my chapped lips and I checked the ingredients on my tube and carmine was NOT listed, so I don't know if you ladies are using the same kind as me but I just thought I'd throw that out there.

I love Eco Lips because they are so committed to the environment. Their products are way ahead of the competition in terms of organic ingredients. Burt's Bees is only a natural brand and does not focus on organic ingredients. Could someone check out their Merlot Shimmer and tell me if it has lead in it? Someone told me that recently! (The Clorox company owns BBs now!) Anyway, carmine is used when a company wants to get a red color in their product. Natural minerals like what they use in Eco Tints solves this problem perfectly - only in a pure and natural way instead of killing beetles!