Yogi Surprise March 2017 Review and Coupon

Since I got quite a bit of traffic to my previous post about Yogi Surprise I thought I’d continue posting reviews of these awesome monthly boxes. My March Yogi Surprise box arrived yesterday, and I once again absolutely love it!

Yogi Surprise is a monthly subscription box, and the cost is $44.95 with free shipping, however right now you can use code YOGIFRIEND to get 20% off for life (this is what I do – it brings the cost per box down to $35.96).

The theme this month is “Time to Blossom”, which is just perfect for March! Yogi Surprise ships at the beginning of the month and even though they are in Oregon I usually get my box in MA just two-three days after they send out the shipping notice.

Here’s what was in the box:

• Jivana Ayurveda & Yoga Body Butter, 4 oz (MSRP $21) – this stuff is absolutely fantastic! It’s a whipped body butter with a light incredibly pleasant scent. The whipped texture sinks right into the skin and doesn’t leave a greasy residue behind. This is probably one of my favorite Yogi Surprise products to date!
• Soul Flower Boho Headband (MSRP $16) – this was one of the spoilers from last month, and for some reason I thought it was a bandanna. I was really glad to open my box and find that it’s actually a very soft and wide headband! It’s made in the USA out of 50% organic cotton and 50% polyester from recycled water bottles. I got the Illuminate print which I prefer to the red that was in the spoiler. This will be great for lazy/slouchy days.
• Andalou Naturals Coconut Milk Firming Mask (MSRP $14.99) – I already tried this out. It’s a “quenching” face mask for dry skin with a light pleasant coconut scent. There is prickly cactus extract which I’m seeing more and more in natural beauty products these days. I felt that it was a fairly light mask, not greasy or oily at all. I’m going to have to use it a couple of times to see how it performs, one time wasn’t quite enough to form a full opinion.
• Moon Valley Organics Muscle Rub (MSRP $12.99) – another product I was super excited to receive. It’s a fairly thick ointment with arnica, cayenne, habanero that’s supposed to help heal sore muscles. I tried it out on my husband’s sore neck last night, and can say that it has a very mild warming action and smells absolutely delightful. It also comes in the cutest box I have ever seen. The full size tube isn’t huge, but it’s a great thing to have on hand!
• Rhythm Superfoods Broccoli Bites (MSRP $4.59 – less on Vitacost!) – the ingredients list looks great on these, however I haven’t tried them out yet. Always great to receive some healthy(-ier) snacks.
• Ulimana Coco Nectar Truffles (MSRP $5.39) – I also haven’t tried these yet, but they are made out of certified organic raw ingredients, sweetened with coconut nectar and have only 4g of sugar per truffle (vs 9g in a Godiva truffle!).

That comes to a $75 combined value of the products, and since I was able to snag a 20% off code I only pay $35.96 a month for this box. So March brought us another great box from Yogi Surprise! It is my favorite subscription right now, I find the curation to be spot-on every single month.

If you liked the contents of the March 2017 box, subscribe to Yogi Surprise now and get 20% off for life with code YOGIFRIEND.

Also, for a limited time your first box will include these awesome chakra healing stones from Energy Muse (MSRP $19.99)! Click here to sign up for Yogi Surprise if you think this is a subscription for you.

Yogi Surprise February 2017 Review

I haven’t written about subscription boxes in quite some time, but had to get back to doing that after subscribing to Yogi Surprise. I absolutely LOVE Yogi Surprise! I’ve been subscribing for 4 months at this point, and have loved every single box I’ve gotten from them. To clarify, Yogi Surprise is technically a “lifestyle box” that focuses on eco-friendly products with yoga as an overarching theme, not a monthly dose of yoga props.

This is a monthly subscription, and the cost is $44.95 with free shipping, however right now you can either use code LOVEYOURSELF25 to get 25% off your first box (which comes to $33.71) and then 10% off for life OR use code YOGIFRIEND to get 20% off for life (this is what I do – it brings the cost per box down to $35.96).

Each month does come with a theme and asana sequence card, and the February 2017 Yogi Surprise theme was “Let Love In”, which I thought was great for February. Not only is love in the air due to Valentine’s Day coming up, but this last winter month is a great time to finally get back to being grounded after a tumultuous holiday season and show yourself some love.

Yogi Surprise advertise an average retail value of $70, and I personally love the way these boxes are curated. Here’s what I received in the February 2017 Yogi Surprise box:

• Jasmine Seven Yoga Mat Wipes (MSRP $3.95) – this is a travel pack of 10 wipes. The wipes are a little on the thin side, but then again I have a super grippy Jade mat that wipes never really work with. I think I’ll use these as emergency hand/body wipes – they have tea tree oil in the ingredients, which is great for disinfecting.
• Cuccio Somatology Calming Yoga Elixir (MSRP $8.95) – a lavender/cardamom spray that is advertised as a soothing room spray or towel spray for a “spa experience”. I love getting room sprays in my Yogi Surprise box – it is not something I would typically purchase myself, but it’s great to get as a treat. This one smells quite lovely, and I like to spray it a couple of times over the pillows before bedtime.
• Bearded Brothers Bodacious Blueberry Vanilla energy bar (MSRP $3.19) – I haven’t tried this yet, but loved that it was high in protein and did not list any added sugar. It’s made out of organic dates, organic almonds, rice protein, organic dried blueberries, organic chia seeds and sea salt and contains 241 calories and 8 grams of protein. I’ve already thrown this in my yoga bag to have as a post-workout snack!
• Booda Butter Suds of Love All-In-One Soap (MSRP $6.95) – this is an unscented soap made with organic olive, coconut and shea oils that according to the manufacturer can be used as a soap, shaving foam and even shampoo. We don’t actually use bar soap in our household, so this is going to be a great gift for a friend of mine who has sensitive dry skin.
• Balanced Guru Nourished Organic Scalp Treatment (MSRP $23) – there was a variety of Balanced Guru hair products in the February 2017 Yogi Surprise box, and I was thrilled to get the Nourished treatment! It’s a strengthening and soothing non-greasy tonic that comes with a dropper. You drop in on your scalp after a shower, massage in and it calms the skin and strengthens your hair. My scalp has a hard time in the winter, so this was a perfect fit for my needs. And I loved that this was not oily at all and does not weigh down my fine hair!
• Valentina’s Naturals Balancing Beauty Mist toner (MSRP $22) – this is an apple cider vinegar-based toner which is meant for oily/combination skin, and it comes in a generous 4 oz spray bottle. I have dry/sensitive skin, but decided to give it a try nonetheless – ACV is a magic ingredient, and there are additional ingredients such as glycerin and aloe vera that made me think it wouldn’t be too drying. So far so good, but if I find that it’s starting to dry me out I will just use it as a back/chest spray. It does smell of ACV, although not as strongly as I thought!
• The box also contained discount codes for 25% off your Cuccio purchase and 20% off your Booda Butter purchase.

So overall the total value of this box came to a little over $68. I just love the curation and for me the value is absolutely there – I used code YOGIFRIEND when I signed up to receive 20% off my subscription for life, which brought my monthly cost down to $35, so all of these product were at about a 50% discount. But honestly, with this box for me personally it’s less about monetary value – I just love the items I get every month!

The March 2017 Yogi Surprise box spoilers are out already, and if you subscribe now you will receive a Soul Flower Boho Headband (MSRP $16), Jivana Body Butter (MSRP $21) and four more full sized items!

The cost of a Yogi Surprise subscription is $44.95 with free shipping in the US, however right now you can either use code LOVEYOURSELF25 to get 25% off your first box (which comes to $33.71) and then 10% off for life OR use code YOGIFRIEND to get 20% off for life (this is what I do – it brings the cost per box down to $35.96).

Also, for a limited time your first box will include these awesome chakra healing stones from Energy Muse (MSRP $19.99)! Click here to sign up for Yogi Surprise if you think this is a subscription for you.

 

Vitacost vs iHerb Updated Review Posted on OlgasLaundry.com

There has been so much traffic to my original Vitacost vs iHerb post from way back in 2013 – it is one of the most popular posts on this blog of all time! But three years is an eternity when it comes to the internet, so I have published an updated 2016 version on Olga’s Laundry Blog. In the updated review I compare the two retailers and determine who is the 2016 winner and overall best online vendor of natural products and supplements.

Come check it out – you will also find out how to save $5-10 off your first order!

Continue reading on Olga’s Laundry Blog →

Rare Discount on Amazon Prime: $73/year

Only for new customers (so I can’t take advantage, boo!), and only through Sunday, January 17th Amazon Prime is available for $73/year instead of the regular $99 price. That’s $26 less than what I’m used to paying! Click here to access the offer.

If you were thinking about giving Prime a try, now is a fantastic time to do it. Discounts are very rare, and I personally can’t live without my Prime subscription. If you’re on the fence, you can also sign up for a free 30 day trial, but then you’ll miss out on the special pricing.

On top of the fantastic 2 day shipping that Prime offers you’ll also get:

• Access to music, movies and TV shows
• Kindle Library – one free book rental a month for your Kindle device
• 20% off diaper subscriptions through Amazon Family
• And much more!

Holiday Gift Ideas for Laundry Lovers!

This is what happens when you start Christmas shopping early!

I don’t know about you guys, but I’m very much in the holiday mood already. In fact, every year I start shopping for gifts at some point around October, which means that by the time Christmas comes around I already have a nice big pile of gifts waiting to be wrapped. Best of all – no last minute stress shopping with the crowds!

Since I’m thinking about gifts a lot, and since laundry is always on my mind I figured that it would be a good idea to put together a list of holiday laundry-themed gift ideas. If you have a laundry lover on your list, look no further than Olga’s Laundry Blog! Click here to go to the full list.

Continue reading on Olga’s Laundry Blog →

Laundry Detergent Shopping in Europe

The detergent aisle of Mueller in Zagreb – such splendor!

Am I the only person who actually gets excited about laundry shopping on vacation? When we went on our honeymoon in Japan I spent quite a bit of time reading about Japanese laundry detergents. And of course I brought back several packs of detergents to try at home. And when we recently went to visit my beloved Croatia I had so. much. fun. shopping for European detergents there!

Head over to Olga’s Laundry Blog to read about laundry detergent shopping in Europe.

Continue reading on Olga’s Laundry Blog →

Cheer Powder Laundry Detergent now HE Compatible!

Cheer has always been known as a highly effective powder detergent for colors – it lacks the OBAs that are present in most detergents sold in the US which can make saturated colors fade. And now it’s finally HE compatible!!

 

 

Cheer powder is one of the few laundry detergents widely available in the US that does not contain optical brighteners (OBAs) and is therefore truly safe for colors. Read on to find out why this is important and why you should avoid OBAs for your colored loads.

For the longest time Cheer was only available in a non-HE friendly version. Some people still used it in their HE front loaders with good results, but I personally did not want to take that risk. Well now Cheer powder is finally HE compatible! Head on over to Olga’s Laundry Blog to read the full post about HE friendly Cheer powder.

Continue reading on Olga’s Laundry Blog →

 

 

Choosing a Caldrea Laundry Detergent Scent

 

Caldrea, the sister company to Mrs. Meyers, are known for their skincare and household lines with unique fragrances. I had heard good things about their laundry detergent, but with the main Caldrea line not being available anywhere locally it was really hard to make a decision on which scent to get. Based on the description alone they all sounded pretty good!

So I reached out to Caldrea customer service and they were kind enough to send me some samples of their hand soap in a variety of fragrances. Check out my post at Olga’s Laundry Blog to read more about the scents they offer.

Continue reading on Olga’s Laundry Blog →

My Amaranth “Disaster” and How I Resolved It

Amaranth Porridge: Definitely not the world’s most photogenic food

I’ve been on a bit of a health kick recently, and just had a big order from Vitacost delivered yesterday. Among the tasty healthy things I ordered was a pound of amaranth seed. Now, I had never had amaranth before, but figured that it should be something like micro quinoa – an equally tasty “grain” that gives a similarly fluffy result when cooked. It’s also very healthy, with high levels of calcium, iron and magnesium and rich in protein and fiber and no gluten.

15% Off Method Products at Vitacost Through January 28!

Here are some of the Method products I use in our home

Great deal on Vitacost this week: you can get 15% off all Method cleaning products, plus 4% cash back through Ebates and to top it all off, first time Vitacost customers can get $10 off their first order !

If you read the first part of my Green cleaning post, you’ll see that I use the Method All Purpose Spray in the kitchen and bathroom, and in the second part I’m going to go over some of my other favorites, such as the floor and bathroom cleaners. Also worth noting that the Lavender Cedar laundry detergent smells HEAVENLY! It’s one of my favorites for white sheets.
Oh, and hand soaps and skin care are also included!

Here’s a sample of some of the prices  and the savings you could get:

• Method Smart and Mop Floor Cleaner – $4.58 (regular price $5.39)
• Method Lavender and Cedar Laundry Detergent – $12.23 (regular price $14.39)
• Method Dish Soap – $3.56 (min. purchase: 2; regular price $4.19)
• Method SmartyDish Dishwasher Detergent Packs – $7.64 (regular price $8.99)
• Method Daily Shower Cleaner – $3.22 (regular price $3.79)

You can check out the rest of the offers here: http://www.vitacost.com/method-1

And if you have never purchased from Vitacost before, you can get $10 off your first order of $30+! Just follow this link, create a Vitacost account and you will instantly get the discount code. Please make sure to write it down if you won’t use it immediately.

Not an Ebates user yet? I would strongly recommend you to join – with Ebates you get cash back every quarter for shopping at your favorite online retailers. Sign up here and get a gift card after your first purchase!