simple.green.organic.happy.

Category: Conscious Consumerism: Shopping & Reviews

Review and Giveaway: Danielle Diamond’s Xen Strength Yoga DVD (CLOSED)
The obstacle is the path.

Gah, do you remember when Cass was this small? Yeah, me neither.

I’ve been an avid student of the school of Rodney Yee when it comes to yoga DVDs for years now, having been given the AM/PM editions back in the days of VHS (I know, right? So quaint). I moved through the beginners and flexibility and power and ultimate yogas with Rodney— I’m talking over years, friends, lots of stopping and restarting from the beginning.

I’ve also recently started with Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred, so when I started thinking I’d like to kick the whole yoga thing up a notch, I ordered her Yoga Meltdown. But while I wanted something more demanding than Rodney’s DVDs, which are like a slow, lengthening dance, Jillian is too harsh on my zen. I wasn’t getting that contemplative aspect that I love, it was just a workout based on yoga moves, not yoga movement that provided a workout. There’s a difference.

When the student is ready, the master appears.

Today, Danielle Diamond’s Xen Strength Yoga is released, and it’s the perfect blend of flexibility, stretch, demand and strength, with a little calorie-busting on the side. I got to try it out early because I’m lucky like that (see disclosure), and it was exactly what I wanted at this stage. And because it is a workout, I feel like I can trade it off with the Shred without being a slacker (as opposed to having to do two workouts, which I just don’t have time for these days).

The DVD has 3 segments that can done separately for a quick workout or all-together (72 minutes) to kick some serious butt:
1. A rigorous warm up prepares you for a blasting upper-body and core strength training session
2. Intense core moves deliver balance training, functional fitness, and a slimming, detox, and twist routine.
3. The bottom line routine melts inches off your glutes, lifts your butt and lengthens and tones your legs, ending with a restorative and much needed cool down to slow down your heart rate and calm your mind.
I did the whole thing but I took it easy for the last third.

And then I just laid on the floor for a while.

Visually, it’s very very minimalist, which this punk rock girl (in my own mind) is totally in love with. Danielle is very sweet and funny and soothing in a way that Jillian failed at (sorry Jillian! I still love you), pushing you in a “you can do this” sort of way that is not rah-rah cheerleading.

The rah-rah is this punk rock girl’s most hated aspects of most fitness classes. There, I said it.

This is not a for-absolute-beginners workout; you’ll need to know your basic poses and how to execute them correctly. (HOT TIP: because I viewed this as a download on my laptop and not on my TV, I was in a different part of the room than usual, and was able to see my shadow on the wall. EXCELLENT WAY to check the angles on your framing without the benefit of mirrors or an instructor.)

But, like the Shred, you can do this without weights or with 2lb weights to begin and then work your way up to heavier weights as you progress over time, meaning you’ll see long-term value in just one program.

The DVD also comes with a 12- page pose guide to take on the go, an intro to the Zone Diet from Dr. Barry Sears and a sample menu to get you started, and HOLY HELL 7 bonuses ONLY AVAILABLE TODAY, December 14th.

You’ll be wanting to skip on over to xenstrength.com to check out a quick video and you’ll see why I like her so much. And then you should buy her DVD for yourself because you know I wouldn’t lie to you about getting my ass kicked by such a pretty lady.

And then you should leave me a comment telling me about your relationship with yoga. Do you go to classes? Do internet videos? Are you a Rodney Yee fan? Or have you always just meant to and never got around to it? (You should. It’s so good for you, especially if you’re a hunched-over-on-your-laptop-all-day person like myself.)

On Monday I’m gonna choose a comment at random using random.org, and one lucky lucky reader is gonna get get a copy of Danielle Diamond’s Xen Strength Yoga. YOU’RE not gonna need it, because you bought one on my say-so, so if you win you can give it to someone you like a whole lot.

Good luck!

Disclosure: I am the Community Manager for FitFluential and Danielle Diamond is one of our ambassadors. She provided me with a download of her DVD to try out and review; however, this relationship did not have any effect on how sweaty and spent I was at the end of the hour. All opinions are my own.
December 14, 2011
You Can Dance: Just Dance ABBA edition 70s Party

You can dance, you can jive, having the time of your life
Ooo.. see that girl, watch that scene, diggin’ the Dancing Queen

Mental note for next time: it’s really, really hard to coordinate groups of people for playtime close to the holidays.

Because of my fervent, ongoing love affair of the Just Dance games for the Wii, I was invited to try out the new ABBA You Can Dance edition. AND, I got some fundage for throwing a mad 70s disco party.

Sadly, I found that my bright orange flowered polyester jumpsuit had been donated to Goodwill during one of my more disciplined clutter-busting sessions (I probably let myself think I’d never find another reason to wear it; I should have known better). But another look through my closet yielded some wide leg trouser jeans, my Doc Marten platform heels, and a long, close-fitting striped shirt. (All of the best clothes of the 70s are totally in fashion again.) I’d never worn these things together and I looked about 10 miles tall. Which means I’ll be wearing them together ALL THE TIME now.

The Clever Girls sent us an awesome disco ball to add to our collection. I mean, for proper mood lighting and ambiance.

Maverick and I conducted the bestest grocery store shopping trip ever, loading up on all kinds of hippie breads and tons of cheese for fondue. And cheese spreads and hummus for sides, YUM.

My SIL donated some homemade beer bread to the cause, made with Guinness. I’m not a Guinness beer fan for drinking, but it makes for some tasty bread.

Please to be disregarding how dirty our Crock Pot is. It’s not actually from the 70s, although the caked on grime might make it appear that way. We use it a LOT, for fondue and otherwise (although Jeff has fondue pretty much down to a science at this point).

Cherry Garcia and Half-Baked Ben & Jerry’s fro-yo for dessert? Totally appropriate, right?

I picked up some Tab, discovering when I got home that it’s sweetened with stuff that causes cancer in lab rats. Also, it’s yucky. Luckily we had Pepsi Throwback already in house— I’m not sure that it throws back to the 70s, necessarily, but Jeff and I were the only people present that actually experienced the 70s so no one was the wiser.

So, then we had to work off the 80 million calories we had just consumed (dipping broccoli in the cheese does not make the meal healthy, no matter how much you want it to). Time to disco.

I had hoped that some new dance moves had been added to make this game more challenging, and I wasn’t disappointed in that regard; it’s much like the Michael Jackson Experience in that the new moves were distinctly tailored to the game. Some of the partnered dances had pretty complex moves, to be honest. This is a harder game than the traditional Just Dance editions, so be forewarned.

But my favorite aspect of the Just Dance games is that we typically work up a SWEAT while laughing our butts off, dramatically peeling off layers and chugging water, and I really didn’t get that from this edition. The new moves seem more centered on the arm movements and the whole-body moves just weren’t as easy or instinctive (so we tended to halfass them).

It’s still fun— especially if you theme the evening like we did, we really thought we were funny— but probably better for older teens and young adults. Or maybe incorporate some 70s cocktails into an all-adults party :). That always livens things up.

ABBA You Can Dance is available at Amazon, of course. And anywhere else they sell Wii games.

Are you a Just Dance fan? What’s your favorite song to dance to?

Thank you to Ubisoft for sponsoring this blog post. Please click here to learn more about Ubisoft. I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective. All opinions are my own.

December 12, 2011
Review: Surface Hair Care (Vegan, Organic, Gluten-Free)
“I hope your hair curls naturally, does it?”

“Yes, darling, with a little help from others.”

Oscar Wilde, ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’

I have spent my life trying to coax curls from my classically Asian stick-straight baby-fine hair. I have used curlers. I have used curling irons. I have had perms, salon-inflicted and self-inflicted and spouse-inflicted, all bad. By the end of the day I always had stick-straight Asian hair. Only now, with frizz.

And then completely out of the blue a few months back, a decade after I’d stopped really caring about my hair at all: waves.

I am now the proud bearer of naturally wavy hair.

I don’t know if it’s hormones (I also now have the acne one associates with being 16; personally, I’d rather have the hips I had then) or the cumulative effect of all the hair coloring I’ve done over the years or just a very effectively multi-tasking haircut, but I’ll take it. And I’ve become somewhat obsessed with how I can encourage the most curl with the least amount of effort.

I may be vain, but I am also lazy.

Given a choice of products to review from Surface Hair Health Art, I went with Taffy Whip— a sculpting cream that texturizes for curly or straight effect.

Now, I have used it to straighten my hair, now that I think about it (meaning I worked it in my hair and then blew it dry by aiming the dryer down the hair shaft. I don’t have the patience for things like straight irons, or hairbrushes) and it did result in nice straight, unfrizzy hair. But I don’t find straight hair interesting so I’m moving on.

Please see Exhibit A: above featured photo. (Yes, the dog is photobombing us and yes, I still have braces.) My hair is usually just like Cassie’s, only frizzy and usually striped with Manic Panic red. I’m overdue for a salon visit.

But on Thanksgiving I had nice curly hair. And all I did was put a dime-sized amount of Taffy Whip on my hands, rub them together, and scrunch it into my hair. It dried about 95% of the way naturally, I repeated the dime-size process again, then hit my hair with the hair dryer on low for about 2 minutes to finish drying. And yippee skippee: bouncy, soft curls that stuck around until the end of the day, withstanding the repeated blasts of heat and humidity from turkey-basting and sweet potato baking.

Also, it smells nice. Not so much like taffy, as it is like hard candy when it’s cooking. That’s a really fine distinction. Let’s say it smells sweet but very light and not at all offensive (my sensitivity to fragrance being well-documented at this point).

About the Surface product line:
- Vegan. Organic. Gluten-free.
- Cruelty-free, never tested on animals.
- No Sodium Laurel Sulfate. No Sodium Laureth Sulfate. No parabens. No petrochemicals. No added dyes. And no animal or wheat protein.
- Made with sustainably harvested ingredients and certified organic botanicals.
- Environmentally friendly packaging (according to the website. No real details given).
- Portion of profits go to sponsor a child through World Vision.
Does gluten-free make a difference when it’s going on your skin as opposed to into your stomach? I honestly don’t know, but I’m thinking that if you avoid gluten, avoiding it everywhere makes a heck of a lot of sense. Please feel free to agree or disagree in the comments. I have no horse in that race.

In short: great hair product that doesn’t knock you over with fragrance and does exactly what it claims to do, without any toxic ingredients! I know, I can barely believe it myself.

Surface makes hair product lines dedicated to strengthening, hydrating, awakening (for scalp health & thinning hair), styling, and protein smoothing. It looks to be sold only in salons, you can search for a retail location near you here.

Now, tell me how pretty my curly hair is. Go on.

I’ve been waiting 35 years to hear it 🙂

Disclosure: This review was made possible by Mom Spark Media. Thoughts are my own. Hair is my own. No compensation was received other than product to try out for review purposes.
November 27, 2011