WOMB Apparel--The Next Big Thing!



WOMB Apparel's
Inspirational Tee's for Men & Women

 I recently had the pleasure of participating in a photo shoot for an empowering, Eco-friendly & socially conscious clothing company—WOMB Apparel.

WOMB Apparel was created by the most motivational and well rounded duo that I’ve ever met, Dion & Eli. As husband & wife, these two have combined their passions and all around positive spirits to create thought provoking designs that are sure to make you feel inspired. Their T-shirts are made of 100% Organic Cotton that is sweatshop free and imprinted with PVC free, water based inks; the designs are as unique as we are, and they are all based upon the acronym WOMB which has two meanings:

1). Wisdom Of Mind and Body

2). Wings On My Back

The photo shoot, orchestrated by photographer extraordinaire: Andres Valenzuela, was held in the Bronx, NY at one of the neighborhoods in which Eli grew up. The neighborhood was all we needed, no additional props or equipment was necessary-The scene was just perfect! The models were placed in front of an array of beautifully urban views; Andres took shots in front of graffiti, in the subway and from a platform with views of the city and a beautiful sunset to bring together the vibe that Eli & Dion set out to create.

You can help us by voting for your favorite picture! You will need to be a fan of the womb apparel facebook fan page first since all the pictures are there. Click here to vote!

WOMB apparel is doing great things and the desire for self-empowerment radiates from each thread of its being. This company is looking forward to the launch of a YOUTUBE channel entitled: Empowerment TV where we will be introduced to the creative minds behind the designs as well as other topics that exhibit the positive qualities that WOMB apparel symbolizes.

Watching this company expand has been inspiring! Eli & Dion’s dedication and hard work is infectious- it should show us all that as long as we pour love, truth and life into this world that we can only receive something beautiful from it!

Keep an eye on this business, as I have no doubt that they are the next big thing!

Is Your Drinking Water REALLY Clean?



Boycott the PLASTIC bottles & Filter your own Tap Water



A few years back I decided that I needed to come up with a better way to increase my water intake; of course that lead me to carting around bottled water as it’s easier to transport and therefore promotes drinking more of it! Then, all the talk about bottled water being nothing but expensive tap water started to circulate..and I was back at square one! Until one day while aimlessly surfing the net, I came across this website for a company called—Aquasana.

Aquasana is a site which provides information (and of course sells) home water filtration systems. Stumbling upon this site was a great thing & not to mention perfect timing, as my husband (boyfriend at the time) mentioned that the Brita we were using just wasn’t cutting it anymore. He had read that Britta only filters out but so much of the gunk in our water and that percentage was just not good enough for him; he kept telling me that we needed to find better filters and containers in which to carry our filtered water. So after pouring over this site and seeing all of the great products they had to offer, I decided to send the link to the “expert” (that’s what I call my husband when he gets all technical about things) for his approval. About a week later, after he did enough research to feel confident, he placed our first Aquasana order. We got: 4 stainless steel water bottles and the counter top filtration system to filter our water directly from the tap. We used the system for approximately one month then compared notes on what we thought of it—needless to say, we were Very happy!

We thought the water tasted cleaner and we noticed that the faint chlorine-like smell that was once associated with our tap water no longer existed. Now, I know some people don’t believe that filters really work and perhaps we do ‘brainwash’ ourselves into believing that we feel differently—I don’t know, but what I do know is that I’d rather use a filter and be wrong then to not use one and possibly ingest all sorts of terrible things. Overall, we are very happy with our water filtration. We feel healthy and drink a lot more water because of it!



My Aquasana Glass bottle & canvas tote bag
That's tea w/ Lemon in my bottle (no sugar or honey)



However, there is one thing that I will warn against; around the 1 year mark of us using the stainless steel water bottles we noticed tiny, little brownish colored speckles on the inside of the bottles. We put Qtips & paper towels in there trying to examine the speckles, and once we finally found out what they were, we knew that we’d no longer use stainless steel bottles for holding our drinking water. The speckles were Rust!! This didn’t turn us off completely because that could have happened with any steel container given the proper environment, but we knew that a change had to be made and so it was. We now use the Aquasana glass water bottles (along with the ‘Earth Tote’ for easy carrying) and we LOVE them! Easy to clean and best of all no worrying about anything ‘leaching’ into your water!

Of course it doesn’t have to be Aquasana, but if you need water bottles to take to work/the gym and anywhere else where you’d like to have fresh, clean water at your disposal-I recommend getting glass water bottles. I feel like they are reliable (they don’t seem to chip or break easily) and more hygienic, as glass doesn’t tend to hold on to smells or detergents like other materials do. 

Check it out for yourself—I don’t think you’ll be disappointed!

Natural Hair Needs Protection--What's Your Fav Protective Style?

Burrr…it’s a chilly 51 degrees here at the Jersey Shore, which definitely means that the days of walking outside with damp wash and go hair are over! Alas, it is time to choose a few protective styles to last me through these upcoming cold winter months.

Protective styles are those which protect my fragile and usually dry hair from the cold and even drier winter air. If I were to go around with my hair out in a curly fro, puff or any other style which left the ends exposed, my hair would dry out and be that much easier to snap off-especially if it got snagged on the hood of my coat or some other object. This is so because my hair (type 4A/B- for those who are interested) can’t take dry conditions; even if I were to soak my tresses with even the most creamy of shea butters it would still find a way to break off. I’m convinced that I just wasn’t meant to be living in a cold place as nothing grows well for me during winter. My nails (which are usually very long and strong during the summer) grow to a certain point and next thing I know I’m opening the car door too quickly & snag—there goes my nail! The cold air is just not conducive to things growing; take a look around the trees, flowers and even the grass is starting to show the signs of loss that the winter brings. Thankfully, there is a superior protective style that deters hair breakage: *drum roll please*... It’s The two strand twist!

As simple as this hair style seems, it can also be very fashionable and give your hair the rest that it needs in order to promote growth.

These past few weeks I’ve been going back & forth between two strand twists and rocking this little, crocheted, beanie head cover that I picked up at my local beauty supply store. Both have been a blessing from the hair gods!

During wash weeks, when I’m just not in the mood to twists my entire head I rely on my beanie to protect my tresses, lower my hair maintenance/manipulation and keep me looking fashionable.
I simply put my (already moisturized) hair into about 4-6 fat braids, place the doily about 4 inches from my hair line and wallah--a winter-friendly ‘style’ !

I recently went back into the beauty supply trying to find more of these hair doilies/beanies and had no luck :-/; thankfully I don't give up that easily, so I'll be on the look out for more of these beanies and when I find them, I'll be sure to share it with you all.


Do you wear protective styles? If so, what will be your signature 'do this winter?