Formed in 1999, a brother-sister team started Numi Organic Tea as a way to revive the art behind simple tea. As one who enjoys a good tea, my journey with Numi began. I decided to take it slow with the tea and only drink it when I had the craving for a good hot tea. I started with the Chinese Breakfast Tea, which had a very soothing Oolong taste with a hint of orange. It is a black tea, and needed no sugar.
Next was the Golden Chai, which was also a dark tea. Chai happens to be my favorite of all tea but what I find from a lot of companies is an overdone spice. This was not the case. The cinnamon and ginger was on point. This was a very well mixed dark tea, even though it needed a little sugar.
The Ruby Chai was not as good as the Golden Chai as I think it had too much cinnamon in the blend, but it did not need sugar. The Honeybush tea was lighter than the others, needed no sugar and had a very nice fruit flavor.
Along with its Oolong taste, this was a very nice tea after a long day of work. In the box of Numi were 4 more teas, which I wasn’t very fond of…
The Lime Herbal tea was way too overwhelming. It is possible some people like tart tea but that is not the case for me. The same went for the Mate Lemon Green Tea. Lemon is good in a tea, but it tastes as though an entire Lemon was dropped in the tea. The Jasmine Green Tea wasn’t that bad although I’d prefer Arizona tea or Numi’s Green Tea.
For the most part Numi Tea makes a very wide range of tea, each fair trade organic and each with a unique twist and taste. For the most part I enjoyed tasting a new batch of tea. I would purchase the Numi Golden Chai Tea over and over again.
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Nau’s Loose But Not Slutty Jeans right off the bat have an office look. They are very casual with clean lines and no trendy holes or scrapes. Nau chooses their materials very carefully which can be seen in every piece of clothing they make. These jeans are made of organic cotton with raw denim produced in Turkey. The material is twice dyed with an indigo for the beautiful blue color saturation. Mike thinks the color is too dark, but for me, it is perfection. Without any tags to take away from the design of the jeans, there are no distractions and no snagging when putting a belt on. The natural, organic denim is stiff. This helps in the office as it will not crease and wrinkle that easily during daily wear but can also take the abuse of labor intensive jobs. The hardware is nickel free as to help people whom are highly allergic to some materials.
My favorite part of the jeans must be the wide belt loops. Usually it is hard to find nice jeans that will accept the abnormally wide belts, but these have no problems. In fact, it is actually better for your hip having the wide belt loops as it removes pressure sometimes felt. Inside the jeans is a small hanging band just in case you are in a changing room and need to hang up your pants. The right pocket contains a smaller insert for keys, change or a small cell phone.
Nau’s instructions state to wash inside out with cold water and line dry and never use bleach! However, I have been washing these on tumble low in my dryer and the jeans are holding up well. I have only one complaint with these jeans… sizing. The length is standard and may need to be tailored as do other premium denims. Premium denim costs more (obviously), but these jeans can take a beating and still look perfect.
Unfortunately Nau is closing shop. This makes me very sad, but you never know what can happen in the future!
When I first glanced at Tarma’s website I was pleased with what I saw. The designs seem very earthly and simplistic, just my style! Tarma designs are all very unique and spiritual. Their products are made from environmentally friendly materials like recycled 316 stainless steel, nylon webbing and recycled polyester.
I received three different men’s adjustable wristbands and one bottle opener. I collect unique bottle openers so one made completely of recycled 316 stainless steel brought a smile to my face. The Double Diamond Bottle Opener is compact, roughly 3 inches long. For travel, it easily fit into my pocket and upon return I place it back into the drawer. The design is easy on the eyes and quick on the draw. Oh, and it opens Sam Adams like no other.
All three of the wristbands are unique. Each design and clasp is made of the same 316 stainless steel featuring two colored nylon webbing for the band. The band has a series of sewn slots which is used for sizing your wrist. The main problem is that I could not get the clasp on myself. Yes, it is a very elegant and earthy design, but I could not physically put the bracelet on by my lonesome. I thought I was possibly doing something incorrectly so I gave the wristbands to different people and no one could get the wristband on either. It’s definitely a huge oversight on Tarma’s part.
My favorite design is the mountain biker. Once I can figure a way to safely put on the wristband, I will wear it on a daily basis.
Although it was not quite what I was expecting, I do love new t-shirts. I have designed some green shirts for my website which are sold through CafePress, however, I was glad to see another company selling clever and well designed shirts.
Ban T-Shirts sells shirts designed for different topics like politics, organics, peace and Native Americans. The shirt I am reviewing is the Think Green shirt. At first look you see a deep dark green screen printing of a half tree half brain at a nice size across the chest. Ban T-Shirts uses American Apparel brand for this shirt which means high quality and made in the US of A in sweatshop free factories.
I never wear new clothing without washing it, so I waited until I needed to do my laundry and am currently wearing my freshly cleaned shirt. One wash and the shirt, size large, now fits perfectly.
My grudge with this shirt is the actual screen printing. They do not use inks that hold up in the wash. The texture in the screen printing is gone and the green is flaking already. You can tell that a few more washes and this off white shirt with green ink will become an undershirt due to color fade.
Ban T-Shirts may have nice designs, but they should find a new screen printer.
**POSITIVE NOTE** There model for this shirt is definitely cuter than I am
When you first pop open the cap of Wicks & Wishes Jade Hand & Body Lotion you get a reminder of walking past a Bath & Body Works in the mall. It’s a typical lotion smell which when used in large quantities can start to give you a headache. I asked two different girls with two different tastes in lotions to give this a try too. Girl #1 put a little bit too much of the lotion on her hand and started to complain that it was too greasy for her. This could have been caused by the amount she used but considering that the lotion consists of four different oils also may not. Girl #2 put a little dot on her hand. Her first reaction was that the smell was nice and girly. Her second thought was that the lotion was a little oily, but not too much. It did in fact get rid of her dry hands.
I work with a lot of electronic equipment which get bagged and rubberbanded. I get dry hands really quick from the rubberbands. Usually after doing a batch of equipment I use hand sanitizer with aloe which will help clean and refresh my skin. I decided since I was going to try this lotion I would not use the hand sanitizer all day and just use the lotion. It has been two hours since using the lotion and my skin is just now starting to dry again. Five minutes ago I washed my hands to see if the lotion comes off that easily and to my surprise it does not. After the abuse my hands get with the rubberbands and one washing, I am pleased with the outcome of the lotion. And that is coming from someone who rarely uses hand lotion. I am more of a hand sanitizer kind of guy.
The Soy Candles are very nice also. The fragrance is subtle and soy is a better alternative than regular wax candles both for the environment and for the bees. The warm vanilla scent left my bathroom nice and fresh! This New Jersey company is small and local, so go support them if you see their products around. They are also into giving back to the community and charities at large.
Click here for the online store or here to visit wicks-and-wishes.com
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Red River shipped us a fifty sheet box of their new GreenPix inkjet paper. On their information sheet they specify that the GreenPix paper is 100% post-consumer paper meaning that every GreenPix sheet would actually contain hundreds if not thousands of different recycled woods and papers. This appears to be a great asset to the environment as all of that paper is not wasted and just burned into the atmosphere. But how good could the paper truly be?
When I took a sheet out of the box I noticed that it felt smooth and sturdy. It has a nice matte photo paper feel.The paper is a beautiful bright white on one side and a pale white on the other. This gives you the advantage of knowing which to print on. Looking closely throughout a sheet you can see tiny spots which ensures that the paper is recycled. The tiny specs are scattered and scarce.
Initially one of my co-workers had done a test and the image didn’t come out too clear at all. It was flat and blurred. I asked him how he did it and he stated that he just hit print. Oddly enough, the photo he printed was of a focus chart. On any paper, this should look clear. After seeing this I was a little disappointed that an eco-paper is so horrible, but decided to give it a try on the Epson 9800. This paper does not come in rolls but is available from greeting card sizes up to 24″x36″ sheets.
I followed Red Rivers steps to using their color profile with Photoshop and printed my test image. I used a new test image supplied from Colorvision’s PrintFix Pro. The result was ever so nice to see. The result, in fact, was the best image I have ever seen on a inkjet matte paper. The image was extremely crisp & the colors and contrast were on point. The black actually achieved a black point of 0 and the white achieved a white point of 255 giving true colors across the board.
RedRiverPaper.com
Recently I posted a review on the Crane Papers and said how I will be reviewing more papers as they are sent to me. I have recently acquired Hahnemuhle Fine Art Papers and have done tests on the most appealing paper choices. I selected 4 papers out of the 9 in the pack. Hahnemuhle also do not bleach their papers and do offer a humane & animal friendly selection.
Hahnemuhle has designed a beautiful 100% rag (cotton) paper of which they call William Turner. This paper has a whiteness of 99 where as the Crane papers were only 91. The William Turner paper has so much texture it has a true museum quality to it. Its touch is soft and bends without cracking. When printing, the inks are absorbed deep into the paper and do not bleed. The test image I used on all of these papers is of a colored scene designed by Colorvision for their print calibration software. This image is supposed to be printed using the AdobeRGB1998 color profile, not the paper manufactures color profile. The densitometer reading from Colorvision’s PrintFixPlus the blackest black is reading at 1 where true black is 0 and the whitest white is reading at 240 out of 255.
Next I tested the Hahnemuhle German Etching Paper which is very similar to the William Turner paper except more of an off white tone. Although there is a lot of texture in the paper, it is not as friendly as the William Turner. The print was equally as sharp and also did not bleed at all. The black reading is still 1, but the white reading is at 234. This is only because of the paper tint.
I tried to test Hahnemuhle’s standard Fine Art photo paper which is most likely designed for a consumer based inkjet paper, but it crumbled in the machine.
My last test was the Hahnemuhle Fine Art Pearl Paper. Also with a white brightness of 99 this paper absorbed the ink below the surface and also above the surface on the gloss finish. This design of paper keeps the colors dynamic and contrast high while also giving a very sharp image. This is one of the sharpest papers I have yet to see. At one spot in the image I actually achieved a black point of 0. My whites are still at the 240 range which is still not bad. This is a paper that would be used in a photographers portfolio rather than on a wall.
Recently I reviewed some of Crane’s 100% cotton papers and said that I would be getting to test and review the rest of which they sent me. These tests have been completed and I have the results. As you will read, all of the results were great with the exception of one. The one consistent factor throughout all of the papers was the black to white points. Black is always at a level of 4 and white is always around a level 198 keeping a nice dynamic range of colors.
The first test was on the Museo II Archival Double Sided Matte Paper. This paper can only be used on printers of which do not bend paper and have an alternative feed settings for thicker stock papers. Because of this factor, Museo II is not available in rolls, but in sheets up to 17”x22”. Museo II is intended for Photographers and Artists who make their own bound books and portfolios. With a paper brightness of 91, the colors pop off the page to give you a realistic look to any photograph. The only problem seen with this paper is if not careful the printer will feed incorrectly and your print will be crooked. This only happened on the second side of the prints.
The second test was on Museo Max paper. Another 100% cotton Archival Fine Art Matte Paper. Also with a brightness of 91, this paper takes on the visual qualities of the Museo II paper, but being a thinner stock and single sided it allows for use in rolls. Also, just as the Museo II did, the colors pop right off the page. This the type of paper you would mount and frame for a gallery showing. When looking closely with the naked eye you can actually see how the ink spreads and absorbs into the fabric.
Next, for a retest of the Portfolio Rag was a yellow and black butterfly on sitting on a green and purple flower. There is so much color in the photograph that you can’t expect anything but perfection in the print, but I was disappointed again. This paper absorbed the ink so much that it actually starts to blur inside the paper. The ink seems to bleed into itself to cause softness to the eye. So far, out of all of the Crane paper choices, Portfolio Rag seems to fail all of the tests. That is not to say the paper would not suit some else’s needs, but for photographs, I would not use it.
The last test was also using the Silver Rag, but for a color photograph. Crane’s documentation did state that their Silver Rag paper can be used for both color and black & white so why not try it. The photograph is of a back road in the countryside with trees and grass and fields. Taken right after a rain storm so the ground is wet and the sky is dark. The paper absorbed the inks just as it did with the black & white photograph of the clouds, keeping the dynamic contrast and tones enough to give you a sad and depressing view. My only complaint on the Silver Rag paper is the semi-gloss coating it contains. It obviously helps the quality of the results, but it has a strange feel and smell to it. The smell is almost of nail polish. But for a thick paper as this is, Crane still makes it available to you in rolls of 50 feet.
