|| Review || iMerchandise: The Fashion Buyers Hero ||

To all you fashion buyers out there, have you ever wanted a device or app that makes the wholesale clothing buying process simpler and more efficient? Well look no further: iMerchandise does just this. 

There's nothing quite like it out there and best of all it's free (who doesn't like a freebie?) Its aim is to help stores and line owners that attend fashion shows get rid of those pesky handwritten line sheets and order forms. No more hours spent cutting and pasting your favourite pictures and designs onto "vision boards." iMerchandise does all this for you!

"The new fashion app that simplifies the wholesale 

clothing buying process for retailers."

CEO and Founder of the app, David Secul is a retailer himself and said of the app: "I've created this app with my own funds initially for my personal use." He soon realised how wonderful his app was and how much the rest of the buying world and retail world would benefit from experiencing it themselves.

The idea of iMerchandise is to keep all your info and ideas in one place and, in a sense, act as your own virtual personal assistant.

Personally as I am not a fashion buyer or retailer, I have no need for the app. I do however know that if I was a buyer/retailer I would love this app with every bone in my body and there would be no turning back. I honestly recommend every buyer and retailer out there to download, and get their mitts on this wonderful app - so do it. 

GET THE APP HERE

(All images are property of iMerchandise)

|| Mallzee || App Review ||

I was recently introduced to Mallzee after I received a lovely email off their Engagement Executive. Mallzee is a free, personal shopping app with a “social twist”.

Mallzee is different to most online shopping companies in that with over 2 million products from over 200 brands you can find as many of your favourites all in one place. What I find truly wonderful is that it can help you pick out outfits and products based on your previous searches and purchases. They select them and pull them together making your own personal ‘Mallzee’ – how lovely. It’s like a personal shopper without the fortune being spent. The app is constantly evolving and changing meaning that if your style changes or the current fashion changes, Mallzee will the there one step ahead.

Within the app itself they have a voting system, which can help you, gain a second opinion. The voting system allows you to always have someone on board to impart his or her “fashion wisdom.” There are also live chats and built in sharing so you can get those extra all-important opinions.

‘But what if I can’t buy it right now’ I hear you ask. Well, within your personal Mallzee you have your own little virtual wardrobe of all the things you’ve thought of getting. They stay there until you decide to buy it meaning that you don’t have to spend ages searching for that perfect item again.

 I personally have got my Mallzee App and I absolutely love it. I have to say, that writing about it doesn't really say how great it is. It's one of those things you really have to see, use and experience for yourself.
I really recommend getting this app, and this coming from me really does mean something as I'm not a techy person at all and don't really have many apps on my phone at all. I think for me one of the best things is that you obviously don't have to buy things, you can just browse, get ideas etc, and the built-in personal stylist helps inspire you a massive amount! I really can't stress how much I enjoy this app, so please try it for yourself!

Get Mallzee Here

If you do happen to download Mallzee, leave a comment or send me a message on your thoughts - I'd love to hear from you.

All images taken from the Mallzee website.

|| Angela & Roi Handbags: fashion with philanthropy || Donate by Colour ||

A few weeks back I received an email from the co-founder of online handbag company; Angela & Roi. I was over the moon to receive an email requesting if I could write about them, and obviously I said yes.

Angela & Roi are an online handbag brand that “combines fashion and philanthropy by colour.”

As my readers will know, I am very keen on vegan produce and am very much against the use of animals in fashion, and I was delighted to find out that Angela & Roi use high quality vegan leather to make their handbags instead of animal leather. Their bags are boutique quality, minimally and classically designed with minimalistic styles varying from totes, shoulder and cross-body bags, and each with various colour options. Their aesthetic is “vintage-inspire with a modern touch.”

“Our company was founded on strong moral principles. We prioritize ethical and respectful treatment of our customers. Our products reflect our value system that is focused on customer satisfaction, not profit margins. However, we believe we can use our resources productively in a way to impact the greater community. We believe fashion can be utilized to both an artistic and charitable effect. Our company presents an opportunity for us to intertwine consumerism with philanthropy. We hope you can join us in our effort to donate toward the solution of various causes.” Angela & Roi

One particular aspect of Angela & Roi that really fascinated me was their Donate By Colour mission. The idea behind this is that different medical issues relate to specific colours i.e. Lung Cancer awareness is linked with the colour white, so when cusomers purchase a white handbag from Angela & Roi, they automatically donate $5 to Lung Cancer Alliance. In total, Angela & Roi work together with 11 non-profit organisations:

Each handbag is accompanied with a detachable coloured ribbon, which associates, to the specific cause. By attaching the ribbon to your bag, you are helping to raise awareness of the associated cause.

• Red Ribbons – AIDS
• Orange Ribbon – Kidney Disease
• Grey Ribbon – Diabetes
• Purple Ribbon – Alzheimer’s Disease
• Green Ribbon – Anxiety and Depression
• Brown Ribbon – Cancer
• Blue Ribbon – Colon Cancer
• Gold (Yellow) Ribbon – Child Cancer
• Pink Ribbon – Breast Cancer
• Black Ribbon – Melanoma (Skin Cancer)
• White Ribbon – Lung Cancer

 Learn more about Angela & Roi’s causes here.

“We maintain our positive attitude toward change. We frame our campaign within our energetic color theme. Colors grab us out of the dreary day-to-day existence and shoot us into a world of vivaciousness. We chose to link different causes with specific colors. We wanted to create easy to recognize categorizations on our website. We understand how associations between tangible objects and pleasing concepts strengthen interest. Our purses speak color, and we believe our products should converse with our greater charitable goals.”

Not only do their bags support many wonderful causes, but also they are absolutely lovely! Every single one is beautiful, with excellent craftsmanship and designing  and all at an astonishingly wonderful price; ranging from $65 to $148. Below are just some of the types of bags Angela & Roi offer, with each design coming in an array of colours.

Palette White Cross-body

Sunday Black Tote

Palette Purple Cross-body

Square Mandarin Orange Tote

Palette Light Brown Cross-body 

Mini Navy Body-cross

Classic Wine Cross-body

Casual Grey Shoulder Bag

 As you can see, the bags are absolutely gorgeous, are wonderful prices, part of a wonderful and charitable mission, but they also do free deliver and returns. (Not that you would want to return them!)

Website // Facebook // Twitter

Leave a comment below letting me know what you think about this wonderful company, and do definitely check out their website. Let me know if you buy one of their bags too, I'd love to hear what you think about it and which colour/cause you went for.

I personally look forward to when I buy my own one - I'm saving up!

|| Naked Body Care || Company Review ||

Naked. What is it? Well not only is it one of the most wonderful body care ranges I have very come across, but it is also an astonishing 97% natural, and one of the most environmentally friendly, ethical, and animal friendly one I have encountered.

 To say I love this company would be an understatement in all honestly. I have been using Naked products fro around 6-7 years now, and I have to be honest with you readers, I’ve never found anything I like more. They use as many natural ingredients as possible and use no chemicals like parabens, SLS and petrochemicals.

“You may also ask why only 97% natural? Well, the remaining 3% is made up of things like the preservative system (stops the product going bad after opening) plus things like emulsifying agents which are necessary to stop ingredients from separating (we don’t like divorce). However some of our products are actually 99.5% natural as they didn’t need as much help to behave.” - Naked Team

Spoilt Rotten Coco de Mer Collection

As a person who tries to be as ‘eco-friendly’ and ethical as I can, this company couldn’t be closer to what I look for. I personally am a vegetarian, and have been for quite a few years now, and I briefly dabbled in veganism but found it that little bit to challenging. I also don’t wear leather when possible, and am against all animal-testing and the use of animals in fashion.

Naked is rare in that it doesn’t contain any ingredients derived from animals, with the exception of some products containing animal by-products such as milk, honey and beeswax. They are also against the testing of their products on animals, and as their products state: “We don’t believe in testing on Bambi, Lassie and Skippy.” (And of course any other animal.) From 2000 they have also operated a ‘Fixed Cut Off’ policy.

All of Naked’s packaging, from their bottles, to their webshop deliveries and company stationary is all derived from environmentally friendly materials and are all recyclable and many are produced from recycled materials: “We believe that recycling is a bit like karma – what goes around comes around.”

“The appearance of these bottles is slightly flawed – they have a greenish/brown tinge and the odd black fleck and may look poor quality. The truth is quite contrary as recycled materials are a more expensive option and great time and care is taken in sourcing them.  We haven’t passed on the cost to you though, as Naked has never increased its retail price since launch in 2005. We do believe that, with beauty, it’s what’s inside that counts and our fabulous lotions and potions look and smell as good, if not better, than they ever did.” Naked Team

Their products range from shampoos and conditioners, to bubble bath and shower gel, to hair styling products, to body and face creams. Anything you want from a body care company, they have, and with prices ranging from about £1.29, up to around £8.00. My personal favourite is the Bounce Curl Defining range, which if you read my blog, will know I have very curly hair and this particular product is wonderful for me. It tames my hair, but still keeping my signature curls intact. If its hair products you’re particularly interested in, I guarantee they’ll have one suited for your particular preference and hair type (so sorry if I’m wrong…)

Bounce Curl Defining Shampoo

Bounce Curl Defining Shampoo

"The Naked Story

The Naked story began when a mum of two was looking for affordable products to use on her children who had very sensitive skin. Scanning the list of ingredients she was not happy with what she read, considering all the other messages she was reading were about ‘nasties’ and ‘baddies’ in food and drink. At that point no one was questioning ingredients in branded toiletries so she decided to do something about it.

So Naked was born with a clear and simple concept – a brand that is safe, natural and free from harmful chemicals but is priced for everyday use. It can be used by women, men, babies, children and even the odd pampered pooch! We use the best natural ingredients with specific actions and real benefits, which still smell and feels like a special treat. But we don’t take ourselves too seriously despite our strict criteria!

Frizz Fighter Smoothing Serum
(Must be great - it's won awards!)

From the beginning, we wanted Naked to use only ethically sourced ingredients and we pride ourselves on using the best environmentally friendly packaging available, currently 50% PCR (Post Consumer Recycled) in all our bottles. We are also proud to support initiatives like the Oxfam Shinyanga project which brings clean water to children in Tanzania, something we take for granted every time we jump into the shower.Naked is not expensive and exclusive, yet it’s still desirable, ethical and environmentally friendly, but manages to look cool (and hopefully it will make you smile)! Above we want to give you fabulous products which feel and smell good despite what we leave out of the ingredient list..... We believe this is goodness in a bottle!"

The Naked Team

http://www.nakedbodycare.co.uk

I highly recommend all my readers to try Naked's wonderful products - if you don't you're missing out!

For any information on Naked and their products or story head to their website, Facebook page or their Twitter.

(All pictures are taken from the Naked website or Facebook page, and all quotes are direct from the Naked website.)