Ecostore USA - $25 Gift Certificate Giveaway!

This giveaway is CLOSED. Congratulations to Peggy! comment #11

I thought it would be entirely appropiate to post this giveaway, since one of my last posts was about New Zealand, and this giveaway has alot to do with Aotearoa (Ah-O-Tear-A-Row-Ah), as the native kiwis call it. (Which means Land of the Long White Cloud, but that's a whole different story and I digress ....)

So what is EcostoreUSA? Basically, it's an extention of a 20 year old New Zealand company, that makes plant based, non-toxic Household Cleaning, Baby and Personal Care Products that contain No Nasty Chemicals(tm)

That's the standard explaination - but how good are they? I was asked what I wanted to review, & in my eyes, that's a brave way to approach bloggers. Usually a company will send the blogger reviewing thei work something THEY think showcases their best work. To leave it up to the blog host - that's confidence, and I like confidence. So right away I had high expectations, one - because of the affliation with New Zealand, which is notorious for having been green for years, but now - I had this company asking ME what I wanted to "try out".

I chose the "Manuka Honey & Kelp soap" and the "Citrus Spray Cleaner", & was eager to try them , but wasn't going to go easy on the product. I waited for a really messy dinner to try the spray out. The spaghetti dinner, glitter homework, someone spilt milk and left it type of day. And when I got it - I went in for the kill.

I WAS AMAZED! Let me explain that I occasionally work with a friend of mine who owns and operates her own cleaning business, I've been doing this for about 5-6 years, and therefore have ample experience in tips & tricks when it comes to cleaning. The EcostoreUSA Citrus Spray Cleaner was impressive.
All that was required was ONE spray, I did let it sit for about 2 minutes, & all the gunk on my granite came right off!
There was no offensive smell in the air, nothing over-powering & eye-stinging (how amonia can be?) It was 99% natural goodness from a company that is obviously striving to bring you the best quality natural cleaners. But they don't only have cleaners, there is a plethora of items to choose from!

Everything from baby products, to pet care, to household cleaners and even hair care!
The have everything, & I'm not kidding!
I was impressed with their selection, and everything that's NOT contained in their products. For instance ...

There are NONE of the following ingredients contained in their products!

• 
  
  
  
  
  Toxic Petrochemicals
• 
  
  
  
  
  Enzymes
• 
  
  
  
  
  Optical Whiteners
• 
  
  
  
  
  Synthetic Perfumes or Dyes
• 
  
  
  
  
  Sodium Lauryl Sulphate
• 
  
  
  
  
  Phosphates* (* If there are "Phosphates, they have occurred naturally)
• 
  
  
  
  
  Chlorine
• 
  
  
  
  
  Ammonia
• 
  
  
  
  
  TEA, DEA or MEA
• 
  
  
  
  
  Parabens
• 
  
  
  
  
  Propylene Glycol

Another feature that was presented to me and pretty much won me over, was this statement taken from their website http://www.ecostoreusa.com/

"We are an e-commerce site that has launched at all 186 MEIJER grocery stores. Ecostore USA always offers free shipping on orders of $25 and more"

That even thought you're getting a great deal, they're willing to give you FREE shipping on certain orders! Another brownie point for this green conscious company!

My personal take on the Manuka Honey & Kelp soap was, trepidatious in the beginning. Since I have Lupus, I have to be careful with what goes on my skin, mostly for fear of drying it out, so I started slow. A little hand washing here & there, then I moved to the big leagues.

I showered with it. And I have to say - the soap left my skin soft and smooth, which I didn't expect. I always expect a nice, mild type - chemical free smell, but not usually soft, satiny skin! It also had some small bumpbs (I'm not sure exactly what it was, it reminded me of Oatmeal) and I was expected it to hurt, grate against my skin, and even hurt. But I was pleasently surprised! It was a nice feeling, tingly almost.

I most likely could have gone without using lotion as well, but as far as the soap doing it's job - it does it, and then some!

So today, EcoStore USA is offering my readers a chace to win a $25.00 Gift Certificate to their store (with FREE shipping) and with the prices they sell these items for, you're going to get a great deal for some fabulous stuff! So what do you have to do?
 

WIN IT

Mandatory Entry:

In order for you to be eligible to enter for the chance to win this GC, all you need to do is Twitter follow this great company at www.Twitter.com/ecostoreusa & leave a message saying "20 to Life" sent you, & you appreciate their effort to 'help' the enviroment. That's it! You're entered!

Extra Entries:

• Follow my blog (1 Entry)
• Facebook Fan EcoStoreUSA & leave a comment (2 entries)
• Follow me Twitter style! (1 entry)
• Leave a "Green" tip that you use in your home! (2 entries)
• Blog about this giveaway, leaving links to EcoStore USA & this giveaway! (3 entries)
• Grab either of my buttons! (2 entries)
• What store in the MidWest is EcoStoreUSA now available in? (Check their website)
• Facebook Fan my blog "20 to Life"!
• Purchase anything from Ecostore USA (10 entries)
• Tweet about this giveaway, as many times as you like! (1 entry per tweet)

This giveaway will run from 2.11.10 until 2.22.10, please leave separate comments for each entry, winner will be selected via Random.Org & emailed. They will then 48 hours to respond, or another winner will be drawn.

**Please note, I received no form of monetary compensation for my opinion/review. I did receive a product from the company in order to give a fair & balanced review and any opinion, statement etc. expressed in said review in soley my own & was in no way influenced by a third party.

Good Luck! 

ecostore USA believes in honesty, transparency and integrity. We use social media to communicate openly and honestly with our customers and potential customers on a human level. When working with bloggers for reviews, we advise all bloggers to comply with the FTC rules, have disclosure policies and sign the Blog with Integrity pledge.
 

Giveaways are conducted by a blogger, who has their own giveaway policies. However, the blogger agrees to post a rule announcing the winner must not have won an USA product or conducted a review/giveaway in the last six months. We expect entries to be honest and if a winner is found to have done a review/giveaway or has won an USA product in the last six months the blogger is asked to select another winner. This is clearly posted in our interaction with the blogger and between the blogger and their audience.