#so I ended up googling what compounds made up various smells and reading about that

[thethingything]

wait you guys like perfume too ?? do y'all have a favourite maker - 🪲

oh I only really got into it very recently so I don't know that much about it other than like, really specific stuff about certain compounds because I learnt about them in a different context that led me onto learning about their use in perfume.

in terms of perfumes we like, we normally wear Drakkar Noir which was kind of an impulse purchase because we wanted to start wearing perfume and didn't know what else to get, and I do really like the smell of it, but I think it'd be nice to try some other scents at some point to see which ones we like.

I'd like to learn more about how different scents interact with each other and how perfumes are formulated based on that because I think the science behind it is really cool

[imaginationstimulation]

I recently read A Visit From the Goon Squad written by Jennifer Egan.

This novel reads more like a collection of short stories about different characters who are almost inconsequentially related to various degrees. 

One obvious theme is about the interconnectedness of all people. 

More deeply, the book is a reflection on time and the endlessness of growing up; how our values and, more seriously, our identities change--or don’t--with time. 

These are the lines and excerpts I highlighted as I read: 

“I’m always happy,” Sasha said. “Sometimes I just forget.” (Chapter 1).

“She could tell that he was in excellent shape, not from going to the gym but from being young enough that his body was still imprinted with whatever sports he’d played in high school and college.”

“...something more than relief: a blessed indifference, as if the very idea of feeling pain over such a thing were baffling.”

“In fact the whole apartment, which six years ago had seemed like a way station to some better place, had ended up solidifying around Sasha, gathering mass and weight, until she felt both mired in it and lucky to have it—as if she not only couldn’t move on but didn’t want to.” 

“She wanted badly to please him, to say something like, It was a turning point everything feels different now, or I called Lizzie and we made up finally, or I’ve picked up the harp again, or just I’m changing I’m changing I’m changing: I’ve changed! Redemption, transformation--God how she wanted these things. Every day, every minute. Didn’t everyone?”

“Bennie knew that what he was bringing into the world was shit. Too clear, too clean. The problem was precision, perfection; the problem was digitization, which sucked the life out of everything that got smeared through its microscopic mesh. Film, photography, music: dead. An aesthetic holocaust! Bennie knew better than to say this stuff aloud.” (Chapter 2).

“an urge to confess the malapropism to his fourth grader.”

“As he sipped, a sensation of pleasure filled his whole torso the way a snowfall fills up a sky. Jesus, he felt good.”

“Hearing the music get made, that was the thing: people and instruments and beaten-looking equipment aligning abruptly into a single structure of sound, flexible and alive.”

“The baby he and Stephanie had nuzzled and kissed—now this painful, mysterious presence.”

“He remembered his mentor, Lou Kline, telling him in the nineties that rock and roll had peaked at Monterey Pop. They’d been in Lou’s house in LA with its waterfalls, the pretty girls Lou always had, his car collection out front, and Bennie had looked into his idol’s famous face and thought, You’re finished. Nostalgia was the end—everyone knew that.”

“Rich people like to hostess, so they can show off their nice stuff.“ (Chapter 3). 

“Hey, Lou goes. He leans down so our faces are together, and stares straight into my eyes. He looks tired, like someone walked on his skin and left footprints. He goes, The world is full of shitheads, Rhea. Don’t listen to them—listen to me. And I know that Lou is one of those shitheads. But I listen.”

“I can’t tell if she’s actually real, or if she’s stopped caring if she’s real or not. Or is not caring what makes a person real?”

“Lou is one of those men whose restless charm has generated a contrail of personal upheaval that is practically visible behind him:” (Chapter 4, [My favorite chapter]).

“Structural Resentment: The adolescent daughter of a twice-divorced male will be unable to tolerate the presence of his new girlfriend, and will do everything in her limited power to distract him from said girlfriend’s presence, her own mascent sexuality being her chief weapon.”

“Structural Affection: A twice-divorced male’s preadolescent son (and favorite child) will embrace and accept his father’s new girlfriend because he hasn’t yet learned to separate his father’s loves and desires from his own. In a sense, he, too, will love and desire her, and she will feel maternal toward him...” 

“Structural Desire: The much younger temporary female mate of a powerful male will be inexorably drawn to the single male within range who disdains her mate’s power.”  

“These four are locked in a visceral animal-sighting competition. (Structural Fixation: A collective, contextually induced obsession that becomes a temporary locus of greed, competition, and envy.)”

“The members of Ramsey’s safari have gained a story they’ll tell for the rest of their lives. It will prompt some of them, years from now, to search for each other on Google and Facebook, unable to resist the wish-fulfillment fantasy these portals offer: What ever happened to...? In a few cases, they’ll meet again to reminisce and marvel at one another’s physical transformations, which will seem to melt away with the minutes.” 

“Structural Dissatisfaction: Returning to circumstances that once pleased you, having experienced a more thrilling or opulent way of life, and finding that you can no longer tolerate them.”

“My questions all seem wrong: How did you get so old? Was it all at once, in a day, or did you peter out bit by bit? When did you stop having parties? Did everyone else get old too, or was it just you?“ (Chapter 5).

“Your desultory twenties,” my mother calls my lost time, trying to make it sound reasonable and fun, but it started before I was twenty and lasted much longer.”

“The TV is new, flat and long, and its basketball game has a nervous sharpness that makes the room and even us look smudged.“

“Seventeen, hitchhiking. He was driving a red Mercedes. In 1979, that could be the beginning of an exciting story, a story where anything might happen. Now it’s a punch line.”

“...how better to mark success than by going to a place where you didn’t belong?“ (Chapter 7).

“I don’t want to fade away, I want to flame away.” 

“It felt impossible, as if Jules’s excitement were being siphoned from inside her, leaving Stephanie drained to the exact degree that he was invigorated.“

“All that can be said for sure is that in the presence of Kitty Jackson, the rest of us become entagled by our sheer awareness that we ourselves are not Kitty Jackson, a fact so brusquely unifying that it temporarily wipes out all distinctions betwen us--our tendency to cry inexplicably during parades, or the fact that we never learned French, or have a fear of insects that we do our best to conceal from women, or liked to eat construction paper as a child--in the presence of Kitty Jackson, we no longer are in possession of these traits; indeed, so indistinguishable are we from every other non–Kitty Jackson in our vicinity that when one of us sees her, the rest simultaneously react.” (Chapter 9.)

“At what precise moment did you tip just slightly out of alignment with the relatively normal life you had been enjoying theretofore, cant infinitesimally to the left or the right and thus embark upon the trajectory that ultimately delivered you to your present whereabouts—in my case, Rikers Island Correctional Facility?”

“Bix and Lizzie’s apartment is tiny, like a dollhouse, full of plants and the smell of plants (wet and planty), because Lizzie loves plants.” (Chapter 10).

“It’s okay,” she says, and you know you should leave it there—it’s fine, leave it alone, but some crazy engine inside you won’t let you stop:”

“He has an optimist’s attraction to everything new—a faith that it will enrich him, not hurt him.“

“The two of you reel away from her. Hilarity keeps you busy for several blocks, but there’s a sickness to it, like an itch that if you keep on scratching, will grind straight through skin and muscle and bone, shredding your heart.”

“We’re going to meet again in a different place,” Bix says. “Everyone we’ve lost, we’ll find. Or they’ll find us.” “Where? How?” Drew asks. Bix hesitates, like he’s held this secret so long he’s afraid of what will happen when he releases it into the air. “I picture it like Judgment Day,” he says finally, his eyes on the water. “We’ll rise up out of our bodies and find each other again in spirit form. We’ll meet in that new place, all of us together, and first it’ll seem strange, and pretty soon it’ll seem strange that you could ever lose someone, or get lost.”

“Sunsan was baffled at first, then distraught. [...] But eventually a sort of amnesia had overtaken Susan; her rebellion and hurt had melted away, deliquesced into a sweet, eternal sunniness that was terrible in the way that life would be terrible, Ted supposed, without death to give it gravitas and shape.” (Chapter 11).

“...all of this bolstered his awe at the gymnastic adaptability of the human mind.”

“...a fibrillating excitement such as he hadn’t felt for years in response to a work of art, compounded by further excitement that such excitement was still possible.” 

“A feeling,” Bennie said, rousing himself slightly from his deep recline. “That we have some history together that hasn’t happened yet.” (Chapter 13).

“Her confidence seemed more drastic than the outcome of a happy childhood; it was cellular confidence, as if Lulu were a queen in disguise, without need or wish to be recognized.”

“There are so many ways to go wrong,” Lulu said. “All we’ve got are metaphors, and they’re never exactly right. You can’t ever just Say. The. Thing.”

“They could meander indefinitely, these conversations...” 

[hellolightbulbmoments]

The magical manic of Marrakech

I'd heard and read a lot of things about Marrakech before our trip there. Mainly good things, but the bad ones are what stuck in my head. 'You're entering a Muslim country so dress moderately and adhere to the rules'. 'Never take the first price a taxi driver gives you, always haggle.' 'Don't take directions from someone who is pretending to be a tour guide because they most likely are trying to get money from you.'

These were the thoughts that went through my mind on the plane ride to Morocco. I didn't want to mess up, get into trouble with the law, or haggle, I really wasn't looking forward to haggling. We got to the airport, converted some money then thought we would check out the main square, Jamaa el-fna since it was closer to the airport than our hotel. This was our first mistake. 

It wasn't After hopping off the bus and making our way to the square that we were shouted at from all directions. Men leading up to the square trying to sell us watches, glasses, or vr headsets, women cutting on small chairs selling  books, men in large stalls selling all manor of seeds, nuts and fruit juice. It wasn't the type of shouting that you get down an East end market, it was the targeted, personalised type, with eye contact. 'Excuse me sir', 'hey madam', 'come and try this', 'take this', 'buy this'. It wasn't something either of us had experienced before. Although we were impressed with the colourful, business of the place we didn't stand in one place long enough to take it all in. We continued Brockley walking into a sheltered, narrow market. At this point our costs a bags were still on and we hadn't freshened up from the flight so we weren't intending to spend too long in the Medina. 

It was much quieter here, less open but that was alright. People sold more food, bread, ornaments, bags, shoes, clothes, everything you could think of. It was nice, but after a few minutes if walking we weren't seeing anything new so we thought we'd make our way back. Stopping to locate ourselves on Google maps we were stopped because a friendly local who informed us there was a leather market worth checking out, he started leading us before we agreed and we followed as not to seem rude, but we had a feeling he would ask for money afterwards. Surprisingly he didn't but passed us to his friend for some reason. The walk was long and it looked like we were getting more lost so we thought we'd make our own way which, didn't work out too well. We got lost again and was directed by another local. The dirt paths we walked along were incredibly busy and tight, we had to stop every so often to let a motorbike past, or a main on a donkey pulling a cart. Once the local could take us no further he asked for money and we complied buy, he wasn't too happy. He wanted more, the money in my pocket he said, and another man out of nowhere came along and agreed with him. We refused, made and walked away, but we were still lost. 

We were there for about an hour and a half in total, walking past stalls we had seen before almost in circles until we asked tourists, not locals for the exit. After we got out we vowed not the return there anytime soon and looked for a taxi. We caught the eye of one and went through our haggling strategy. Don't go above 150 Dhs, we'll start at 100. As soon as we have our destination the taxi driver said the journey would be 200 Dhs, around £18 for a 25-minute journey, that sounded a bit expensive. We said 150 or we walked, and as we started to go elsewhere he called us back and said he'd do it for the price we asked, but called someone else to drive us. This driver ended up taking an unusual route. Driving through dirt tracks with open fires and stray sheep. We were worried, 'maybe he would threaten us for more money', we though tracking our journey on Google maps, 'maybe he would beat us'. Luckily none of that happened and we arrived, safely to our hotel. We paid him 150 which he wasn't happy about. After checking in we emptied our bags, and lay on our bed and went through the day. Is this what Marrakech will be like? What kind of holiday have we organised for ourselves? Fortunately, our trip took a very different turn in the subsequent days.

Parts of Marrakech look quite third world with large empty dirt blocks, people riding donkeys and overgrown weeds, but it also has some really nice places like Gueliz. Gueliz (pronounced Geleez) is the part of Marrakech I believe most resembles a European city with Arabian architecture. It had upmarket retail stores(H&M, [Strada various]) as well as fast food restaurants(McDonald, KFC) and small [creperies] along the pavement. We went into a large shopping mall with plenty of more stores. But we didn't just visit Gueliz for shopping, we were there for the Jardin Majorelle. This was a small, beautiful garden with exotic plants which were well looked after. There was security guards along the way to keep people moving but that didn't stop a crowd of people congregating around a blue building taking pictures of themselves. The garden also included a memorial to fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent who happened to have a museum very close to the Jardin. Overall it was worth the long queue and the 70Dhs for the experience and a nice change from the hustle and bustle we experienced on our first day.

The following day was an earlier start than usual for us. We booked a camel ride about 40 minutes drive outside the city, near the Ours Tensift river. Luckily our hotel booked taxis for us so we didn't have to haggle again, good news for the both of us. Neither of us had ridden a camel before and we both really enjoyed it. They were large, didn't smell, and moved really slowly. My camel (Madi) was less stable than Hannah's (Olivia), but as long as I held on to the metal handle I knew I would be fine. Our guide Ali spoke great English and did a good job of keeping us calm. He even made a camel for me out of leaves he picked up nearby as a birthday present. We met Ali's aunt who gave us some sweet Morocco mint tea and some star-shaped biscuits.

We relaxed a bit the next day before taking a taxi to the Bahia Palace, a must-see attraction in Marrakech. I usually keep myself informed when visiting a museum or building as to why it exists and who it's for, sadly I have no idea why the palace existed or who stayed in it, nevertheless, we still enjoyed it. The palace has plenty of white walls and fountains (which were not working). We had fun looking through the colourful stained glass windows and taking pictures around the large spaces. Although there were a lot of tourists around the place never got too busy. The area around the palace–Mellah was surrounded by shops and restaurants. We purchased a fridge magnet and tries some famous Moroccan couscous which, to be honest, wasn't much different from couscous in the UK. As we were not far from it we decided to give the market square another chance. It was busier than when we first went with snake charmers and people carrying monkeys this time. Once again we couldn't take the shouting and the attention we got so left five minutes after entering.

As the day got cooler and darker we walked around Marrakech and ended up at the beautiful Koutoubia mosque then though Parc Lalla Hasna which had the most amount of fountains I have seen in a park. It was also very green and peaceful which was uncommon around the brown and red buildings of the city. We felt safe around d the part we were, the King was in Marrakech so there were plenty of police and guards so we continued walking. We ended up in another park, the Cyber Park to be exact. It was different from Parc Lalla Hasna but also beautiful and peaceful, with bus stop size screens around most corners.

Although we spend a lot of time in the city walking around and visiting museums we spent a reasonable amount of time in our hotel, the Fellah. The Fellah Hotel was a gated compound which had a great swimming pool, a gym, library, spa and restaurant. We spent every morning in the restaurant for breakfast and was there one evening where we both tried and fell in love with tagine. We didn't spend much time in the library or gym and although the weather was around 24 degrees the pool was too cold to swim in. We did, however, experience a traditional Moroccan hammam session in the spa which, was different. Being in a steamy room for half an hour then getting scrubbed and showered by someone wasn't what I expected, but both our skin felt softer and cleaner from it so it'll most likely be something we try again.

Overall we had an amazing time in Marrakech and although we would have done things differently knowing what we know now it's somewhere we would be more than happy to visit again.

[zenruption]

Mini-Life Goal Guide: Buying My First Adult Mattress

By Mila Sanchez

There are many goals that one hopes to accomplish as an adult, like buying a brand new car, landing a great job, and purchasing a home. For many millennials, though, a lot of these goals have not been within reach — crushing student debt, stagnant wages, and an ever-growing cost of living have seen to that. Due to the seemingly inaccessible nature of these traditional and lofty goals, many of our adult life goals have become a bit more reserved, like being able to take a trip overseas and being able to afford rent at a place that’s not in a shady part of town.

Right now, a reasonably accessible goal for me is to invest is an adult mattress. What do I mean by adult? I mean many things, like, not just the cheapest thing I could buy right out of high school and not a twin-size mattress...

That’s right, I’m an adult person with a twin-size mattress. As someone who has contentedly remained single in my adult life so far, I have never really needed a bigger bed … and many would argue that the reason I want a bigger bed now is dumb *cough*my parents*cough*. Basically, I have a giant 2-year-old German Shepherd who has recently decided that he wants to sleep on the bed with me. While the jury is still out on whether or not you should let dogs sleep in bed with you, I’m all for it. But an 80 pound dog and a 5’ 6” human on a twin-size bed is not a fun time. We need more room!

He’s a big boy

Since a mattress is such a big purchase, and something that most people expect to last a while — at least 5 to 10 years — I want to be thorough in my decision. There are many things to consider when buying a new mattress, like preferred firmness, price, size, durability and materials used in production, and various other aspects. Everyone has different needs when it comes to what they want in a mattress and what they will focus on in their research to help them make a decision.

For me, I’m looking for these things in a mattress:

Full size — my new room is only 10 x 10, and I want to make sure I still have some walking-around space.

Certifications addressing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and use of non-toxic materials, such as CertiPUR-US®, GREENGUARD, and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® — I have read about the dangers of off-gassing from mattresses made with a host of chemicals in their foams and for flame-retardant purposes — and whether or not it’s true, I don’t want to take any chances.

Good for stomach and side sleepers —  I sleep either on my side or stomach, and while I know it’s bad to sleep on your stomach, I just can’t help it most of the time.

Less than $1,000 — I’m looking to invest in a good quality mattress, and I have some money saved up, but I am still a poor millennial with a massive amount of student loans and making less than the cost of living in my city. So, $1,000 is the absolute most I am willing to spend out of my savings.

Trial period — since I’ll be ordering online and won’t get a chance to feel the bed in person before ordering, I want to make sure I can return the mattress relatively hassle free if necessary.

The Purple Mattress

Have you seen the Goldilocks commercial where they use the “raw egg test” to show why their bed is the best? Well, they did their advertising duty, and I was hooked; I’ve been wanting a Purple bed for over a year, so I just assumed that once I moved into a new place, I would get that mattress. Well, now that the time has come and I can finally buy a mattress, I’m not so sure. After some research and reading through reviews, it turns out it’s not great for people who are stomach sleepers and side sleepers. Several Amazon reviews revealed that people who were side and stomach sleepers experienced back and shoulder pain, as well as their arms falling asleep frequently. But still, the Purple Bed retains a 4.5 star review and carries the CertiPUR-US® certification for their foams and a Greenguard certification for their mattress covering — still could be a good bed for someone, but probably not me.

The Puffy Mattress

In researching mattresses, the Puffy mattress came up a lot, and the website boasts being a winner of the Sleep Cupid Best Mattresses of the Year for 2017. At the time I was looking at it, the full-size mattress was on sale for $800, so definitely within my budget, though on the higher end. It also has the CertiPUR-US® certification, a lifetime guarantee, and is made when you order it and is delivered within 6 days to ensure it’s fresh and not packed for too long.

This all sounded really great, but it didn’t take much for me to discover that it is not good for stomach sleepers. The site itself says that it’s more suited to back and side sleepers, and while I do sometimes sleep on my side, I tend to default to my stomach. Additionally, many reviews have mentioned that there is no support when sitting on the side of the mattress, something I tend to do often, like when putting on my shoes when getting ready, so that could get annoying real fast. But overall, it seems like a solid mattress, but once again, not quite for me.

Tuft & Needle Mattress

Tuft & Needle either spends A LOT on advertising or they have an excellent SEO team, because it always came up on the front page of my Google searches when googling online mattress companies. And really, from what I can tell from my research, it seems like a fairly decent mattress at great price — only $475 for the full-size mattress, making it the most affordable option I came across. It also lists on the site that the mattress is GREENGUARD certified, as well as CertiPUR-US® and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®. It all sounded great, but a few things put me off from choosing this mattress.

First of all, many of the reviews I read reported a strong off-gassing smell coming from the mattress upon opening it that lingered for a couple of days; this made me a little wary of the validity of the non-toxic nature of the mattress. That, paired with info on the site warning not to come in contact with the fire-retardant layer just made me a little uneasy, whether it’s warranted or not. But, for people looking for an affordable, decent quality mattress, and aren’t overly-insane-worriers-over-probably-non-issues like myself, I think Tuft & Needle could be good option.

One especially great thing about this mattress is that if you decided not to keep it during your 100 night trial, the return process involves donating it to a local charity and Tuft & Needle issuing a full refund upon receiving the donation receipt. That’s a pretty rad return policy.

Loom and Leaf

This is another mattress company that kept popping up on the first page of my Google searches. Loom and Leaf is a mattress made by Saatva mattress company. The Loom and Leaf mattress is Saatva’s springless memory foam mattress, and it comes out at the higher-end of my price range at $949 for their full-size mattress. Additionally, they are the only company of the mattresses I looked into that charged for delivery, and at $99 for delivery, that would bring the total to $1048 — just out of my budget.

It seems like a solid mattress, but it only comes in firm and relaxed firm. As a side and stomach sleeper, I’m looking for a medium firmness/softness, so that, combined with the higher price, put it out of the running for me. But for those who like a firmer mattress and can afford the higher price, one thing that Loom and Leaf offers that stands out is a 120 day trial time, so you can try it out for just a bit longer than the rest. It also 4.8 out of 5 on Google Customer Reviews, so they have a lot of satisfied customers.

Plush Bed

This bed was actually a result of 2 weeks of searching for different online bed companies, and it just happened to show up listed on a website that compares hundreds of different mattresses. I clicked into it, and my initial reaction was that it’s pretty expensive — like $2,000+ expensive. As I kept looking I found some more affordable options, and just happened to be looking at their website on Black Friday, while they were offering a seriously awesome deal — $1,250 off and free pillows, mattress cover, and sheets — making the mattress $749, well within my budget (not sure if they offer significant discounts regularly, but seemed great at the time!). The site says that all of the mattresses are GREENGUARD, CertiPUR-US® and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified, so those were also plus points for me.

This is the mattress I ultimately decided to purchase — mostly due to the sale and certifications, and being completely exhausted from all the options out there … there are too many! I ordered it Black Friday weekend and it should be here in about 6-9 days, as it’s made to order. I’m already having a bit of buyer’s remorse after discovering that they use polyurethane in the mattress — something I was trying to avoid, and don’t know how I missed it — but after all this research, it seems like that’s an impossible thing to do with a budget below $1,000. Luckily they give a 100 day trial, so if I detect off-gassing, or for any reason don’t like the mattress, I should be able to return it for a full refund.   

I researched for almost 2 weeks, and the mattress companies above are just the ones I considered the most. I felt a little rushed in my final decision because I’m moving to a new place with a new roommate and just figured I would use the opportunity to get a new mattress rather than dealing with moving my old one; now that we are actually in the process of moving in, I need a bed like NOW. People told me that combining households with a new roommate would be the difficult part, but that’s actually been relatively easy. Who knew I could be so stressed out with what should be a simple mattress purchase, but I was. We’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out. Fingers crossed, everyone!

Have you purchased online mattresses before? What did you choose, and how did it turn out? Any tips for me? Let us know in the comments!

 -----------------------------------------------

 Mila Sanchez is a writer and recent graduate with a BA in English Linguistics. Her ambitions include traveling the world, studying languages, and taking pictures of her dog, Baymax. Connect with her onTwitter and Instagram!

[zenruption]

Copy of Mini-Life Goal Guide: Buying my First Adult Mattress

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

By Mila Sanchez

There are many goals that one hopes to accomplish as an adult, like buying a brand new car, landing a great job, and purchasing a home. For many millennials, though, a lot of these goals have not been within reach — crushing student debt, stagnant wages, and an ever-growing cost of living have seen to that. Due to the seemingly inaccessible nature of these traditional and lofty goals, many of our adult life goals have become a bit more reserved, like being able to take a trip overseas and being able to afford rent at a place that’s not in a shady part of town.

Right now, a reasonably accessible goal for me is to invest is an adult mattress. What do I mean by adult? I mean many things, like, not just the cheapest thing I could buy right out of high school and not a twin-size mattress...

That’s right, I’m an adult person with a twin-size mattress. As someone who has contentedly remained single in my adult life so far, I have never really needed a bigger bed … and many would argue that the reason I want a bigger bed now is dumb *cough*my parents*cough*. Basically, I have a giant 2-year-old German Shepherd who has recently decided that he wants to sleep on the bed with me. While the jury is still out on whether or not you should let dogs sleep in bed with you, I’m all for it. But an 80 pound dog and a 5’ 6” human on a twin-size bed is not a fun time. We need more room!

He’s a big boy

Since a mattress is such a big purchase, and something that most people expect to last a while — at least 5 to 10 years — I want to be thorough in my decision. There are many things to consider when buying a new mattress, like preferred firmness, price, size, durability and materials used in production, and various other aspects. Everyone has different needs when it comes to what they want in a mattress and what they will focus on in their research to help them make a decision.

For me, I’m looking for these things in a mattress:

Full size — my new room is only 10 x 10, and I want to make sure I still have some walking-around space.

Certifications addressing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and use of non-toxic materials, such as CertiPUR-US®, GREENGUARD, and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® — I have read about the dangers of off-gassing from mattresses made with a host of chemicals in their foams and for flame-retardant purposes — and whether or not it’s true, I don’t want to take any chances.

Good for stomach and side sleepers —  I sleep either on my side or stomach, and while I know it’s bad to sleep on your stomach, I just can’t help it most of the time.

Less than $1,000 — I’m looking to invest in a good quality mattress, and I have some money saved up, but I am still a poor millennial with a massive amount of student loans and making less than the cost of living in my city. So, $1,000 is the absolute most I am willing to spend out of my savings.

Trial period — since I’ll be ordering online and won’t get a chance to feel the bed in person before ordering, I want to make sure I can return the mattress relatively hassle free if necessary.

The Purple Mattress

Have you seen the Goldilocks commercial where they use the “raw egg test” to show why their bed is the best? Well, they did their advertising duty, and I was hooked; I’ve been wanting a Purple bed for over a year, so I just assumed that once I moved into a new place, I would get that mattress. Well, now that the time has come and I can finally buy a mattress, I’m not so sure. After some research and reading through reviews, it turns out it’s not great for people who are stomach sleepers and side sleepers. Several Amazon reviews revealed that people who were side and stomach sleepers experienced back and shoulder pain, as well as their arms falling asleep frequently. But still, the Purple Bed retains a 4.5 star review and carries the CertiPUR-US® certification for their foams and a Greenguard certification for their mattress covering — still could be a good bed for someone, but probably not me.

The Puffy Mattress

In researching mattresses, the Puffy mattress came up a lot, and the website boasts being a winner of the Sleep Cupid Best Mattresses of the Year for 2017. At the time I was looking at it, the full-size mattress was on sale for $800, so definitely within my budget, though on the higher end. It also has the CertiPUR-US® certification, a lifetime guarantee, and is made when you order it and is delivered within 6 days to ensure it’s fresh and not packed for too long.

This all sounded really great, but it didn’t take much for me to discover that it is not good for stomach sleepers. The site itself says that it’s more suited to back and side sleepers, and while I do sometimes sleep on my side, I tend to default to my stomach. Additionally, many reviews have mentioned that there is no support when sitting on the side of the mattress, something I tend to do often, like when putting on my shoes when getting ready, so that could get annoying real fast. But overall, it seems like a solid mattress, but once again, not quite for me.

Tuft & Needle Mattress

Tuft & Needle either spends A LOT on advertising or they have an excellent SEO team, because it always came up on the front page of my Google searches when googling online mattress companies. And really, from what I can tell from my research, it seems like a fairly decent mattress at great price — only $475 for the full-size mattress, making it the most affordable option I came across. It also lists on the site that the mattress is GREENGUARD certified, as well as CertiPUR-US® and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®. It all sounded great, but a few things put me off from choosing this mattress.

First of all, many of the reviews I read reported a strong off-gassing smell coming from the mattress upon opening it that lingered for a couple of days; this made me a little wary of the validity of the non-toxic nature of the mattress. That, paired with info on the site warning not to come in contact with the fire-retardant layer just made me a little uneasy, whether it’s warranted or not. But, for people looking for an affordable, decent quality mattress, and aren’t overly-insane-worriers-over-probably-non-issues like myself, I think Tuft & Needle could be good option.

One especially great thing about this mattress is that if you decided not to keep it during your 100 night trial, the return process involves donating it to a local charity and Tuft & Needle issuing a full refund upon receiving the donation receipt. That’s a pretty rad return policy.

Loom and Leaf

This is another mattress company that kept popping up on the first page of my Google searches. Loom and Leaf is a mattress made by Saatva mattress company. The Loom and Leaf mattress is Saatva’s springless memory foam mattress, and it comes out at the higher-end of my price range at $949 for their full-size mattress. Additionally, they are the only company of the mattresses I looked into that charged for delivery, and at $99 for delivery, that would bring the total to $1048 — just out of my budget.

It seems like a solid mattress, but it only comes in firm and relaxed firm. As a side and stomach sleeper, I’m looking for a medium firmness/softness, so that, combined with the higher price, put it out of the running for me. But for those who like a firmer mattress and can afford the higher price, one thing that Loom and Leaf offers that stands out is a 120 day trial time, so you can try it out for just a bit longer than the rest. It also 4.8 out of 5 on Google Customer Reviews, so they have a lot of satisfied customers.

Plush Bed

This bed was actually a result of 2 weeks of searching for different online bed companies, and it just happened to show up listed on a website that compares hundreds of different mattresses. I clicked into it, and my initial reaction was that it’s pretty expensive — like $2,000+ expensive. As I kept looking I found some more affordable options, and just happened to be looking at their website on Black Friday, while they were offering a seriously awesome deal — $1,250 off and free pillows, mattress cover, and sheets — making the mattress $749, well within my budget (not sure if they offer significant discounts regularly, but seemed great at the time!). The site says that all of the mattresses are GREENGUARD, CertiPUR-US® and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified, so those were also plus points for me.

This is the mattress I ultimately decided to purchase — mostly due to the sale and certifications, and being completely exhausted from all the options out there … there are too many! I ordered it Black Friday weekend and it should be here in about 6-9 days, as it’s made to order. I’m already having a bit of buyer’s remorse after discovering that they use polyurethane in the mattress — something I was trying to avoid, and don’t know how I missed it — but after all this research, it seems like that’s an impossible thing to do with a budget below $1,000. Luckily they give a 100 day trial, so if I detect off-gassing, or for any reason don’t like the mattress, I should be able to return it for a full refund.  

I researched for almost 2 weeks, and the mattress companies above are just the ones I considered the most. I felt a little rushed in my final decision because I’m moving to a new place with a new roommate and just figured I would use the opportunity to get a new mattress rather than dealing with moving my old one; now that we are actually in the process of moving in, I need a bed like NOW. People told me that combining households with a new roommate would be the difficult part, but that’s actually been relatively easy. Who knew I could be so stressed out with what should be a simple mattress purchase, but I was. We’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out. Fingers crossed, everyone!

Have you purchased online mattresses before? What did you choose, and how did it turn out? Any tips for me? Let us know in the comments!

 -----------------------------------------------

 Mila Sanchez is a writer and recent graduate with a BA in English Linguistics. Her ambitions include traveling the world, studying languages, and taking pictures of her dog, Baymax. Connect with her on Twitter and Instagram!

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[zenruption]

Mini-Life Goal Guide: Buying my First Adult Mattress

Add to Flipboard Magazine.

By Mila Sanchez

There are many goals that one hopes to accomplish as an adult, like buying a brand new car, landing a great job, and purchasing a home. For many millennials, though, a lot of these goals have not been within reach — crushing student debt, stagnant wages, and an ever-growing cost of living have seen to that. Due to the seemingly inaccessible nature of these traditional and lofty goals, many of our adult life goals have become a bit more reserved, like being able to take a trip overseas and being able to afford rent at a place that’s not in a shady part of town.

Right now, a reasonably accessible goal for me is to invest is an adult mattress. What do I mean by adult? I mean many things, like, not just the cheapest thing I could buy right out of high school and not a twin-size mattress...

That’s right, I’m an adult person with a twin-size mattress. As someone who has contentedly remained single in my adult life so far, I have never really needed a bigger bed … and many would argue that the reason I want a bigger bed now is dumb *cough*my parents*cough*. Basically, I have a giant 2-year-old German Shepherd who has recently decided that he wants to sleep on the bed with me. While the jury is still out on whether or not you should let dogs sleep in bed with you, I’m all for it. But an 80 pound dog and a 5’ 6” human on a twin-size bed is not a fun time. We need more room!

He’s a big boy

Since a mattress is such a big purchase, and something that most people expect to last a while — at least 5 to 10 years — I want to be thorough in my decision. There are many things to consider when buying a new mattress, like preferred firmness, price, size, durability and materials used in production, and various other aspects. Everyone has different needs when it comes to what they want in a mattress and what they will focus on in their research to help them make a decision.

For me, I’m looking for these things in a mattress:

Full size — my new room is only 10 x 10, and I want to make sure I still have some walking-around space.

Certifications addressing volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and use of non-toxic materials, such as CertiPUR-US®, GREENGUARD, and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® — I have read about the dangers of off-gassing from mattresses made with a host of chemicals in their foams and for flame-retardant purposes — and whether or not it’s true, I don’t want to take any chances.

Good for stomach and side sleepers —  I sleep either on my side or stomach, and while I know it’s bad to sleep on your stomach, I just can’t help it most of the time.

Less than $1,000 — I’m looking to invest in a good quality mattress, and I have some money saved up, but I am still a poor millennial with a massive amount of student loans and making less than the cost of living in my city. So, $1,000 is the absolute most I am willing to spend out of my savings.

Trial period — since I’ll be ordering online and won’t get a chance to feel the bed in person before ordering, I want to make sure I can return the mattress relatively hassle free if necessary.

The Purple Mattress

Have you seen the Goldilocks commercial where they use the “raw egg test” to show why their bed is the best? Well, they did their advertising duty, and I was hooked; I’ve been wanting a Purple bed for over a year, so I just assumed that once I moved into a new place, I would get that mattress. Well, now that the time has come and I can finally buy a mattress, I’m not so sure. After some research and reading through reviews, it turns out it’s not great for people who are stomach sleepers and side sleepers. Several Amazon reviews revealed that people who were side and stomach sleepers experienced back and shoulder pain, as well as their arms falling asleep frequently. But still, the Purple Bed retains a 4.5 star review and carries the CertiPUR-US® certification for their foams and a Greenguard certification for their mattress covering — still could be a good bed for someone, but probably not me.

The Puffy Mattress

In researching mattresses, the Puffy mattress came up a lot, and the website boasts being a winner of the Sleep Cupid Best Mattresses of the Year for 2017. At the time I was looking at it, the full-size mattress was on sale for $800, so definitely within my budget, though on the higher end. It also has the CertiPUR-US® certification, a lifetime guarantee, and is made when you order it and is delivered within 6 days to ensure it’s fresh and not packed for too long.

This all sounded really great, but it didn’t take much for me to discover that it is not good for stomach sleepers. The site itself says that it’s more suited to back and side sleepers, and while I do sometimes sleep on my side, I tend to default to my stomach. Additionally, many reviews have mentioned that there is no support when sitting on the side of the mattress, something I tend to do often, like when putting on my shoes when getting ready, so that could get annoying real fast. But overall, it seems like a solid mattress, but once again, not quite for me.

Tuft & Needle Mattress

Tuft & Needle either spends A LOT on advertising or they have an excellent SEO team, because it always came up on the front page of my Google searches when googling online mattress companies. And really, from what I can tell from my research, it seems like a fairly decent mattress at great price — only $475 for the full-size mattress, making it the most affordable option I came across. It also lists on the site that the mattress is GREENGUARD certified, as well as CertiPUR-US® and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®. It all sounded great, but a few things put me off from choosing this mattress.

First of all, many of the reviews I read reported a strong off-gassing smell coming from the mattress upon opening it that lingered for a couple of days; this made me a little wary of the validity of the non-toxic nature of the mattress. That, paired with info on the site warning not to come in contact with the fire-retardant layer just made me a little uneasy, whether it’s warranted or not. But, for people looking for an affordable, decent quality mattress, and aren’t overly-insane-worriers-over-probably-non-issues like myself, I think Tuft & Needle could be good option.

One especially great thing about this mattress is that if you decided not to keep it during your 100 night trial, the return process involves donating it to a local charity and Tuft & Needle issuing a full refund upon receiving the donation receipt. That’s a pretty rad return policy.

Loom and Leaf

This is another mattress company that kept popping up on the first page of my Google searches. Loom and Leaf is a mattress made by Saatva mattress company. The Loom and Leaf mattress is Saatva’s springless memory foam mattress, and it comes out at the higher-end of my price range at $949 for their full-size mattress. Additionally, they are the only company of the mattresses I looked into that charged for delivery, and at $99 for delivery, that would bring the total to $1048 — just out of my budget.

It seems like a solid mattress, but it only comes in firm and relaxed firm. As a side and stomach sleeper, I’m looking for a medium firmness/softness, so that, combined with the higher price, put it out of the running for me. But for those who like a firmer mattress and can afford the higher price, one thing that Loom and Leaf offers that stands out is a 120 day trial time, so you can try it out for just a bit longer than the rest. It also 4.8 out of 5 on Google Customer Reviews, so they have a lot of satisfied customers.

Plush Bed

This bed was actually a result of 2 weeks of searching for different online bed companies, and it just happened to show up listed on a website that compares hundreds of different mattresses. I clicked into it, and my initial reaction was that it’s pretty expensive — like $2,000+ expensive. As I kept looking I found some more affordable options, and just happened to be looking at their website on Black Friday, while they were offering a seriously awesome deal — $1,250 off and free pillows, mattress cover, and sheets — making the mattress $749, well within my budget (not sure if they offer significant discounts regularly, but seemed great at the time!). The site says that all of the mattresses are GREENGUARD, CertiPUR-US® and STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX® certified, so those were also plus points for me.

This is the mattress I ultimately decided to purchase — mostly due to the sale and certifications, and being completely exhausted from all the options out there … there are too many! I ordered it Black Friday weekend and it should be here in about 6-9 days, as it’s made to order. I’m already having a bit of buyer’s remorse after discovering that they use polyurethane in the mattress — something I was trying to avoid, and don’t know how I missed it — but after all this research, it seems like that’s an impossible thing to do with a budget below $1,000. Luckily they give a 100 day trial, so if I detect off-gassing, or for any reason don’t like the mattress, I should be able to return it for a full refund.  

I researched for almost 2 weeks, and the mattress companies above are just the ones I considered the most. I felt a little rushed in my final decision because I’m moving to a new place with a new roommate and just figured I would use the opportunity to get a new mattress rather than dealing with moving my old one; now that we are actually in the process of moving in, I need a bed like NOW. People told me that combining households with a new roommate would be the difficult part, but that’s actually been relatively easy. Who knew I could be so stressed out with what should be a simple mattress purchase, but I was. We’ll just have to wait and see how it turns out. Fingers crossed, everyone!

Have you purchased online mattresses before? What did you choose, and how did it turn out? Any tips for me? Let us know in the comments!

 -----------------------------------------------

 Mila Sanchez is a writer and recent graduate with a BA in English Linguistics. Her ambitions include traveling the world, studying languages, and taking pictures of her dog, Baymax. Connect with her on Twitter and Instagram!

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