RabLabs Review & Giveaway!

In today’s world, it seems that almost everything for the home is made of plastic. As often as possible, it is nice to find items for the home that are made from completely natural products. When I found out about a company called RabLabs that makes a wide range of household accessories from Agate, I was intrigued. A bit of history - Agate is “a semi-precious gemstone once used for decoration in Ancient Egypt. In ancient times, agate was thought to possess incredible virtues, protecting its guardians from all dangers, and bringing them pleasant dreams.”

Anna Rabinowicz, founder of RabLabs, has taken these beautiful agate gemstones and made them into truly unique items. Anna launched her first collection of agate pieces in August 2002. Since then, she has continued to create astounding pieces of art with practical purposes for the home. RabLab currently creates a wide range of items, which include coasters, small and large plates, napkin rings, bowls, candlesticks, small photo frames, bottle stoppers, ornaments, and belts.

Anna stated, “My intention is to bring natural, warm elements into spaces constructed of hard materials – steel, glass, concrete, and plastic.”

RabLabs has been featured in a variety of popular magazines such as The Family Circle, “O” The Oprah Magazine, Bon Appétit, and Lucky…just to name a few.

Review
Recently, I had the opportunity to experience the beauty of RabLabs’ items firsthand! RabLabs offered to send me a lovely set of their PEDRA Pure Brazilian Agate Coasters. The set I received contained four coasters that were mixed in color and each measuring approximately 4.5” x 4.5” in diameter. The colors I received were blue, green, purple, and red. Finally, in order to protect your furniture, each coaster is equipped with 4 rubber 'dots' that are adhered to their bottoms. Each rubber piece is roughly 1/4" in height.

When I received my Agate coasters in the mail, I was stunned by their beauty. I was immediately attracted to their intense and vibrant colors (my favorite was the dazzling purple)! After I received the coasters, I went back and looked at the pictures online. I realized that you really have to see these items up-close to appreciate the true beauty of them. One example is in relation to the size or thickness of the coasters. On RabLabs’ website, these coasters look quite thin. However, when you have them in hand, you will notice that each coaster is reasonably thick, solid, and durable.

One aspect that makes these coasters so beautiful is their individuality. Because these coasters are cut from natural agate gemstones, each coaster is completely unique and different from all others. Each coaster has a distinctive shape, color and pattern. I like the idea that no one in the world will have coasters that look like mine!

Another thing I love about these coasters is how RabLabs is able to tie in the polished look of the gemstone with the natural appearance of the outside of the stone. Tying the two parts together allows you to envision where these coasters come from. I think that leaving the outside of the stone intact is a wonderful feature. Other items that I have seen in the past that were made with similar gemstones often have the outer layer of the stone removed. I love that RabLabs has been able to preserve the entire stone.

In conclusion, I absolutely adore these coasters; they are unique and allow me to bring a piece of the outside inside. I believe that these coasters, or any of RabLabs products, would make an excellent gift for yourself or someone else!

What can you win? One winner will receive a set of mixed RabLabs' coasters. The colors included in the set will be blue, green, purple, and red.

To enter, go look through RabLabs' ‘Brand New Product’ section, then come back here and leave a comment telling me one other material (besides Agate) that is being used to make their products. This question must be answered to gain an entry in the giveaway.

Each of the following will give you one extra entry in the giveaway. Please make sure to leave a separate comment for each thing you do:
-Going here and telling me the name of one storefront or online store that sells RabLabs products.
-Looking through RabLabs product pages (here and here) and telling me the name and color of your favorite item (besides the coasters).
-Subscribing to my blog via email.
-Adding my button to your blog sidebar.
-Following me on Twitter (ihchicky). Please leave your Twitter name.
-Tweeting about this giveaway (with a link to this page) on Twitter. Please leave a link to your tweet. You can do this once a day.
-Blogging about this giveaway on your blog. Please leave a link to your blog post in your comment.

This giveaway will end on Sunday, February 22nd at 11:59pm (Central Standard Time). After the giveaway has ended, the winner will be picked randomly using random.org. EMAIL RULES: In order to win, you must provide a valid email. I will be notifying the winner by email only. Please make sure your blog profile includes your email address and make sure that it is visible. If you do not have a blogger account, please make sure you have included your email address in your post. If there is no email address provided, to contact the winner, another person will be chosen. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to the winning email notification with their complete mailing address (I will be forwarding all this information to the sponsor), If this information is not received within 48 hours, a new winner will be chosen. This giveaway is open to residents of the continental US only!

Good Luck!