Product Review: My Lululemon Obsession

When I first bought an Equinox membership at a charity auction and the Santa Monica location back in 2008, I noticed three things.  

1. The group fitness classes kicked my butt to another level unlike any I had experienced at 24 Hour Fitness
2. There were quite a bit of good looking young and hopefully available victims (but who hits on people they meet in the gym... oh wait, my friend and me)
3. What was this weird Omega symbol on every girls' really cute-I-am-totally-jealous-want-that-cute-yoga-outfit?!

I kept spying the number of Omega symbols I counted.  Every single pair of yoga pant that fit on a butt very nicely seemed to have one.  There must have been something magical about this brand, but what I did not know yet.  All I knew was it looked cute and these girls could probably wipe off the sweat and spend their whole day in those clothes and look great!

Shortly after that, I was with my brother in Old Town Pasadena and noticed a store sign with the big Omega symbol.  "What is that?" I asked my brother.  "That's Lululemon, that store I told you about with expensive yoga pants that look DANG good on any girl."  "Oh, is it expensive?" I asked my brother, who six years smaller than me, sure knew a lot about this new brand.  "It might be, I don't know what that's aboooot."  Oh, they're from Canada folks.  HA!

Still single, in my mid 20's and with a lot of disposable income, I decided against my frugal instincts to check out the store and try on some of their stuff.

Here's what I learned.

• Sizes for ALL: Lululemon pants come in short, regular and long - which was PERFECT for me, because at 5'9... most pants owned at the time had me screaming "flood's a coming!" and only my dance pants seemed to be long enough.
• Store extras: Lululemon pants come with free hemming and re-hemming if they get it wrong (and they will even take your already worn pants back for stitching up small holes if you accidentally create one).  They also have free water inside the stores, and offer free yoga and fitness classes, normally one on the weekend and one on the weekday - check your local store for more details or subscribe to the nearest store's newsletter for more details!
• Expensive: Lululemon pants are not cheap.  A regular pair of "groove pants" which are fitted yoga pants, are normally $98.00, and my favorite baggy straight legged lounge pants (I have worn one pair on every single flight or road trip I have ever been on since owning them) is called the "still pant" and runs at $108.00.  I would definitely splurge on the pants, the tops are not always well made.  I have noticed some side seams that are crooked and after trying a few styles (I did purchase many on sale), I decided most were too thick for me to sweat in.  I prefer Ion tops or a nice sports bra with a thin yoga shirt over it (as I also hate shaving my pits!) but the Lululemon tops are nice if you're hopeful of meeting someone while working out or going to work out with a guy you may be interested in (as my husband and I did before we were dating and yes, I sported Lulu!)
• Amazing Fit: Lululemon pants have a magic elastic yoga material that makes your bum look awesome.  My husband is not a fan of my Lulu obsession, but once, he even commented - oh your bum looks good in those pants... to which I responded with... thank you Lulu to which he slammed his forehead, realizing he was encouraging my Lulu obsession.  Too flat in the chest when wearing sports bras?  Never fear, Lululemon has booby inserts (see above - the four little weird beige things in the middle)!  I actually never used 'em but it was nice to know they were there in case I wanted to.  
• Environmentally conscious and cute: Every purchase comes in a cute reusable Lululemon bag (with special New Year's editions coming out right about now!) with sayings such as "drink more water" or "friends are more important than money" or "do one scary thing a day."  Encouraging, environmentally friendly... can we get more granola here folks?

For more details on their products, their community, mission, blog, and learn why they are such a hot and growing ticker symbol, check out Lululemon's website.

I got their Company manifesto (what's printed on their cute bags) and decided to include it here.