ALONG COMES MARY

For nearly my entire life, something that has never been too far from me is a pair of headphones. I can remember using my family’s Walkman to play my cassettes, then onto my first Sony boombox, and, at last, my very own Walkman. Thinking I was so cool, I look back and have to giggle at how far technology and how we listen to our tunes has evolved.

But, nevertheless, they all served their purpose to me: to get the music I must hear to my head and heart. Fast forward to today, and I am preparing for a trip to Maui coming up….soon. I have found myself slowly coming into packing mode and stressing a bit. Something Michael and I are always concerned about are great headphones to travel with. While as of late, I have trusted my handy set that accompanied my phone, I was thrilled when Skullcandy reached out to me and offered to send us over a few pairs of their latest goodies.

Receiving Skullcandy’s Grind, Hesh 2 and their Smokin’ Buds 2 (aka, SB2), the best feature to these headphones is that they are wireless and work on Bluetooth capability. I have definitely felt frustrated more than once when using my usual ear buds and struggling to jog or enjoy the sights since the cords are falling out somewhat easily. That, my friends, is now a thing of the past. Enter my new age of headphones, once again.

While the ear buds are extremely cozy and delivered great, high quality sound as I got my work done, I must say, I am all about the wireless headphones. Feeling much more free as I play my tunes while I work out or go about my business has made me question why I didn’t think to get a pair sooner.

But, speaking of my tunes….

I have found myself discovering oldies that are new to me as of late. On my fantastic trip up the coast a few weeks back (and full reports on the way), I blasted classic folk-rockers like Joni Mitchell, while my beach hike found me loving the cordless ear buds and playing one of my mixes with The Grateful Dead, Bjork and some new Red Hot Chili Peppers. I felt in my own little world and while Skullcandy is not necessarily known for incredible noise cancellation sets, mine were pretty great at keeping my music all I heard.

And, as a gal always on the go, I am sure fellow busy bee’s will be glad to know that the Grind Wireless lets you take more phone calls and rock late into the night with 12 hours of battery life while the Hesh Wireless rechargeable battery provides up to 15 hours of music when fully charged.

In the coming months, Skullcandy will be hosting the STAYLOUD Showdown, a premier music platform for emerging artists to fulfill their dreams of performing on the Vans Warped Tour Skullcandy dedicated stage in front of tens of thousands of young music fans this summer. Consider this the young punk, rock version of American Idol. Kicking off on April 6th, hundreds of local LA bands entered for the opportunity of a lifetime to join the stage of where iconic artists had their start such as Blink 182 and Fall Out Boy.

Local band, Forget your Friends, won here in LA (congrats all around!) while the next stop will be in Austin on May 18th, and New York on June 8th. The series will celebrate the dedication of emerging talent while shining a light on the next big breakthrough artist by creating authentic opportunities of exposure at this year’s Vans Warped Tour.

With most of Skullcandy’s headphones under $100, do yourself a favor and treat yo’self to a pair…its a good thing we have a few in our home now, as Hammy is in on the act, too! 😉 xo

(*All photos: Michael Farah. *Disclosure: I received Skullcandy products to support this review. All opinions are my own.)