24oz Owala FreeSip - Iced Breeze
INTRODUCTION
Ello my beautiful friends! It has been a fat minute since I've made a post, and I miss you all dearly. I read back on my previous posts and it makes me happy to hear my voice and passion about something from another era in my life. But I'm back — live and in stereo 😎.
Today, I'll be talking about something that's been next on my list to write about since my last post. It was something that I tried to use my utmost self-restraint to not get, but alas. I've joined the masses. This past Christmas, I asked my family for an Owala water bottle. Shock! How could I! What! lol. Yes. It's a vital and essential part of me now. There's lore to this. Let's break it down.
WATER BOTTLES AND THEIR PLACE IN SOCIETY
If you look around right now (or let's be real you're most likely inside reading this post scrolling on your #mobiledevice, feeling the post-grad depression in bed…hahah just me?). lol jk! But really, if you walk around especially on a campus, you'll 10 out of 10 times see someone holding a water bottle. Maybe 9 out 10 on an off day. I remember when I was younger, I'd probably be dehydrated and without a bottle to hold the solution to my thirst. My peers would probably have their pokemon Thermos water bottle with those chewy silicon straws that I was always deep down a tad envious of if I can be completely vulnerable and honest with you. They were so cool. So much personality. A great way to have fun. Break out the mold of the original. Express oneself. That was the true pioneer of this current water bottle phenomena that we see today.
While there were Thermos water bottles scattered around the black pavements during recess back in the day, the key difference between now and then is ownership. Pride. A sense of self. A maternal instinct of territorialness. Yeah, it goes that deep.
The cultural shift of water bottles is not one that I'm imagining. I know this because one of the first things that my housemate from Denmark told me when moving here was that people here wear their water bottles like an accessory. And I was like wow. You are so right. I've never sat down and realized that because well, it's hard to notice it when I'm in it. Especially in the college community, we love choosing different colors, etc. I was going to say that we also love searching for different shapes and mechanical designs, but even brands have been become trends themselves — this I'll also get into later. But the most important thing that we HATE is a scratch. A dent. It's like a bruise to the soul.
I think my own personal perspective doesn't share as much of a strong fear for scratches and dents, but I definitely understand and empathize with the sentiment. I'm more of a "well if I live in fear of this, I won't be able to just appreciate my water bottle and #loveitfully". Wow. Deep. I surprise myself sometimes. Or "If I think about it so much, it'll probably be more likely to happen". Anywho. But yes, this fear has also drawn more consumers to also buy water bottle pads because the pain of hearing your water bottle dent is a hard pill to swallow.
You get the vibe, right? It's part of us. Personally, I feel a sense of confidence when I hold my water bottle around. Part of it comes from being part of the status quo and giving into getting an Owala 😭 lol but more important is the feeling it gives. Something to take care of. Something that is sleek. It's cool to stay hydrated (cmon everyone, we gotta refill them and get our 12 cups a day in!!!). Something to bond with friends over. Something to express yourself with through fun colors. Sometimes it's just nice to romanticize things — turning something difficult like staying hydrated into something fun and exciting with your peers. People who you don't even know. This is kind of off topic, but this just made me think about our deep desire to connect with humans around us. Without even knowing, our ability to share this trend with people is a way to feel connected with those around us. And that itself is special.
WATER BOTTLE BRANDS
I'm going to keep this section short because one, I went on a tangent earlier, and two, it's straightforward. Over the years, different brands have come to the limelight. Thermos in elementary. Camelbak in middle school. Hydroflasks in high school. Owalas in college. (And this is just relative to my own personal timeline) Thermos just held both hot and cold water, and it came in compact sizes. Camelbacs were just got the job done. Hydroflasks had that extra layer of protection. At this era, we start to see not only that excitement for personalization but also that fear of damage and scrapes.
Entering the Owala, the main selling points are the ability to both sip and guzzle your water. Now that I write that out, I'm like oh I thought there was more. lol. Let's just get into it as this goes. OH YES. The colorways. How could I forget? No no. Now that I'm thinking more deeply and prepping for the remainder of this post, there's critical and intentional details that make it a top competitor in the water bottle market. Let's go.
PERSONALIZATION AT FIRST GLANCE
The first thing you see (and what other people see) is the color of your water bottle. Owala has some uniqueeee colorways. From monochromatic to different, contrasting palettes, Owala does a great job of giving consumers an option. It makes people think that there's a water bottle that matches them. It goes to highlight that aspect of a water bottle being able to showcase your style, your personality, and your uniqueness. I remember when I was selecting my water bottle, I resonated with the Iced Breeze colorway because it was super minimalistic, and I thought the blue and green lid were light and tranquil. I thought it was cool that people could get a sense of me through this! If I saw someone have a colorway like Citrus Crush, I'd think they were bright, adventurous, and open!
I think it's awesome. It's really just another way to connect with people without knowing. Understand them when you can't speak with them or share a moment.
Something that Owala does that I think gives it an edge is how they maximize the space on the bottle to add more color. And sometimes more color is not the way to go. But Owala's color palettes are intentional with light and dark supporting each other. What I mean by maximizing is that the body is one color, the logo on the body another, the horizontal strip at the bottom of the lid one, the button another, the majority of the lid one, the handle another one, the mouthpiece yet another, and then the mouthpiece cover one more. I might even be missing one or two pieces! Who knows! This just goes to say that these color palettes are niche. Detailed. It makes consumers think that there's is specifically made for them. Each other representing a different part of themselves. Even though other people can purchase the same color as you, the wide number of options gives the consumer so much choice and freedom that the pick feels so you. It almost overrides that itch you get when you have the same backpack as someone else.
In addition to color, Owala has many different sizes to choose from — 24oz, 32oz, and 40oz. This makes it nice for people who might want less or more. However, a weak point is that it's a strict range. If someone wanted a smaller bottle at 16oz, they could opt for the Kids Freesip Bottle, but even this one has a different shape to be more on brand for kids, in specific. That's just a tradeoff. I personally have the 24oz. Although I would usually get the 32oz, I wanted something that I could hold around the body easily with one hand when carrying it around as well as something that could fit in my car cupholder nicely. I thought I'd be annoyed that I'd have to refill my Owala more often, but honestly, it gets me up from my desk after sitting for long periods of time which is GOOD PRACTICE!! The repeated action of consciously getting more water also makes me feel good and that I'm drinking a lot.
BUT DOES IT WORK WELL?
Color is one thing. Functionality is another. I didn't get the hype when people were talking about the ability to sip and also waterfall guzzle their water.
Personally, I use the sip option 100% of the time. But I can't lie. When I first got this bottle, I really did appreciate the two different options. I thought it was super innovative. It didn't take up more space, or it wasn't in the way if I only wanted to use one option more than the other. Therefore, the design of the mouthpiece is extremely compact and simple. Sometimes the mental load is much too great when the two options are intentionally made distinct as a way to really emphasize to the consumer the options. So much so that it would unmotivate me to use it. The Owala mouthpiece is really subtle to the point where I don't even notice the hole where you can waterfall from. But the reason why I only use the sip option is because it's just so simple. The sipping actions feel really nice and easy. No fight to get the water up. And the sipping whole is small so it gives an enjoyable stream of water through. The way the water lets go of my lips when I stop sipping is also really satisfying lol. The way it's designed, my lips get pursed to the point where my lips make contact with the water for context. The way I can describe it is if you imagined yourself if a water slide where you're standing straight up and waiting to get released and fall — it's the moment you are released and shot down the tube. How satisfying lol. Hope that depicts it well. What an odd thing to depict. I didn't think I'd spend my Sunday evening talking about the way it feels when the water leaves me lips and travels back down to join the rest of its water molecule friends.
On the side of the mouthpiece is a slight concave curve to allow your bottom lip to plush into it. This just adds to the comfortability when drinking, but I really appreciate this. I don't know if most of the suction comes from the top of the mouth (I wonder the bodily functionality of this), but the bottom lip being extended down the side of the mouthpiece makes the grip of opening of the mouth as well as the top lip on the top of the straw stronger. It makes the contact that much more supported. Anywho. I'll move on lol.
The other part of the functionality that I want to talk about is the mouthpiece cover and the button. I am a sucker for small interactions and how it is the backbone of the feeling a product has. When I press the button, it actually doesn't open immediately. It's like it's slowing prying itself from a layer of thick honey, and only once it's passed that point, does it spring open! It's such a happy and bright action that really adds to my experience. I wonder if other people think that same way! Even closing the lid, I like the smooth gluey resistance before it finally clicks back into the button. Nothing about the interactions of the bottle is sharp. It's all smooth. No lack of feedback either. It just moves slow and satisfyingly before it pops open! Ugh. I love this so much. I actually didn't even realize how much I appreciated it before I wrote this.
MY FAVORITE FEATURE THAT NEEDS ITS OWN SECTION
Guys, I know I talked a lot about colors, drinking options, and interactions, but there is beauty in the silent killers. My golly. I am so excited to share this one with you guys. I almost feel scared to share this secret that's been giving me joy and a great appreciation for the design team at Owala.
Ready? Haha…I'm not. 😹
So, on the bottle's body, there's this long oval divot on each side — not completely curved. To reach the depth of the divot, both sides of the oval angle inward and then the rest of the oval is flat. This is where your fingers rest when holding your bottle and drinking. Anywho. I've always noticed how the lid screws in at the same position each time — a bit offset to the right of the center of one divot. Because I have some OCD, it was really clear when I kept seeing this. And I wondered why.
Well, when you hold your water bottle, you're not holding up your elbow out to the side with your forearm parallel to the floor. It's more at an angle with your elbow pointed to the floor. The way the divots are fixed to be positioned with the lid on, the bottom of the palm is able to control the bottle as we naturally do with all water bottles. It supports a natural positioning for drinking from a bottle.
And it ensures this experience everytime. The way the lid is created to screw in makes it so that it stops at a right offset of the divot below it on the body. How freaking genius. Comfort from the divot while being at a natural angle for drinking. So freaking genius. Everything from the mouthpiece curve to the body divots to the button release interactions is so awesome. As an Owala user, I have appreciated these features and it's made me come to love my Owala and #see it for all it is.
REFLECTION
I think the products that I like writing about the most are those that I'm skeptical of at first and then come to love through using them and seeing the little details.
This Owala in color Iced Breeze has been a positive light in my life. It makes me happy. Its color is calming and bright and clean. It's light. All the details make my experience that much better. I'm no strategist, but I honestly think these intentional features are going to make this bottle popular for a long time. No other brand is putting people first like this.
One thing that I realized while writing this is that I was starting to more and more focus on the bubble that I've been in — my college campus. Although I know how strongly people feel about it on campus, it made me realize if it's a big things for people in my hometown, for example. So something that's good to just keep in mind moving forward is what audience I'm intending this for or even what target audience the Owala is solving a problem for. Maybe they're solving a problem for college students, but how about people who are working or live a regular day in smaller communities. I don't know. Maybe their target audience is students. Or maybe that's just their main group of people who've ended up purchasing.
Anywho. I've yapped a lot. And I'm super glad to be writing these posts again. I was almost scared to make this post because I didn't think it could match my other ones. Me wondering if my flow was the same. But nonetheless! I've shared my genuine thoughts and perspective, and that makes me happy. Hope you enjoy. See you soon~