haul from iherb!

heh!  please indulge me and allow me to blabber on about my loots!  yes, i'm aware it does seem like i'm on a shopping spree recently, though they are generally household items and healthier alternatives to the commercial detergents.

my parent's order from iherb arrived a couple of weeks ago, and take a look at the hauls!

[caption id="attachment_1441" align="aligncenter" width="614"] Hauls from iherb.com![/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1442" align="aligncenter" width="614"] Dr Bronner's Soap! My cousin mentioned that I could open a shop! only 1 bottle is mine - the rest are for my parents and sis.[/caption]

as you already know - I am switching all my hand wash to Dr Bronner's cos' it has less nasty chemicals.  My parents got the Rose Hemp and it smells really nice!  a little bubble gum like smell - in a good way.  Managed to convince my sis to change too and she got the eucalyptus and lavender.

[caption id="attachment_1444" align="alignleft" width="205"] Magesium Oil[/caption]

i got magnesium oil for myself -  see link for what it's supposed to help you with. for me, I mainly wanted to improve my sleep quality (cos' i wake up an average of 3 times per night!) and boost my energy level cos' I feel lethargic and sluggish at times.   I rub it to the base of my feet and the 2nd night I did it - I actually slept throught the entire night w/o waking up!!!

While on holiday I didn't bring it but still managed to sleep well.  Back home, I was lazy to apply (cos' I slept well on holiday so figured doesn't hurt to skip it), and the past 2 nights - i woke about 3 -5 times.  Sigh.  Not quite sure if it's cos' I didn't use the magnesium or the late afternoon coffee or the later nights i sleep.  probably a combination of all I suppose.

oh. you might like to know that you can use the magnesium oil as a deodorant!  they say to spray it directly on your arm pits, and smell-be-gone! Haven't tried that yet since I still have my Soapwalla deodorant.

There’s also pet shampoo, dental floss and shaver blades - quite amazed at the range that iherb has!

Now I know why so many people love online shopping.  if done properly and at the right places, it yields a lot of cost savings than from buying retail!

oh.  only thing - this time round, the delivery took 2 whole weeks before it arrived.  maybe cos' it's was during the new year?

soap dispenser - you may wanna note if you are buying a metal pump one!

i was on the hunt for a soap dispenser for a couple of months.   before, i always thought it was strange why one would need a soap dispenser - after all, the soaps all come prepacked in the plastic pumps already - wasn't a soap pump unnecessary?  ha...now i know better!  cos' very simply - soap pumps look prettier than the plastic ones!

I was trying to be eco-friendly and reduce the wastage by buying refills, and the plastic container just didn't look pretty.  Remember the quote by William Morris?



so it took me many months before i finally found a pretty yet decently priced one at SQ FT at Tampines Mall.  It met my requirement of being less than SGD 15!  Still I hesitated for a bit cos' it's  not exactly a necessity, then I thought 'hey! it's been on my mind for months, and now that it appeared before me - I should not do myself a diservice by ignoring it!'

so i bought this pretty little dispenser.:)

[caption id="attachment_161" align="alignnone" width="376"] pretty huh! i chose the red for the burst of color - just gives you that little bit of energy in the morning!:)[/caption]

it works really well and pumps very nicely, and the color is great!  Thing is...after I poured the soap in - there is a very strong metallic smell...which puts me off cos' i have a nose of a dog sometimes.

VERDICT? 

• i LOVE everything about it!  good price, looks good, nice color.


• BUT the soap reacts to the metal pump and smells bad.   I googled and couldn't find much information - the only one that mentioned the metallic smell said it seems like it's the fragrance in the hand soap that reacts with the metal.

if you have a SUPER nose, you may wanna take note.  but if you are not bothered by smells generally (my husband can't really detect any smell, but it's too strong for me!) - then a metal pump one would probably work fine for you.   If you have a super nose, then maybe better to get a plastic pump or if you are using organic soaps - i think should be okay metal or plastic (let me know please!)

so now  I can either buy a new dispenser that has plastic pump (not so keen) OR buy a soap that doesn't have fragrances and is probably better for our skin anyway.

undecided....so in the meanwhile, i went back to my plastic pump.  sad. i love the red pump and still leave it on my sink! next to the ugly plastic one. haaa....