iHerb ... oh, not again...

Woo hoO!!! 

I was having my toast and tea when Kimmie started barking and wagging her tail at the door.  I looked up and saw Mr. Postman with my iHerb parcel (",)  Such a great way to start my day (",) Absolutely delighted!

Two weeks ago, iHerb had a 20% off on Desert Essence and Acure Organics products.  I love the scent of Desert Essence hair products so I HAD to buy me some yummy shampoos.  

'Nuff said... here goes (",) 

Desert Essence, Italian Red Grapes Shampoo

Desert Essence, Lemon Tea Tree Shampoo 

Desert Essence, Coconut Conditioner 

Desert Essence, Coconut Shampoo

Desert Essence, Tea Tree Replenishing Shampoo - I picked this up for Kimmie... it contains tea tree and peppermint which helps soothe her itchy doggie skin. 

I recently got a hair cut and the usual Eco Tools full volume styler brush that I was using became too big and cumbersome for my shorter hair.  It worked really well when I had longer hair.  So, I decided that I need to downsize and thus purchased the EcoTools, Quick Volume Styler Brush which is pictured on the right.  The grooves between the bristles allows the air from the hair dryer to blast through, thus drying my hair faster.  The bristles work really well in gripping and holding on to my fine hair.

Acure Organics was having a sale, so I picked up the much raved Acure Organics Argan Oil.  The other skincare product that I got was the Alba Botanica, Acnedote Deep Clean Astringent.  The Paula's Choice 2%BHA (salicylic acid) toner that I am using works really well in ridding clogged pores on my face but I am running out of it.  So, I decided to purchase this as it also contains 2% salicylic acid.  Will see how it works as compared to the Paula's Choice 2% BHA toner.

What's an iHerb order without some food items, yeah?  

Once again, I carted this STASH Breakfast In Paris black tea.  I really love the strong bergamot and lavender scent in this tea (",) 

I was hemming and hawing over this Coco-Roons from Wonderfully Raw Gourmet Delights.  I've seen lots of health fanatics raving about this coconutty delicious brownie flavoured coconut domes... but it costs $7ishUSD for a small pack.  Eventually I caved and bought it.  No regrets!  But I probably  won't be repurchasing so soon just coz it is rather expensive for 8 of these little coconutty chocolatey domes...  

There's 7 little domes left after I ate one... The main ingredient is dried coconut and yes... each little dome is packed with this yummy fruit which I love (",)

**as brand of the week, WONDERFULLY RAW is having a 20% off the entire selection.** Great time to try these coco-roons out (",)

Shall stop here for today (",)  Talk to you ladies soon!

Oh yes, if you're thinking of starting on the iHerb fellowship, you'll be happy to know that this code will make your first purchase so much more delightful (",)

My love affair with iHerb... Another iHerb haul

Hihi friends of Hazelnutt House (",) 

I'm back with another iHerb loot to share.  My past few iHerb orders contained the usual regular stuff that I tend to order, therefore, I wasn't excited to share them.  However, this time round, I ordered several items that I've never ordered before.  

So, here goes... 

I am obsessed with coconuts... the fruit, the drink and the scent... therefore, there's no stopping me when I saw the Alaffia Everyday Coconut range of coco-nutty products.  I've completely used up ALL my body lotions (YEAH!!!... it was a slow process and a tall order making my way through all the lotions I had stashed up.) So, I decided to order the Everyday Coconut body lotion which smells pretty good - the coconut smell is kinda sweet, but not crazy sweet.  It doesn't linger on for long which is a plus and absorbs rather quickly.  The texture is similar to that of Jergens and Crabtree and Evelyn's body lotions.  

I use the Everyday Coconut Face Wash in the shower as a second cleanse to remove any remaining traces of makeup.  It has worked pretty well thus far; cleanses we'll  does not sting and does not dry out my skin.  It contains neem which helps to regulate my oily skin.  The Everyday Coconut Face Toner contains neem too.  I use it as a hydrating toner and stick to Paula's Choice 2% BHA lotion as my exfoliating toner.  The spritz bottle is kinda big and heavy to spritz with one hand... I have to hold it up with one hand and spritz with the other.  

So far, I am enjoying these coco-nutty products (",) 

Everyday Coconut Hydrating Body Lotion - $11.19USD

Everyday Coconut Face Wash - $7.20USD

Everyday Coconut Face Toner - $7.20USD

I ran out of the Paula's Choice Resist C15 Super Booster which is a vitamin C serum and I had been eyeing Mad Hippie's products.  So, I decided to make an order of the Mad Hippie Vitamin C Serum.  I've yet to use it, therefore, can't comment on it. 

I've had really good results with the Badger Damascus Rose Antioxidant Face Oil (click to read review) but I also wanted to try out this Mad Hippie Antioxidant Facial Oil.  I've used it a couple of times, mainly at night, after serum.  It smells of berries and all things good hehee... My skin feels evenly hydrated the next day.  

Mad Hippie VItamin C Serum - $27.19USD

Mad Hippie Antioxidant Facial Oil - $19.99USD

In the supplement category, I picked up these items up.

Zoi Research Vitamin C in Mixed Berries - $2.95USD

Nature's Bounty Evening Primrose Oil - $8.75USD

Doctor's Best Extra Strength Ginkgo - $7.69USD (for my mum, thought she'll benefit with some brain boost... hehehe) 

Doctor's Best, Best Lutein - $12.99USD

These Aubrey Organics shampoo and conditioner were on trial for $1USD, so I picked them up for future travels.  This Harvest Apple scent smells great :) 

I love the Bee Natural's facial polish.  Will be doing a short review with more details on it soon.

Reviva Labs, Firming Eye Serum - $13.30USD

Bee Naturals, Queen Bee Facial Polish - $7.28USD

This ChildLife Liquid Vitamin C is for Kiddo and it tastes super duper good.  It's has a seriously concentrated sugary citrus flavour which I enjoy too heheee....

ChildLife, Liquid Vitamin C - $6.12USD

Use this code if you're making your first iHerb order (",)

That's all for now... talk to you soon!!!! 

iherb recommendations

Hihi friends of Hazelnutt House (",) 

when I have nothing better to do, I like google, "iHerb haul" to see what others purchase on iHerb.  It helps me discover new items that I probably wouldn't look for on iHerb.  Having made numerous purchases on iHerb, here's a list of items that I have either repurchased of highly recommend.  

• Stacy's Pita Chips, Cinnamon Sugar Flavoured - If you read my posts, you'll know that I am obsessed with cinnamon sugar.  This product is available in Singapore, but only at certain supermarkets, so I perfer to order it from iHerb.  

• Annie's Homegrown, Bunny Grahams, Chocolate - I've repurchased this countless times and still love it.  This is kiddo's favourite treat too. 

• Harney & Son's Green Tea with Thai Flavours - I love this tea... it's pretty strong for a green tea with a pleasant coconut and lemongrass scent.  

• Harney & Son's Earl Grey Supreme - My all time favourite Earl Grey tea.  One sachet is good for a pot of two cups coz it is pretty strong. 

• Nutiva, Organic Chia Seed - My daily does of omega 3 and fibre comes from these teeny weeny seeds, I eat them with my oatmeal in a jar for breakfast every morning. 

• Simply Organic, Madagascar Pure Vanilla Extract - I purchase baking supplies from iHerb too.  So when I run out, I'll order online instead of trying to look for this in stores.

• E.L.F. Cosmetics, Studio, Powder Brush - I've 2 of these brushes.  It's a cheap product that really works.  I use it with powder in a pan, loose powder and even mineral powder. 

• E.L.F. Cosmetics, Luscious Liquid Lipstick, Raspberry - This wears like a lipgloss and it gives a nice colour to my lips.  Doesn't wear off as quickly as I thought it would. 

• Real Techniques, Expert Face brush - What can I say about Real Techniques' brushes?  Go get them!  I've the blush brush, stipple brush and this face expert brush... the bristles are soft and they work fabulously! 

• EcoTools, Retractable Kabuki Brush - You don't find many retractable brushes that are good quality.  This brush is dense and soft and really comes in handy when travelling or if you carry a makeup pouch around with you all the time. 

• Just a Leaf Glass Tea Cup - Well, I love this simple, see through glass cup with a lid.  I don't use the infuser portion of it much coz I prefer my tea in bags.  It's really cheap at $2.95USD for first time purchase.  

• Deep Steep, Body Wash, Honeydew & Spearmint - Smells great! In fact my friends are recommending the body oil as well as the foaming hand wash from this brand.  So i'll definitely be venturing into the other products as well. 

• Badger Company, Damascus Rose, Antioxidant Face Oil - I love love love this face oil and since I use it daily for my night time routine, I use it up quite quickly.  Read my Damascus Rose, Antioxidant face oil review here. 

Talk to you ladies soon!!!! And I hope you'll enjoy yourself shopping on iHerb! 

Products that I will not repurchase from iHerb

Hello, friends of Hazelnutt House :) 

I thought i'll share some of the products that I've bought on iHerb that didn't work for me.  I'm in no way slamming these products, just wanna let you know why it didn't work on me and why I won't be repurchasing them.  For your consideration in case you've your eyes on these products that you can purchase form iHerb.

1. Giovanni Cool Mint Lemonade Scrub - I gushed about this body scrub initially coz it smelled soOOooo good...lemoney and minty, a combination which I adore. The minty effect is powerful, I must say.  Your skin will be tingling for a long time during and after use. However, it left an uncomfortably oily film on my skin after washing off.  So I thought i'll just wash the film off with an extra coat of body wash, but the film seems to cling on for dear life.  Despite the heavenly scent, I think it is far too much trouble and discomfort to use.

2. Sibu Beauty Age Defying Eye Cream - This eye cream contains sea buckthorn which is a good anti-aging ingredient however, sea buckthorn has a less than pleasant smell.  I know coz I've tried sea buckthorn supplements and they smelled really bad, at least for the brand that I've tried.  This cream smells too, though not as badly as the supplement.  It doesn't seem to sink in readily into my skin and when it does dry it leaves a matte layer which I can't appreciate since I am looking for a hydrating/moisturizing eye cream.  Who would have thought that an age-defying cream wouldn't be moisturising.

3. Herbatint Rosemary Herbal Oil - I've used this hair oil several times, usually heating it up a little before I slather it all over my hair and scalp for a deep treatment.  It smells great!  And the surprising thing about this oil is that after washing off, it doesn't leave an oily feeling on my hair!  I supposed lots of people will appreciate this factor, right? Yeah, I appreciate that but it doesn't seem to do much for my hair.  A deep conditioning mask will do a better job.  I will continue to use it till I run out but I don't think I will repurchase it. 

4. MyChelle Dermaceuticals, Creamy Pumpkin Cleanser - I wouldn't say that this is a bad cleanser coz I think it works well as a cream cleasner.  However, it just did not fit into my cleansing regime.  I usually remove my makeup with makeup remover or cleansing oil and then I double cleanse with a foaming cleanser.  I can't use this cleanser as my first step to removing makeup, coz it doesn't do that well and I can't use it to double cleanse since it does leave a creamy film on my skin.  So I usually use this only on rare days when I do not have makeup on.   

5. Go Raw, Organic Super Cookies in Chai Masala - Hmmm... I was excited about this brand of chips, it looks more like chips than cookies to me.  There are lots of good reviews for this product and I was eager to try.  I don't like the taste, the ginger is too strong IMO and the chips were dry and gritty... tasted like doggie food, if I have to give it an apt description. 

6. Go Raw, Organic Super Chips, Pumpkin - This tasted better than the Chai Masala cookies, but sadly, I still associate it with doggie food... :( I realised it's made from pumpkin seeds instead of the fleshy sweet orange fruit that I thought I was getting.  

7. Stash Tea Company, Moroccan Mint Tea - Big mistake... somehow this tea tasted big on liquorice... and I for one dislike liquorice.  I don't see liquorice as an ingredient, so something in there tastes like liquorice. 

8. J.R. Liggett's Old Fashioned Bar Shampoo, Tea Tree and Hemp Oil - I really wanted to like this product after reading reviews on how it cleaned and cleared up oily scalp on some people.  I did read that it may not work with either hard or soft water, I can't remember which but I am sure Singapore's water doesn't go well with this bar shampoo coz having been warned by some reviewers, the exact thing happened to my hair as I was trying to wash it out.  It lathered well and I was happy till it was time to rinse.  My hair seemed to have turned into a waxy mess during the rising stage, the water seemed to have turned the lather hard or something and to rescue the situation, I had to use my regular shampoo to wash this shampoo off.  So it really depends on the type of water that runs in your tape when trying this product out. 

iherb haul

Hihi friends of Hazelnutt House (",) 

there's always a good reason to shop online yeah?... As I was tossing and turning in bed one night, unable to fall asleep, I decided to do some shopping on iHerb. 

About a week later, my loot arrived.

Here's what I got: 

• EcoTools Full Volume Styler brush - I love this brush and instead of having a paddle brush to brush out my hair and a separate round brush for blow drying, I use this huge round brush. 

• EcoTools Retractable Kabuki brush - LOVE LOVE LOVE this brush!  It's fab for touching up on the go.  I retract this and cover it up with the cap and leave this at work or take it along with me when I travel.  The first time I bought this brush was probably five years ago.  It was in the silver packaging.  I am still using it, just thought I should get another.. just because....

• Edamama in Slightly Salted and Spicy Wasabi - The salted version tastes better... somehow the wasabi powder manage to land on the sides of my lips and mouth area and I could feel the heat which was rather uncomfortable. 

• Annie's Bunny Grahams, Chocolate flavour - Kiddo's and my favourite! Not too sweet, just right with a tad bitter chocolate taste.  Repurchased this countless times.
• Stacy's Pita Chips, Cinnamon Sugar flavour - LOVE LOVE LOVE... everyone in my family loves this, even Kimmie The Dog.  Repurchased this countless times too!

• Go Raw Super Chips, Pumpkin flavour
• Go Raw Masala Chai Super Cookies... nice texture, but I don't fancy the taste... won't repurchase this again, but I may try the other flavours.

• Stash Tea in Morrocan Mint and Breakfast in Paris - I'll recommend Breakfast in Paris.  It is a lovely light subtle taste of bergamot, this black tea is neither tart nor bitter.  Steer clear from the Morrocan Mint tea though coz it tastes like it contains liquorice.  I bought it coz it contains peppermint and spearmint.  I thought it will be a good combination along with green tea to detox BUT... somehow it tastes of liquorice... eeks!

• Alba Cotanica Hawaiian Shampoo & Conditioner in Mango
• Dickinson's Witch Hazel toner.  OMG!  I didn't know that this toner smells soOOooo bad! I really doubt i'll use it again... will probably use it to wash something... say, the sink? 

• Some E.L.F. lip products

• Nutiva Chia Seeds - repurchased countless times, coz I eat it with oats every morning.  Kimmie The Dog eats it too, so I have to repurchase this quite often.

• Auromere Need soap - purchased this for Kim, coz neem soap is supposedly good for her sensitive skin.  

Here's a code that I'm sharing with you ladies.  Use it to get some dollars off your first purchase. 

Talk to you soon!

No more mushy soap bars!

Hihi friends of Hazelnutt House!

I am currently using this bar of Badger Rose Geranium soap bar which I bought from iHerb.  I do not have a place for a soap dish in my shower area.   So, I came up with this idea of storing the soap in a pouch so that it will not be  exposed to 'excessive flooding' while it stays in the shower. 

Read on to find out more (",)

I bought this shower cloth at Daiso.  I picked this nylon version instead of the cotton one as I figured it will not retain water as well as cotton and therefore, results in less bacteria growth.  Nylon should dry faster than cotton too (",)

So, I cut out a small portion of the shower cloth and made it into a simple drawstring pouch. 

I keep the soap in the pouch in the shower area.

For the first few days, I took the bar of soap out and placed it back into the pouch to air dry after use. 

Then I decided why not just use it while it is still in the pouch?!

And so, I did and I love it this way.  Instead of lathering it and transferring the lather onto a loofah, I simply wet the pouch with the bar of soap inside it and used it as I would a loofah, all over my body.

Once I am done, I hang it in a dry area of my shower, away from any exposure to water when others are showering.  With this pouch, the soap bar remains dry till the next time I use it.  No more mushy soap bars (",) 

iHerb repurchase - free delivery for orders over $40usd

Hihi ladies of Hazelnutt House (",) 

here are some stuff that I am repurchasing from iHerb.  Maybe it will give you an idea on what 'tried and tested' items you can get if you're thinking of making an order.

I like this Annie's Homegrown Cheddar Classics.  They are about $3ish usd.  When I first snacked on these, I thought they were much tooOOooo salty.  So the entire box sat on the shelf for quite awhile till I ran out of adam cheese which I snack on with celery and carrots.  I remembered this box of salty crackers and decided to pack it with my celery sticks and carrot for my afternoon snack at work.  This combination turned out fab!  A good alternative if cheese isn't available.

I share this Snickerdoodle animal snack from Barbara's with kiddo.  It's about $4ish usd.
I like that it isn't overly sweet and has a strong taste of cinnamon.

I love love love this tea cup which is currently on sale for $2.95.  It comes with an infuser and a lid - all in clear glass.  Gonna get me a couple more so The Hubs can have his own.  Here's the link (",)  

And since I've run out of this Harney & Sons Earl Grey Supreme, it'll have to go into my cart too (",)
It's $7.99usd.

iHerb is offering free shipping via SingPost for orders over $40usd.  

Talk to you ladies soon!  Gonna browse iHerb for more online satisfaction! 

Review - Harney & Sons tea, Vanilla Comoro and Earl Grey Supreme

Hi friends of Hazelnutt House (",)

I purchased these tins of Harney & Sons tea from iHerb without much knowledge of this brand.  I love how the tins look and I'm already thinking of how I can make use of them once I'm finished with the tea.  

Vanilla Comoro is a decaffeinated black tea and Earl Grey Supreme is a regular caffeinated black tea.

I'm not a tea connoisseur but I really enjoy tea.  

Based on my tea preference, I would say that it is worth spending the money on both these flavours. 

Both the Vanilla Comoro and Earl Grey Supreme are $7.99USD each on iHerb.

I shall put it in simple layman words and give my views on these two types of tea. 

This vanilla tea tastes like regular black tea although it is decaffeinated.   There is no bitter or tart taste.  The scent of vanilla infused with the tea is very warming, creamy and rich.   Especially suitable as a comfort drink (",) Very smooth... Taste great with absolutely no sugar (",)

I like this Earl Grey Supreme for the smooth taste of tea.  Not too tart or bitter.

The scent of bergamot is neither too strong nor weak.  Just right!

I'll like to take this chance to link you ladies to a Tea Community website http://steepster.com 

You'll be able to find reviews of many different types of teas here.

Right now, iHerb is offering free delivery with SingPost for orders over $40usd.

Remember to use this code if you're making your first order on iHerb.com (",)

Talk to you ladies soon!