This post is sponsored by iHerb and contains affiliate links.
The start of school has been rough. I don’t mean “I’m a little busy, but I’m here” – I mean a full-on deluge of busses and classes and assignments. (I’m twenty six. Why do I still have homework?) I’ve been struggling to balance my chronic illness, my work schedule, and my classes since term started back up again, so I’ve been falling back on my most recent order from iHerb to chill out whenever I have the time.
Being a freelancer is a constant source of stress in my life even when term is out, so I always keep my self-care drawer well stocked. This is my fourth or fifth order from iHerb, and I always come back. They carry over 30 000 products, ship to over 160 countries, and always get my packages to me quickly & in great condition. Plus, their customer service team provides support in a whopping 10 languages – which I think is the most I’ve ever seen for an online store.
(iHerb is my favourite online shop for finding affordable, natural products! Their selection is stellar – better than any box store I’ve ever been in, and with better prices, too.)
Weeknight-approved chocolatey snacks
I love a snack that multitasks. Protein bars, omega-rich crisps, tooth-friendly sweets – anything that I can snack on that’s going to streamline my life. iHerb carries some of my favourite chocolate bars, but for something that can be shipped all year ’round, I opted for their Sheila G’s Toffee Crunch Brownie Brittle ($4.49 CAD) instead. For deadline-heavy days, I added in some ThinkKids Cookies & Creme Protein Bars ($4.69 CAD) for an all-nighter-friendly boost.
I’ve been powering my way through the brownie brittle, and my family’s been sneaking bites, too. It’s perfect sprinkled over vanilla ice cream!
iHerb’s safe selection
I’ve been leaning on online shopping more and more to help manage my energy levels, but it can be tough to buy online. Price tags are often elevated to offset the price of shipping, and things that I can’t go without–things like ingredients labels–are often left out.
That’s one of the main reasons why I love iHerb so much. They offer a really wide range of products at great prices (almost suspiciously low prices, to be honest), and they almost always have ingredient info available. I stocked this order with the Giovanni Smooth as Silk Shampoo ($7.16 CAD) and Conditioner ($7.16 CAD), which I’ve seen on best-of lists for years. They’re just as good as I hoped: they leave my hair really soft and silky, and I can trust that they’ll be silicone-free thanks to iHerb’s full ingredients lists.
The shampoo smells like apples, but they’re really low-odour products – my hair smells like almost nothing when I step out of the shower. (Another must for my household, because my sister’s migraines leave her really scent-sensitive.) I’ve noticed that I use a lot less product since switching to them, too.
I’ve also been taking regular dips into baths filled with Aveeno Active Naturals Bath Treatment ($8.28 CAD), which is great for my eczema. It’s not the most luxurious bath experience–like other oatmeal baths, it tends to clump up in the bath water–but it really does the trick.
Take a break & find your balance with iHerb
Things have been crazy recently, but a few things have been helping me find my balance this month. For starters, I’ve been going out a lot less – my partner just got back from a 10 day silent meditation retreat, and his absence left things quiet on my end, too. (It was amazing. I should probably stop talking about how much I absolutely freaking loved his absence, though, because it sounds like I’m giving him a complex.)
But the silence was refreshing. I found little things that reminded me of him every single day, but nothing that seemed like a pressing need. Or, in the case of this huge, 32 oz shower gel: some big things that reminded me of him.
The Alba Botanica Very Emollient Bath & Shower Gel in Sparkling Mint ($13.03 CAD), is gentle on sensitive skin, amazingly cheap per ounce, and so refreshing. It’s perfect for showering off your morning grumpy face, and is ideal for busy people. I hate buying shower supplies in bulk because there are so few options to buy from (I just binned his last mega-shower gel), but this one is both enormous and high-quality.
It’s the kind of shower gel that you don’t have to worry about, because it’s so big that it’ll last you all year… if your girlfriend ever relinquishes her hold on it.
The last two things that have been giving me peace of mind are the Now Foods Ultrasonic Glass Swirl USB Oil Diffuser ($41.02 CAD) and matching Now Foods Peaceful Sleep ($12.99 CAD). The glass diffuser looks so pretty on my new, all-white bathroom countertops, but I’ve since moved it into my bedroom. It’s the perfect way to end my night, with a gentle citrus scent and a colour-changing light that turns on and off independently.
» Rest easy even easier with 5% off your order at iHerb. Plus, new customers get an extra $5 off orders over $40 by clicking through here! «
