Haul: So True Castile Soap

I did mention I wanted to try So True because I like Castile soaps so I got myself 3 because it was the least number of orders for the minimum shipping cost. Inquiring and ordering was easy by directly mailing sotruecastilesoap@gmail.com. Mia, the owner, readily answered my questions and my order was speedily processed in spite of my being a crappy buyer. I'm thankful she accepts direct bank deposits with Unionbank.

I wanted to try them in three different varieties because it is the first time I'm trying out the brand but the Mandarin-Rosemary, the scent I was actually looking forward to was unavailable. On hindsight, it would have been better for me to get two of the unscented bars instead of two Lavender Oatmeal and one unscented. I may be in love with lavender but I'm not that much into oatmeal.

As of today, we're currently using the soap at home. My hubby didn't like that it didn't sud as much as our previous soap so he's making do in using a glycerin soap I have lying around. That wasn't much of an issue with me as I don't equate suds with clean. However, I find it a bit slimier than usual so I'm wondering about the glycerin levels. Glycerin is not a bad thing, I know, but it's still weird to handle.

On another thought, in spite of being slimy, it seems to stay harder than some handmade soaps I've tried but it might be the weather. We'll see.

I'll buy the soap again. Aside from wanting to try some of the other soap variants, I want to use the unscented bar for the liquid soap recipe I found in Pinterest. I'm not sure if I can find liquid glycerin around these parts, though.

Haul: Ilog Maria

This post is late as late can be, just like the time I arrive at the office. The actual excitement of having the products have gone already. But nevertheless, I figured the blog deserves a post for this weekend.

The following was ordered and received quite promptly:

Feminine wash as I like the scent and it feels fresh *there*.

Propolis ointment for my sister. She's having her first baby and would like to try it. It works well but it has menthol which I'm avoiding.

Honey Face Scrub for the really irritating flares. This works but the condensation in the refrigerator has changed it. I'll post more on that later.

Milk Bath Salt in lavender for the annoying stretch marks. This smells divine, I could sing just smelling this on me.

Insect repellant for baby's playpen. I just get a smidgeon and rub it round and no insects for the night dares to go near.

Shampoo. I've posted lots on this already so moving on.

Liniment for my mother's leg pain. She says it works wonders but it sure does smell. Not a bad smell but we're trying to avoid menthol right now.

So there. I'll post on my By Nature haul next and then the next batch on that. Ok, I'll post reviews and other stuff as well. I'm a bad blogger. No wonder I don't get money out of this.

Haul: Ilog Maria

Above image is what's left of my second Ilog Maria haul. That's 3/4 of their Honey Glycerin Face Soap, whole Honey Propolis Feminine Wash, half of their Milk and Honey Soap, a whole bar of lavender soap, Propolis Throat Spray with a few squirts used and a month's supply of Royal Jelly. I forgot to add in the family size shampoo and lip balm.

Just to confess publicly, it took me over a week to pay for my order after getting a confirmation. It wasn't because I was out of money. The haul costs less than a thousand and considering how many products I got and how happy I am with them, I consider the price really good. My hubby just kept forgetting to pay for me though. I got really embarrassed over it but thankfully enough, Ilog Maria sent me my order promptly after confirming payment. I am a bad bad costumer.

To give a quick overview of the products, I'd have to say that the honey face soap smells weird and as expected of a glycerin soap, melts easily. I can't vouch for effectiveness yet as I have yet to finish off the quarter of a bar I'm using. The feminine wash smells delicious and also melts easily. It probably is delicious as the rats got to it one night. Thank goodness I like using my soaps by quarters so I still have some left. It leaves a minty feeling behind. The milk and honey soap is love. I use it as hand soap and it doesn't dry my hands no matter how often I wash and with taking care of the baby, I wash my hands lots without moisturizing with lotion or oil after. I also love the lavender soap and it leaves a really good smell but it's a little more drying but not by much. The throat spray tastes weird but is effective for bad mouth stuff. I have to remember to reorder 2 more of these. Warning on overuse though as I sprayed a little too much one night and woke up with a really sore throat. 2 sprays on a single day max. The royal jelly I bought for my mother and she says it tastes weird. No note on whether she's feeling a bit more spry.

On a note on the ones not in the picture, the shampoo, I still love lots and not regretting getting the family size at all. The reason for the second haul is actually because I ran out of their personal size shampoo and I wanted to repurchase. They also have a personal size lavender version which sounds promising. The lip balm, I also love but regretting buying as the old tub is not even a quarter used up. The thing about buying handmade and/or organic is you have to use it up within 6 months as they usually don't have preservatives. With how little I actually use per swipe, I'm not sure I'm going to finish off 2 tubs within said period.

Love: Ilog Maria Propolis and Beeswax Lip Balm, Honey Propolis Shampoo and Soaps

My lips have been chapped since forever. I've been told to lick my lips for being so dry back in grade school and considering how old I am, that's long enough for me. It's not like I lack water. My hubby used to think I drink too much liquids until he realized that it's one of the reasons I'm so moisturized all over. Suffice it to say that though I finish up loads of bottles of water that our refrigerator is empty of all water bottles in half a day, I'm still very much dehydrated in the lip area. And no, I'm not constantly in an air-conditioned room either.

Because of said lip condition, I tend to hoard on lip balms. As of the moment, I've got about 7 around the house. Or more. I try a whole lot of them and is generally happy when my lips get moisturized for a while. The moisture doesn't last very long on me and generally, if I put lip balm on before going to bed, my lips are dry like the dessert by morning.

The Ilog Maria (IM) lip balm has a very inspiring effect on my lips. Just a tad of its minty and not so oily formulation and my lips actually get moisturized. And it really lasts. And to top it off, I've got this cut in the center of my lower lip that never seems to heal completely from years back and it actually doesn't feel sore anymore and feels very much healed. I swear by this. As of the moment, with this thing, my lips actually feel like it's supposed to.



I generally am trying to avoid sodium lauryl sulfate and sodium laureth sulfate in my shampoo because my hair is already thin enough and I expect it to get thinner with the post-natal hormone thing. With all the bad stuff being said about the bubbly chemicals, I'd rather just stay away from it.

I can't say anything about the effects of the IM shampoo on my hair. Just for having no SL's, I'm already liking it. For being cheap enough at a big family size, is another. I guess I should at least say that while I was brusing my hair earlier, it does seem shinier and healthier than normal. I'm loving the shampoo for its smells though being minty but not cold to the scalp. I'm just shallow like that.





I only bought the mini sizes of the soaps but I'm already thinking about getting the big ones because they don't dry my hands even though I keep washing them with the IM soaps. Also, they smell great. Yes, shallowness rules forever in my world.

Images are from the Ilog Maria official website.

Haul: Ilog Maria

I came across Ilog Maria while I was searching for baby balms I can use for any possible future boo-boos of the coming little one. Their propolis ointment was recommended by some sites. Generally, reviews have been positive for the other products as well and their prices looked reasonable so I decided to get myself a new haul last week.

I signed up on their site, logged in and was able to order immediately. I waited a bit and got the total price including delivery charge. Even with the delivery cost of P150, I think I got myself a good deal at paying only P690 total including delivery. I waited another day and when I got back to the office, got their confirmation that they have everything I ordered on hand and ready for delivery, including instructions for payment. I delayed a bit on the payment as I was a little confused over their schedule and got a bit busy over life. I chose bank transfer and emailed a picture copy of the deposit slip. It took a day and a half after to get the delivery confirmation but once I did, I got the haul the day after.

The haul consisted of (from upper left clockwise) feminine wash, patchouli essential oil, propolis ointment, shampoo, lip balm, lavender soap and milk and honey soap. The packaging is very simplistic but who cares about that? Ok, I care about packaging but considering that the prices are less than a hundred each, I can’t really grouch about it much. The smell, though, I like. They’re not too strong, which I prefer, and a bit floral. I haven’t used any yet but I’m looking forward to ordering again. I hear their throat spray is wonderful and hubby tends to get a lot of cold sores.