Friday, December 28, 2012

Vitacost - Product and Website Review

Vitamin supplements can be very expensive. Last year I was searching the internet trying to find lower prices for my calcium supplement and multivitamins. In my search I came across the Vitacost website. I was thrilled to find they not only carried the brands I use, but they were significantly less expensive than where I was purchasing them, like $5.00 per bottle less!


I wanted to just test the water to start off with as I had not heard of this company before. It was very easy to navigate their website. The products are organized into different "departments". The site also has a very handy side bar of search criteria to narrow down your search. If you know the exact name of  the product you are looking form there is a search box at the top. I love being able to find things easily, so they were quickly winning me over. The free shipping for orders over $49.00 was the deal closer. What did I have to lose? I was saving money and not paying for shipping. Win/win. My order came within a week. The vitamins bottles were well packed and fully intact when they arrived. They were the exact same product that I had been paying much more for (and I was very happy to see they weren't past their expiration date). 

At first I just ordered supplements from them. Then I started looking around their website and discovered they carried a whole load of other products I used and some interesting ones that I hadn't tried. I now order all of my 7th Generation cleaning products, Eden Organic Beans (about $.30 less per can than retail) and other vegan products from them. Fred has been giving me a hard time about making the postal workers lives miserable by ordering so many heavy products at one time. I am going to try and mix it up, but I just love shopping there, so it's hard to stop.

The folks at Vitacost contacted me recently and asked me to test a couple of their new vegan products. Already being a loyal customer, I said I'd be happy to do it. The first product I tried out was a super seed cereal called TeeChai produced by Santa Barbara Super Seeds, Inc. ($8.99 for 10.6 oz package). It's gluten free, kosher, and nutrient dense with a good dose of Omega 3's from the chia and flax. Each serving boasts 6 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein. It's a super quick and easy way to get a healthy start to your day. It is convenient for work too. All you have to do it add 1/2 cup of hot water to 1/3 cup of the cereal mix and wait about a minute or two. The flavor I tried was blueberry date. On its own, I found it to be a tad bitter. I added about a tablespoon of vanilla soy yogurt and a little bit of chopped apple and it was really yummy! I also tried it with almond milk (pictured below) with tasty results. I tried it out on my co-workers too. They gave it a thumbs-up. I'm ordering more of both flavors today for our upcoming clean eating challenge.


The next product they sent was Vitacare whitening gum. This is no regular gum. One serving (2 pieces) provide 20% of the RDA of vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin D and Vitamin E. There is even 2% of the RDA of calcium. It's a cool way to get some extra nutrients.

I'm not really a big gum chewer, so I enlisted Fred's help on this one. He chews gum often. We tried the Cool Mint Freshness flavor with Chia Mint (vegan). It starts off with a big minty bang of flavor. Fred mentioned that the flavor didn't last a super long time, but the flavor was good. I found it lasted as long as other gums of this size. The texture of the gum is good too.

This product contains xylitol, of which I am not a big fan. While it's base comes from corn (possibly GMO corn), it is a man-made chemically produced product. It can be fatal to doggies too. The gum also contains titanium dioxide. This ingredient has been classified as possibly carcinogenic to humans by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. There is no conclusive evidence that it causes cancer, but as a breast cancer survivor, I tend to avoid anything that is even a suspected carcinogen. I'd personally rather stick to my non-gum chewing ways.


I wanted to make sure to mention Vitacost's great prices on one of my personal favorite lines of personal care products: Aubrey Organics. I have been using their shampoos, conditioners and moisturizers for years. They have over 150 vegan products. Many of their products are also certified organic as well. I used to pay about $10 retail for a bottle of my favorite shampoo (Honeysuckle Rose, which also happens to be vegan!). Vitacost sells it for only $6.99. That's a huge difference!


I love to save money and I've been able to save a LOT shopping at Vitacost, plus the stuff shows up right at my door! I know the holidays probably emptied a lot of your wallets and you're probably looking forward to your own fiscal recovery. Take a look around Vitacost's website. I'm betting you will find great prices on things you use all of the time.

Exciting news!!! The folks at Vitacost are letting me give away $25.00 worth of free products! All you have to do to be eligible to win is post a comment about a product you use that you can get for less at Vitacost by midnight MST on Monday, January 7th. Winner will be drawn randomly on Tuesday, January 8th. A discount code will be sent to the winner. Anyone is eligible! Here is the fine print:

one time use
code does not roll over
does not include shipping
expires in 6 months

13 comments:

  1. Thanks for this review! The place I used to order my supplements from apparently went out of business, and I haven't found a replacement yet - I'm always leery about ordering online from places I'm not familiar with - worried they'll turn out shady! :) I'm bookmarking this one to check out when I'm ready to restock. :)

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  3. I can get Vitamin D for much cheaper there!

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  4. I love Vitacost! I know the DEVA flaxseed capsules are a good deal there

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  5. They have great prices on pea and rice protein powders!

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  6. I've been looking for a vitamin B12 lately. I bet they've got one!

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  7. Awesome website! I order my dogs Omega 3 pills, cleaning products, dog treats, just restocked my spice rack and bathroom products from this website all at a much cheaper price than I had previously found online. I usually have my shipment within 4 days and the spices were individually wrapped in sticky bubbly wrap.

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  8. wow! i usually just order from amazon but the vitamin D is cheaper on this website and the vegan DHA is WAY cheaper (same brand!) guess where im getting my next refill :-)

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  9. Pea protein! I tried their brand on a whim, and now it's my favorite. Tastes great and is relatively cheap.

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  10. I use Giovanni tea tree shampoo and conditioner which is much cheaper than It is in shops nearby.

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  11. Getting a better price on cleaning products like 7th Generation would be a plus! Plus, it's the kind of thing that's nice to stock up on, so that you don't run out.

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  12. They have great prices on skin care stuff! I could get the Alba face wash I use for cheaper.

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  13. Hmm I submitted my post a couple nights ago, but I think it didn't go through because I was on my phone, so it had trouble with the "comment as" part.

    Anyway, I had said that I can definitely get Alba shampoo much cheaper!

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