My great Christmas finds
It’s exactly five days to Christmas. Are you done with your Christmas shopping? Are you looking for the perfect Christmas gift? I am lucky to have found the perfect ones — in Urban Nature and Bags in the City.
I am always at Robinsons Galleria as it is the shopping mall right across my children’s school.
While looking around last week at Robinsons Galleria, I saw a new store at the 50th Ave., East Wing — Urban Nature. It immediately caught my attention as its products are all natural. There are also so many items to choose from and they are affordable.
Urban Nature Trading is a company formed by three women with the objective of promoting Filipino handmade and environment friendly products, Z.E.N. (Zestful, Energetic, Natural). Z.E.N. products have virgin coconut oil (VCO) as an ingredient. The VCO has been labeled as the healthiest oil on earth because of the many benefits it has.
Some of the items I bought were body butter products. They smell so good. And what’s even better, they are so affordable. A hundred grams of each cost only P150. The variants I got were barberry body butter, which contains natural barberry extract; wine and roses body butter; ylang-ylang and sweet pea, which contains extra virgin olive oil, VCO, sweet pea and Vitamin E.
I couldn’t just get them as gifts for friends because I had to get for myself as well. I also got cocoa body butter. It has natural cocoa butter, extra virgin coconut oil and oils of almond and vanilla. It also helps treat dry skin and smoothens marks and wrinkles. Not only that, it smells so wonderful!
I also purchased hand sanitizers, aloe and bergamot and cool and clean, herbal rubs like kiwi, insect repellants and lip balms. They also carry a wide range of organic bath soaps that come in the colors of the rainbow and smell heavenly. Some of the ones I have are organic lemon, peppermint and honey, strawberry, cinnamon, lavender relaxing soap, dates, lemon grass and ginger.
The store has beautiful sinamay baskets in different sizes where you can put the products. What I’ve done is put different ones in each. In one basket, I placed three different organic bath soaps with a honey shampoo. In another, body butter with a hand sanitizer and a herbal rub. With so many to choose from, you will get the chance to create your own package depending on what a particular person likes. I’ve had so much fun creating mine. (For other gift suggestions, you can log on to www.urbannature.multiply.com or send e-mail to be_urbannature@yahoo.com. You may also call 0917-8538014 or 0919-3820891.)
Buying Urban Nature products gave me a sense of pride as a Filipino. It gave me joy knowing I was patronizing our very own.
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As I was waiting for my appointment at the Symmetria Salon the other day, I decided to check out the shop beside it — in a store called Bags in the City. So many bags, all shapes and sizes. Printed ones, plain ones. Some are made of leather, cotton, nylon and other non-woven fabrics. I wanted to get everything. It is a specialty store offering uniquely and intricately handmade bags, clutch bags, tote and overnight bags, toiletry kits, bag holders and many more. The store also carries accessories, dresses, sandals and shoes. The owners are sisters Cathy and Candy Tolentino.
I plan to get my mom her Christmas gift here, but I can’t tell you which as she might read my article. Here are some of the ones I like: the huggable bags, overnight bags, laminated rope bags, toiletry kit of three, bag holders and tote bags. I also love the enamel earrings from Bangkok. There are so many other items you can choose from depending on your budget and your preference.
You may visit their stores at 148-C San Francisco St. Brgy. Plainview, Mandaluyong City (tel. nos. 534-6270 or 0920-8650411) and at 17-D M.J. Paterno St., Brgy. Pasadena, San Juan City (727-9165 or 0921-2915495).
So what are you waiting for? You only have five more days till Christmas. Check out Urban Nature and Bags in the City to find the perfect Christmas gifts for family and friends. And hey, don’t forget to get one for yourself, too.
May you all have a blessed Christmas and a peace-filled 2010! And most importantly, let us remember the reason we are celebrating Christmas, Jesus Christ. Let our hearts be filled with His love and His presence in our hearts and our lives. Let us have a Christ-filled Christmas!
