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As is probably the case for a lot of folks out there, I first heard about Care/of vitamins on a podcast. If you don’t know, Care/of is a vitamin subscription service that sends you 30 days worth of personalized supplements each month. The individual vitamins start at $5 for a month’s supply, and you can add or subtract from your recommended order based on your needs/budget. (Use code MSA25 to get 25% off when you try it for yourself!)
I’m used to tuning out podcast ads and waiting for the hosts to get back to the subject (usually true crime) at hand. But something about Care/of piqued my interest. It sounded like such an easy wellness trick. I’d never been great at doing things for my overall health before, but with Care/of’s help… could I be a vitamin girl?
To find out, I’m partnering with Care/of to see just how simple shopping for vitamins can be.
I’m healthy, but not healthy
I’m pretty active—I play roller derby twice a week, and I try to find time for things like yoga to de-stress. But I know I don’t get enough fruits and vegetables every day, let alone water, and living in gray, chilly Pittsburgh, I’m not getting a ton of sunlight and fresh air, either. I wouldn’t say I’m an unhealthy person, but I’m definitely slacking when it comes to nutrition, which means I doubt I’m getting the full spectrum of vitamins and minerals my body wants.
Which vitamins are right for me?
I’d considered taking vitamins before, but let’s face it, the vitamin aisle is kind of a nightmare. SO many options! Do I get a multivitamin? Or should I get individual letters? What does K do again? Is that other lady in the aisle looking at me? What vitamins is she getting?
Care/of’s site, by contrast, is a friendly, calm, quiet place full of warm colors and pretty photography. No jumbles of letters. No random person wondering why you’re taking so long. Care/of is on a mission to alleviate the overwhelm that can come with supplement shopping. The magic starts with a quiz that gives Care/of a general sense of your health and supplement needs. The multiple-choice questions are softballs, like “Do you have trouble falling asleep?” and “Any skin concerns?” There are also a fair amount of animated smiley faces along the way to keep things light.
I liked how Care/of let me be as thorough as I wanted to be about which areas we covered. I could pick specific categories like “Energy”, “Immunity”, “Stress”, and even “Hair”, or I could select every option available. Either way, Care/of would follow-up accordingly with helpful questions to get to the root of my concerns.
At the end of the process, Care/of serves up a list of recommended vitamins and supplements from their catalog. You can add or subtract to it, so that your order fits your budget (and what you’re comfortable taking).
What I really like is that I can read more about each product they pick for me—and when I say “more”, I mean a lot more. Every Care/of vitamin or supplement has a whole page of information to go along with it, including neat stuff about scientific studies that have been done, where the ingredients are sourced, and the health goals each vitamin supports. This is a big deal for me—I don’t want to put just anything in my body, so I like getting to know the backstory of these supplements before I start test driving any for myself.
Vitamins, supplements, & adaptogens, oh my!
Ready to see my final pack? Drumroll, please! Here’s what Care/of recommends I take each day:
Rhodiola for stress and energy, Vitamin D for bone health, Astaxanthin for heart, skin, and cognitive health, Fish Oil for heart, cognitive, eye, and joint support, Adaptogenic Mushrooms for stress (can you tell stress was a big one for me?), and Magnesium for muscles, bones, and sleep.*
I decided to keep everything they suggested in my pack, but again, you can easily add or remove items as you see fit. It doesn’t matter if the survey suggested them or not—if I wanted some probiotics or prenatal vitamins, I could add ’em right in, no questions asked.
I should mention that this whole process took about 5 minutes total, including the time I spent scrolling through the about pages for each product. It’s super user-friendly. There was no confusion, no squinting to read a one-sentence description on the side of a bottle. And some of these ingredients (hello, Astaxanthin) are totally new to me. I wouldn’t have even known to look for them!
Not to brag, but I take vitamins now
I got my Care/of box the other day, and spoiler alert, it’s just as cute as they make it look in all of their ads. I sat mine on my desk in my office, next to my computer.
For me, there have always been two hurdles in the way of my becoming a full-fledged vitamin-taking wellness queen. Figuring out which vitamins to take was the first—that’s no longer a problem thanks to Care/of. The second, slightly bigger hurdle is actually remembering to take my vitamins. Now, I’m not all the way through my first month’s supply yet, but I’ll say things are looking very good for my new vitamin routine.
Not only do I have this (very stylish) box staring at me each morning, but the packs themselves make it easy to tote them along with me wherever I go. I’m aiming to make vitamin taking a part of my morning ritual (coffee, breakfast bar, vitamins, big glass of water). But if I inevitably forget to reach for a packet until 6pm, there’s nothing stopping me from tossing one in my jacket pocket as I head home. Care/of also has an app to nudge you when it’s time to take your vitamins, if you need extra encouragement!
Other folks might not need this much hand-holding, but as a new vitamin taker, I really appreciate it. And can I just say, I am very proud of my pack. It’s pretty. The Vitamin D is this pretty blush pink color, and then the Fish Oil capsules are this glowy gold… Is it weird to be delighted by the color palette of your vitamins? Or is this just a fun part of vitamin culture that I’ve missed out on until now?
So, what’s the verdict?
Care/of definitely took the stress out of vitamin shopping for me. It’s kind of amazing that I’m doing something good for myself but expending basically no effort. Now that my vitamin pack is picked out, Care/of will keep supplying me month after month, so I can stay consistent in my new routine. The packaging is fun and convenient, the pills are easy to take, and the actual process of figuring out which vitamins to order took mere minutes. I’ve literally spent longer just standing around a vitamin aisle and walked away with less (if anything at all).
Care/of turned me into a vitamin girl—but what about you? Have you tried Care/of or any other wellness subscriptions? What’s your biggest hurdle in becoming a wellness queen?
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
