I’ve waffled between vitamin devotee and absentminded vitamin taker for years. Like since I was a “Flintstones kid”. I love routines and schedules, but I just never seemed to remember to take my vitamins. Or I subconsciously avoided them because the experience of swallowing a giant pill or two was not fun. Of course, that changed during my pregnancy when my daily prenatal + DHA supplement was taken every morning come hell or high water. Or the crippling nausea that occurs during the 1st trimester. But after a couple months of sticking to the same daily vitamin routine, it not only came easy to me, but I looked foward to it. I would take my 4 pills with a big glass of lemon water, basking in the happiness of knowing I was taking good care of my self and my growing little ones. Postpatrum, I stuck with my prenatal regime for awhile, then switched over to a delicious gummy version. If you are someone who loathes the idea of taking a daily vitamin, try the gummy version; it is so delightful, you will try to convince yourself that you “forgot” to take it in the AM just to sneak another gummy in the PM. I don’t recommend double-dosing, but you get the sentiment.

Now that I was accustomed to my daily vitamin, I started doing some research to see what brand would give me the best bang for my buck. I noticed HUM vitamins & supplements on the homepage of Sephora.com last fall, and started looking into their company.

HUM was started by Walter Faulstroh and Christopher Coleridge after Walter struggled for relief from his acne (oh, how I can relate!). After taking topical and internal medicines for years, only to find that the results were temporary, he started to think there was a link between skin care and nutrition. The problem was, most dermatologists were not trained on how nutrition affected your skin, hair, and nails. Walter finally met, Chris, a forward-thinking nutritionsist in London who helped fix his skin once and for all. Together they created what they hope will become the world’s best beauty nutrition business. The concept is simple: feed your skin, hair, and nails from the inside out. Their line of 22 (and growing) vitamins and supplements will help you tackle dry skin, fine lines, and undereye circles, as well as digestion and energy issues.

Products can be purchased either from Sephora or HUM directly. The HUM website offers a subscription program with discounted prices for monthly bundles. I didn’t want to jump in head first and start a subscription without testing everything out. I had the option to either pick products by myself or take a quiz and have a nutitionist recommend products to me. I choose the nutritionist route plus a few extras. Now that I have completed one month with these supplements, here are my thoughts!

Base control is a multivitamin with 22 essential nutrients plus iron (for premenopausal women). Just one pill a day taken with food is all you need. This was the only tablet I tried that was not coated or encapsulated, and it was extremely easy to swallow. It is definitely one of the smallest multivitamins I have ever taken, yet contains a higher recommended daily value of vitamins than the average multi.

OMG! Omega the Great contains a high potency blend of omega-3 fish oil. Omega supplements were one of the first non-multivitamins I started taking years ago. They ALL have a fishy aftertaste (no matter what they claimed) – except this one. Needless to say, I was shocked. Not that I really cared about the aftertaste, it was just surprising to not have. OMG! Omega is just 2 large softgels to be taken daily with food. Just like Base Control, they are extremely easy to swallow.

I have actually been taking Daily Cleanse for about 3 months now. I ordered it from Sephora before I went on a 3-day green juice cleanse to help supplement the process. This product contains chlorella, dandelion root, and milk thistle, among other ingredients, to help cleanse the liver, skin, bowels, and kidney. I have since combined this with a probiotic, but even beforehand I saw a hugh difference in how my body reacted to “toxins” – too much sugar, fats, dairy. This product is definitely my green-juice-in-a-bottle. With Daily Cleanse, you take 2 capsules on an empty stomach with plenty of water.

Gut Instinct is my probiotic of choice after comparing it was tons of others on the market. Just one capsule, gets me 25 billion organisms from 10 different strains of healthy bacteria. Probiotics were the trendy supplement for awhile, and I am so glad the trend stuck around. This capsule is absolutely a product you never knew you needed until you tried it. I have used a probiotic for about 8 years now. In one of my older posts, Beauty Food Salad, I discussed how a healthy GI leads to healthy skin. And even if you already have beautiful, glowing skin, you will feel so much lighter and healthy on a probiotic. Stomachaches will be a thing of the past! Probiotics are also a supplement you take on an empty stomach. Just one capsule, and you’re all set!

Killer Nails is a supplement containg 5000 mcg of vegan biotin. If you have ever experienced issues with hair breakage and brittle nails, you NEED to try a biotin supplement. My nails are growing so much quicker than they used to, and I’m having zero issues with hair breakage. My last haircut was in March, and I have not found one split end yet. I’m also noticing way less hair loss from brushing or shampooing after using this product. Just one small capsule with food, easy to swallow just like the rest!

Red Carpet is definitely the luxury supplement out of the six that I tried. Black currant seed oil is not one of those essential supplements recommended for daily consumption. But if you struggle with lackluster hair and dull skin, whose to say what is and isn’t a neccessity. My hair shines bright like a diamond (sorry I coudn’t help myself) without the need for heat styling after using this product for a month. My skin….still has a ways to go. I guess you could say it’s glowing, but that’s mainly just the excess oil thanks to summer heat and humidity in the South.

Fitting these 9 total supplements into my day is actually much easier than you would think. I grab a glass of The Perfect Infused  Water from the fridge first thing in the morning, along with my doses of Daily Cleanse and Gut Instinct. When you’re slurping down some refreshing lemon, cucumber, ginger, and mint water, you barely notice 3 capsules.

After I finish my morning dog walk and work out, it’s meal shake and email time! Once the meal shake is all gone, I’ll grab another glass of water and take Base Control, OMG! Omega the Great, Killer Nails, and Red Carpet. And then I’m all done with daily supplements! Whether I stay on the healthy track with lean veggies + protein or indulge with some pizza later in the day, I  can be confident I’m getting my daily nutritional needs met.

If you would like to learn more about HUM Nutrition, click here to visit their website. If you decide to place an order, please use referral code F6866. HUM is awesome enough to provide benefits to their loyal customers, something you can definitely take advantage of once you try and recommend their products!

Now that I’ve fallen in love with these 6 supplements, I’m thinking about trying a 7th. If anyone has any recommendations, I would love to hear from you!