Take Me To The River. Put Me In The Water. Make That H2O Plus, Please!
H20 Plus
I am a fan of stuff...all stuff...but I really love bath, body, and skincare products and love to try new things.
I recently visited, and made a purchase on, H2O Plus. I really liked what I saw and enjoy my items.
What the Site Sells
H2O Plus sells all water-based products from skin care to bath and body, to make up, and more. There is no oil in their products, even in products for dry skin. In fact, they are the first company in the world to focus solely on the benefits of water based, oil free skin care, according to their "About Us" information.
Navigation
This serene blue and white site is easy to navigate. It has category links across the top: Skin Care, Make Up, Spa, Bath and Shower, Gifts, Fragrance, and Shop by Catalog.
Important links are above that such as Customer Service and Special Offers. Everything is easy to find which, for me, is a huge plus. You can also search by keyword.
Once inside a category, you are offered thumbnails of the many subcategories of the main category. Skin Care, for example, has 23 subcategories to choose from depending on what type of item you are looking for. Click on one and you will be greeted with a list of the products in that category with thumbnails and a description. Yet another click will take you to the larger photo and more information, along with the ingredients list of the products (s) and the ability to add the item to your cart.
Once you have completed your shopping, you will go to the checkout. Orders over $100.00 are always free to ship. Those orders under will cost $5.95 - $11.95 to ship Ground UPS. There are two expedited shopping methods for additional costs.
If you are a "plus member", you need to just fill in your email address and password. New shoppers can opt to become plus members, which is free, and have info stored in the site's system as well as enjoying perks like promotional emails, special discounts, and more. If you choose not to sign up for membership, you can continue as a guest and input your information and major credit card number and expiry. Tax is charged to California, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New York, and Pennsylvania.
You can opt to pay by phone rather than online if you prefer and there is a toll free number to do so. Otherwise, you will get an immediate confirmation letter and a shipping notification with tracking soon after.
Other than being a tad slow when navigating through the categories the first time I browsed the site, the site works well and I have not encountered any bad or broken links.
My Experience
I found the site through a friend who has skin allergies and breaks out from most major skin care products and cosmetics. She swears by the products sold on the H2O Plus site and I just had to see what the site was all about. I really like the concept and I like the way they present their products.
Prices are quite reasonable for quality skin care and body care items. The first time I browsed, the site was slow. I was not sure (and am still not sure) if my computer was lagging or the site was just having some difficulties but it took its time going from page to page. Since, I have not encountered any slowness when navigating.
I settled on a complexion primer and a skin care sampler. That particular week, shipping was free for orders over $30.00 (I am a plus member of course!) and I didn't have to pay the $5.95 shipping. But I did have to pay tax. I hate tax but what can I do? I live in New York, one of the few states where they have physical stores and must charge tax.
I had no problem with my free shipping coupon code and all went smoothly through the checkout process.
I received a confirmation email and then one when the order shipped. I got my order in about a week, nicely packed and with some leaflets about the company and the products. It's a very interesting concept, especially for these with sensitive or acne prone skin. I actually have dry skin but found these products to feel hydrating and not all drying on my skin.
I did not have any issues with customer service but my friend, who shopped there many times, has had to return items for one reason or another and has always had very smooth transactions and exchanges and is very pleased with customer service. I feel confident that I, too, will be treated fairly if I ever need to return or exchange a product for whatever reason.
Shipping and Returns
Shipping starts at $5.95 per order and goes to $11.95. It is free over $100.00 in the US. There are also two expedited shipping options — at higher rates — that you can use if you need your items faster than the standard two to seven days it takes UPS to get to you.
As I mentioned above, sales tax is charged in California, Illinois, Michigan, Nevada, New York, and Pennsylvania. Other states are in the clear with tax.
The Returns Policy is liberal. They will exchange or refund any product within 30 days of purchase with your original receipt. That's one of the better returns policies I have seen on a skin care site and allows me the freedom to try something I may not have if I knew I couldn't return it if it didn't work well for me. They do not refund shipping either to you or that you pay to return the item(s) but that is standard.
Contact Info
There is an onsite contact form to write to customer service with any questions or concerns you have. They do get back to you promptly as I have used this form and got an answer the next day.
You can also call them at 1 -800-242-2284 (M-F, 8:30 am to 7 pm CST)
Or Snail Mail:
H2O+
845 W. Madison Street
Chicago, IL 60607
Attention: Mail Order Department
Conclusion
The site is easy to navigate and offers many good products for decent prices. The concept of oil free, water based skin care is a good one and I plan to try more products in the future. I really like the items I got and I have tried a few others that my friend has and all seem to be very high quality.
The selection is vast in most areas. The make up section is a bit sparse but they're building up to more. Other areas of the site are much better stocked.
As a plus member, I get promotions and discounts via email plus have a wish list and a few other perks — all for free. There is no reason why you shouldn't sign up as a plus member even if you don't shop there the day you sign up. I didn't and ended up getting my first order with free shipping because I was on their mailing list.
My products came to me in a reasonable time frame, packaged well, and as described. The returns policy is a very good one and I have no complaints at all about this site.
I rarely dole out 5 stars to websites/online stores but I see no reason not to with this H2O Plus. They're outstanding and strive to make your skin — and the environment — better. They also perform no animal testing at all and all their products are cruelty free.
Recommended:
Yes
