Market Friday: Health, Beauty, and Foodstuff

Has it really been four months?

I looked back to my page and realized that it's been almost four months since I last shared my Market Friday experience here. It is so redundant, but hey, let me just say it again - time really flies so fast!

The desert summer here in the UAE is coming into full swing and I can only imagine how it would be in the weeks to come.

But before that, how about we go for one Market Friday trip?

Health, Beauty, and Foodstuff

There is an important appointment I have to attend on Sunday that will require a negative PCR test so I braved the heat and went for the swab test. The process was quick even though there was a big queue of people who were also going for the test -- there's a special lane for ladies and ehem, I was able to beat the line!

We actually only came for the peanuts!

The testing center was inside the Hamdan Center and after we finished with the test, the husband invited me to go to this shop where he always buys the peanuts he brings home. Hamdan Center is the oldest shopping mall in the capital city of Abu Dhabi, UAE. I was surprised to see such a big spread of foodstuff available here in this shop!

There were different kinds of nuts - peanuts (from plain, to roasted, or coated), pistachios, cashew, walnuts, among others. There were also lots of dried fruits.

_{Dried fruits and nuts on display at the center of the store.}

Grains & Pulses

While the husband was busy paying for his purchase, I went around to check what else was being sold here. They had different pulses and grains, including seeds like fenugreek, fennel, etc.

We're not too keen on these so after taking a couple of photos, I moved on.

Beauty! Beauty! Beauty!

There were lots of beauty products available - some branded, some were very familiar since they were Filipino brands. While they caught my attention, the following caught my attention even more.

Pure Shea Butter.

Oh dear! I had to ask the store attendant if they were authentic African Shea Butter and he said, "Yes". There's really no way for me to validate, so I just took his word for it. I use the commercially available shea butter like Body Shop and this one that they have seems pretty pure and legit.

I have honestly not seen nor used yellow shea butter. When I asked the shop attendant how it is different from the white variant, he said the yellow was for the skin only while the white can also be used for the hair. Not really knowing any better, I trusted the guy and got myself the white variant because I also want to use this for my naturally curly hair.

_{Yellow or White Shea Butter. Which one do you prefer?}

I was too excited to try this that I used it as soon as I reached home. It was not greasy and my skin is enjoying it so far. I think this was AED 20 ($5.43) well spent.

Oils!

These oils were sitting on the next shelf. I am most definitely not going to try the fenugreek oil, thank you... but I saw the tea tree oil and decided to get a bottle primarily for my now teen son who is starting to get skin breakouts.

I love how tea tree oil smells and I know I said it's for my son, but can mom share with it too? Oh, a bottle like this costs AED 15 ($4). Again, way cheaper than the branded ones!

Wellness?

We were already paying for the shea butter and the tea tree oil when I saw these jars with funny labels. You can click on each photo for larger view.

Lose Weight or For More Weight?	Stressed? Take this "Mand Relax Middicen".	No more pain - "Pain Middicen"

Dang, I have no clue what are in these jars. There is no list of ingredients mentioned on the labels so while I have no problems taking natural medicines, there is no chance in this world I will take these.

And oh, I forgot to ask the shop attendant what the "Diplomatist Middicen" was for. :D

Tea, anyone?

There were different kinds of dried herbs and flowers as well. I have never tried them too. But they look so pretty so I had to take pictures too. Hehe.

There were many other stuffs on display, like these blocks which are used for burning incense. This orange resin on the right, I thought was for burning too, but as per the shop attendant, this is used for its medicinal properties too. They dissolve it and drink to relieve kidney diseases (this is the only one I remember).

There are many other shops like this inside this shopping center, but they are located in the second floor and for me, people only go there as and when they need to. This particular shop we went to though, is strategically located at the ground floor and has entry from both inside the mall and out. It is very well lit and spacious too.

It was fun to be out again this Market Friday.

How about you, where did you go today?

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