greening my routine and Novena Maternal Skin Care {from Maternitique: REVIEW}

So when I wrote out my 2nd 101 in 1001 (check it out, I just updated it! actually got some stuff done!), my #52 was to switch 2 of my personal hygiene products to organic/eco-friendly options. The first thing I switched was my shampoo, since that was easy enough... my short hair is so much less picky. I briefly mentioned it HERE, but I tried the Burts shampoo and liked it, but decided to give the Organix shampoo a shot too and am in love with it! So a big check mark there, I'm not giving up my Organix (I love the mint and tea tree oil one).

Next I tackled my skin (face), which is definitely a lot more finicky. During the summer I switched my face lotion to Burts Bee's Acne Solutions Daily Lotion, and their spot treatment as needed. That seemed fine, things didn't really get better or worse from my non-natural stuff, so that was good with me. For the cleaning part: In the evening I started using Burts Cleansing Cloths, and am hooked... they are easy and they work. Perfect for someone like me who is lazy lazy at night. In the mornings, I love scrubs and used to use them daily, but after reading that using them too frequently can damage your skin, I cut down to 2x a week. I used to love Kiss My Face, but I think they changed their formula, so while I still like it a lot, I don't LOVE it... so I'm still looking for the "perfect" gritty scrub (without that annoying residue feeling from glycerin based products).

Which leads me to face washes. Once I stopped using scrubs daily, I needed a good wash to use instead (the other 5 days a week). I had previously used Maternitique's Acne Clearing Facial Wash by Belli, and liked it; but I'm the first to admit that I'm not very good at remaining faithful to one face wash! Its like I get bored of them, and I feel like my face doesn't respond as well over time, so inevitably when I ran out of one, I would move on to something else. But a lot of the other ones I tried were not organic in nature... so I wanted to find more options that were natural. That way even if I kept up my product hopping, at least I was still sticking to my greener hygiene goal.

Enter Maternitique, and a WONDERFUL mailbox surprise just over a month ago.

Tara had sent me the Organic Fruit Face Wash from the Novena Maternal Skin Care line. You may remember that this was the line featured in my Go Green Giveaway event... and that I was specifically lusting over this face wash, so lovely surprise indeed! And this certainly fit the bill in every way... using organic ingredients, it is vegan, sulfate-free, paraben-free and phthalate-free! Plus, the bottle is made from recyclable plastic (I'll either recycle locally, or mail it back to Maternitique to be recycled if my local place won't take it). 

The first thing I noticed when I opened the bottle was the smell... oh my, is it yummy! It smells like something I would happily mix into my morning yogurt or oatmeal. Also, it comes out fast, but a little goes a long way... so I only need a dime sized amount, which you add a little water too and lather up, then all over the face and neck it goes.

(Before)

I've been using it for 4 weeks now and I'm happy to say that I've seen some improvement in my breakouts. But even before that, after just a week or so of use, my skin just felt softer and lusher. I'm excited to see how my skin will look after another month.

(After)

I'm sure I'll go back to my product hopping ways... that's just how I roll. But I will definitely use this until the last drop is gone (which, with my 1x a day use, should be about 5 - 6 months or so!); and I'm sure I'll buy it to use again. Between this and the Belli wash, clearly I'm a big fan of Maternitique's products!


And with that, I think I can check #52 off my list!



Disclaimer:  This product was provided to me free of charge in exchange for my review. I was not compensated in any other way for my review and all options expressed here are my own (really and truly!).