Naturopathica 30 Day Skin Transformation Challenge: Week 1

Now that I've been using the products from Naturopathica's Normal to Dry Skin Regimen Kit, I can offer up some initial thoughts on the products and talk about them with more detail.

Here's what the kit looked like upon opening the package:

Simple paper packaging with cutouts for each product. There were a few rips and tears in the paper, likely due to being bumped around in transit, but none of the containers were broken. I love the cobalt containers they use - they remind me of bottles from an old apothecary shop, and I'm partial to deep, vibrant shades of blue. The containers are all plastic, save for the Plant Stem Cell Serum, which is glass. 

I've been using the Oat Facial Polish every other day, in the morning. I don't normally wash my face with anything but water in the morning, but I try to use a light exfoliating scrub every few days.

The jar is about the same size as a Lush lip scrub. I'm not particularly fond of the scent, having an earthy yet medicinal smell to it. I think it's from the ylang ylang oil, which I associate with Aveda products, and I personally dislike (both Aveda and ylang ylang). It's a creamy "scrub" with small jojoba beads in it to lightly exfoliate your skin.

I actually find this scrub too gentle for my needs, as the ratio of cream to jojoba beads is uneven, and what little jojoba is in the polish doesn't exfoliate hard enough, even for my sensitive skin. I've been noticing more blackheads on my nose in the last few days after switching scrubs. On a positive note, my skin hasn't had a negative reaction to using it in place of my St. Ives Green Tea scrub.

Here's a closer look at the ingredients - you can click on the image to enlarge:

After showering and/or rinsing my face in the morning, I follow up with the Beech Tree & Ginseng Daily Moisturizer. The pump didn't work for the particular bottle that I received, but this should be an isolated case. In order to get the moisturizer out of the bottle, I unscrew the pump and swirl it around inside the bottle, and wipe whatever product is picked up on the tube into my hand. I lightly rub the moisturizer onto my face and neck before applying makeup.

The moisturizer also has ylang ylang oil as one of the ingredients, but the scent isn't as strong when combined with the other oils and extracts in the moisturizer. It has more of a spicy citrus scent to it from the ginseng extract and orange peel oil. The moisturizer itself is creamy yet light. My skin feels moisturized without feeling heavy or greasy, and rather smooth after a few days of use. I also use this at night after cleansing my face and applying the Plant Stem Cell Serum.

Here's a closer look at the ingredients list - again, you can click the image for more detail:

The Chamomile Cleansing Milk is part of my evening routine, which I use as part of my double cleanse method. If I've worn makeup during the day, I use a cleansing oil to break down the makeup - especially waterproof mascara and gel liner - and follow up with a cleanser to remove everything. If I haven't worn makeup that day, I just use the cleansing milk to clean any dirt and oil on my face before going to bed.

As this is part of the Normal to Dry skin kit, this is a creamy cleanser which doesn't produce a foam. I use two pumps worth of cleanser and rub it in a circular motion on my face to pick up any residual makeup that the cleansing oil didn't remove in the first pass, and rinse off with warm water.

I like the scent of this cleansing milk, as I'm a big fan of chamomile. It's gentle and doesn't strip my skin, which is great for anyone with dry or sensitive skin. The combination of chamomile, rose, lavender, and aloe work well to calm irritation. That being said, it's not the best at removing makeup - even if I spend more time using the cleansing oil to remove my makeup, there's still some residue that I need a good cleanser to pick up and remove at the end of the night. When I dry my face, I still see foundation on the towel that the oil cleanser and cleansing milk weren't able to remove.

Here is the ingredient list - click to enlarge:

The Plant Stem Cell Serum is used in the evening, after cleansing my face. I use one full pump and gently rub the serum on my face and neck, and follow up with the Beech Tree & Ginseng moisturizer.

I smell more of the olive and rice extracts in the serum; the best way for me to describe it is to say that it smells "green" - not grassy, but rather lush and leafy...does that make sense? The serum is light, yet moisturizing, and in combination with the moisturizer, my skin feels very soft.

One major thing that I noticed after using these products for just one week is that my eczema calmed down faster than usual. Typically when my eczema flares up, it takes 1-2 weeks of applying either a prescription steroid cream (for the first 3-4 days) and Vitacreme B12 (5-10 days) for my skin to return to normal. I had just started applying the steroid cream when I started using these products, and my eczema calmed down around Day 5 or 6, enough to the point that I stopped using the prescription cream and didn't have to use the Vitacreme. Seeing that result makes me think that these products would definitely work for anyone with sensitive skin to help calm any irritation without having to sacrifice other skincare benefits like anti-aging, or exfoliating dead skin cells.

Here are the ingredients for the Plant Stem Cell Serum:

I was worried that completely changing my skincare routine would result in skin irritation and/or another eczema flare up, as my skin is prone to doing whenever I want to try a new product. Being a beauty blogger, it's a major problem to deal with when using yourself as a guinea pig to test new products. Aside from a few cystic pimples showing up as a result of a sleepless night last week and being unable to wash my face for over 24 hours, my skin hasn't reacted negatively to any of the new products. (Said pimples are on the mend and now I have to deal with the post scarring process.) I think this is a good sign of the effectiveness of the ingredients in the various Naturopathica products, and I'll provide another update in a week.

If you have any questions about the products, please feel free to ask away! If I can't answer them, I'll forward the questions to a representative for the company.

Disclaimer: This post contains samples that were provided by the company for reviewing purposes.