Why I Hated Herbivore Products

After my experience with Herbivore Botanicals, I promised myself I would no longer invest in products simply because of their aesthetically pleasing packaging. The company's simplistic glass containers look pretty on anyone's skincare shelf, but for a brand who's prices are not moderate; ultimately, it came down to the quality of their products.

Disclaimer: Throughout this blog post, I mention a great deal of disappointment toward the scent of many Herbivore products. I am aware that Herbivore Botanicals is natural, vegan, and cruelty-free which means that their products contain no synthetic ingredients such as synthetic fragrances. However, there are other brands on the market such as Kora Organics that are cruelty free, certified organic and also lack synthetic fragrances and still somehow manage to smell good! Therefore, I strongly believe that Herbivore Botanicals is more than capable of making their products smell good (or in some cases increasing the scent of their products) without violating their brand morals.

Here's what I tried: (P.S. These containers are tiny!)

• Orchid Facial Oil $64

• Rose Hibiscus Hydrating Face Mist $32

• Coco Rose Lip Conditioner $22

• Pink Clay Exfoliating Mask $22

• Coco Rose Body Polish $36

Here's why each product failed to meet my expectations:

1. Orchid Facial Oil - The minute I would apply this oil onto my skin, my face would immediately start to tingle and red blotches would appear. This oil actually worsened the condition of my skin and led to more breakouts. Not to mention, the smell is very potent and not too appealing. I was willing to overlook the overpowering scent if the results were promising but sadly, they were everything I didn't want in a facial oil. I gladly made the switch back to my Kora Organics Noni Glow Face Oil. *Click here to read my blog post on Kora Organics products.*

2. Rose Hibiscus Hydrating Face Mist - A product claiming to have both rose and hibiscus seems to hint at an irresistible scent but to my surprise and disappointment this mist almost lacked a scent altogether and instead, gave off a hardly detectable and faint floral scent, even after many sprays! Also, the image of this product online depicts a pink shade but in person, the mist is very translucent and does not appear pink inside the bottle at all. The only positive thing about this product is that is has a quality spritzer.

3. Coco Rose Lip Conditioner - This stuff smells absolutely icky! The product is labeled "Coco Rose" but it definitely smells nothing close to a coconut or a rose. This lip balm smells so awful that I cringe every time I have to unscrew the lid to use it. And for a tiny jar of lip balm that costs $22, this was a big let down.

4. Pink Clay Exfoliating Mask - Although this product was not as disappointing as the others, it wasn't noteworthy either. I feel like this product is very similar to the Aztec Secret Indian Healing Clay Deep Pore Cleansing Mask which is $8.60 on Amazon for one pound of product! Like Aztec Secret, this mask starts off as loose clay and has to be mixed in with water. The clay does in fact look pink inside of the glass container but once it is mixed in with water, it becomes brown which became a sad reality for me once I applied the mask onto my face and realized that the product was no longer pink like the name advertised. If you leave this mask on your face for more than 5 minutes it becomes close to impossible to wash off. And even though it does help with exfoliating dead skin and minimizing the appearance of breakouts, there are better alternatives on the market that come in far larger containers and cost far less.

5. Coco Rose Body Polish - I used this body scrub in the shower and like many of the other Herbivore products I tired, I was let down by the scent. In the shower I like to use scented products that smell noticeably good and although this product did not smell bad, it significantly lacked a smell. I couldn't even smell it in the shower while I was using it which is a real bummer for a body scrub that costs $36 and comes in a considerably small container. And, this scrub offered no significant or noteworthy improvements to my skin or its texture.