When Kristin first told me about the Dr. Hauschka line of plant-based beauty and skin care remedies, I admit I made some snap judgments about their effectiveness. And when my fellow beauty buff told me we’d be going to an event to learn more, I was somewhat dismayed.

A room full of botanical beauty product fans?  I’m not what you’d call an “earthy-crunchy” girl by any means, even though I try to be environmentally conscious when I can.  Even so, with my current synthetic, chemical-laden skin care arsenal (that I absolutely adored), I was sure I’d stick out more than a sore (green) thumb!

But despite my initial hesitations, at the event I learned that these die-hard Dr. Hauschka followers were from all walks of life – and not one of them considered themselves avid environmentalists. In fact, instead of focusing on the line’s natural ingredients, what they all seemed most impressed with was that it actually worked better than any other brand they’d tried.

Of course, as the investigative beauty blogger that I am, I absolutely had to test out the products myself.  So I put on my Sherlock Holmes hat (not really), and tried out four of the basic cleansing products for a full month.  And I must say, I’m eating my words – these products are AMAZING!!

Here’s what I tried:

Lavendar Bath – To prep my skin before each cleansing, I embarked on a lavender bath ritual.  The Hauschka rep said to fill a basin full of hot water and pour just a few drops in and swirl.

My Take: Basin?  What basin?  My metal pasta bowl had to suffice.  But WOAH – after swirling my washcloth into the “basin” and pressing it on to my face, I found my own personal slice of heaven every morning and evening.  Seriously – this is just like getting your own little spa treatment at home, simply for the aromatherapy benefits alone!

Cleansing Cream - Made with sweet almonds (among other ingredients), you’re supposed to only use a pea-sized amount of this paste, pressing it gently into your skin.

My Take: At first, this was the weirdest cleansing experience I’ve ever had.  This looks more like a scrub than a cleanser, and I was only supposed to use a pea-sized amount and “press” it on?  But after a couple of days of using this, it became second nature, and a foaming cleanser actually seemed weird.  The Cleansing Cream kept my skin soft without drying it out afterwards (almost every cleanser dries me out).

Facial Toner – Hauschka says to complete the cleaning process with this witch hazel-based toner.  Spray on and “press” into skin.

My Take: This was going to be quite a challenge. Every bottle of toner I’d ever bought is sitting somewhere in the back of my medicine cabinet, used once or twice.  Somehow, I managed to pull off this step for once, and now I use it faithfully every day.  If I forget, my skin just doesn’t feel the same!  Plus, again, I LOVE the smell and feel like I’m getting a professional treatment.

Rose Day Cream - This rich moisturizer (featuring rose extracts, natch) is designed to reduce redness, but is only to be used in the day after cleansing.  In fact, Dr. Hauschka has a strong philosophy that you should never moisturize in the evening before going to bed, because you’re inhibiting the natural skin repair cycle (or something like that).

My Take: This is a very luxurious moisturizer and it keeps your skin moist and glowing throughout the whole day. Really. And like the other Hauschka products, a little goes a LONG way, so I use it sparingly.

The bottom line? While this regimen definitely takes more time than my old scrub-and-run method, it is certainly worth the results.  Not only do I feel like I just took a little spa break, but my skin looks amazing (my husband actually took notice, if you can believe that!).  I’m hooked.  THE DOCTOR IS IN!!