Marie Veronique Organics Acne Relief Treatment Kit

♥Guest Post♥ Today’s post is written by M.C., a regular reader of Viva Woman who is in her twenties with sensitive combination skin. All products featured here were provided on a complimentary basis for the purpose of review.


Long-time readers of Viva Woman would probably be familiar with Marie Veronique Organics. Founded by Marie Veronique Nadeau, a former chemistry teacher, the brand aims to create skincare products for graceful and natural aging, using organic ingredients whenever possible. According to Marie Nadeau, conventional acne treatments for teenage acne are not suitable for adult acne as “traditional methods of treatment can dry, inflame and irritate, ultimately accelerating the aging process.” Instead, she recommends their regimen under the Acne Relief Kit that regulates oil production without over-exfoliating, thus keeping the skin balanced and nourished.

The Acne Relief kit comprises just four simple products – with short and relatable ingredient lists – that are designed to combat moderate to severe adult acne. It’s also very fuss-free: two products in the morning and three in the evening only!

Treatment Cleanser (4 oz | 120ml) US$37

Ingredients: Green & white tea), adzuki bean powder, vegetable glycerin, apple cider vinegar, xanthan gum, lactic acid, black willow bark extract, Cosmocil CQ*, honey, potassium sorbate, colloidal oat flour, marshmallow root powder, rice bran powder, rosemary oleoresin, Usnea lichen tincture, lavender essential oil, rose geranium essential oil
Ingredients

This treatment cleanser is supposed to kill acne-causing bacteria, prevent clogged pores, and dissolve dead skin cells without stripping the skin dry – and it delivers! Texture is a little grainy like an exfoliating cleanser, most probably from the adzuki bean powder, but not abrasive at all. I normally double-cleanse but once is sufficient here. My skin does not feel uncomfortably squeaky clean but plump and moisturized. The scent is delicious: a little citrusy, a little yoghurt-like.

Over the month or so that I used this cleanser, I only suffered from one breakout! The difference became even more startling when I finished this and switched back to Thursday Plantation (which I’ve used before). Suddenly, I gained 5 pimples in the very first week, with my skin feeling noticeably drier and tighter. I definitely like this, but it barely lasted more than a month – maybe because I needed two pumps each time as it’s non-foaming. Since it gets depleted so fast, I don’t think I’ll be ordering this.

Treatment Oil (1 oz | 30ml) US$80

Ingredients: Jojoba oil, safflower oil, sunflower oil, pumpkin seed oil, emu oil, borage oil, black willow bark extract, vitamin E, acai oil, cranberry seed oil, red raspberry seed oil, tamanu oil, sea buckhorn oil, squalene (from olive oil), watermelon seed oil, rosemary oleoresin, Usnea lichen tincture, lavender essential oil, carrot seed essential oil, curcuma longa essential, tea tree essential oil, palmarosa essential, rosemary essential oil, moroccan chamomile essential oil
Ingredients

Intriguingly, this is the main source of moisturizer in the kit, but it also does a good job in keeping acne-causing bacteria at bay with tea tree, lavender, sea buckthorn and pumpkin seed oils. It’s easy to massage into the skin and surprisingly, my face does not feel oily after application. However, the dispenser is a real pain because 80% of the time, it squirts out the content haphazardly causing a lot of wastage! On the rare occasions that it works properly, I use about one and a half pumps for my face and neck. Rubbing it around the T-zone pushes out blackheads to a small extent, which is good, but that’s only for very superficial blackheads. I reckon this will last about three months. I like that it seeps into the skin easily, but otherwise it’s not memorable. The price ain’t cheap, so I’ll just use other oils after this.

Everyday Sheer Coverage, SPF20 (2 oz | 60 ml) US$50

Ingredients: Green & white tea, non-nano zinc oxide, vegetable glycerin, broccoli seed oil, cherry kernel seed oil, emu oil, pomegranate seed oil, red raspberry seed oil, vitamin E, yangu oil, Cosmocil CQ*, xanthan gum, n-acetyl glucosamine, lecithin, potassium sorbate, pearl powder, rosemary oleoresin, beta glucan, coffee fruit extract, silk powder, rose essential oil, neroli essential oil, helichrysum essential oil, cistus essential oil, iron oxides
Ingredients

This is my favourite of the lot. I’m rarely enamoured with sunblock but this, I would buy in a heartbeat! It offers broad spectrum sun protection with SPF 20 but what I love is that it’s such an incredible makeup-base/foundation: the tint was perfect for my skin tone, the formula glides easily!  I do need to re-apply in the afternoon or use mineral powder over it. The smell is also somewhat musty and oaky, like your grandfather’s 50-year-old study, but it did grow on me after a while. The bottle would probably last three to four months minimum.

Overall, I’m really impressed that this excellent product contains natural, easy-to-comprehend ingredients and I’m going to ditch make-up bases and foundations with complicated compounds for this. And did I mention that it leaves a sheer, healthy matt glow?

Treatment Serum (1 oz | 30ml) US$90

Ingredients: Green & white tea, pantothenic acid, argan oil, emu oil, pumpkin seed oil, tamanu oil, watermelon seed oil, vegetable squalene (from olive oil), vitamin E, kombucha extract, lactic acid, aspen bark, MicroGuard*, black willow bark extract, licorice tincture, niacinamide, xanthan gum, usnea lichen tincture, lecithin, rosemary oleoresin, carrot seed essential oil, lavender essential oil, helichrysum essential oil, curcuma longa essential oil
Ingredients

This Treatment Serum claims to regulate sebum production through pantothetic acid and to combat aging. Frankly, this doesn’t leave an impression. It’s non-greasy and easily absorbed but I don’t see a whole lot of improvement. In addition, my skin gets all tingly every time upon applying it, but since nothing negative has happened so far, I suppose that’s not an issue either.

Some users may experience initial “purging”
I get about 4-5 pimples a month although they’re usually not too angry-looking. Some reviewers experienced increased breakouts in the first week. Thankfully, this did not happen to me, but you might want to keep this in mind. I had high expectations, and I’m happy to share that overall, I really enjoyed using this range. The entire kit of 4 products cost US$230 and you can check them out at the website here.

Comments

  1. Carrie says:

    These products do sound expensive!! *0* But I guess that main thing is that if they work for you or not. For me I do have pimples occassionally, but I just treat them with cotton buds and tea tree oil~ Works well for me so far ?

  2. Fevrier says:

    Wow.. Marrie veronique is very veryyy…expensive.. I tried to buy from her once, when i clicked on checkout, whooaaaaa… The total amout of usd 800 freaked me over.. I cancelled the intention of purchase, instead i buy from Garden of wisdom and skin active, i think they are more worth of your money… Hehehe..

  3. Sesame says:

    The kit is expensive but if you consider individual items, some are pretty reasonable.

  4. Sesame says:

    Yeah, their stuff isn’t what we’ll call cheap but it’s not easy to get certain products DIY eg. their sunscreen.

  5. Catherine says:

    Thanks for posting this review Sesame. I wanted to let your readers know that we have changed out all our pumps so there is no longer a problem dispensing the product. We have had great feedback on our Acne Relief products as they works so well for so many people. We use premium ingredients and try to keep the costs down by only selling online. International shipping is also FREE for orders over $175 so many international customers combine orders with friends. You can also request a sample of our top rated sunscreens with every order.

  6. Fevrier says:

    Hi sesame ?
    Since u mentioned about sunscreen, i never had luck with sunscreen so actually i never wear sunscreen just some spf powder from chanel, luckly i dun have any sunspot or pigmentation from the sun…….yet (im 34)
    Well.. Recently i pretty much started to worry about not wearing sunscreen. So i tried product from history of whoo, skII and last dermalogica.. All broke me out >.< and its a pain to see those full bottle s sitting on the table untoched now. Well.. After knowing your blog, now i purchased delvita sunscreen ( still on its way ), but reading review on MUA, alot of people complained from not getting enough protection from it ??? Are you well aware or tried this brand before ? ( if i wasnt mistaken, i read about devita before in your article ) and compared to MV sc, which one is better in term of not clogging pores and uv protection ? Thanks in advance sesame ?

  7. Sesame says:

    You’re welcome Catherine and great to know that you’ve changed the pumps!

  8. Brownies says:

    Have been using their treatment oil and cleanser for 2 months and I will say its quite good. It may not stop black heads from forming but at least it does a good job in controlling my pimples. Now, I only get 1 pimple in average every month. I do not use 2 pumps to wash everytime but I couple it with my other cleanser and use half a pump at night. So I am still half way through after 1 1/2 months of usage.

    I am coupling these 2 products with moisture serum, anti-aging oil plus from MVO for around 2 months and I am quite satisfied with the results till date.

    Yes, its pricey, but the results are way better then what I bought over the counter and they are not cheap as well. Its justifiable in my opinion.

  9. Sesame says:

    Their prices are pricey but I personally like their formulations a lot cos of their choices of ingredients. I think few products in the market can match in terms of quality.

  10. Germaine says:

    Hi Sesame, I have ordered the Acne Relief Travel Kit online yesterday afternoon. This is my first time buying MVO products. May I know how long do they take to ship the products to Singapore? I have checked my order status via their website today. It shows that my payment is being made and shipment status stated “unfulfilled”. I wonder what do they meant by “unfulfilled”.. It means pending or what? I am abit worried as this is only my second time buying things online and first time paying through paypal.. do you have the same issue before? I have sent them an email regarding this concern but they have not replied to me yet.

  11. Sesame says:

    It usually takes two weeks. Wait awhile, US timing is different from our timing and that might account for the slight delay.

  12. Germaine says:

    Thanks Sesame.:) MVO has got back to me regarding the issue, my order has been shipped.:) sorry for being so paranoid.. i seldom purchase products online, first time from US.

  13. Sesame says:

    It’s okay…all of us get unsure the first few times we shop online. I’m glad everything is in order now. Hope you’ll enjoy the product too. ?

  14. BK says:

    Hi Sesame
    My 13yo daughter has lots of pimples/acne on her face. Could you recommend a good product which is gentle for teenagers?
    Many thanks!

  15. Sesame says:

    Where are you based?

  16. BK says:

    Hi Sesame
    In Singapore.

  17. Sesame says:

    Try Thursday Plantation available in Guardian Pharmacy. They’re good for acne issues. Also, if you don’t mind getting supplements for your daughter, this product I reviewed sometime back might help her:
    https://www.vivawoman.net/2011/05/05/advertorial-lustre-skin-pro-tablets-for-beauty/

  18. BK says:

    Thanks, Sesame.
    Both the TT facial wash and gel are ok for children, right?

  19. Sesame says:

    Should be fine for teenagers but of course, it also varies with skin types.

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