Despite the rather Canadian-sounding name, Maple Holistics appears to be a US-based company specializing in holistic/homeopathic bath and body products including both skincare and haircare. I should get a few things out of the way right away with this review.
First of all, I am coming into this review with a cynical eye and a ton of prejudices. We were contacted out of the blue to review these products--we did not reach out to Maple Holistics ourselves, nor had I heard any word-of-mouth about them. The query felt sort of spammy to me (especially given their free-product-for-"honest"-Amazon-reviews policy), and we discussed it amongst ourselves, but decided it did seem to be a real company and worth a try. As I was the only member of the team within the US willing to risk my hair/skin on reviewing these products, it fell on me to write this overview... but I just have to say up front that there are a lot of things I dislike about the branding and general approach they take. More about that in a bit.
Secondly, I'm not sure how much this company counts as "indie," as some people's definition of "indie" seems to only include those products manufactured in-house by a company rather than contracted out; now, I know some companies I think of squarely as "indie" and that we've covered here in the past, like Meow Cosmetics, do have at least certain products that they're open about having contract-manufactured. I don't think this is necessarily bad, as I think you're likely to get good, professionally formulated products this way, but I wanted to get this out in the open for people who care about it, as the products I received for review do state "manufactured for Maple Holistics" on the packaging, making me suspect they're third-party-produced. I don't know this for a fact, but I have strong suspicions about it. They themselves have never claimed to be "indie," as far as I know, but since we are an indie-focused blog, I did want to mention that.
Anyway. The company states "Est. 2001" but they don't really have anything in the way of backstory on their site. Their "About Us" page is incredibly vague, but here is their mission statement: "Maple Holistics has one goal in mind: to provide a natural, holistic range of premium products which can enhance hygiene, health and daily living." No information about the owners or founders or feel-good origin story narratives.
Let me rant for a moment about my aforementioned prejudices. I am probably exactly the wrong person to be reviewing this company; I really, really hate the use of the buzzwords "holistic" and "homeopathic," which, to me, are shibboleths for a particular fear-based, anti-scientific worldview gaining alarming popularity, with homeopathic remedies at one end of that spectrum and measles-spreading, child-endangering anti-vaxxers at the other. [My personal opinions do not represent the general opinions of the Indie Know blog or the individual opinions of any of the other bloggers, by the way. I don't know how they feel about all this.] I'm not opposed to herbal remedies (although I don't believe they are inherently better just by being "natural") and I think that in a broader sense, a holistic worldview is generally beneficial, but homeopathy is pure quackery and I bristle at these words in the context of selling these products, as I think they are completely meaningless here and used only to market to gullible souls with a vague fear of "chemicals." Or, if they are not meaningless, does that mean that, in accordance with basic homeopathic principles, the active ingredients in this serum are diluted to the point that there are no actual vitamin C molecules in my vitamin C serum? I wouldn't be happy with that result either. I'd like the products I'm paying for to contain detectable amounts of the active ingredients, thank you.
Anyway, I thought I'd ignore all that and take a good, honest look at these products without any of their marketing in mind.
First of all, I am coming into this review with a cynical eye and a ton of prejudices. We were contacted out of the blue to review these products--we did not reach out to Maple Holistics ourselves, nor had I heard any word-of-mouth about them. The query felt sort of spammy to me (especially given their free-product-for-"honest"-Amazon-reviews policy), and we discussed it amongst ourselves, but decided it did seem to be a real company and worth a try. As I was the only member of the team within the US willing to risk my hair/skin on reviewing these products, it fell on me to write this overview... but I just have to say up front that there are a lot of things I dislike about the branding and general approach they take. More about that in a bit.
Secondly, I'm not sure how much this company counts as "indie," as some people's definition of "indie" seems to only include those products manufactured in-house by a company rather than contracted out; now, I know some companies I think of squarely as "indie" and that we've covered here in the past, like Meow Cosmetics, do have at least certain products that they're open about having contract-manufactured. I don't think this is necessarily bad, as I think you're likely to get good, professionally formulated products this way, but I wanted to get this out in the open for people who care about it, as the products I received for review do state "manufactured for Maple Holistics" on the packaging, making me suspect they're third-party-produced. I don't know this for a fact, but I have strong suspicions about it. They themselves have never claimed to be "indie," as far as I know, but since we are an indie-focused blog, I did want to mention that.
Anyway. The company states "Est. 2001" but they don't really have anything in the way of backstory on their site. Their "About Us" page is incredibly vague, but here is their mission statement: "Maple Holistics has one goal in mind: to provide a natural, holistic range of premium products which can enhance hygiene, health and daily living." No information about the owners or founders or feel-good origin story narratives.
Let me rant for a moment about my aforementioned prejudices. I am probably exactly the wrong person to be reviewing this company; I really, really hate the use of the buzzwords "holistic" and "homeopathic," which, to me, are shibboleths for a particular fear-based, anti-scientific worldview gaining alarming popularity, with homeopathic remedies at one end of that spectrum and measles-spreading, child-endangering anti-vaxxers at the other. [My personal opinions do not represent the general opinions of the Indie Know blog or the individual opinions of any of the other bloggers, by the way. I don't know how they feel about all this.] I'm not opposed to herbal remedies (although I don't believe they are inherently better just by being "natural") and I think that in a broader sense, a holistic worldview is generally beneficial, but homeopathy is pure quackery and I bristle at these words in the context of selling these products, as I think they are completely meaningless here and used only to market to gullible souls with a vague fear of "chemicals." Or, if they are not meaningless, does that mean that, in accordance with basic homeopathic principles, the active ingredients in this serum are diluted to the point that there are no actual vitamin C molecules in my vitamin C serum? I wouldn't be happy with that result either. I'd like the products I'm paying for to contain detectable amounts of the active ingredients, thank you.
Anyway, I thought I'd ignore all that and take a good, honest look at these products without any of their marketing in mind.
Packaging:
Everything is very nicely packaged, with what seems to be waterproof vinyl labeling, safety seals, and professional-looking graphic design (a few typos, though). My package came securely packed, in a cardboard box with bubble wrap baggies enclosing the individual products and plastic air pillows filling up any empty space.
Selection:
Maple Holistics' website is divided into three sections:
- Bath and Body--bubble bath and bath salts. Each of these is available in either eucalyptus or lavender scent.
- Hair Care--shampoo, conditioner, and styling gel. I received the Argan Oil shampoo and conditioner to test out. There are also "winter blend" shampoos and conditioners, and dandruff, clarifying, and hydrating shampoos, and a silk amino acid-based conditioner.
- Skin Care--oils and serums (beard oil and vitamin C serum), scrubs (a pumice-based foot scrub), and treatments and masks (eye cream, mud mask, and clay mask). I received the vitamin C serum and clay mask to test out.
I also received a lip balm, which is not something that seems to be for sale on their site. Overall, I appreciated that the product selection seems to be fairly limited and well-edited.
Samples:
Samples are not available, but Maple Holistics does have a money back guarantee (I'm unclear on whether you'd have to pay for return shipping).
Quality:
I have not tried all these products for a long period of time, so I can't really speak to how well they work on an ongoing basis just yet--I may pick them up again in Random Product Reviews in the future.First impressions, though: everything seemed nicely packaged, clean and nicely labeled, with safety seals.
The vitamin C serum was not discolored or smelly, but it was VERY sticky and I could feel it sitting there in a sticky and slightly itchy film on my face for hours after application, which could be a dealbreaker for some. I thought the ingredients looked good--it includes vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbyl Phosphate), vitamin E, ferulic acid, hyaluronic acid, and aloe vera. I ended up using powdered mineral makeup over the top every day I used this serum, to "set" the stickiness. I can't speak to its long-term effectiveness, concentration, or pH level; I didn't notice any irritation or breakouts after using it for a few days.
The argan shampoo and conditioner smelled decent and were serviceable. My hair felt clean and shiny afterwards, but these didn't change my life or anything. There was nothing remarkable about them for me, but then again, my hair isn't high-maintenance--someone with dry or curly hair might be better suited to speak to their effectiveness. They are sulfate-free, which is nice since my hair is color-treated and sulfate-free shampoo makes the dye last longer.
The clay mask left my skin feeling very smooth afterwards, but a little dry. I think that's to be expected with a clay mask. I would like to try it mixed with apple cider vinegar next time to improve its pH, but I followed the package directions this time and mixed it with water using the little scoop that came with it (it made the perfect amount of clay mask to cover my face with a thick layer).
I haven't tried the lip balm yet, since it's not a product for sale on the site.
Overall, I think the quality is fine, as far as I can tell, but none of these products made me get really excited. The serum's stickiness was the biggest quality issue I noticed, but for the reasonable price, that might be acceptable.
Cost:
The prices for Maple Holistics' products are reasonable, with some items being a better deal than others. The Ancient Clay Facial Mask is $15.99 for 8 oz, while the comparable Aztec Secret clay mask is about $8 for 1 lb. However, the Vitamin C Facial Serum is only $11.77 for 1 oz, while similar serums available on Amazon tend to run around $25. There is also a 10% volume discount for buying 2 or more of a given item.
Customer Service:
I haven't had to contact customer service, but Maple Holistics seems good with communication and responsive, and they have a customer service phone number along with email addresses, a contact form, and hours of operation listed on their contact page.
TAT:
I cannot speak to the turnaround time, since I received free press samples.
Shipping:
I couldn't find a breakdown of shipping costs and methods; from some experimentation with their shopping cart software, it seems to be a flat rate of $2.50 per item until you reach $25 not counting shipping, at which point you can get free shipping. I think they only ship to the United States. My package was sent via US Priority Mail.Personal Thoughts:
This company gets a solid "Eh, they're OK" from me quality-wise. I didn't find any of the products terribly exciting or worthy of particular recommendation, but the price is right for some of them and there is certainly no shortage of other bloggers raving about their free press samples elsewhere on the web.I'm not vegan and don't shop cruelty-free, but I believe Maple Holistics' products purport to be both. Let me say, though, that I would take their supposed vegan status with a grain of salt and email the company about any products you're considering on that basis, though--the "vegan" argan shampoo lists "natural (vanilla/honey) fragrance" in the ingredients on the packaging (it's unknown to me whether this fragrance is derived from real honey) and "honey" as part of the formula on the website, and of course the Silk18 conditioner lists this in its description: "Eighteen naturally-derived (literally extracted during the silkworms [sic] process of creating silk) silk amino acids prompts an assortment of hair and scalp benefits." I haven't pored carefully through the other listings (the full ingredients lists are almost impossible to read with the mouseover zoom feature), but I feel pretty safe saying they're neither well-informed nor particularly serious about this whole cruelty-free/vegan thing.
So, yeah. I will use up the products they sent me, and I don't really have any problem with their quality, but I don't like feeling like I'm getting hustled, and between the woo-woo "holistic" and "homeopathic" talk and the supposedly "vegan" products containing silk and possibly honey, plus the carpetbombing of blogs and consumers with review requests in exchange for free product (which is commonplace, but leads to an oversaturation of false positive reviews) I feel like this company is mildly dishonest, and I probably won't shop from them in the future. I live in a capitalist society and I buy a ton of shit, I really don't have a problem with companies using savvy marketing strategies to sell their products, but you know what? There are plenty of other good-smelling fish in the bath and body product sea that aren't misusing exciting buzzwords like "vegan" and "homeopathic" that I can send my money to instead.
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