First Purchase: Faithful to Nature

Every First Purchase takes you through our first time buying from different shops. Get an idea of what to expect before you buy.

Faithful to Nature

Overview

Faithful to Nature was started by Robyn in 2006 because she wanted "people to find a haven in our hectic world where they could shop in peace". They believe customers "deserve to be able to purchase products where full product description is enclosed from absolutely honest ingredient lists, to the country of origin and the cruelty-free status of the item". They also state "the products that we choose to buy have a massive impact on the health of every creature on our planet. It’s a really big deal that we are empowered to make the best purchasing decisions that we can".

They have a strict ingredient policy and promise to have "done the worrying for you and have checked every single product to be sure that it really is as green and as safe as its manufacturers claim it is".

A major plus-point to Faithful to Nature is the list of icons they place next to each item on their website. These might seem like hieroglyphs at first, but they are extremely useful to check which sustainability boxes the item checks or not. Hovering over each icon will tell you that it is "vegan", "cruelty-free", "natural", etc.

Faithful to Nature provides this handy guide on their website.

Every person on a sustainability journey focusses on different aspects of sustainability. Trying to live as plastic-free as possible is one of our main priorities, amongst a list of others. So we keep an eye out for the icon indicating that an item is not packaged in plastic. You can also use the filters on the left of the screen if you don't want to compromise on these ideals or priorities. This narrows your search and only shows you products that adhere to your standards.

"We believe in giving you back the power to know what it is that you are really bringing back into your homes from your shopping baskets, and we want to take the hassle out of your organic shopping." - Faithful to Nature

Website & socials

As Faithful to Nature functions solely online, you access their shop via their website. You can follow them on Facebook (@FaithfulToNature) and Instagram (@faithfultonature), and subscribe to their newsletter, which they send out regularly. This has interesting information, the odd recipe and details about discounts on certain products. Be sure to make use of this!

Their website is flushed with all sorts of products that you can flip through using their well laid out menu and submenus. Do yourself a favour and go through all the categories, even ones you might not be interested in at the moment. You will be surprised to find several eco-friendly, sustainable substitutes you didn't even know existed.

The number of products on offer can be overwhelming. A tip: Add items to your online basket as you work through the entire product list. You can sort through them afterwards and simply delete an item from your basket if you don't want to buy it anymore. This is just a neat way to make sure you don't forget about something along the way.

Special offers and benefits

When signing up for their newsletter you get R100 off your first purchase when you spend R400 or more. Faithful to Nature will email you the voucher code which you can enter at checkout. We made use of this offer and saved on our purchase. You can also keep an eye on their website for special deals, displayed in a yellow banner at the top of their website.

There is also a designated tab on the website's home page which will take you directly to their specials on offer.

Faithful to Nature also has a loyalty program like many other retails stores. Every time you place an order with them, you earn points based on your order subtotal (excluding the delivery charge). These points are called Faithful Points, and they can be used as currency to pay for products on their website. You can see how many Faithful Points you have earned by logging into your account (upper right corner of the website). You can use your Faithful Points at any time to pay partially or fully for an order. You also don't have to use all your points in one go. Type in the number of points you wish to use and click 'Submit order' at the bottom of the last checkout page. You will then be prompted to choose another payment method to settle the remaining amount.

Faithful Points are calculated based on the subtotal of each individual order:

R0 - R100 = 0%

R100.01 - R200 = 1%

R2000.01 - R400 = 2%

R4000.01 - R550 = 3%

R5500.01 - R800 = 6%

R8000.01 - R12,00 = 7%

R12,000.01 - R25,000 = 8%

R25,000.01 - R60,000 = 8.5%

R60,000.01 = +9%

You can earn Faithful Points by referring friends to Faithful to Nature. If you have an account you will be able to send your friends invitations via email and earn points on their first purchases. Do all this in your account, through the menu on the left-hand side.

Eco-conscious brides and grooms can also create a gift registry on Faithful to Nature's website under their account.

Lastly, you can spoil someone special with a gift voucher to Faithful to Nature. Their gift vouchers are listed under gifts. Fill out the necessary information, make the payment and then an email with your message, the gift voucher code and the amount will automatically be emailed to the gift recipient.

Delivery

If your shopping totals R400 or more you will not have to pay for delivery in South Africa. If delivery is to a main centre the free delivery option will be available only via courier service. If delivery is outside of main centres the free delivery option will only be available via Pargo.

If you buy less than R400 worth of items, you will be able to choose your delivery method. You can have it delivered via a door to door courier service, Pargo, or you can collect the order from their premises. It will take 1 to 4 working days by courier service or 2 to 5 working days through Pargo.

Faithful to Nature delivers to the majority of South African addresses using Pargo. Unfortunately, they don't offer courier delivery to remote areas (but Pargo might be an option for some areas).

They also deliver to Namibia, Botswana and Eswatini which will take 7-15 working days.

Your method of payment might also affect the delivery time. Paying by credit card kickstarts the process more quickly than EFT payments.

Courier fees:

R40 for any size order delivered to Cape Town and surrounding areas (Bloubergstrand, Melkbos, Simonstown, Hermanus, Worcester, Paarl, Stellenbosch, Franschoek etc.)

R60 for any size order delivered to Main Centres e.g. Gauteng, Port Elizabeth, Bloemfontein, Pietermaritzburg, KZN coast (from Richardsbay to Durban to Port Edward)

R150 or any size order delivered to Regional Areas e.g. Kenton-on-Sea

Not offered: Deliveries to Remote Areas e.g. remote farms, mines

Courier deliveries are made Monday to Friday 09:00 to 17:00, not over weekends or on public holidays, so make sure someone is at the delivery address throughout the day to accept your package.

Faithful to Nature will email you the tracking details one working day after they send your package. If you are used to getting a tracking number the moment you pay, don't panic. You will get it.

We payed by credit card and our package was delivered two or three days later by Citisprint couriers. We received tracking details a day before our package arrived and could easily check in on the progress of our delivery.

Packaging

We enjoyed guilt-free unboxing with our first Faithful to Nature purchase. No plastic was involved in the delivery, and none of the items were packaged in plastic that could not otherwise be recycled. The filling they used to keep the contents from rolling around in the box can be reused as tissue paper for other gifts. The box as well, or for several different purposes. Our cats, Charlie and Mo, do enjoy the odd empty box laying around.

Watch our unboxing experience

Overall impression

Overall we really enjoyed buying from Faithful to Nature. We agree with their values, appreciate their transparency, and enjoy the vast offering of products. They are reliable, true to their word about content and delivery, and we're loving all the products we bought from them. You can keep an eye out for product reviews shortly.