Review: Blackberry Sugar Crunch scrub from Savor Soaps

Blackberry Sugar Crunch is a unique scent available from Savor Soaps. I bought it in the scrub version. This is a purchase from Etsy, the seller is available here:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/savor

The scrub has a lovely sugar and blueberry seed base, with mild-moderate foaming action, which is great considering the sulfate-free formulas used by the seller. The scent is a nice rich and fruity blackberry, with a sweet and tangy undertone. It almost smells like a blackberry crumble with a hint of sweet crumble in the background.

The product is quite a harsh scrub, so appropriate for the body rather than the face or sensitive areas. It gives a really nice smooth finish, and the sugar doesn't dissolve too quickly. The blueberry seeds ensure that you can scrub away as long as you wish and the decent lather protects your skin from the scrubbing. A really nice product from Etsy, and I'm a huge fan of all Savor scents so even if this one is not in stock there should be something else available to satisfy.

Review: Carribean Escape Wallflower from Bath and Body Works

Caribbean Escape from Bath and Body Works is a recurring staple in the anti-bac (hand soaps etc) and home fragrance lines. It is available in lots of forms:

- Candles: 1.4 oz / 4 oz / 14.5 oz
- Handsoap: foaming, deep cleansing and moisturizing
- hand sanitizer
- Scentportables
- Wallflowers
- Home spray
- Home Fragrance Oil

The scent is available most commonly in spring and summer and is seasonal but as with everything, can always be bumped for something new. The website describes this as"A sweet, tropical blend of melon, raspberry nectar, and Italian lemon tempered with creamy coconut milk and raw sugarcane."

In the wallflower this is vaguely fruity-floral, a mushy mix of tropical flowers and maybe some tropical fruit, melon isn't particularly prominent. As with many wallflowers from Bath and Body Works, this one dies after about 48 hours (worse than most). You won't smell much (or anything) after a couple of days plugged in and it is a complete waste for the next 6 weeks until the juice is used up. You can smell this if you stick your nose over the top of it.

As with many wallflowers, this is a waste of money, the scent is quite pleasant in other forms.

Review: Vanilla Bliss Moisturizing Hand Soap and wallflower bulb from Bath and Body Works

This is available in foaming, deep cleansing and moisturising soaps from Bath and Body Works. It is only in the soap line at his time, not body care. Vanilla Bliss soaps are almost identical to Frosted Cupcake from the home fragrance line, especially the Frosted Cupcake wallflower. There is a little more musky vanilla than the Frosted Cupcake candle, but it is basically the same as the Frosted Cupcake wallflower bulb. Vanilla Bliss shares the same musky-bakery scent that you may be familiar with from Homemade Cupcakes, as well, I love it personally.

The website describes Vanilla Bliss as “An island blend of vanilla bean, sugarcane and sandalwood.” The sandalwood is giving the deep musky vanilla-ness to the scent, and the vanilla bean in this is quite a bit more rich and sugary than the vanilla in something like Warm Vanilla Sugar from Bath and Body Works or indeed many of the other vanillas on the market. I think this description of the scent is fair, although the word “island” is a bit strange as there isn’t really anything tropical that I am personally detecting. As usual, these words are just marketing and have little to do with the contents of the product. I would describe Vanilla Bliss as a sweet, rich and creamy bakery-vanilla, mixed with milky ice-cream with true vanilla bean notes.

Being a gourmand lover, I really enjoy this hand soap. The moisturizing formula for this is rich, creamy and the scent lasts for a long time on your hands. I believe it is probably at least seasonal, if not for this year only. It came out a couple of months ago and as always with Bath and Body Works, unless it sells well it will probably soon die out.

Review: Fresh Market Apple Wallflower from Bath and Body Works

This is for the wallflower bulb in Fresh Market Apple. It is described on the website as follows: "This clean, sparkling scent of just-picked apples with pear blossoms and a hint of applewood is crisp, refreshing, and bright."

In wallflower bulbs, this smells pretty good when opened up for a cold sniff. There is a rich, floral red apple without much else to compete with the mouth-watering apple. However, as with most Bath and Body Works wallflowers, particularly the fruities, this will stop smelling far before the bulb is depleted. You'll get about 7-10 days out of it, then 4 weeks of nothing.

Review: Peach Bellini Candles and Wallflowers from Bath and Body Works

This one I wanted to love from the moment I saw it. This first came out in the summer of 2010 in a limited capacity in parts of the home fragrance line. It was brought back in 2011 in a more stable release and also was added to the anti-bacterial products. This is a review of only the candles and wallflower bulbs.

Described on the Bath and Body Works website as "a light blend of white peach, sweet orange peel and yellow mandarin, finished with jasmine and sweet black currant." This scent in a cold candle smells primarily of mandarin and a mix of sweet ripe peaches. There is a certain greenness to the scent (presumably the note they refer to as orange peel in the description) but it is very fruity and surprisingly citrus for a peach. Frankly, disappointingly citrus, as most of the sweet tropical stone fruits get diluted by citrus (or coconut) at Bath and Body Works and never stand on their own.

Regrettably, the candle has extremely poor throw, but if you stick your nose close enough to feel the heat, you'll get a sickly cooked peach with the orangey-mandarin undertone. Pretty pathetic. It doesn't even scent my tiny half-bathroom in the 4oz candle.

This lasts little better in the wallflower bulb, although the scent is slightly more alcoholic here, it is still a vaguely peachy, overly citrus mess. The bulb will give you a couple of days then completely stop smelling entirely (as with many other Bath and Body Works wallflower bulbs).

It is a shame because I love to drink real Peach Bellini's. This scent has no alcoholic tang, no wine note and definitely no sparkle/champagne note either, making it quite a disappointment. A fruity mess with too much citrus. If you do like the smell, just keep a cold candle around, it is the best way to actually enjoy the scent, because if you burn it or plug in a bulb you'll just get a scent of warm half-cooked peach.

Slatkin candle joy!

Just a picture to enjoy!

Review: Bali Mango Scrub from Bath and Body Works

Bali Mango was a spring release from Bath and Body Works in 2011. It is limited edition and will exit at the June Semi Annual Sale. It is part of a set with Hawaii Coconut and Fiji Passionfruit. It is available in their three-step-ritual - lotion, spray and shower gel, but Bath and Body Works have also released these in scrubs. I am reviewing the scrub version here. There are no body creams/triple moisture shower cream/EDT versions of Bali Mango as it is limited release.

Pics to come!

Scent

The website describes this as: "An exotic getaway of juicy mango, sugar cane, pink passionflower and luscious nectarine." This is not a bad description, for once. The scent starts sweet and mangoey, the middle is a bit muddy but the base has the lovely passionflower which adds a really pretty floral to the sweet fruity smell. This sticks around a while on your skin as long as you leave it for a few minutes in the shower, to be absorbed. There is a floral, sweet perfumey air to this which is a nice touch. The mango is nice but it isn't a pure mango scent. You won't get a Sunset Mango dry down from this, if that is what you're looking for you'd be better off with Escada's 2011 perfume release Taj Sunset which is mango-tropical and very linear.

Sweet, pleasant and with a nice floral scent this is quite nice for whatever time of day you happen to shower.

Scrub and product overall

This is an amazing scrub, probably the best I have tried. It has a really great lather (for a scrub) and you don't need to double up with another soap of any kind. I can't believe how much this lathers for a scrub, loving it! The consistency is quite thick and creamy, it is like the St Ives Apricot Scrub but with a proper lather and creaminess.

The scrub is even, consistent and has great exfoliation, it isn't scratchy but it is nicely course, to give your skin a good work out.

As you reach the bottom of the tube you might want to unscrew the cap to let some air back in, mine got a bit sticky when it wasn't getting any airflow back into the empty tube. Make sure you do this while the tube is upside down so product doesn't run out. You should find a very healthy flow right after doing this so take it easy. I also had to clean out the nozzle once as the scrub had accumulated a bit inside the cap. This only took a moment and helped with getting every last bit out of the tube.

Loving this product, don't forget it will be gone in June as stocks dry up so get it while you can.