Tuesday, January 13, 2015

Review: BBW Body Soufflé


Hello! Today I'm reviewing a sometimes product of Bath and Body Works. Why, you ask, do I say sometimes product? Because from my understanding a certain number of a certain scent is made, and once it's sold out BBW doesn't make any more. It's like being Limited Edition without calling it that.
Now what is this product, you ask? Or maybe you don't ask, since you've read the title of this post and you can clearly see the picture right in front of your lovely face? Okay, okay I'll stop fooling around.
As some may recall, I did a not so eloquent review of one of their body soufflés back in May. While I was sifting through my posts, I decided I need to rewrite this to 1) include another scent, and 2) actually talk more about the product.
For a condensed bullet form of the pros and cons, skip to the bottom of this post. I don't blame you if you do this; I suck at elongated eloquence.
Enter this beauty. While shopping with a friend at our local BBW, I noticed a huge display, titled the Provence Collection. It had four different scents, the main one being Lavender and Honey. There were samples of each product in each scent, and the sales representative kept trying to push the products onto my friend and I. Initially the only thing that caught my eye was the French Lavender & Honey fine fragrance mist. After walking around the store several times (and picking up a plethora of items since it was my birthday) I somehow decided I would try out the body soufflé.
I went into this adventure with low expectations. I've never liked any of BBW's lotions or body creams. Ever. They always left my skin feeling oily and greasy, and I really, really don't like that. On top of that, they never seemed to capture the scent they were supposed to smell like. If they did smell remotely like their named scent, the scent itself wasn't strong enough to mask the generic lotion smell. I understand that scents don't stay the same across products, but this was far beyond 'a little.' Overall, I viewed their body creams and lotions as a waste of money.
The first thing I noticed when dipping the little sampler spatula tool into the jar was it felt smooth. That, of course, made me want to immediately wash my hands before applying the product because I'd grown to associate smooth with greasy. I'd picked up a very small amount though, so I decided to go ahead and apply it.
This is about how much I had on my finger (don't mind the little fuzzy, I didn't even notice it until I added this picture) and that completely covered both of my hands. That's my pointer finger, by the way. So this is a very spreadable product.
My first impression in a few words: Soft. Smelly. No grease!
By smelly I simply mean highly scented, but those were my exact thoughts as I rubbed this into my skin. It absorbed quickly and left behind a pleasant soft feeling as well as a very noticeable scent that was almost exactly like the fine fragrance version. This fragrance translated very well into a body soufflé.
Pictured above is the product after about a month's usage. Over the course of that month I used this after every shower. Over my entire body. I kid you not. Including my face, which is very sensitive and breaks out easily. Safe to say I not only like this product, but it goes a long way.
Bonus pic of Wild Madagascar Vanilla's top. I love the designs used for the tops of these!
9 months later, my Lavender & Honey is just a little under half full and I've picked up a second soufflé in a different scent.
I took this opportunity to show how full the product was before I started using it. There's actually a 1cm layer on the bottom of the lid, attached to the plastic covering that ended up getting stuck to the lid, which took 3 full body uses to deplete.
Do you get the message that I really like this product?
Overall I very much love this product. It gives long lasting moisture and scent (think 12+ hours. I've put this on before a shift at work that went 11:30 am until midnight and still got comments on it as I left work) and a little goes a long way, at least on my skin. For reference, I have dry, sensitive skin that breaks out very easily. This product did not break me out and it is gentle enough to use on my face.

Now for my cons.
As I've said, this is a very highly scented product. If you apply too much, you will be that person that smells like a walking perfume bottle. This also means you are committed to this scent for the entire day, unless you are a connoisseur of perfumes and can skillfully layer other scent(s) over whichever scent of soufflé you're wearing. The two scents I own are very sweet, so if I'm looking for something more mature or musky I cannot wear these at all.
Another thing is the price. $14.50. I almost feel silly for saying I think $14.50 is expensive but to me it is. I'm cheap. I want my money to go as far as possible. At Bath and Body Works you only have to wait for the right combination of coupons and sales (B3G3 + 50% off select items + 30% off entire purchase for example) and you can get a really good deal on virtually anything. In an upcoming post I'll give a breakdown of my 'buying logic.'
Finally: availability. If you see this product in a scent you like, you have to pick it up before stock runs out. I tried looking into buying the other soufflés that were available at the same time as the Lavender & Honey one, and to buy a single soufflé from the Provence Collection nowadays I would have to spend at least $20 per item, not including shipping. No thank you.
The most bitter thing? I'd made an order from BBW online in late April, and I'd considered picking up the other body soufflés. I dismissed that notion, not realizing at the time that they were limited stock.
So that's my super lengthy, really wordy review of this product. If you read this I'd give you a cookie, but I ate them all. :(

Scent Descriptions (pulled from the Bath and Body Works website)
French Lavender & Honey: 
  • Top Notes: Mandarin, Melon de Cavaillon, Blackberries, Violet Leaves
  • Mid Notes: French Lavender, Jasmine, Lily of the Valley, Nectarine de Provence
  • Dry Notes: Honey, White Oak Musk
Wild Madagascar Vanilla:
  • Top Notes: African Pear, Sparkling Clementine, Ruby Apple
  • Mid Notes: Wild Jasmine, Wild Gardenia, Heliotrope Petals, Golden Plumeria
  • Dry Notes: Madagascar Vanilla, White Sandalwood, Creamy Musk

Pros
 - very moisturizing
 - long lasting
 - highly scented
 - doesn't leave a greasy feeling
 - absorbs quickly
 - very spreadable

Cons
 - highly scented
 - price
 - availability

1 comment:

  1. I have seen love being given to the Madagascar Vanilla scent. BBW does have some killer deals. I will keep my eyes peeled for these body creams.

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