It would seem that the end of autumn has hit the east coast. Dreary skies have arrived, and blustery rainy afternoons turn quickly dark as city lights shine on slick wet streets. A last gasp of bitter crackling brown leaves swirl on the highway as I drive home from school, like djinn rising up in the desert sands, and I have a feeling soon the deep silent cold of winter will set in. (As an aside, the squirrels around these parts have been unusually frantic chasing and burying nuts this autumn which only confirms my pessimistic ponderings.)

Happily, this season I have found the perfect antidote to the cold. Alba Botanica's Honey Mango Bath & Shower Gel is a delightfully sweet-warm way to wake up under the shower on a leaden gray morning. It's something like mango ice cream mixed with honey — the kind of honey you find in Winnie the Pooh scratch-n-sniff books. It's smooth and comforting and the subtle vanillic base adds a nice creamy warmth. It creates lots of lovely silky foam and while the scent is delicious in the shower, it doesn't last out of it and so shouldn't interfere with your perfume.

Additionally, it has all kinds of natural and botanical ingredients, including chamomile, elderberry and aloe (you can read more on the Alba Botanica website). The shower gel is emollient as described — although I wouldn't skip moisturizer — and the overall quality is very good, especially for the price. At $8.95 for 12 oz., it's a lot cheaper than a ticket to Hawaii this holiday season!

More Alba Botanica: Sugar Cane Body Polish, Kona Coffee After-Sun Lotion.