I came across WASH WITH JOE Coffeemint Invigorating Bodywash by chance: I was browsing in a C.O. Bigelow store during an out-of-town trip, and a shelf of WASH WITH JOE bottles caught my eye and pulled me across the room, as if by magnetic force. When I covertly sniffed one of the bottles, I was instantly hooked on its fragrance and needed to purchase it immediately. Then I went for a cup of coffee across the street.
I later learned that WASH WITH JOE is the creation of graphic designer/beauty entrepreneur/coffee-drinker Jane Schub, who is the mind (and the eye) behind the Strange/Beautiful nail polishes that I’ve been admiring at Bergdorf Goodman for the past few months. Schub’s design background has provided her with ample sources of inspiration for those polish colors and this new body wash. JOE’s label was influenced by the work of industrial designer Raymond Loewy (who created some of the best-known corporate logos of the twentieth century), the Campbell’s Soup can as interpreted by Andy Warhol, and the movie Good Night and Good Luck (filmed in black-and-white, and set in the 1950s). It’s the visual equivalent of a double espresso: bold, direct, and sophisticated.
The first ingredient listed on the back of the WASH WITH JOE bottle is real coffee, and this fact becomes evident as soon as you pour a “shot” of the body wash's deep brown liquid and work up some lather. It smells rich and deep, even a bit earthy, just like an actual cup of coffee. JOE is also spiked with “triple distilled peppermint essential oil,” which weaves in and out of the predominant coffee aroma. The pungent, slightly smoky coffee and the fresh, tingling mint complement each other nicely. It's a pleasing olfactory tension, like a yin/yang balance of warm and cool, rough and smooth.
Moreover, both good-smelling ingredients have beneficial properties. Mint has long been recognized for its stimulating aromatherapeutic effect and its natural disinfectant ability. More recently, the topical use of coffee has been the subject of several scientific studies. Thanks to its caffeine, coffee is an antioxidant, an anti-inflammatory, and a vascoconstrictor (it temporarily narrows the blood vessels, for a toning effect on the skin). It has natural deodorizing powers, and it may even minimize some sun damage. And, according to yet another set of experts, the very smell of coffee might reduce stress.
One last thing: the name of this product gives me an early-morning laugh. Although I know several “Joes,” I’ve never washed with any of them. And I might start calling coffee “joe” from now on, in order to feel like one of those wisecracking, stylishly groomed characters in a film noir classic. I think they would have appreciated this body product, too.
For more coffee-scented body products, see here.
WASH WITH JOE Coffeemint Invigorating Bodywash sells for $24 for 16 oz. It can be purchased through the WASH WITH JOE website or Luckyscent.
I love the smell of coffee and, in the morning, that would surely be a wake-up scent. I don’t have coffee every morning but I have been drinking it more and more often; actually, much to my detriment, I’ve been seen going to my 24-hour Starbucks at all hours of the night. I already had some today but the mention of a double-shot espresso has me hankering for me.
My only question: how long does the scent last post-shower? As much as I like scented shower gels and the like, I don’t like to smell it on me for the rest of the day. I rarely use my sugar/salt scrubs for that reason. =P
Hello, Superlong!
A 24-hour Starbucks?! That is diabolical!
The scent of this product doesn’t linger, post-shower; the mint feels tingly on the skin for another minute or two, post-shower, but I can’t smell it. So, no worries there!
It’s amazing and, not unexpectedly, ruining my sleep-patterns.
Well, that sounds perfect. I’ll have to look into a bottle once I run out of my other body wash. And the back-up bottles. xD
Thanks for the review, Jessica!
I’m intrigued. I love the smell of coffee, and the “wake up!” focus might be really beneficial on those days that it’s dark when the alarm goes off. The name caught my eye as well – my husband’s name is Joe, which could lead to all kinds of inside jokes… He doesn’t like coffee himself (although he can swill iced tea all day long), so I don’t see him using it, but I think I would.
A small question: is the mint tingly enough that one would need to keep lather away from sensitive anatomy? (Had a fairly traumatizing experience with stray Gold Bond powder molecules a few weeks ago, eek.) Thanks.
Mals86, It’s less tingly than, for example, Dr. Bronner’s Peppermint All-in-One! The mint comes further down on the ingredients list. Enough to feel, but not enough to *really* affect you, I would think.
And this would actually make a fun gift for anyone named Joe!
I went hiking in the Appalachians a lot 2 years ago and Dr. Bronner’s was the product of choice for “bathing.” It got me clean but one breeze and I didn’t think being dirty wasn’t suck a bad thing after all. >…<
-Eric
That word actually being “such.” =P
Yep, he’s time-tested and very effective, that Dr. Bronner!
I too am definitely intrigued by this. It sounds both energizing and refreshing. And, my dad’s name is Joe and this sounds right up his alley, both the scent and the visuals, so I have a gift idea! Thanks for reviewing it!
Jill, My pleasure! This product has temporarily knocked my other shower gels out of rotation, hah… I must really like it!
Man, I am so sold on this! You have convinced me with your spot on article Jess. I love the evocotive name. It makes me think of a prison camp, where a taciturn guard dressed in a singlet and baggy trousers with bulging biceps from all the rough physical labour he does shoving a bottle of wash at me and saying, “You. Go and WASH WITH JOE. Being practical, though, this sounds really good! My sons sometimes call coffee joe.
I love that mental picture! And I’m so sluggish in the morning, I need an IMPERATIVE like this one.
And here I am! LOL.
Someone really needs to buy me a bottle of this as a gift. However, I’m not sure how well I’d like it. I enjoy tea and coffee as beverages almost equally, but I’ve only recently warmed up to slight coffee notes in body products: Eau de Navigateur, PdN Balkis, and Soivolhe Ankhara. Mint is also something I like in moderation … so I don’t know how I’d feel overwhelmed with the scent of coffee and mint during my morning shower. I’m curious though, and of course I love the label. A bit pricey, but I suppose 16oz is quite a lot.
Thanks for this, and enjoy your weekend, Jessica.
Hope you’ve got a big shower — looks like you’re going to be having plenty of company!
Yeah, can we come over?
If any of you actually saw the size of my micro-shower/bath, you’d LYAO, but thanks for the chuckle. You can come for cups of actual coffee though.
Ah, that would be nice! 😉
Love the coffee note in Navigateur … that scent is to die for!
Ah, that’s a good one! I also like Scent by Alexis Vixen and Ayala Moriel Finjan for coffee perfumes.
Have not tried those — thanks for the suggestions!
Great article, Jessica! As a former non-coffee drinker who’s been gradually brought over by persistent friends and now appreciates a cup here and there, I have always loved the smell of a freshly brewed pot even when I wasn’t making it for myself. It’s quite lovely in bath and body products as well, and this looks like an intriguing take on it. I wonder if they’ll come out with a version containing a shot of mocha along with the mint. That would be totally yummy! The name immediately reminded me of the ‘Eat at Joe’s’ old neon signs from diners in those great noir films. 😉
Coffee is definitely one of my favorite daily-life, non-perfume smells. And you’re totally right about the “EAT AT JOE’S” association!
Not for those of us who shower at night, huh?! I used to be a morning-shower gal until I lived in the tropics, and now I’m firmly in the evening camp — much nicer, but it does knock a lot of “invigorating” shower products off the list.
This stuff sounds lovely, but I’m a bit underwhelmed by the packaging — if you’re going to claim such distinguished lineage as Raymond Loewy (I say this as the proud owner of a Loewy-designed Studebaker), it better knock my socks off!
That must be one snazzy car!
sounds interesting but I hate the packaging…sorry.
It reminds me of a cross between those bottles of awful smelling tempera poster paints we used as kids and the bottles for this nasty stuff that my brother had to mix in hot water and soak his feet in one year when he got athlete’s foot realllllly bad. Mom made him do the soaking out on the screened porch because it stank up the house sooooooo badly….so, no I don’t like that packaging at all. blechhh
I have a very ornamental side, but also a side that appreciates the functional, so this suits the latter aspect! I have to say, though, I have a nostalgia for the smells of childhood medications in general — calamine lotion, Bactine — although I never suffered from athlete’s foot, so I don’t know that particular odor!
good associations/ bad associations—I ‘ve got loads of both from childhood (no rose colored glasses here) ……now if it reminded me of that tasty white paste from first grade, I’d be ordering some LICKety-split. 😉
maybe I should have said “rose scented nostril covers” instead.
Sometimes I wish I had a pair of those, to block out the scents of the city! 😉
OMG! I had forgotten about that mint paste!! It was a little salty tasting though if I remember correctly. Do they still even make “paste” or just glue??
I think they stopped making it decades ago—too many kids eating it. 😉
Apres l’Ondee’s opening reminds me exactly of paste!
Yeah, buy it for Joe…and when he decides it’s too much for him, he can send it to me! 😀 Love mint, love coffee but can’t drink it… and I desperately need all the help I can get waking up in the morning. This sounds perfect. Nice review!
Boojum, Thanks! I can see myself appreciating this product even more on chilly winter mornings…
I so want this! This sounds exactly what my bleary-eyed-in-the-morning self needs. But I’d feel a bit silly importing body wash as I can get my hands on a few kinds here. I’m gonna keep checking the website though, you never know!
Hi Sharviss, It’s still a new-ish product, so maybe it will be more widely distributed after a while! Hope so…
The notes sound like a granita to me!
Prettythings, You’re right, and I would really enjoy a good granita di caffe right now! It’s shaping up to be a humid day…
Great review and post Jessica – thanks! This sounds great, and it also sounds like it would make a wonderful present for a coffee lover. And I clicked on the link for the nail polish as well – that was a blast when I dragged my cursor through the bottles. I’m easily entertained….
Rappleyea, You’re welcome! I think many coffee-lovers would appreciate it. And those nail polishes *are* entertaining!