Bond no. 9 has introduced Bodies by Bond, a new line of bath and body products scented with their best selling fragrances. The first item: Body Cremes, available in seven fragrances (Chinatown, Eau de New York, Nuits de Noho, Chelsea Flowers, West Side, Scent of Peace and Bryant Park). Each 200 ml jar runs $105…
John Masters Lavender Rosemary Shampoo for Normal Hair ~ scented body products
I’ve been using John Masters Lavender Rosemary Shampoo daily this summer, and it’s earned my loyalty through its combination of natural ingredients, beneficial results, and a fragrance that works as a quickie aromatherapy treatment in the shower. It seems to have improved the overall condition of my hair, and it’s made my morning ritual a little more pleasant in the process.
If you’re interested in natural haircare, a John Masters shampoo has a lot to offer: like the other products in the line, Lavender Rosemary Shampoo is made without sodium lauryl sulfate or sodium laureth sulfate, artificial color, paraben preservatives, or animal testing. Instead, its base of coconut-derived soap is enriched with herbal infusions, many of them certified organic…
L'Occitane Green Tea with Mint Leaf-Light Body Gel
Last summer I was desperately dependent upon L’Occitane’s Green Tea with Mint Leaf-Light Body Gel. I was living in a fifth-floor walk-up apartment in an old city apartment building, and I would arrive home from my hour-long, subway-and-bus commute drenched with sweat, only to realize that the apartment was even hotter than the world outside. I couldn’t think clearly or do anything else, for that matter, until I had taken a cold shower and covered myself with Leaf-Light Body Gel.
The Body Gel belongs to L’Occitane’s Green Tea with Mint fragrance line, and it’s one of the few scented products I can stand to smell or even to touch when the temperature rises high into the 90s and beyond…
Comptoir Sud Pacifique Soins de Plaisir Body Care ~ scented body products
Once in a while, a certain ingredient attains sudden, widespread popularity, appearing in so many products that it seems to go from obscure to ubiquitous in a matter of minutes. The common ingredient in Comptoir Sud Pacifique’s Soins de Plaisir line of scented body products is tiaré, the fragrant Tahitian gardenia (“gardenia tahitensis”). More specifically, the three products in the line all include monoï, a liquid produced by tiaré flowers slowly macerated in coconut oil.
Tiaré is traditionally woven into floral garlands and crowns, and as a single bud worn behind the ear it declares the wearer’s romantic status (single if it appears behind the right ear, and attached if it is worn on the left). Monoï has been used as a beauty aid by women in the South Pacific for centuries, to soften and nourish the hair and skin. Even recently, both tiaré and monoi were still unfamiliar to North American or European consumers, but companies ranging from Christian Dior to Bath and Body Works, Yves Rocher, and The Body Shop have all launched monoï-themed products within the past year. Comptoir Sud Pacifique’s Soins de Plaisir may be the most sophisticated collection of the batch…
Burt’s Bees Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil ~ scented body products
Burt’s Bees, one of the longer-established natural body-care companies, has been introducing new products at a fast and furious pace lately. As a companion group to the popular Baby Bee line for infants and small children, the Mama Bee line has recently emerged. Although they are ostensibly tailored for expectant and new mothers, the Mama Bee products are suitable for adults of any parental or non-parental status, and gentle enough for children themselves.
My pick from this line, the Mama Bee Nourishing Body Oil, offers a simple and self-explanatory list of ingredients: sweet almond oil, lemon oil, wheat germ oil, vitamin E, and rosemary extract. The blend is 98.50% natural, according to its label. I am already happily familiar with Burt’s Bees Baby Bee Apricot Oil. I’ve been using it for several years, and it reminds me of one summer in particular when I applied the oil to my arms and legs every morning and walked to work breathing in the scent of ripe apricots. The Mama Bee is not as exuberantly scented as the Baby Bee, perhaps in keeping with her more responsible spirit. This oil’s mouth-watering fragrance of freshly cut lemons rises and fades quickly, leaving the wearer free to tend to business around the hive…