Thursday, February 12, 2009

Review: Skin Blossom Organic Bloom Care and protect hand cream

Man, I so wanted to love this product. In fact, I had decided that I was going to love it from the moment I saw it, but it was not to be. I bought this hand cream at Just Beauty Direct for £5.14. The tube has 60 ml of product. I think that's resonable. I like the design of the tube. The green pattern is quite pretty:

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Helianthus Annuus* (sunflower oil), Prunus Amygdalus Dulcis* (sweet almond oil), Vitis Vinifera* (grape seed extract), Stearic acid, Glyceryl Stearate SE, Glycerin*, Glyceryl Stearate / Cetearyl Alcohol / Cetyl Palmitate / Cocoglycerides, Sodium Stearoyl Lactylate, Aloe Barbadensis leaf juice powder* (Aloe Vera), Butyrospermum Parkii* (Shea Butter), Phenoxyethanol / Benzyl Alcohol / Potassium Sorbate, Pelargonium Graveolens flower oil* (Rose Geranium), Sodium Benzoate, Citral, Geraniol, Citronellol, Limonene, Linalool.
*Certified organic. Hand cream is certified by the Soil Association and contains a minimum of 92% organic content.

The ingredients are ok. I love that it's certified organic, and it has 92% organic ingredients. A lot of organic products have a lot less (I believe they only have to include 10% to be certified as organic)


There are two problems with this hand cream:

Problem #1: It stinks. I absolutely cannot stand the smell of this. I'm allergic to mosquito bites, and this cream smells exactly like the products my parents would put on me to scare the mosquitos away.
I've been testing the cream for a month, and I'm getting more used to the smell, but I still think it stinks. There goes one lemming point....
I think it's the Rose Geranium oil that smells like this, so if you already know that you don't mind that smell, maybe you'll like this cream.

Problem #2: It's not moisturizing enough. My hands aren't terribly dry, but this cream still isn't enough. It does absorb resonably quickly, and I like the texture, but that doesn't make up for the poor moisturizing properties.

I really, really support the idea of organic skincare, but this cream simply isn't moisturizing enough. Thumbs up for packaging, texture, and a high precentage of organic ingredients, but
thumbs down for the final product.

Verdict:

3/5 Lemmings - For a great idea that didn't turn out so hot (and smells bad).

6 comments:

Citrine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Citrine said...

I typed the wrong thing in one of my paragraphes, fixed it here

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For me, I *hate* organic stuff...I actually started the whole skincare thing with burt's bees with all of their product 99% organic and stuff, the thing is that, not only they didn't work well(I've tried a whole lot), they actually irritates my skin. I mean, alcohol is still alcohol even when it's from corn...

Anyway, now I just buy product either with very short ingredient list or with a good reputation (more expensive lines) as for hand cream, the only time I would buy them is that when they are on sale, other times, I believe that if something is good enough for my body, it's good enough for my hand...

Anyway, my favorite stuff for my hand are those from Sally Hansen (smells so nice) or the Vaseline lotion mixed with a little bit grape seed oil...

Burt's Bee sucks at skincare/body care/ hair care, but I love the lemon butter cuticle balm though.

Brooke said...

Too bad that didn't work out for you! Especially after sticking it out for a month. Hopefully your next lotion will be something you will really like.

Inge said...

Citrine: You have some good points. I've never seen Burt's Bees around here, but I hear it can be hit and miss!

I buy orginic stuff (food, skincare, clothing) more for the environmental aspects than for my health. I personally don't think orginic skin care will be better for my skin, but I appreciate that it's easier on the environment :)

Brooke: I know :( sucks! I'm crossing fingers for the next one. I've got a couple to choose from :D

Anonymous said...

It's likely the Citronellol or Limonene that gives it that mosquito-repellent smell. Here in the US, we burn citronella scented candles and oil to ward of mosquitos; I just hope the mosquitos hate it as much as we do.

Rose Geranium normally has a sickly floral smell that I hate.

Inge said...

Mandy: That sounds right. Gawd, it's nasty :(