Review: Villainess : Raspberry Swirl Smooch!

I used the last of my Raspberry Swirl Smooch! by Villainess a few weeks ago, but I couldn't find the time to write a review until now.

Ingredients:

Sucrose (Sugar), Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Polysorbate 60, Prunus (Cherry) Kernel Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Fragrance, Rubus Idaeus (Raspberry) Fruit Powder, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Meat Powder.

Raspberry Swirl is supposed to smell like raspberry and vanilla, which sounds very nice.

Sadly, it didn't smell very nice at all.

It smelled extremely sweet in a disgusting way (like artificial sweeteners), and I din't smell the vanilla at all.

To me it smelled exactly like a Raspberry smoothie from the brand Optimel tasted.

It was filled to the brim with raspberries, dairy and a truck load of artificial sweeteners, and I thought it was disgusting!

The Raspberry Swirl Smooch! might have been spoiled since the seal was broken, so I got a refund from Alice & Jo (they have great service!!!)

Luckily the scrubbing properties were great, so I did use up the whole pot.

This wasn't a very sticky scrub.

The texture was a bit like Smashing Smooch! and reminds me of moist cake.

It scrubs well but not very harsh.

It does the job but I don't mind a scrub that's harsher than this one (like Ginger Snapped Smooch! for example, I LOVE that one).

After scrubbing I put some water on the scrub and scrub and lather it all over my body before washing it off.

I pat my skin dry and use Body Lotion.

I bought this scrub to combine with my Raspberry Shower Gel from Yves Rocher and my Artemis Cream Body Lotion from Lush.

It combined very well and my skin smelled great and felt very soft afterwards.

Verdict: Smells gross, but it might have been spoiled.

Scrubs well, but could have been better, hydrates well and makes skin soft and smooth.

Won't buy this one again because of the smell.

I will continue to buy Villainess's smooches however!

Review: Villainess: Smashing Smooch!

The Smashing Smooch! is a product from the Black Label, which means it's a limited edition!

Ingredients: I will update these later!

When I put this on my skin, it doesn't have the warming effect that Ginger Snapped Smooch! has.

Smashing Smooch! also has a very different structure.

Ginger Snapped was a very solid scrub, and Smashing reminds me of a crumbled cake or at least some sort of pudding/cake dessert.

It scrubs very well, just like Ginger Snapped Smooch!, and you choose if you want a soft or a course scrub, since you can go either way with this Smooch!.

After a bit of scrubbing, the sugar dissolves and you get a milky/oily lather from it.

You massage it in a bit extra and then you rinse it off.

It's best not to rub your skin dry after showering.

It's better if you pat your skin dry.

That way you won't rub all the moisturising ingredients off your skin.

After patting my skin dry, I am left with very soft and smooth skin.

The scent of Smashing Smooch! is what Villainess describes as: Creamy, sweet pumpkin pie with a full complement of spices - cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves.

To me it doesn't smell a lot like pumpkin.

I don't smell the nutmeg note either.

What is do smell is a very spicy scent that's also a bit sweet.

To me it smells exactly like a Dutch treat called kruidkoek.

Kruidkoek is like a cake without the buttery smell and taste and without the greasy texture.

Kruikkoek has a texture that's quite dry and it sometimes has sticky bits in it.

It has a foody smell that's really very spicy and a tad bit sweet.

That's exactly what Smashing Smooch! smells like to me!

Since I don't own the Smashing Whipped!, I combine Smashing Smooch! with Ginger Snapped Whipped!, since it's also a spicy, foody smell, and they combine very well :D.

The Shower Gel I use with this Smooch! and Whipped! is Taai Taai Shower Gel by Lush, and the perfume that combines really well with these scents is Egyptian Spice Perfume Oil by MMU.

Villainess also made a Soap and Tarts! (wax melts) in the Smashing scent.

Reviews: Villainess : Ginger Snapped Smooch! & Whipped!

A few weeks ago I ordered a few products by the brand Villainess.

Their own website is www.villainess.net , but I ordered the products from www.alicejohavesentials.nl , a Dutch webshop.

Villainess makes natural cosmetics with interesting ingredients and all sorts of powders (like ginger root powder, strawberry fruit powder and red wine powder) , moisturising oils and butters (which often contain anti-oxidants as well) and in case of scrubs (Smooch! and Smack!) also sugar(s).

Naturally they contain a lot more ingredients (such as preservatives , water and alcohol).

The products are not tested on animals and the products are pretty fresh.

Therefore, scrubs (Smooch! and Smack!) have to be used within a month after the first use and the Whipped! (Whipped Body Butter) has to be used within two months after the first use.

Soaps and Perfume Oils can be used much longer (if you store them the way you should).

Store soaps in an airtight container or a ziplock bag.

Perfumes should be stored in a dark and cold place.

So...here are the actual reviews :P :

Ginger Snapped Smooch!

Ingredients:

Crystalline Aluminosilicate (Zeolite), Sucrose (Sugar), Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Mangifera Indica (Mango) Seed Butter, Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Polysorbate 60, Prunus (Cherry) Kernel Oil, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Fragrance, Tocopherol (Vitamin E), Zingiber Officinale (Ginger) Root Powder, Cinnamomum Cassia (Cinnamon) Bark Powder.

So Essentially there are 3 hydrating oils in this Smooch! (Grape Seed Oil, Cherry Kernel Oil and Coconut Oil) and 1 hydrating butter (Mango Butter).

This makes this Smooch! a hydrating scrub.

The Sugar is a fine sugar so it's not a coarse scrub.

It's effective though.

If you like your scrub soft, just scrub gently, if you like to scrub rough, scrub hard!

So, you can basically go either way with this scrub :D.

When you put this scrub on your skin you can feel it warming your skin (though I feel it mostly on my hands and not on the rest of my skin).

I usually scrub hard and it works very well with this one.

After a bit of scrubbing, the sugar dissolves and the scrub turns into a milky oil, thats very slick.

You wash it off, and you skin feels soft, hydrated and smooth, though not in the slightest bit oily.

After patting my skin dry, my skin is amazingly soft and smooth, and when I slather on Whipped! afterwards, it gets even more soft.

The Scent of Ginger Snapped is what Villainess describes on their website as: A slightly psychotic blend of sweet cinnamon, rich cardamom, spicy ginger, and a faint touch of innocent vanilla.

The scent is very well blended and I can pick out the individual notes, but when I smell it, I smell the WHOLE Ginger Snapped smell.

It's not like smelling a few individual notes.

Sure...it's spicy, and you can smell the cinnamon and cardamom, with a spicy, but also fresh, muskyness that must be the ginger and a sweetness that's the vanilla

To me it smells exactly like a Dutch treat called : Speculaas.

It's spicy and sweet and definately very foody.

It warms you up and awakens you and it makes you a tad hungry ;).

Sadly, it also has a tinge of burn cookie smell (exactly like speculaas that should have had a few minutes less in the oven).

Still, I love this Smooch! , and will buy it again!

I like this one so much I have gone through my first pot :D.

I combine Ginger Snapped Smooch! with Ginger Snapped Whipped!.

Villainess also sells a Ginger Snapped Soap (which I have, but have not yet tried) and Ginger Snapped Perfume Oil.

Ginger Snapped Whipped!

Ingredients: Aqua (Water), Mangifera Indica (Mango) Butter, Cocos Nucifera (Coconut) Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol (and) Polysorbate 60, Cyclomethicone (and) Dimethiconol, Prunus (Cherry) Kernel OIl, Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed Oil, Behentrimonium Methosulfate (and) Cetearyl Alcohol, Stearic Acid, Glycerin, Phenoxyethanol (and) Caprylyl Glycol, Fragrance, Hydrolyzed Wheat Protein (and) Hydrolyzed Wheat Starch.

This Whipped! (Body Butter) has the same 3 oils as the Ginger Snapped Smooch! (Coconut, Cherry Kernel and Grape Seed Oil) and the same butter (Mango Butter), which gives Ginger Snapped Whipped! great hydrating properties.

This product also includes glycerine which makes you skin lock the moisture in (so does honey) and wheat protein and starch which are supposed to be really nutritious for the skin.

These were the pros, here are the cons:

There is a lot of chemical stuff in this body butter that I like to avoid.

We're not talking about the amounts cosmetic companies like Dove or Bourjois would use; We are talking about a The Body Shop kind of amount.

It isn't dangerous but I like less chemicals in my cosmetics than this.

I'm cool with the kind of chemical level Lush has!

Lush uses sulfates and preservatives in their products, but they DON'T use any silicones (which I absolutely hate for some reason)!

The Body Shop and Villainess DO use silicone's , and I still like them and might love the products, but I like/love Lush better due to the absence of silicones.

In Ginger Snapped Whipped!, Cyclomethicone (and) Dimethiconol are the silicones.

I use Body Lotion/Milk/Butter every single day (twice a day, if possible) and usually use a generous amount of it, to make sure I'll be properly hydrated.

If I don't, I get dry skin (though lucky for me, not the flaking, itching kind).

I use this Whipped! a lot (I am in fact almost through my first pot) and this one makes my skin really soft.

That's not just because of the hydrating oils and butter, but also partially because of the silicones (they make skin and hair soft and smooth, BUT they also form a layer on your skin/hair, the thought alone creeps me out).

I use generous amount to massage into my skin.

It is absorbed quickly (so I can get dress right after moisturising) and leaves my skin soft and fragrant.

Lush Body Lotions hydrate my skin for 24 hours.

Sadly this Whipped! by Villainess does not.

It does not even last up to 12 hours, so I have to re-apply before bed.

I still like it enough though, since it it hydrates my skin well (the hydrating effect just isn't as long-lasting as I'm used to) and I really dig the fragrance this one has.

This smells just like the Ginger Snapped Smooch!, warm, spicy, foody and slightly sweet, like speculaas!

The Whipped! smells just a bit more smoky than the smooch (read: more burnt-cookie-smell), but that fades fast, so it doesn't bother me much.

Would definately buy the Ginger Snapped Smooch! and Whipped! again since I love the smell., though I probably need 2 pots of Smooch! on 1 pot of Whipped! (meaning: the Whipped! lasts longer on me than the scrub, since I use loads of scrub!).

Sadly, I haven't got the Ginger Snapped Perfume Oil in my posession, so I can't review that one, and I have yet to test the Soap, so I'll review that one later!