Review: The Secret Garden: Sweetie Pie Whipped Body Butter

The Secret Garden is a Dutch webshop run by a woman named Serena Verbon and her mother Rita.

I think Rita makes the soaps and Serena makes everything else.

Sweetie Pie Whipped Body Butter

Ingredients: Shea Butter (Butyrospermum parkii), Coconut Oil (Cocos nucifera), Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis), Babassu Seed Oil (Orbignya oleifera), Ricinu Oil (Ricinus communis), Teunisbloem Oil (Oenothera Biennis), Grapeseed Oil (Vitis vinifera), honey (mel), silk protein, vitamin E, perfume oil

The website describes their Whipped Body Butter as pure luxury for every skintype.

Its made of whipped shea butter combined with six luxury skin-nurturing oils.

It also includes silk protein which makes the Body butter easier to apply, honey for softening the skin (it also has anti-bacterial properties) and vitamin E to protect and repair your skin (vitamin E is an anti-oxidant).

Sweetie Pie Whipped Body Butter has, according to the website, the structure of whipped cream.

I think it has more of a mousse (you know, the dessert) structure.

You're supposed to only need a little of it because it spreads out easily and is very hydrating.

However, it's even more hydrating if you use more than just a little bit.

I bought a 30g jar which held only 15g and costs 3,50 euro.

That's alot for a little bit of Body Butter.

It's a very hydrating Body Butter, but since I used more than just a little bit, the little jar is empty in no time (say 2 to 3 uses max) and that's just way to expensive for me.

I probably would buy it again if they sell it in bigger jars though, because then it's less expensive.

The Sweetie Pie scent is just yummie!

It's supposed to be almost sickly sweet, but it's not extremely sweet to me.

What I smell is a lot of musk and vanilla with sandelwood, a bit of cotton candy and berries.

You don't really smell the cotton candy, the berries or the sandelwood.

I smell mostly the musky-vanilla goodness, and the other scents are very well blended in that so you can't really identify the individual notes.

It's an amazing smell which I can't get enough of it.

I think it smells very feminine and sexy, and grown-up but also playfull.

I love this scent and would really like a lot of products in this scent (I prefer a Shower Gel or Soap, big pots of the Whipped Body Butter and a perfume!!!)

Sadly there are not products with the Sweetie Pie smell in The Secret Garden webshop at the moment.

Verdict: Really yummy smelling, very hydrating body butter, just too bad it's so expensive.

My skin really soaks up this stuff so I won't get far using only a little!

Reviews: Lush: The Comforter Products

Lush has a lot of products in the "The Comforter scent".

Some of the products are regular products, and others are Forum Party Products.

The Comforter has a berry/cassis and herbs scent.

It is very berry and sweet and a bit spicy.

Its not something you can accurately describe, its a must smell kind of scent.

The products available in the "The Comforter line":

*The Comforter Shower Gel

*Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly

*You Snap The Whip Scrub

*The Comforter Bubble Bar Slice

*The Comforter Body Lotion

*The Comforter Solid Perfume

*The Comforter Liquid Perfume

*The Comforter Shower Gel

Ingredients: Cassis Absolute (Ribes nigrum), Bergamot Ol (Citrus bergamia), Cypress Oil (Cupressus sempervirens)m Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Perfume, Cocoamphoacetate, Methylparaben, Propylparaben, *Limonenem *Linalool, Colour 45410, Colour 17200. *Occurs naturally in essential oils.

This is a Forum Party Product which you cannot buy anymore!

The scent is heavy, just like You Snap The Whip.

Much heavier than Sweetie Pie Jelly.

When you put it on your skin the scent is very strong.

Even when you use a small amount, you can smell it very well :D.

It doesn't foam very well, so you need more than a little to properly wash yourself.

You can also wash your hair with it, and that makes it smell really nice.

The Comforter isn't one of the best hydrating Lush Shower Gels.

It gives you more of a squeaky clean feeling than a thoroughly hydrated feeling (which you would have after showering with Shower Gels like Snowcake or Butterball).

The scent does linger quite well after showering and patting your skin dry.

You will smell like The Comforter for hours and if you washed your hair with it, your hair will smell like it too.

Verdict: Amazing smelling shower gel. Isn't very hydrating but makes you smell nice.

You can was you hair with it as well. Great to combine with other "The Comforter" products.

*Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly

Ingredients: Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cherry Infusion (Prunus cerasus), Glycerine, Propylene Glycol, Coconut Infusion (Cocos nucifera), Perfume, Carrageenan Extract, Bergamot Oil (Citrus bergamia), Cassis Absolute (Ribes nigrum), Cypress Oil (Cupressus sempervirens), *Limonene, *Linalool, Iridescent Glitter (Polyethylene terephtalate, and Acrylates copolymer), Snowflake Lustre Colour, Colour 61585, Colour 18050, Methylparaben.

Description on the Lush UK Website:

Sweet and sophisticated fruitiness. Lashings of blackcurrent and bergamot essential oils in a sour cherry and coconut jelly make this about as fruity as you can get. It is incredibly difficult to resist taking a spoonful. Instead, take a handful and smooth it over your hair and body. Passing strangers will smell you and find their minds wandering to fruit pastilles.

The scent of Sweetie Pie Shower Gel is not as strong or as spicy as the scent of The Comforter Shower Gel or You Snap The Whip Scrub.

Also, it's sweeter.

Apart from that it is the "The Comforter" scent, just a tad bit different.

It's harder to use than a Shower Gel, obviously.

You can take a piece of the Jelly and smooth it over you body (and hair if you wish) with a puff, a washcloth or your hand, or you can take the whole Jelly and wash yourself with it.

Some people also take a bit of Jelly, put it in a stocking and hang it under the faucet of the bath.

That creates loads of bubbles!

What I do however, is put a Jelly in the blender or a kitchen aid, and blend it very well.

Don't add anything (like water), because then it will expire much faster.

When you take it out of the blender (or kitchen aid), you will have a jelly cream that has a lot of air in it.

That's why it looks like you have a lot more than you started out with.

The air will mostly be gone within a day or so, so the amount of jelly cream will shrink.

Now you have a jelly cream, you can scoop up a bit and wash yourself with it.

It lathers and foams very well and it's really easy to use!

It's also amazing as a shaving cream!!!

Sweetie Pie Shower Jelly is much more hydrating than The Comforter Shower Gel.

That's because of the Carrageenan Extract!

It makes hair and skin very soft and smooth.

Sweetie Pie doesn't give you the squeaky clean feeling, though you'll definitely feel clean after using it.

After showering and patting your skin dry, your skin (and hair) will still feel soft, and you can still smell the scent very well (although maybe less strong as the scent after use of the "The Comforter Shower Gel).

Verdict: Smells less strong and spicy than The Comforter SG an YSTW.

Makes your skin and hair softer than The Comforter SG, but the smell that lasts on your skin is less strong than The Comforter SG.

*You Snap The Whip Scrub

Ingredients: Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Organic Macadamia Nut Oil (Macadamia ternifolia), Laureth 4, Powdered Charcoal, Pumice, Perfume, Bergamot Oil (Citrus bergamia), Cassis Absolute (Ribes nigrum), Cypress Oil (Cupressus sempervirens), *Limonene, *Linalool.

Description on the Lush UK website:

Hard core body scrub and butter bar to show skin how to behave. It's black, it's fruity and it scrubs your skin really, really hard. Get soaked in the shower and start your punishment. You Snap The Whip forces your skin to submit to its pumice and charcoal cleansing regime. Once the wickedly effective exfoliation is over, it comforts you with luxurious macadamia nut oil and scents you with fruity blackcurrant and bergamot essential oils. Your skin feels as if you've just peeled off the old one and revealed a sexy new one (which you have, in a manner of speaking).

The scent of You Snap The Whip Is strong, like in the The Comforter Shower Gel.

When using this scrub, you can either use the whole bar or cut the bar into pieces and use one or two pieces a shower.

It's better to cut it into pieces, because You Snap The Whip melts easily and if you use the whole bar you can only get one or two showers out of it, but if you cut the bar into, say 9 blocks, you can have a whole lot of showers with it :D.

I always cut the bar in blocks and use two blocks for a shower.

A few years back I used YSTW to scrub as hard as I could.

I don't do that anymore since the pieces of pumice in YSTW are too big these days, and it can scratch your skin and leave scars.

I had 2 large scars on my right leg, caused by You Snap The Whip!

One was approx 10 centimeters and the other one approx 15 cm.

That's why I haven't used YSTW for over a year.

The scars have mostly faded now and I am going to try it again.

I just bought 4 bars and I will use them more careful now.

As long as your careful, you will not scratch your skin, but you will scrub your skin very wel!

You Snap The Whip is a coarse scrub that will really get rid of dead skin cells and bumps on your skin and possibly ingrown hairs.

What I really like about this scrub, is that in turns your skin a purplish-grey in the shower :D.

It all washes off, but it's fun to be this dirty in the shower.

Also, I get almost intoxicated with the strong smell, it's just so lovely.

After showering, your skin feels really really smooth and soft.

You Snap The Whip has hydrating butters, but it doesn't give you the greasy feeling Buffy gives you.

YSTW gives you a smooth, soft and hydrating feeling without any greasiness at all!

Also the scent really lingers on your skin.

After using You Snap The Whip, you really want to slather your body in The Comforter Body Lotion, so you won't cover the great YSTW smell, but instead enhance it!

Sadly I have never combined the scrub and the Body Lotion.

That's because when I got the Body Lotion, I was too scared to used the scrub again.

I will try it soon, when I've used up my buffy.

Verdict: Nice strong smell, really great, coarse scrub, but you have to be careful when using it so you won't scratch your skin. The scent really lingers well on your skin and it's great to be combined with other "The Comforter" products.

*The Comforter Bubble Bar Slice

Ingredients: Sodium Bicarbonate, Cream of Tartar (Tartaric acid), Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Lauryl Betaine, Perfume, Titanium Dioxide, Cocamide DEA, Bergamot Oil (Citrus bergamia), Cassis Absolute (Ribes nigrum), Cypress Oil (Cupressus sempervirens), *Limonene, *Linalool, Colour 45410, Colour 17200.

Description on the Lush UK website:

This fruity bubble bar gives the feeling of being hugged by a jolly blackcurrant. When life is getting you down, crumble The Comforter under hot, running water for purple water and creamy bubbles. The warm aroma of cassis absolute is so relaxing that you'll go to bed feeling happier and the world will feel brighter the next day.

The scent is just as strong as the Shower Gel and the scrub/body butter.

I have only used a sample of this Bubble Bar Slice in the bath but it still smelled really strong and gave more bubble than any of the other BBS's I have used whole.

What your supposed to do with a BBS, is crumble it under hot water in your bath.

I always did that but never got loads of bubbles.

I was already happy to have maybe 3cm of bubbles instead of mountains of at least 50cm you are supposed to have when only using a half or one third of a BBS.

In the newest Lush Times they finally wrote the key element for getting loads of bubbles when using a BBS.

The key turned out to be: after crumbling the BBS under hot water, swish, swish, swish etc.

I never thought of that...

Anyway, I will try swishing next time I use a BBS, and hopefully I will then have mounds of bubbles!!!

The Comforter BBS smells stronger than other Lush BBS's and also gives loads more bubbles.

It is also bigger and more expensive, but you can have more baths out of this one.

The Comforter BBS turns your bath into a very pretty purple-pinkish colour.

It isn't very hydrating, but none of the BBS's are.

Also, after bathing and patting your skin dry, you can still smell the scent but it isn't extremely strong (just a bit stronger than with other BBS's).

Verdict: Lovely, great smelling BBS, that smells stronger than other BBS's and gives more bubbles, gives more baths than other BBS's because it's bigger, but also costs more.

Isn't extremely hydrating, but neither are the other BBS's.

It's great to combine with other products from the "The Comforter" line.

*The Comforter Body Lotion

I haven't got a picture of this yet, but I'll make one soon.

For the time being we'll just have to go without.

Ingredients: Water (Aqua), Sweet Almond Oil (Prunus dulcis), Cocoa Butter (Theobroma Cacao), Glycerine, Stearic Acid, Treithanolamine, Bergamot Oil, Cassis Absolute (Rubes Nugrum), Cypress Oil (Cypressus sempervirens), Cetearyl alcohol, *Limonene, *Linalool, Perfume, Methylparaben, Propylparaben.

This is a Forum Party Product which you cannot buy anymore!

The colour if this Body Lotion is light pink and it's stored in a big black Lush pot, in which it was sold.

It was also sold in a Lush bottle before that.

The scent is heavy like the Shower Gel and the scrub, not like the Jelly.

When you put it on your skin it smells really nice, like The Comforter.

However, for some silly reason it turns into a wine smell on the palms of my hands.

Luckily the rest of my body doesn't smell like wine, but like The Comforter.

The smell lingers on your skin a very long time.

You can still smell it a bit the next day :D.

The Comforter Body Lotion isn't Lush's most hydrating Body Lotion.

It's more hydrating than Artemis Cream an Vanilla Dee-lite (which are very licht), but not nearly as hydrating as Dream Cream, Creme Anglaise, Skinny Dip or Jungle Body Lotion.

There isn't a Lush Body Lotion that is the same in hydrating properties so I'd say it's more hydrating than Artemis Cream and Vanilla Dee-lite and less hydrating than Charity Pot and Sympathy for the Skin.

It hydrates, makes your skin soft and makes it smell nice, but it isn't nearly hydrating enoug for dry skin.

Verdict: Nice smelling Body Lotion, that is hydrating, but not hydrating enough for dry skin.

It has the "The Comforter" smell so it combines great with other products of the "The Comforter" line.

*The Comforter Solid Perfume

Ingredients: Japan Wax, Perfume, Fair Trade Organic Cocoa Butter (Theobroma cacao), Carnauba Wax (Copernicia cerifera), Bergamot Oil (Citrus Aurantium bergamia), *Limonene, *Linalool, Organic Jojoba Oil (Simmondsia chinensis), Cassis Absolute (Ribes nigrum), Cypress oil (Cypressus sempervirens), *Citral.

Description from the Lush UK website:

A warming blackcurrant blanket. The Comforter fragrance has quite a history. Back in the 20th century, it started out in the Cherie Ripe Massage Bar. Its distinctively comforting element is blackcurrant absolute. If you were brought up on blackcurrant drinks as a child, or always choose the black jelly babies, you will feel safe and secure with The Comforter. Fruity bergamot and reviving cypress oil will make the world seem much brighter.

The scent of the Solid Perfume is really strong, just as the Shower Gel and the scrub.

When using a Solid Perfume I usually scrape a bit off with my nail and apply it on my wrists, behind my ears, on my neckline and between my breasts.

This will ensure that I smell like The Comforter all day long.

The smell is strong and it lasts which is really nice.

You can go ages with one tin.

Verdict: cheap, one tin lasts a long time. It smells really strong and the scent lingers on your skin for a long time! Great to combine with other The Comforter products.

*The Comforter Liquid Perfume

I still have to make a pic of this.

I will do this later, and I'll ad the pic then!

Ingredients: DRF Alcohol, Perfume, Bergamot Oil (Citrus Aurantium bergamia), Cassis Absolute (Ribes nigrum), Cypress Oil (Cypressus sempervirens), *Limonene, *Linalool, *Citral. * Occurs naturalli in essential oils.

This is a Forum Party Product which you cannot buy anymore!

The scent is strong like the Shower Gel and the scrub.

The scent throw is stonger than that of the Solid Perfume.

Also it lasts longer.

This perfume stays strong and sweet throughout the day and I've gotten compliments about it.

Other people seem to really like it when I'm wearing this.

Verdict: Nice, strong perfume. Scent throw stays strong throughout the day. I really love The Comforter smell, so I love this perfume! Great to combine with other The Comforter products.

If you really want to smother yourself in the "The Comforter" smell, you have to use more products in this line!

Ideal would be to use:

(-The BBS)

-The Shower Gel or the Shower Jelly

-The scrub

-The Body Lotion

-The Solid or Liquid Perfume

I own all the products of The Comforter line, except for the Jelly.

I have used that one all up.

I will make some pics of some of these products that don't have a pic yet!

So, what do YOU think of The Comforter???

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!