In honor of it finally being spring (hooray!), I decided to devote some space to the scented cleaning products that are easily available in the local supermarket. Generally, I have a horror of the scented candle displays in the supermarket aisles, having learned early on that the so-called vanilla candles smelled suspiciously similar to the gardenia candles, which were in turn not much different than the lilac candles, and I checked out entirely when it came to cotton candy scented products. But of late there has been a trend towards 'botanic essences' and 'aromatherapy' even in cleaning products and my curiosity got the better of me.

So on a breezy sunny early spring day, when my eye was caught by a few products that I had not seen before, I decided to give them a try. Today's subject: a dishwashing liquid by Dawn, claiming to be scented with lemongrass and orange blossom and to produce an 'uplifting' effect. It is part of their Dawn Botanicals line and I purchased the Ultra Concentrated version.

Before actually using the Dawn liquid, I attempted to do some background research — specifically, to ascertain whether the product contains any essential oils or natural fragrance components (I had images of Dawn having cornered the market on orange blossom essential oil). Unfortunately, I was told that said information is confidential and proprietary, so I am unsure as to what exactly the 'botanical' part of their Botanicals line may be.

That being said, the Dawn liquid does provide a generally uplifting effect. Unsure of how best to 'test' a dishwashing liquid product for it's fragrance, I decided to go the same route I would with a bath/body product. I poured it on my hands and sniffed....and started to giggle. I couldn't find a hint of anything remotely resembling the sensuous beauty of orange blossom, or the pungent stalky green of lemongrass. What jumped out at me resembled a fruity island drink. Pineapple, grapefruit, even guava came to mind. Hints of tangerine appeared as I rubbed my hands together, along with something reminiscent of a chewing gum popular when I was a kid — does anyone remember Fruit Stripe gum? Bright and sunny to be sure, but not quite what I was expecting.

But then I turned on the faucet and began to create some suds, and as the scent began to open up with the warm water and soapy bubbles, I did catch a faint waft of what might be called orange blossom, and as that receded an even fainter hint of lemongrass waving far off in the wind. Redemption had arrived with the soap suds. Of course, by this time, the product had all washed down the drain. But I will say that my hands were totally free from grease!

On balance, I was left with a favorable impression, and I do like the way Dawn cleans dishes. At $1.89 for the bottle, I certainly did not feel I had wasted my money.

You can find Dawn Botanicals Uplifting Lemongrass and Orange Blossom Concentrated Dish Liquid in your local supermarket, or buy online at walgreens.