Just when I had finally realized that the niche fragrance and toiletry company TokyoMilk is a younger “sibling” to the longer-established Lollia, another line comes along to join the family. Love + Toast is a little sister to Lollia and TokyoMilk, and its range of perfumes, hand creams, and lip balms seems to be aimed at preteen and teenage girls.
I’m fond of several TokyoMilk scents (particularly Waltz), but I initially wondered whether Love + Toast might be a little bit too youthful for my taste. Several of the Eau de Parfums are, in fact, sugar-fruit concoctions that would appeal to wearers of Bonne Bell Lip Smackers (although the tart Gin Blossom would make a wearable warm-weather scent for a broader age group). All the same, I was so charmed by Love + Toast’s packaging that I picked up two of the hand creams, or Handcremes (as the company spells it); they’re still fun, but they fit more easily into my own regimen. (Who doesn’t need hand cream, after all?)
Each Love + Toast Handcreme is decorated with a whimsical, 1960s-inspired illustration. The tube for Mandarin Tea, for example, shows a hot-pink birdcage full of butterflies; its fragrance has “notes of African rooibos tea, pomegranate, neroli and orange blossom.” Pomme Poivre, with “notes of vanilla orchid, white musk, jasmine and ebony woods,” features a rendering of a sweetly psychedelic flower-child, like some vintage shampoo ad. And here’s where the names start to seem a little misleading: Mandarin Tea smells primarily of orange blossom, a very cheerful orange blossom that lingers on the skin as long as an Eau de Toilette, with only faint hints of citrus or herbs. Pomme Poivre does have a short-lived apple note, but it's followed by a soapy-clean sandalwood scent. (No “poivre” is evident.)
Love + Toast’s hand cream formula contains shea butter, avocado oil, and vitamin E for their skin-healing properties; the cream moisturizes efficiently and absorbs quickly into the skin, making it convenient to use at work or while on the go. Each boxed hand cream also includes a slip of paper with information about Girls Inc., an organization that receives a portion of the profits from this item, as well as a trivia question about “Totally Righteous Women Role Models of the 80’s.” What was that I said before, about feeling little too old to be using these products? Oh, right! In any case, they'd also make perfect gifts for the much-younger women of my acquaintance.
Love + Toast Handcremes sell for $9-10 for each 35 g tube at Beautyhabit, Beautyencounter, and B-glowing.
I like the old fashion type tube and cap.
Me too! They’re metal tubes, so they do feel old-fashioned.
I do think that packaging is very cute!
It is! And the boxes are really sweet in person… covered with all sorts of text and cute little details. Fun to read, like a cereal box when we were kids!
Cute things. I’m a notorious cheapskate, though, so I doubt I’d pick any of these up for “cheap thrills.” (For those of you who are thinking, “cheapskate,” you’d be right. If I want scented lotion, I’m hittin’ B&BW during a sale, or I’m doin’ without.)
well, heck –I can sure agree with you about lotions—-especially at the rate I can go thru that sort of product—oh sure some of the body cremes that go with fanch smancy perfumes are glorious to smell…but in reality: I need a huge vat of something unscented that isn’t going to sting a cracked knuckle or a razor ravaged ankle bone. Drugstore time!
oh, I also meant to say —these are cute, but yeah, pretty young….however, I am a big believer in Bonne Bell Lip Smackers! Got Dr. Pepper one sitting right here and Strawberry on the nightstand. Love a LipSmacker. One time when the CEO was cleaning out my mom-mobile for me…..he came inside with a small box just to inform me that he had found 15 lip glosses of one variety or another in the various nooks and crannies of my vehicle….I informed him that every single one was necessary. Took the box, and when he came home with my new car—they went right back in. so neh.
I love the Bonne Bell Lip Smackers too!
I bought a grape scented one a month ago for old times sake. Takes me back to the 80’s!
I just discovered Lollia at Anthropologie, and they had Tokyo Milk too – I may drop in at some point to see if they are carrying these. I have a weakness for hand creams/cremes – ANY kind!
Lemonprint, I use hand cream *many* times throughout the day, and I’m noticing that these tubes are lasting a long time.
… forgot to say, I almost wrote that this line happens to have a very “Anthropologie” look! I spied some of the eau de toilettes at my local store, so they very well may have the “hand creams” at other locations.
(…or was it Urban Outfitters? I obviously walk in and out of too many stores… sorry about that!)
I love hand creams (or cremes) of any kind, especially those with good, natural ingredients and a nice fragrance. Dallas weather is dry in the winter and summer alike, rendering moisture necessary. I just might have to try these….
Maggiecat, They do a very effective job of moisturizing, and the combination of the weather plus the nasty industrial hand-soap in my workplace bathroom is really destroying my hands… but these feel wonderful when I apply them, and they do seem to counteract both of the above factors!
I spotted this line on BeautyHabit earlier this year and I’ve been wondering what the scents are like. The packaging is tres tempting. My favorite Tokyo Milk scent is “Honey & the Moon” – it’s so sweet but somehow strikes just the right balance of almond, vanilla and honey. So I assume that Anthro is going to start carrying Love + Toast too?
KellyP, See the post above (and my resulting confusion)… it seems like they may end up in one store or the other (same owners, to clarify). I dabbed on several EDT’s when I visited the Love + Toast display at a trade show; some of them were really too sweet for me, and that’s saying something. The scents seem a little softer and warmer in cream form, somehow.
I do have a few Tokyo Milk EDT (EDP?) favorites, though!
So maybe we can hypothesize that it’ll hit Urban Outfitters over Anthro (the youth!) lol And that means it will be in Oprah Mag eventually (like Lollia and TM). Well, kudos to the umbrella company for creating these fun, cult-like lines.
I knew Oprah was a Lollia fan… didn’t realized she had moved on to TokyoMilk! That *is* funny. She must like the owner.
I’m going to have to find those adorable birdcage ones for my daughter since she’s bonkers for any sort of bird motif. Really cute.
They are very cute! and the fragrances are also available in tiny bottles called “Little Luxe” or something like that.