Nearly two years ago, I reviewed some fragranced soaps from a small brand called Anjolie Ayurveda. I was impressed by them on various counts: their natural scent blends, their high quality, their artistic packaging, their interesting back-story. I don't think I've come across any other soaps that quite compare to these. I was happy to learn recently that Anjolie had added scented body butters and body oils to its catalog, and the unpredictable warm-to-cold, dry-to-humid weather of the past few weeks has given me a good opportunity to test the moisturizing effects of these new products.
Anjolie Ayurveda's Aromatherapy Body Butters are offered in four scents: Lavender, Neem Tulsi, Sandalwood Saffon, and Neroli Lemon. I was drawn to the Neroli Lemon because I'm a great fan of neroli in general: I find it cheerful, cleansing, and calming all at the same time. Anjolie promises that "neroli brings a romantic and sophisticated air while lemon adds bright citrus notes" to this blend, and I agree. It's a simple, satisfying fragrance. The Body Butter's formula feels more like a thick cream: its ingredients are shea butter, cocoa butter, beeswax, and vitamin E, plus the two essential oils of neroli and lemon. Since it's a smallish jar, I've been reserving my Body Butter for specific areas like elbows and shoulders, where it works (and smells) beautifully. It's also my new favorite hand cream at bedtime, when it seems to guarantee happy dreams.
For the Aromatherapy Body Oil, I sampled a more mysterious scent blend: Seven Spices. (Anjolie also makes the Body Oil in its Sandalwood Saffron, Neem Tulsi, and Neroli Lemon fragrances). Seven Spices is described as a mix of "balmy tropical wood notes. Smoky spice rack. Reminiscent of tropical islands bay rum scent." The bottle's label reveals that the blend includes cinnamon, cardamom, clove, turmeric, fennel, star anise, and nutmeg, in a base of sweet almond oil, olive oil, sesame oil, and sunflower oil. (In a nice touch, the oil contains actual cloves, green cardamom pods, and slivers of cinnamon bark floating inside the bottle.) The oil absorbs easily and leaves its scent hovering close to the skin for an hour or two. It's a fragrance that would suit both men and women: I'm noticing the warm cardamom and clove notes more than some of the other spices, with the nutmeg and cinnamon remaining in the background. I'd say that Seven Spices smells "exotic," but that's a bit of a cliché, and it also seems like the wrong word for a fragrance that's so easy to wear.
I'm glad to see Anjolie Ayurveda gradually growing and adding a few more products to its line, especially ones that feel and smell so good. If you tried and enjoyed Anjolie's soaps as much as I did, you'll want to investigate these new items.
Anjolie Ayurveda Neroli Lemon Body Butter (60 ml for $18) and Seven Spice Body Oil (110 ml for $24) are available through the Anjolie website.
I’m a great fan of neroli myself, no surprise this Neroli Lemon Body Butter sounds wonderful. Thanks for the heads up, Jessica!
Lucasai, Doesn’t neroli have a wonderful smell? I don’t think I knew anything about it until I started using LUSH products and came across their Therapy massage bar. Then I was hooked!
I recently came across Atelier Cologne Grand Neroli. Ah, what a wonderful fragrance, so joyful! I would buy it immediately, but I would need to find a group of people to perform a split as 200ml is too much for just myself.
I agree! I love it, too. Doesn’t Atelier offer a smaller “travel” size now, 30 ml? (I’m not sure whether it’s available everywhere, of course.)
Yup, they also offer 30ml mini bottles of their fragrances but getting a 200ml is a better deal as it comes to money (for 30ml you get to pay 1/4 of 200ml bottle price and you get more than 6 times less juice, logic?)
I’m a neroli ADDICT, just love it. It makes me feel happy.
Cinnamonster, exactly!! and there aren’t too many good neroli body products around.
Would like to chime in and sing neroli’s praises ! I have a bottle of neroli essential oil and I use it most nights in my bath, it has to be the most wonderful citrus note in all of eternity ! I became aware of it after reading it as a note in one of my Prada infusions! Also great to see other company / brands making beautiful products for us to smell and enjoy ! Great review,
Ah! I need to purchase some good quality neroli oil and try it in the bath! What a lovely idea.
Jessica, I agree with you and commenters that neroli is pure happiness. I’m also really curious about the neem tulsi ones – neem is supposed to be good for you.
Also, I haven’t figured out how to comment on your website Tinsel Creation yet (maybe never will – if I have to create another password I think my head may explode!), but I wanted to say how much I love that post on Maurice Sendak and the Lovely Present, a truly wonderful book that I had never seen before.
Also, I’m so sorry that you’re having trouble commenting! I *thought* I’d set it up so that you could 1) click on the title of the post to see the whole thing 2) fill in the comment box, as well as the boxes for “username” (any name you like) and e-mail — no registration needed 3) wait for me to approve your first comment to verify that you’re a real reader and not a spam-bot of some kind. I asked my DH to test it from his computer, and he seemed to be able to do it, even without a WordPress account etc…. odd.
I have an ayurvedic blend of oils that I use on my face, and neem is one of the ingredients! It’s supposed to be good for the hair, too.