I'm always on the lookout for great shower gels in my favorite floral fragrances — and that's especially true now that I'm running out of two of my favorite Lush gels, Rose Jam (gosh, I do hope Lush brings back Rose Jam!) and Flying Fox.
Flying Fox, for those of you who haven't tried it, is jasmine, and jasmine in a big way. It's sweet and strong, and I can often smell it in the hallway outside my bathroom hours after I used it, although it doesn't linger on skin to speak of. Every other jasmine shower gel I've tried smells positively wimpy in comparison, but I recently got a bottle of Korres Jasmine to test,1 and it's a possible contender. Mind you, it's not nearly as much jasmine as Flying Fox, but it's a reasonable, middle-of-the-road amount of jasmine, not too sweet, not at all indolic but also not overly fresh — that is, it doesn't smell like dryer sheets or air freshener.
It is probably par for the course that there are complaints on MakeupAlley's reviews page that it doesn't have enough jasmine, but also that it has too much jasmine. Most of the reviews are positive, though, and it has a 4.4 lippie rating, which is pretty good for MakeupAlley.
It's reasonably not-drying, and makes plenty of lather. It takes a little more product than the very concentrated Flying Fox, but not so much that you'd run through the bottle quickly.
Korres Jasmine Shower Gel is $19.50 for 400 ml — not dirt cheap, but not as expensive as Flying Fox ($18.95 for 250 ml).
If anyone has tried any of the other Korres Shower Gel fragrances, or any great jasmine shower gels by other brands, do comment!
1. Generally, when PR companies send us full-size products to try, we give them away, but in this case, I've already used this bottle in my shower several times and I'm going to keep it, so here's my disclosure statement. I don't think I've ever made one before because I've never kept any "swag" since those disclosure rules for bloggers were created back in 2009. We established our own swag rules before that, probably in 2006 or 2007.
Robin, have you tried the Pacifica jasmine shower gel? I usually like the formula and it’s pretty affordable, though I’ve never actually smelled the jasmine scent.
Ah, I think I reviewed that perfume, thanks for the reminder!
I’d love to try the Jurlique one too, although it’s surely pricier than the Pacifica.
The Pacifica shower gels are pretty nice — I scooped up several at Winners, including the jasmine one. Good thing too, since I haven’t seen them around before of since.
I am a big fan of Korres Bitter Almond. Like you mentioned, I can still smell it in the bathroom long after my shower is over. I also used the lotion and that scent stayed on my skin much longer, so the layering worked.
And boo hoo, I am also running low on Rose Jam! That will be a repeat purchase next winter, this time in a bigger size.
Did I miss something, did they say they would release it again next winter??
And good, will try the bitter almond, thanks.
A good shower jam is so difficult to find! The much raved Philosophy shower gels, my nose detected all sorts of bad synthetics (well, the hot chocolate one is great. Nobody should do chocolate wrong.)
Rose Jam is definitely one of my all time greatest favourites. Luckily, I managed to buy 5 large bottles at their 50% sale last boxing day so I can still enjoy it for a while. I think it will definitely make a come back since its a huge seller 🙂
I know this is not a floral but do try Purple Rice from Laos by Yves Rocher if you can find it (just taken off market not long ago) the rice note is well done (no pun intended!).
Try your luck with Rituals. I quite like their products too. (The light pastel green range with the “yi yi ren”- a asian barley oat is my favourite)
I know they aren’t floral but I hope you will enjoy them while you are looking!
Do tell me how you think if you get to try them!
Thanks for the recs! They both sound really interesting.
(and envy your 5 bottles of half price Rose Jam!)
YR shower gels are nice. I always make a point of buying some when I am Back East, even though I know perfectly well that I could do a mail order any time.
There is just something there isn’t it? The happiness or satisfaction you feel when you pay at the cashier, in an actual shop. Just looking at the real products even. 😉
I would almost always rather wait till I can go to a store than purchasing through the phone, internet etc. if I am not in a hurry.
The Korres Japanese Rose shower gel is my favorite from the line!I rotate Japanese Rose and Kiehl’s Musk shower gel.There’s a soft spicyness to Japanese Rose that lingers as skin-scent throughout the day.Subtle and perfect.Love it,and still wish there was a perfume as well!
Ah, good, I’ll try the Rose then.
I really like the Japanese Rose Shower Gel. I’m almost finished with my second bottle. It leaves the bathroom smelling very nice after a shower which is a bonus.
Big fan of Korres shower gels here. Here in Greece they cost about 4.5 euro/250 ml or thereabouts and every year they have specials, so you now can get two for the price of one. I buy some of those sets every May to stock up for summer.
I like Jasmine, I think it has a delicate scent. My all-time fave is the Citrus. It is citrusy – predictably – but not the sharp shower gel kind; it’s fuzzy and warm. Other staples for summer are Mint Tea and Mango. Bergamot Pear is quite nice, if a little sweet. And Japanese Rose has a delicate rose scent. My newest was Water Lily and I have to say I was disappointed; it’s fresh in a generic way. There are others, like Cedar, which are nice but wintery.
Like I said, I am a big fan…!
Excellent, thanks for the detailed descriptions!
I got carried away, apologies! I am just so excited because it is indeed very rare to see a Greek brand (and one that I use and love) get international recognition.
Hey, don’t apologize, it was a serious ‘thanks’!
I love Flying Fox but stopped buying it because of the cost (Grass is another favorite, aside from Rose Jam). I haven’t tried any of the Korres products, but this one sounds nice.
Agree — it’s just too much. I buy a little travel size once in awhile as a treat, but hard to see buying huge quantities of it.
I really enjoyed the Korres Cedar shower gel. It is fuzzy and warm, with none of the sharpness that might be found in such a reasonably priced product (I bough it in Greece, so it was really cheap). And they make great lip balms, too!
See, I do need a trip to Greece!
I am a sucker for a good shower gel. Although I think Jasmine is nice, I would much rather try their Bitter Almond that “Kelly Red” mentioned. I know a lot of people may not be big on the Molton Brown line, but I love them. The different scents are therapeutic to me. Am I the only person in the world that hasn’t tried Lush’s Rose Jam shower gel? It must be AMAZING! I have never heard anything negative about it. People rave about it constantly. So, the next time it comes out, I will be all over it.
Kevin literally detested Rose Jam. He’s not the only one, although I think more people loved it than hated it.
I have sniffed the perfume, while kinda yummy…not something I would buy.
I have Ro’s Argan oil body conditioner from Lush and its meant to have the same scent as Rose Jam. I think it smells like Body Shop strawberry; i.e. I’m not a big fan…
I loved Rose Jam in shower gel form, and can’t really stand it in perfume form, even though it’s the exact same scent! So just last week I was wistfully rinsing the last few drops out of my shower gel bottle, and at the same time I need to find a good home for my twice-sprayed bottle of the perfume.
The Korres jasmine shower gel is a huge favorite of mine — it steers clear of jasmine skank but still manages to convey the flower’s huge, creamy sweetness. I tried the basil lemon one a while back, and was dismayed to find that it smelled like neither basil nor lemons but rather like a bland dish soap.
Wonder what would happen if you mixed it into some unscented shower gel or lotion?
And good to know about the Basil Lemon, thanks!
Could you mix the fragrance with an unscented liquid soap, if there is such a thing? I have never tried this, it’s just a thought. Seems a pity not have a use for the perfume. 🙁
Oops sorry Robin, missed your reply. Dumb.
No, great minds & all that 🙂
I have both the Korres Jasmine and flying fox, and love them both but sometimes just prefer the plain jasmine of the Korres- Flying Fox is jasmine and honey to me (and I find the formula a bit more drying)
I also have Korres Fig shower gel, which smells great and I wear under all my figgy perfumes.
Yes, the Flying Fox is honey AND ylang — much sweeter. I have been coveting the fig, thanks!
I have never sniffed a jasminey shower gel:(. Perhaps time to change that.
🙂
I like Korres shower gels, especially the Cedar and Mint Tea ones. I went through a phase of the Vanilla and Cinnamon one winter and that was very pleasant. There is a kind of “diffusion line” to Korres, called Kings and Queens, and they have some shower gels worth checking out too at slightly cheaper prices (though this is relevant to Europe, not sure about the US.)
Pretty sure we have those at Target or someplace, I’ll look!
Has anyone tried Sactuary´s 12 hour moisturising shower cream? It leaves your skin sooooo silky!
I must try Korres products.
Have not!
I like Korres’s Vanilla Cinnamon shower gel. I remember it being quite spicy. Nice!
I think they used to have a nice vanilla cinnamon body spray, too.