Quick reviews of three scented body products I've enjoyed using this summer, and do add your own recent favorites in the comments!
Tauer Perfumes Rose Delight Body Oil
Tauer Perfumes introduced Rose Delight Body Oil early this summer, and I was sent a bottle for review. Normally when I am sent a full bottle of something, I try it, then give it away, but I've used so much of this particular bottle that at this point I might as well keep it, so I will.1 It's essentially jojoba oil (90%) scented with rose. Tauer describes it as "rose petals on a gourmand base", and it is lightly sweet, but it's not candied in the least, and nothing like so sweet as something like Lush Rose Jam. Likewise it's spicy, but without the herbal / medicinal aspect of the Weleda Wild Rose (see below). It has reasonable presence for a body oil, but it is mild enough to be a fantastic layering medium, and the jojoba oil will help the lasting power of whatever you choose to apply over it. An obvious choice, and a combination I've worn a fair amount lately, is Tauerville Rose Flash; an even more perfect choice would probably be Phi Une Rose de Kandahar, but sadly I haven't got any. I've also found Rose Delight to play nicely with all sorts of summer citrus favorites. On its own, it's the perfect soft rose to wear to bed. Highly recommended.
Tauer Perfumes Rose Delight Body Oil is sold in 50 ml, in a plastic spray bottle, currently at the introductory price of $20.20 (I do not know what the final price will be, or how long Andy Tauer plans to keep making and selling it).
Garden of Wisdom Frankincense and Rose Otto Hydrosol Gels
I prefer very simple products for facial care (I've been mixing my own face cream for years), and I usually start my routine (if you can even call it a routine) with a simple hydrosol gel ("Formulated in a liposome base, our Hydrosol Gels penetrate the epidermis more easily than other hydrators, while offering the properties of each hydrosol used. With a balance of corresponding essential oils formulated in a gel base, Hydrosol Gels restore water, nutrients and moisture back into the skin.") from the indie brand Garden of Wisdom, which also sells all kinds of supplies for do-it-yourself-ers. The Hydrosol Gels are essentially comparable to facial serums: they're light and non-sticky, soak into skin quickly, and are meant as a hydrating base for whatever moisturizer you're already using. The only reason I am bringing them up here is smell. The Frankincense Gel is meant for dry, sensitive or aging skin, but I bought it primarily hoping it would smell fantastic, and if you're an incense lover, you'll be glad to hear that yes, it does. The Rose Otto Gel, which is a little more expensive, has a lovely light rosewater-ish scent, similar to Heritage Rosewater & Glycerin spray. On hot summer days when I don't need much of a moisturizer anyway, I often layer the Frankincense and the Rose Otto on my face and neck. (Dear Andy Tauer: please do an Incense Delight body oil next!)
Warning: if you require fancy packaging with your skincare, you probably won't love Garden of Wisdom. The packaging is functional at best.
The Frankincense Hydrosol Gel is $16.85 for 60 ml; the Rose Otto Hydrosol Gel is $13.65 for 30 ml. Both are also sold in 15 ml samples sizes, at Garden of Wisdom. (There is also a Myrrh Hydrosol Gel, among others, and that might be my next purchase.)
Weleda Wild Rose Creamy Body Wash
Weleda's Sea Buckthorn Creamy Body Wash is already a favorite (creamsicle!), and I said when I reviewed it that the Wild Rose might be my next purchase — I love Weleda's gentle cream formula, which does a nice job of keeping skin soft and smooth. And yes, I did get a bottle of the Wild Rose, and no, I did not keep my own promise to use up some other shower gel first, in fact, I also bought a small bottle of Lush Yuzu & Cocoa (nice enough but not a big favorite, and I cannot seem to get over the alarming shade of yellow). Wild Rose does smell like rose, but it has strong herbal undertones, probably too strong for some people — it verges on medicinal. I find it enjoyable, but the reviews on Amazon seem to indicate that the fragrance is love-it-or-hate-it, and the one other person I know who has tried it called it "sour". If you love EO's Rose & Chamomile products, chances are you'll like this one too; if not, or if you've never smelled the EO, try this one before you buy.
Weleda Wild Rose Creamy Body Wash is $10 for a 200 ml tube, but you can certainly find it for less (maybe $7 or $8) if you shop around.
1. I stopped keeping full sized products sent by brands for review (otherwise known as "swag") without disclosure sometime in 2006 or 2007. Our policy, which is to disclose to readers any time we receive a full sized product that we are not going to give away or otherwise dispose of, is discussed here and here. Unless I am forgetting something, I have only kept one other product since then, and that was a bottle of Korres Jasmine shower gel.
Boy, I am loving the hell out of the Tauer Rose Delight body oil! SO glad I bought 2 bottles! Having not had experience with body oils before, it’s quite a revelation.
If you want to explore more, the Weleda Body Oils are lovely and very reasonably priced. My favorite incense body oil is Atelier Ancient Resins, which is a bit spendy but fantastic.
And went and checked the price on the Atelier, it is $40, so not horrid.
Oh I am wishing for another bottle of that one! In the meantime, I picked up a decent body oil from Phytorelax from Winners (Canadian TJ Maxx) for $9.00. It’s the Monoi one, but they have a few scents. I’m depleting it quite quickly.
Ah, I have never heard of Phytorelax — assume it’s a hair brand? Will have to look for the body oil.
No idea. The bottle says it’s from Italy, for what it’s worth. The Monoi isn’t too loud or sweet, which I like.
Yes, Phytorelax is mostly a hair care brand (from Italy) but they also produce body washes, body lotions and creams. I’ve never seen them anywhere except discounters like TJ Maxx, Marshalls and Burlington Coat Factory (of all places!).
Thanks both!
Hey thanks for all the recs.! I highly recommend the Tauer oil, it’s available on his website, and priced fairly. The rose scent is spicy, not sweet and terrific!
I’m also really loving the Tauer oil! I think I’ve worn it more than anything else this summer and I’ve only had it a few weeks. It lasts pretty well on me and other people can smell it since I’ve received a couple if compliments on it. I also bought a second bottle(I won the first one).
That Weleda sounds nice. I like medicinal for shower products.
And that Yuzu yellow just looks like jaundice.
I’m sort of shocked by how much I’ve worn it. It’s functioning like Bronze Goddess did for me the last few summers — just the basic summer scent.
Seriously, not even jaundice — when you put it on a sponge it is nearly neon yellow. It looks toxic. I’d get over it if I loved the smell more.
Don’t think you’re a huge MFK aficionado (neither am I, save Ciel de Gum), but I impulsively got a bottle of the A la Rose shower cream. The perfume’s a bit strong for me, but the wash is lovely & decadent. Suspect it would layer nicely with some vintage Joy, but haven’t done that yet.
Oh, I do like MFK even if I don’t adore all his fragrances. I will have to see if they have the body products at Neiman Marcus, thanks!
Switched to Bliss’ Grapefruit + Aloe body butter for the summer, since I can’t use heavy products in the heat, and it works great! It also has a sweet pink grapefruit scent that works well with nearly anything in my perfume stash.
Thanks, I will have to try that — the only one I have is the Vanilla + Bergamot.
I’ve recently discovered their Blood Orange +White Pepper…and it’s darned delicious.
Thanks! I will have to check TJ Maxx, which is where I got the Vanilla / Bergamot, IIRC.
Good to know about the Blood Orange one… I have that in reserve.
I’m a fan of all of their body butters. They have one called Cassis and Sandalwood and it smells fantastic as well. It seems all their body butters blend well with other fragrances.
If you say that the frankincense gel “smells fantastic”, I am getting a bottle of it (will figure out later what Hydrosol Gels are; I don’t think I ever used or saw one).
Have you ever smelled straight-up frankincense? That’s pretty much what it smells like, just lighter. It’s not meant to be a fragrance product 🙂
Yes, I get frankincense EO and mix it with the oil I use for my face (I suppose it is not bad for my skin, and I love the smell of frankincense). The thing is that even if I buy it from the same supplier, sometimes it smells more divine than other times (I take it as not surprising as it is a part of a tree). But if you have just tested Garden of Wisdom and your score is so high, I may have a good chance to get a bottle from the same batch that smells as good (who knows, but I hope).
And I have only bought it once, so no idea if it will change next time, now you’ve worried me! But have been through 2 bottles of the rose and if the scent changed, I didn’t notice.
I didn’t mean to cause worries! First, frankincense can never possibly smell bad. Second, if I don’t end up being absolutely smitten by the GoW gel, I’ll just think that Robin smelled a different tree, that’s all 🙂
Thanks again for the reviews!
Alternatively, you can send it to me, LOL…anyway, it isn’t hardly a fortune and I think the sample size (which lasts a decent while) is only around $5.
If you like frankincense the Neals Yard frankincense range is worth trying- beautiful aroma and very good quality- not sure if it’s available in the US but worth checking online.
Thank you! I have heard good things about the line over the years but have still never seen them, although I know you can buy them in the US. Which product do you love?
The intense facial serum smells rather good as does the matching cream. Hope you manage to track some down!
Thank you!
I’ve been reading various comments about that Rose Delight oil for several weeks now, and am a big fan of Andy’s roses anyway. I’ve been holding off on buying a bottle because I really, really don’t want to fall in love with it and then have the introductory price increase five-fold… but all I can say now is UNCLE! I’m giving in.
I’ve been digging on TBS Moringa shower gel for the second summer in a row. Then there are the B&BW Freesia shower gels I stocked up on recently, I’m loving those too.
Never say never, but that doesn’t seem like Tauer, to raise the price so much as that? I was initially mildly disappointed in the plastic bottle, vs. glass, but given the price I hope he keeps it in plastic.
I will have to go smell that shower gel — I know I had a Moringa soap once.
I have in yesterday, mals, and bought it for my birthday. I have no shame. 😉
Gave in. Autocorrect is so often Autowrong.
Hey, you’re the only one with a valid excuse! Wear it in good health.
I. Am. So. Weak.
I could no longer resist and have just ordered the Rose Delight. But hey, love Tauer and Rose and body oil so how wrong can this be?
I do love the Nuxe oil but find it is so strongly scented that I only use it solo and when it won’t interfere with my SOTD (so, rarely)
Also really like l’Occitane’s Almond Shower oil.
My skin gets so thirsty from the chlorine when I swim.
At that price, really, it could not be very wrong. Plus, you could swap it away quite easily if you hate it.
I would LOVE to have a bottle of the Rodin Olio Lusso body oil, but will never pay for it. Have never tried the Nuxe but hear good things, and IIRC, it’s cheaper.
If some Rodin gratis comes my way from my Lauder contact, you can have it. It pays to put things out in the universe! lol! It’s lovely but not my style, so I’ll be happy to help it find a good home!
That’s kind of you!
I’ll heartily second the recommendation on the Tauer Rose Delight — it was love at first sniff for me — but I’d have to classify it as “whoa, strong!” At least, that’s what my husband said from across the room last night when I’d applied a few sprays after my shower. Maybe I went overboard with the application? But I’m delighted that it does have presence, as you say, and provides so much rose bang for one’s buck!
It’s all relative, right? I do think it’s pretty mild once it settles — it certainly doesn’t seem to overpower other perfumes.
Nice picks, and I’m thrilled to see Garden of Wisdom among them! I love their stuff, and the prices are really good. I’m currently using their Neroli hydrosol mist as well as the Carrot seed and geranium. They’re also my go-to for carrier oils and butters and diy ingredients to fiddle around with. I’d missed the hydrosol gels, so I’m looking forward to trying those, too.
Blooming Dream has some very nice body oils, although the price ($38 for 60mls) is similar to the Aftelier. I discovered them through Trish over at Scent Hive:
https://scenthive.com/?s=blooming+dream
And yep, I’ve ordered the Rose Delight Body Oil. 🙂
I will get some samples of hydrosol mists to compare them to gels, but that Garden of Wisdom website is looking dangerous for my wallet …
I hope you’ll enjoy the ride! 🙂
Glad to see another fan! I love their stuff too, and especially love that they sell samples of almost everything. I am a very long time user of the Marityme serum / gel stuff, which does not smell so lovely (and is a very ugly brown) but works great on my skin, and I’ve been ordering their avocado oil & a few other things for years too.
Oh, and meant to ask, does the neroli mist stuff smell fantastic?
It does! It’s more of an orange blossom maybe? and they’ve labeled it Orange Blossom (Neroli).
Thanks!
I don’t recall how I discovered them, but when I did I was thinking why doesn’t everyone know about this? The samples are so great!
I am pretty sure I found them originally on the MakeupAlley skincare board, which I used to hang out on (eons ago).
Eek!!!
Correction : the body oils are 4 oz, not 2!
I actually use the Weleda body wash on my face. It’s creamy and moisturising, and my skin shows no signs of irritation (I couldn’t say the same about many facial cleansers that I’ve tried). Scent-wise, it’s one of the very few versions of rose that I really enjoy–fresh, green and, yes, a tad medicinal.
Oh interesting! Maybe I will try that.
I’m chiming in with another endorsement of Andy Tauer’s Rose Delight body oil! It is heaven…
I have the Nuxe oil but hardly ever use it. It is nice but the scent is a little too aggressively “beachy” for my taste.
Must try the Weleda!
Glad it is finding so many fans! And good to know about the Nuxe.