little white truths

You may remember that I reviewed Lux's Magic Spell Body Wash not too long ago (see here) and I'm back today to review the other one I bought, Passionate Spell.

I wanted to note from the outset that I used to buy these body washes when they contained little exfoliating beads (probably micro beads, which would explain why they've been taken out of the formula: they're damaging to the environment) and I used to quite like them, but I don't anymore.

Mind you, it's not only the loss of the beads that bothers me: it's how drying and astringent the formula is on my skin. More on that below.

Lux claims/product details:

• For a long-lasting, captivating scent on your skin
• Passionate Spell has a passionfruit and fiery orange rose scent
• Reveal glowing, smooth skin
• Specially formulated for your best-ever relaxing bath experience
• Bathe your skin in this fine fragrance inspired by exotic blossoms at the peak of their bloom
• The fragrance is composed by the world's best perfume experts
• Indulge daily: pour a drop of this exotic body wash and work into a rich lather
• RRP $5.99 AUD for 400ml, but do shop around

Verdict

I won't bang on too much about this product because there's not a hell of a lot to say about a body wash.

It's a deep orange-coloured gel that smells like orange lollies. It's not my favourite fragrance and I can't smell the passionfruit: just fake orange and sugar. It's not my kind of scent so I wouldn't buy it again for that reason alone.

Worth noting is that the scent does linger on the skin, and while that will be a positive for some, with this particular fragrance it's a negative for me. It's just too sweet and fake-smelling for my personal tastes.

It lathers and cleans well, but for me it cleans too well and it's far too astringent. Indeed, I wasn't surprised to see Sodium Laureth Sulphate (SLES) as the second listed ingredient. Now apparently SLES is slightly less irritating to skin than Sodium Lauryl Sulphate (SLS), but given how stripped my skin feels after using this, I wouldn't say that this is necessarily the case for everyone (because everyone's skin reacts differently to different things).

After use my skin always feels very clean and it smells fragranced, but it's very dry too. This is probably why my body has felt a lot more dry lately. Indeed, I've been bathing myself in body oil to keep my skin feeling comfortable, and I'm sure this body wash is the culprit because the same thing happened the last time I tried one of these.

Overall I don't love this product: I don't like the smell and it's too astringent for me personally. Sure it's effective and cheap, but my skin doesn't like it so there's that.

Not for me.