Product Review: Soapwalla Luxurious Moisturizing Body Oil
Good news, folks: Soapwalla is no one-trick pony! Not that I thought she was (obviously) but we’ve gone on and on and on about her deodorant, which was such a revelation for us that we sort of forgot that there was a whole line of affordable, handmade products that we might love, too.
We have long talked about the benefits of using pure plant oils on your skin. We’ve also told you about how much we love using pure organic coconut oil as an easy, multitasky and affordable all-over moisturizer. Neither of us is big into body lotion, per se, but oil? Yes please.
And that’s why I was super keen to crack open my Soapwalla Luxurious Moisturizing Body Oil.
While I do enjoy using pure coconut oil, there’s something very utilitarian about grabbing the jug from the kitchen and slathering it on my just-washed skin. I was ready to start pampering myself a little more, and was craving a well-crafted oil that felt, well, special…and then there it was!
It’s made of jojoba, sweet almond, grapeseed and coconut oils, mowrah butter (which, I’m told, reduces the degeneration of skin cells) and it’s scented gently with pure oils—though the smell does not linger.
It was love at first rub.
A word about the grease factor: When you’re using well-chosen, well-blended oils, they actually absorb very quickly and don’t leave a lot of residue. A dab will you ya in all cases, and especially with this one. One or two drops are enough for your lower legs, another two for thighs, another two for your arms. A little goes a very long way, and it costs $25. I feel like I’ll have this bottle for about four months, easy.
As an experiment, yesterday I wore this pretty light-blue shirt that I love. It’s vintage and the tags are gone, so I’m not sure what it’s made of, but it’s the kind of thing that everything shows up on. If I sweat, the shirt makes me look like a hot mess. If I get salad dressing on it, it screams at me in navy blue. Anyway, yesterday, about 10 or 15 minutes after applying the oil, I plucked Old Blue from my closet and lo and behold: nothing happened! No spots or stains.
I’ve been using it for a little over a week now and my skin has a sort of glow to it—the telltale sign of true hydration.
Have you tried her body oil? Found another you love?
Image via Soapwalla’s Etsy Page
I LOVE Soapwalla’s body oil. It smells like early Spring, and you’re right that the scent is not powerful. As someone sensitive to scents (a migraine trigger for me), I adore this. My bottle lasted from April to through July.
I’ve also used Dr. Hauschka’s body oil and liked this one too.
On the topic of Soapwalla- I am a convert to the deodorant. I am much happier not putting anti-perspirant every day, and find that it protects me from smell, even in the heat. But I don’t love the application process and getting it all over my hands, especially during this hot summer when the product starts to melt, and I have started to dread my morning use of it. Any chance that the Soapwalla magician is working on a different application method?
I’ve also tried and loved Weleda’s Rose Body Oil – it smells divine!
@Erika: It’s kind of funny you should mention the application method for the deodorant. I don’t like the getting it on my hands part, but I just wipe them on a towel. I actually love the cream application – I feel like it pulls less on the skin and it means that the product itself isn’t crumbly and messy, which I appreciate.
SOAPWALLA DEODORANT PRO TIP, Y’ALL: Put it in the freezer! Or the fridge!
I love my skin&bones oil. I love the smell and use it for both body and face!Heavenly!:)
I’ve just received my third deodorant from Soapwalla which my husband uses! I love that she makes them at home in Brooklyn :)
I haven’t tried any oils. I think I will try the Soapwalla oil. It’s amazing how sensitive I am to scents these days. I used to be a perfume lover! I wore it everyday and couldn’t get enough. I stopped using it for no real reason. Now that I’ve been away from it, I CANNOT handle the smell of perfume. I gag, and get nauseous. The other day I had to switch train cars because some lady sat next to me with ridiculously strong perfume on. Has this happened to anyone else? I can’t even handle the smell of windex or Mrs. Meyers honeysuckle scent. YIKES!
seconded on being a deodorant convert. it was my last attempt at all-natural deodorant and it finally worked. i don’t get wet overly much when i wear it either, which is awesome. i am a sweaty ape and i do not stink with this stuff. i wore it all weekend at an outdoor music festival in seriously hot weather and i could still dance with my arms in the air. allllriiiight.
@erika, i have this weird idea of like, applying it with a paintbrush or something? i’m not crazy about the extra step of washing my hands either but it’s worth it!
Thanks for all your kind words! I’m so happy you love the products as much as I do.
@Erika and @Aileen: this is top secret, but I’m working on an alternative application method. We’re just in the earliest of the early testing stages, but I’ll keep you posted.
@Lindz: this happened to both my father and me. I personally think it’s the pthalates and parabens that are present in so many manufactured scents. It makes my father instantly nauseated, and I get headaches. You may find that pure essential oils don’t have this effect.
Unfortunately I can’t use the soapwalla deodorant. Which makes me sad because as far as smell and keeping me dry it works wonders, but no matter how little I used and how much oil I put on before hand or after at some point in the day my arm pits would turn bright red and start to itch. It eve stung like crazy when I tried to shave after starting use of the product. I have since switched to lavanilla which doesn’t have that effect for me but doesn’t protect as well from the heat like soapwalla. And even it seems to dry out and cause my under arms to itch every once and a blue moon. Never had this issue with regular deodorant and I have no clue what I’m apparently allergic to that is in the natural deodorants I have tried. That being said I still love soapwalla and am eager to try her other products.
Soapwalla chef, this is so exciting! Thanks for responding! Siobhan says that if this results in the formula changing she will blame me forever so don’t change the formula!
@Lindz: Your experience sounds very similar to mine. I agree with Soapwalla chef in that I do not have headache/nausea with pure essential oils. Perfumes and scented candles are sure migraine triggers for me, but it is so wonderful to use Soapwalla’s oil that has such a lovely, fresh scent without a heavy perfume and the ill side-effects.
I LOOOOOVE the deodorant. DC had the hottest summer ever, and I smelled fairly fresh the entirely month! I’m so going to try her body oil. If anyone can convert me, she can!
@Renee, just like you and unfortunately for me (*us*) Soapwalla triggered the same strong reaction. I kept using it hoping it would go away at some point.. but it didn’t. Based on the great reviews ,I though that maybe the first jar I got might have come from a batch with a little bit too much of something that was causing this reaction and tried another jar and then a third jar… but still, the redness, itchness (added to sweating ) was always a repeat . Since then, I’m on a homemade version /recipe found through this blog(*that I love*) on an earlier post about deodorants. If you are interested in making it yourself, it is easy and works wonders for me( angrychicken/homemade deodorant). Hope it helps:). On Soapwalla… love the smell,the texture,the packaging,everything…I’ll certainly give a try on the body oil.
I’ve been meaning to try everything in the line. If their deodorant is that good, than it’s worth checking out the rest!
I’m glad the grease factor was mentioned. I’ve been using coconut oil all winter and spring long. Now that it’s finally warmed up in the Pacific Northwest, I’ve been wearing skirts without tights or hose and noticed the hem of my skirts turning color. I’m guessing it’s from the coconut oil. I do rub it in well and wait at least a 1/2 hour before getting dressed. I just switched to some Alaffia body lotion. Maybe I’ll go back to coconut oil for the fall.
@Nancy – I’ve got to be honest, I feel so much better knowing Im not the only one. I was so disappointed that it didn’t work for me and couldn’t figure out why I hadn’t seen anyone else mention the very unattractive/painful red rash that developed. And I’ll def try the homemade recipe. I’m all about doing it yourself. :) Thanks!
Nice post, I’m a big fan of Soapwalla products and really want to try this body oil! Fortunately, Soapwalla ships to Rio de Janeiro :)
I’m Brazilian and I love the “Castanha-do-Para Oleo apos Banho”, a body oil made by a local brand named Reserva Folio (I was told their website is going through some changes, anyway here is the website address: http://www.reservafolio.com.br/). Organic Brazil nut oil is the main ingredient (castanha-do-para is the Portuguese equivalent for Brazil nut, Bertholletia excelsa), the product is very quickly absorbed, is 100% natural and smells simply wonderful, a very comforting and delicate aroma!
I also love extravirgin coconut oil, and my husband uses it as an after-shave oil – it works wonders that way. I’ve recently mentioned this at my blog (http://tantasplantas.blogspot.com).
The deodorant ist really gorgeous! And the oil sounds very good, too. I think I have to try more products from Soapwalla – I love the thought, it’s made in a kitchen in Brooklyn :)
Hi there, another soapwalla convert after Siobhan’s great review. I had it sent to me here in England and I absolutely love it. Thanks @Soapwalla chef- great name by the way! LOVED the face serum sample that you sent with my deodorant. I’ve already converted a couple of my friends to your deodorant so I’m gonna have to do a bulk purchase methinks..
I work at a shop that sells tons of organic base oils and essential oils so I usually use almond, or jojoba oil if I’m patricularly, and add my own organic essential oils but I know oil blends are great as you get the benefits of the different oils but I think I will try Soapwalla’s body oil as soon as I’m out.
@Alexandra@Siobhan- Thanks for the great reviews girls, I have found so many great products because of No More Dirty Looks!
I’ve also tried the Soapwalla Deodorant and I loved everything about it, except it also gave me a bad reaction. I didn’t end up with a red and angry rash, my reaction was swollen and sore bumps (might be the lymph nodes in the armpits). It was a sure ting every time I tried the Soapwalla Deodorant. I’ve since learned that it’s the shea butter that does this, or I highly suspect that as every time I use a product containing shea butter under my arms, then I get the same reaction.
Hi @Renee, @Nancy: it sounds like you may be allergic to one of the ingredients. Please feel free to email me directly at soapwallachef [at] gmail [dot] com, and I’d love to discuss this further with you!
I had the same feeling regarding the rather unromantic idea of unscrewing that jar of coconut oil – to dress it up a bit and pamper myself I repurposed an empty pump bottle – put in some jasmine flowers (plucked right off the plant while they’re still lovely and fragrant) put them in the bottle with my oil and voila – a sweet smelling treat. The coconut scent is clean and fresh and the jasmine adds a hint of the exotic.
I sometimes get the red, itchiness previous posters were talking about…I call it “fire pits”. I’m pretty sure it’s from a high concentration of baking soda cos I’ve used other natural or natural-ish deo’s, and those with the baking soda have produced fire pits. But you know what, those deo’s seem to be the only ones that work. And I’ve been antiperspirant-free for years. I just rotate deo’s and save the Soapwalla for days/events that I absolutely cannot tolerate stink and on other days, use other products that might not be as effective but are gentler to give my pits a rest. I even go a day or two a week without using anything and don’t really stink (but again, this is after years of being off the chemical stuff, so my body is used to it).
I recently stopped using all lotions, including my expensive face lotion, after finding your book. So in replacement I bought a big huge thing of coconut oil, but to my surprise the next morning it was solid! Didn’t realize it would do that, and don’t know why but its still easy to apply just have to apply a little pressure to get it out. It stays oily on my skin for most of the day as well, but when I shave it is glorious! Legs so soft, and the next day everything is still soft. But for some reason it doesn’t seem like it is actually penetrating my skin, to me it kind of seems like it does short term work but doesn’t repair my dry skin. Any thoughts?
My husband had the same reaction to the Soapwalla deodorant, he had red pits. He has eczema, though, so I thought that might have been part of it. He stopped using it for a while, but now he’s back at it, only he puts very little pressure while applying the deodorant. No more red pits! :)