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Sunday, April 12, 2009

Weekend Beauty - Bath & Body: Jo Malone Sweet Lime & Cedar Body Cream and Shower Gel

Here is a shameful confession for you: I am too lazy to moisturize. I wait until my already dry skin becomes totally parched, go through a week of panicked use of body creams and lotions, get some kind of result and lapse into laziness again. It is just too much effort! (I wish I somebody would do it for me, why am I not Cleopatra?) There are times, however, when I get so enamored with a scent of a product that I use it regularly and it doesn't feel like an effort. Never has been my skin more smooth and moisturized than when I had Amouage Gold Body Cream. What gorgeous, rich fragrance, so very similar to actual perfume, what luxurious texture...but I digress. This is about my newest obsession, Jo Malone's Sweet Lime & Cedar bath and body collection.

The cologne, released last year, although lovely, was a tad too harsh for me. I never thought I would say it, but it was too woody. I fact, it was borderline too masculine on my skin, and you know that I wear masculine scents! And it was a shame really, because I was very attracted to the Thai overtones and adored the notes of cardamom, tamarind and coconut that made the citrusy composition that much more interesting. If by any chance you had the same issue with the cologne, get the cream. It has none of the arid woodiness of the former and, altough it retains the overall dry quality of the blend, is a touch sweeter and "creamier"-smelling. The coconut is more pronounced as is cardamom. Combined with lime, the effect the notes produce is mouthwatering. This is a creamy, dreamy exotic drink of a fragrance, refreshing more so than sweet. I will need a whole lot of this cream for warm weather to wear in lieu of a perfume (or under perfume, see below). The texture of the cream answers all my requirements: it is non-greasy, non-sticky and absorbs very fast.

The matching shower gel smells a little bit more citrusy, brighter somehow, to my nose, which is a good thing, as it would be perfect to wake me up in the morning. There also exists, in the collection, a dry body oil, but that would be too much for the lazy me. I will leave that for when I am Cleopatra.

Jo Malone advises to layer Sweet Lime & Cedar products with their Nutmeg & Ginger, which, I imagine, would do wonders to bring out the sweet piquancy of the notes. It would also go well with any citrusy or citrusy-, fresh-floral fragrance. For example, the fragrance of the cream compliments perfectly my beloved Puredistance. It also gets on like a house on fire with Malone's Dark Ambre & Ginger Lily, enhancing the spicy quaity of the latter and making the perfume a little less sweet. More on Kohdo Wood colognes tomorrow.

Sweet Lime & Cedar collection is available at Jo Malone, $75.00 for 175ml of body cream, $50.00 for 250ml of shower gel.

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10 Comments:

Blogger Flora said...

Sounds delicious - I have yet to try the Jo Malone body care products, but I do love the line.

(Still obsessing on the idea of Amouage Gold Body Cream though - yum!)

1:49 AM EDT  
Anonymous lady jane grey said...

You say it would go well with "citrusy or citrusy-, fresh-floral fragrance" - hm, perhaps even with my beloved "nectarine & honey" from J.M. ?

3:23 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Donna,
Amouage products were to die for. :-)

9:08 AM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Melinda,
I am sure it would go great with it. Would make it citrusier and less sweet, probably.

9:09 AM EDT  
Anonymous Lavanya said...

lol..I almost think I might have been cleopatra sometime long ago- I seem to be obsessed with bath and body stuff containing goat's milk..:)

At some point I was in love with the Pom Noir body creme..this sounds lovely and fresh (tho' the cologne didn't wow me)..

12:30 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Lavanya,
I remember being so in love with Pom Noir too. I need to re-visit it.

11:22 AM EDT  
Anonymous Lavanya said...

Marina- I remember you loving it too (especially since nobody else seemed to..:))

Oh and I tried Champaca Absolute (TF) on my skin and liked it! I don't think it smells like the flower- there is something fruity and winey going on- but I don't think it matters.. It smells like a stylized 'Tom Ford' flower.. I still love Noir de Noir best I think - I've been in a mood for spicy roses (oh and Moss Breches)

1:29 PM EDT  
Blogger Marina said...

Lavanya,
I love stylized flowers, don't like very realistic ones :-)

3:16 PM EDT  
Anonymous Lavanya said...

yeah, I know! I meant the stylized flower thing in a good way..:)..I also am in a mood nowadays for 'perfumey' scents, rather than straight up flowers..which reminds me I have a bit of Iris Poudre coming to me..*swoon*

4:29 PM EDT  
Blogger Quinn said...

I loved this the first day, but by the third, the cedar tiptoed out of the background and threw a green, masculine, shoe-tree kind of smell on the whole thing. Not even blending it helps. Sigh. Another Jo Malone 100-ml bottle on the shelf.

10:38 PM EDT  

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