The Good: Scent smells good for about five seconds, Inexpensive
The Bad: Lingering alcohol and rice scent, High alcohol content, Dries skin, Scent not adequate
The Basics: Far from being sensual or energizing, this scent is largely alcohol and the jasmine scent is weak while the product dries normal skin in an unpleasant way.
Last week, I was reviewing Bath & Body Works body splash, which was basically a glorified perfume, without the glory, when I came across a dusty bottle in my cupboard. The bottle I found was The Healing Garden Jasminetherapy Sensual Body Mist and I gave it a try again. One spray reminded me why this bottle has been gathering dust. While the White Tea and Ginger Body Splash (reviewed here!) might have been underwhelming, this Healing Garden body mist is downright offensive to the senses.
In its 7 oz. bottle for $6.00, Jasminetherapy Sensual Body Mist from The Healing Garden appears innocuous. The bottle is a sleek cylinder with a pump spray cap that easily dispenses a cloud of this product in discreet quantities. This bottle has been around for a little over two years and still it is over half full, so it clearly goes a long way. Well, sort of. It does go a long way, but I've also not used it in some time. However, the actual spray pump does not launch a terrific quantity of this into the air. That's nice because this does help the product go farther.
Jasmine was a favorite scent around my house from cooking experiences. A number of dishes that I've cooked (and had cooked here!) have involved a base of jasmine rice to put an Indian delicacy on. I love the scent of jasmine rice. When jasmine rice is cooking, the scent permeates the kitchen and spreads right out. It's a sensual, nurturing smell, so it's easy to see why the Healing Garden would want to try to capitalize on that. Unfortunately, it fails to do that.
The jasminetherapy body mist smells exactly like what it is: alcohol. The first ingredient is SD Alcohol 39-C. The second ingredient is water. While the third ingredient is "fragrance," it is followed by a string of other alcohols. I mention this because this is a highly alcoholic blend. Of course, the packaging spins it well by pointing out this product has extracts (which are usually alcohol based . . .) of aloe, jojoba, ylang ylang and passion flower.
The simple exploration of the product of this is simple: it smells like none of these things! It smells like alcohol. It smells like a lot of isopropyl alcohol. This is, to say the least, not a sensual smell. I mean, when I want to get in the mood, I don't visit a hospital and start applying antiseptics to get going. Moreover, it's hard to attract a partner using the scent of isopropyl (now if it were a different form of alcohol . . .) alcohol. But honestly, that's the dominant scent of this body mist.
Perhaps as bad, the scent of alcohol remains the dominant smell for approximately twenty minutes in normal use. So, if one uses this like a body mist as directed, where one sprays a cloud of the product and walks through it while skin is slightly moist, the result will be smelling like isopropyl alcohol for almost half an hour.
After that, if you bury your nose in your skin, you may faintly smell the afterscent of jasmine. It has about the strength of a bowl of jasmine rice that passed steaming through the room about ten minutes prior; it's an incredibly weak smell and to get even that, the person who wishes to smell the jasmine actually has to bury their nose in the skin to get that.
But then, who truly wants to bury their face in dry skin? One spray of this product on my arm and I was reminded the other reason I've not used it all that much; despite the alleged presence of aloe, this product is terrible on my skin. I do not have fair skin or even skin that gets easily irritated. One spray of this, even in the misting form where one applies it judiciously in the cloud form, dries out my skin something fierce.
The product warns not to spray this on your face or eyes; I would add avoid contact with skin. I wish I were joking, but this product is rather harsh to the skin. It's one big assault on the senses; irritating the nose with its high alcohol scent, drying out the skin with the same and - as someone who has walked through one too many clouds of this body mist - it tastes foul, too (this is not a product intended to be ingested! Do not eat or drink it!). In addition to irritating normal skin, even when in a mist form, this product will cause any open wounds to experience severe irritation. You know, even the most mild scrape will sting like you wouldn't believe when it comes into contact with this body mist.
This product is impossible to recommend for human use and utterly fails to make a person smell good. Unless you like to smell like rubbing alcohol and feel like your skin is dry and going to flake off, jasminetherapy is an utter failure as a health and beauty product.
Why don't I just toss this product completely? This makes for a fair air freshener for a bathroom. Yes, when your house guests are particularly flatulent, this product will adequately cover that scent and provide the general feeling that the room has been sterilized with its strong alcohol scent. Skin doesn't hold up well underneath this withering product, it's hard to imagine bacteria could thrive in that environment. There have been times I - or guests of mine - have used sprayed a cloud of this product behind us when leaving the bathroom and within five minutes, the room is right as rain again.
I'm sure this is not what the Healing Garden had in mind and no doubt it does not work as well as a product designed for such things, like Lysol, but it works in a pinch.
That's the best I can say about this product; otherwise, I'd avoid it and recommend others do the same.
For other similar products, please be sure to visit my reviews of:
Night Blooming Jasmine Body Wash
Wet Pina Colada flavored personal lubricant
St. Ives Gentle Apricot Scrub
3/10
For other health and beauty product reviews, please be sure to visit my index page on the subject by clicking here!
© 2011, 2007 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
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