Sunday, October 7, 2012

A Fruity/Medicinal Scent Makes Calypso Berry An Anti-Bacterial Hand Soap That’s Harder To Get Excited About.


The Good: Cleans efficiently, Lathers well
The Bad: Expensive when purchased at full price, I’m not so wild about the scent.
The Basics: Bath & Body Works' Calypso Berry Anti-Bacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap is effective, but lacks a compelling scent to enthusiastically recommend.


As much as I love my dog, Myah, the last few days she has been a bit of a pain for me. She’s not been feeling well and she has let me know that by having explosive diarrhea in the car. As unpleasant as it has been to clean up all that (twice), it has made me feel better to have a good soap to clean up with afterward. One of the ones I have been using lately is the Bath & Body Works Calypso Berry Anti-Bacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap.

My wife bought the 8 oz. bottle at the Annual Yellow Sale for 75% off. $1.25 is a great price for this liquid hand soap, but I shudder to think of paying the full five dollar sticker price to receive so little, especially considering how the scent is not as memorable or interesting to me. Even so, this is one of the better hand soaps Bath & Body Works has produced and it was released as part of their summer line. Given how many were in the clearance at the Yellow Sale, I have to wonder if it will be returning in 2013.

Calypso Berry is a very effective liquid hand soap. I am not a microbiologist, so my evaluation of Bath & Body Works Calypso Berry Anti-Bacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap is predicated on the comment that I have not looked at the results of using this soap under a microscope, so the most I can say about the anti-bacterial properties is that I have not gotten sick since using this soap three months ago, so it does appear to kill bacteria. That said, I have a strong belief in the company's self-interest approach and I suspect it would be devastating to Bath & Body Works for any news to ever come to light that its anti-bacterial products weren't. So, I have to assume that the anti-bacterial formulations actually work.

That said, Bath & Body Works Calypso Berry Anti-Bacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap comes in an 8 fl. oz. pump bottle with a price tag of $5.00, regular price. The bottle is taller than it is squat, so while it might tip easier, it leaves a smaller footprint on sinks and bathing areas. Also, the height of the bottle is nice in that it towers over many other health and beauty products one might have on their sink, making one more inclined to use the product and providing easier access to it.

The soap itself is a pearlescent pink/purple color that is entirely smooth. It is unsurprisingly thick, as it is a hand soap. This is far more of a gel than a liquid, less like a shampoo than a hand cream. To dispense the soap, simply press down on the top of the pump and have a hand below the spout to catch the fluid as it is released!

I am no expert on what “Calypso Berry” is supposed to be. The bottle has a picture of blackberries and raspberries on it, but it smells much more like a medicinal shampoo than anything fruity. In fact, it smells very much like Head & Shoulders dandruff shampoo than berries. The fruit scent is more of an afterscent than a primacy aroma.

To use the Calypso Berry Anti-Bacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap, simply apply it to your moistened hands and agitate into a lather. This hand soap has excellent lathering capabilities, at least when I've applied a little water to my hands after the soap is already dispensed. The soap lathers quickly but has no grit to clean away deeper dirt. After use, though, my hands did not smell like cleaners or dog waste, which was nice.

Once ones hands are clean, this soap washes easily away, again because of the excellent lathering quality of the soap. The Calypso Berry washes off fast and completely with only about five seconds of a heavy stream of water pushing it!

As well, it does not leave a significant scent on the skin. That’s nice considering how the scent is more medicinal than fruity.

The soap also does not leave behind is any sort of residue or feeling of being anything but perfectly clean. This soap leaves my hands clean and feeling clean, never dry or brittle for my skin. As winter has approached and the temperature drops this autumn, I have been very attentive to my skin and this has kept my skin clean and moisturized well enough without feeling the need to use any form of hand lotion or the like.

Calypso Berry Anti-Bacterial Moisturizing Hand Soap is good, but considering how Bath & Body Works trades on memorable scents, it is somewhat harder to recommend this variety, especially at full price.

For other Bath & Body Works anti-bacterial products, please visit my reviews of:
Warm Apple Cider Hand Gel
Scary Cats (Black Cherry) Hand Gel
Plumeria Hand Gel

5.5/10

For other health and beauty product reviews, please visit my index page by clicking here!

© 2012 W.L. Swarts. May not be reprinted without permission.
| | |

No comments:

Post a Comment