i got slightly irritated with bath & body works recently, so i decided that i’d poke around and try some new products when i ran out of my B&BW stuff. up until then i’d been using B&BW shower gel, body lotion, liquid hand soap, foot scrub, and foot cream.
i bought a few things from LUSH, but on the whole i wasn’t really impressed. i bought the chai shower gel (all together now: duh!) and the potion body moisturizer, and i’m not really enjoying either one. the chai shower gel doesn’t really smell right to me at all, and i like my shower gel to lather more than this one does. the potion comes highly recommended online (i’ve seen people rave about it in several places), but i find it too greasy/thin and the fragrance too perfume-y. i also bought the "t tree simplex" lip balm, but i can’t get past the smell to even give it a fair shot. it’s sickeningly sweet, which baffles me, because i’m the kind of person who eats frosting right out of the bowl. anyway, i’m starting to sound like a real cranky person, so allow me to say that i think i do like the pied de pepper foot cream. but 1 out of 4 isn’t really good enough odds for me, so i decided to try other brands.
i bought a pile of vegan shower gel and lotion for my grandma and my mother-in-law around mother’s day, and as a result of spending a lot of money at the body shop, i ended up getting some samples of their shower gel thrown in for free. i got 2 small bottles of papaya, and the smell is awesome, but again, i’m not totally happy with the low-lather-tendency. also currently in my shower: JASON body wash, which my husband uses. i like it, but seriously, i must have a lather issue. heh.
after learning of a big ol’ sale at a vegan-friendly soap (etc.) store near my house, i went on a tiny shopping spree on saturday, and bought a bunch of kiss my face products. almost all of their products are vegan, and it’s pretty easy to tell which ones aren’t, so it was nice to skip all the label-reading for once. i was also pleasantly surprised to learn that their prices are pretty darn good, especially for what i am used to paying for B&BW stuff. anyway, i ended up buying the early to rise shower gel, the lavender & shea butter ultra moisturizer, a bottle of their self-foaming hand soap in grapefruit & bergamot, and a moisture shave in key lime. we’ve been using their moisture shave (in cool mint) for months now, and i really like that a lot. and just for walking in during the big ol’ sale, i got a free sample bar of dr. bronner’s soap, in lavender. now i’m wondering what dr. bronner’s liquid soap might be like as a shower gel.
i do not yet have a lather report on the early to rise (still finishing up the papaya stuff), but i am happy to report that i have put the potion aside and started using the lavender & shea butter ultra moisturizer, and i love it. yay! i’ll start on the new hand soap probably in the next week or two as well.
while in the midst of my shopping spree, i also splurged on a bottle of this stuff for my cutie-patootie niece, who will be 1 next month. i thought it would be cute to put in with her birthday gift. it smells yummy.
vegan chai 
We’ve been using the Sudz body washes (they’re made by Kiss My Face) and they have a pretty good lather if you use them with one of those puffy bath things (what the hell are they called?).
I definitely understand your frustration with bath products. I can’t stand using soap anymore and need a decent shower gel. I don’t like the Lush stuff either. We once went into one of their stores and could barely stand to shop because the smells were so overpowering.
ooh, yes, i remember you saying you liked the sudz stuff! i haven’t been able to find those in a store yet, so i went with their “standard” body wash this time. i used the “early to rise” this morning and i think it’s okay, lather-wise. i will give it another shot tomorrow… have to get the amount just right, you know. heh.
i also forgot to mention in my original post that i’d like to try some alba products… i sniffed their passion fruit body wash and it smelled absolutely delicious.
i believe the bath dealie you’re talking about is called a poof. 🙂
I got the sudz at vegan essentials. It’s probably not the most luxurious stuff, but it works fine (and yes, that thing is called a poof). We like it because the scents aren’t too girly or too manly, so both V and I can use them. I will probably check out the Alba stuff the next time I see them.
I just bought some stuff from Lush – since I was too lazy to find a parking spot in Georgetown, I just ordered online. Hee. I’ll let you know if I like them or not…I am having a feeling that they are not as “sexy” as people make them out to be…
I actually LOVE the bath and body section of Whole Foods. I’ve not been very religious about remembering what products I’ve tried that I like, but there is an almond soap that smells delicious when you’re showering but leaves no afterstank.
I’m finishing off my bottle of A Perfect World lotion from Origins. I fear that it may not be vegan, which saddens me because it is my fave lotion of all time, and it would definitely be the one thing I would be sad to lose since going vegan. (I’m not going haywire and throwing out my leather goods all at once – as their lifespan comes to a close, I will discard…I sort of eased into becoming vegan in the first place, so I guess I wouldn’t call myself militant. I’m committed to living a vegan life now and forever, but I’m not going to throw away my former “sins” in one fell swoop…)
I don’t care for the Bath and Body Works products either…the strong lingering smells give me a headache.
You’ve given me an idea to keep a vegan journal of the products I find that I like especially – I love reading other people’s recommendations – maybe I could give a few back!
Thankee!