Aromatically Artificially Sweet!

Venus aromatic bath salts are the first bath salt product I have used here on Eden Fantasy's. To say the least this was actually a pleasurable experience overall. Venus bath salts are intended to invigorate your senses while helping condition your skin with Dead Sea salt minerals and aiding in relieving stress and muscle aches. With a generous 16oz container of aromatic salt, there is certainly enough to have many relaxing baths with your favorite scent. The directions are as simple as dropping a few teaspoons in the bath tub, however there is nothing included for you to measure with. You can use any means you like to measure the salt out, whether a kitchen measuring spoon or any kind of scoop.

If you were to follow the directions exactly, you will measure out 3 teaspoons (1 tablespoon) of salt and add it to the running water as you are filling the bath tub. In the 16oz container there is about 32 tablespoons of salt, so in theory 32 baths according to the intended directions. However, I find this is not enough for me personally; I like to use at least 2 tablespoons per bath, which generally costs $1.12 per bath for a 16oz container. Depending on the type of person you are, you can use this product however you like, I generally limit it to one bath with Venus Bath Salts every 1 - 2 weeks. This generally makes the product last longer, and I don't get bored with it this way.

This product is actually a mixture of 50% Dead Sea salt and also 50% Mediterranean Sea salt according to the product website. The benefits and difference between Dead Sea salt and other Sea salts are that it has a variety of natural minerals that are healthy for your body, in moderation of course. This is definitely not the cheapest of bath salts around for the limited ingredients inside. I have seen other all natural bath salts that are slightly cheaper with a lot more exotic ingredients and moisturizers inside that overall offer more health benefits. Finally this product is for external use only, please do not ingest any (or season your food with it, yuck!).

Here is the list of ingredients from the packaging:

Dead Sea Salt (Magnesium chloride 32%)
Potassium Chloride (22%)
Sodium Chloride (7%)
Calcium Chloride (0.45%)
Sodium Bromide (0.2%)
Fragrance (Sadly fragrance can mean many things)

May also contain:
fd&c yellow 3, fd&c blue 1 and fd&c red 3.

There is not much to go into detail on these bath salts as far as the texture goes. All the salt inside the container varies in size from tiny pieces to larger rocky pieces much like in a bag of rock salt. I have the "Mandarin Mango" scent and the salt is colored much like a mandarin orange(on the inside). There is a slight dampness inside the container from the coloring on the salt, but the salt manages to keep separated rather than clumping and sticking together. Measuring is easy whether you use your fingers, a scoop or just pour it out. Once the salt comes into contact with the water, within seconds all the coloring is immediately removed and mixes in with the water. Depending on how much salt vs. water you add, the water color will range from a light orange to a richer deeper color. I did find that grabbing the salt with my hands did leave a light orange color stain on my hand. This washed off in the bath water however, so be careful not to let the salt come into direct contact with your clothes.

Even though this product has fragrance and coloring in it, I love the fact that there is no slimy feeling or residue on my skin during and after use. Another great benefit is that no scum or film (skin) forms in or on the water as a result of the ingredients. The consistency of the bath water really doesn't seem to change, however I do notice that my skin will start feeling softer fairly quickly. This is most likely a result of the minerals and the water itself. After my long soak in this bath salt, I personally like to rinse off, however I will point out my skin did not feel like it had any residue or any unpleasant feeling to it such as oily or greasy. On a final note, you might have some pebbles and rocks that are mixed in with the salt, since they are derived from the Sea, this is bound to happen.

Here are two pictures I have included, one up close of the salt in the container and the second picture of about 1 tablespoon mixed into a small bowl. Unfortunately I could not get my camera to focus and function correctly for the second picture of the salt water in the bowl so the picture isn't of my normal high quality I like.

Because this product is for external use only, I will not taste it. Even taking multiple baths I have been fortunate to not taste it while soaking. The taste I imagine would be very unpleasant with this strong fragrance that is accompanied with it. Okay moving on, there seems to be a lot of hit and miss going on with the fragrance of Venus products from other reviews I have seen (including one of my own). The bath salts I chose are the "Mandarin Mango" scented. I feel so conflicted with this aroma, I also have this in the Venus Body Scrub and I really do not like it in that product. In the bath salts product the aroma is very similar, but much more pleasant overall. Every time I open the container I am slapped in the face with an almost overwhelming aroma of sweet artificial smelling citrus/mandarin salt. To me personally it is far from a natural smell, and the mango I cannot pick up on at all. I think the salt and mandarin overpower the mango, not allowing it to bleed through.

Now as far as the aroma goes in the bath tub, it is quite different. With or without the bathroom door closed, when I add this salt to the bath tub as it's running, it mixes with the steam and fills the entire bathroom with a mild but pleasant scent. I would describe it more as a light watery sweet artificial citrus aroma. Artificial is not necessarily always bad, I don't mind some artificial scents if they are done right. Now soaking in the tub the water and aroma is not overwhelming at all, I find it relaxing and soothing. I think it really helps that the scent is mixed in with the water and steam, dispersing more evenly. After a good 30 minute soak in the tub, I usually dry off without rinsing, but have also rinsed off afterwards once or twice. In both cases, I find that the scent only sticks around on my skin for a very short time, maybe 30 minutes then it is no longer detectable. The bathroom will stay filled with the aroma for probably a good 3-5 hours (it's a small bathroom). Overall the aroma isn't all that bad, what counts is how it smells when you are soaking in it and also after your bath.

Even though this was my first bath salt product from Eden Fantasy's, I have used others before. I feel this one performs actually rather nicely compared to some more expensive and cheaper ones. However this is far from the best performing bath salt I have used before. This particular product is supposed to moisturize your skin; however I find that it actually dries my skin out more (after soaking). This is common in most bath salts that I have used in the past. So generally you need to apply additional moisturizer after the bath salt soak to keep your skin from drying out. I feel it does seem to make my skin feel and look healthier, especially in combination with other products like a body polish/scrub. Soaking in the tub with these bath salts feels very nice and relaxing, I quite enjoy it and my skin feels great in the water as well. While there is no yucky residue on my skin afterwards, I do prefer to rinse off under the shower head, and also rinse down the tub. I feel to really enjoy this product in its performance; you should probably soak at least once a week, maybe twice. The minerals will be more beneficial overall and keep your skin healthier. But not everyone can afford to buy products like this that often.

Venus Bath salts come in a basic plastic container with a black screw on cover. The plastic container is recyclable number 1 (Pete), this is good because it can very easily be recycled. The cover is easy to remove with 2 hands but I feel just using 1 hand is near impossible. The container is 16oz, so fairly large and traveling with it will take up a lot of room. I'd suggest transferring salt into a smaller travel friendly container if you want to use it lets say in a hotel. There is an ingredient list and directions on how to use the product, also a website address and a warning to keep out of reach of children. The container is solid, I have dropped it a couple of times and it has not cracked or broken, odors do not seem to seep from the container when it is closed.

To me, this is a discreet container because there is nothing really on the label to suggest anything sexual or naughty, there is just a simple explanation as to what the product is and how to use it. If you are looking to keep this discreet then I suggest transferring it to another unlabeled container or simply hide it. On the subject of the label, I find it nice that no matter how much water has come into contact with it that it is not deteriorating at all. I think this would make a great gift to someone who generally enjoys this type of product, just try to find out in advance what scents they like.

-Dead Sea salt minerals that are beneficial to the body, however to get the full benefit you would probably need to use the whole container for each soaking. Still, every little bit helps.

-16oz is enough to last quite some time if you follow the suggested amount of salt per use.

-Safety features include; "No GMOs / No Petrochemicals / No Phthalates / No Triclosan / Parabens free."

Overall I actually have enjoyed this product much more than I expected. I first used the mandarin mango body scrub by Venus and did not enjoy that one all that much. It wasn't terrible, but the fragrance was pretty bad and ruined the experience. My opinion is that this is not that bad of a product that is more suited for the average user. People who like 100% natural exotic expensive bath salts will probably find this product cheap and not worth it. The scent is probably the main feature of this product that is its downfall for many people from reviews I have read on their other products. It definitely smells strong and artificial, but as I mentioned this is not necessarily always a bad thing if you don't mind artificial smells. This is a more basic bath salt in comparison to something that has more involved ingredients for relaxing and moisturizing. I suggest in order to get the most relaxing and stress relief out of using these bath salts that you light some candles, turn off the lights and play some relaxing and soothing music. Everyone deserves some down time to just relax and be stress free!

Before I even used these bath salts, my skin was often rough and didn't look very healthy (it didn't look terrible however). Now that I have been using the Venus bath salts, I have noticed significant changes in the overall appearance of my skin tone. Even my fiancée has noticed the change; my skin just seems to have a more natural healthy look to it in comparison to what it looked like. I have also found these bath salts to really help with muscle aches and a sore back. One particular day I came home from work with a very sore lower back, because it was muscle related pain a hot bath with this product helped to reduce the pain and relax me. It has been working great as a stress relief also accompanied with some relaxing and calming music.