Organic body souffle - lotion discontinued by Intimate Organics - review by Owl Identified

Intimate Organics is just a fabulous company. Foot lotion, massage balm, oil, I have been impressed over and over with the decadent quality, the affordable price and the sweet, natural and yet complex fragrances of these products. In my experience with these awesome lotions and potions, I've found this brand's quality a near constant...with the single, needling exception that is this Body Souffle.

The loyal customer in me hesitates to say anything bad about this stuff. I know that compared to so many other moisturizers, this cream stands far above the pack. And yet when compared to the other moisturizers and body products in the Intimate Organics line, the Body Souffle falls far short of the excellence I've come to expect. In light of this it's impossible for me to be anything but, well, underwhelmed.

I chose the Cocoa Bean & Goji Berry scent for my Body Souffle - of the three scents offered by Intimate Organics, this is probably the most popular. Though I've heard rave reviews of this scent's strong chocolate overtones, I have never found it particularly chocolatey - and I have sampled this fragrance in quite a few incarnations from the Souffle to the Massage Oil and so on. I do get a very powerful and distinct hit of cocoa butter, which is saltier, more nutty and fattier than processed chocolate. Unlike some of the other scent duos in this line, the secondary scent can be easily detected and compliments the primary scent nicely. The collision of the salty, heavy cocoa bean and the sweet, light punch of the goji berry creates a wonderful give and take. Together in the Body Souffle they remind me a bit of butterscotch, though it's not uncommon from what I understand for the smell and color to vary a bit from batch to batch.

Truly, I really do enjoy this smell although I've had many people crinkle their nose at me and say things like "What...are you eating candy? What...is that?" The probably isn't that the aroma is bad but rather that in the Body Souffle it's a whole lot stronger than other IO products. The amount I need to cover my body from my legs up to my arms gives me a bad headache unless I go out into the open air immediately after. This has not been the case for the massage balm or the massage oil. However, once I get out and about, walking around, the smell fades and I get fewer people crinkling their noses.

Still, I hate to feel as if I'm running from the shadow of some awful stench cloud hovering over my person. Should a fragrance you deliberately put on your body be the kind of thing you need to "walk off"? In any case, if you are prone to headaches, don't like strong, sweet smells or particularly complex smells, you may want to stay away from this one. I have to stress that I do enjoy this scent. Still, it's quite powerful and whether or not it's going to give me a migraine is a gamble that depends on how fast I can get outside and "air out."

One point where the Body Souffle excels is in keeping to its namesake claim. This Body Souffle is one of the few like-titled products I've tried that actually has that souffle quality to it - it spreads on heavy and rich, but somehow it is miraculously light and whipped in consistency straight out of the bottle. I wish I understood the science of it, but I'll just settle for rubbing it between my palms in awe for now. I also can't get over how beautiful this cream looks; it's opaque and slightly iridescent, a soft, pearly yellow that borders on an off-white, the color of elegant, old sun damaged wall paper. Swirled into the delicate yellow are whisps of the lightest and almost imperceptible salmon pinks. The texture and visual aspect of this stuff is pretty stunning, and is honestly the apex of the Souffle's merits for me.

This vegan, cruelty-free cream comes in a 5 fluid ounce tube with a plastic screw off cap that tightly seals it closed. I'd like to note that this vegan and "organic" cream is not actually organic, though it does contain a few organic ingredients. The majority of the ingredients used for this, however, are unutterable emollients and can scarcely be called natural, let alone all natural or organic.

As I mentioned early the cream does spread on nice and thick, and has a really luxurious and rich feel to it...for the first 30 seconds. Unfortunately it absorbs very rapidly, which I absolutely hate. Some folks strongly dislike lingering oils on their skin after the application of a moisturizer, but actually prefer this as I have very dry skin. However, even for those that like their lotion there one minute and rubbed away the next, this does absorb too quickly to be practical. I have often had the trouble of it absorbing in one spot before I had the chance to smooth it out over an entire area. If you can spread it out fast enough, you can actually get pretty economic coverage with this stuff - you just need to be quick!

Perhaps what is least tolerable to me is the awful residue left on my skin afterward. It's not slick, like an enduring film of oil. It's ...waxy and it tends to leave my hands and feet damp and clammy. After the lotion is absorbed fully into my skin there remains a heaviness and a kind of stubborn friction when I rub my hand over a recently moisturized forearm or thigh. All I can say is that is just feels plain weird. Any and all of this lotion's finer points are nullified at this point in the application. My mind is consumed with the icky feeling on my skin.

For a nice whipped lotion that doesn't leave you too oily and has that light yet rich texture, I would highly recommend any of the Jimmyjane lotions like Beyond Euphoric or the Beyond Cooling. These lotions hit all of the high notes of the Intimate Organics Body Souffle without the overwhelming scent or post-application wax membrane from hell.

This stuff sits on my dresser and every now and again when I get dry elbows and just need a quick moisturizer sesh, I pick this up. And - of course - every time I pick this up I am reminded how weird it feels, how generally unremarkable its moisturizing properties are and how disappointed I am with Intimate Organics! This is virtually the only product I have tried from them (and I've tried most of their stuff!) that I don't like. It's not that it's a TERRIBLE lotion. It's just so...painfully average. And for a company that is so wonderful? I cannot forgive its mediocrity! I am praying this little tube will get sucked into a black hole or something so I don't have to use the remaining bits...