Dona body polish - scrub discontinued by System JO - review by Apirka

Left with scaly, rough skin after winter's passing? Grab a tub of Dona by Jo's affordable Body Polish! There are six different "scents" to choose from, all of which are named for the aphrodisiac it is infused with, not its actual scent. Each Dona product is natural and paraban, petro. derivative and cruelty free.

Ingredient list for the Camu Camu Body Polish:
Sodium Chloride, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Oil, Glycine Soja Wax, Isopropyl Myristate, Modified Corn Starch, Sodium Lauryl Sarcosinate, Cetyl Palmitate, Sorbitan Palmitate, Sorbitan Olivate, Cetearyl Olivate, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed, Laminaria Digitata (Algae), Passiflora Edulis (Passion Fruit), Oriza Sativa (Rice), Orbignya Oleifera (Babassu), Euterpe Oleracea (Açaí) oils, Luffa Cylindrica, Myrciaria Dubia (Camu Camu) Fruit Powder, Fragrance

Ingredient list for the Mangosteen Body Polish:
Sodium Chloride, Carthamus Tinctorius (Safflower) Oil, Glycine Soja Wax, Isopropyl Myristate, Modified Corn Starch, Sodium Lauryl Sarcosinate, Cetyl Palmitate, Sorbitan Palmitate, Sorbitan Olivate, Cetearyl Olivate, Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Vitis Vinifera (Grape) Seed, Laminaria Digitata (Algae), Passiflora Edulis (Passion Fruit), Oriza Sativa (Rice), Orbignya Oleifera (Babassu), Euterpe Oleracea (Açaí) oils, Coffea Arabica (Coffee) Seed, Garcinia Mangostana (Mangosteen) Fruit, Fragrance

In the jar, the Body Polish is very thick and does not move around in the tub. It is also a bit stiff when sticking your fingers into it, which prevents you from scooping up too much. At first, it feels a bit oily and gritty until you rub it across your skin. It spreads easily and feels thin and greasy as you scrub your skin with it. It does stay on the skin, so rinsing thoroughly with water and/or a washcloth is needed to remove it from the skin.

Obviously I used the Mangosteen Body Polish before taking these photos:

The Mangosteen has more oil in it than the Camu Camu; you can see the oil in my finger scoop marks:

Both the Mangosteen and Camu Camu Body Polishes smell quite strong in the container. The scent is still fairly strong while using; after rinsing and toweling off, the scent remains very faintly on skin if you do not wash with soap or body wash after scrubbing.

The Mangosteen smells like a citrus and tropical fruit smoothie. To me, the Camu Camu smells like play dough and those shortbread cookies in tins or cardboard boxes available during the winter holidays.

This is an external-use only product, do not ingest; I didn't taste it, neither should you. Also, because of its gritty nature and fragrance, this should be kept away from naughty bits, otherwise irritation could occur.

Both the Mangosteen and Camu Camu Body Polishes have a bit of oil in them, which can be felt on the skin. Though the Camu Camu seems to have a bit less of an oily feel than the Mangosteen. Both scooped up rather easily and spread across my skin well. The polishes offer up a more gentle scrub and dissolve rather quickly, though the Camu Camu didn't dissolve quite as quickly as the Mangosteen polish. Both left quite a bit of oil on my skin after rinsing off. If you do not like the feeling of an oil moisturizer on you skin, simply suds up with your preferred cleanser. The Mangosteen is oilier than the Camu Camu, so after rinsing and toweling off, it does leave the skin a bit softer feeling. Both products left my tub slick, which required a scrubbing after each use.

The Dona Body Polish arrives in Eden's standard plastic bag used to ship liquid and spill-able products. The polish's 9.5oz tub has a black screw off lid and an orange label with black lace print on top. The label lists the product name, "scent", brief instructions, ingredient list and addresses for System Jo. The entire package is discreet and would make a nice gift.

When it comes to body scrubs, I like 'em rough! I prefer products that offer up a gritty, grease-less scrub that doesn't leave a mess in my tub. Sadly, the Dona Body Polishes don't quite fit the bill.

The Mangosteen Body Polish is quite a bit oilier than the Camu Camu. That could be a good thing or a bad thing, depending on how you look at it. Good in that, after rinsing and toweling off, the Mangosteen will provide more moisture to the skin. Bad in that that moisture might be too much for those who don't like oily skin products. Even though the Camu Camu is quite a bit less oily than the Mangosteen, it still left my tub just as slick. I had to scrub it out after every single use of these products.

Neither offered a very good, deep and rough scrub like I like. The Mangosteen's scrubbies dissolved very quickly, the Camu Camu's lasted just a little bit longer. Though because these aren't very harsh scrubs, they could probably be used daily without irritation.

If you have sensitive skin, I would definitely stay away from the Mangosteen. I don't have sensitive skin, yet the Mangosteen made my skin burn (especially between my fingers) and I had to quickly rinse it off after scrubbing. The Camu Camu only left my skin feeling a bit warm (mostly on the tops of my hands) if I let it sit for too long on my skin. Thankfully, neither product caused any other irritation or blotches. The only burning I experienced was short-lived and subsided when I rinsed the product off. Reading through the ingredients, I'm not sure what caused my irritation. I do not have allergies or sensitive skin. The only products that have ever given me trouble are those that have very high concentrations of Mandarin Orange or Almond oils/extracts.

As I said above, the polish leaves an oily residue on skin after rinsing. You can towel this off and you'll be left with softly scented and moisturized skin. However, if you don't like the feeling of oil moisturizers on you skin, simply wash with soap or body wash to remove the oil. Though that will remove the "moisturizing" aspect of the product. The product also leaves quite a bit of residue on surfaces, enough where I had to spray some cleaner onto my tub floor and scrub it after each use of the body polish.

All in all, I'm a bit torn on whether or not I would recommend this product to others. It is affordable and actually one of the cheapest scrubs that Eden offers. But it is much too oily feeling for me and doesn't provide a rough enough scrub for my tastes. Plus the burning (and not knowing what ingredient is causing it) is definitely a negative. If you like more gentle scrubs that can be used daily and don't have sensitive skin (or know that nothing in the product will cause any irritation), then go for it! As for me, I'll grudgingly use up what I have left and stay away from this polish in the future.