Smell Like Summer

If you've got dry skin or are blessed with naturally soft skin, lotion is just one of those things that should be part of a morning or evening routine. It helps keep skin hydrated and soft. What's better than soft skin? Soft skin that smells good, of course! Cake's Supreme Body Mousse is one of those products that's two things in one. It's an amazingly hydrating lotion plus it's fragrant enough to double as a perfume. The sweet smell of Desserted Island will have you feeling like you're on vacation all day long while working to make your skin the softest you've ever felt it.

Body Mousse can be used by males and females. That being said, the packaging and scent is geared toward the female set. For the guys, if you don't mind smelling sweet and having a girly looking lotion, there's no reason you can't get in on the soft skin train as well.

Cake advertises like mad that they don't use parabens in their products. While this is true, they do use a host of other ingredients that may cause irritation for some people. Make sure to check the ingredient list for possible interactions.

In all my Cake reviews, I've mentioned that I think the "Body Mousse" title is a little misleading. Mousse always reminds me of the dessert mousse which is that whipped up texture. This isn't whipped like a whipped cream or mousse. It's a lightweight lotion. Some lotions can be thick and go on heavy. This is not that lotion.

Cake lotion comes out of the squeeze bottle easily. It's not runny, but you can tell right away that it's more lightweight than many of it's lotion counterparts. It just somehow looks a little less heavy than other lotions. It is thick enough not to drip if held upside down on the hand. Here you can see it in my hand right side up and upside down for reference:





It applies like regular lotion, but doesn't leave a lotion-y gross feeling. There's no greasy after feeling or sticky skin. You will know you have lotion on for about five or ten minutes after you apply it. After that period you are left with soft skin and no lotion feel. In other words, it absorbs quickly.

Cake describes Desserted Island as "Tahitian coconut and vanilla" scented. "The Ultimate Island Fix" is the tag line on the back. I'm not exactly sure what the scent difference is between a Tahitian coconut and a regular coconut to say if this smells more like a Tahitian coconut or a regular one, but it does smell like coconut. I've smelled real coconuts in Hawaii and to be honest, as I remember they didn't smell like much. It's only coconut juice that really has a scent to it. The coconut that I smell in Desserted Island smells somewhere in between real coconut juice and the synthetic coconut smell you find in "coconut" scented things. I hate the artificial coconut smell like what you find in most body products and some food items. This doesn't smell too much like that. It's there a little, but for the most part it smells like real coconut. The coconut is the strongest of the scents in Desserted Island.

After you smell the coconut, you'll notice a warm undertone of vanilla. It's not nearly as strong as the coconut and you kinda have to pay attention to catch it. It almost melds in with the coconut to create the Desserted Island smell - a smell unto itself. If you know it's there and look - well, smell - for it, you'll notice the warm scent of vanilla under the coconut. This, like the coconut, smells like real vanilla and not cheap artificial vanilla scented things.

Desserted Island is infused with Mango butter and Macadamia nut. These can be smelled ever so slightly, less than the vanilla. It adds an additional layer to the scent.

Desserted Island combines to make it's own complex smell. If I had to say what it might smell like, my closest guess would be one of those lotions you apply if you go tanning. To me, those smell like summer and sun. So this smells like summer and sun and spending time at the beach.

The scent is strong! It is sweet and can be overpowering. I get migraines but generally they are triggered by heavy scents (think Chanel no5 or Couture Couture). If left in a small, unventilated room with this scent, it will trigger a mild headache for me. Those sensitive to sweet smells will probably want to avoid this one. There is an unscented version called UnSweet for those who are scent sensitive.

After the initial hit of fragrance, the scent comes down a little to a milder version. This milder version lasts for hours. If I apply it before bed I can smell it on me well into the next day. If applied in the morning, I can smell it until around 3pm. If you wear no perfume, this could double as one due to the long lasting ability of the scent. If you have a perfume similar to the scent, this would be great for layering. If you have a perfume that clashes with the scent, you might want to get the UnSweet. This lotion has some staying power!

I'm picky about lotions. I have skin sensitivities. Not so much in terms of having issues with ingredients, but I'm touch sensitive. If something leaves my skin feeling even a little gross I can't use it. While I have loved many lotions for making my skin soft, I have hated even more for making my skin feel yucky. Philosophy lotion was my favorite in terms of skin softness but I just couldn't ever use it because I felt like I was sweating all day from the greasy after feeling. After that, I gave up on lotion.

Cake's Body Mousse is a different breed of lotion. The lightweight formula combines the best of both lotion worlds. It performs in hydrating ability but doesn't leave a residue. Let's discuss hydration first.

When I apply this, my skin is instantly softer. I use the Milk Made Shower Cream to provide a good base for my skin. After that, I apply this lotion. My skin feels literally like a baby's bottom. After trying many high end lotions I can safely say this one is the best. It hydrates and smooths the skin. It applies a nice layer of product and absorbs quickly and easily. Not only that, but the feeling lasts. My skin is soft all day with no need to reapply. In fact, I can skip a day or two and still have soft skin. My husband has gotten sick of having to touch my skin to see how soft it is.

Best of all, my skin doesn't feel gross. For about five or ten minutes I know I have lotion on. Even then, it is not a heavy feeling. It's light weight, more like a thin layer than a caked greasy feeling. A short period of time later, it is totally gone and I cannot feel a thing. No greasy, sweaty, disgusting after lotion skin.

What kinda sucks is that if you use a lot of product (which apparently I must), the bottle doesn't seem to last that long. I used about a quarter of a bottle in a one or two week time span. My estimation is that at the rate I use this lotion one bottle should last about one month. At the price, that means one month supply is $22. That's a lot of money for lotion. I've started to be more mindful of how much I use, but I much prefer to just use how much I want. It would be nice to have the option of a larger size. I think not having to buy some every month would make me feel a little better somehow.

There is no packaging other than the bottle it comes in. The front says "Cake Desserted Island" and "Supreme Body Mousse" in French and English. Everything is in French and English since Cake is based in Canada. It says "infused with mango butter and aloe vera." The back has a little blurb about the scent, the ingredient list, and ways to get in touch with Cake.

In case you missed the first picture, here it is again (along with a photo of the back of the bottle):





The packaging on these is super cute. I love the font on "Cake" with the cute scripting. I know that's a silly thing to like, but it adds a girly touch.

So here's where we touch on the ingredients.

Aqua/Eau, Glycerin, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Cetyl alcohol, Stearic acid, Sunflower (Helianthus annuss) seed oil, Cocos nucifera (coconut oil), Macadamia integrifolia seed oil, Mangifera indica (Mango) seed butter, PEG-100 stearate, Glyceryl stearate, Ceteareth-20, Cetearyl alcohol, Isopropyl palmiate, Dimethicone, Vitamin E (tocopheryl acetate), Aloe barbadensis leaf juice, Parfum (Fragrance), Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol, Sorbic acid, Carbomer, Triethanolamine, Bezophenone-3, Tetrasodium EDTA, DMDM Hydantoin, CI 15985 (Yellow6), CI 16035 (Red 40)

This is the list as pulled from Eden's product page. On the bottle DMDM Hydantoin, CI 15985 (Yellow6), and CI 16035 (Red 40) are not listed as ingredients. I figured I would keep them there just in case since I'm not 100% sure which listing is most accurate. I would guess that the one on the bottle is.

Glycerin - Colorless, odorless liquid. Improves smoothness.

Caprylic/Capric triglyceride - Liquid made from coconut oil. Slows the loss of water from the skin.

Cetyl alcohol - Organic alcohol. An opacifier.

Stearic acid - Saturated fatty acid. Lubrication.

PEG-100 stearate - Esters of polyethylene glycol and stearic acid. Clean the skin and hair by helping water to mix with oil and dirt so that they can be rinsed away.

Glyceryl stearate - Esterification products of glycerin and stearic acid. Acts as lubricant on skin's surface.

Ceteareth-20 - Liquids to waxy solids. Help to form emulsions by reducing the surface tension of the substances to be emulsified.

Cetearyl alcohol - White, waxy solid. Keep an emulsion from separating into its oil and liquid components.

Isopropyl palmiate - Palm oil emollient. Moisturizer and thickening agent.

Dimethicone - Silicone. Skin protectant.

Phenoxyethanol - Glycol ether. Preservative.

Caprylyl Glycol - Plant derived or synthetic. Skin conditioning agent.

Sorbic Acid - Natural organic acid. Preservative.

Carbomer - A series of polymers primarily made from acrylic acid. Used to keep oil and liquid from separating.

Triethanolamine - Clear, colorless, viscous liquids with ammonia-like odor. Used so that oil soluble and water soluble ingredients can be used together.

Bezophenone-3 - Powders. Protect cosmetics and personal care products from deterioration by absorbing, reflecting, or scattering UV rays.

Tetrasodium EDTA - Chelating agent. Used to sequester and decrease the reactivity of metal ions that may be present in a product.

DMDM Hydantoin - Antimicrobial formaldehyde releaser preservative. Preservative.

As always, I wouldn't mind the ingredient list nearly as much if Cake didn't go on and on about being paraben free and natural. That's not a nice ingredient list by any stretch of the means. That's fine and all. People can decide if they're okay with that or not. Just don't pretend you're using all natural and great for you ingredients.

If you don't mind the ingredients and aren't sensitive to sweet smells, you won't find a better lotion out there than Cake's Body Mousse. For those that are more sensitive, grab the UnSweet. It has less ingredients (though still some nasty ones) and no scent or color. If you like sweeter smells, Desserted Island is a good pick. There's also It's A Slice which is orange and vanilla scented.

My introduction to Desserted Island was in the Plane Travel Kit. I used the body wash first and I gotta say, the scent was pretty bad. The wash smelled more like artificial coconut and had no vanilla to cut it. Since I'm not a huge fan of coconut, it wasn't something I was a fan of. I almost never opened the Desserted Island Body Mousse. I decided that one day I might like to review the Travel Kit though.

Knowing my husband loves coconut, I applied this Mousse one evening that I knew we would be, er, spending some time together. The first thing I noticed was that, unlike the shower gel, this smelled less artificial had had more vanilla in it. It was much more pleasing to my nose than the gel. When my husband walked it he immediately asked what I was wearing. He then proceeded to pretty much jump on me. Well, score one for Desserted Island! I used it a few more times in the trial size kit with the same good reaction from my husband. I don't think any perfume I've had has ever gotten such good results. I decided the larger size of this was a must. It went on my Christmas list and the lovely wetone123 was nice enough to pick it up for me! (Thanks! I'm always appreciative of a present, but especially of those that get my husband to jump on me!!)

While this isn't my personal favorite scent, my husband's reaction to it has it growing on me. I use it at night when I think we'll be spending time together or I want to spend time together, if you follow my meaning. During the day, I use the UnSweet. The small headache I sometimes get is well worth the reaction that follows. I just make sure to keep the room well ventilated and that keeps the headache to a minimal level.

The performance of this is really where the Body Mousse shines. This is the best lotion ever. I cannot say enough about it. I will never change lotions. All my other lotions are officially junked.