I'm in Love with Alba Botanica's Coconut Milk Cream Body Wash

Tamatha

This winter I have been feeling particularly dried out. Even though I was using a moisturizing body wash, I was still finding that parts of my skin would feel uncomfortably dry in the short time between when I walked out of the shower and when I moisturized. Since I was getting low on body wash and was going to need new stuff soon, I decided to look for something even more moisturizing when I made my weekly pilgrimage to the local natural food store last weekend.

I looked at a few options, but wasn't feeling like any of them would be more moisturizing than the body wash I was already using. And then I looked at the pricier Alba Botanica Hawaiian body washes.

I picked up the Coconut Milk Cream Body Wash. They had me at "made especially for dry skin types", "creamy, non-foaming", and "enriched with coconut and aloe." I popped the lid to see if it smelled nice, and was pleasantly surprised that the coconut scent was more subtle than I was expecting. I decided to splurge and see if it was as magical as I was hoping. (It's $10.50 for 7 ounces, whereas the other shower gels are more like $8.50 for 12 ounces or even 18 ounces.)

Usually, I make sure to finish my current product before allowing myself to start the new one (otherwise, I'd have a house filled with near empty bottles, and that's no way to live), but given the aforementioned dryness, I decided to try the Coconut Milk Cream Body Wash right away (I'll just finish my previous wash when spring arrives).

I poured some of the body wash onto my washcloth, which turned out to be a mistake. They aren't kidding when they say that it doesn't foam. It felt like the body wash was simply absorbed into the washcloth. OK, new strategy--apply by hand. This is not my preferred method of washing my body at all. Perhaps I'm unusually inflexible, but I don't know how people who do this usually can get their backs washed properly!

The next day, I figured out a workable, no-washcloth solution. I decided to use my bath brush, which seemed like a win-win, because I'd be exfoliating and moisturizing at the same time, for extra smooth skin. Ladies and gentlemen, I have found dry winter skin nirvana! My skin feels so fabulous when my shower is over, I can't even tell you how wonderful it is. I'm almost tempted to see if I can skip the post-shower moisturizing. The dry patches on my upper arms have disappeared. The area between my shoulder blades aren't painfully tight minutes after my shower is over. My skin feels glorious.

My only complaint is that because this stuff doesn't foam, I do think you use more of it, to make sure that all of your body is getting moisturized and cleaned. I'm constantly putting a little more body wash on my brush (it was the same on the one day I used just my hands, lots of going back for more). And since this body wash is more expensive than the other options available at my local natural food store, that's unfortunate. But given the results, I think I will make my peace with needing to spend a bit more money during the winter for the benefits of dry skin relief.

So my advice to you, my lovelies, is if you've been feeling dry this winter, give Alba Botanica's Coconut Milk Cream Body Wash a try.

(And yes, between my coconut milk body wash and pineapple face scrub, it's a miracle I don't walk out of the shower each morning and decide to start my day with a pina colada.)

8 out of 8 tentacles because even though I think it's a little pricey, and I'm going to need to buy it more frequently than other body washes, this stuff really does moisturize your skin!

Rating: 8/8 tentacles