What are your favorite scented products besides perfume (candles, soaps, lotions, powders, etc.)?
One of my favorites is Alba Botanica Midnight Tuberose. It is an inexpensive line of shower and body products scented with an airy linden and jasmine perfume, similar to L’Artisan La Chasse aux Papillons. Among candles, these days I especially enjoy basil and mint scented Cire Trudon Abd el Kader, rose and iris laced Tocca Florence and Annick Goutal Le Sac de ma Mère.
Photo by La Grande Farmer’s Market via flickr.com, some rights reserved.
33 Comments
Isa: I recently disconvered the Fresh soaps line. I know they are largly known in USA but I couldn’t find them in Europe. As I spent some days in June in New York, I bought two big soap bars in the Fresh boutique: Patchouli and Citron de Vigne. Both are really good and the scents are very nice. August 22, 2011 at 9:58am
Isa: Ups, sorry. I meant “discovered”. August 22, 2011 at 9:58am
Suzanna: Claus Porto soaps–Voga (acacia tuberose) and Ilyria (honeysuckle) in particular and I use the soap and the liquid hand soap.
Whole Foods 365 soaps has a lovely lavender goat milk bar that is inexpensive and a fragrant delight.
Maria Evora, the black bar (carob) that is a wonderful complement to green fragrances like Bel Respiro.
I am never without No. 5 soap and almost the complete array of body products. August 22, 2011 at 10:57am
Elizabeth: I love L’Occitane’s Rose 4 Reines shower gel, and their rose-scented soap. Both have big, bright, fruity rose scents. I use Lush The Olive Branch shower gel as a shampoo: I love its citrus-floral scent. I also use Lush American Cream conditioner: A delicious benzoin-vanilla! August 22, 2011 at 10:59am
karin: I like ShiKai shower gels. Moisturizing, and great scents. Just bought their honeysuckle, which I hadn’t tried before. Nice! I also like the sandalwood, vanilla, and coconut. August 22, 2011 at 11:39am
dleep: This summer I have been enjoying the highly scented rice powders of La Bouquetiere. August 22, 2011 at 11:57am
Andy: I love to smell the bath products offered at hotels in my travels. I am used to but am not particularly fond of the rather imaginative (since neither have the floral green scent suggested by the products) “white tea aloe” scented products offered at Westin hotels. At one luxury hotel, Miller Harris products in fleur du matin were offered, a very nice touch. I appreciated their offering more high end products with such a lovely scent. My favorite scented products were at a resort in Virginia, the Kingsmill in Williamsburg, though. Theirs were a hops-inspired green scent which smelled so fresh and cool and clean. I love that fragrance so much! August 22, 2011 at 2:40pm
Cristine: When we were in Hawaii the hotel put a Malie Kauai vanilla-coconut scented fragrance diffuser in our room– it was wonderful! Very fragrant (I love coconut) you could smell it the moment you entered the room. The bottle is pretty, too, simply frosted glass with a small gold emblem on the front– no lettering. When I got home I bought one and keep it on my night table. Sometimes I can smell it out into the hallway. A little spendy, but worth the price. August 22, 2011 at 3:42pm
Nina Z: Shikai body washes are great. My favorite scent is the Yuzu. I think if you like Alba Botanica, you’ll like Shikai. August 22, 2011 at 4:26pm
Victoria: I love Fresh Soy Shampoo, which smells like Hermes Pamplemousse Rouge. August 22, 2011 at 12:57pm
Victoria: Got it! 🙂 August 22, 2011 at 12:57pm
Victoria: Suzanna, thank you for the WF 365 soap recommendation. I will definitely check it out. Whole Foods is the closest supermarket to our apartment. August 22, 2011 at 12:58pm
Victoria: I like those too! Rose 4 Reines body products make great layering lotions for Paris (Rose 4 Reines is itself pretty much a Paris knock off.) August 22, 2011 at 12:59pm
Victoria: Have never tried them, but the scents sound very good. August 22, 2011 at 12:59pm
Victoria: The idea of rice powders seems so appealing! August 22, 2011 at 12:59pm
sara: I love Alba Botanica Midnight Tuberose too. It costs next to nothing at Vitacost. Not a big fan of bar soap but the Porto ones smell great. And I like votivo and trapp candles! August 22, 2011 at 5:06pm
Parfumista: I really like the relaxing and refreshing “Myrtle eucalyptus” Bath & Shower from the old swedish colour and chemi-technical producer Herdins Färgverk in Falun. link: http://www.herdins.se/kroppsvard/bad–dusch__24
Smells very good, is well balanced, not expensive (about EUR 6), but not so easy to find in the stores. The Myrtle eucalyptus also helps to relieve any bad cold. August 22, 2011 at 3:21pm
Alnysie: I don’t use a lot. I think I might want to get a Feu de Bois candle from Dyptique for winter… I love the smell of firewood! August 22, 2011 at 10:27pm
Miss Conduct: Pacifica Mediterranean Fig body butter, Shikai sandalwood body lotion, and Suave Cocoa Butter body lotion are my favorite layering base lotions. I burn several of the Voluspa candles regularly, including Golden Cypress, Tabac Aurea, and Tuberosa di Notti. Their Black Figue and Chypre smells a lot like Ungaro Diva. This candle line is much less spendy than Diptyque but has great throw. Maduban Nag Champa Flora, Hem Frankincense, Triloka Sierra Cedar, and Incienso de Santa Fe piñon and juniper are my daily incenses. I’m pretty obsessed with things that smell good. August 22, 2011 at 11:13pm
Brooke: I love using Bain de Soleil Orange gelee sunscreen as a moisturizer on my arms and legs. The smell and texture are divine.
On a side note, I love Snuggle white lavender and sandalwood dryer sheets. I also enjoy the smell of Mrs. Meyers cleaning products in Geranium. August 23, 2011 at 1:11am
Julie: I’m a fan of Pacifica Spanish Amber body butter and Yves Rocher bath gel and body lotion in both Voile d’Ambre & Vanille Noire (the YRs are very highly scented). I love, love the goat milk soaps by Indigo Wild. They come in a variety of scents, but my favs are the Frankincense & Myrrh and the Patchouli. They are a bit spendy for my budget, which at this point is in the negative numbers, but are very moisturizing and sometimes they run deals. Also, they appeal to my old-hippy sensibility and the catalogs are a hoot: “Look what I did with my udders!” says the goat on the soap page. August 23, 2011 at 9:03am
Meg: Lots of new stuff to try. Thanks, V. for the post. I am loving the Honey Tobacco votive candles from Terrain. The throw isn’t great but when you do get the scent it’s gorgeous. And I love the Mysore sandalwood soap which throws me right back to India. August 23, 2011 at 9:55am
Pklagrange: I love the Hyatt white ginger soap. Does anyone know of a similar product? August 23, 2011 at 10:07am
Nikki: Great post, Victoria. I like scented creams by Laura Mercier in Coconut Souffle, very hydrating and a subtle vanilla scent. The candles I love are Amber Vanilla by Illume from Target and Lilium by Frederic Malle in the great orange red handblown and reusable glass. I enjoy the black Spanish soaps by Maja and Myrurgia as well as Vetyver Extraordinaire by Frederic Malle. There is a really nice powder by Hove from New Orleans in Magnolia. Instead of incense I use Frankincense resin burnt over a little bit of charcoal in a burner, it seems to cool the air as well as perfume it which is important in the desert where I live. I find that I tend towards scents from North Africa maybe because I am on the same latitude as Algeria…so amber and frankincense and vetyver are favorites. August 23, 2011 at 11:02am
Andy: Mediterranean Fig is my favorite fragrance from Pacifica! August 23, 2011 at 1:47pm
maggiecat: The shikkai line is wonderful – lovely scents and the products are natural and great for your skin. They’re especially good for very dry or sensitive skin, like mine in the winter! August 23, 2011 at 2:33pm
Ayala: The Midnight Tuberose is lovely. Wish they sold it in Canada 🙁 August 23, 2011 at 12:41pm
Austenfan: I use the Rose 4 Reines body cream to layer with some rose based perfumes, and Paris especially. I am glad to see I am not the only one on the planet doing so. August 23, 2011 at 5:19pm
Austenfan: I love Alep soaps, they have an amazing smell and are wonderful for your skin.
I like quite a few of the Occitane body and face products. My only regret is that they seem to discontinue anything I have a particular fondness for. August 23, 2011 at 5:25pm
Marlene: I found Portico Eucalyptus products when I stayed at a Hyatt Hotel. Wonderful, cleansing, sinus-clearing scent that always peps me up. Used to be able to find it on the Portico website, but now it’s only on Hyatt site. Expensive, yes, but I’m worth it. August 23, 2011 at 10:52pm
Emma: I’ve never been a candle person but lately I’ve been getting more and more into natural organic products free of synthetics, that has even me question perfumery, do I still want to poison myself wearing toxic fragrances? I’m going to try Intelligent Nutrients Jasmine Absolute this week at Barneys, it’s supposed to be 100% natural.
My favorite scented natural products I’m in love with right now are Dr Hauschka Day Rose Cream and Lavender Bath. These two are a million times more satisfying than most fragrances on the market today and totally natural and safe! August 24, 2011 at 1:34am
civava: Pattern body wash nutmeg. Gorgeous especially on my man ;-))). August 25, 2011 at 5:09am
Marlene: It’s made by Portico and you can buy it at the http://www.hyatt.com site. Look for the Hyatt at Home section at the bottom of the page. August 27, 2011 at 12:11pm