Rain Forest Soap Shack vs. Isle of Eden
I have read on a number of bath and body boards [MUA, Lush, Bpal] that Rain Forst Soap Shack products are comparable to those of Isle of Eden. I did a comparison of their bath creams and here is how it all came out....
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There are definite differences between the two bath creams and I think the pictures show that despite some claims; Isle of eden and Rain Forest Soap Shacks are not the same.
The Rain Forest Soap Shack bath cream is a lot softer; too soft in my opinion. I think that the super soft bath creams are used up quicker while the harder bath creams last for a long time and give up more lather with less product. The Isle of Eden bath cream was really firm and gave off a thick, dense lather.
Both bath creams were nicely scented on cold sniff and gave a decent bloom of scent upon lathering. Neither left much of a lingering scent on my skin after rinsing and toweling off.
You really can't go wrong with either of these bath creams; they both smell great and even though Isle of Eden did better in the lathering portion of the test, if you are not up for waiting four to eight weeks for an Isle of Eden product, you would not be remiss to give Rain Forest Soap Shack bath creams a try. Personally, I prefer the Isle of Eden product because I have always been partial to the firmer bath creams.
**Please note that despite my reference to the Isle of Eden turnaround time as anywhere between four to eight weeks, it is listed on the site as four to five weeks although there have been recordings of customer waiting up to eight weeks for their products.
Bath Cream Wars
Halloween with Rainforest Soap Shack
Halloween and Christmas are my favorite bath and body themes so when e-tailers start dropping their Halloween collections, it is very difficult for me to restrain myself. Oscar Wilde once said; "I can resist anything but temptation". This statement sums me up in a nutshell; I am driven by temptation. It is challenging to reign myself in with all these fabulous sounding Halloween scents and I have to admit, I haven't really been up to that challenge. I cave almost every single time...
I have been reading a lot about how Rain Forest Soap Shack compares to Isle of Eden in quality. Since I was waiting on an Isle of Eden order to process, I figured it couldn't hurt to check out the Soap Shack's Halloween offerings.
These are my choices from the wonderful array of Halloween items offered by The Rain Forest Soap Shack;
The official description of Jack O'Lantern's Revenge is Black Currant and Pumpkin. This combination grabbed me immediately and was number one on my list because I was really curious to see how the tangy and tart notes of black currant would marry with the round, buttered creaminess of pumpkin. Before I get into whether this combination was successful or not, can I please mention that this scrub looks good enough to eat? My goodness, when I was editing this picture, my mouth was watering! Just look at it; it looks like pumpkin mocha frozen yogurt.
Small digression aside, I can't say that I am loving this. To me, a successful scent partnership is defined by one's ability to pick out each scent. Each scent should blend together to make a pleasing fragrance but at the same time, they should also retain their individual characteristics. Sadly, this combination does not achieve this... I don't get a sense of the pumpkin and I certainly don't get a sense of the Black Currant. The two scents overwhelm each other and leave behind a sharp, soapy and somewhat perfumey fragrance.
I am so glad that Candy Corn Cupcakes shook me out of my disappointment over my bad experience with Jack O'Lantern's revenge. The word on Candy Corn Cupcakes is.... Cupcakes and Candy Corn! The bath cream smells exactly like the description. I am really impressed with the cupcake scent; it is dead on cakey goodness. This bath cream reminds me of the vanilla frosted cupcakes topped with candy corns that we used to have at school.
I love Phantom Crush! Pineapple Upside Down Cake and Cherries not only make for a fantastic dessert but a luscious scented bath product as well. I get more cherry than pineapple off the bat but that could change as I make my way down the jar and hit more of the pineapple blend.
I am a big fan of Tiger Bite despite my normal aversion to orange dreamsicle type scents. The licorice provides a needed edge to the sweet and creamy orange but keep in mind, this is a very sweet scent. If you are adverse to overtly sweet and foody type scents, this is not the combination for you.
I told you that I have been drawn to licorice lately, right? So it can't be a surprise that I ordered Witches Shoes. The description of this bath cream is Ruby Red Grapefruit and Licorice. If you are staying away from Tiger Bite because it is too sweet, The Witches Shoes is one to consider. Ruby Red Grapefruit is the predominant note and the licorice lingers in the background, rounding out the sharpness and adding a touch of sweetness to the combination. It is still a sweet scent but not a sticky sweet scent like Tiger Bite. It is a sweet scent while managing to retain the crisp and clean of the grapefruit.
Get Whipped?
Get Whipped is an ebay store that carries an impressive array of bath and body products. I first learned about the store from the Lush NA forum where the owner was trounced for comparing her products to Isle of Eden. She was also called out for having spelling errors on her site and using ugly, hard to read colors for her font. Huge props to the owner of Get Whipped for taking the constructive and not so constructive criticism and making significant changes to her storefront.
I thought it would be interesting to do a side by side comparison of some Get Whipped products against Isle of Eden's products since there was so much drama involved. This is a completely non-biased comparison. Although I do believe that Isle of Eden is totally hit or miss when it comes to quality, turn around time and customer service; I love my stash and when an IOE product is made correctly, it is a wonderful thing.
Okay, so on to the comparisons. I took as many pictures as I could and used the same amounts but in the end, I received different results.
The products used here are Isle of Eden whipped bath cream in Red velvet Cake and Get Whipped Bath Butter in Now and Zen which is a Karma dupe.
I used the same arm for pic purposes but also lathered up with the Isle of Eden bath cream on my left arm so I could do a comparison of how long each scent clung to my skin.
As for the side by side lather comparison pictures, please note that I first tested out the Isle of Eden product and followed it with the Get Whipped product.
The differences in the two products were pretty clear but keep in mind that there are some similarities.
When it came to texture; Get Whipped was firm but still managed to be soft and not waxy. The Isle of Eden bath cream was softer to the touch and let go of more product when I applied gentle pressure to the surface.
As for the lathering; Isle of Eden lathered more and it was a clean type lather. Get Whipped did not lather as much but the lather was silk-like and milky. One thing I noticed when I was doing the scrub/lather test is that the Get Whipped lather gave off a ridiculous amount of scent.. it was incredible. The Isle of Eden lather was scented but not as much as the Get Whipped Lather.
After rinsing the Isle of Eden lather, my arm was clean and moist but there was very little scent linger. After rinsing with Get Whipped however, my arm was still clean and but their was a noticeable softness to my skin. Also, the scent really clung to my skin after toweling the area.
Thirty minutes later and I still smell Now and Zen [Get Whipped] on my arm.
On my other arm where I did a lather and rinse with the Isle of Eden product, there is no scent.
Both bath creams were 8 oz. The Isle of Eden bath cream was $13.94 and the Get Whipped Bath Cream was $10.00.
Personally, I prefer the Get Whipped Bath Cream. Who cares that the lather was not as abundant as Isle of Eden's? The Get Whipped bath cream was so moisturizing due to the added cocoa butter and shea butter that I can learn to live with less lather. As much as I have enjoyed IOEs bath creams, they were never moisturizing. I will definitely continue to purchase more of the Get Whipped bath creams and ooh and aaahh over my soft soft skin.
http://stores.ebay.com/Get-Whipped
http://www.isleofeden.com/catalog/
