The Fall Edit: Body Balms and Creams
I went to college in New Hampshire and Fall naturally became my favourite season with the reds and golds of its trees, the crisp air, and most importantly, the wonderful world of autumn-winter fashion that this season ushers onto streets and cafes. As we wind down and say goodbye to an admittedly unforgettable summer, our body also starts to communicate to us that summer is, indeed, over. My hair, that was frizzy and curly all through the hot humid months of July and August is now starting to look a little less voluminous and more straight, thicker lip balms are now sinking into my lips overnight without a trace, and the skin on my arms and legs is starting to become drier and I most certainly cannot get away without moisturizing after a shower. So over the weekend, I began to dig out all my thicker balms and body creams, and other favourite dry skin-busting formulas that I love using. I wanted to share some of these finds with you in case you are also a compulsive latherer of moisturizers during this season. All of these formulas perform beautifully but some of them also come with the added luxury of an intoxicating olfactory experience - and that, for a fragrance-lover like myself - just elevates the whole process of applying them, encouraging me to do it more often.
Clockwise from the top: Ameliorate Transforming Body Cream, In Fiore Baume Pour le Corps in Bois de Jasmin, Agent Nateur holi(body) ageless body serum, Diptyque Invigorating Body Balm, Molton Brown Rosa Absolute Body Lotion, Beauty Pie Deluxe Body Moisture Cream
in Bois de Rose
This balm has one of the richest, most decadent textures I have ever experienced in a body balm. It comes in this delicious golden-yellow color and is a thick, creamy balm that melts into the skin when applied. I cannot express in words how satisfying it is to plop a dollop of this in my palm and spread it over my arms. It goes on like butter and sinks in quite well for something so rich (though I do wait ten minutes before putting on clothes). While its all-natural scent is beautiful, to me it is not as strongly rose smelling as I thought it would be when I first bought it. Instead, the scent to me is a more of an incense-like, woody, earthy rose with decent longevity. While it would layer well under deeper fragrances and possibly enhance them, I don’t think lighter fragrances stand much of a chance against this scent on your skin. Personally, while I wish they’d used more of a traditional rose for scent, I do deeply enjoy using this balm both for its incredible healing and moisturizing effect on my skin and the earthy-rose fragrance.
Diptyque
This balm is one of the first body balms I ever tried, and this is probably my third jar - and I never want to be without it. Unlike the In Fiore balm, where the hype was about the fragrance but what I enjoyed most was the texture and performance of the balm, in the case of Diptyque, I probably wouldn’t have cared how the balm performed simply because I was so distracted by the gorgeousness of the scent - unsurprising, because hey - we’re talking about Diptyque. If Tom Ford’s Neroli Portofino - arguably my favourite neroli-bergamot-citrus family scent - was a balm done right, it would look like this one by Diptyque. Not because it has the exact same notes as the Tom Ford, but because the overall balance of citrus with other elements is very similar. The scent in this balm is based on blood-orange, with rose undertones. It’s heady, fresh, big. It envelops you and it lasts. I know this is not a post about fragrances but this balm has my favourite citrus-y scent in a balm format. The balm itself - in formula and performance - is excellent. This is an oilier, medium-weight balm, that spreads almost like water when you apply it so you need very little. It takes a little longer to sink in but it always leaves my arms and legs glowing.
Agent Nateur
While I prefer body balms to body oils purely for their ease of use, this one is a firm favourite - and while the juice inside is a super-perfumer, I cannot get over the deliciousness of the scent. This is another body product where the performance, while exceptional, becomes almost secondary to me because I get so distracted by the beauty of the scent. To me, it is a sweet, dark mixture of damascena rose in a base of what can only be described as some form of cardamom. Together, with hints of incense, maybe even a touch of anise (these are all my own impressions), the scent is a warm, comforting hug when you apply this oil to skin - exactly what I need in the Fall-Winter season. The oil itself is a pale yellow, thick liquid that you can pour out into the palm of your hand and spread over your body. In comparison to the balms, the spreadibility is less high-coverage - in the sense that you have to use more than the balms to cover everything. However, this truly helped my dry patches and imbues a luminosity to my skin after consistent use.
Molton Brown
Coming to less thick but equally super-performing formulas, this Molton Brown body lotion in Rosa Absolute is light, absorbs quickly, and leaves my skin well-hydrated. It doesn’t hurt that it has the Rosa Absolute line’s rose scent in it - in fact, that was what made me buy the lotion after I tried the Rosa Absolute shower gel. However, the scent here is not very heavy (though it definitely lasts for a long time on my skin), and the rose here is more playful, mixed with berries and candied pink pepper. If you want something a step up from a drug store mositurizer, like lighter rose-based fragrances, and want your body moisturizer to sink in immediately without an emollient film, I think you’ll like this one. This is what I reach for when I don’t have a lot of time to self-indulge post shower, rubbing balms and oils all over myself. It’s quick, effective, and smells good. Done, and done.
Moving from pricey bits to some incredible, affordable moisturizers and body treatments that I frankly use way more often than I use my expensive products because of their unbelievable price points for how effective they are. First up is Beauty Pie’s Deluxe Body Moisture Creme. Since they launched this a few months ago (maybe a year?!), I have been through almost four jars. This is a thick latte-colored cream and it’s texture honestly feels like it costs at least three times the amount it actually costs. It’s creamy, spreadable, and silky to the touch. It absorbs immediately and has kept the persistant dryness in my arms and legs at bay. It also smells delicious - a lot like the Diptyque balm actually to the point where this could almost be the body creme counterpart to Diptyque’s body balm. The scent is oranges, and tangerines, and the kiss of summer. I use it all year though - this is an exceptional product (expensive or otherwise - but in this case NOT expensive so yay!).
Ameliorate
I first ordered products from Ameliorate because I was suffering from persistent dry, bumpy patches on my legs and the backs of my arms and nothing seemed to work. Enter - Ameliorate (I first learned about it via Nadine Baggot’s awesome youtube channel). I first tried the lotion, which was very effective in getting rid of my skin issues. I then heard about the cream version which has the same level of lactic acid and other actives as the body lotion but additionally includes Omega Oils, Shea and Cocoa Butters and Squalane - all moisturizing, emollient ingredients. I loved the cream. While the lotion was equally effective, the cream ups the game for those of us who suffer from extreme body dryness. It’s a thick, white, rich cream and definitely takes some time to sink in so you’ll have to wait before slipping into clothes but it is the one product that has truly, visibly, helped improve the persistent dry bumpy patches on my skin. To me, it smells like baby powder and I love the smell of baby powder but of course, that may not be for you. This is a product I will never stop buying.
Clockwise from the top: Ameliorate Transforming Body Cream, In Fiore Baume Pour le Corps in Bois de Jasmin, Agent Nateur holi(body) ageless body serum, Diptyque Invigorating Body Balm, Molton Brown Rosa Absolute Body Lotion, Beauty Pie Deluxe Body Moisture Cream
So this is it - a Fall edit of some delicious self-indulgent body balms and creams that I love and that I wanted to share with you. As we leave the strange summer this year, I hope you are able to take some time for yourself to regroup and recharge - which for me among other things, is also about making time for myself, my skin, and my general peace of mind. Happy Fall and fingers crossed that the world gets a little better soon!
