Showers tend to be a rushed part of my day, but every once in awhile I like to take my time and indulge in some luxurious spa products. Recently I’ve been indulging in a cute little body scrub tub from a relatively new company. The Orange Owl sells all-natural, handmade, vegan-friendly products without parabens, dyes, silicones, phthalates, sulfates, fragrance oils or petroleum products, according to its website. I discovered this fun little body-care company at last year’s Natural Products Expo West and was impressed with its array of lip balms, soap bars, body butters and body scrubs. I was fortunate enough to take home their Sun Shower body scrub and have enjoyed it immensely.
Photo courtesy The Orange Owl
The Orange Owl’s Sun Shower Body Scrub Ingredients
First thing’s first, let’s go over the ingredients in this natural body scrub. Body scrubs by nature are simple to make on their own—grab a handful of sugar and pour a teaspoon or two of olive oil into your palm, and you’ve got an instantaneous body scrub. So when I’m shopping for scrubs I like to find one that uses luxurious ingredients not already in my pantry, but also not filled with harsh, unnecessary ingredients. Here is a full list of the ingredients in The Orange Owl’s Sun Shower Body Scrub:
Wildcrafted sugar, organic sunflower oil, organic vitamin e oil, baking soda, vegetable glycerin, colloidal oatmeal, *grapefruit seed extract, tangerine essential oil, grapefruit essential oil, spearmint essential oil, and patchouli essential oil
I double checked the safety of these all-natural ingredients and only found one mild concern, according to the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database: grapefruit seed extract (ranks 3), which had contamination concerns.
My Thoughts
My favorite part about this product (other than its adorable orange owl logo) is its energizing citrus scent. Infused with tangerine, grapefruit, spearmint and patchouli, this scrub is perfect for early morning showers when you need a burst of energy to help get you through the day. Plus, the scent is not overpowering. Citrus alone is a popular ingredient in body-care products for its high vitamin content and useful acids. It is also popular in aromatherapy as it is energizing and uplifting.
The scrub itself felt gentle while also being very exfoliating—especially on my rough patches of skin. It also had just the right amount of oil to it. At first, when I scooped some of the scrub out with my fingers, I thought the scrub would feel completely dry. But as you rub it on just the right amount of oil massages into your skin.
If you want to indulge in a 7-ounce jar of this citrusy scrub, buy it online or find it a store near you for only $11. The company also sells a Mocha Buzz, Summer Sorbet and an unscented Simply Sweet body scrub.
Gina DeBacker is the associate editor at Mother Earth Living. She loves that part of her job entails testing beauty products enriched with natural ingredients.