I’m having to bite my tongue really hard over this review.  Mean, negative stuff just keeps wanting to come out and that is unfair.  There are many, many good things about this massage lotion.

To start, Sensuous Beauty puts all of their products in really nice jars with pretty labels.  This – the Body Massage Lotion (in Sweet Woods) – comes in a nice, amber apothecary bottle with a pump top.  The label is shades of orange and cream and is simple yet beautiful.  It definitely looks like something you would find in a health food or hippy dippy shop.  (No offense intended. I love hippy dippy shops.)

The ingredients are all natural.  There are no synthetics, parabens or glycerin in this.  The label reads:

Nourishing organic oils and butters combine with sweet amber and warm, forest herbs and essential oils to create a sensual lotion that moisturizes and scents skin. Exceptional for daily body care and massage.

It is made with nothing but: Organic sunflower oil, distilled water, beeswax, wildcrafted cocoa butter, sweet wood blend of premium amber, wildharvested forest herbs and pure essential oils, vitamin E and grapefruit seed extract.

Directions instruct you:

For daily moisturizing, apply sparingly to body after bath, shower or as desired.  For massage, apply lovingly to body as needed.

What this all translates to is a good, heavy, massage and body lotion that is more of an oil than a lotion.

In the bottle, it appears to be a thin, white-ish lotion.  Rather like Vaseline Intensive Care or something.  But once you pump out a dollop, you’re kind of surprised.

The pump works well, a single pump dispensing about a nickel sized dollop into your hand – or upon the body, if that’s where you aim it. My guy likes to pump stuff directly onto me, freezing, from the bottle. He’s mean.  What comes out of my bottle is a sort of oily, slightly separated, yellowish lotion/oil that looks horrible.

Aha!  Shake the bottle.  Shake, shake, shake,shake.  Pump.  Much better.  Still yellowish but not all separated and weird looking.  Remember, these are natural ingredients, no fillers or stabilizers to hold it together.  Shake it well!

As soon as you begin to rub your palms together – or rub this upon the body – it turns into a slick, thin oil.  It’s like it melts before your eyes, transforms from a lotion to a luxurious oil before you can even blink.  Amazing for massage and absolutely wonderful on still damp skin, straight from the bath.

You definitely want to use it sparingly if you use as a regular lotion, though.  The normal four or five pumps I would use to lotion my lower body would coat an elk.  Half an elephant.  This stuff goes a long way and it takes a long time to really absorb.

It does leave your skin feeling butter soft once it sinks in but you’ll want to really rub it in or you’ll feel greasy.  This is the type of product you use for long, relaxed massages or total “spoil yourself” bath moments.

It doesn’t stain so far as I can see, any more than any oil can. I wash bedding and towels in hot water and I’ve not had an oil actually stain my stuff ever.  The pump works splendidly and can be locked by pressing down (which dispenses a bit) and turning.  Viola!  Ready for travel or storage.  The bottle contains 4 oz, which, used as sparingly as you need to, will last as long as probably 12 or 16 ounces of regular lotion.

My biggest issue with this is the scent.  It gags me. Truly and completely gags me.

I expected to like it.  Woodsy scents make me happy and I figured it would be great to use on Taylor, something more masculine than most of the massage products I buy.

Meh.  I guess I didn’t read very carefully or my eyes glossed over the “Amber” part of the description and focused on the “Woods”.  This stuff smells straight up like a head shop.  Like the 70s.  Like a Grateful Dead concert.

It fucking stinks.  I really smell nothing at all that is woodsy or herbal. It smells like amber oil, amber incense.

It’s particularly strong straight out of the bottle and for the first ten minutes or so after applying.  The scent does fade to a softer, more earthy (but still heavily amber) after a few hours but I could still smell it on myself, less than pleasantly, 7 hours after I used it.  Even after a quick shower it hung around a bit, like my skin had truly absorbed it at a far more than surface level.

This?  Would be an amazing asset if the product smelled good to me.  If you like amber, you’ll LOVE this stuff.  I.  do.  not.

I will absolutely try this again, being a bit more careful in choosing a scent.  Violet tangerine, lavender or rose sound nice. I’ll even give this stuff another chance, trying it at different times to be sure it’s just not some sort of “I’m ovulating and sensitive” sort of thing.  It’s a really good, quality product.

I just can’t stomach the smell.

Available at EdenFantasys in multiple scents – or, check out the other Sensuous Beauty products. I love the kissing balm and love balm.