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The Suds Report Newsletter
January 2003
Happy New Year!
I hope you have all had a wonderful holiday season; best wishes for a happy 2003!
New at SudsReport.com
Even during this busy, crazy season, Melissa has managed to
finish up a wonderful article:
Très Shea offers a
fabulous survey of the many
shea butter products available
today.
And the
Winner Is
Congratulations to our December giveaway winner: C. T. from
Arizona won three products from
Zirh: Body
Scrub, Alpha Hydroxy Body Bar and their new Shower Gel.
This month, we'll be giving away a generous assortment of
products from Andrea, including Anti-Stress Bath Soaks
and Foot Spa treatments. More than enough to share (or
not). You can find the Andrea line at
Ulta.com.
The Year
in Review
(You know I have to do it.)
2002 was another interesting
year, bath-and-body wise. Here are a few highlights:
•
We apparently have quite a sweet tooth: dessert-scented products are still going strong.
•
Don't just sit there, do something seems to be a
growing demand from consumers. Companies are definitely
responding, with products claiming to do for bodies what
similar products have long been doing for faces. One
good example of this phenomenon is the
Peter
Thomas Roth line.
This expansive (and pricey) line
includes AHA Body Lotion, Potent Body Lightener and Ceramide
Moisturizing Body Lotion. Happily, many of these
functional ingredients are trickling down into drugstore
products as well.
For instance,
Nivea
offers its Skin Firming Lotion with Q10,
Neutrogena
has an Anti-Cellulite Treatment and
Jergens
offers a Skin Firming Body Wash.
•
Ingredients of note include the still-popular shea butter,
plus the growing use of olive oil (it's not just for
salads anymore). I've also seen coffee popping up
in more bath and body products, accompanied by claims that the
caffeine it contains may help fight skin cancer.
A
company called
Fruit Oil
Therapeutics has created a line of products containing
fruit oils, which they claim have unique beneficial
properties for skin.
•
This may be more of a business issue, but I have noticed that
the vast majority of bath and body manufacturers are now
selling directly to consumers online.
For instance,
Primal
Elements and
Jaqua
Girls, whose sites previously only offered product
information, both now sell through their sites. I wonder
what effect this will have on retailers (online and otherwise)
who sell other companies' products.
A
Bathtime Ditty
I
came across this cute little tune in one of my daughter's
library books:
Take Me Out of the Bathtub!
By Alan Katz
(Sung to the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ballgame")
Take me out of the bathtub
Take me out of the suds
I’ve been here soaking since half past two
I feel so sudsy and wrinkle-y, too
Oh, I washed all over my body
My head, my toes, in between
I used one, two, three bars of soap
Take me out…I’m clean!
A
Mini-Review from Melissa: Help for Hands and Nails
I’d been reading about
Heidi and
Company’s magical Heidi's Nail Solution Nail
Strengthener and Cuticle Repair Cream ($18 for .75oz, $20
for 1oz, $24 for 2oz),
 so of course, I had to try it on my
brittle, ever-peeling fingernails.
I used the cream for an
entire month without using any nail polish. Much to my
surprise, my nails have improved dramatically. Peeling is now
at a minimum, my cuticles are less dry and manicures last
longer. You only need a tiny bit of cream for each nail.
I also sampled Heidi’s Hand Solution ($15 for 2oz,
$25 for 4oz, $29 for 8oz), an ultra-moisturizing hand
cream with shea butter and vitamins. This emollient treatment
lasts through hand washings, making it an excellent choice for
people with very dry skin as well as for those who wash their
hands frequently throughout the day. The cream has worked well
during cold weather on my perpetually dry hands.
Heidi’s Tropical Hand/Foot/Body Scrub ($5 for 4oz,
$25 for 16oz) has a delicious pina colada scent and
exfoliating particles to effectively get rid of dry skin. It
has a non-greasy texture; if you loathe oil in scrubs, this
one is definitely for you. I especially enjoy this on my feet
after a long day.
Heidi and Company products are available through their
web site HeidiNails.com
and at
SkinStore.com.
In the
Works
Here are the articles in progress, which we will wrap up and
post in the next month or so: We'll review two
fragrance-oriented lines:
Elizabeth W. and Zents.
We'll have a
long-awaited review of Rachel Perry's line, an article
featuring products with Nuts and Berries, another featuring an
assortment of hip, trendy lines, a look at the very latest
offerings featured at a recent trade show, and an article
going "behind the bubbles" to focus on the motivation for the
founders of a few small companies.
Well, that's about it for now. As always, please e-mail us with
any comments or suggestions.
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