January 10, 2006

Alba Organics Cocoa Butter Hand and Body Lotion

I tested Alba’s cocoa butter hand and body lotion, part of their “Hawaiian” skin care line, which was available in the natural foods section of a chain grocery store. The first thing you’ll notice is that this product has a very strong, sweet cocoa butter scent. (Quite frankly, I had to fight a very strong urge to lick my hands after applying it.) If you miss the smell of suntan lotion over a long winter, you’ll love it, but you wouldn’t want to mix it with any other scented product.

The lotion is a bit watery, but on the flip side it was light and non-greasy once it was fully rubbed in. My only complaint was with the packaging. The tube stands on its lid, and because the lotion is so watery, it drips all over the place when you open it up. It’d be better in a pump bottle.

The manufacturers claim the product is 72% organic (no mention of certification), with 100% vegetarian ingredients and no animal testing. Part of Avalon Natural Products, they have several different lines of skin care, hair care, bath and body, and sun care. According to a company press release, the Hawaiian product line is "a collection of natural Hawaiian beauty secrets. Tropical fruit and flower extracts, nourishing nut oils and certified organic aloe vera, revered for their curative and rejuvenating properties, are blended together to create exotic skin care and spa treatments that best reflect the beauty, vitality and spirit of the Hawaiian Islands for soft, healthy, luminous skin." The line relies on ingredients such as pineapple, papaya, passion fruit, and the kukui nut.

About Avalon Natural Products:

Founded in 1989, Avalon Natural Products markets three product lines: Alba, Avalon Organics, Un-Petroleum. According to the Avalon Natural Products website, Alba is the top-selling creator of pure, natural, hypo-allergenic personal body care products that are made with therapeutic formulas enriched with vitamins, plant proteins, and certified organic herbs for optimum benefits.

Through their Consciousness in Cosmetics campaign and the Avalon Organics line, Avalon Natural Products is working with the Breast Cancer Fund to raise awareness about the environmental causes of breast cancer, and promote the use of pure, gentler beauty products.