Whole Foods Market 365 Moisturizing Bath and Shower Gel

The first thing that caught my eye about Whole Food Market's 365 Moisturizing Bath and Shower gel was the price: $1.99 for a 12 oz bottle! Now that's a pretty good deal, I said to myself, especially where I live because things tend to be more expensive. Plus I could use the "moisturizing" bit having spent the last week being pummeled by frigid winter winds coming off of the ocean. I want to avoid the painful condition I like to call "dry butt" at all costs. TMI, I know, but there is nothing worse than a dry chaffed backside. Stop laughing! It's more painful than it sounds!

So I gave the bath gel a whirl, and overall was pretty happy with it. It came out of the pump bottle in clear gel form, and then made a nice foamy white lather when rubbed between your hands. I used it to shave my legs and it clung nicely to let me do the job. The last bottle of shower gel I bought was a cheapo drug store brand which would immediately slide off my skin, so I appreciated this aspect. As for the scent, it was very mild--suitable for men as well as the fairer sex. The fragrance, which is described on the bottle as being comprised of "a blend of herbal and citrus components" had a faint scent of rosemary, which for me brought back flashbacks of a traumatic "facial" given to me by my older sister at 11 years old that involved holding my face over a steaming bowl of rosemary-laced water, then lying on my back as she slathered my burning face with toner. (I secretly think her motivations were driven not by the pubescent state of my complexion but her desire to finally punish me from knocking her off her only child perch with my arrival a decade earlier.) However I doubt you'll have the same issue.

The gel is made with pure plant and seed oils and contains no animal fats. So if you're looking for something cheap, natural, and pleasant, this is a decent bet. Given that I can spend hours in Crabtree & Evelyn with my nose buried in soaps I would prefer something with a bit more of a scent, but for those who like their shower gels mild this is a good option.

About Whole Foods Market: Founded in 1980 as one small store in Austin, Texas, Whole Foods Market® is now the world's leading retailer of natural and organic foods, with 181 stores in North America and the United Kingdom. Their mission statement reads: "We're highly selective about what we sell, dedicated to stringent Quality Standards, and committed to sustainable agriculture." Their "365" and "365 Organic" brands are private label lines that are less expensive than some of the other brands they carry.

Whole Foods Market 365 Moisturizing Bath and Shower Gel ingredients:

Purified water, sodium laureth sulfate, cocamidopropyl, betaine, ammonium lauryl sulfate, lauryl polyglucose, glycerin, glycereth-7 cocoate, allantoin, citric acid, methylparaben, sodium hydroxymethylglycinate, phenoxyethanol, herbal citrus fragrance.

March 6, 2006

Whole Foods Market 365 Moisturizing Bath and Shower Gel