Glow

My newest skincare adventure?
After only two weeks of using the J.R. Watkin's Aloe Vera and Green Tea body lotion, I raised the white flag.

My initial excitement about that lotion has now subsided and I'm left with a good-looking bottle of lotion that does nothing. The only consolation I have is that it smells nice, but what good does that do?

Defeated, I pushed the bottle aside and started from square one. I went around to every local supermarket that carries natural skincare lines and tested a whole bunch of body lotions and finally found my match:

Nature's Gate Pomegranate Sunflower Lotion 532mL $8.99

I admit I was first attracted to this lotion because of its size. Compared to other organic/natural body lotions that come in only petite packages, this bottle actually looked like it could last me for more than a couple months, so I thought: why not?

I didn't read the ingredients list right away. I learned that it doesn't matter if the product has a truck load of natural ingredients that promise to do everything, if it doesn't moisturize, it's just a useless mixture that costs money. So I let the back of my hand make the decision, and it LOVED this lotion. The scent instantly won me over. Does it smell like pomegranate? No...Sunflower? No....The smell is closer to a tropical fruit blend--mangos and peaches, oranges and pineapples. The texture is not super rich but it is very blendable and it seems to penetrate my skin right away, leaving a silky finish. Unlike the previous J.R Watkin's lotion that looked and felt rich but failed to spread easily and keep moisture in my skin, this pomegranate sunflower lotion is much lighter and much more spreadable and hydrates very well. Just a little dab of it goes a long way. Feeling great about its moisturizing properties, I picked up the bottle and started reading the ingredients list.

The product claims to be great for all skin types and that it is "rich in powerful antioxidants and skin-protecting botanicals". It contains antioxidant-rich pomegranate and red tea, aloe, calendula and marshmallow. Yes, marshmallow. Not your Rice Crispies' marshmallow, but a plant that has emollient properties. It also contains sunflower seed oil and many many other plant extracts and of course, it is paraben-free and pH balanced.

Although I was impressed by this lotion right away, I didn't immediately put it in my shopping basket. Instead, I went to the library next door and browsed books for an hour before I headed back to the store shelf and made the purchase. Why? After my last stint with J.R.Watkin's moisturizer, I learned the importance of testing a moisturizer's ability to last before I make an impulsive decision. I was happy to see that my hands stayed soft after an hour of sifting through books and a good handwashing afterwards. I had a very dry, flaky patch of skin on my right wrist and this lotion gave me much-needed relief and kept it smooth even long after. The non-greasy formula that this lotion claims to have really stood up to its promise. It didn't leave a greasy feeling on my hands and I didn't have an angry librarian yelling at me for leaving oily fingerprints on book pages. Overall, I was ecstatic with the results. A great product for natural skincare!