Utama Spice Lavender Body Oil

Following my previous post about Body Oil, here’s my review for Utama Spice Lavender Body Oil.

Being in Indonesia, specially in Bali, Utama Spice’s products are easy to get. Not only their own store, Guardian and Century Pharmacy also has a handful of Utama Spice’s product. Their Body Oils are retailed for around IDR 101,000 but with member card, you can get it somewhat cheaper.

Utama Spice’s Body Oil packaged nicely in purple glass bottle, securing product inside from light. But actually for Body Oil, plastic bottle is fine enough.

The product supposed to be pouring from this normal size hole, but mine is hardly come out. I’ve tried to cut the bottom part of those plastic but nothing changed. Oh well. I want the body shop’s plastic bottle please! Nope, I don’t really want comparing but this problem aching my heart. As per now on, I depotted the Lavender Body Oil to my old Body Shop plastic bottle. Solved!

Product inside is simply made of Soja (Soy) Oil, Coconut Oil and Lavender Essential Oil. After doing further research about body oil, I was a little bit regretting my purchase because Coconut Oil (organic, not food grade) and Soja Oil are cheap and easy to find I could made it myself. However, the Lavender smells good and relaxing. A friend of mine complement saying that she thought I was just back from spa ritual because I smell so great.

It might unable to seen on pict, but the texture is a bit thick. It supposed to be, because even Soja Oil is light and easy to absorb, Coconut oil doing a bigger impact and thickened it. However, with some mix with water during application, it’s still easy to spread and absorb.

I use it on my body and hair. Body oil for obvious reason, and because as far as I know, coconut oil is widely used for hair oil (please read further for each ingredient below). But please just use a little amount of this for your hair. The thick texture would make hair looks greasy, so less is enough.

Soja Oil benefit :

• High in natural source lecithin, sterolin and vitamin E
• Feel light on skin
• Easy to absorb
• Leave skin smooth
• Odorless
• Low cost

Coconut Oil benefit :

1. Help skin to naturally control it’s oil secretions
2. Applying coconut oil right after shower help skins quickly restore pH level to 5.5 without blocking pores
3. Contains of vitamin A, B, E and phosphorus, calcium, iron, manganese and magnesium
4. Rich source of omega 3, 6, 9 and polyphenols.
5. Great for skin disorders (acne, psoriasis and eczema)
6. Prevent hair loss
7. Help to reduce protein loss in hair
8. Cooling effect when applied on head and scalp
9. High in moisture retaining
10. Great as hair conditioner
11. Anti dandruff
12. Lice protection
13. Effective hair care for dry hair
14. Beneficial for preventing baldness and gray hair

Lavender Essential oil (lavendula angustifolia) benefit :

• Bug repellent
• Relaxing
• Calming scent helps with nervous system
• Acne (can be use directly to the spot, undiluted)
• Pain relief (including sore and tense muscle, muscular aches, rheumatism, sprains, backaches and lumbago)
• Has stimulating effects for urine production
• Helps with respiratory disorders
• Hair loss treatment
• Improving blood circulation
• Stimulates the production of gastric juice and bile, thus aiding in treatment of indigestion, stomach pain, colic, flatulence, vomiting and diarrhea
• Regular use of lavender essential oil provides resistance to variety of diseases.
• Antibacterial, Antiseptic and Antifungal properties

Body oil is easy to make, no other chemical needed. Just mix carrier oil of your favorite with several drops of essential oil of your need in a bottle and shake! Super easy and very economic. It’s doesn’t even needed to use organic carrier oil here, but it’s purely your preference.

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Actually, after re-reading my own draft, I want to apply another layer of body oil! It really has great benefit on skin. At least when I skip applying this for a day or two, my skin is just fine. Means it really doing a good job moisturizing my skin that some forgetfulness are forgiven.

Will I repurchase in future? Maybe if price reduced, and the bottle changed.. I would consider to.

Thank you for reading and I hope that helps!

instagram @taniaasvs

selling beauty stuff and everything in between @Primafacie_Corner

Source :

Naturallythinking.com

Organicfacts.net

About Body Oil

Finally, i managed to get back on track. It was 2 months without internet connection to my PC, rough, i know. And sadly never enjoy to write a blog post through smart phone nor tablet. Been out for that long, the topic in my head is a bit different know. I've been fond to body oil and tried some of them (one of my review is here, haven't write another yet). But lately i found out that compared than buying the finished product, i'd get it waay cheaper if i made it my self.

pic credit to cosmopolitan UK

In this post i'll write about what i know about :

• Body Oil Explanation and Why I Like it Better than Lotion
• What Oil to Use and How to Make It Yourself
• Finished Body Oil Product

But please do remind that i'm no expert. I just someone who loves and get curious about body oil. Let's learn together!


Body Oil Explanation and Why I Like it Better than Lotion
Body Oil named by it's function to be use on body. Yes, as simple as that. Usually people freaked out about the idea of using oil on skin, especially for those who has normal to oily skin. But don't. I have normal body skin type, with some dry part here and there. I wouldn't lie and said it's not greasy at all, because it is at first few seconds but that's it. However, it's also different according to what oil you use, and the trick.

Before i ever tried body oil, i wouldn't believe this oils would do any good on my skin. I used to be convinced to a blog post telling how cooking oil (in that article, Grapeseed oil) is good for skin. Being curious, i bought a 500 ml bottle and apply it to my skin the night after. All i got was greasy greasy greasy and i hate it. Now, Grapeseed oil is one of my most favorite for skin.

The secret of applying body oil, is to apply it on a wet skin. That is why it's better applied right after bath. Or simply it can be mix with water on your palm before application. See the magic happens!

My main reason to use body oil more than lotion is because lotion oftenly packed with some amount of chemical while Body Oil (specially DIY's) is not. We put a huge amount of thing on our skin on daily basis, and this is one simple way to reduce it. Still not convinced? Here's my other reason :

1. Oils lock in moisture and stay longer on skin than lotion or butter does. Oils protect the skin's lipid barrier and great for preventing moisture from evaporating from the skin. 
2. It's waaay cheaper than lotion (for DIY). For body, truthfully, we doesn't need special processed oil. Basically cooking grade oil would do the job wonderfully. 
3. Easy to Customize. You need calming body oil? Add lavender essential oil. Hormon balancer? Geranium is nice, but theres a lot of option out there. Stretch mark? try patchouli and some others. These added essential oil are not just good for skin, so it's an investment to have some of them too.

However, yes, being oil it's not easy to carry on. But as i said, it's stay longer than lotion does so it's a little chance you'd need it while you're hanging out. As for travelling, there's another DIY option like lotion and balm. But as far as my travelling goes, there's no problem for me to carry my body oil bottle. Just remember to keep the cap tight.

Don't get me wrong, i still use lotions and butters but less often than Body Oil. 


What Oil to Use and How to Make It Yourself
By my experience, here's some oils oftenly used as body oil's base :
Jojoba Oil (SPF 4)
Sweet Almond Oil (SPF 5)
Coconut Oil (SPF 2-8)
Soja Oil
Rice Bran Oil
Olive Oil (SPF 2-8)
Sunflower Oil
.. in my opinion, basically any carrier oil can be use as base for body oil. Most of natural oils are easily absorbed and won't clog pores. The most highly rated on comedogenic is Wheat Germ Oil (SPF 20). I personally avoid it because my skin is easily clog. But some people doesn't affected by this and love WGO so much.

My current favorite are Grapeseed and Rice Bran oil. Sometimes i mixed Olive Oil in too. All i use are cooking/food grade because they're easy to find, cheaper, and works the same.

The problem i'm facing the most in my body are stretch mark and dry spot. But i love Grapeseed oil so much because it's so light and easy to absorb. I used to try using Grapeseed oil alone but it's not moisturizing enough for my dry spots. So here's what i do :

1. Fill the bottle with Grapeseed oil, leave spot for a tablespoon or two. Plastic bottle is nice to use here, because carrier oil could get along with plastic bottle nicely.
2. Add 1-2 tablespoon of Rice Bran or Olive Oil (because i want it to be light).
3. Add 2% essential oil of choice. 20 drops of essential oil equals to 1 ml. For 100ml carrier oil, you can add 2 ml (40 drops) of essential oil.
4. Shake the bottle, and you're done.

Personally, i chose using Essential Oil instead of fragrant oil even it's more expensive is because i am looking for more benefit from the essential oil. As i said above, Body Oil can be customize for your need. I use patchouli and geranium and lavender (yes, 3 of them) mixed for all the calming, hormon balancing and stretch mark fixing. The smell is good in my opinion.

Unlike face's skin, body are much less sensitive so yeah if you like fragrant oil, go ahead. I might get some in future too.

Price wise, for 100ml of DIY body oil using cooking/food grade oil, i paid less than IDR 50,000. Time spent to made it is less than 5 minutes.

That's my way of doing it, but if you're much simpler person, single carrier oil would do the job too! Doesn't it amazing?


Finished Body Oil Product
If tried several finished body oil product and by far, i love most of them. Each has unique characteristic i learned to make better Body Oil for my self, *LOL.

Here's some i've tried :
The Body Shop Brazil Nut Beautifying Oil.
Moisturizing but i need to apply it carefully. The scent is too extravagant for my nose.

The Body Shop Moringa Beautifying Oil.
Smells so good! I applied it everywhere, skin and hair and i love it!

The Body Shop Olive Beautifying Oil (reviewed here)
Refreshing and moisturizing. I might get another bottle of it once it's on sale.

Gulaco Body Oil, old version (Indonesian local product)
Nice but lack on something i don't know how to describe.

The Soap Corner Body Oil (Indonesian local product)
Lock in moisture but take a while to absorb. Smells good.

Utama Spice Lavender Body Oil (Indonesian local product)
Wonderfull smell, very spa-y. Take a while to absorb and the dropper is bad.

Body oil is not an entirely new product. Many local brand has them, but if you wanna get some in store, the easier to get is The Body Shop. Followed closely with Utama Spice (Guardian and Century pharmacy supposed to have it). The price is depend on what oil they use.

Some brand like Neutrogena and Vaseline has body oil too. I can't wait for them to make an appearance in Indonesia!

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Have you tried body oil?

Please share your experience in comment section, thank you!