SALTAIR DEODORANT AND LOTION REVIEW

I love giveaways and free stuff. Constantly entering giveaways means I am bombarded with emails from different brands. On this rare occasion, I decided to open one, stay subscribed, and even purchase something.

Saltair creates skincare-driven body care products "formulated with active skincare ingredients, nourishing oils, and exotic botanicals that treat the skin and awaken the senses." They are cruelty-free, vegan, paraben-free, and gluten-free. They claim to be inclusive, effective, sustainable, and transparent. 

I agree with most of their claims, except the sustainable portion. I admire their efforts to use aluminum bottles, less plastic, and refillable options, but their shipping, and I bet they are shipping things every day because social media is buzzing about them, can probably use some work. It's fast but presumably not eco-friendly. I'm sure they'll work on that in the future; at least, I hope so.

Also, they are founded by Iskra. Yes, this Iskra:

They've got body washes, lotions, [a couple of] body treatments, deodorants, shampoos, and conditioners.

They offer eight different scents and one unscented. One of many critiques for the brand is they don't have a page, at least I can't find one, that lists out the fragrances and notes in one convenient location. On the one hand, it's brilliant of them to not do so because people end up on the website longer, but it's not the most convenient or the best shopping experience. 

It's nice they have an ingredient list, but that depends on the scent, no? What if a shopper likes one ingredient, but it's not in the scent they want? Lastly, people are shopping by scent/purpose most of the time, not by ingredient. Even if they wanted to, there's no option. Great for "transparency," but not much else.

The scents:

1. Santal Bloom: magnolia, rose, jasmine, and creamy sandalwood (body and hair care)
2. Island Orchid: mandarin, sea jasmine, frangipani, and driftwood (body care only)
3. Exotic Pulp: orange, guava, and breezy musk (body care only)
4. Pink Beach: coconut, almond blossom, and vanilla (limited body care and hair)
5. Seascape: grapefruit, ylang-ylang, white sand (limited body care)
6. Black Tide: sunny mandarin, marine accords, jasmine, ocean musk, and golden amber (body care only)
7. Lagoona: bergamot, black currant, grapefruit, and ozonic musks (body care only)
8. Lush Greens: palm leaves, juicy pear, lily, and teakwood (body care only)
9. Fragrance-Free

I originally critiqued the limited range of products for certain scents and the lack of hair care options, but they have extended the range of some products and added more hair care products before I published. They do "soft-launches" of certain scents, which is a great way to gauge opinions, but what if people immediately fall in love with the smell and want to buy a full-body care set?

I've complained enough. It's great they offer travel/trial sizes of lotions. They have some beautiful, nostalgic (because of the color grading and film applied) and warm promotional material. Love the "mood boards" and graphics attached to fragrances because they capture the scent well visually. The packing is beautifully minimal. 

Actual Product Review:

I purchased the Seascape deodorant, and it works fairly well. I still smell a little musky at the end of most work days, but significantly better than other deodorants. I smelled terrible after a long day of wearing heavy clothing. It works on both hairless and hairy pits. Didn't experience extreme transfer on clothes. It doesn't sting after waxing. 

Not the biggest fan of the scent. It smells a little old, dirty, mildewy, powdery, and musky. It could be the sand. And this is when I first got it, directly smelling from the tube! I probably won't be trying other Seascape collection items. 

However, I will definitely be trying more deodorants from them. They have refills! They're easy to remove and change. The mechanics/design of the deodorant is excellent! So far, I can twist the product up and down without it getting stuck at the top when I twist it back down. This is an ongoing issue with some mainstream deodorant brands. 

The packaging is beautiful and minimalistic. It has a sticker wrapped around it, but it peels off incredibly easily, which was so satisfying. I don't see the "best use by" symbol anywhere on the packaging, so that might be something to ask about. (I purchased my order at the beginning of November.)

Exotic Pulp Brightening Body Lotion: Camu Camu, ascorbyl glucoside and our multi-fruit AHA blend moisturize and brighten while niacinamide visually improves tone.

I got the travel size. It oddly reminds me of Snapple Peach Tea with heavy notes of orange. I love the lotion's formula because it absorbs quickly, the fragrance is nice, and it's easy to work into the skin. For comparison, I've been using Cetaphil/Aveeno on my body for a long time; Cetaphil takes a while to work in, and Aveeno has this weird, powdery finish. To prove how great the formula is, I put on skinny jeans right after applying it and experienced no struggle or a sticky feeling whatsoever. 

I have KP on my arms and legs; the lotion helped with the bumpiness of my arms. I helped slightly with the texture and redness on my calves. If you're looking for a scented lotion that can help with your KP from the brand, try this lotion because it's the only one in their collection with AHAs. They also have a scrub. Hope they have more AHA body lotions in different scents in the future. 

Lagoona Revitalizing Body Lotion: Kukui nut oil, coconut water and seawater help revitalize and reestablish skin hydration while hyaluronic acid plumps the look of skin.

I smell virtually none of the bergamot, black currant, grapefruit, and ozonic musk notes listed on their website. It smells very coconutty/shea buttery and rich. No citrus, zing, or tartness, which you'd expect seeing that list. 

Nonetheless, great lotion that hydrates the skin without feeling tacky or uncomfortable when you put clothes on. 

Last suggestion, some people like body mists. They want their hair wash, body wash, body lotion, and body spray to be the same scent to make it last forever. Saltair should expand its body range with body mists/perfumes. Also, they should have a page dedicated to scents that pair well together if a product a shopper wants is sold out.