The first month of autumn is almost gone, I can hardly believe it. It is high time I reached for my precious B&BW hand creams, and I am also here to share a review with you. Not to be too dramatic, but I would die for these fall scents, even though I will start with a rant. Let's see!
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Where to get them in Europe:
In Hungary, it is incredibly hard to get your hands on anything from Bath & Body Works, so I highly treasure these products. There are only 2 places I know of that sell B&BW: Notino and B&BW.sk (formerly elf-kozmetika), both of them have a really small selection that sells out quickly, and you can wait forever for a restock, if they restock at all.
The stuff they usually have is not recent (I don't mind that), and they cost around 3x the usual price with shipping. I bought B&BW products in both stores, but these hand creams in particular were sold at the elf-kozmetika store. Mind you these are $5 in the US, and I bought each around $13 + shipping, and that was a sale price, even. It's really sad, I wish B&BW would install stores everywhere in Europe, I think many people agree with me on that.
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Old vs. new packaging:
Today, I am writing the review about the old packaging because I own those ones, but firstly I will rant a bit about the new one.
New:
B&BW changed their packaging for the worse on their hand creams and hand sanitizers, you can see the new packaging above. Unfortunately, they give you half the amount (30 ml) of what it used to be for the same price ($5), and they switched to the same pharmaceutical, annoying screw-on cap every single other brand already has (The Body Shop, L'Occitane, K-Beauty brands, and even Essence now). Mind you, if you have ever used this kind of cap, you know it takes a while to screw it on correctly, compared to their previous cap you just popped open, as these caps particularly like to screw themself on a bit crooked. They are also sharp and unpleasant to touch and tighten. In short, they suck major ass.
However, I am the saddest about the presentation of the new packaging, or the lack of it thereof: B&BW is known for their beautiful pictures on their products, you will see it on the hand creams in this post. The Bath & Body Works hand creams in the new packaging have patterns only, they ditched the beautiful photography which, in my opinion, is just sad. Thankfully they kept the nice photos on their body lotions, but as someone who isn't located in the US, considering how expensive and hard-to-get this brand is for us, the most worthwhile products to get are hand sanitizers and hand creams. The reason people love the brand is the selection of scents and the gorgeous, unique packaging, and I feel like they shot themselves in the leg with the change.
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Packaging and cap:
Now let's move on to reviewing the actual products.
As I said, I have the hand creams in the old packaging, which has a pop-open cap that is very pleasant to use. It is my favourite type of opening on any hand cream. After you applied the cream, you just close it with one click. Unlike with the new cap, you don't have to fumble around with slippery hands, trying to get that goddamned pharmaceutical screw-cap on.
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| Bath and Body Works hand cream ingredients |
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| Bath and Body Works autumn and winter hand creams: WInter Wonderland, Crisp Morning Air & Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin |
Scent descriptions:
Winter Wonderland: "Scented with a blend of winter berries, snowy vanilla and crystallized ginger that captures the wonder of the holiday season."
Winter Wonderland smells lovely in the tube, however, certain berry scents don't work well with my skin chemistry, this one's no exclusion. I have to use it moderately.
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Crisp Morning Air has been on my wishlist for such a long time and it is a delightfully unique scent. Regardless of the official scent description, it smells like the mixture of damp soil, green apples and cold morning air, it is so interesting how they managed to capture it. It's a little tube of miracle.
Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin: "A sweet autumn blend of pumpkin, vanilla cream and spicy cinnamon sticks."
Another soul-warming scent that is sweet, but not the stereotypical spoiled teenager kind of sweet. It smells like punch (the hot beverage) flavoured ice cream with a hint of pumpkin, I associate it with sunny autumn days. I can't smell cinnamon. It is a beautiful scent that tends to return every year.
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Bath & Body Works hand creams are moisturising but without the greasy feeling, making the skin super silky. They are quite similar in formula to oldschool Essence, L'Occitane or The Body Shop. The main difference between other brands and B&BW is the strength of the scent, you will feel it for hours, I'd advise to wear matching or harmonizing perfume with them, or no perfume at all.
If you are from a country where B&BW is hard to get, and somehow find this older kind of packaging (they swithed to new ones like less than a year ago), definitely pick it up! Don't hesitate. Hear me?
The new, smaller ones are not worth the hunt and amped up price, unless you are in the US or Canada and can buy them for their regular $5 price.
Please, if you are in Central or Eastern Europe, and know about a webshop that sells the brand and I haven't mentioned it, let me know.
Are you intrigued by the selection of the brand? Do you wish you lived in the US, so you could raid B&BW? I must not be the only one, right?
What is your go-to hand cream?
~ Ev
I purchased the products with my own money.
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