I am always excited to review something from TIA – it’s like an adventure, but with any adventure there are highs and lows... and this one missed the mark for me entirely. Living Nature’s Nourishing Body Wash just didn’t do it for me. It lathered up decently, but I was so put off by the scent that I couldn’t really get beyond it. I forced myself not to douse it all over me the first week in order to just be rid of it; instead, I painfully and slowly used it daily in hopes that it would grow on me, but it didn’t.

Add to that the fact that my granddaughter asked me what was that funny-smelling perfume I was wearing when normally she exclaims how wonderful I smell! The scent was of fresh green tree bark, like from a pine tree. Well, here’s the good that I drew from the body wash: It lathered well, rinsed well, and felt slightly refreshing after showering. I didn’t notice that it particularly nourished my body with moisture, but it didn’t seem too drying either.

I think it costs too much for the amount you get ($25 for under 7 ounces) and towards the end of the bottle, I merely used it as a hand wash to compensate for my intolerance of the scent. Some of the key ingredients in it are hydrating active manuka honey and nutrient-rich kelp, with bisabolol from chamomile and ginger extract to help soothe sensitive skin. And the product is for all skin types, especially sensitive or dehydrated skin.

I cannot say that this isn’t a good shower wash; for some it may very well be. It did what it was supposed to do in terms of lathering and rinsing well, as I noted above.

That said, I don’t think I can personally recommend it. I found it to be costly for the amount you get and challenging to overcome the scent despite it being highly recommended – the product received the honor of “Best Shower Gel” by the Green Parent Natural Beauty Awards 2011.

Ingredients: Aqua (water), Decyl glucoside, Sodium lauroyl glutamate, Glycerin (vegetable glycerin), Mel (manuka honey), Parfum (fragrance)*, Xanthan gum, Glucose, Butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter**, Sucrose cocoate (from cocos/sugar beet), Bisabolol (from chamomile), Zingiber Officinale (ginger) root extract, Galactoarabinan (larch tree gum), Macrocystis pyrifera (kelp) extract, Glucose oxidase, Lactoperoxidase, Leptospermum scoparium (manuka) oil, Citronellol*, Geraniol*, Limonene*, Linalool*  

*From natural essential oils; **Certified organic.