Beauty Review: Bodhichitta Botanicals Hand Lotion

I got to try out Bodhichitta Botanicals Hand Lotion and was pretty impressed! Check out the breakdown, including details on the ingredients!

Every once in a while, the folks at Conscious Box send me a media box of samples to try out. I love going through all of the treats and treasures! There are usually vegan treats, like cookies and sometimes even raw fudge, and they include at least a couple of beauty samples, too!

If you’re looking for a vegan lotion, the Bodhichitta Botanicals lotion they sent me was not 100% vegan. It does contain beeswax, which I didn’t realize until after opening and using my sample. The company does have a cruelty free label on the packaging, though, so at least I know this lotion was not tested on animals.

The Smell

The sample they sent was of the Wild & Free Lotion, a patchouli and sweet orange oil-scented lotion. They don’t use chemical fragrance, so all of the scent came from the essential oils. I was a little worried that I’d get a big patchouli punch in the face when I opened the sample packet, but the scent was nice and subtle. A little earthy, a little citrusy – very pleasant!

The Feel

Over the winter, I have been struggling with super dry, painful skin on my hands, so I thought what better place to try this lotion out! This dry skin is no joke, you guys. The skin is scaly and cracked and even bleeds in places. OUCH! I’ve been using lotion on it, but nothing ever lasted very long. Fifteen to 20 minutes after applying, hand lotions stop helping. It’s been really frustrating!

After the scent, the next thing I noticed about this lotion is that it’s much richer than the ones I’m used to. It still contains some alcohol, but it’s much lower down on the ingredients list. My hands still felt a little bit dry after applying the lotion (which happens with every lotion), but I was pain free for a lot longer!

The Ingredients

I was pretty pleased with the ingredients in this lotion, other than the surprise beeswax. Here’s the full list:

purified water, aloe barbadensis (aloe vera) leaf juice, helianthus annuus (sunflower) oil, theobroma cacao (cocoa) butter, butyrospermum parkii (shea) butter, glyceryl stearate, glycerin, beeswax, glyceryl stearate citrate, capric caprylic triglycerides, cetearyl alcohol, simmondsia chinensis (jojoba) oil, linum usitatissimum (flax seed) oil, rosa rubiginosa (rosehip) oil, xanthane gum, oenothera biennis (evening primrose) oil, phenoxyethanol, ethyl hexyl glycerin, benzyl alcohol, with essential oils of pogostemon cablin (patchouli), citrus sinensis (sweet orange) and Northern Lights environmental essence from Alaskan Essences.

There were only a handful of ingredients I needed to look up:

• glyceryl stearate – gets a score of 0 from the EWG Skin Deep Database, which means it’s very safe
• glyceryl stearate citrate – gets a score of 1, so very safe
• capric caprylic triglycerides – another 0
• cetearyl alcohol – a 1, so very safe
• phenoxyethanol – This one got a score of 4, which is low-to-moderate. There are some concerns about allergies, skin/eye irritation, and toxicity. The EU also limits worker exposure in its guidelines.
• ethyl hexyl glycerin – another 1, so very safe
• benzyl alcohol – This one also gets a 4. It’s a potential allergen and there are concerns about toxicity in large concentrations. Like phenoxyethanol, the EU restricts worker exposure to this ingredient, which can be natural or synthetic.
• Northern Lights environmental essence from Alaskan Essences – I am still not clear on what this is, but it sounds like it’s a botanical or gem extract? Does anyone know? Here’s the product page.

Not too shabby! This might seem like a long list, but compare that to conventional lotions! All of the other ingredients are essential oils, which is probably why this lotion was so rich and creamy.

Do you have a favorite, truly natural hand lotion? I’d love to hear your faves in the comments!

photo by Becky Striepe

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