Sugar Scrubs and polishes are designed to be used in the bath or shower. You use them on the exterior parts of your body like your arms, legs and torso. Do not use them on your face for they are not designed to be used there.

When using a scrub, it is best to get your body wet first, then apply a little bit of the scrub and start rubbing it in. You will probably find that after you start to rub it in, if you add a bit more water, it will lather up nicely and spread further than you thought.

I used a dime size portion of this scrub for one test and found that once I added water to it, I had enough scrub to do BOTH of my arms and hands. I was surprised at how little it took to lather up so well.

Although sugar scrubs soften your body, do not use this internally as it is not designed to be used that way.



Safety: No Phthalates / No Sulfates / No Triclosan / Parabens free

Ingredients:
Sucrose, Butyrospermum Parkii (Shea Butter) Fruit, Oryza Sativa (Rice) Bran Oil, Cetearyl Alcohol, Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, Stearic Acid, Polysorate 20, Fragrance, Tocopheryl (Vitamin E), Vaccinium Macrocarpon (Cranberry) Seeds, Phenoxyethanol, Caprylyl Glycol

This scrub has one of the weirdest textures I've ever seen in a scrub and I've been using exfoliating products in the shower for many years, both in gel form and in scrub form. When I opened the jar, the first thing I thought was, "That looks like paste". My daughter saw it and said, "that looks like dried out play-doh." I will let you look at the picture below and decide. By the way, the little spots you see in it are the cranberry seeds.





When I grab it with my hands, it has the texture of the paste you'd use in school for craft projects but it also felt different because part of the scrub is made up of cranberry seeds. The seeds help to create a different texture than I've ever used before.

This polish is very thick when you take it out. You have to reach into the jar to get some out (although you could use a beauty spatula which can often be found at drugstores and discount stores). As I stated above, in order to do both of my arms, I removed a tiny portion that was about the size of a dime in thickness, etc.

As long as you put the scrub firmly on your body, it stays in place. If you lightly touch it to your body but it doesn't connect with your body, it can fall off and go down the drain - most likely in the same size and shape as what you took out of the jar.

I love the scent although it is not as strong as I would like. It is important to note that this product is designed to be used with other products in the same scent to create a "layering" affect of the fragrances. You can find my review of the solid parfum here where I compare the scent to Jean Nate' and Love's Fresh Lemon.

The scent definitely falls into the "citrus/fresh" family and is very light.

The only thing that bothered me about this product is that when I use some of my body scrubs in the shower their scent literally fills the shower and the bathroom and it feels luxurious to have that "complete" scent filling the room. I did not notice that with this scent. It did smell fresh and the scent was great on my body - but it did not fill the air with its aroma. I suspect that if I used the bath and shower gel with this product, I would have had that experience of having the room filled with the scent.

Because this scrub is so thick, I used two rinses to get it totally off. It might have all come off the first time, but I was a bit paranoid because it is the thickest scrub I've used to date and I didn't want any left on my skin.

I was pleasantly surprised to find my skin was still soft about 10 hours later and there was a very mild scent left behind. It was not strong enough that it would have interfered with my perfumes, however, I use the soft, airy, fruity perfumes anyway.

The scrub is packaged in a clear jar and holds 8.5 ounces. The black lid closes tightly and since this is not liquid, you could easily toss it in your suitcase if you were traveling and not worry about it getting all over your clothes. However, please note that it is not travel size and can not be carried in your check-on luggage.

The instructions on the back of the jar state:
During bath or shower, apply a small handful to damp skin and gently massage in a circular motion.

This is where I like to share with readers what I've learned as I've researched various bath products. For those of you who already know the difference between body butters and body polishes/scrubs - please feel free to skip this.

Many times in the store I will see body butters and body scrubs side by side with the same scent. This is because the body scrub is designed to be used first in the bath or shower and then followed by the body butter to moisturize the body once you get out of the shower and keep the moisture locked in. Body butters are so thick because they are based from oils and not water.

A body scrub should exfoliate your body and many of them also moisturize your body. From my past experience over the last few years, I have found that the thicker the body scrub - the softer your body will be afterwards. I also find that the thicker body scrubs tend to make my body feel soft longer too.

I could not find a definitive answer on the difference between a body polish and a body scrub. Since these are not regulated by the FDA, I am not surprised. I did find out that body polishes/scrubs will usually have either sugar, salt or shells to do the exfoliating. With Island Hopping it appears as though the cranberry seeds are used for exfoliating.

I want to explain my personal rating system to you here because you may be surprised to see that sometimes I love the smell and the product works well - but it only gets three stars. It has to do more than smell good - it has to be a good value.

First of all, if a product smells good (no chemical smell or bad after smell) and does what it should - I will automatically give it three stars.

If the product is priced reasonably well to the point that I'd give it as a gift at that price or be willing to ask for it from my husband as a gift - then I will give it four stars. If I wouldn't normally ask for it unless it was on sale or would buy it on sale but not at normal price - I'll give it four stars.

But for a product to be five stars - it better smell good, perform well AND be priced at something my budget can allow without me wanting to grimace every time I use it because of the cost.

I love bath and shower (and body) products and they are one of my major weaknesses. However, I have learned over the years of experimenting that expensive doesn't always equal better quality. Mind you - I'm not someone who is overly worried about parabens so I don't judge quality by whether something is paraben free - I judge it by how it makes me feel.

With the vast array of products that are on the market, there is a wide selection for me to choose from and still be happy without spending an arm and a leg.

So I try to do my reviews from the perspective of someone who is budget-mindful and may have kids and a house payment and is saving points for those one or two things she dreams about but can't quite afford.

I hope this helps you understand how I do my bath and body product reviews.
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I have gone back and forth about this product for several days and how to rate it. I am used to buying sugar scrubs at the discount store for approximately $5 for an 18 ounce jar. This means that the price is .27 per ounce. The ones I can find there are usually almond/honey or almond/coconut and have heavier scents, although I do like them. They also tend to fill the room with aroma when I use them.

I recently found a bottle of lemon scented sugar scrub at Marshalls for $5.99 for a 17.5 ounce jar. This figured out to a little bit more than .34 per ounce.

At the current price of $21.99 for an 8.5 ounce jar, the cost is $2.59 per ounce.

So why am I giving this FIVE stars when I claim to be a budget-minded shopper?

For one thing - the scents I can find locally - take about 4 times the amount of scrub to do the same area. While they make my body soft, the softness does not last nearly as long.

Now the jar from Marshalls is a great price - but I can not depend upon them to always have that scent in stock because they are more of an "outlet" store. In addition, I can not get the matching products to "layer" the scent.

So in this case - I am giving this scrub 5 stars and budgeting to buy it when it goes on sale or when Eden has a great sale. I figure I can probably use this daily for almost 3 months before needing to replace it and perhaps even longer. Since I frequently choose my body scrub based upon how I'm feeling that day, I'm sure this will last even longer!

Therefore, for me, the best choice is the Island Hopping scrub and I will most likely continue to buy it and the other products in Island Hopping scent. I feel the quality is worth the extra price.