I've reviewed Cake products before, and I noticed something different right away when I received these in the mail. In my previous Cake reviews, I noted the products were good quality, but the packaging seemed cheap and flimsy, but this time the packaging is much improved. It comes in a cardboard package, but the cardboard seems coated or smoother now, which makes the colors brighter, and it just feels more luxe than when you touch a raspy, rough cardboard. There's shiny foil on the box, too, which appeals to my girly-yet-bordering-on-childlike-obsession-with-shiny-objects penchant. The box, itself, is really attractive and the set could easily be given as a gift - just slap a gift tag on it; however, the lotions themselves are pretty cute, too. You could give them individually or put them in a little basket or something. They'd make pretty great stocking stuffers, now that I think about it.

So, I try to be socially conscious and make responsible consumer choices, so one of the first things I try to check is whether a product has been tested on animals. Cake products are not! According to their website, "Does Cake Beauty test on animals? We absolutely DO NOT conduct animal testing with Cake Beauty products. We use only ingredients that have been deemed safe by Health Canada & FDA regulations and are fully committed to testing on “beauty junkies” only to ensure the safety of our products." Huzzah! The good news does not stop there, "Are any of your ingredients derived from animals? The only ingredients that we use that are derived from animals/insects are: milk proteins (derived from whole milk of cows), beeswax & raw honey (derived from bees)"

Gluten allergy, you say? Fear not! Cake lists its gluten situation, too. "Do any of your products contain gluten? The only product that contains gluten derived from wheat protein is satin sugar replenishing hair conditioner. PLEASE NOTE: if you have celiac disease, severe allergies or any sensitivities we recommend that you read all ingredient labels very carefully and consult your physician when in doubt." Is there anything better than a socially conscious company? Probably yes, but I'm on a happy high right now so we'll leave it at that. Also, side note, I had no idea gluten allergies could happen with contact with gluten. I thought it had to be ingested. Anyway, thank you Cake for knowing stuff for me.

The lotions themselves all do their job as advertised. I have a patch of eczema on my right hand and I tested them there on different days. None of them made it go away, but they did soften it and make it less dry and flaky. The sugar cookie scent smells about how you'd expect. The name leaves no suspense there. The Desserted Island smells generically of "sweet", I think, maybe with a hint of mango. The Milk Made scent frankly confused me. I couldn't detect any purposeful scent to it, but the name made me think of curdled milk so I think I projected a yogurt smell onto it. That is probably all in my head and faulty feedback because I have an overactive imagination. It does work well, however. The bottle for it says it contains marshmallow extract. What the hell is marshmallow extract? I thought marshmallows were man-made marvels that contain extracts of other things. Live and learn, I guess.