Review: Dreaming Tree Soapworks

I finally got around to reviewing my Dreaming Tree Soapworks stuff! They're still on sale right now - 15% off $30 or more until Oct 14 with code: octoberbaby

Yes, the scrub's leaking oil when it arrived.

I got: 

• Oatmeal Stout Whipped Scrub
• Isis limited edition perfume oil
• Hobbiton Banana Bread lip balm
• Land of Nod Magic Stick Body Balm

And got two soap samples in:

• Siren of the Sea
• 4&20 Blackbirds

Customer Service Review

Ordered: June 7

Shipped: June 13

Received: June 24

They used first class mail so the shipping's really fast. The order processing time may have increased because they were having a sale. Overall, I'm happy with their turnaround time. I sent Meghan, the owner a question, and she responded within a day, so I'm very happy with the customer service.

I'm just slightly concerned with the shipping. There wasn't enough stuffing and they can bounce around in the box if you shake it. 

As you can see from the pic above, my body scrub arrived leaking everywhere. This isn't the only scrub that I received leaking though, so I'm chalking it up to international shipping. 

I was told by the owner that it's probably because of the summer heat (you can read the exchange later below). One of the free sample soaps was melting too, and the other crumbled and that's probably because there wasn't enough cushioning in the package. I'm not upset about soaps since I'm happy I even got freebies, but I think it's a factor worth noting if you're buying this brand in hot weather. I frequently order bath products including soap and so far, all except 2 brands survived the trip to Indonesia, so it's not like we have crazy heat that blasts all soaps. 

Oatmeal Stout Whipped Sugar Review

"Oatmeal Stout is a blend of sweet oat bread, butterscotch and just a hint of cocoa."

Yes, as you can tell from the picture directly above & my haul picture, my body scrub arrived leaking. I opened it to check if it's ok and this is how it looks like:

There's no safety seal, just a shrinkwrap seal on the outside.

Half of the scrub is solid and half of it is this watery, oily liquid. I tried it out and it just feels like a normal oil-based sugar scrub with very small sugar grains. I've tried whipped soaps and bubbling scrubs, but this is the first "whipped scrub" I've gotten, so I wasn't sure what it's supposed to be like. I thought I better email the owner just to check, and here's our exchange:

Ok..sounds easy enough, so I stuck my tub in the fridge for 12h. When I fished it out, the oil part solidified so I mixed it the way I normally eat a shaved ice dessert -by jabbing it repeatedly with a spoon to break it up before swirling it around. 

Tried it out again and it feels like a normal, non-oily sugar scrub, just colder. I decided to let it settle at room temperature (my room's normally 16-20 degrees Celsius or) since this is probably not meant to be chilly at all times. This is how it looks like now:

Kinda like a sugar paste

Tried it again and it feels like a normal sugar paste scrub, so I think "whipped scrub" is just a fancy name. Here's a comparison with HoG's exfoliating scrub to give you an idea of the texture:

Left: Dreaming Tree's Whipped Scrub
Right: Haus of Gloi's Emulsifying Scrub

The whipped scrub is more paste-like, and spreads
more evenly. It's also less oily than HoG's scrub.

There's more separation between the oil and the sugar
in HoG's scrub, and it leaves more of an oily residue.

It's very similar to Haunt's sugar scrub in texture. Only Haunt's oil disappears without a trace, while this leaves a very light oily film on your skin. 

Scent-wise, this is really strong. I used this about an hour before I went to bed, and I can still smell it the next morning. Thanks to the leakage my entire room smells of it when I opened the package. I dumped the tub in the sink to wash of the oil and the entire bathroom smells like it for hours. It's amazing!

The Oatmeal Stout scent and it smells like very sweet, bready stout. A tad too sweet but still delicious! It's not my skin amping up the sweetness, it already smells sweet in the tub. I personally love it! This scent is about to be discontinued and I have no idea why. Either way, I've snagged myself a few tubs..

Hobbiton Banana Bread Lip Balm

"Banana Bread Flavor"

This is my favourite purchase! It's slightly less oily and stiffer than the other indie lip balms I've gotten (Notoriously Morbid, Bubble & Geek), but it's still moisturizing. It smells delicious too! Exactly like banana bread! Taste-wise, this is sweetened with stevia, which I like because I'm can't resist sweet stuff. There's a bit of a waxy taste to this, and I'm not sure if it comes from the lip balm or the flavour. It's not strong enough to be a big deal for me though, so I still love it!

Another thing I'm happy about is that it's twice sealed:

The seal on the cap breaks as soon as you open it.

Isis Perfume Oil

"Goddess of  the deep mysteries of the feminine ability to create and to bring life from that which is lifeless.. Lucious red fruits, peach, swirling in a veil of frankincense, cassia, egyptian musk."

Just a word of warning, I'm not sure if it's my bottle, but the reducer doesn't work. Everything just pours out. Here's my arm after attempting to put a drop of perfume oil on it:

Not the drop I was hoping for...

As usual, I tested the scent blind. Scent-wise, this just smells like artificial apples. In fact, it smells identical to a Bath & Bodyworks hand sanitizer I've used. If you want a drugstore "apple" smell, this is it. The good thing is that this scent is strong and definitely the kind that'll fill up an entire room.

TL;DR: Bath & Bodyworks's apple scent.

Overview: Tried it again after reading the description. Still the boring apple scent.

Land of Nod Magic Stick Body Balm

"Calming lavender and palmarosa."

This is very, very sticky. Like it feels like you're rubbing a glue stick on yourself. The smell does clear my sinuses though. It's a very sharp, icy smell that kind of reminds me too much of my dad since he loves using this icy oil to help him sleep every night. As a kid, I used to hate hugging him at night since the smell stung my nose and made my eyes water. Apparently, I've even refused him hugs because of that oil before. I don't remember that...

Soap Reviews

Well, they're soap. Like almost all soap bars, this leaves your hand with that dry, tacky feeling. This thread on reddit has great explanations on why this is the case. Apparently this is just characteristic of soap, and mainstream soap bars often add all sorts of thing to get rid of that feeling.

Yup...4/20 Blackbirds melted all over.

Siren of the Sea

"It's clean, fresh scent is a blend of sea moss, lavender, sandalwood, ozone (air) and other light florals that are truly reminiscent of a soft ocean breeze."

This smells like a slightly blue, clean white bar soap. The most prominent smell is definitely that white bare soap smell. 

4&20 Blackbirds

"An amazingly intoxicating fruity yet sophistacated house blend with notes of ripe succulent blackberries, summer wine, golden honey amber, tender woods with an earthy herbal twist. "

This smells like sweet & sour blackberries, and it's a delicious, warm smell.