Hand and Nail Care Gifts from Crabtree and Evelyn

Still looking for some last-minute gifts and stocking stuffers? If so, may I show you this small selection of gift ideas from Crabtree and Evelyn? Even if you're not shopping for gifts for someone, these are still really nice sets for yourself.

Crabtree and Evelyn Gardeners Gift from the Earth Collection

The Gardeners Gift from the Earth collection comes in a metal lunchbox-style tin. It's about 5"w x 9" l x 3" d, has a metal handle and clasp, and has no markings other than "Crabtree & Evelyn" printed on two sides, so you really could use this as a lunchbox or a tool box after you're done with the products inside.


It contains a 0.9oz Gardeners Hand Recovery scrub, a 0.9 oz Gardeners Hand Therapy hand cream, a 0.52 oz Gardeners Nail and Cuticle Therapy cuticle cream, a 0.9 oz Gardeners Age-Defying Hand Remedy hand cream and a four-sided nail buffer with a cute vegetable pattern on one side.

The texture of the Gardeners Hand Recovery scrub is on the loose side. It feels a bit like a thin body lotion with lots of sandy, grainy particles. I believe it has both salt and pumice as exfoliating particles so they don't all dissolve when your hands get wet and you can get a good, thorough scrub. When it's rinsed away, it leave a light, silky coating on the hands, possibly from the macadamia nut oil and shea butter in the formula.


The Nail and Cuticle Therapy (top) has a very thin texture, similar to CND Cuticle Eraser. It absorbs very quickly and gives a light amount of moisture but isn't oily. The Age Defying Hand Remedy (bottom) is a slightly thicker and waxier lotion than the regular Hand Therapy cream and leaves more of a protective barrier on the hands than the Hand Therapy as well.

All the products are scented with the Gardeners scent of fresh green clover, lavender, sage, rosemary, and thyme. It's herbal, gender-neutral, clean and a little bit spicy. It's currently my favorite of all the Crabtree and Evelyn scents I've smelled so far. It's not too strong, doesn't give me a headache and smells very pleasant but not flowery or too sweet.

Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Therapy Sampler

This is a set of six 0.9 oz tubes of Crabtree and Evelyn Hand Therapy hand cremes in all different scents.


Rosewater: Delicate rose bouquet with fresh leafy green top notes.
La Source: Relaxing Sea Air.
Gardeners: Fresh green clover, lavender, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Lavender: Fresh lavender enhanced with violet, tonka bean, lemon leaf, and soft musk.
Citron: Vibrant lemon & fresh coriander with a touch of sweet honey.
Summer Hill: Warm, white floral blend of summer grasses, wildflowers and orchard fruits.


The texture of the Hand Therapy creme is pretty thick. It reminds me of L'Occitane's Shea Butter Hand Creme that comes in the same type of metal tube. It's not overly heavy or greasy like a body butter but it feels rich and cushiony going on. It is absorbed quickly and only leaves a small amount of residue. The scents are soft and light on the hands; this is not so strongly scented that everyone can smell your hands from a mile away when you apply this.

I really like all of the scents in this set. I have no complaints about any of them. Even the most floral scent, Summer Hill, was soft and sweet and very enjoyable. Normally I prefer spicy, woody and vanilla-based/foody scents, which none of these are, yet all of them smell fantastic to me.

The tubes are cute, too. The design is really charming and old-fashioned looking. The only complaint I have about this set is that the metal tubes do start looking rough after a while, getting all dented and crinkled with use.

Crabtree and Evelyn La Source Warming Foot Smoother

This is an interesting one. It's a foot scrub that heats up when you use it. It really does! It's a really strange sensation; a wave of mild heat that lasts for a few seconds and then disappears. You may remember the C.O. Bigelow Ginger Mentha Warming Body Wash from a few years back, or that Frederic Fekkai warming hair treatment from even longer ago... This is a similar sensation to that.

The texture of the scrub is buttery but not super thick. It has lots and lots of grains that don't dissolve right away so you get a very good exfoliation. It rinses away quickly and leaves behind a lotion-like coating.

This is a foot scrub, but I use it on my hands and it is fantastic. I absolutely love it. The warming effect is so nice in the winter, even though it only lasts for a few seconds. The scrubby particles feel amazing and scratchy but not sharp or harsh. The coating it leaves on your hands after it's rinsed off soaks in just like a lotion and my hands feel super silky and awesome after I use this. It's just as nice on my feet, too, but I love it as a hand treatment.

My favorite of all of these is the La Source Warming Foot Smoother, but I don't actually dislike any of these. This was actually my first time using any Crabtree & Evelyn product and they made a really good impression on me. Everything looks pretty, smells pretty and is lovely to use. My personal favorite scents out of these are Gardeners, La Source, and Summer Hill, but I still enjoyed all of them.

I think that these would make great gifts for pretty much anyone. Gardeners, teachers, nurses, anyone who works with their hands or has to wash their hands frequently. These are especially nice for winter when everyone's skin gets dry and our hands start to feel chapped and cracked. The formulas are nice, the scents are nice and the presentation is definitely nice enough to feel confident about gifting these.

Also a great gift for nail bloggers... Keeps your hands, nails and cuticles smooth and moisturized after a rough, acetone-soaked day of swatching!

These are all available online and instore at Crabtree and Evelyn. From now until December 25th, 2011 you can get $15 off your purchase of $75 or more at Crabtree & Evelyn with code AFFILIATE15.

(These were sent for review. Contains an affiliate link.)

Philosophy Marshmallows For Toasting Gift Set Holiday 2011 Review

My first Philosophy Christmas item of the year! Too bad it didn't quite work out for me... But first, let me show you the set.

This is the Marshmallows for Toasting set. It comes in a big sturdy box shaped like a house with a little window for viewing the products inside... though, you can't see all three items, so not sure how useful that little cutout is. Also, I could really do without all the babies on every Philosophy package!


Here's what's inside. A Marshmallows for Toasting 3-in-1 Shampoo, Shower Gel, and Bubble Bath (4 ounce), a Marshmallows for Toasting Body Lotion (2 ounce) and a full size Marshmallows for Toasting Lip Shine (.5oz).


The Marshmallows for Toasting 3-in-1 is really pretty. It's all pearlized and sparkly and just barely tinted pink.

The Marshmallows for Toasting Lip Shine is really gorgeous. It's a sheer (very sheer) milky pink with fine white shimmer and larger (but still fine) opal rainbow sparkle. Go ahead and enlarge these. You'll see little flashes of pink, yellow, pastel blue, pastel green and even a little red.


Sadly, I think I'm going to have to return this. This is a first for me. A Philosophy scent that is completely unwearable. Let me try to explain...

The 3-in-1 shower gel smells all right. A little bit like plastic, a little bit like nothing, a hint of something kind of off but overall generically sugary.

The Lip Shine is a little better. A nondescript sugary sweet, no real marshmallow or vanilla notes. The plastic smell is barely noticeable.

But the lotion.... Yeeeeesh. I've never had a Philosophy product that smelled this bad before. The main scent is vinyl- fresh vinyl. You know how when you get a brand new vinyl shower curtain, it smells up the whole bathroom with that vinyl chemical smell? This smells like that. But, underneath the vinyl is a disturbingly savory scent... Sort of like.... goat cheese. Or brie. Vinyl and brie. Then, underneath the cheesy vinyl aroma is sugar. A little bit like cotton candy, but not sweet if that makes sense. It's too creamy and savory and not at all sweet and marshmallowy.

It's just completely unusable for me. I can't handle it. It's too gross. I have never had to return a Philosophy product because it smelled gross. And the worst part is that it stays with me. You know how when you smell a really good smell, you can't get enough of it and you have to keep reapplying? But then when you smell a really bad smell, it's all you can smell and you can't get it to go away... This won't go away. A shower and a dozen hand washings and I can still smell it on my hands.

I really like the Lip Shine, though. It doesn't have that bad cheese and vinyl smell like the 3-in-1 and the lotion have. I mean... it doesn't smell great, but it's not bad either. The color is really, really pretty and I don't want to give it up. I think I'll probably return this and get this set instead so I can still have the Marshmallows for Toasting Lip Shine.

I thought this would be more like the Ooey Gooey S'mores or Melting Marshmallow scents, 'cause those were amazing. Ooey Gooey S'mores is my all time top favorite Philosophy scent. The Marshmallows for Toasting doesn't smell like marshmallow at all. Huge sadness.

Oh well... Maybe I'll have better luck next time. Anyone else try the new Philosophy holiday scents? I'm super curious about all those ones that are supposed to smell cold/snowy. Might have to order them.

In case you wanted to check this out or buy it, I got mine at Sephora. The Marshmallows For Toasting set is only $22 so it's a pretty inexpensive little gift for someone who actually enjoys the scent.

Sephora Collection Body Sparkle Gel in White Praline

This was a cool thing I picked up on a whim last winter but never got around to reviewing. It's described as having "holographic silver shimmer flakes" and being scented with White Praline, so it was a no-brainer; I had to have it. Holographic, gourmand scented body oil? Schwing! Plus, it was dirt cheap and I wanted free shipping.

Sephora Collection Body Sparkle Gel in White Praline.


This isn't a flat, rounded bottle like the other Sephora bath and body things (you know, the ones that shatter when you try to use them?), this is actually a 3D globe- about the same shape and size of your average Christmas ornament.

Look how pretty it is. It looks like magic. It's not holographic and I'm pretty disappointed about that, but it's still good. It's a clear base with some small pastel opal glitter. To understand my disappointment, observe how it looked online:

Doesn't that look holographic? Totally thought I was getting some awesome holo glitter here.


...But this is what it looks like out of the bottle. The glitter is pretty sparse. Right now I could say something dirty about a unicorn, but I won't.


Once it's all rubbed in (it's like a body oil, not a traditional body glitter gel), you really don't get much glitter effect. Just a random sparkle here and there. And wow, the back of my hand looks really dry.

The scent is nice. It's a dry, caramelly, almost savory nutty scent. It's a little bit hazelnut and a little bit almond. Baked smelling but not particularly sweet. If you've ever used the Avon Nautrals Almond scent, or the Bath And Body Works Nutcracker Sweet, it smells almost identical to that. I loved those, so I love this.

Doesn't do much, but it's nice to look at and it smells good, so I'm happy. Only wish it had more glitter.

Cake Beauty Holiday Handful Hand Creme Trio - Limited Edition Holiday 2010

I finally got my hands on the Handful after that wacky Sephora disappearing act. Man, I'm so glad I got these. They rock.

My first experience with Cake Beauty products was the Milk Made hand creme / Cake Walk foot creme duo that I reviewed recently. The scent of Milk Made did not work for me at all, so I was still slightly concerned that I may not like these. The lure of vanilla scented hand lotion overpowered my wariness. Had to have it.

This set comes with three full-sized (3.4 oz) hand cremes in a really pretty shiny metallic box. It's so pretty. Would make an excellent gift. Actually, since this comes with three very pretty tubes of lotion, you could even split it up into three gifts. Who doesn't love hand creme in the wintertime?

Anyway, the scents included in this set are Vanilla Snow, which is exclusive to this set, Desserted Island (coconut vanilla) and It's A Slice (orange vanilla).

Vanilla Snow is the richest smelling of the three. It reminds me a bit of one of my other favorites- Jaqua Buttercream Frosting. Cake's Vanilla Snow is a more realistic vanilla scent, though. All the vanillas in this set remind me more of an actual vanilla bean than an artificial vanilla. Vanilla Snow is sweet but not excessively so. I was somewhat worried that this might be a bitter vanilla like L'Occitane vanilla shea hand creme or Bath and Body Works Vanilla Noir, but it's not the least bit bitter, dry or harsh. It's buttery and smooth. I must point out, in case you can't tell by the little picture up there, that the tube for Vanilla Snow has the most adorable pink snowflakes being carried off in a swirling pink breeze and it looks really nice against the soft blue text on the tube. I adore the design of the tube. I'm a sucker for nice packages. That last sentence is not intended to sound dirty. XD

Desserted Island (get it, desserted? Ha.) has the same smooth vanilla base as Vanilla Snow but it has overtones of beachy coconut. It's not a particularly sweet smell. Some coconut scents are very sweet and candy-like - think Bath and Body Works Coco Cabana- but Desserted Island is more of an unsweetened coconut, closer to Lavanila Vanilla Coconut. Very pleasant and cozy.

It's A Slice is supposed to be an orange creamsicle scent. I'm not much of a creamsicle fan so I was really pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this scent. Same vanilla base as the others but with a hint of orange to make the scent a little brighter. It has a distinct baked goods smell to me, like orange creme cake, or better yet, my mom's Knots (the cookie- also known as biscotti d'annodare). For a while I was really into "Orange Fluff Cake"-type etailer perfumes and this would layer really well with those. The orange scent in this isn't super fresh or sour/acidic, it's a soft candy orange.

All of these have that lovely light, velvety, quick-absorbing non-greasy formula that the Milk Made hand creme has. I really like the formula of Cake's hand cremes. It sinks right in without leaving your hands oily or sticky or slippery. It makes my hands so smooth and silky feeling. It's not the most deeply hydrating creme; if your hands are extremely dry you may need to apply twice in a row. However, I think this formula is pretty close to perfect, even if it isn't super heavy duty.

My one and only complaint with this set is the price. At $32 for three hand lotions, it's really not that good of a deal. They do retail for $16 individually, so it is like you're getting one free, but still. $16 for a 3.4oz hand creme is highway robbery. You can get an entire 8 ounce tube of Bath and Body Works Triple Moisture Body Creme for only $12, and those are always buy two get one free. The only hand creme I have that's more expensive than Cake is Lippmann Rich Girl (which rocks) at $23 for 3oz, but at least that has SPF 25. Then again, no one expects Lippmann to be reasonably priced. The formula is great and I like the scent, but I still think $16 per tube is too steep. That said, I would still buy the set again if I had the choice because it smells like cupcakes.

I'm really happy with these. I would totally recommend them to anyone. Great packaging, great vanilla scents, great formula. Just all around great. And no funky sharp chemical fake raspberry headache scent to be found! Thank goodness.

I got mine from Sephora.com- apparently the Cake Beauty line is online only. Pity, because I'd love to smell the rest of the scents in person sometime. Now that I know I like these I think I want to try one of their bath and body products next. That "baked lemon sugar" I keep reading about in the descriptions is calling my name.

Cake Beauty You Deserve This Set - Milk Made hand creme and Cake Walk foot creme review

Anyone who knows me will know how much this line has my name written all over it. A line of bath and body products that smell like CAKE. I've always been a huge fan of the foody/gourmand/edible scented genre of fragrance and bath products. If it says 'vanilla' on it, I'll more than likely buy it. Probably explains why I have vanilla toothpaste, vanilla-lavender furniture polish and vanilla scented garbage bags...

Despite a theme that suits my fragrance preferences perfectly, I still had never tried Cake Beauty. Partially because no one seemed to carry it. Recently Sephora started to stock the brand online, so this summer I ordered the "You Deserve This" set for my first taste of Cake (Beauty).

The set contains a Milk Made hand creme and a Cake Walk foot creme. Description and photo from Sephora.com:

"You Deserve This Set ($32 Value)
What it is:
A high-value duo designed to indulge the hands and feet.

What it does:

Nourish overworked and underpaid hands with this rich, vitamin-packed hand crème. The lightly scented formula is luxurious and silky, and absorbs quickly into the skin, leaving your hands feeling soothed and smooth, never greasy. For the feet, try this trusted recipe that works to ease tension and swelling with extracts of spearmint, peppermint, and pure menthol. Nourishing and hydrating oils and butters lock in moisture to instantly give feet (and legs) a lasting soft feeling.

This set contains:
- 3.4 oz Milk Made™ Velveteen Hand Crème
- 3.4 oz Cake Walk™ Triplemint Foot Crème

What it is formulated WITHOUT:
- Parabens
- Sulfates
- Petrochemicals
- Phthalates
- GMOs
- Triclosan

What else you need to know:
Milk Made is infused with scents of warm vanilla and a hint of fresh raspberry. Cake Walk features the scent of energizing spearmint with a pinch of peppermint."

The bottles are really attractive. They're white squeeze tubes with a flat flip-top cap which is nice because the tube can stand up and it's also neater than a screw-top cap. The color schemes are cute- pink and white and pink, white and green. The tubes are a generous size but not too big to easily carry in your purse or to keep in your desk.

I was most looking forward to the scent of Milk Made, and at first I loved it. When it first comes out of the tube is has this strong burnt-sugar creme brulee baked goods type of scent. There's not much of a raspberry smell straight from the tube. Sadly, the scent turned really bad on me. The "raspberry" scent came out when I started to rub in the lotion and the whole thing morphed into this sharp, artificial burned sugar chemical type of scent. The kind of scent that makes the bridge of my nose hurt and gives me a headache. The scent is long-lasting, which would be awesome if I liked the scent. It really lingers with you all day.

The Cake Walk foot creme turned out to be my favorite. The scent can easily be described as "mouthwash." I don't normally like mint scents- they end up smelling like gum or toothpaste and that grosses me out. This one, while it does smell like an oral hygiene product, is quite pleasant once it dries down a bit. It's not super strong, it's more of a soft, sweet peppermint and spearmint scent. It is definitely pleasant and even a bit relaxing. It says it contains menthol for a cooling effect, but the cooling effect on me is very minimal. It may be worth mentioning that I seem to be immune to almost every type of cooling/menthol product- I can't even feel Icy Hot- so it may be stronger on someone else. Though, Bath and Body Works Twisted Peppermint lotion still makes me freezing cold and tingly for almost an hour after I apply it. Maybe it's the type of oil or amount of menthol used? Straight mint oil versus oil plus menthol? Who knows.

The formula on both of these was excellent. The hand creme is light and quickly absorbed- not greasy at all. It's not super moisturizing like a heavier hand cream (Neuotrogena or L'Occitane come to mind) but it is still quite moisturizing. The foot creme is even better. It's so light and fresh and leaves such a wonderful feeling on my feet (and hands!) and it leaves my skin smooth for quite a long time. Another thing I really liked about the Cake Walk foot creme is that it also isn't greasy- it's not one of those foot cremes you apply and then try to stand up and end up sliding across the room on greasy feet... It absorbs/dries quickly and doesn't leave a layer of greasiness. It's best applied after a shower, but I like to apply it before bed.

So... my first experience with Cake Beauty. How do I feel? I wish I had liked the Milk Made scent more because I really like the formula of the lotion and the style of the tube. I would definitely buy another hand or foot creme from them if it came in a different scent. I'd really like to try more of their products and scents- the lemon vanilla one has me especially curious because that's one of my favorite combinations (still mourning the loss of Bath and Body Works Hello Sugar). I ordered the Holiday Hand Creme trio that contains It's A Slice, Vanilla Snow and Desserted Island. I was going to get it during Friends and Family but the set mysteriously disappeared completely from the site and didn't reappear until yesterday morning. I was baffled when it was removed from my shopping list and I searched high and low for it. Very mysterious...

On a related note, I've just learned that Cake Beauty is doing a Black Friday special! Starting Friday, if you place an order of $40 or more on their website they'll automatically include a mini Satin Sugar Hair and Body Refreshing Powder. I was looking at that last night, I'm very curious about it... it's a dry shampoo scented with lemon vanilla but it comes in a darker shade that might not be so obvious and white on my dark hair. I kinda want to try it...