review tesori d'oriente sandlawood and vetiver shower cream

Tesori D’Oriente is one of my favourite bath and body care brands. The reason? Their fragrances.

All the brand’s lines are infused with a different heady oriental scent that will transport you into the magical and fascinating world of the Far East with its busy markets, mysterious rituals, exotic spices and richly fragranced flowers.

I spent ages in the shop trying to decide which scent to try first. Cardamom and Neroli or Myhrr? Or maybe something floral like Orchid?

In the end, I settled for Kashmir Sandalwood and Vetiver. Here’s why:

Key Ingredients In Tesori D’Oriente Kashmir Sandalwood And Vetiver: What Makes It Work?

SURFACTANTS

Surfactants is a catch-all name for cleansing agents. Kinda hard to find a shower gel without them, know what I mean?

Tesori D’Oriente Kashmir Sandalwood And Vetiver uses Sodium Laureth Sulfate and Cocamidropropyl Betaine, two gentle cleansing agents that remove dirt and grime without drying out your skin.

They work by allowing water to mix with oil and dirt so they can be rinsed away. Plus, they make slower gels foam, too.

The Rest Of The Formula & Ingredients

NOTE: The colours indicate the effectiveness of an ingredient. It is ILLEGAL to put toxic and harmful ingredients in skincare products.

  • Green: It’s effective, proven to work, and helps the product do the best possible job for your skin.
  • Yellow: There’s not much proof it works (at least, yet).
  • Red: What is this doing here?!
  • Aqua: The main solvent in the product, it helps other ingredients dissolve.
  • Parfum: I have mixed feelings about this. It makes the shower gel smell DIVINE. At the same time, this high amount of fragrance, can cause irritations and allergies in sensitive skin. Be careful!
  • Pterocarpus Santalinum Wood Extract: A natural extract. We don’t really know much about what it does for skin, apart from the fact it has astringent properties.
  • Vetivera Zizanoides Root Oil: Vetiver essential oil. It smells amazing – and can cause allergies and irritations in sensitive skin.
  • Propylene Glycol: It has hydrating properties.
  • Glycerin: It attracts and binds water from the air into your skin, keeping it hydrated for longer.
  • Glyceryl Oleate: An emulsifier that helps oily and watery ingredients to mix. It also has hydrating properties.
  • Sodium Chloride: It enhances the texture of skincare products.
  • Sodium Benzoate: A preservative that helps skincare products last longer.
  • Citric Acid: It helps to adjust the pH of skincare products.
  • Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer: A polymer added to cosmetics for colour.
  • Tetrasodium EDTA: A chelating agent. It neutralises metals in the water that may spoil the product.
  • Methylchloroisothiazolinone: A preservative that kills bacteria that would spoil your products. It can cause allergies and irritations in sensitive skin.
  • Methylisothiazolinone: Another preservative that kills bacteria that would spoil your products. It can cause allergies and irritations in sensitive skin.
  • Benzyl Salicylate: A fragrant component found in plants like  jasmine and ylang-ylang. It has a sweet, flowery smell. But can cause allergies and irritations.
  • Butylphenyl Methylpropional: A synthetic fragrance ingredient with a floral scent. It can cause allergies and irritations.
  • Citronellol: A fragrance ingredient with a grassy, citrus-like scent. This too can cause allergies and irritations.
  • Courmarin: A fragrance ingredient that smells like vanilla. And like all fragrance ingredients, it too can cause allergies and irritations.
  • Limonene: A fragrance ingredient with a divine citrusy scent. And yep, it causes allergies and irritations.
  • CI 19140: A yellow dye used to give cosmetics their colour.
  • CI 42051: A blue dye used to adjust the colour of cosmetics.

Texture

The shower cream is white in colour and its consistency is neither too liquidy nor too thick. Just right.

Fragrance

Tesori D’Oriente Kashmir Sandalwood And Vetiver has a woody oriental scent. It’s absolutely gorgeous, intense and sensual.

The vetiver is quite delicate, somewhat fresh, with just a hint of citrus and ginger, and beautifully blends with the warmer, ambery scent of Kashmir Sandalwood. It wraps you in a warm, intoxicating and invigorating embrace that lingers on your skin all day long.

The scent is unisex, but it leans a bit more on the masculine end of the spectrum. Women can easily wear it, too. Those who love to steal their men’s cologne will fall in love with it.

How To Use It

In the shower, massage it all over your wet body before rinsing off. Pretty simple.

Packaging

Isn’t the black tube decorated with green leaves really pretty, by the way? There’s also a chain attached at the end of it so that you can easily hang it in the shower. The only problem is the cap doesn’t close that well. Maybe I just got a defective one but in any case, be careful if you decide to travel with it.

Performance & Personal Opinion

There’s not much to say here. The highlight is the scent and I’ve already covered that.

Tesori D’Oriente Kashmir Sandalwood And Vetiver does what every good body wash is supposed to do. It foams well and effectively but gently cleanses skin leaving it soft and smelling gorgeous!

I have dry skin and this body cream doesn’t make it feel tighter or drier after a shower. Phew!

What I Like About Tesori D’Oriente Kashmir Sandalwood And Vetiver

  • Gently cleanses skin
  • Doesn’t dry skin out
  • Practical packaging
  • It smells divine

What I DON’T Like About Tesori D’Oriente Kashmir Sandalwood And Vetiver

  • The strong scent can cause allergies and irritations

Who Should Use This?

Anyone who likes masculine, woody oriental scents.

Does Tesori D’Oriente Kashmir Sandalwood And Vetiver Live Up To Its Claim?

CLAIM TRUE?
A very fresh shower cream enriched with extract of Vetiver renowned for its stimulating and invigorating properties. Note how the brand doesn’t say the body wash is invigorating. It only says that vetiver is known to be invigorating.
It cleanses skin leaving it toned and fragranced. It cleanses skin and leaves it fragranced, but not toned.

Price & Availability

Smoll stores throughout Italy

Do You Need It?

If you like woody, oriental scents, this is a real treat for you.

Ingredients

About Gio

Hi, I'm Gio. I'm a no-nonsense, tell-it-like-it-is skin coach and writer on a mission to help you achieve your best skin day ever - every day. I bust skincare myths and debunk marketing jargon to help you figure out what's worth the splurge and what's best left on the shelf - using science, not hype. I also offer skincare consultations to help you create the best skincare routine for your unique needs.