Bubalina Body Butter review
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I am one of those people who equate sensuality with smelling sweet and spicy. Most of the perfumes, body washes and lotions I’ve been attracted to have been rich, strong, and most times, smelled of something edible. Coconut, vanilla, cocoa, and pumpkin are among my favorites. So it was a great pleasure when I received Bubalina Spicy Pumpkin Body Butter Creme–1 of 15 scents that Bubalina sent we heart this to review. Created with both natural and organic ingredients, this product did not disappoint. The first time I dipped my fingers in the thick and creamy butter, I was in love. I was moisturized from head to toe, and was so immersed in the scent, I didn’t have a need for perfume. This body butter is not for the shy, because you will leave a wonderful smelling trail wherever you go. Expect compliments!
It’s hard to decide what I liked the most. First, there was the box with its sassy illustration of a doe-eyed beauty bathing in a pumpkin. (Nearly all of their products feature women lounging in a delectable dish or fruit.) Secondly, there was the irresistible smell that lasted all the day. And, finally, there’s the hydrating power. January and February in New York City was cold and snowy, and that left my legs scaly. But Bubalina’s Body Butter moisturized excellently, and my legs were still smooth when I came from work and took off my thick long underwear. According to Bubalina, Spicy Pumpkin is an anti-inflammatory creme, made with ginger root and pumpkin seed oils as well as the skin-friendly antioxidants Vitamin E, Vitamin A, and Omega 3.
Besides body butters, Bubalina also offer body scrubs, lotions, bath gels and massage oils in 19 scents like Citron Rose, Dolcetto, and Wild Pomegranate. The six year old company prides itself on creating effective products in environmentally friendly packaging that appeal to a woman’s sense of femininity. It’s true, the pretty box did appeal to my girlie side. (I’ve actually kept it to store jewelry in!)
You can purchase the body butters from their website for $24, but they do appear to have monthly sales. This month (March), Peach Mango is on sale for under $20. I definitely foresee more Bubalina products on my dresser. Even better, sending some to my Grandmother and Mom for Mother’s Day.
Don’t forget to check the comments for the we heart this review team’s thoughts and experiences with the 15 Body Butter scents received.
Disclosure: This review includes products that were provided by the manufacturer/PR firm for our consideration. For more info, or any questions, please see our disclosure policy.
Great review, Rakisha– I agree with you wholeheartedly! I got to test Bubalina’s Wild Pomegranate Body Butter Creme, and, like you, was entranced by the packaging. The illustration on the box (in my case, a lady posing atop half a pomegranate) was so cool, I just couldn’t bear to part with it. And things just got better from there. The tub inside contained the richest, sweetest body crème I’ve ever used. A little went a very long way for me. I mostly used it on my legs after showering, and they’ve never been so soft during the winter.
This product does pack a lot of fragrance even when used sparingly, and the scent lasts throughout the day. I only wish Bubalina’s products were sold locally so I could sample their other scents. Bubalina’s Wild Pomegranate Body Butter Creme gets a sweet 5 stars from me!
I agree with Melissa and Rakisha the Bubalina Body Butter is so rich that a little goes a long way with scent and product. but i LOVE the scent i got because i didn’t find mine too strong at all (if you remember anything about my old posts, most scents don’t last on me so maybe i’m not the best judge of that). I received the Grapefruit scent and that’s one of my favorite scents for these kinds of products. The packaging is great because its easy to open and close and its a wide opening to get product out of easily. I used it a bunch when it got “cold” here and my skin was getting dry. After only one application my skin was instantly soft and shiny, not dull and ashy! I think the price is pretty good too. You get a lot of product and you really don’t need to use much each time. On another note, mine was also Anti-Cellulite, I still have cellulite so i don’t necessary recommend using it just for that reason.
Oooh, this sounds lovely. Living in Minnesota, our skin definitely needs super moisturizing help during the winter months and this sounds perfect! I love the packaging designs too!
I was lucky enough to receive Bubalina Chocolat Body Butter for review, and I totally agree with Rakisha that the fragrance REALLY lasts and a little goes a long way. I’m a total chocoholic so I’ve pretty much been in bliss since I started using this product, because I’m one of those girls who likes stronger fragrances with fantastic staying power (why buy a scented product if you can’t smell it a few minutes after application, right?). But that’s not what I love the most about it, surprisingly! I am totally obsessed with the texture of this body butter, to the point where I can’t stop playing with it. For lack of a better word, the texture is spongy! I know that sounds bizarre, but it’s probably the most intriguing texture of any body butter I have ever used (and I’ve used a lot of body butters over the years). The best way I can describe it is that when you press your finger against this butter, it feels springy! It’s like a cross between thick pudding and jello to me! I loooove it, and of course I love that it’s packed with amazing organic ingredients and none of the icky stuff. You’ve just really got to try it to see what I’m talking about, but if you are a texture girl, I think this body butter will be your new obsession. It’s just so darned cool! Oh, and the smell is pure chocolate pudding to me. Love!
And I also agree with Rakisha that this would make an excellent gift. If you’ve got a chocoholic in your life that loves quality body products, this is a no-brainer. Besides, the packaging itself is worth the price of admission (the Chocolat body butter has an image of a girl bathing in glass of chocolate on the box–too cute!).
I am the lucky owner of the Orange Vanilla body butter. To say this smells delicious would be an understatement! It smells exactly like a creamsicle, which may just be one of my favorite scents ever. Sweet Orange Oil makes it a very realistic orange scent. And they got the vanilla perfect! I love vanilla but actually don’t own many vanilla products because I find so many are sickly sweet or too synthetic.
The Body Butter itself leans more to creme for me than butter. Butters, I find often times, are really heavy and leave you slightly greasy. I actually kinda love that! But can usually only use them on my legs. Bubalina’s has superb moisturizing ability, minus the grease. Which means I can use it all-over.
The only thing I’m not a huge fan of is the packaging. (And I know, that’s totally superficial.) The tub itself is great; a good size and feel. But I don’t like the illustrations. I’m happy to see that a few of you do, and I’m sure they appeal to lots of women. But for me, if I saw it in a store I’d probably pass it by. Knowing how truly fab the product is, I think it would be better suited in a package that lets the product shine. I feel like the illustrations take away from the product a bit.
Graphic designer packaging snootiness aside, this is a wonderful body butter!
.-= stef´s last blog ..we heart Kevyn Aucoin lipstick =-.
Ok, I’m going to take the role of unpopular dissenter; I didn’t care for this body butter at all. I tried the Rose Citron.
With respect to the packaging, I thought the art was very un-modern. My first thought was that I could buy this product from the shelves of some roadside gift store off some major interstate–Burbalina and chocolate pecan logs. But I’ve been fooled by packaging before.
Then I took a whiff of that scent. The Rose Citron smelled just like plain old dishwashing detergent to me. Not enticing just yet…
After showering, I dipped my fingers into the white cream still hoping for better things. The cream felt gelatinous, kind of like a cross between Noxema and a milky panacotta. When I rubbed it in my skin, it was not quick to absorb, pilling and rolling. I remained unsold.
But I tried again. Subsequent uses weren’t as bad (pilling and rolling-wise). The creaminess seemed to be underneath the top layer. I thought maybe I had an old product or an aberration of production. Either way, it was unpleasant in the begining, but redeemed itself in the creamy-moisturizing sense.
I still couldn’t get past that dishwashing detergent scent, however. The scent does linger. I decided to limit my Burbalina use to bedtime when I would be less self conscious about smelling like Joy.
In the end, I found the scent too distracting to continue (especially since I felt the moisturizing effects were only average) and gave this to my guy to use on his feet. He liked it fine for that purpose.
Final analyisis: packaging is uninspiring, product is average with inconsistancies, and the Rose Citron scent is thoroughly unappealing. I’m so sorry that I didn’t like this better, but I am glad most of you did.
I recently got the body butter as a gift in the scent cucumber melon. I really liked the packaging. When you unscrew the lid, it has a second “safety” plastic lid with a handy tab that assists you to reach the product. Other body butter I have purchased do not have the tab and then you have to pry your fingernail under the lid to get to the butter.
Normally, I would not choose cucumber melon for myself. However, I really enjoyed the scent. It was very refreshing. I found this to be a very concentrated butter. A little bit did really go a long way to moisturize my skin. I have used this product numerous times after a long hot bath and still have more than 75% left. I would purchase Bubalina for myself and for gifts. I look forward to trying other items in their line.
I was happy to receive the Bubalina Coconut Lime Verbena to test. This worked out great for me, because I recently traveled to Cancun, so the scent was perfect for my trip! It smells devine… a delightful, refreshing smell, that fit right in with my beach cocktails and after sun care. The scent is fairly strong, so as many of you have said, a little does go a long way. I also really liked the texture, you could tell it’s made of quality ingredients because it’s rich, thick, and you don’t have to use a lot to feel it moisturizing. I was impressed with all of the organic ingredients like organic aloe, beeswax, sunflower oil, coconut oil etc. I used a ton of it after showering and after being in the sun all day, and I still have a lot left! I would have to agree with Stef, in that I wasn’t a huge fan of the packaging. The art looks a little amature on the box, to the point where I don’t think I would have been attracted to it in the store. I think if the pacakaging were better, box and tub, it would have gotten five stars from me because it really is a quality lotion and I liked it a lot! Solid four stars!
I borrowed Erin’s Coco Lime Verbena for a day and LOVED it! It’s very true smelling to coconut and lime, not fake at all. I would buy that one again in a flash.
I tested the Peach Mango scent. It’s very long-lasting – I agree you don’t need perfume when wearing it! I don’t like the scent as much as the coco lime, but it’s also a personal preference. When first applying, it does have an almost fake cardboard scent to it, but that goes away quickly and then mostly peach comes through and a little sweet mango. If you like those scents alot, you’d be very happy with this most likely, so go ahead and try the special deal right now!
I agree with what almost everyone has said on the texture (reminds me of whipped butter or crisco – in a good way!). It spreads beautifully without being greasy, soaks in well, but still makes my skin silky smooth all day. I like the packaging – I think it’s really cute and charming…mine has the pin-up girl laying on a peach with her feet up on a mango. Now, would I see the packaging and want to pay big bucks and expect such a well-working product?…maybe not! But it does make it stand out from lots of others on the shelf, too. 4 solid stars!
I got to try the blueberry scent and let me just say it smelled amazing! I instantly fell in love with this body butter. It’s rich, but not too greasy. I’m picky about my body butters. I don’t like them too thick or sticky. This one was neither. It soaked right into my dry winter skin and left my skin feeling so soft all day long. The scent lingers which is a plus in my opinion. I would love to try more of these. The orange vanilla sounds absolutely dreamy and so does the spicy pumpkin…yum! I’m a sucker for body butter and this one is at the top of my list of favorites. I also agree that these would make excellent gifts. 5 stars from me!
I’m with you, Sherri…I got to test the Acai Berry body butter and I have to say, I wasn’t loving it. It was a combination of scent and below average moisturizing capabilities. The smell is like a cheap version of the grape bubblegum I chewed when I was a kid and something else I can’t quite put my finger on…it was a little nauseating. The texture of this was like Mel said, a thin whipped butter. Once I applied it, it didn’t leave my skin greasy (which I love greasy body butters because those are the most moisturizing), but it dried very quickly and felt like it was on my skin, but it didn’t make my skin feel softer, it just felt like I had some kind of residue on my skin. Add to that the long-lasting cloying scent and I wasn’t a happy camper. Now, some of the other scents mentioned like pumpkin and chocolate and the orange vanilla, I’d consider because I wouldn’t mind smelling like any of those for the duration of a day, but the cheap grape-like scent, not so much. I also have to say, the price point on this is a little high for what it is. I would actually pick this up in another scent if it were around $10-15, but $24 is over that line of what I’m willing to pay for something that doesn’t work as well as other products I’ve used.
I received the butter in Tuberose, and I agree with everyone that the scent is very strong and lingering. I think that the Tuberose has a very pleasant scent, but since I don’t like for it to do battle with my perfume all day, I keep this as a strictly bedtime moisturizer. I like the rich, creamy consistency and was pretty satisfied with the moisturizing results, but for $24, I would hope to be a little more dazzled by how my skin looks and feels in the morning. The shea butter in mine definitely did lead to improved moisturizing; I just don’t think the price tag matched the performance as much as I would hope. I also agree with Stef and several others about the packaging. It’s kind of cutesy to the point of seeming generic – like something you’d see next to ‘name brand’ bubblebath and lotion in a drugstore. I think they could definitely benefit from a bit of a packaging update, but some people really seem to like it.
I am in love with Dolcetto Body Butter. I really like foodie smells, and this is like buttercream frosting. A very amazing Vanilla. Besides the fact that it smells so good, this is a highly nourishing cream. I was so excited to get more of it! I heard about Bubalina a couple years ago and Dolcetto was the first one I tried. I ended up getting it for Christmas presents for all my favorite gals, and they instantly fell in love with it too. It’s perfect for winter as it is really rich. and as some of the ladies have said it’s totally not greasy at all.
As for the price, I kind of have to agree that if it were at a bit of a lower price point, I would most likely sample more scents. For me, I know I love dolcetto and probably wouldn’t risk another for that price.
That’s my only complaint, which has nothing to do with the product itself which I find to be really a fine quality butter.
I’m definitely a fan and would highly recommend this to anyone looking for a great non greasy amazing smelling moisturizer.
5 stars from me.
I had the Dolcetto Body Butter a few years ago too Kristy, I loved it! It was super creamy and smelled like the kitchen.. my kitchen when I’m baking a cake! It got rave reviews from my husband too.. He’s into the baking as much as the scents this put off! I loved this butter, and was impressed with the great moisturizing properties-it’s not greasy! I am very interested in blueberry scent! Four Stars from me.