Lavanila The Healthy Body Butter ($25.00 for 8 oz.) is fast becoming a staple body lotion in my household. I love the Vanilla Lavender scent best, because it works well for both daytime and night time. I think I might have a slight preference towards night time, because the lavender scent is soothing and relaxing–perfect for getting relaxed and into sleep-mode.

Although the majority of my body isn’t dry, my legs tend to get dry quickly–if I don’t moisturize them every day, they get to scaly within a week flat. I’m not the best at remembering (or bothering, because let’s face it, I can be lazy!) to put moisturize on every day, so I tend to prefer moisturizers that are richer and more hydrating, so I can get away with missing a few days here and there without suffering the lizardy consequences. The Healthy Body Butter is an extremely thick and rich body butter in a squeeze-tube form, which is definitely a huge plus. I prefer squeeze tubes for lotions, because I feel like I get more control out of it. (A lot of body butters tend to come in jars/tubs.)

It uses 100% pure shea and cocoa butters along with goji berry and kakadu plum (antioxidants). Like the rest of Lavanila’s products, it doesn’t contain parabens, sulfates, synthetic dyes/fragrances, petro-chemicals, phthalates, or triclosan. The body butter applies easily, because you can slide and blend it even on dry skin. It dries down within five minutes, and my skin feels hydrated all day long. No greasy feeling, no sticky aftermath. Just smooth, moisturized skin that thanks me over and over again for not neglecting it.

I recommend this product for…

Anyone with a propensity towards dry skin
Anyone who loves vanilla-themed scents
Anyone who is sensitive to chemicals
Anyone who is looking for natural alternatives
All ages, skin tones, and skin types

Availability: Sephora.com

Lavanila just recently launched The Healthy Deodorant ($18.00). It is touted as 100% natural, 100% healthy, and 100% effective. It is free of aluminum, parabens, propylene glycol, talc, phthalates, and triclosan. It uses a beta-glucan technology with antioxidants, active botanicals, and essential oils to fight against odor in addition to keeping skin smooth.

It’s available in four scents:

• Pure Vanilla
• Vanilla Coconut
• Vanilla Lavender
• Vanilla Grapefruit

I tested out the Vanilla Lavender scent, and I really put it to work, as it was about 85 degrees here, and I was running around playing with the dog for a bit. The Healthy Deodorant met the challenge, and I was surprised at how longwearing it is. In my experience, deodorants that are more organic or “natural” tend to just not work quite as well as other deodorants.

The Healthy Deodorant keeps me dry all day long, and it has a nice scent, too. I find most deodorants smell quite powdery (no matter the scent), kind of as an after-scent, but Vanilla Lavender smelled like a slightly sweet lavender scent. It’s dome-shaped, which actually makes it easier to use than deodorants I’ve tried in the past. It glides on easily and doesn’t leave a slew of white film behind either. I’ll definitely be checking out the other scents, too, when I run out of this one!

Availability: Sephora.com

Lavanila Healthy Body Wash in Vanilla Coconut ($20.00) is providing customers with a 100% natural and sulf-atefree body wash option. You can choose from four scents: Pure Vanilla, Vanilla Grapefruit, Vanilla Blossom, and Vanilla Coconut. These body washes are new products to their Healthy Body line, which already includes coordinating fragrances and body butters.

The company lists the key ingredients as: coconut oil (to cleanse), oat protein (moisturizes and adjusts skni’s pH), pomegranate (gently exfoliates), Goji berries (antioxidant), Willow Bark extract (acts as an astringent to tone), and Vanilla Planifolia Fruit extract (anti-inflammatory). You won’t find SLS, mineral oils, parabens, silicone, or phthalates in this product.

Vanilla Coconut reminds me of the beach–it’s just got that heavenly scent of coconut and the beach scene. If you liked Bobbi Brown’s Beach scent, you’ll love this, too. The scent doesn’t linger prominently once your shower is over, so if you want to smell like the beach all day, try layering the scent with the body butter. I find it lathers really well for a product tagged natural, and even against more chemically-created lathers, it lathers well. This is best used with a puff sponge, because it helps the product lather and gently exfoliate and cleanse your skin.

You can find this at www.sephora.com, or you can learn more at www.lavanila.com.