Body Luxury with Kate Somerville

Kate Somerville ExfoliKate Body Intensive Exfoliating Treatment ($65.00 for 5 oz.) is an enzyme-based scrub that utilizes both papaya and pumpkin enzymes as well as beads to exfoliate away dead skin.  According to Kate Somerville, the enzymes “digest dead skin cells” while the beads “buff them away.”  The visual I get of enzymes digesting dead skin is partially gross… and yet hilarious.  Moving on!

I love me some ExfoliKate (for the face), and I like ExfoliKate Body, but I don’t think I’d repurchase it at full price.  I picked up mine through Gilt, when they had a sale, so I think I paid around $40.   What I like most about ExfoliKate Body is how it seemed to help moisturize my skin post-shower.  By no means is this a replacement for a moisturizer (unless you have pretty hydrated skin already, then perhaps it might)–on my dragon-scale legs, it just helps.  They also feel ridiculously soft and smooth and stay that way for a few hours, even without moisturizer.

Ingredients:  Water, Lactic Acid, Polyethylene, Cetearyl Alcohol, Ceteareth-20, Glycine Soja (Soybean) Oil, Pectin, Carica Papaya Fruit, Lactobacillus/Cucurbita Pepo Fruit, Ferment Extract, Aloe Barbadensis Leaf Juice, Papain, Bromelain, Tocopheryl Acetate, Retinyl Palmitate, Mel, Acetic Acid, Citrus Aurantium Bergamia (Bergamot) Fruit Oil, Lavandula Angustifolia (Lavender) Oil, Geranium Maculatum Oil, Pogostemon Cablin Oil, Aniba Rosaeodora (Rosewood) Wood Oil, Citrus Aurantium Dulcis (Orange) Oil, Cinnamomum Cassia Leaf Oil, Salicylic Acid, Dehydroxanthan Gum, Cetyl Alcohol, Glyceryl Stearate, PEG-100 Stearate, Cinnamal, Potassium Sorbate, Alcohol, Phenoxyethanol, Methylparaben, Butylparaben, Ethylparaben, Propylparaben, Citral, Limonene, Linalool, Geraniol, Citronellol, Cinnamal, Eugenol, Benzyl Benzoate, Beta-Carotene (CI 75130), Chlorophyllin-Copper Complex (CI 75810).

The product is easy to apply but the process of application is not my cup of tea.  Just like ExfoliKate for face, this is a product that is supposed to sit on skin for a couple of minutes.  I don’t know about you, but this means I have to step to the back of the shower and just stand there, out of the spray, and well, it’s not as convenient.  I also feel like I’m wasting a ton of water, since I’m not enjoying it and it’s going right down the drain.

It’s a good product, but I don’t know if it’s that much better than so many other body scrubs and exfoliators.  Seeing how my body doesn’t seem all that particular or reactive to scrubs in general, shelling out for this one is probably not the way to go.  I’m more apt to spend more for good facial care, which is an area of skin that seems more finicky.

If you want to know more about how products are evaluated, read out Rating System FAQ!

• Product: 27/30
• Value: 7/10
• Ease of Use: 3/5
• Packaging: 4/5

RECOMMENDATION: A lovely exfoliating scrub that relies more on enzymes and lactic acid to slough off dead skin, rather than scrubby particles, but it is an indulgence.  Certainly worth trying if you don’t mind the price tag, but it’s not so above the rest that it’s necessarily worth saving up for.

AVAILABILITY: Sephora