by Julia, added 12/22/09

Brand: Grumpy Girl Candle & Bath Co.

Products:
Solid Scrub Bars
Buttahcream Sugar Scrub
Fluffy Stuff Foaming Sugar Scrub

Fragrances:
Loves Me Some Lemon Curd
 Mr. Big
 Plum Crazie
Let Them Eat Cake!

Cost: $5.75 - $13

Introduction to my review of Sugar Scrubs from Grumpy Girl Candle & Bath:

If you haven't been to Grumpy Girl Candle & Bath Co.'s website yet, you owe it to your funny bone to go have a peek. This is one of my favorite bath and body websites to visit. Every time I go to Grumpy Girl's website, I leave the grumpy behind. I feel like I'm joining a conga line into a party that's already in full swing.

The graphics are playful and colorful. The site is super easy to navigate and there are all of these eye catching product teasers at the bottom of the pages that are so tempting that I end up surfing all over Grumpy Girl's site looking at all of the product photos.

The tongue-in-cheek scent names and descriptions are hilarious often in a PG-13 sort of way. Scents like Draft Up Your Skirt and Pink Hissy Fit... or Don't Squeeze the Melons, and Hot Sexy UPS Dude are just some of the many clever titles.

Then there is Ralph, the mischievous monkey mascot who always tries to help out, but sometimes playfully causes havoc. To read more about Ralph's antics at Grumpy Girl, sign up for their newsletter or check him out on Facebook and Twitter.

For this review I tried the scrubs... three different types. I sampled the Fluffy Stuff Foaming Sugar Scrub, the original Buttahcream Sugar Scrub, and even a Solid Scrub Bar Single which was a salt scrub.

What do my sugar scrubs from Grumpy Girl look like?

The Grumpy Girl Candle & Bath Co. party continued when I received my package. Opening the box was an eye popping explosion of festive colored paper crinkles. It was like a ticker-tape parade right in my living room... I could almost hear noise makers and cheering crowds. There were a couple of extra surprise samples included and the whole package was like a fun gift to be opened.

My Loves Me Some Lemon Curd solid scrub bar single was a pale lemony yellow color. It was the size, and shape of a standard bar of soap, and it arrived wrapped and labeled. My sugar scrubs were packaged in clear plastic containers, with black lids. The Mr. Big scrub was a most brilliant blue color. Plum Crazie was appropriately plum colored, in a crazy sort of way, and Let Them Eat Cake! was a golden tanned yellow colored scrub.

The labels were white with colorful graphics. They were not exactly waterproof, but they remained readable throughout my testing and I was actually rubbing at them to see if they would smear... they did not.

Loves Me Some Lemon Curd - Solid Scrub Bar Single

First... the scent. As soon as I saw this scent I knew it was for me. I do just happen to love me some lemon curd so this bar had to be mine.

"Sweetened with real vanilla, to balance the tartness of the pure lemon, and touched with just a hint of sugar with notes of lemongrass, litsea cubea, orange oil and vanilla."

The scent was a true, somewhat tart and somewhat sweet lemon which got stronger when I was using it. The bar itself didn't smell that strong until I hopped in the shower with it... then whammy! Sweet, tart lemony goodness!

Next... performance. Squeaky clean. That is the best way to describe how my skin felt after using this salt bar. Unlike a sugar scrub which adds oils and moisture to my skin, this salt scrub seemed to strip away impurities. I was left with skin so clean that when I rubbed my wet skin, it actually squeaked!

I like a good salt scrub, and this bar was excellent. The scrub aspect of this bar escaped me. It actually felt smooth on my skin, not scrubby. I could definitely feel the salt in the bar but it wasn't coarse. It was smooth and hard like a regular soap bar with superfine salt in it.

Living close to the Gulf of Mexico, I'm all too familiar with salty water and the effects of it on my skin. I find salt to be healing and detoxifying, so I always look forward to a soak in the salty Gulf waters. I feel the same way about a salt scrub bar.

This salt scrub was like the eraser of the bath and body world. Where other products condition the skin by adding moisture and oil, this bar cleaned and purified my skin. It felt like a fresh, clean start... like my skin was able to get some air for a change. That's not to say I didn't want to immediately slather on some body butter to counteract the dryness of my skin... I surely wanted to, but I held off in order to truly test the results from this salt scrub bar.

This bar left a very pleasant, very faint clean lemony scent on my skin... I liked that, but I would want to follow up with a moisturizer. Luckily, Grumpy Girl Candles & Bath Co. has moisturizing lotions, sprays and butters in matching scents so I can have me some lemon curd all day long.

This is not what I consider an everyday scrub as it did feel drying, but I liked the extra clean feel, and I would definitely like to loves me some lemon curd again.

Here is Grumpy Girl's description of Mr. Big:

"Green apple martini, mandarin, bergamot, rosewood, orchid and narcissus over a base of white amber, patchouli, and soft musk."

Yeah, I know it's called Mr. Big and I thought it may have been made with men in mind, but the scent sounded interesting to me, and I'm really glad I chose it. This scent is similar to Sarah Jessica Parker's Lovely scent but it's got a little extra Grumpy Girl "grumpiness" added in that makes it unique. Anything the even hints at green apple martini catches my eye every time, so I jumped at the chance to try this scent.

Turned out, the smell of green apple was farther in the background than I expected... I could barely smell the apple. What came through most clearly to me were the floral notes. They were fantastic... and not in a girlie girl way. The orchid and rosewood were bold and daring. I caught bursts of the bergamot and mandarin in the shower. This scent was much more complex than I expected and I thought it was just wonderful. The deeper notes of amber and musk were harder to pick out of the scent, but I imagine they would be more prominent as the dry down scent in a body spray or lotion. It's hard for me to catch the dry down scents with a sugar scrub, although I did notice the musk on my skin after my shower. When I used Mr. Big in my shower and the scent filled my whole bathroom.

The Buttahcream Sugar Scrub texture was soft and scoopable. It was bright, cotton candy blue, and the sugar granules were medium to fine. The scrub was like a grainy frosting and was easy to work into my skin. This Buttahcream scrub was not the foaming kind... it went on like a translucent lotion and the sugar held up well for lots of massaging. The product rinsed clean with no noticeable residue.

After showering, my skin felt conditioned, and I could smell the Mr. Big scent on my arms. I still wanted to moisturize though, and I was wishing I had gotten this scent in a lotion for layering.

The description for Plum Crazie has a lot going on. Grumpy Girl Candle & Bath Co. describes it like this:

"Rich, vibrant plums, raspberries, cranberry, citrus, apple, strawberry with a touch of vanilla, honey and rum."

This scent was a wonderful fruity mix. I smelled cranberry, and apple and plum... almost like a cranberry chutney. I know it's all about the plums, but cranberry is what I smelled the most... a spicy cranberry marmalade. All of these fruits together smelled really juicy. It smelled tart and sweet at the same time. The scent was an eye opener... vibrant is a great word to describe Plum Crazie. This is a must try for fruity bath scent fans. I liked this scent a lot... it is terrific for these colder months and the holiday season.

My experience with the product itself was the same as with the Mr. Big Buttahcream sugar scrub. I could smell the Plum Crazie scent on my skin after the shower and my skin felt conditioned but in need of a little extra moisture.

This scent was impossible to resist. It's described as: 

"buttery Italian birthday cake topped with fluffy buttercream frosting. Yum!"

Yummy, yummy, yummy!!!! I loved this scent big time. Want it, need it, can't get enough of it. My shower was like a big cake fight without the cleanup. Slathering this scrub on was like taking a huge piece of the most delicious birthday cake complete with buttercream icing and smearing it all over... or like sitting in a vat of buttercream frosting just for the heck of it. It was a hugely decedent scent... an absolute winner. I can't wait to get more.

The Fluffy Stuff Foaming Sugar Scrub was very similar to the Buttahcream. It did foam up into a creamy lather, but it wasn't exactly a bubble fest. It was just a smooth lotiony lather. The Fluffy Stuff's texture felt creamy like a frosting made from scrubby sugar granules. It was scoopable and easy to use.

The product rinsed clean and left no oily residue in the shower. This would be a good everyday type of scrub... the texture was mild and it cleaned as well as conditioned without heavy oils. The Fluffy Stuff left nothing behind but a light scent on my skin to remind me of the hedonistic cake party that was my morning shower.

There are plenty of choices out there for bath and body products, but I have made a permanent spot in my cabinet for Grumpy Girl's Candle and Bath products. These products are consistently good and with so many great scents, I am always excited to pull down a new Grumpy Girl sugar scrub or cream soap jar from the shelf.

From the Cranky Cups wax melts to the Acid Trip bar soap, every item I've tried has been top quality. Grumpy girl Candle and bath offers a wide variety of products and some of the most fun scents around, so there is a little something for everybody. There are often new scents added and new photos on their website, so it always looks fresh and interesting.

I have ordered a few times prior to this review and each time I have had a great experience with customer service and order processing time. Each order is packaged as if it were a special gift, and Ralph, the monkey, is always helpful too.


Happy bath & body shopping!

~ Julia


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** Note** An official candle review on Candlefind of Grumpy Girl Candles to come... this site has some killer wax and bath and body products so have fun exploring this site. Everything here is wonderful.