Sabon Golden Iris Shower Oil, Body Lotion, Candle (Limited Edition)

I owe this pleasure to my wonderful friend Josie who wandered into a Sabon boutique in the city for some sniffing, and came out declaring the Golden Iris range as the perfect companion to one of our favorite iris perfumes, Khol de Bahrein by  Stéphane Humbert Lucas 777.  I've always meant to start exploring the bath and body products from Sabon, but being allergic to many soapy things I tend to stay on the safe side and stick with L'Occitane. Not having an itchy skin goes a very long way for me.

While Sabon doesn't put the ingredient list online (why isn't this a standard practice?), the stuff they do mention is olive, avocado, jojoba and wheat germ oils. No coconut (I'm extremely and painfully allergic), so I was ready to take the plunge. There are six items in the limited edition Golden Iris range and I got three:the shower oil, body lotion, and a candle. You can also buy a scent diffuser for your house, a sea salt body scrub, or a bar of soap.

Let's start with the scent itself. While it's not identical to the magnificent Khol de Bahrein, Golden Iris does share the rich buttery dough facet. It's soapier and somewhat more floral, while the SHL perfume leans gourmand, but there's no mistaking the elegant iris note that shares the same kind of warmth with it.This is a beautiful scent that smells sophisticated and far more expensive than you might expect from a bath and body line.

Sabon's shower oil is not really oily. It's a liquid soap that comes in a long neck bottle plus a pump,  feels very gentle and not drying on my skin. It projects nicely in the shower, filling the air with its wonderful aroma. It does not linger on the skin much past toweling off, but that's where the body lotion comes into play. It comes in a jar and has the texture and feel of a body butter. This is a very moisturizing product, and for people who don't have an extremely dry skin like mine it can probably serve as a cold weather pampering product. I find this lotion/balm very satisfying and nourishing, and love the way my skin feels afterwards. The Golden Iris scent of the lotion remains on the skin for a couple of hours, so it's a lovely treat before bed, even if you don't add a perfume afterwords. I do, of course, and find that just as Josie said, Khol de Bahrein settles into it beautifully for a very happy 24 hours.

The candle takes the soap facet of Golden Iris and fill the air with it. The throw is impressive, and I can smell it suddenly around the house when I don't expect it. It burns slowly though not completely evenly, and I estimate its burning time at around 48 hours.

Bottom Line: Since it's a limited edition I should probably stock up a bit.

Sabon Golden Iris shower oil ($18 250ml), body lotion ($25, 200ml), and candle ($35, 230ml) is available in store at Sabon boutiques and from their website sabonnyc.com.

Art: James Aponovich, 3 Pots of Iris , 2014