The Sample: TATCHA Indigo Collection – Soothing Silk Hand Cream, Soothing Silk Body Butter & Soothing Renewal Treatment (Review,
««Press Sample»»
I really wish I had had the time to get this review out to you guys while the so-called “polar vortex” was still whipping its way around but luckily these ultra-luxe, heavy-duty new treatments from TATCHA work great year-round, too (though I must say, their results are particularly miraculous come winter time or during the bone-dry Santa Ana wind season that only my fellow So-Cal comrades will understand the skin-chapping pain of…). All 3 pieces from TATCHA’s Indigo Collection are deeply soothing and hydrating but are also inherently silky and light enough for spring and summer!
The collection includes the Soothing Silk Hand Cream, Soothing Silk Body Butter, and Soothing Renewal Treatment. All 3 products are a truly lovely blue shade. When I first heard that the products were blue, I was a bit iffy on that because when skincare products are dyed unnatural colors like blue or green, the effect can sometimes be a bit of a turn-off and can cheapen the product, if you know what I mean. But that’s just the thing: the gorgeous blue hue of these products isn’t unnatural–it’s a result of the Japanese Indigo Extract that TATCHA has included in the formulation. Not only does it make the products really pretty to look at but indigo is also anti-inflammatory and helps to restore and soothe chapped, dehydrated skin (fyi: it’s also supposed to be great for those with dermatitis). Who knew?!
–TATCHA’s always exquisite and thoughtful packaging (click image to enlarge)–
As far as I’m concerned, the Soothing Silk Hand Cream and Soothing Silk Body Butter are virtually identical, though the Body Butter is slightly thinner in formulation.
I apologize for the well-used condition of my tub of the body butter. The pretty blue color lured me in and, as the saying goes, once I popped I really could not stop! I kept telling myself to lay off, at least until I had a chance to photograph it but it was no use. Hand to heart, this stuff is freaking fabulous! It’s by far the best body butter I have ever tried in my life! I always love the idea of a body butter but in reality, most of the ones I’ve tried are just way too heavy and greasy to use all the time. But not so with TATCHA’s rendition; I really cannot think of a single fault with this lovely cream (okay, maybe other than the price being slightly hard to swallow…). I couldn’t have picked a better name than Soothing Silk because man does this stuff feel like pure silk. And despite containing silicone, it doesn’t have that nasty, slippery feel to it–it’s so very light for such a heavy-duty, moisturizing formula. It’s almost airy, it’s just so beautiful.
Oh, and let’s not forget the delicious, fresh lemony-balm scent of these two products. I’ve mentioned this before but I’m not the biggest fan of lemon scented anything–Fresh’s Sugar Lip Treatments being the exception. But these Indigo goodies are enough to seduce any doubter with its lemony embrace! It’s a very mellow, sweet, candied-lemon, as opposed to zesty and sharp. It lingers lightly and beautifully on the skin.
The Soothing Renewal Treatment is a bit different from the other 2 products. First of all, it doesn’t have the same lemon fragrance. The actual scent is very hard to describe, seeing as how it’s so light it’s almost imperceptible, but it smells very natural and slightly herbal to me. The cream is also much richer and thicker than the other two. After all, it is meant to be used as a treatment balm as opposed to your average night cream. This is the proverbial “big guns” that people speak of when all else has failed; you can use it on your elbows, knees, cheeks…*wherever*, to tame inflamed, irritated, severely dehydrated skin.
I found during testing that I could use this as an emergency overnight treatment all over my face and didn’t have to worry about breakouts. Of course, I didn’t test it for longer than 2 consecutive nights because not only is much too rich for me to use it that often (I’m super oily and acne-prone, fyi) but I found that the cream had already worked its magic after day 1, anyway. A tiny dab of the cream is enough to keep the roughness away on my elbows for the entire day so a little really does go a long way with this one.
–click to enlarge–
Admittedly, I can’t attest to its efficacy in regards to improving certain skin conditions like eczema or dermatitis (which TATCHA says the treatment cream is great for) but I did a bit of digging through reviews on TATCHA’s site as well as various reviews or comments under reviews from various bloggers and the general consensus seems to be that this cream is amazingly effective at healing and soothing the skin of those who suffer from eczema, dermatitis, and rosacea.
There is one little problem with this cream though: the indigo dye is much more concentrated/pigmented than in both the hand cream and body butter–it takes more work to diffuse/work the color into the skin and even then, still leaves the barest trace of a blue tint to the skin it’s been applied to. Oh, and if you have any rough, flaky patches of skin, the blue hue will get caught in the flaky bits. I applied the Soothing Renewal Treatment to my roughened heels and cuticles to test and lo and behold, I was left with samurai blue-tinged lines all over my heels and cuticles. So yes, the Soothing Renewal Treatment will leave you with plump, moisturized, soothed skin but it will also leave you looking slightly blue–the effect of which is very hardly noticeable, yes, but there nonetheless. Because of this, I recommend using this on your face at night only, especially if you have very fair skin. Those with a darker skin tone may find it less noticeable.
*side note: I did test the non-staining claims and found that the indigo blue washed cleanly away from the edge of a white towel I dabbed and worked it into
–Soothing Renewal Treatment applied on left, bare skin on right. Can you see the very slight cast to my skin and where it has slightly collected into the lines of my skin at the wrist? (click to enlarge)–
All in all, I say these gems are worth every penny–especially the hand cream and body butter. The Soothing Renewal Treatment I would only recommend splurging on if you truly do have very sensitive, irritated skin and/or eczema/dermatitis/rosacea and need the extra TLC year round. Otherwise, I think it would be a great winter/Santa Ana months splurge for taking care of any pesky seasonal dryness and irritation.
»»Pricing: Soothing Silk Hand Cream-$38/2.0 fl. oz.; Soothing Silk Body Butter-$48/6.7 fl. oz.; Soothing Renewal Treatment-$98/0.5 fl. oz.
»»Availability: TATCHA.com
»»Recommended for: lovers of luxury body care; those with extremely dry and/or sensitive skin
»»Overall Rating: A for Soothing Silk Hand Cream and Soothing Silk Body Butter; A- for Soothing Renewal Treatment
Disclaimer: the product(s) featured in this post were provided to The Beauty Sample free of charge by the manufacturer/PR for review purposes only. Regardless of how the product was obtained, my priority is to you, my readers, and I will always give you my honest opinion.
