Both the names "Smack!" and "Smooch!" are words for kisses and the names are supposed to represent the kind of scrub experience from each variety of scrub. It might just be me but I had - and still have - a really hard time keeping the two straight.
Unlike the two kinds of scrubs from Haus of Gloi, which do feel somewhat similar texturally, these two scrubs from Villainess are very different.
Smooch!
From the website:
MOISTURISING BODY SCRUB
The Smooch! is a Villainess original; a multi-tasking product cleverly disguised as the most indulgent thing to ever touch your skin.
We start with a carefully balanced blend of feather-light (yet vitamin-rich) grapeseed oil, and an exotic vegetable butter - mango, unrefined shea, or black cocoa, coconut oil to melt at skin temperature, and lashings of cherry kernel oil. And then we add the good stuff; raw sugars or sea salts to exfoliate without any rough edges to abrade your gorgeous skin, crushed botanicals or bright ticklish jojoba beads to gently slough off dead skin cells.
So, why Smooch! when, all said, they sound like your average oily scrub? Because when you get a Smooch! into the damp luxury of a warm bath or shower, they emulse into an impossibly light milky lotion that rinses away cleanly. Exfoliating and moisturising in one easy step, Smooch! leaves you smooth and supple - in other words, perfectly kissable!
The Smooch! is both water-activated and preservative free. To maintain their luscious textures, avoid pre-activating them, and to prevent microbial growth keep them as dry as possible during use. We recommend using a Smooch! completely within 30 days of your first use.
Please excuse the gross weirdness in the first picture above, I mentioned it a bit in my Soap Box Company Overview but I asked Villainess about it and they said it looked like the cocoa butter had crystallized - an unfortunately common problem in bath and body products - but that it was perfectly good to use.
However, after my first use, it turned even grosser looking. the parts that I hadn't touched turned into a dark brown crust and the part that I did use darkened and turned a little gloopy. Opening the jar after that first time, I definitely had a bit of an "ew" moment but under that layer, the product is still a normal, lighter beige color (the third picture above).
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| Smooch! size comparison. Left: Full size, Right: Sample size |
Besides the physical oddities, Smooch! is actually really interesting to use. It's very different from other indie scrubs that I've tried.
Each particular Smooch! has a set of "Distinguishing Features" on their products page. Some have different kinds of salts added, some have a different set of oils, among other small variations. The one that tried, Dulces en Fuego, has a warming attribute.
I was pretty skeptical to start. Both that I'd actually feel anything and then if I did, would it make any difference to my scrub experience?
To the first question, you can definitely feel it. I tend to like my showers to be nice and hot so I didn't feel the warmth on my body but my hands definitely increased in temperature by the end of my scrub down. I also tried this in the sink under cold water and the impact is much much stronger there.
But did I like it? Ehhhhhhhh. Since my showers are pretty hot as it is, it's mostly surprising when my hands heat up but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. This feature might be much more enjoyable in the winter though, especially in a warm bath. I've found myself steering away from Dulces en Fuego now that it's summer and warming up. The last thing I've been wanting is more heat.
As a scrub, Dulces en Fuego does not have anything added for "extra exfoliation" in the distinguishing features category but this is still a very rough scrub. I would not recommend this one for daily use. If you take a look at the picture below, you can actually see the exfoliation bits. I've found this scrub to be much more exfoliating than my other indie scrubs and other the other side, this scrub also leaves more residual oil on my skin. It's almost too oily but after a rinse and a towel-off, the oil residue doesn't linger. But the scent does. I'd avoid this one if you don't like your bath products to stick around after you leave the shower.
With the residual oil and the heating attribute, this would definitely be a better scrub for winter but unfortunately, the scrub has a very short recommended lifespan. On both the website and on the jar, it has a 1-month use-by date. This is exceptionally short compared to other indie scrubs. I definitely won't be able to use it within a month and I'll report back on how it changes after that use-by date.
Smack!
From the website:
FOAMING BODY SCRUB
The Villainess Smack! is a big wet kiss of luxury. A gentle blend of foaming agents, spiked liberally with skin loving vegetables oils - grapeseed, cherry kernel, cococnut - and anti-oxidant Orchid Extract, and laced with botanicals and cane sugar to simultaneously cleanse, buffer, and exfoliate. Smack! is free of parabens, lauryl sulfates, propylene glycol, FD&C dyes, and phthalates and is available in 23,751 fragrances.
That's right. 23,751. Twenty-Three Thousand, Seven Hundred Fifty-One. With a collection of 26 single notes, and 4 completely-customised scoops per jar, you can have your foaming deliciousness almost any way you'd like it. So take a chance and mix up unlikely-sounding monstrosities, dupe your discontinued HG, or trust our recommendation with our monthly staff picks!
Another gross arrival picture. In this case, I think it was more because in the package, the jar was sideways and so the oil seeped out. After standing it right-side up for a day, the puddle of oil on top sank back into the rest of the scrub.
Surprisingly, despite the amount of oil that separated during the travel, this scrub actually left less residual oil on me than the Smooch! scrub. It's still very moisturizing but didn't leave me feeling coated. The scent lingers about the same amount as the Smooch!
This scrub is slightly rougher than other indie scrubs but not as rough as the Smooch! I'm not sure if this is a difference of amount of exfoliating product or because this scrub is "wetter" feeling.
I'm also not sure that'd I'd classify it as a "foaming" scrub despite the large capitals on the webpage. I do get some bubbles, especially when I use it on my hands and scrub vigorously but not enough that I'd call specifically call that out as a feature.
One of the interesting things about Smack! is that it's put together as four different "scoops" of different scented products and so has a distinct layered look. [Aside: I can definitely see why they don't make samples of these guys, that'd be a huge pain in the butt.] I dug through mine and sampled the different layers but they didn't smell any different individually to me. I assume that the oils all mix together to create that single scent.
I couldn't find a dedicated list on their website of their single-notes but on the side of the jar, there's a checklist that tells you which scent scoops went into the jar. I purchased Some More Smack which already had a combination of scents selected but Villainess does offer a custom option with drop-downs for the same cost as a pre-assembled Smack.
The $15 price point is a little high for an indie scrub but the jar is nice and large. It's 10 oz for $15 which is only a little higher per oz than a Haus of Gloi Bubbling Scrub ($1.50/oz compared to $1.33/oz for HoG). This scrub also lasts a little longer than the Smooch! but it's still pretty short at 3-months.
Overall
I thought that these were two really innovative products. I personally prefer the Smack! since I don't really need a huge amount of exfoliation but at $15 a jar, it's a bit of a pricey option - especially since I like to have a nice variety of scents to pick from and I can't see myself having more than one of these open at a time due to both the price and the short expiration date.
Do you have any experience with Villainess Scrubs? I couldn't find much on the two when I was researching to compare so I'd love to hear your thoughts!
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