Hawaiian Tropic are known for their coconut scented sun protection lotions & tanning oils (as well as sponsoring bikini pageants), so it makes logical sense that they also make after sun products. For some reason I was still surprised when I spotted a range of after sun body butters on the Hawaiian Tropic stand in Boots. I think it was the term 'body butter' that intrigued me. Most after sun products I've come across have been in lotion form, but as shea/cocoa butter tends to feature quite highly in ingredient lists of these, it shouldn't be too surprising.
I was also drawn in by the words 'Lime Coolada'. Cocktails & tropical fruit both feature quite highly on lists of things I love, so I had to give this a quick sniff as I walked by. I fell in love, right then & there. It didn't matter the price tag, this uniquely smelling body butter had to be mine. Fortunately Boots were selling it at a 50% discount of £5.24 (I later found out Asda & Home Bargains are offering even better prices: £5.00 & £3.99 respectively).
The formula boasts cocoa butter (to soften, smooth & rejuvinate skin), shea butter (to restore elasticity), mango butter (to seal in moisture & prevent peeling) & avacado oil (containing vitamin A to refine & firm skin).
I'd say the consistency is more of a heavy lotion (similar to that of posset or syllabub, if you've had either of those...can you tell my job involves Food? Haha!!) than a butter, but alot of products with this consistency call themselves butters, so who am I to argue?! The lotion, as I shall now refer to it, sports a pale green tinge.
I'll be completely honest, until a couple of days ago it hasn't been sunny enough for me to need an after sun product, but I've been using this as a body lotion since its purchase. In fact I've been struggling to be in the same room as the tub without applying to any bare patch of skin I can find! It does take a short while to absorb into skin & can leave a slightly sticky residue, but nothing too unpleasant. It's highly moisturising & leaves skin feeling really soft.
As an after sun lotion it performs well too, I noticed a really nice cooling affect as I applied the lotion to my shoulders after sun exposure (on the single day it's been above 20°C this month!).
The scent is, without a doubt, the selling point of this product for me. It's a very tropical scent, with pineapple being the stand out fragrance, followed closely by lime. There are also hints of mango. It pretty much smells of the most amazing smoothie/juice you could imagine! After sitting on your skin for a while the scent changes a little, loosing some of the sharpness of the lime & pineapple and allowing the slightly more muted, sweeter notes of the cocoa & shea to come through.
This comes in one size, a pretty generous 200ml tub. It would usually take me forever to get through a body butter or lotion this size (I'm the queen of neglecting to apply body products), let alone an after sun lotion, but my current addiction has led me to already be almost a quartre of the way through the tub after a single week!
I know that I will probably continue to purchase this product for a long while to come. I love it just as an every day body lotion, the scent is a massive pick me up, the fact I can also use this as my after sun care is just an added bonus!
Anyone else tried this? Anyone tempted? What do you think of Hawaiian Tropic products in general? Holiday essential or just a gimmicky brand?
Miss Sarah x
This stuff looks great, lime coolada sounds lush! I think they are a bit of a gimmicky brand, but I usually pcik up their stuff when I go away - if its a choice between HT and say, piz buin I'll always go for HT!
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