Duross & Langel is a small company based in Philadelphia, where it sells handmade soaps, body products, and haircare in a loft-like shop near the center of the city. When I was living in Philadelphia a few years ago, I made regular trips to Duross & Langel, and I still stop by whenever I’m in town, to stock up on one or two of my favorite products.
For some reason, I’m on the prowl for a good body scrub these days — it must have something to do with the transition from summer to fall. Duross & Langel offers a few solutions for ridding yourself of dry or flaky skin, and many of them happen to be nicely scented.
Some of the company’s hand-crafted soaps, for example, have exfoliating properties. There’s Blueberry Scrub, which is flecked with actual blueberry seeds and smells like the filling of a blueberry pie; Steve’s Seed Scrub, with a fennel scent and poppy seeds swirled into its base of olive oil and shea butter; and Coffee Mint, whose peppermint fragrance will wake you up if its gently abrasive layer of ground coffee beans doesn’t do the trick.
Sandalwood Scrub, which I like even more than the soaps, is packaged in a flip-top bottle. I can’t really think of a similar product, which is why I keep coming back to it. Rather than salt, sugar, or jojoba beads, this scrub gets its power from pulverized sandalwood and walnut shells, which are suspended in a gently foaming shower gel. The gel cleanses, and the gritty bits work to polish the skin. Although the label calls this a “face and body scrub,” I can’t really imagine using it on my face; however, for elbows, feet, and the backs of arms and legs, it’s ideal.
The use of sandalwood is reportedly a complicated issue these days, due to shortages and restrictions. I don’t know the specific source of the sandalwood used in this product, or how much of the scent is due to real sandalwood versus synthetic fragrance, but the scrub certainly smells wonderful: woody-sweet, slightly earthy, a bit astringent. It’s appropriate for either men or women, and it feels season-less — although I find it especially fitting for autumn, as I happily prepare to tuck myself into long sleeves and tights for the next few months.
If you have a favorite scrub or sandalwood product, feel free to share in the comments section!
Duross & Langel soaps sell for $7 per bar, and Sandalwood Body Scrub is available for $18 for 8 oz. at the Duross & Langel website.
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rubbing crushed walnut shells over my body sounds scary to me.
I don’t have rough skin though.
Hi KG, I don’t have particularly rough skin either, and the shell bits are very finely ground and dispersed through the gel, so it’s actually less abrasive than most salt-based scrubs!
Jessica-
I am a big sandalwood scent fan. Do they make a perfumed oil? Or perhaps an all over body spray? If not, do you know a maker of these products? I like your description of sandalwood- right on the money. Another nice one is a pear/sandalwood combo soap from Portugal-the sandalwood in there is what sandalwood should smell like.I can’t remember the name.
Hi Dolly, You may be thinking of Claus Porto… I think they have a Pear Sandalwood line, and their packaging is gorgeous. Hm, D&L don’t seem to have any other straight sandalwood products, although they do have a Sandalwood-Lavender deodorant. I really like B&BW’s Sandalwood Rose products, which are sporadically available. Oh, wait, I think Crabtree & Evelyn has a nice Sandalwood line, in its men’s “department,” but I think sandalwood can be worn by anyone!
Thanks for the reminder Jessica. It was Claus Porto. I would love it if they made a pear/sandalwood all over spray. The soap has such a great smell to it.
What about The Body Shop’s sandalwood products? Like, say, the warm sandalwood perfume oil. Have you smelt that?What do you think of it if you have?
Hi Dolly, I really enjoy The Body Shop’s Woody Sandalwood perfume oil. I think it’s a good combination of rich and cozy, and you can’t beat the price! Supposely you can also have the oil custom-mixed into unscented lotion and shower gel, although I’ve never done that.
Jessica- Sorry for the typo, for some reason the adjective just stuck in my mind. I’ll try the woody sandalwood. I think that Claus Porto also makes “Parada”(pear/sandalwood) body creme. Have you heard of this?
Wow, these sound good — the Steve’s Seed Scrub, Coffee Mint and the Sandalwood all sound like things I’d enjoy.
One of my long-time favorite scrubs is the Brown Sugar African Shea Butter scrub by Avon’s Planet Spa line. It has a really nice comforting smell and is extremely cheap!
Jill, I don’t often have the chance to look through an Avon catalogue, so I admit I don’t know anything about that line! Thanks for mentioning it… sounds good!
I love the sound of the sandalwood scrub, and I’d like one that I could use on my face and body. I just might have to try it – thanks, Jessica! The only scrub I’ve found that I like so far is the Ocean Salt scrub by Lush.
I love Ocean Salt, especially in the summer, when my face doesn’t have any dryness at all. Great stuff, one of my longtime Lush favorites!
Ooooooh, this sounds delightful! I’m currently using Bliss Soap ‘n Scrub Super Minty. It foams up, exfoliates well, and smells of mint which is so invigorating. Thanks for telling us about these products.
Bliss has too many products for me to remember! But I used to have their Vanilla Bergamot body butter, which frequently brought me compliments. Everyone loves a vanilla scent, apparently…
Does anyone remember what the discount code for The perfumed court is this month? thanks.
Oh, Daisy -what are you up to? and what happened to your lockdown?
Spend $75 and receive 4% off your order
code is SCHOOLDAYS75
Spend $125 and receive 6% off your order
code is SCHOOLDAYS125
Spend $175 and receive 8% off your order
code is SCHOOLDAYS175
ahhh, thank you my dear!
um, lockdown…yeah…it’s going swimmingly….about as good as YOUR lockdown…how’s that Alien Liquer treating you? hmmm?
It’s yummy!
But see how she evaded the question……
hey! whose side are you on anyways?!
besides….I’d say my lockdown is going just fine….the CEO may have a slightly different perspective…but we aren’t asking him, now are we? hmmm?
I’m thinking that we’re both going to be placed under house arrest at some point soon.
House arrest doesn’t do any good when you have an internet connection!
heheheh that’s exactly right VJ, I can do incredible damage with nothing but a laptop and a credit card….so shhhhhh.
Oooh, that Sandalwood Scrub sounds wonderful…must skip over to their site and have a look at some….I’m a huge believer in exfoliating.
Thanks for the review Jessica!
And soap wasn’t included in the lockdown!
Daisy, Yes, do check out their site! And I’ve always thought that soap/lotion/scrub and actual perfume have separate budgets, anyway…
Speaking of which – I was at Walgreen’s today and guess what they had samples of? Degree (yes, the deodorant company) is putting out fragrance that matches their deodorant scents (actually, they’re probably body mists), but they had sample vials of their new “fine fragrance” line. Yes, I grabbed one – lol.
LOL!! it was the hunter/gatherer in you that couldn’t resist.
These sound really nice, Jessica. I think my twins would love the blueberry bar. If the sandalwood bits are of concern, you can always make a scrub with one part oil (I use a blend of olive and either grapeseed or almond) and one part, more or less, of salt to achieve the consistancy of your liking. If you want a really fine scrub, get one of those little inexpensive coffee bean grinders to grind the salt, then add a few drops of sandalwood essential oil, and pour that into an air tight container. It’s amazing in the shower and the scent distributes really well.
And Daisy, I totally feel your pain. I’m already into Nov’s budget given what I’m planning to snag in Oct. As soon as I told DH I was after a backup of L’Arte and told him how much the current price was, he said and I quote”I know you can find a better deal than that.” I consider this a direct challenge and will do my very best to honor it.
Dove makes body splashes that accompany their deodorant line, and I really like all three. I bought one each of Grapefruit & Lemongrass, Green Tea, and some sort of lily scent. They’re pretty nice for the price. Not the most complex frags in the world, but perfect to splash on after a shower or the like and inexpensive enough that you can just consider them part of the standard health and beauty expenses.
Hiya, did you explain to the DH that L’arte has been discontinued for a while ? I suspect he is hoping your attentions will shift to something new and less spendy. But I’ll keep looking too, it there’s a deal out there, we will find it.
Oh yes. I think he’s growing to hate the word ‘discontinued’ almost as much as I am, because then it’s all about the hunt.