Thanks for the response. Does anyone know if this stuff is similar to Garden Botanika? I used to like that, but they went out of business (although I think they may still have a website)?

ttt

I am shocked that anyone would go to such efforts to buy Bath and Body Works Products, which are overpriced and of a very low quality.<BR>Sorry to be a sour grape!

BB&W has some nice products. However,<BR>the Body Shop's products use fresher ingredients.<BR>Some of the Bb&W stuff is nauseating, without naming flavors (Hazelnut)...oops<BR>and some are wonderful!<BR>I like their hand lotions. I especially love their soaps in the bottle, Melon, Lemon, Juniper Berry.<BR>I like Garden Botanika a little more than BB&W, but once again, it's personal preference. has anyone tried the Satsuma from Body Shop? Mmmm. It's fabulous! But only if you like oranges.

I disagree with you. B&BW has some really great shower gels, sprays and lotions. I like Vanilla Sugar in Summer and Vanilla Spice in fall/winter. The hand cleanser is excellent and anti-bacterial.

I also love Bath and Body Works. They have so many great fragrances at affordable prices. Just for your information I have purchased many new and unopened B&BW items on www.ebay.com.

I'm allergic to formaldehyde and formaldehyde releasers (preservatives). For me, Bath & Body Works is useless. I can't use anything they sell.

1. Does this mean B&BW stuff has formaldehyde? Is that common in these types of products?<BR><BR>2. What B&BW scents/products do people recommend the most?

I know it is personal opinion, but I avoid B&BW whenever I can. When I see one in a mall I try to give it a wide berth. The fake fruit smells wafting out rival the worst candle shop you could imagine.<BR><BR>Body Shop is better and Origins, Aveda or any number of other brands/shops are better yet.

My favorite is Tranquil Sleep mineral bath salts--not overly perfumed IMO. But the best is Body Shop's Ayurveda (Pitta) pillow spray––puts me right to sleep!

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Formaldehyde is a naturally occuring substance in nature. Almost ALL toiletries have formaldehyde or a formaldehyde releaser in them to prevent the product from spoiling. Start reading the labels for ingredients in the products you buy. <BR><BR>From my dermatologist, here is a list of commonly used Formaldehyde Releasers:<BR>DMDM hydantoin<BR>Quarternium-15 (or Polyquarternium-##)<BR>Imidazolidnyl urea (mascara)<BR>Dimethylolurea<BR>Hexamethylene tetramine<BR>There are 10 more listed. Do you need them?<BR><BR>Abbreviated list of Products containing Formaldehyde:<BR>Textiles and clothing: Miracle fabrics (perm press, etc.), tanned leather, furs<BR>Cosmetics: shampoo, lotion, bath soaps, blush, rouge, bath preparations, ddry skin treatment lotion, facial masks, hair tonic & grooming aids, hair dye, makeup foundation & base, mascara, eyebrow pencil, other eye makeup, nail creams & polish, sachets, powders, perfumes, etc.<BR>Other: adhesives cleaners, dishwasher detergents, disinfectants, dry cleaning & spotting fluids, paper, polishes & finishes, etc.<BR><BR>How did I find out I was allergic to all this stuff? I was using Dove soap, Almay makeup, no nail polish, and washing my clothes in Tide/Cheer/All FREE detergent. My skin was peeling. Eyelids were red, swollen, peeling, itchy, etc. Skin patch testing was ordered.

S: I'm curious, what safe make-up, skin care, etc. product brands do you use?

- The Redken products don't have any of the more common formaldehyde releasers listed as ingredients. For my hair, I usually use them.<BR>- Mascara is usually out of the question. Although I did recently buy some from my hair stylist that I can use.<BR>- Believe it or not, some of the Revlon products seem to work well without making my face peel.<BR>- I still wash my clothes in All/Tide/Cheer free laundry detergent. I use the "free" fabric softener when I can find it.<BR>- We use Zest bath soap. All these cool liquid bath products are absolutely out of the question. Dove is out of the question, because I'm also allergic to lanolin. <BR><BR>Between the lanolin and formaldehyde allergies, my product selections is fairly limited. Fortunately, short term usage (i.e., whatever my stylist uses) does not bother me. I just can't use products with the mentioned chemicals repeatedly.

Thanks, S. Very interesting. I have sensitive skin also and have to try on products for my face first before purchasing but it's not as bad as yours. I just reacted to Lancome Resurface. Man, my skin peeled and tingled, it's awful! Some B&BW products have a strong scent that I can't tolerate but I know I'm going to go nuts when I enter a B&BW store for the first time. There is just to much hype for B&BW here in Hawaii. Take care.

Try reading the listed ingredients label on the products that you react to the most. The one that I can just about guarantee that I'll react to is Imidazolidnyl urea. The formaldehyde releasers that I listed are the ones I see the most often. Look for them on the label.<BR><BR>The other ingredients that frequently cause problems are fragrances or lanolin or lanolin derivatives. I'm not allergic to the fragrances, so I don't have info on them. On the lanolin, check for any word in the ingredient list that looks like lanolin, such as lanolinamide, lanosterol, laneth-#. You may have to do some note taking for a while. Looking at my info papers, some lanolin-allergic people also react to cetyl and cetearyl alcohol. <BR><BR>Hope this helps.

Thank you, S!

If you know what you want you can get it on EBay.

Looking through the posts again, I realized that the mascara I bought from my hairstylist is made by Aveda. It listed none of the more common formaldehyde releasers. However, I can't use their hair products because I recognize the chemicals used.