Issey Miyake L'Eau D'Issey Shower Gel

...Having run out of the Issey fragrance my other half treated me to a gift set containing not only the fragrance but two 100ml bottles of shower gel as well. Whilst it was really extravagant I was informed that the shower gel and gift wrapped box was only a few pounds more expensive than a bottle of the fragrance alone therefore the savings were huge.

Having used the shower gel a few times I thought I would share my thoughts and opinions.
...the Issey Miyake shower gel could easily be mistaken for a bottle of the Issey Miyake fragrance (please see the review if you are interested on my thoughts). The only differences are

i) The size of the bottle (the shower gel is slightly smaller)
ii) The material of the bottle (the shower gel bottle is plastic as opposed to glass)
iii) The writing on the bottle (the shower gel obviously has “shower gel” written on it)
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If it were down to me I would never buy a ‘designer’ shower gel. They are a very expensive luxury and for every day use I would use a much, much cheaper alternative that would satisfy my needs just as well.

Having run out of the Issey fragrance my other half treated me to a gift set containing not only the fragrance but two 100ml bottles of shower gel as well. Whilst it was really extravagant I was informed that the shower gel and gift wrapped box was only a few pounds more expensive than a bottle of the fragrance alone therefore the savings were huge.

Having used the shower gel a few times I thought I would share my thoughts and opinions.

****Bottle****

At first glance the Issey Miyake shower gel could easily be mistaken for a bottle of the Issey Miyake fragrance (please see the review if you are interested on my thoughts). The only differences are

i) The size of the bottle (the shower gel is slightly smaller)
ii) The material of the bottle (the shower gel bottle is plastic as opposed to glass)
iii) The writing on the bottle (the shower gel obviously has “shower gel” written on it)

Like the fragrance the shower gel bottle is oblong shaped that tapers towards the top and is a very light yellow/silver colour on a frosted bottle. The lid is silver and really finishes the bottle off.

This product oozes class, sophistication and style.

The bottle included in my gift set was 100ml, although it is also available in 200ml bottles.

****Smell****

The smell is exactly the same as the Issey fragrance, which according to Fragrance Direct is “An aquatic, sharp fragrance blending freshwater flowers with a hint of carnation”. This is to be expected.

I have covered the smell of Issey in my review of the fragrance so I will not duplicate this. All I will say is that this shower gel smells gorgeous.

This shower gel is really durable and the smell is very long lasting and will easily last all day, although I do work in an air-conditioned office. I cannot comment on how long it would last on a manual worker slaving away for eight hours in the August sun.

****The liquid****

This shower gel has a really thick consistency and once squirted on the hands it will stay put, ready for application to other areas of the body. This is different to some shower gels that I have used in the past as these tended to be much thinner and once squirted on the hand the gel would be washed away quickly or ‘slip through my fingers’.

This shower gel is colourless and is transparent, unlike some other shower gels that are luminous and toxic colours (such as Lynx which is orange). The colourless gel maintains the stylish look of this product as it keeps in within the light silver colour scheme. If the gel were luminous orange then it would show through the bottle and would look really tacky.

****Using the shower gel****

This shower gel does not lather up that easily. I think that this is down to the thick consistency of it. However, I find that you don’t need much to cover the whole body, which is good especially when considering the price of this shower gel compared to other alternatives.

This gel takes a lot of rinsing off , a lot more than other types of shower gel I have used. Even after lots of rinsing I find it still feels as though there is some left on the skin. This makes it feel silky smooth and I appreciate that some people may like this, unfortunately I don’t.

****Price and availability****

This shower gel can be bought from many online and offline retailers. As always, I would suggest doing a search to ensure that you get it for the best price.

At the time of writing a 200ml bottle of this shower gel can be bought from Supaperfume (through Next tag) for £22.50 (excluding P&P).

Considering a 250ml of Lynx Africa shower gel can be bought from Tesco for £1.71 (at the moment it is on offer for £1) the Issey shower gel is a very, very expensive alternative. If this was not a gift then there is no way that I could justify buying this product, besides I like the Africa shower gel far too much.

****My thoughts and opinion****

This shower gel makes a fantastic accompaniment to the Issey fragrance and if you like that, then you will love this.

The gel is good quality being thick, but easy to apply, although it does require significant rinsing, and even then it still feels like there is some residue. I do not like this feeling and I score this shower gel down for this reason.

What I did find weird was the fact that every part of me smelt of Issey. I was on a night out, wearing a short-sleeved shirt, and every time I took a sip out of a pint glass I could just smell Issey. I like the smell of Issey but I found this really, really overpowering. This is another negative for this product.

Would I recommend it? If you have really deep pockets, you like the smell of Issey, and can put up with all body parts stinking of the stuff all day (and it is that potent and over powering you will do), and don’t care letting everyone know that you are wearing Issey, then this is for you.

Don’t get me wrong, I really love Issey and it is one of my favourite fragrances of all time, but using the shower gel and the fragrance is just too much for me. In addition it is way too expensive to be used on a daily basis so I will continue to use a ‘normal’ shower gel and the Issey fragrance.

(Originally posted on Dooyoo under the name of Yackers1)  

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