Olay In-Shower Body Lotion
I, like many of you, have a very busy and hectic life. I am not ashamed to say that I will cut a corner (or two) if need be to fit everything in; not just any corner though, I’m talking about things like skipping my toner in the morning. So when Kathryn came into the lab and showed me Olay’s In-Shower Body Lotion, I couldn’t wait to try it! She warned me that it would leave crap behind which is why I only tried it on my hand- she was right. There was a sticky film left behind on my skin that reminds me of the grime left behind in the tub after using certain bath oils. It was not pleasant at all! But I have to admit that my hand has a smooth feel and appears less dry than my untreated hand. Would I buy it- no, I wouldn’t buy it unless they revised the formulation to leave more moisture behind minus the crap. I like the concept but I think the formulation was rushed out to market without paneling- either that or the results of the panel were ignored (hmm, you wouldn’t do something like that would you…)! Sorry Olay, most of the times you guys hit it dead on but this time it’s a miss. Hey, you can’t win them all, right?
Science Behind It:
From a consumer standpoint this formula is a miss- but as I chemist, I am in awe! The chemists at P&G never cease to amaze me with their out of the box thinking. When you look at the ingredient label there is no obvious standout strong emulsifier that you would expect to find in a cream based product! You see a thickener that can improve emulsion stability, a weak emulsifier and fatty alcohols that can stabilize emulsions but that’s it! The product appears very stable even though they chose emollients that have absolutely no affinity to water at all what so ever- petrolatum and dimethicone! Even though the end product doesn’t quite do it for me- I have to give them an A+ for ingenuity!
Later,
Ni’Kita