Dead Sea Spa Magik Refreshing Bath Shower Gel 350ml/11oz

I love this stuff - I have had Eczema all of my life, and am stuck with the same boring prescribed bath oils which don't foam. However, I have absolutely no problems with this product - and I love the bubbles! I think it might even help soothe my skin. It certainly does not sting, make me itch or leave a rash - and I am very intollerant to most products, even soaps. So even if you have very sensitive skin, give this a go - you will be pleasantly surprised.

Following my enjoyment of bath and shower time with Dead Sea Spa Magik's salt brushing formula earlier in the year, I thought I'd treat myself to a whole long line up of additional body care accessories from Dead Sea Spa Magik. As with most shower gels I tend to use a net puff to get the most out of the potions, but since this was the first time I tried this product, I decided to do a half and half process. After all, it's Dead Sea Spa Magik - the company that produces the same amount of oil filled sea salt in a scrub jar and only charge half of what Sea Spa shopping mall stalls sell their products at - and Dead Sea Spa Magik's product doesn't dry out unlike the latter when left on a shelf for a year. So, there was quite an expectation here, not just judged by the quality of the previous product but by the hand cream I've also grown to like. This shower gel is quite expensive though, being a paraben free product in a standard 350ml bottle and comes with a flip up top in a rather narrow bottle - usually shower products have a hook! It does come with a few claims like an "allergy free fragrance," "made with Harmonised water..." and "Skin friendly." The best part however was the promise that Dead Sea Spa Magik claim that they "blend mud, salt and mineral extracts...to deeply hydrate, repair and soothe your body and mind." All wrapped around a formula, by it's very product title that should at least promise soft skin and at best, be invigorating by its additional "refreshing" promise.

Well the look of the gel took me by complete surprise. This product has been crafted with mud remember! At first I thought I had a dodgy bottle because I was expecting a brown mask, or something like mud that we all know very well. OK, so some mud treatments are brown, but they are usually a dark grey or a dark beige, matched by the label colour that Dead Sea Spa Magik have honoured us with in their labelling. No, it wasn't a dodgy batch, it was just that if this product is made with mud and salt, it's the funniest looking blue silvery gel mud I've ever seen and it's not exactly thick either, but in a gloopy, milky kind of a way that also doubles in look as toothpaste. Does Israel have blue mud by origin?? I think not! Then the scent - oh my god - full of flowers and nothing menthol or anything that stands out which creates the illusion of refreshment, let alone any other additive that would keep me alert. What had I done? Surely the look and the scent of this product should be promoted better than a mild scent of crushed flowers! It took me a while to work out where I had smelt this scent before - PARMA VIOLETS!!

In use, Dead Sea Spa Magik Refreshing Shower Gel has further disappointments in store and nothing to pull out of the magik hat! It claims to be a foaming bath gel, but does it foam up in running water? No, it turns it into a mild pale blue sea. In the shower it doesn't lather up very well either, creating a fine foam when applied with a sponge or a puff, and runs away the moment the shower water runs over with the final result that my skin doesn't feel soft, doesn't look glossy, doesn't feel "rejuvenated," after this product is washed off and feels very much like the same kind of sand paper result I get from using non-moisturiser traditional soap. Refreshed? Would you feel refreshed if your skin smelt faintly of Parma Violets? I positively wanted to lie down!

The upside of this shower gel is that it is evidently salty - this comes across when steaming in hot water under the shower or bath and suddenly the taste of salt is apparent on my lips. At least in this respect you get the Spa treatment that Dead Sea Spa Magik's Salt Brushing bears comparisons with. So perhaps whilst there is salt in this product, the performance leads me to believe otherwise but what an advantage that the scent doesn't hang around once you towel down. But as a relaxing, refreshing and soothing product? You have got to be joking - and it is in fear of breaching trade descriptions. When I sent an email I sent a complaint email to findershealth.com and here's the reply I got:

"...I am sorry to hear that you were disappointed with our Dead Sea Spa Magik Refreshing Bath Shower Gel. Not all of our products are mud-based and this particular product does not have mud in it but it does, of course, contain 21 minerals from the Dead Sea which have a moisturising and hydrating effect on the skin. There are also organic plant extracts in this product..."

So if the official statement is, that this product doesn't contain mud, why does the label on the bottle state so? You can think about that one! (C)NR2 2012

this product smells fresh it doesnt state skin allergies,and i presumed that having sea salt in it it would help my skin,anyway it must have perfume in it and as i have excema it went worse i gave it away to a friend